What's The Diff?

The things Quicken Loans team members care about and want to share with the world

Vacation rental by owner is the path to gezellig in Amsterdam!

Friday, December 28, 2007

Quicken Loans Rebecca Carter enjoys Amsterdam! by whatsthediffblog, on Flickr

By Rebecca Carter

Call me crazy, but I just returned from a weekend trip to Amsterdam. Jet lag aside, it was completely worth the seven-hour flight to have a holiday in that lovely old city.

Amsterdam has so much to offer (o.k. – get your mind out of the gutter! I mean BESIDES its reputation for drugs and prostitution). The city is very multicultural and diverse, with world-class museums and galleries, great shopping, friendly people, and inviting pubs and restaurants. Pedestrians are always bustling around, enjoying the city, even in the colder-than-normal temperatures.

There are many reasons my trip could be considered the DIFF:
- The cheap, off-season flight – my trip was as affordable as flying domestic.

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Customer Service from Hell

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Northwest Airlines plane by whatsthediffblog, on Flickr

I can excuse barking back at an unruly customer. I understand setting someone straight who is out of line. But what do you do, as a customer, with a salesperson that bites your head off when you’re being nice? No complaining, no whining, no demands, just a pause.

Is there a new customer service tactic being developed that trains the sales person to strike first before the customer has a chance to complain? If so, I’m the first victim.

I had travel plans go sideways, for reasons that I won’t bore you with. So, I decided to call Northwest Airlines (whom I now affectionately call Northworst) to see if we could fly rather than drive to get our plans back on track. As always, when asking for the nearly impossible, I always start out as kindly as I can, explaining that I understand if what I’m asking for can’t be done, but I have to ask anyway, just in case it can.

The person on the other end was very clear with her answers, and explained what I would need to do in order to get three tickets from Greenville to Detroit tomorrow. I paused to consider the cost, and then it came:

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Saluting Captain Southworth

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Ala'a loves snow. by whatsthediffblog, on Flickr

I’ve heard that adopting a child is a trying process, but can’t even imagine what adopting a child from Iraq, a country in the midst of war with us, would be like. Top that off with the fact the child lives with cerebral palsy and you’ve got an adoption case to send nearly any social services office into a tizzy with the paperwork alone.

But maybe the impossibility of it all is why things worked out for Capt. Scott Southworth and his adopted son, Ala’a. Maybe “against all odds” is just the recipe needed to make it work.

In September 2003, Scott, a single, 31-year old American soldier first met Ala’a when he was 9 in an orphanage. Scott’s military police unit visited the orphanage often, so much so that, Ala’a became attached to Scott and began referring to him as “Baba,” which is Arabic for “Daddy.” As Ala’a continued to grow, the nuns who ran the orphanage informed Scott that Ala’a would soon be moved to a government run facility due to his increasing age and size.

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Happy birthday to we(Blogs)

Monday, December 24, 2007

It was 10 years ago today that the word "Web log" was coined by a guy named Jorn Barger who maintained a website with his opinion and comments on a variety of subjects.

Two years later, online journal author Peter Merholz took the word "weblog"
and split it into "We blog."

Not long after, blog became the favored word for a weblog, and it remains so today.

You can read the whole story on NPR.  They even provide a pretty interesting timeline of how the internet, the world wide web and blogs evolved.

Enjoy!

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Staples Soul is the DIFF

Friday, December 21, 2007

Quicken Loans thinks Staples trucks are the DIFF.The other day the Kauf was driving down the freeway and noticed a sign on the back of a Staples truck claiming that Staples trucks never go over 60 mph in an effort to reduce fuel usage. 

Huh?  Did he read that right?

Yup, he did.

It’s part of the Staples Soul campaign. We like it!

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Quality TV turns into a game of survival

Thursday, December 20, 2007

By Mark Messing

It is a well-known fact at Quicken Loans that I can’t steer a canoe. I can’t sanitize water with half a pop can, and I probably couldn’t stomach raw fish guts, even if it meant my life.

However, there are people who can do these things.  And some of these people will even videotape themselves doing it just so us regular, everyday Joes can “learn” how to survive. There are two shows of this nature: “Man vs. Wild” (hosted by Bear Grylls), and “Survivorman” (hosted by Les Stroud).

And now, as with all similar things, my initial reaction is to critique them against each other to see who is the DIFF. I have come up with 5 sure-fire criteria to make this decision once and for all:

1)The Name: Bear Grylls vs. Les Stroud

Lets face it. This isn’t even close. Bear’s checks weep in fear every time he signs his name on them. That is how tough his name is.

Les really needs some help here. The following is a list of suggested names for Les Stroud that are guaranteed ratings boosters:

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My dentist makes me smile

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Quicken Loans Paul Pickett loves his dentist! by whatsthediffblog, on Flickr

By Paul J. Pickett

I visited Eddie Murphy last week. He told me one of my teeth is cracked and I need to come back for him to fix it. But unlike other dentists, I won’t mind going back to have him stick a fancy shmancy tooth-fixing machine inside my mouth. Here are the Top Five reasons why Dr. Edward Murphy has the best dental office I’ve ever been to:

  1. I love telling people “Eddie Murphy is my dentist.” Go ahead and laugh…so what if it’s a little corny?
  2. I get a signed Christmas card every year. This is easy to do, but it’s also easy not to do.
  3. The young lady at the front desk, Liz, always has a smile on her face and is sincerely courteous. ***Note to Drs everywhere: this is the most important position in your office. Hire wisely.
  4. I always get a courtesy reminder call – three days prior to my appointment. I don’t have another Dr. that does that.

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Messy misunderstandings – who is responsible?

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

I’ve seen some excessive cell phone bills. I’ve done my fair share of complaining about fees, minutes and texts. I’ve felt the urge to haul my phone into a large body of water. I’m generally never content with my cell phone bill, but I’ve never felt like I needed to take out a loan or sell a house to pay the bill.

Such was the luck of some internet happy Canadian who didn’t quite understand his cell phone plan. Under the impression he had unlimited internet and data, he quite literally used his cell phone as a regular modem to connect to the internet and download feature length movies, applications and other random data. Unaware he was being charged per kilobyte, the resulting tab was quite a shock.

Upon receiving a bill for $85,000, the man assumed his wireless carrier had made a mistake. After further examination and with the assistance of customer service, he was informed that no, he did not have unlimited access to the internet and the bill was in fact, accurate.

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MGM Grand Detroit makes it right

Monday, December 17, 2007

MGM Grand, Detroit, MI by whatsthediffblog, on Flickr

As children, we’re all reminded to “learn from our mistakes.” In business, you maintain the same policy, but it’s also recommended you take some measures to compensate those affected by your mistake and maybe even do a little something extra to make amends.

The fancy new MGM Grand, well versed in the business of hospitality, has done just that to “kiss & make up” with 4 local women, who stopped at the hotel/casino for dinner and found it difficult…well, darn near impossible to leave.

On their way to see the pricey “Lion King” at Detroit Opera House, the women got stuck in an MGM Grand elevator. A well known fear for many (including myself), the women would spend the next 2 hours trying to get help. The biggest mistake, already admitted by MGM Grand, was that the emergency button connected the women to the elevator manufacturer, which was based in Connecticut. The women tried several more times to get in touch with someone, cell phones failing and finally demanded that the manufacturer dial 911 in Detroit. Firefighters showed up in 5 minutes and broke the women free. Too late to make the “Lion King,” the women had forfeited nearly $800 in tickets while trapped in the elevator.

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The Multi-Purpose Guest Check Tray

Friday, December 14, 2007

MongoOne of the core philosophies we live by at Quicken Loans is “simplicity is genius”—the simplest things are often times the cleverest ideas.

An ordinary guest check tray serves a simple purpose: To hold your restaurant bill, money and change. While dining at BD’s Mongolian Barbecue last weekend, I discovered that their guest check tray is a clever little gadget that not only holds your change, it also has a built in customer satisfaction survey and a calculator for determining the tip. It’s a simple idea, and it probably doesn’t cost much to make, but it begs the question: Why didn’t someone else think of this before now?

It’s doesn’t exactly take a degree in quantum mechanics to mentally figure out a 15 or 20 percent tip on a bill, but for those of us who are more mathematically challenged than others, it’s a nice tool to have on the table. Nice thinking, BD’s!

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Thursday, May 17, 2012