Banfield Pet Hospital Fear Campaign: Bad Business

My SO and I had the unique pleasure about a year ago to have a little kitty walk right out of the woods behind our house, crying and in need of a home.

After doing some research, we took her to Banfield (inside our PetSmart) and snagged the Optimum Wellness Plan. The OWP is basically a way to spread out your payments on things like a spaying and front declaw, any other necessities that might come from a new cat directly from the woods, with the bonus of discounted prescriptions and 100% free regular visits ("Our cat is doing this, can you have a look?")

 It's not a bad plan, and for the first year, it was exceptional. It still is, I guess. I just made the call to cancel after the first year because they will auto-renew and lock you into a new year if you even bump into that renewal date.

All good though: they did what they said they'd do, our cat is happy and healthy, and we now have more time to look at local options.

 And then this came:

 
(identifying items have been removed)

 Apparently, our super-healthy cat that has dental disease. Did I get even the slightest notification at my last visit? Nope. Is there any indication I can see? Nope. Is animal teeth-cleaning expensive? Yep. Is it recommended by Banfield every year? Yep. Could I possibly, somehow, I don't know ...UPDGRADE my OWP to take into consideration this very expensive and necessary procedure? You bet!

I understand this is marketing, but this is one of the most awful examples I have seen when it comes to pet marketing. I have time on my plan before a cancellation is necessary and was even considering running the numbers on continuing it. But this in my mailbox made me downright angry and prompted me to shut it down without question.

 So, Banfield Pet Hospital, you get a Bad Business award. You appeal to fear and emotion and use our pets to do so. That's incredibly low.

Bad Business: Royal Shredder: VF1012MX - Plastic Gears?

About seven months ago, Mrs. Shambles and I purchased a Royal brand multi-shredder (VF1012mx) because we were long overdue for a decent shredder.



Brilliant! It was really a nice shredder. It was on casters, for one, but it had dedicated slots for credit cards and CDs. Up to 12 sheets of shredding. Woohoo!

And then, last month, after moderate usage, we got lots of the whirring, not so much of the shredding. Oh, man!

In order to figure out what the hell was going on, I was required to do some minor surgery. And what I found? Not so happy. It turns out that one of the major gears of the assembly, one in touch with a bunch of metal gears, was plastic.



FAIL.

So I did my research on the Royal Shredder VF1012mx and found that the failure of VF1012MX-08 Gear #2 (that plastic bugger) was the focus of abundant complaint. Not only that, but I could call their 1-800 number and get another gear.

And then I did call Royal's 1-800 number, and I found out a few things:

• The cost for me to purchase a new gear? $2.60
• Shipping and Handling? $4.00
• And because this dang thing is probably failing above projections, it's going to be 6 weeks on back-order.

I don't have a problem if a company puts something together and - oops! - they calculated something wrong or forgot to test something. But this is fraud. You don't design a gear assembly that is purposed to abuse and high torque and then make one of those main load gears out of plastic - unless you think the fail would be a cash cow in replacing $0.40 gears for $6.60.

And then what? I spend the $6.60 and *hope* *fingers crossed* that my mid-level mechanical savvy will be able to disassemble a gear assembly, replace a gear, and put Humpty Dumpty back together again?

And then what? In about 6 months, I get to do it all over again.

BAD BUSINESS to Royal Shredder VF1012mx. DO NOT WANT. They should've made it correctly the first time.

Bad Organization: US Census

If you read my other blog, I'm no "The US Census is the Devil!" Glenn Beck supporter. In fact, I was looking forward to the census. Unfortunately, we live in a very active household where we get lots of junk mail and - long story short - the census form made its way into a trash or shred pile at some point.

Two weeks ago, I received a visit from a census worker. I expressed my willingness to complete the form and camaraderie with her cause and function. But I was about to get a call from a client and was shooing the dog from the door and didn't have the time or fortitude to fill it out on my front porch. I asked her if I could just fill it out, explaining the situation, and she said no. However, she informed me we could do it over the phone. Sold! "I'll call you tomorrow after 1pm," she said.

And that was 2 weeks ago.

I don't have her number, so I can't call her to complete it. She has never called me back. So I called the only number I could find: The US Government.

The gentleman on the phone explained that he could not just send me another form. He kept reiterating that the woman should've called me back and was surprised that I didn't have her number, as though I should have anticipated her failure to do her job. He said he'd take my information, but was worried about her contacting me afterwords. He mentioned not being counted twice if we did that and she called (oddly, my least worry at this point).

I suggested I'd wait for her to contact me for another week and if not, call back.


The Right is all a-flutter about how filling out the census is an invasion of privacy. We actually want to fill it out. Why isn't there a standard "If you lose it, we'll give you another one" policy? People are f'ing busy these days. Things fall through the cracks. Why the supposed protocol on an obviously badly-planned system?

I'm calling Bad Business on the US Government for the census. There's enough negative publicity coming from audible conspiracy theorists. The last thing you need is busy, working people who misplaced a piece of paper to turn against you too.

Adidas: Shitty Shoes

Got a pair of great shoes at JC Penney about a month ago. I work at home and do not wear them every day, not even every other day, and when I do, it's for short periods of time.

So imagine my surprise when I was slowly becoming aware of the rapid creation of noticeable rips on the sides of the shoes.



At first I thought it was a gimmick, a purposeful flaw that slowly helped the shoes develop even more character as they aged. But it was happening so fast and inside the rip was not a canvas cover, but soft padding and beyond that, my foot.

So I get to take the trip back to the store to get my money returned to me, which is a shame because the shoes are very comfortable. If you have the choice, don't invest in these shoes.

New Blog Angle: All Business, Good and Bad

I've changed the title of this blog to All Business, Good & Bad.

I'm going to continue reporting poor customer service as well as a lineup I have of excellent experiences.

Things to look forward to: piss poor Adidas shoes, fantastic Cincinnati pork sandwiches, P.F. Chang's deliciousness, a local men's salon that is amazing, and leaving my credit card at Arby's.

Simply, too much good for the bad to be the sole part of the blog title.

If you have any suggestions for a better title, I'd be happy to entertain it. Help me out here.

As I promised and - apparently - lied about last time: more posts, more good business.

FTD and Local Florist: Valentine's Violation

For the first and last time I've used FTD to send Mrs. Shambles flowers. The level of inconvenience that exists is thus: on a busy day like Valentine's Day, FTD is the only party supposedly in contact with the florist. Mrs. Shambles goes to work very early and therefore leaves work early, and there was no way for me to contact the florist. Which brings us to lesson one:

Always order locally whenever possible, in whatever endeavor. It's one of those things I generally try to do, but was seduced by the ease of a central online ordering system. But, meh, that's my own fault.

Here's the arrangement I ordered for my wife:



Yay, how pretty! And Mrs. Shambles' favorites: daisies!

Please note: by balance, this should include 3 large, pink Gerber dasies, about 12 white daisies, at least 6 roses, and a handful of red carnations.

Here's what Mrs. Shambles received for Valentine's Day when she got to work this morning:



Please note: a single, wilting Gerber daisy and a couple of weak carnations. No white dasies. No roses. Lots of filler.

I'm calling to get my money back. Mrs. Shambles used to be a florist and even she says this is a big box of suck: not what I ordered and certainly not a reasonably adequate substitute.

Bad Business to FTD and Jack Herb Florist.

UPDATE: I've spoken to FTD and the Southern CSR was very nice and calm, and when I explained the discrepancy between what I ordered and what was delivered, was very disappointed. They will be contacting Jack Herb Florist and I should hear back soon.

UPDATE II: I got the refund, which was lovely. We also got a coupon from Jack Herb Florist for more flowers.

The sad ending to this debacle is that Jack Herb Florist - and other florists - will always do what they did: accepting orders from FTD even after they can actually fulfill the orders. Why? They are rarely called on it. A woman receiving a bouquet will generally not say to the sender "It doesn't look like you got the flowers you paid for." Sender is happy for ordering the flowers; Receiver is happy for getting flowers; Florist gets the money and satisfaction of successfully ripping you off.

Call them on it.

Affordable Muffler Scam Game

Today we're discussing:

Affordable Muffler Inc
13130 Lorain Ave
Cleveland, OH 44111

Two years ago, we had a bad catalytic converter in the '99 CRV and had it replaced with an aftermarket piece. Peace of mind? The owner's signature under the handwritten words "5 year warranty."

A while back we had a rattle and soon after a check light and had it checked out: catalytic converter failure (the rattle was a piece of the converter dancing around in the tailpipe). Since we can't just drop everything and drive into Cleveland at a moment's notice, it took some time to get up there. Three weeks ago I took it back to Affordable Muffler with the original, hand-signed receipt. Mr. Owner's response? The converter has melted down and his warranty does not cover meltdown. It's running too rich; take it to a dealership and get the engine fixed, but no free converter either way.

So we took it to a Honda dealership with all the pomp and circumstance that that entails and they said exactly what we knew: the converter sucks, is falling apart, and there is absolutely nothing else wrong with the engine - no rich, no lean, no problem.

Then we returned to Cleveland with this dealership-endorsed revelation and the man in charge at Affordable Muffler was stone-faced: It's melted down; my warranty does not cover meltdown. Seeing as the warranty was a signature on a piece of paper, how were we to know? "I'm telling you right now," he stated rather gruffly.

If there's nothing wrong with the engine, then the failure of the catalytic converter is the cause in and of itself of any further fall-apart or meltdown, since a check engine light switches up the programming and dumps extra fuel which could cause extra heat. But the converter is and was the only thing wrong. Besides that, a catalytic converter should certainly not fail in only two years.

Affordable Muffler, you win a Bad Business Award for providing
poor quality parts, shady service, and a warranty on whatever terms you decide at the time. For shame.

HMS Home Warranty: How to Cook a Client

How are you? Sorry I haven't been here like I promised. I'll make it up to you - I know, I know, but Daddy's been busy with a new house and all; just sing the Wal-Mart is the Devil song...

This is another one filed under "Here's an example, but use it as a warning for all industry" (see banks, credit cards, cell phone providers).


Note: In the following account, Sibcy Cline Realtors and Fast Fixes Home Services are mentioned, but they are exemplary of quality customer service. Only HMS Home Warranty has the certificate to lick the sweat off my ....

I'm sweating my ass off right now. Really. The rivulets are having a "Clothes Soaking Party" on my shirt and in my pants. And HMS Home Warranty is letting this happen.

As some readers know, I moved to the lovely city of Cincinnati last month. I love the town. I love the house: it's 60 years old or so, plenty of character, and a good home warranty should anything go bad. The home warranty was purchased from HMS Home Warranty (Homesure Services, Inc.).

The tale: Thursday afternoon, our central air wasn't central airing the way it should. By the evening, the thermostat was set at 72F, but the temperature was 81F. The next morning, the situation had not improved, so it was time to call HMS. I get up before 6am so I made the call and the claim was taken in, totally automated. I got a phone number and left a message on an answering machine that said "Due to the immense number of repair calls...." Danger Will Robinson: That's not a good sign.

On Friday, Cincinnati was hot, pushing 90's, humidity flourishing, and it was not comfortable. As a home worker, it sucked. A couple hours into the day, I called HMS again to make sure something was going on. I asked for another provider. And through another phone call (explaining that I really needed something done because the weekend was approaching - when most services would be unreachable) and a couple hours later, I actually got them to call a service company to come out Fast Fixes. The service provider said: I've got good news and bad news. Good news: you'll save some electricity this weekend. Bad news: your condenser's shot.

Since I was not expecting much movement on the weekend, I let Friday disappear, Saturday sweat, and Sunday singe.

Monday morning I called (gist only)

Me: So, what's going on?
HMSHW: Oh, we've got the information...
Me: Okay
HMSHW: It's going to take some time
Me: Can you expedite it?
HMSHW: We'll expedite it. It may take up to 24 hours.
Me: Huh? You realize there's a heat warning out.
HMSHW: It's hot everywhere, sir.
Me: I have a daughter and wife and myself who can't sleep for sweat and animals who are miserable if not in danger.
HMSHW: We understand.

I'd love to go through blockquote conversations for the whole process, but heat makes me impatient, so I'm going to bullet it.

• Monday
  - Call 2: What's going on? "It's not through purchasing yet." Make it so. "We'll do what we can." I need to talk to someone else. "Someone else" (Chuck) says he'll take care of it.
  - Callback: What's going on? "You're OK'd for a replacement, but Fast Fixes gave us information, we're trying to verify it, doing research, and it doesn't match exactly. They'll have to come out again."


• Monday - Fast Fixes comes out again at 5pm, looks at the unit, verifies their previous information.


• Tuesday
  - 5:30am to HMSHW: What's going on? "They never called us back." Fine.
  - 6am to Fast Fixes: What's going on? No one called. "We called them as soon as we were done, specifically had to call someone back, left Chuck a voicemail."
  (Note: Chuck gets off at 5.)
  - 6:30am to HMSHW: They called you, left a message with Chuck. "We can't access Chuck's voicemail, but we'll put a note in to Chuck so he'll call you back."
  - 9:30am to HMSHW: What's up with Chuck? "I can't actually reach him, but I'll put in a note to have a supervisor call you in the next 2-4 hours"
  - 12:00pm to HMSHW: What's up with Chuck? "You were told..." No, I need this resolved. (hold) "He's just cleared his voicemail and is now working on your claim."
  - 2:30pm to HMSHW: What's up with Chuck? "He's still working on your claim." I need to speak to him. and...voicemail.
  - 3:00pm to HMSHW: "Chuck doesn't speak to homeowners." WTF?
  - 3:30pm I got the number and called the Sibcy Cline rep at HMSHW and she was aghast, said she'd help.
  - 4:50pm called the rep again and she said she couldn't access the file because it was locked. But it's been worked on since noon! Again, aghast.
  - 5:05 to HMSHW: Need to speak to a supervisor. "I can't locate a supervisor." Then try again. Put me on hold. And if it takes ten minutes, I'll call back and we'll do it all over again. "Chuck's finishing it up." Not good enough. I want a supervisor. Super: "We're doing things as quickly as possible...blah blah bullshit bullshit." Can you have the service company call me today? "Yes." Then that'll have to do.

And that's where we're at.

Bug bug bug until you hear something satisfactory, because right now I have to tell my daughter why she's going to have to sweat through the evening again, probably not get so much sleep.

Pain on them.

For the record, Fast Fixes and Sibcy Cline have been nothing but wonderful in the process. HMSHW is the devil.

Updates, official complaints, and responses will follow. But right now, I'm too sweaty, to angry to continue.

Seafood + China = WTF?

I'm a little late on this one, but here we go, from WorldNetDaily:

According to a new report by Food & Water Watch, the aquaculture industry crams fish and shellfish into facilities to maximize production, generating large amounts of waste, contaminating water and spreading disease if left untreated. The industry tries to control the spread of bacterial infections, disease and parasites by pumping the food supplies with antibiotics and the waters with fungicides and pesticides.

Jesus, man. Ewww, gross! Anything and everything that makes me shiver about eating things I am unaware of eating is manifest in this article. Now, I have never gotten my seafood (or any food) from Wal-Mart, but knowing Wal-Mart eats up 10% of all China's exports, that's one more reason to demonize the disease of a chain.

China is questionable as a world power. Wal-Mart is a known consumer cancer. They both need to be deflected from their current trajectories.

TGI Friday's Menu/Portion Shenanigans

Monday evening, my family and I went out to TGI Friday's, the Cincinnati/Hyde Park, OH location. The food was excellent and the Guinness (although somewhat flat) was $2 for some 12-14 ounces. Delicious.

Let's let the complaint letter do the talking:

While we usually have a very pleasant experience at TGI Friday's, this past Monday my wife, daughter, and I were quite disappointed in both a menu issue and how it was handled. My wife ordered the Cajun Shrimp and Pasta, pointing to the menu entry on the page with the salads. That entry was listed at $8.99. When the bill came, the meal was listed at $12.99. When questioned about the discrepancy, our waitress simply said "Well, I didn't know you wanted that size." We did not speak with the manager because this is a national/menu issue as well as one of poor service.

I appreciate that you are trying to help America get over its need for absurd portion sizes with your "Right Size" options, but from this angle, it looks more like a gimmick. The same food at different portions (and costs) appears on different pages. When ordering, the waitress did not even pause to ask which size was being ordered. And when we questioned her, the correct answer: "I apologize; allow me to correct that because I forgot to ask which size you wanted," did not even pass through her mind. Is this how you train your staff?

This is not a new game where a restaurant might get confused on how this new-fangled idea of smaller food might work: Both Applebee's and Olive Garden offer half and full portions, listed on the same page, and their servers always ask. Friday's has executed in a way that can only appear manipulative.

Aside from the menu and service issues, you also have a problem on your website. On this contact sheet, I cannot click ANY of the required fields to enter information. If I did not have the web savvy to tab through all the fields until it cycled through the browser and back to the page, I would not have been able to send this email. But, when combined with the above issues, one must question whether or not this is simply a purposeful deception.

If you so desire, you may view a copy of this communication at http://poorshowing.blogspot.com/2007/06/tgi-fridays-menuportion-shenanigans.html along with any updates or responses I might receive from you.

Thank you for your time,
Ricky Shambles

We were horribly disappointed and the intertubes trickery only compounded it. Luckily, with a new town we have much more to experience and explore than the regular chain restaurants. While comforting at some level, the ability to get the same food the same way wherever you go stinks of mundaneness. Where's the adventure in that?

As always, updates from corporate will be posted here.

6/14 UPDATE:
I just received a call from TGI Friday's Corporate! The woman on the phone didn't really introduce herself, but said she was from Corporate and wanted to address the email I sent into the company. I went over the story again, clarifying that it was the organization of the menu compounded with the misunderstanding and inaction of the server that made it a poor experience. She apologized, making sure that I understood that that was not the way the server should have handled the situation and wishing a manager had been brought in to correct it. She also wanted to make sure that the food was in good order: it was fine. Wait, no: It was up to the quality that we've come to expect while dining at TGI Friday's.

She said that they are going to send a letter of apology along with vouchers that can be used at any of their locations, as well as pass the concerns and suggestions on to upper management.

Yay! TGI Friday's gets a Quick Response Award which directly tips the scales (with vouchers) to an I'll Be Back Award.

Good show, TGI Friday's.

Miracle Gro, Round 2: We Have Pictures

We last left our hero worried about setting the apartment on fire. He extinguished the smoking soil with water.

But it came back.



I do not use this as an ashtray. I only use it to put out cigarettes. The smell was blazing this morning, but trying to get my daughter to school, I didn't have time to investigate.

After the discovery, and after pushing away the cover soil, I was left with this:



I'm not trying to downside the wonderful growing potential Miracle Gro gives to its plant constituents, but when things fall in the court of watering pots of plants with its product, it's hard not to see how people can use fertilizers to make bombs.

Miracle Gro, say it ain't true!

Watch for the Change-y-ness!

This blog has been a sort of sideways way of whining about how, as a consumer, you can be hosed. Don't worry, for those fair - okay, that fair reader who hits this blog once a day. It will remain as such.

But as a celebration of my two cleansing posts today (this makes three!), hitting all the past posts with tags, and alex's comments, I declare to reposition this blog.

I'll still whine about personal consumer caveats, but I'm going to expand it into bad commercial and marketing ideas, and may even have positive written awards in bold to offset the negativity.

Basically, I promise a posting at least once a week. Mrs. Shambles would probably not approve, as Cause for Concern and All Things Democrat already occupy a piece of my time. But it needs to be done.

So on this inaugural post, I shall spew forth filth that can only be found in the bowels of Cleveland, Ohio.

Norton's Furniture



No, this is not a joke. This commercial is seen on television late at night. Want to see all of them? Check out his myspace Page. Just turn down the speakers for Jefferson Starship's "We Built this City." Seriously. I'm not bullshiting you here.

Enjoy. Or *sigh* ...

Miracle Gro - You could start a fire!

I sent this email last week. I have had no response.

Good day.
This very well may be the first such email you have ever received; I'm sure the situation is rather rare. What I would prefer to avoid is a static, autonomic response saying "Mr. Shambles...our studies indicate...if we can further not assist you...." You know. That kind of thing.

Here's the situation: For a year and a half, 3 medium-sized (gallon?) pots, filled with a mix of Miracle Gro Potting Mix and some organic, generic soil was used to grow flowers. It was always outside and once a week or so, we'd hit it with Miracle Gro Garden Feeder while watering our garden.

We moved. To an apartment. Being on the first floor, we set the pots outside so the flowers could be part of the door decoration. Already struggling from the move, the plants soon died and we began using the pots as ashtrays. This was six months ago.

The pots have remained dry, in the external hallway of an apartment complex, for the last six months. Yesterday afternoon, we came home to something smelling distinctly of burning. Because of the strong local wind, it wasn't until late in the evening that we identified the burning as coming from our ashtray soil pots. Well, the one we were using as an ashtray.

I put my hand over the pot. It was hot. Really hot. When the wind paused, smoke plumes rose from our previously-Eden-esque pot of wonder. Really, it was a new pot of wonder, growing fire instead of life. Obviously, once realizing the source of the fire smell, of the smoke, we dumped water into the pot. It sizzled like dumping a gallon of water on a barbecue.

The stats: Normal potting soil could not have done this, so it's either the mix of chemicals in the soil, cigarette heat, and wind, or it's a miracle of Christ. Since I don't necessarily believe in the latter in the presence of fertilizer (which can be used to make bombs), I'm just curious.

So the questions: Have you ever heard of a pot, kept dry for some time, turning into a furnace? None of the embers were visible, but the heat and the smoking, have you ever run into this? Is there something we can avoid in the future to avoid a situation where our smoldering grill-pot, sitting right next to our vinyl siding, might be kept safe?

Honestly, I'm just glad I caught it. I know it's probably a confluence of circumstance, but your product set soil a-smoldering. I just worry that it's something that might happen again.

I'll be happily awaiting your answers.

Thanks for your time,

What the hell? A flower pot turns into a furnace. It's reminiscent of the underground burning of the real-life Silent Hill Pennsylvania town. And until now I couldn't imagine how something like that could happen.

Updates hopefully...

Subway Sadness II: The Apathy Machine

This is a different Subway story. The first one was never brought up by the individual store after that information was passed on by corporate.

Traveling to Danville, VA, I stopped on the way in Reidsville, NC.

Worst. Subway. Evar.

Two of the four employees were outside loudly conversing. As I walked in, the energy inside was that of a funeral parlor. The other two employees were loudly conversing in the restaurant, but quickly quieted when I entered. Four people were seated and eating. One of the employees shuffled behind the counter.

I walked up to the counter, chipper as ever, and it took about five seconds to realize that I was not going to get a "Hello," "Good afternoon," or even a "Hi." I let it stew a couple seconds more.

"Subway club, please," I said.
No response.
"Um, on wheat?"
"Okay." She never made eye contact.
She put the meat on the sub and stood in front of the veggies.
"I'll have..." blah blah blah. She wrapped the sub and slid it over to the second in-store employee.
Second employee, even worse.
No words. I just handed my card to her. After she swiped it, she held it in a limbo between the register and where I would be marginally expected to expect that it was being handed to me. I took the card.
I said "Thanks!" and walked out.

Read the last post. This puts it to shame. Totally deplorable.

Subway: Their Way, and Screw Your Money

Last Thanksgiving, I was on an unexpected trip to Maryland to see my sister. NC to MD takes us through Richmond, VA. We decided to stop before the required 95 traffic mess that was to ensue. Just south of Richmond, we hit a gas station that was fully-equipped with a Subway. Excited for our evening snack, my wife, daughter, and I ponied-up to the counter. We were all getting the deli rounds.

Sara ordered. Ariel ordered.

And then me.

"I'd like a roast beef round, and could you add pepperoni?"
"No, sir, I can't do that."
(stunned)
"I'm sorry, could you just add pepperoni to the sandwich?"
"No, we can't do that."
"Are you kidding?"
"No."
"Can I add it and pay for it?"
"Sorry sir, we can't do that."

WTF?

So I laughed through the experience, joking about getting extra cheese.

Not two weeks later, Sara went to our local Subway with Ariel in prep for a Christmas show. They had a special for six inch turkey and ham subs. Related interaction:

"Can I get one of those turkey and ham subs with no ham?"
"I'm sorry, we can't do that."
"So I'd like a turkey and ham sub and you can keep the ham? You can't do that?"
"No. Sorry."
"You can keep the ham. I just want the turkey on it."
"Nope."
"Okay, how about you make the sub, take off the ham, put it in a bag or something, and then add the toppings."
"That's cool."

My daughter got her turkey sub and a small packet of ham went into the trash can in the store because of it.

What the hell's going on? When did it become a problem to train your workforce to accept money for anything. Especially things you were already offering?

I have written a letter of calm complaint to Subway and hope to make this my first Bad Business that turns. I hope (and by that I don't mean coupons. I mean "hey, sorry," which is excusable for this offense).

I love you Subway. Make it right.

[!!UPDATE!!]
Email from Subway:

My name is Kenny Partin, and I am a Business Consultant for the North Carolina Subway Group, Inc.

I received your comments concerning the Subway located in Clemmons, North Carolina. A copy of your comments have been forwarded to the owner of this store for his action.

I would like to apologize to you for any inconvenience this has caused you and we hope to rectify this situation so that it will not occur again. Thank you for your loyalty to the Subway brand and we hope that we can continue to be of service to you.

Thank you,

Kenny Partin
_____

Well, it's something. Hoping for a follow-up from the actual store. Then I could call this complaint closed.

AC Automotive

I drive a PT Cruiser. 2002. Manual. It's pretty sweet. However, recently it started overheating. It wasn't all the time: forced air cooled it on the highway and above-35mph roads here in Winston. But it started getting bad; I couldn't stop at a drive through bank or fast food place and slowed traffic was driving me off the road. It got to the point where I couldn't fake it anymore. It had to be fixed.

Well, several months ago, I ran out of gas (for the first time ever) taking my daughter to school. After walking almost a quarter miledown the road (even though there was nary a gas station within three or four miles), a man stopped, said he had a shop up the road, and would help us. A C Automotive. And help us he did: drove us to the shop, his driver drove us back with a gallon of gas, and when that wasn't enough (parked on a slope), he went to the nearest station to fill up his gas can. He filled us up and we were on our way.

Very deceptive. Okay, just niceties overshadowed by the subsequent experience.

Naturally, I thought of them when looking to have my fan assembly replaced. Problem was, they wanted over $500 for the assembly from the manufacturer. Unfortunately, I haven't yet begun to crap money, so I asked about aftermarket parts. "They don't make any aftermarket parts for what you're looking for," he said. Funny, because being the online searchmaster I am, I found several.

Then it got better as I turned it over to my wife who has much better bargaining abilities. The gentleman had said that there were no aftermarket parts for the vehicle, but changed his position with proof. But oddly. He said he only dealt with certain aftermarket manufacturers and those didn't have anything available anywhere in the area.

Dude, strike two. We found the part, using one of his "reputed" aftermarket names and were able to have it in our hands in 24 hours.

Lie on lie.

So Mrs. Shambles went back to pick up the car (not even dealing with any additional charge beyond the diagnostic) and said we were doing it ourselves. Do you know what the bastard owner did when she said that? He laughed at her. I almost hit the roof when I heard that.

But you know what? It took some time and it took a jack, but we replaced the assembly ourselves.

And A C Automotive? You're out the money, but gain the negative exposure of ...well, anyone who reads this blog.

Buggers.

Sprint/Nextel (yes, ANY cell company) - Bad Policy February 2006

This one deserves a new post, even though we've already got one on the shady cell phone companies. We return to our hero, heading to a Sprint/Nextel Store. Sprint has merged with Nextel, officially as of last year some time.

Here in Winston-Salem, there is only one Sprint store. This causes it to be crowded, even before it opens. I showed up as the doors were being unlocked and there were seven people in front of me. Nuts. Luckily there was only about a 15/20 minute wait.

The issue: My phone screen stopped working. Overnight. No fault of my own. What was once a colorful bastion of information alerting me to who had called and what my friend's numbers were was now an almost-black image, a blur.

About a year ago, my sister-in-law had a problem with her Sprint screen, they replaced it for free, then when it failed again, replaced the phone. I thought: no big deal.

Other policy: Sprint has a 2 year window between when you get a new phone and can get another new phone, at least at their lovely "discount" prices. My two year comes up in October and I am pro-rated $75 as of right now. Doesn't sound too bad.

Apparently, since Nextel and Sprint merged, they did some shifting in the dictionary while they were at it. Most notably in the term "insurance." When I got my phone, insurance was explained as an unfortunate drop, loss, or a semi truck running over the phone. Since the merger, "insurance" is something that covers the maintenance on any phone for any reason. I don't know where the memo was, but I didn't see it.

So because the product is faulty, I get to shell out $55 for the repair. I looked at my other option: a new phone at regular price costs a minimum of $200, minus the $75 (we're at $125), plus $36 activation fee ($161). That's right, even though I've had the service for years and years, I still get nailed with an activation fee. That's also new. So $161 or $55?

Bad Policy, Sprint. You don't get Bad Business because it turned out to be a dirty connector and I was charged nothing for the fix. But that doesn't mean that the practices you have are just.

Lesson? Honestly, with the number of business mergers going on and the number of services we subscribe to lead us down a black hole of neverending small print. Unless we read every bit of every piece of mail, whether we think it's junk or not, we'll still never know all the points and policies of these varied services until we force them to be upfront on all pricing issues. If it affects the consumer or might affect the consumer financially, it should be posted in plain print in a friggin' grid on a piece of paper that we can use to coat the fridge. Only we can make it clear that getting ripped off is not cool.

Advice? Bitch and moan. If something's not fair and you're paying money for it, let the supplier know it. When a war erupts not for better pricing but better service, we've succeeded.

SonyCard (Bank One, Chase) - Bad Business, August 2005

I got involved with my SonyCard when it was owned by CitiBank. It was classic: I received potential rewards I never renewed and, more importantly, I was at a lovely 11% or so. Three years I had this card without issue. I never made a late payment, and usually paid over the minimum payment (but had charged more than that). CitiBank must've been scribbled with me.

Then my account was purchased by BankOne.

In July, 2005 (card 3+ years), I looked at some of the detail of my statement. Surprisingly, I noticed that I was now at 25% and change. Wha-What?

In calling the customer service folks, I learned that back in February, they decided, based upon nothing more than apparently trying to increase revenue, to look at my credit report. They didn't like my debt-to-income ratio and so staged a coup upon my card: they changed the fixed rate I had to a variable rate, then raping the virgin, knocked the rate up over 100% to 25. Why? Because they could. They assured me that they mailed a notice about increasing my rate, but as many credit card users can say, I dump the 15 ads that come with monthly statement without examination. Either they didn't or I didn't notice. Something that important should be listed on the statement. (Although one of my friends sends the ads back with the statement - give it a shot).

What did I learn?
- I need to read my credit card statements thoroughly every month.
- Credit card companies, much like the current state of insurance companies, are making money hand over fist at our expense.
- If credit card companies wanted to, they could put in their 3-point font that they would take everything you own.
- Always look through every piece of paper that comes with your statement - and read it.

But more importantly, I found that credit card companies are unscrupulous, and can switch up the game in any way that they can or want to to increase profits, specifically in the case of BankOne. They are not our friends; they exist to make money for their shareholders. Hell, 51% of the Federal Reserve is controlled by private banks. Coincidence? I think not.

So check it out and make sure there aren't any loopholes before getting a card. And if they screw you, post it, report it to the BBB, and raise a fuss.

Dell - Bad Business, August 2005

Damn it, Dell, you've done so well. (August, '05)

I have had a Dell computer for over two years now, and have had no problems with it whatsoever. The one time I had to contact customer service, the experience was pleasant and they quickly solved my problem.

But now there's a problem. For reasons unbeknown to myself, I - in those two years -have never actually used the DVD drive to play a DVD. I have two players, and it's never been a priority for me. But the other night I rented a DVD with specific DVD-drive content. So I put it in. And it didn't do anything.

So I tried another and another, finally figuring that NO DVD would play in this drive. Having had excellent experience with Dell, I had no problem giving them a quick call to try and resolve the issue. They ran me through a series of checks and came to the conclusion that it was not, in fact, a problem with the hardware (the drive reads data discs but not DVDs), but the software. The software won't read DVDs. And software's a problem.

You see, Dell's policy on hardware help is fine: they'll make sure it works. But when it comes to software, you need the tech help folks, and they cost money. Now, I didn't write down the prices because I would be Damned if I would pay for fixing something that came from the factory, but it ran like $30 for the call or $70 for the year (should I need another service from the tech gods), would that be Visa or Mastercard?

F-that. I confirmed one simple thing before slamming the phone down, and it's a lovely "what if:" What If I had received my computer and, two years ago, found this problem the very first day I had the computer? It seems that I would still have had to pay Dell more money to solve the problem, even though they had installed the software.

The biggest issue with this is the potential for fraud: suppose Dell wanted to earn a little extra cash. All they would have to do is tell the tech installers to make sure the drives didn't agree with the software. There is no proof for this, it is simply speculation.

Point being that there should never be the potential for exploitation of customers, espeically when it comes to the purchase of something more than $1000.

Dell, this is a thorn in your side, and while I welcome you to Winston Salem, NC, I deplore the monetary tactics used in this case.

Wachovia Bank - Bad Business, July 2005

This is looking like I'm bad at keeping books. Well, I can be, but have been much better about it since meeting my wife.

I wrote a check in March 2005 that I lost track of because it was not cashed until June 21, 2005. It, of course, hit the same day as our mortgage check, but I had deposited a freelance check for about $250 that same day. Unfortunately, the cashed check was a little more than that, and thinking I had several hundred dollars, did some shopping. All out, at the end of two days I had over $300 of overdraft fees.

I spoke with Wachovia when my card was denied and found out about the check. It was my mistake, but the only thing they could do was refund $60 as a courtesy. Could something be done to limit my card, give a denial if the funds weren't there? No. I was advised not to use my card because purchases under $10 or so might make it through. HOW? But that's how it works. I was advised to open a credit card for overdraft protection (again, fees going to Wachovia, of course). I began feeling like I was Wachovia's piggy bank. Multiple calls and time spent with supervisors confirmed that the $60 courtesy was pretty much a hard and fast rule without bank error.

I was frustrated, but was able to pull it together and see what I could do. The customer service rep told me that I would have 28 days to repay the negative balance in my account.

Fine. But as if the helplessness that banks can make you feel was not enough, on Friday, July 5th, Wachovia pulled $359 from my wife's account to zero out my balance. WHAT???

After speaking to a CSR and a Supervisor and bank personnel and a branch manager, I found that this is basic Wachovia practice. Because our accounts were linked, they reserved the right to "normalize" an account by any means necessary. Never mind that someone told me I had 28 days. (The Supervisor "made a note" for the manager of the employee. Think I'll hear back about that?) Never mind that Wachovia was going to get their money.

An unnamed employee of Wachovia even admitted "That's shady."

And after speaking to over half a dozen employees at Wachovia, this was the first I had ever heard of a process that was open to us: I could have initiated a setup wherin my account was an overdraft protector for my wife and vice versa. Why had they not mentioned this before? Again, the credit card interest fees. And because I had not done this (not that I had known), Wachovia was unable to pull funds from her account to cover an overdraft of about $40 that resulted in $330 going into their pocket.

Let me put it this way: Wachovia was not at liberty to pull money from my wife's account to cover an overdraft that resulted in a large profit in their favor because I had not expressed direct, written permission. However, when they were looking to collect on those fees, they had implied permission, by me simply opening an account, that they could pull that money from my wife's account without permission from or even notification of either of us. This is the most unethical business practice I have personally encountered to date.

Caveat Emptor: Banks are raising fees and changing procedures. You will be informed, but in a tiny pamphlet that looks unimportant in 5-point font. The little guy is their piggy bank, and we can't change the laws without big money for big lawyers against a big corporation who runs on our mistakes. That, or a huge public outcry. (Remember the car lease release on what's due at signing?) And who's got the money for a lawyer?

Email Wachovia and let them know that their practices are wrong.