Ways to Fail

I recently ordered a huge shed to be installed on my property. After install, I pointed out some small issues I found. On the second walk around the shed, I saw that my fence behind the shed was down on the ground. The install guy asked whether it was like that before they came. Dumb question.

I told the install guy that of course my fence was not on the ground before they came. He then told me that they did not touch the fence. This was an additional fail. I told the guy that I saw one of his workers toss a sheet of plywood down next to the fence, and the fence was up supporting the plywood.

This drama just kept getting worse. Next the install guy said that there must have been some problem with the poles supporting the fence. I went down to the portion of the fence still standing that was away from the shed. The poles were all solid there, being held in the ground with concrete.

The company later called to discuss final payment on the shed. I let them know that they needed to fix the damage before we could discuss final payment. I wish the install guy had any sense of customer service skills. Own up to mistakes when you make them. Don't lie to customers. It will only alienate you from them.

Vacation Funding

I work for an employer that provides three weeks of vacation. That is pretty good. Standard benefits in general only provide two weeks of vacation. I take full advantage of this. I schedule a few weeks of vacation each year.

Today I saw an amazing post from Full Contact API. I actually never heard of them before. Now I know and admire them. Many others want to work with them. In addition to three weeks of paid vacation, they will pay employees up to $7500 for the actual costs of the vacation. Bamm.

I always like to see extraordinary benefits for developers. You can always give a higher salary. But you stand out if you provide the actual funds for vacations. That can make for some awesome vacations. The only other time I was as excited as reading this was when I heard a company provided $14k yearly for training purposes.

Good work Full Contact API. I bet you are going to get a lot of applications for employment very soon.