Life on the Road

I fired Chase as my credit card company a while back, but never told you the story. Since it now has a sequel, it seems like it must be time…

I participate in MyPoints, and I keep us in Cracker Barrel Gift Cards by earning points for reading emails even if I don’t actually SHOP through them. (They have tons of other Gift Cards as rewards – if you haven’t cheked it out, you ought to!).

Anyhow, I was delighted when they offered me the opportunity to earn points all the time with a “MyPoints Visa.” I applied, got one, and began using it (and paying off the balance immediately, of course!).

Sadly, though, the card was administered by Washington Mutual.

When Chase bought them out, they cancelled the MyPoints program. All the existing accounts were tranferred over to their “rewards card” program… Whatever.

I kept the card for a while, figuring it was still doing my credit score good. Plus, when we went through six months of unemployment this summer, we did actually carry a balance.

But I kept not getting statements… I’d say from the time Chase took over I received an average of one statement every two or three months. When I called, they’d verify my address, tell the the date it was sent out, and suggest I contact the Post Office!

As though the Post Office has anything to say on the matter – not like they were sent with Delivery Confirmation or something! Since I got all my other mail just fine, it seems unlikely to be a Post Office problem.

Naturally (until recently, as I understand the law), the due date shifted, and minimum payment changed with the random new fee they assessed… So payments were occasionally late, and occasionally considered late when I guessed and made a $40 payment when they’d upped in minimum to $42. And, of course, they were totally unsympathetic when I called.

The card has been paid off and closed, and I will certainly never do business with them again.

And now, the thrilling sequel!

The WaMu/Chase branch near us ran a great promotion last year – $50 free for opening a checking account (which also has no fees, etc.).

After the qualifying period ended, we withdrew most of the money back to our interst-bearing credit union account. We kept it open with about $10 in there, figuring that it might be nice to have an account at a nationwide bank if/when we finally get the heck out of Dodge, er, Florida. All the paperwork, debit cards, checks, whatever we had was stuffed in a file folder and forgotten.

Until this week, when I received a notice of overdrafts!

Two charges of $10 each had been processed, along with two, get this, $34 overdraft charges!

So the account balance is currently -$78.43.

Needless to say, I called as soon as the office opened at 7 am the next day to try and get things straightened out.

After a lengthy identification process, and a struggle over the fact that I didn’t have the card number(s), the representative told me that I could not file the dispute. The card used was issued to the joint account holder (Wolf), and he would have to call in.

I was frustrated because Wolf is, of course, at work. While he can take a call if need be, he doesn’t exactly have time to sit there and wade through their voice-response system.

The representative said she could call him on a conference call, and he could then authorize me to complete the transaction. Although the odds were against him picking up, we gave it a try.

Wolf did answer, and the Chase rep didn’t jump in. So I greeted him, and explained the situation.

The representative then asked him if he authorized me to file the dispute on him behalf.

He said yes. She thanked him, and told him he could hang up… And we went ahead with filing the dispute.

Wait a minute! We went through all that about identifying me, and my inability to file a dispute on my own account because his card was used…

And she didn’t identify him AT ALL!!

Heck, if I had known that I could have called ANYONE! So much for security being enforced…

I’ve been assured that all the credits will post within two days, at which point I will go into my local branch and close this account. Because

When I saw the lovely wooden hair pieces over at Blue Heron Jewelry & Hair Accessories, I added a couple of them to my online wish lists. 

Pretty, eh? 

Pricey, too, compared to what’s out there… but a nice selection of exotic woods.

So my mom ordered two of these for me for my birthday.  (She ordered them in May, to be able to give them to me in June).

It didn’t arrive by the time Mom came out to visit me in mid-June.  She was already frustrated by then, and apologized profusely to me.  (Naturally I thanked her for the effort, and told her it wasn’t her fault!)

In between a lot of not answering emails, there was apparently some excuse made, but it then drageed on longer and longer.

Every couple of weeks my mom called me to see if the package had arrived.  But it hadn’t.

Eventually, lo and behold, it arrived…

In mid-August – a mere THREE MONTHS after it was ordered.

Immediately, I called my mom to let her know, and thank her again.  She was relieved, but dismayed all over again that there wasn’t even a note of apology or anything included.

I also emailed Emily, of Blue Heron, asking what had happened, and if this was her standard business practice. 

She has lovely woodwork, and lots of customer testimonials on her site, so one would assume that this was for some reason unusual.  I hoped she would offer some explanation, and perhaps even offer my mom some compensation for the delay.

… but she never really responded to me, even after two attempts.

She sent one email to me, tersely saying that her prior emails had bounced, so would I please call her to discuss it.  Ummmm… If I got that email, then obviosuly things could get through, right?  I replied that I had no desire to burn my cell phone minutes, nor engage in what could become an emotional or stressful conversation.  I asked her again simply to let me know what had happened, and whether or not that was her standard level of customer service.

I never heard back.

So, just a warning not to do business with her unless you have too much money to spend and too much time on your hands.

Blue Heron Wood – YOU’RE FIRED.

 No link love for her, but if you want to go tell her you’re not buying from her, it’s ” blue heron woods .com ” without the spaces.

Grrr!

I have to “update” the post I was creating, before I even got it published! In the great tradition of such Internet scams, many of the websites fishing for “clients” for these products are changed regularly… Just so that we CAN’T pin them down and (a) get any resolution, or (b) warn others.

So I’ll continue, but be aware that the “feeder” websites may be different by now.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Internet is full of scams.

Yeah, no kidding.

But it does seem like they are becoming more and more subtle, trying to trip up even people who are aware of the scams that are out there.

Take a look at this “news story” advertised on Facebook about a woman working from home: http://www.themiamigazettenews.com/?c=us&l=red&id=malepari33.

They actually bought the domain name “The Miami Gazette News” for their pitch letter!

If you go to http://www.themiamigazettenews.com/, you see a similar story, but obviously targeting a different audience. Interestingly, they have the exact same “comments” (testimonials), and the declaration that comments have been closed due to spam.

The article touts the merits of a couple of online business programs, leaning heavily on the “Google” brand name. It says you can sign up for one for $1, and the other for $1.95.

Well, “Google Biz Kits” actually goes to a site called SpeedyPaycheck.com. “Google Cash Club” is www.CashSecretClub.com. Both of these list (in small print, on an obscure “Contact Us” link) the same corporate name and Las Vegas mailing address.

If I’d looked, I would have found plenty of warnings about them online…  Like the Yahoo Answers post, or this one from Reviewopedia.

But I had to know… In the name of research, I forked over $1.95 for each (the $1 was wrong, already!) and looked at what was offered.

• It was… Disorganized.
• It was… A bunch of common sense information about selling on eBay.
• It was… Discussing how to go into business for yourself placing people’s advertising links.
• It was, presumably, in the end, a route to get a franchise selling the same shtick to other people.

But then came the other shoe.

My bank called me and asked if I had authorized a charge for $81.23 to a company called “Internet Profit Center.”

Ummm, NO.

They actually cancelled the card that had been used for suspected fraud. It took me a while to track down the charge.

Interestingly, when I got their phone number off the bank website and called, the operator answered with this speech – all in one breath before I had a chance to speak. I admit I am not sure of the exact wording, but this is very close:

Thank you for calling (whatever business name she used), this is Elaine. You signed up for a seven-day free trial of our program online on June 2, and since you had not cancelled by June 9, your Visa card ending in **** was charged for the first month’s fee of $81.23. How can I help you?

Well, that answered most of my questions right there…

Except for the fact that I was not aware I was signing up for a “Free Trial” of a paid service. (And I cannot imagine what value they were providing on an ongoing basis – but that’s another issue).

Elaine assured me that it was all spelled out in the Terms and Conditions I had agreed to when I registered on the site (more on this later). She said she could certainly cancel my account, but that since the charge was valid it was not refundable.

As you might imagine, I asked to speak to a supervisor.

She refused!

Wow.

I was told that there is nobody there who does anything but cancel accounts, and for anything else I should use the Contact form on the website.

I did that, but haven’t heard back. Surprise, eh?

I called again, and this time the rep was (relatively) happy to let me speak to a supervisor.  Hmmm. 

The supervisor I spoke to was Anna Mendez (or that’s as close as I can gather, since she was not willing to spell or repeat it), and she took the hostility factor to a whole new level.

She insisted that it said I was signing up for a subscription in the Terms and Conditions. I explained that I had them in front of me, and that was not what it said.

When I offered to read the section to her, she said, “Go ahead and read it. I don’t care.”

She refused to read me the portion which allegedly stated something different, of course. Then she abruptly said Good-Bye.

Astounded, I asked if she was just going to hang up on me. “Yes,” she said. “This is a pointless conversation.”

I did call back and ask if another supervisor – or her supervisor – was available, but I was told that she was the only supervisor there. The representative suggested that I discuss it with corporate.

And the other one?

Second verse, same as the first…

A charge for $69.90 showed up on my credit card – my bank didn’t catch on to this one, for some reason.

I called and spoke to Laura, who – like Elaine, above - assured me that I had clicked the “I agree to the Terms and Conditions,” which clearly state… (blah, blah, blah). 

Her supervisor, Whitney, started right down the same path.  (At least they didn’t try to keep me from talking to a supervisor).

The crazy part?  What saved the day, apparently, was an unrelated crisis at work that caused said supervisor to utter an expletive.  I gasped and said “Excuse me?!”  She said it wasn’t directed at me and put me on hold.  She returned with an apology, an explanation that there was a crisis and she did not have time to review my information, and an offer to credit back the  full fee.

Whew.  Or something.

The Fine Print, Revealed!

Here’s the presumably relevant paragraph from the TERMS AND CONDITIONS link (which, surprise, surprise, is identical on both sites except for the amount):

By purchasing this product, you agree to adhere to the termination agreement as outlined on the order page, confirmation of order page, and confirmation email, which is that you, the buyer, are not entitled to a refund of the upfront cost of any shipping and handling that may or may not have been charged to you for delivery of said product. Furthermore, any free trials that may or may not be offered with this product are only free during the said allotted time of the free trial period as outlined within the product sales page, confirmation of order page, and confirmation email. If you have not cancelled the free bonus within the 7 day trial period (if offered on product purchasing), you are agreeing to purchase the bonus material and/or service at a monthly reoccurring cost. The resource center is billed at $68.21 monthly. This can be cancelled at anytime simply by calling 1-800-235-1364 or by calling the customer service number provided in the confirmation email and stating your desire to cancel said bonus material. However, in order to not be charged any future reoccurring cost, please give ample time (2 business days) to be cancelled out of any reoccurring billing system before the next scheduled charge to your account (this does not apply during any trial period). Not cancelling trial programs constitutes authorization, by you, the buyer, for any charges (as outlined) for the associated bonus service until your request to cancel has been received by our customer service staff. By not cancelling the bonus program during the trial period or prior to two days before a scheduled billing cycle, you agree that any reoccurring charges billed to you will be non-refundable. All products are shipped via USPS.

So, there are so many problems with this “agreement,” it’s hard to imagine anyone thinks it’s useful.

Let me start at the beginning and walk through a few of them.

• I’m agreeing “to adhere to the termination agreement as outlined on the order page, confirmation of order page, and confirmation email…”  Except that there is NO text of that sort on those web pages – and no confirmation email at all!  They contain only a link to this (Terms and Conditions) page.
• I’m therefore “not entitled to a refund of the upfront cost of any shipping and handling that may or may not have been charged to you for delivery of said product”.  There’s no “delivery,” as it is not mailed – only online.  And I’m willing to lose my $1.95 in the interest of research – THAT refund is not what’s at issue.
• Here’s where they begin to discuss the core of the matter:  “any free trials that may or may not be offered with this product are only free during the said allotted time of the free trial period as outlined within the product sales page, confirmation of order page, and confirmation email.”  Again, the sales pages say NOTHING about a Trial, and NOTHING about 7  Days.  (check it out here: https://ssl.encryptedprocessing.com/~stores/store/secure/195/).  And, also again, there was no confirmation email.
• Just to focus down, “any free trials that may or may not be offered with this product “.  This clearly states that the product I purchased for my $1.95 access fee is “THE PRODUCT,” and that anything on a 7 day trial is an ADDITIONAL product.  When, in truth, they now state that the $1.95 was for a 7 day trial of THE PRODUCT, and the recurring monthly fee is for continued access to THAT SAME PRODUCT.
• And again, to focus on another facet, “any free trials that may or may not be offered with this product “.  Again, this suggests that in addition to “this product,” there MIGHT be OTHER products which are offered as a free trial (and phone reps did refer to these possible “bonuses,” even though I never saw any).  Which logically also means that “this product” is NOT a free trial.
• And once more, ”any free trials that may or may not be offered with this product “.  If “this product” was itself a free trial as they contend, then for these additional products to be free trials it would need to say, “any OTHER free trials” or “any ADDITIONAL free trials.”
• And just for a bit of amusement – why does it discuss products being “shipped by USPS”, when all they offer is online information and nothing is ever shipped?

Okay, I could keep going…  But I hope you agree by now that (a) it doesn’t say what they claim it does, and (b) it would seem to be specifically written to snag people for that first month’s payment.

Score as of this writing:  Tiffany 1, Scams 1

I’ve sent a written complaint to the first company’s corporate headquarters, filed a complaint with the BBB, and disputed the charge with my bank.

Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion… 

You may recall my recent post in which I FIRED Tire Kingdom.

Well, things are moving on – and they’re more fired than ever!

I filed a complaint (directed to their corporate address) with the Better Business Bureau, and sent a letter with the same information to their Customer Service email address.

Astoundingly, I got the exact same form letter response through both venues. It said, in part:

Dear Customer:

We recently offered a promotion in which customers who made a qualifying tire purchase were given a certificate for a gasoline voucher program. Those certificates were provided by Tidewater Global Marketing. Unfortunately, Tidewater did not fulfill its obligations, and the Florida Attorney General shut down its operations.

Tire Kingdom takes great pride in customer service and satisfaction as well as in providing quality products. If you are a customer affected by Tidewater’s failures, we apologize for this inconvenience. We are providing alternative programs, and have retained a vendor that we are confident will meet our standards and your expectations. We offer two options:

Then it went on to explain the $100 prepaid Visa and $500 gas rebate promotions I detailed earlier – and the release you have to sign to get either one.

I had to laugh that they could have a fiasco like this happen, then blow off my complaint with a form letter, and still have the nerve to say

Yeah. Obviously.

Interestingly, yesterday I finally got a call back, from a harried-sounding woman in Marketing. “Ms. Jones” said that she is the only person there, and desperately trying to return the huge backlog of calles that this situation has generated. I got a call faster because I’m a squeaky wheel, it seems, but she is still on the queue from March calls – here almost at the end of April.

She had some interesting answers (and non-answers) for various issues:

1. The reason Tire Kingdom did not contact the affected parties to notify them of the situation and offer them the replacement options is… Tire Kingdom has no idea who the affected parties are!

Ms. Jones explained that Tidewater (the fulfillment company) had the database of registered customers, and it was never provided to Tire Kingdom. So when Tidewater went under, this information was simply lost.

Wait A Minute!

I qualified for this promotion by purchasing a specific product (“two or more Sumitomo tires”) from Tire Kingdom during a specific time period last Fall. If they actually cared, they could obviously go back through their sales receipts for that time period, and contact everyone who made that purchase.

Sure, it’s entirely possible that some of them would never have signed up with Tidewater… But do you care about the rest of us, or don’t you?

2. It was suggested to “them” that “they” offer us some additional compensation, but “they” decided not to.

Ms. Jones said that she certainly wished they had decided to authorize something like that, because it would have made her life a lot easier!

As to who “they” are, she said that was the Legal Department. When I said I wanted to escalate my complaint to them, she provided me with her email address, and said that she will forward to them my request for contact.

Then, presumably, I hold my breath for their speedy and satisfying response…

3. The gas rebate program isn’t as onerous as it seems (or is it?)

Ms. Jones said she wanted to “clear up some misconceptions” evidenced in my inquiry.

First, I was upset the I would have to “start over” with the 20 month ordeal of the gas rebate program.

She pointed out that I could select any starting month, including retroactively back to the time of my purchase.

My problem with this? I mailed my receipts to Tidewater, and they were not returned!

Ms. Jones assured me that I could submit copies of my credit card statements showing the purchases for those months. Still a pretty big hassle, to figure out what card was used, and of course 2008 is stored away already, and cost of copies…

PLUS I double-checked the form that I would be signing when I made the selection, and it says this:

Photocopies of gas receipts will be accepted for purchases prior to May 2009. Original gas receipts are required for gas purchased May 2009 and after.

That doesn’t say photocopies of charge card statements, but very specifically photocopies of gas receipts.

Sure, hindsight is 20/20 – I could have copied each batch of receipts before sending them off to Tidewater. I could also have sent it registered and insured mail, if you want to go further down that road. But it quickly bogs down a cost:benefit analysis for a $25 rebate.

Anyhow, is her word going to be enough guarantee for me? Especially after she’s spent the whole rest of the phone call lamenting her powerlessness?

4. They are handling the new rebate program themselves (or are they?)

Ms. Jones assured me that there was no danger of the new program being disrupted. Tire Kingdom is actually keeping control of everything “personally” this time, and only contracting out the paperwork through a direct-mail house.

Which is interesting, since the form letter they sent out said:

We are providing alternative programs, and have retained a vendor that we are confident will meet our standards and your expectations.

Hmmmm…

Not that it matters to me one way or another. It’s just distressing to feel like nobody there knows what’s going on, and/or nobody is giving me a straight answer.

In Conclusion…

I had several comments on my original post, and several private emails, from other victims of this situation.

Some people are wondering about the viability of a Class-Action Lawsuit.

It’s hard to believe Tire Kingdom would rather pay lawyers to defend something like that, than just throw us a bone.

Especially since, after all,

*giggle*

I’ve been piling up things on my desk that I want to review, but haven’t gotten up the time and energy to post about them.

Let’s clear the air with a quick and to-the-point look at some of my recent purchases:

Jelly Belly: Coldstone Ice Cream Parlor Mix

Jelly Belly is THE name in Jelly Beans, and Coldstone is a big favorite around here.  We were delighted to find this mix of five flavors blending two yummy brands.

It was, in a word, horrible.  Bleah.

We didn’t even eat them all, and in our house, that really says a lot…

Both of these fine companies should be ashamed to put their name on junk like that!

I had Grandma get everyone in the family their very own Klean Kanteen for Christmas. Nick’s is the giant 40 ouncer – good for marching band practices – in black. Wolf and I got the standard 27 ounce size in silver and green, respectively. Jewel got an 18 ounce pink. We even got a 12 ounce in copper for R.T.

It is so nice to be able to fill and refill our own bottles – saving money, saving the planet, etc., etc. They stay cold. They don’t get smashed flat. I even got a nice shoulder strap…

But how do you drink out of them? I, for one, simply cannot stand to drink from the metal bottle – it sets my teeth on edge so badly that I shudder even thinking about it.

Luckily, we thought, they make handy sport-tops!

Well… Klean Kanteen: A, Sport Top: C-. Here’s what we found:

• The sport top is tough to open and close. I’m willing to accept that, if it’s in the name of leak-prevention. But…
• If left on its side or upside-down (hey, in the car, it happens!), it leaks.
• They are rather delicate, considering. Nick has broken two already, and given up on them – he can stand to drink from the metal bottle, so it’s not horrible. The first time I wrote it off to either a defective top or an incautious boy. The second time I saw it happen, which leaves a statistically improbable defective second top, or a defectively-designed article.

I don’t know quite what to do. It hardly seems right to have to keep buying (and discarding) the plastic sport caps (financially or environmentally). Klean Kanteen, are you listening?

Proving once again that you really do get what you pay for…

I got a cuticle clipper from Rite Aid for Christmas. It doesn’t seem like it should make that much difference, so why spend $20 when you can get this one for $2.50, right?

Well, there is a little misshapen bit at the very tip of the blades. Grrrr…

There’s no Rite Aid around here – but even so, I think I’ll just spring for a good pair.

I bought Wolf this Cotton Candy machine for his birthday (November), since he (and now Jewel, too) adores cotton candy.

Shopping for it was tough. There are basically two classes of cotton candy machine out there: Party fun, and professional. The professional ones cost hundreds of dollars, the party variety (from reading reviews) seem to by and large be worthless junk.

This one is expensive for a party model, but also seemed better-liked.

But, no…

It was crappy. It produced about two strings of fluff, then seemed to get gunked up inside and stopped working. (We tried several times…)

I had ordered it early to be sure it arrived in time, and it took us a while to find time for a cotton candy making trial… So naturally by then the website where I bought it wouldn’t take it back or exchange it. (Some of the comments on Amazon led me to believe a replacement might haved worked just fine!).

So “Ira Wood & Sons, Inc.” is definately FIRED, along with the manufacturer of the Nostalgia line, “Englewood Marketing Group, Inc.”

I had also purchased a bunch of the floss sugar and other supplies, which is all now sitting around collecting dust. What a fiasco!

We have a longstanding tradition of buying everyone in the house an Old Navy Flag T-shirt for the 4th of July. I get styles and colors that suit the person (as much as that’s possible), and since it has the year on it, it’s a fun memento.

But the 2008 shirts were… Well… Cheap.

Yes, I know they’re $5 shirts, and have been for ages. But they’ve never been JUNK before now.

I’m okay with there being a limited selection of $5 shirts, and then other more expensive versions you may elect. I’m okay with the not-particularly-cheap shipping.

The whole idea, after all, is that by offering something cool and cheap, they entice me to shop with them when I otherwise wouldn’t. They gain my business with this “gimmick” – and it worked!

But if the shirts themselves are icky, we’re not going to buy them. Here are the problems we’ve found (and obviously by now we’ve had the chance to give them a thorough testing):

• Poor cut/design. The men’s shirts, at least, don’t seem to have the sleeves cut or set properly, and they bind in the armpit when you move. (We only have men’s adult shirts, as the “Women’s” options failed my modesty standards tests). The kids’ shirts have too small neck openings; stiff fabric doesn’t have any “give” to compensate.
• Poor fabric. Not soft; not comfy; no “give”. Nobody wants to wear a cardboard shirt!

When we were shopping last year, we noticed a number of other companies were doing similar shirts, but since we had the Old Navy tradition going we didn’t pay a lot of attention.

I seem to recall seeing flag shirts at Bass Pro and WalMart, among others. I’ll have to investigate this year, and see whose flag shirts include the year (which is an important factor for us, but many don’t include)…

Because Old Navy is FIRED.

I ordered a pair of HD Vision Wraparound sunglasses online after seeing a TV commercial.  I’m not typically an Infomercial shopper, but I have actually been looking for some sunglasses to fit over my prescription glasses for driving – regardless of the unavoidable “dorky” factor.

The order process was very confusing – and I don’t consider myself a stupid or gullible person.  There were multiple pop-ups, offering and/or explaining various “bonuses”: some that were free, some not; some which were mentioned on the commercial, some not; some I wasn’t sure I understood (was this an ADDITIONAL additional pair they were offering, or did I have to check there to get the “free additional pair” promised?).  And of course, no “back” button or clear summary (even on the payment screen!).  By the end I didn’t know which end was up!

After a LONG wait, they arrived. 

They are FLIMSY, POORLY DESIGNED and IMPROPERLY FITTING, and DO NOT WORK AS ADVERTISED.

I called the number on my credit card statement, and was referred to a different number. The address I was given for a return is different than the one on the invoice.  More confusion and misdirection?

The first representative I spoke to told me that $19.99 for the glasses and $6.99 for the warranty (I ordered a WARRANTY?!) would be refunded if I sent the glasses back, but not the shipping. 

And the shipping!  $12.98 is a truly usurious rate for shipping a tiny, light box containing sunglasses, no mater how you slice it.

I protested that I was not returning them because I changed my mind, or wanted to exchange them, but because they were MISREPRESENTED.  She didn’t understand, apparently, and she certainly didn’t care.

After being transferred to a “supervisor,” I was told that only the glasses cost would be refunded, not even the warranty! When I told her that the previous rep had agreed to refund the warranty, she conceded that she would put a note in the computer to do that – special, for me. 

But the shipping was nonrefundable.  Period.

Searching the Better Business Bureau database provided some very interesting insights.  Many, many complaints have been filed against this company, but few are seen in their official BBB Member profile.

Why?   Because most consumers used a product name. Among others, Idea Village is the purveyor of:

• Clever Clasp
• Spin Spa
• Finishing Touch / Micro Touch
• Handy Switch
• Purse Brite
• Laser Straight
• Pet Groom Pro
• Aqua Globes
• Strap Perfect
• Smooth Away

Further, there are a plethora of different addresses and phone numbers used on the website, marketing materials, and packaging.  Each different one used in a complaint leads that consumer to create a separate business record.

It could easily be construed that the entire system is set up as a scam.

They confuse you with the order process, then send you junk.  Most people return it, but the “shipping” fee is the true profit center, so that’s fine.

Complaints are spread out, so nobody notices how many there are…

So, buyer beware of Idea Village – in all their guises.

P.S.  The Better Business Bureau complaint did succeed in getting me a full refund, at least!

We purchased two Sumitomo tires from our local Tire Center store in Naranja, FL in November, in response to a promotion for $500 in free gas.

The free gas program, it turned out, was a long and convoluted process involving sending in $100 in receipts from a particular brand of gas to a third party processing company each month for 20 months for a $25 rebate – but we were willing to go through the hassle to claim it.

In December, January, and February I collected and sent in our receipts. By the time March rolled around, I decided to look into the status of our rebates, since December’s should have arrived by then.

The toll-free number and website for the rebate company were no longer in service, so I called Tire Kingdom Customer Service.  I learned that Tire Kingdom was aware that the company was out of business, and already had two replacement options in place:

• A $100 prepaid Visa card.
• A $500 gas rebate program, essentially identical to the original, but administered through a new company.

They have established a May 15th deadline to take advantage of these alternatives, yet they did nothing to notify the affected customers.

An important part of the selection of a replacement program option is signing a statement that includes this little tidbit:

(3) By agreeing to accept either the $500 in Visa Prepaid Cards or the $100 Visa Prepaid Card options, I forever waive and release any and all claims that I may have against Tire Kingdom and NTB, their directors, employees, agents, shareholders, affiliates, successors or assigns, in connection with or arising from the Tidewater Global Marketing Free Gas Redemption Program or any action of Tire Kingdom and NTB in soliciting, marketing, advertising, or otherwise making available the Tidewater Global Marketing Free Gas Redemption Program. This release covers, without limitation, any damages, liability, costs, fines, penalties, attorneys’ fees and expenses whatsoever that may have arisen directly or indirectly out of my acceptance of and participation in the Tidewater Free Gas Redemption Program.

WARNING: BY SIGNING THIS AGREEMENT, YOU ARE GIVING UP ANY RIGHTS THAT YOU MAY HAVE AGAINST TIRE KINGDOM AND/OR NTB IN CONNECTION WITH THE TIDEWATER GLOBAL MARKETING FREE GAS REDEMPTION PROGRAM.

Well… I’m not at all sure that’s okay with me.

In December, January, February, and March, I shopped exclusively at the gas station tied to my gas program, regardless of inconvenience, in order to meet the qualifications each month.  I saved my receipts.  I kept track of their vouchers.  And, except for March, I used my envelope and stamp to mail them in.

Now Tire Kingdom expects me to start all over again?  As though 20 months wasn’t long enough to begin with?  And without even a decent apology, never mind compensation, for the time and money I’ve invested in this?

So, as I was saying, I discussed this with a Customer Service representative, who was apologetic but unable to offer any help – or even useful information.  (He said, “The form is on the website.”  Where?  “I don’t know, we don’t have access to the website from here.”)

I asked to speak to a supervisor.  She was similarly unable to help, but assured me that she would email a request to Corporate that I receive an immediate callback from someone regarding my concerns. 

I sent a similar message to the customer service email listed on the website.

Two weeks later, and I have not heard back from them.

If I take their alternate offer, I submit to the hassle, and give up my rights.  If I don’t, the deadline passes and they say I have no rights anyway.  Pretty handy setup that…

We still need to replace the other two tires on the truck – but you can be sure it will be done elsewhere.

I’m a prisoner!  But at least I’m going to tell you about it…

I got a letter in the mail from Verizon offering me a credit equal to a month’s service, if I was willing to renew my Wireless Broadband account contract for another two years.

Since we are not at all certain where life will take us at any given time, I feel like keeping that service is prudent even during the times like this when we are in a house for a period of time.  So I called and accepted. 

While she had me on the phone, the rep mentioned that my “device” (phone on a regular account, but modem on this one) was eligible for an upgrade under their “New Every Two” program.  We discussed it, and I went to their website to shop for a new device.

After picking out a very cute little USB modem – much handier than the card I had been using – I started through the checkout process.  I ran into trouble quickly:  It asked me to pick a service plan, and I didn’t like any of the choices it offered me!

It seems that they no longer offer the plan that I am on – including unlimited usage.  I am able to remain “grandfathered” on it, but any change would have to be to one of their current offerings – more money for fewer megabytes.

I called the phone center back.  The rep I spoke to told me to go ahead and go through the process and pick the plan that was priced the same as mine, and that she would then submit a request to have me transferred back to my old plan.

Trusting in this (silly me!), I went through the checkout process right then while we were talking, and she put through the request…

A few days later, I received the modem.  A few days after that, I decided to check online and make sure that the pricing plan had been switched back. 

Which, as you probably guessed, it had not.

I called Customer Service again, and spoke to a very helpful young man.  After reading the notes on the file and doing some checking, he explained the situation to me: 

What needed to happen was that a “Request for an Obsolete Pricing Plan” had to be submitted to management.  Once that was okayed, they could transfer me back to my plan.  He said he would take care of this, and assured me that he would call me back within a week with confirmation that it had been done.

Just to be on the safe side, I asked for his name again, and he gladly gave me his first and last name, extension number, and so forth.

This, naturally, produced a false sense of security.

After a week had gone by with no callback (surely you saw that coming), I called them. 

It turns out that you can only be assisted by whoever answers your call – they cannot transfer you to another rep, making his “extension number” and all of that just so much fluff.

So the new rep spent even longer reading through the notes on the account, and then again going through doing research and talking to supervisors.

After all that, she told me the exact same thing as the previous young man, right down to calling me back.

This time I didn’t believe a word of it, but I didn’t have a lot of choice in the matter, either…

Each time I called – and oh, yes, there were many more times! – it took longer, since each time a brand new person had to read through the ever-increasing volume of notes on the account, try to figure out what had happened, and try to determine the solution from scratch.

The whole time on hold (it got up to over an hour this last time) I listen to their recording, which has some messages that absoulately made me grind my teeth after a while.

My favorite went like this

Here at Verizon Wireless, when you call with a problem, it becomes our problem.  We take ownership, and will do everything possible to get your probem resolved the first time you call.

HA.

Sometime in the middle of all this, I got a bill…  with a $200 data usage fee.  That was one of the times I talked to a supervisor.

To his credit, he waived the fee without question, and put a “sticky note” that pops up on the account advising the rep to credit the fees next month when I call. 

To his shame, he, too, promised not only to fix the problem but absolutely to call me back…  And never did.  Either one.

I laughed during one of the calls, when the person reading through the notes said that somewhere along the way one of them had put in a note that they tried to call me but got “no answer and no voicemail.”

The rep didn’t seem to get how funny that was, even when I explained several different ways the concept that they (Verizon) were calling my Verizon cell phone, so that obviously if they didn’t reach me they would have had to get the voicemail - so that clearly the whole thing was a made-up sham to cover their rear…

My original problem started before the end of 2008.  I believe it is actually just now resolved, some eight weeks or more later.

I will probably still have to call and get the next bill adjusted when it arrives, but hopefully that will not be a problem after all this.

And of course the last rep (another manager) never did call me back, either – but at least she apparently got the job done.

It does mean I’m stuck with them for two years.  But I feel trapped, as I said at the outset.  

I don’t feel like there are any competitive options for the Internet service (now that I have my plan back), and I’m trapped on their phone service, too, between the free “In-Network” calling to people who matter, and the truth of their “It’s the Network” advertising, giving us coverage everywhere we go…

So they’re not exactly fired…  

For now…

I’m a big fan of free stuff…  And when the new photo sharing and printing site Hoorray was launchd, they ran a bunch of offers for a Free Photo Book.

I sorted and uploaded my photos from 2007.  I’m a little behind with getting albums done, but that seemed like a good year to start with – our RV travels.

Their site seems to run slow.  You can never be sure what’s what, though, so I plowed ahead.  I spent, naturally, quite some time selecting photos, choosing layouts, cropping, captioning…  All the way through those first default 20 pages. 

Twenty pages later I was at…  May.  Jewel’s birthday.  Ah, well, I knew this was coming.

So I moved my mouse pointer over to the “Add Pages” button… and… nothing happened.  It was greyed out and not working.

I emailed Customer Service.  They have Live Chat button, but it always seems to say that they are “not available right now…” and their phone number always says to leave a message.  Obviously resolving these issues is not urgent for them.

I went around and around with the Customer Service representative in email.

He offered me a free product.

I asked what good that did, since the whole problem is that he couldn’t give me the product I want.

I waited a while, hoping it would get fixed in the normal course of events involved in rolling out a new website.

Weeks later nothing seemed to be done, so I emailed again.  I sent it from the same thread as the previous conversation, so the entire thing was quoted within the new email.

The response I got:

Dear Customer,
 
We apologize when you are trying to add more then 20 pages what message are you receiving?  Please give us more details if you can send us screen shots on the error message.

Ummmm…  Yeah. 

I decided on Plan B.  I wrapped up that section of the album at 20 pages, and figured I’d do a Volume I and a Volume II for 2007.  Pretty clever of me, I thought.

I went through the checkout process, and it kept prompting me with upsell choices. 

Do you want the Leather Cover instead of the standard?  It’s only $2.50 more (regularly $5)… 

Do you want to upgrade to the Preimium Size?  It’s 50% bigger, and it only costs $5 more (regularly $10)…

Somehow, one of the times through the lag  got me, and I clicked to upgrade the size.  The system dumped me back into the book creation area, warning that this book was a different proportion, so I had to check through and adjust everything!

I didn’t want to.  At all.  But I was TRAPPED!

There was no way to “undo,” no way to select the other size, and no way to abort.  In desperation, I finally did go through every photo and adjust…

And, of course, when I got to checkout it was showing a $40 price tag for the new book.  No way to add a coupon cde.  No way to get back to the smaller size.  Nothing.

Customer Service won’t even respond to me now.

You know what?

Hooray – You’re Fired!

I’d rather pay $30 to Shutterfly – where it actually is fast, easy and reliable!

After I fired drugstore.com a while back, I emailed their Customer Service department with a link to the post (as I typically do).

Interestingly, they wrote me back, indicating that they had refunded my purchase price for the items in question.

I’m delighted to have gotten my money back…  But unfortunately, they’re still fired.

The policies haven’t changed, after all.  If I shop there again, I’d just get frustrated again.