Apr. 9th, 2011 | 02:31 am
Man, groceries are really getting expensive. I was roaming up and down the aisles the other night, feeling like I was shopping in the twilight zone. Watermelons for the bargain price of 11.99. You have GOT to be kidding me, off-season or not, you'll never see me forking over that kind of money for fruit. (I'd sooner succumb to scurvy) Baking potatoes (my favourite "quick" dinner with sour cream/butter and fresh chives) 1.69 a pound. Last year, they were .69 cents. Every company seems to have employed the trick of smaller package, same price. Do they think that eagle-eyed consumers don't notice this stuff? Get real. The Rubbermaid jug I spent too much money on, leaks like a seive so I called up the company, their first response? "That model is obselete". Yes, and we know why don't we? After some initial hesitation, they are sending me a coupon in the mail to pony up for a new one. Good call. There's nothing I like more than letting a company know when I'm unhappy. If you are going to force me to pay top dollar for any given product, you'd better be prepared to back it up.
A couple of years ago, my Epson printer just stopped printing. It would go through the motions but no ink would come out. I spent eighty-five dollars on new printer cartridges only to find out later, that it still wouldn't print. I quickly goggled "Epson printer won't print" and discovered thirty-five people had the same issue with this particular model. I was furious. I don't have eighty-five dollars to waste on anything if it doesn't work. I couldn't take the cartridges back so I did the next best thing, I hand-wrote a letter telling them that I knew that LOTS of people were having this same issue and that I would make sure that everyone in my general vicinity would hear about it at the first opportunity. Imagine my shock when I received a phone call from the promotions director saying that they were shipping out a new printer immediately.
I asked the promotions person if they were aware of the printer's well documented issues and she said "No, that would be up to our technical department." I didn't believe her. Nobody hands over a high-ticket item for nothing if they aren't up to speed on possible defects.
I never bought another Epson product again. Good will or not, a crap product is a crap product. Do me a favour, don't try to pull the wool over my eyes because when it comes to my money, I will always look for value and expect quality in return. If you can't deliver, I'll find somebody who will. That's what sale flyers (and product review sites) are for. You can take those potatoes to the bank.
Just a little food for thought.
A couple of years ago, my Epson printer just stopped printing. It would go through the motions but no ink would come out. I spent eighty-five dollars on new printer cartridges only to find out later, that it still wouldn't print. I quickly goggled "Epson printer won't print" and discovered thirty-five people had the same issue with this particular model. I was furious. I don't have eighty-five dollars to waste on anything if it doesn't work. I couldn't take the cartridges back so I did the next best thing, I hand-wrote a letter telling them that I knew that LOTS of people were having this same issue and that I would make sure that everyone in my general vicinity would hear about it at the first opportunity. Imagine my shock when I received a phone call from the promotions director saying that they were shipping out a new printer immediately.
I asked the promotions person if they were aware of the printer's well documented issues and she said "No, that would be up to our technical department." I didn't believe her. Nobody hands over a high-ticket item for nothing if they aren't up to speed on possible defects.
I never bought another Epson product again. Good will or not, a crap product is a crap product. Do me a favour, don't try to pull the wool over my eyes because when it comes to my money, I will always look for value and expect quality in return. If you can't deliver, I'll find somebody who will. That's what sale flyers (and product review sites) are for. You can take those potatoes to the bank.
Just a little food for thought.
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Garbage picking and prize winning, apparently they go hand in hand...
Apr. 9th, 2011 | 06:15 pm
So, last week I noticed that my local newspaper was running a contest for Stars on Ice tickets. Not long ago, I would have been hoarding those tickets for myself (I ALWAYS wanted to go to this type of show as a kid) I have since been to two of these "productions" and I have to tell you, I was bitterly disappointed by both. The "dance" numbers were amateurish (five skaters couldn't stay in synch) and several numbers were given "do-over" status because there were too many mistakes not to re-shoot them for the television broadcast. Seriously, by the end of the performance, I was over the whole "magic." (This probably had something to do with me being stuck in some very uncomfortable seats during the show and not being too happy about sitting there for another hour while the skaters "cleaned up" their performances. Believe me, it is anything but glamourous. But some people are really into the "glitz" of it all, so that makes it a good seller.
I'm two months away from a very expensive trip, so when I saw the online entry I tried to jump on it, tried being the operative word. No matter how many times I went back to the site, the contest entry form just wasn't coming up. The "Rules and Regulations" were there, but no entry form would open. The start-date for the contest came and went, still no working entry. I emailed people, I asked around. FINALLY, I went back to the site and re-read the rules. The entry form was IN the paper, DUH. Mystery solved.
Now, I have a neighbour that has told me the only thing she reads in her paper, is the classifieds and the obituaries (cheery I know, she is all of thirty-five) so let's just say there are days when I "borrow" her paper for entry forms. Well, imagine my surprise when there was no ballot in today's paper. (The contest Gods were clearly trying to tell me something) I actually knocked on her door for the previous day's paper and voila! An entry!
So, knowing it's a paper entry, I know few people will bother, and they are giving away multiple sets of tickets, so I decide to send off a few. How hard can it be to go down to the recycling bins and grab a few papers? Well, like the rest of this adventure, it proved to be harder than it should have been. Our recycling bins are HUGE and the lids don't stay up when you raise them, so, while trying to sort through used (and abused) papers, the lid is falling on my hand, and honestly I'm having trouble reaching anything. (I'm way too short for my own good) Add to that, I'm trying to keep an eye on the back door so I can see how many neighbours are streaming out to watch me garbage pick on what is a glorious, Spring day. So, after about fifteen minutes, I give up. I couldn't reach in far enough to sort through much of anything, and frankly, I was over it by this point. No worries, Monday is a new day with (likely) a new entry. They may THINK they kept me from those entry forms but I'm just moving the fight indoors.
Nope. "Stars on Ice" isn't all glitz and glam and neither is the road to get there. A lot goes on behind the scenes, and some of it my neighbours don't need to know, it's just plain garbage! :-)
I'm two months away from a very expensive trip, so when I saw the online entry I tried to jump on it, tried being the operative word. No matter how many times I went back to the site, the contest entry form just wasn't coming up. The "Rules and Regulations" were there, but no entry form would open. The start-date for the contest came and went, still no working entry. I emailed people, I asked around. FINALLY, I went back to the site and re-read the rules. The entry form was IN the paper, DUH. Mystery solved.
Now, I have a neighbour that has told me the only thing she reads in her paper, is the classifieds and the obituaries (cheery I know, she is all of thirty-five) so let's just say there are days when I "borrow" her paper for entry forms. Well, imagine my surprise when there was no ballot in today's paper. (The contest Gods were clearly trying to tell me something) I actually knocked on her door for the previous day's paper and voila! An entry!
So, knowing it's a paper entry, I know few people will bother, and they are giving away multiple sets of tickets, so I decide to send off a few. How hard can it be to go down to the recycling bins and grab a few papers? Well, like the rest of this adventure, it proved to be harder than it should have been. Our recycling bins are HUGE and the lids don't stay up when you raise them, so, while trying to sort through used (and abused) papers, the lid is falling on my hand, and honestly I'm having trouble reaching anything. (I'm way too short for my own good) Add to that, I'm trying to keep an eye on the back door so I can see how many neighbours are streaming out to watch me garbage pick on what is a glorious, Spring day. So, after about fifteen minutes, I give up. I couldn't reach in far enough to sort through much of anything, and frankly, I was over it by this point. No worries, Monday is a new day with (likely) a new entry. They may THINK they kept me from those entry forms but I'm just moving the fight indoors.
Nope. "Stars on Ice" isn't all glitz and glam and neither is the road to get there. A lot goes on behind the scenes, and some of it my neighbours don't need to know, it's just plain garbage! :-)
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