I was going through a big pile of mail recently, finally making notes and trashing all the various mailings from bank statements and credit cards and whatever, and something caught my eye: the concierge ability on high-end cards.
AMEX I think was the first to do it, though now Visa Signatures and World Mastercards have concierge, among others. I got a new American Express Platinum a couple months ago, and so I decided to call.
I'm not so into entertainment. I love to work, I love working all the time, and when I'm not working on business work, I do creative and nonprofit projects with my friends and colleagues. So I generally skip on fine dining and fancy entertainment, given that that's cash I could use to do more adventurous enterprising world-building type stuff.
So, then, what would be useful to call the concierge and ask about?
One thing I'd been meaning to get around to are fixing two fraying cords -- on my Mac Air and iPhone 4S. I was wondering if it's possible to fix myself, and if not, there's no Apple Store in Taipei so where is best to get it serviced?
This seems like a good thing to try.
I called up the AMEX concierge around noon Asia-time (midnight Eastern Standard Time) and a friendly, smart, alert-sounding woman with an American-English accent answered.
I explained what's going on and asked her for recommendations. She asked if she could get back to me within two days, I said yes, and then I got this email today --
Dear Mr. Marshall,
Good Afternoon, I hope all is going well with you while you are out in Taiwan. I have looked into your request and came up with the following options for you. Option 1 I feel is the best(and cheapest) temporary solution to your fraying cord issue. I hope this information is helpful and you can enjoy the rest of your trip with your brother and not stress too much about those cords.
General Information
Option 1:
Requirements:
Old, simple pen
Step 1: Remove the spring from the pen
Step 2: Take your cord(iPhone and/or Macbook power cord)
Step 3: wrap the spring around each end of the cord(where it connects to the device as well as the end that connects to the wall/USB port)
* the spring will act as a barrier to prevent the cord from over-bending and subsequently splitting and fraying.
Option 2:
There is a product named Sugru that is made in the US and goes for approximately $25.00USD. This product is placed over the wire where is connects to the ends and provides added protection for your cords.
Here's the Link: http://sugru.com/
Option 3:
Here is a list of Apple approved reseller in Taipei City, Should you need to purchase a replacement cord for your Iphone or Macbook
1.STUDIO A @ Miramar store 0.9 km
Miramar Entertainment Park, 1st Floor, Waterfront Hall
A three-way dedicated on the 20th floor
Taipei 104
02-8502-0873
2.Tsann Tsann Bonaventure shop 2.8 km
Wende 212
Taipei 114
02-8751-8699
3.Tsann Tsann Shihlin flagship 3.3 km
No. 115, Zhongzheng Rd.
Taipei 111
02-2881-5252
4.Crystal is @ Scholastic 3.3 km
No. 138, 1st Floor, Wenlin Road, Shilin District
Taipei 111
02-2881-1361
5.Tsann Tsann Neihu store 3.4 km
Dike section 331 Avenue Road
Taipei 114
02-2795-5270
If you have any questions, or need any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.Sincerely yours,Jennifer XX XX
American Express Platinum Concierge
1-800-XXX-XXXX, Concierge
Well... wow.
I'm officially impressed. I move around a lot and I've already a ton of ideas on what to do with this.
It's always time-consuming figuring out little things related to getting vitamins and supplements, dentist's appointments, finding a pool that's open, or a gym that'll sign you up for a one-month membership with no contract -- easy wins for a concierge to help with. I'm super jazzed out to try this more.
Jennifer made a point to emphasize that infinite calls were included with the concierge service. I made a joke that I'll try not to call more than 20 times per day, and she said -- no, really, infinite, go for it for whatever you need. I joked again that they're asking for it, and she stated again that it's really welcome to call for whatever.
So... this is really pretty intriguing. Never used this benefit before, but impressed so far. In a busy/crazy month, I could easily see this saving hours and hours of work -- during the GiveGetWin Tour a few months ago, this would saved 10-20 hours easily without even getting particularly creative.
Excited to do this more. Depending on how busy you are, it might be worth considering getting a card with concierge service on it just for this benefit.