Dear Friends,

Let me start by saying that the problem I was having at Hightail was several months old and I had a long service ticket.  I didn’t suddenly decide to sever ties; I based the decision on a long-term issue that wasn’t getting fixed and the service rep was not forthcoming about the issues.  So, a couple of days ago, I completed a survey in response to my service ticket, which the rep closed without my knowledge.  I was very frank about the poor of service.

Yesterday, I received an email for a Customer Service Manager who apologized for the problems and basically accepted that the fault was Hightail’s.  She said:

“Hello Skip,

Thank you for responding to our Customer Support Survey. It is my goal that we provide you with the best possible service experience and I am disappointed we weren’t able to do so with our previous interaction.

After looking through the ticket it does look like it was closed without any communication back to you. I sincerely apologize!

The issue on our end cannot be fixed so unfortunately the files will not be retrievable in this instance. Our rep should have reached back out to let you know this information. We migrated to new servers and some files were affected with a few customers and in this case your files were part of that small group.

In this case I would like to offer you a free year on us and refund this past charge for $159 you had to incur.. It isn’t going to fix the problem but at least we can give you your money back this year for the frustrations caused. Please advise.

Thank you,”

I have to say, that I am very grateful for the refund and that Hightail responded at all.  So, I must give them high marks for that.  I did thank her and accept the offer of a refund.  She responded nicely and did say that she hoped I would give them another chance.

To be honest, I cannot say that I will give them another chance.  I lost trust for the company and I’m not sure I can gain that back.  And, I have an alternative solution, which I have already started as I mentioned in the last post.  But, I did want to let everyone know that Hightail has at least accepted responsibility for the problems and is refunding my annual costs.

I do find it sad I had to complain very loudly to get anyone’s attention.

Enjoy,

Skip

PS:  I think I’ll post a couple of more photographs.  I am not a professional photographer; I am an obsessed amateur.  Think of these pictures as show and tell about places I visit or where I live.

Here is another picture of River Bend on the Natchez Trace Parkway.  The bend in the river is in the distance.  The water closest to me isn’t moving with the river, but is river fed…at least that is the way it looks to me.

River Bend, Natchez Trace Parkway, Mississippi

The Dog River Reservoir, located a couple of miles from my house, has a few picnic tables and you can rent electric boats for fishing, but that is about all.  None the less, it is a very pretty place.  I was pleasantly surprised to discover Mountain Laurel all over the place.

Dog River Reservoir, Douglas County, Georgia

I live in rural Georgia, but I am about 40 miles from downtown Atlanta.  I am at the end of my driveway looking down my road.  For those not familiar with the Southeast United States, it is really like a forest.  Walking or driving on a road, the forest surrounds us by green walls with a strip of gray-blue sky above.  Folks who moved into the area feel claustrophobic.  I know when I lived in Arizona, I always felt exposed and I never could judge distances.

Skip’s road, Winston, Georgia

When I go for walks, I like to take my camera.  This particular shot was just a bunch of weeds on the side of the road.  I marveled at the range of colors and the variety of leaf forms.  I reduced the size of the pictures I have posted so far.  I didn’t reduce this one.  So, if you download it, and open it with a photo viewer of some type, you can zoom in and look at the details.  I enjoy that exercise because I will see things I missed when I was taking the photograph.  Nature truly is amazing.

Weeds discovered on my walk, Winston, Georgia

OK, one last photo.  I am standing on my road looking at the front right corner of my yard.  Were you expecting a manicured grassy lawn?  Really?  Well, there is a small controlled area, but this area is bog like.  The big leafed specimen that you see is a Magnolia macrophylla or big leaf magnolia. These are not rare, but somewhat rare in my area.  This one sprouted on its own.  When we first bought the property there was another one near, but it died.  I am hoping this one lives long enough to bloom, which could happen next year.  Interesting facts:  It is a primitive tree with leaves that are 12 to 36 inches long.  It’s flowers are 8 to 12 inches across pollinated by beetles, which is another nod to its being primitive.  They are not very large…reaching a height of around 50 feet.  If you get a chance, google images of big leaf magnolias.

Big Leaf Magnolia, Skip’s yard

OK, enough show and tell for today.

Enjoy,

Skip