annoyedSo, I like to read books, but I hate paying for them and having to store them permanently. Enter my local library, which conveniently allows me to read books for free. Awesome! Since I'm not paying for the service except when I accidentally forget a book under the sofa for a few days, I guess I shouldn't complain, but I'm really getting sick of this.
It's a small library, so the hold area is maybe the size of a child's bookshelf and has no more than 25-50 books on it at any given time. Despite this, and despite the fact that:
1. From the other side of the counter, ten feet away, I can see my name printed in HUGE LETTERS on a slip inside one of the books.
2. I can usually recognize at least one of the titles from this distance as well.
3. They are in alphabetical order by the last name of the requesting patron.
...it still takes every clerk who helps me at least 2-5 minutes to find my books. I honestly don't understand it. I usually see them instantly and have to direct the person towards them when I realize they have no idea where to look. I'm not an impatient person, but the first time I picked up a hold, I literally waited for five minutes while the woman skimmed the entire set of shelves instead of going to the section where my name would be. After seeing her skip over my book twice, I finally had to speak up, and I've been speaking up ever since as soon as it becomes obvious that the clerk isn't making a beeline for my section.
To make matters worse, they always seem mildly irritated at me for pointing out where my books are. I can understand finding it patronizing if I was using a tone or "helping" them when they clearly already knew their way around, but I'm not, and they don't. I've found that the only way to lead them to the books quickly is to physically describe them (black cover, red letters, they've got a rubber band around them, etc.), but I always say it in the nicest way possible ("I think I can see them over there" not "YOU IDIOT THEY ARE RIGHT OVER THERE, GOD"). What is going on here? Are they actually required to skim over the entire shelf multiple times, or are they all just really, really unqualified to work in a library?
EDIT: I almost forgot to add another time I got a huge amount of attitude from the clerks. At this library you have to make a bit of a detour from the entrance to get to the overnight book drop, so most people bring their books inside with them to return. There's a very small indoor book drop built into the counter, but from observing other patrons, it seemed that most of them just handed their returns to the clerks, especially if they had other business as well. I got into the habit of doing this too, with absolutely no issues until one day.
I had a lot of returns stowed in my bag, so instead of piling them on the counter, I said "I have some things to return, too." The clerk glared at me and snapped "put them in the slot over there!"
Cowed, I slunk over to the indoor book drop, only to find the slot crammed with way too many books. There was a very large, angry sign taped on the top of the counter that read:
DO NOT LEAVE BOOKS ON TOP OF THIS COUNTER!!!!!!!!!!
So I tentatively began poking at the book jam to see if I could get things moving again. Another clerk materialized out of nowhere and snarled, "no! put them on the counter!"
Uh, okay. Forgive me for thinking that you might not want me to do that because of the HUGE FREAKING SIGN TELL ME NOT TO.
Now on to a car dealership possible suck that I'm curious about. My husband and I bought our first car a few months ago. The first time we visited the dealer, just the two of us went, and we test-drove the car we were interested in with a salesman who was very nice. We decided to put down a deposit that day, since the car was a steal, and return the following morning to wrap up the paperwork so they'd have a chance to give it the oil change, washing, check-up, etc.
When we came to do the paperwork, we brought my husband's parents with us - they wanted to see the car, and my father-in-law was willing to co-sign on the loan if it would help us get a better rate. (My husband and I are both young and have limited credit.) So we all crowded around the salesman's desk and started the flurry of paperwork that ended up taking a few hours to complete. I was off to the side, out of view of a lot of what was going on, just because of space constraints, so I didn't get a chance to look over some of the paperwork until afterward. As I understand it, the following occurred.
1. The salesman told my father-in-law that he should actually take out the loan, having my husband co-sign on it, rather than the other way around. I'm not sure if this was necessary to get a better rate, but he seemed to know what he was talking about.
2. Without asking or taking into account that it was obviously me and my husband who were actually purchasing the car, the salesman then put my father-in-law's name along with my husband's on the title, and also used my father-in-law's address.
According to a friend of mine who bought a car with the help of her parents, it's not at all necessary that the title states the same name/address from the loan. The salesman did this without asking, and as a result, the title states that the car is owned by my husband and his father and is registered to his father's address. It's a minor annoyance in the grand scheme of things, but it really bothers me that the salesman did this and didn't even ask or mention anything about it.
I believe we can have this fixed the next time we have to renew it, but I'd obviously rather it had been done right in the first place. I do realize that I should have double-checked all the paperwork before we signed off on anything, but with so many papers flying around and me crammed off to the side of the desk, it was tough. When I first noticed it, I assumed that maybe it had to be that way because my father-in-law applied for the loan, but now I'm not so sure.
Does anyone have experience with this, or have any clue if I should be pissed/what I can do about it? I'm in NY if that makes any difference.
Phew, that took a lot off my chest.