Friday, January 30, 2009

Out on A Whim

Location: Other, Augusta, GA, USA
Industry: Retail
Annoyed By: The 2 Owners


I placed a substantial order, via their website, with this seed-bead distributor. Their seed beads (a component frequently used in jewelry-making) are advertised as available in 1/4 kilo bags.

Upon receiving any order of seed-beads, we dump the bag into a small tub, and then begin weighing out 10 gram increments into the much smaller tubes we use for retail purposes.

Since these were purported to be 1/4 kilo bags, I expected each to contain 250 grams of seed beads, which would, by extension, provide me with 25 10-gram tubes for each 1/4 kilo bag. Let me make it very clear that we use a highly sensitive scale, and weigh each individual 10 gram tube, every time, while filling them, in order to acheive consist quality assurance in the product we provide our customers. We also, obviously, zero-out the scale to account for the weight of each tube.


However, it became apparent that these 1/4 kilo bags did not actually contain 250 grams of beads, because after opening and re-tubing a total of 8 of their bags, we had acheived 25 full 10 grams tubes for only 3 of those bags. The other 5 bags were light by anywhere from 5 to 18 grams.

At this time, I decided to call the company about my concerns. When the phone was answered, I immediately asked to speak to someone in customer service - and was immediately put on with someone named Nikki (?sp). Nikki was very concerned about my concern, and explained that the company had a brand new scale, and a brand new person operating the scale, so perhaps there was a problem, but I would need to speak to Sean (?sp).

Sean gets on the phone, does not further identify himself, and proceeds to tell me that individual beads can take up more or less volume in the tubes than other beads, so, basically, I did not know what I was talking about.

I explained that I was weighing each tube by weight, not volume, so his argument was irrelevant.

He then tells me that I need to open a bag and weigh the entire contents BEFORE trying to redistribute them into 10 gram tubes, as this would prove that each bag weighed 250 g. I explained that if I had dumped a bag, weighed out 10 grams "X" number of times, and finished up with 23 ten-gram tubes plus 2 grams left over, then that bag obviously weighed only 232 grams to begin with. He argued that I needed to do it HIS way in order to prove I was wrong. I asked how his way would prove anything, and he said, just move past this, and try it my way.

I told him I would NOT try it his way, because since 3 of the first 8 bags we had sorted were correct, it was possible that the next 2 I did his way could be correct, and that STILL would not prove anything. So I said, "I want to thank you for your business, and assure you you won't be getting any more of mine."

He tried to convince me to do his experiment, and I ultimately hung up on him.

After thinking about this for about 30 minutes, I called the company back, and asked whoever answered the phone what Sean's title was. SHe said "He's one of the owners." I was absolutely floored, because he had been totally rude the entire time I had been talking with him, insisting that this was no one's problem but my own.

So I then asked to speak to "another owner", and she said "You are."

And of course, by now Sean had filled her in (allegedly) on our entire conversation - except that he had told her that I was insisting that I was measuring the beads by volume - into pre-measured 10 gram tubes with little lines on them indicated how much ten grams is - and I told her that was absolutely not true, and had told him MULTIPLE times I was measuring each tube.

So she switched tacks, and told me that her scales meet California standards, so clearly my scale was the issue. Period. And since she could not physically see my scale, it was my word against hers.

She said all their bags, when received from their suppliers, are 500 grams, and they split them into 2 250 gram bags before re-shipping them, and she could see no room for possible error on their end.

The end.

I have never dealt with any company owner as ridiculously rude and illogical as Sean, and this 2nd owner, who never gave her name, while remaining calm, never once apologized for my concerns.

So, they have definitely lost my business, as well as that of as many people in this industry as I can pass this on to ---
I receive 250 and 500 gram tubes from a variety of other suppliers, and have never ONCE had a bag weigh out short - and this is something we do at least 2 days a week, so I am fairly confident it is not my scale -
Based on attitude alone, I never want to deal with these folks again, but I am also extremely dissapointed in their product.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Sansei Sushi Restaurant = Abusive Staff!

Location: Other, Kihei
Industry: Restaurant
Annoyed By: The managers & Karaoke man


I went with a group of friends to Sansei late night sushi & karaoke in Kihei, HI. A friend & I decided to sing a song together. People started yelling that they could not hear me so we quit singing. And tried to figure out the problem. I said "wtf?" - not loud or anything, I was just trying to figure out the problem. Right as I said the last word, my friend clicked my mic on. It was obviously an accident, but the karaoke guy kicked us off stage anyway. A lot of the patrons booed the karaoke guy. My friend and I were upset, so we walked out. I came back to the restaurant in less than 10 minutes to pay my tab and asked to speak with a manager to voice my complaint. We were in the middle of the restaurant and a lot of customers so I asked to go somewhere more private. The manager was angry and was not interested in listening to me, he ended up storming off. I then went to the podium to ask for another manager's or the owners contact information, because at this point I was also upset with the manager's behavior. The male manager returned and refused to give me any contact information.

At this point they brought out our tables tab, minus what one party had already paid. I gave them cash for what I had paid plus $4 extra, even though a gratituity of 18% had already been added. I intended to leave after paying my part but then they started insisting that I pay for the rest of the tab, because the friend I had left with had not returned. I said no. For one, I had terrible service, and two, I had hardly any money left in my account. Another manager came out. They were threatening to call the police on me if I didn't pay the rest of the tab, which was around $40. I said I couldn't pay it, I had paid my part, plus extra for tip. At this point I was getting very upset and frustrated. The woman manager grabbed my arms and was talking really close to my face about how I needed to pay the rest of the tab. I told her to not touch me. I offered to come in the next day and pay the remaining portion of the tab, but they would not allow this. I offered to leave my driver's license as collateral, but the male manager said it was too easy to just get another one. All over $40!!!

There were still 2 of my friends at our table and one of them came over and paid an additional $20. He could not pay more, because he didn't get paid until the next day either. They still would not let me leave and were threatening to call the police.

I later found out that some of my other friends at the table had also paid an additional $20. This should have covered the tab, right?

I do not understand why I was treated this way.

Ste KT116
1881 S Kihei Rd, Kihei, HI 96753
(808) 879-0004‎
sanseihawaii.com

Friday, January 23, 2009

Bell Canada is the devil

Location: Quebec, Montreal
Industry: Telecom
Annoyed By: Bell Canada


So in the past 1.5-2 years bell has...

1) Stoped my unlimited internet without warning and charged me fees online (without sending bills) for 3-4 months without me noticing.

2) Took more money then they had permission to out of my bank account so many times I called my bank to cut them off. Then one year later they somehow managed to get back in to my bank account and take 3 months of internet charges without my permission. To do so they took my bundled services and split them into 2 bills ( I have TWO "ONE BILL" accounts), sending one to a email I've told them on numerous occasions I don't check and have told them to remove from my file. When I notice I call the bank to again cut them off and get my money back I didnt give them permission to take. When I do this they FINALLY send me an actual bill then 3 days later send me a letter saying I owe them NFS fees since I took my $$ back and cut them from my account. Then cut off my internet AFTER I called them explaining the situation.

3) Sent me a computer I didnt want or ask for and again took money from my bank account without my permission for this computer. Took MONTHS of phone calls to get this fixed. I had to carry each peice to the post office to send back to them (I have no car).

4) Took my roomates $600 cell phone bill and put it in my name again without my permission. I had NOTHING to do with his cell phone. After MANY calls to get this straightened out they tell me we can put his cell phone back in his name but the charges have to stay in your name. Then they procede to call my mother in another province telling her I owe them all this money (which actually my roomate owes them) and try to get $$ from her. I NEVER gave them ANY information about my mom.

5) Our internet is contantly running very slow, we pay for very high speed and when we call the problems are always with their lines and they do nothing about it. Just continue to overcharge us for highspeed internet they are not providing. After months of calling about this they finally send a new motem, which works a bit better, but not much.

6) Constantly overcharge me on my bills, which I have to call and spend hours on the phone getting fixed. CHECK YOUR BILLS!! they do this at least once every 3 months.

7) Everytime we have a issue we have to call at lesat 2 times to get it fixed. Each call is at least 1 hour, I've had some last up to 3+ hours.

There are probally more things I'm not remembering but guess how much conpensation bell has given me for all this hassel and HOURS and HOURS I've spent on the phone. NOTHING!! If they paid my min. wage for all the hours I spent on the phon with them I would be able to pay my bills with them and still have $$ left over.

I called to cancel last week and when the person I was talking to asked why I was leaving bell and I gave him only 2 of my many reasons, he just argeed and said those are some pretty good reasons and was the most helpful person I've ever talked to at bell.

So farewell bell, i'm hoping you don't fuck up my last bill too much. But we both know you can't let me go without a few more hours on the phone so I'll be talking to you for the last time soon.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Winners a Loser

Location: Ontario, Etobicoke
Industry: Retail
Annoyed By: Winners


The second week of January I had a rare week day off and decided to shuffle off to Winners as I had received a couple of gift cards for Christmas. It was relatively early, around 10:30am when I arrived at the 1st location. I wandered around the men's section and found virtually nothing. 100s of pairs of jeans but not much else as I was searching for a pair of casual pants. The store in general was a mess. Clothes strewn all over the place as if the store had been open for a whole day at this point when it actually had been open for about 90 minutes.

Disappointed I left. I decided to try a different location about a 10 minute drive from the 1st one.
It was just after 11am when I arrived at the 2nd store.

Same situation as the 1st. Store was a mess and not much in the way of selection.
I did however find a pair of pants I liked and tried them on. They fit nicely so off I go to the check out line.

Now I'll backtrack a little. Neither store was particularily busy as it was earlier in the day.
So, I get to the check out and there's about 8 people ahead of me and 2(!) cashiers on duty. I could hear them chattering back and forth (while serving customers) about who's on break and what time they're going on their breaks.

I stood there for about 10 minutes as 1 person moved ahead in line! As you may know, Winners is famous for people buying an entire wardrobe in one shot and clothing takes some time to check thru because of all the security tags, hangers, and folding.

Finally I said "screw it" threw the pants into the nearest bin and walked out.

I can't believe the poor customer service, not to mention the state of these 2 stores.
The economy may not be in great shape but why was there only 2 people working when so many people were trying to make their purchases? Where was the manager? I have worked in customer service my whole life and my job predicits as a manager we help out if it gets busy.
Obviously somebody doesn't know how to run a business.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Tanzanite.com is a joke - don't let them have the last laugh

Location: Ontario, Windsor
Industry: Retail
Annoyed By: Tanzanite.com (C.H.Hakimi, Inc.)


Below is a description of my interaction with tanzanite.com, one of the worst companies with whom I have ever engaged in a business transaction. In a word, my experience with tanzanite.com was horrific. Another apt description would be infuriating. To say that customer service is not a priority to them is giving them far too much credit. I spent an inordinate amount of time and energy trying to make the best of the situation – correcting or compensating for THEIR mistakes – and they simply did not care. The worst part, to me, was the fact that I was buying a wedding band for my (future) wife. A wedding is obviously an event that carries a great deal of meaning, and having a well-crafted and beautiful wedding band is an important element of the day. It was purchase that I did not take lightly.

Unfortunately, as you can follow from the timeline below, things started to take a turn for the worst within a week of the purchase. In the end, I was just one insignificant customer who represented an inconvenience to a company who takes no pride in making a bad situation good. After the whole episode was over, I literally ended up paying for nothing, both monetarily and with wasted time. Right now, I feel like they won. They lost nothing, except for one angry customer. I feel like I lost so much more. And that is why I am writing this posting – vindication for myself, and hopefully the chance to steer unsuspecting potential customers away from a cesspool of deception and incompetence. If I can divert even one paying customer to another website or jewelry store, then I would feel this posting is worthwhile.

Original Order Date: 11/12/2008 (via Internet)
I ordered a tanzanite and diamond ring via their internet site. The site is well-organized, the search works well, and the pictures are generally visually appealing. Most of their standard rings are 14K white gold. I decided to upgrade to an 18K white gold ring, adding a marginal additional cost. The price of the ring seemed very reasonable, even less than I had expected to pay. I needed to receive the ring by Nov 28th in order to give it as a birthday present on the 29th. At the time I did not expect this to be a problem, as the website states, "Tanzanite.com offers you free shipping on all orders over $199 via FedEx Express Saver®. Shipments usually arrive within three to five business days."

Little did I realize at the time (and this is partially my fault) that by upgrading to 18K gold I had actually created a 'Special Order.' Special Orders are not included in the shipping description above. I suppose I should have just known that "all orders" really means "all standard orders". Then again, a reputable company would probably mention that special orders are not processed or shipped nearly that fast.
I proceeded to check their website every few days to view the status of my order. When it became clear that the order had not been shipped within the suggested period, I contacted the company again via the free-form email boxes on their website.

Email #1 (from me): 11/18/2008

I informed the customer service department that I needed the order by Nov. 28th, and asked if there was any way (including paying additional fees) to expedite the order.

Response Email #1 (from tanzanite.com): 11/19/2008
In summary, they communicated that the estimated ship date would be Dec. 10th. (28 days from the original order). I was given the option to exchange (downgrade) 18K White Gold with 14K White Gold, essentially reverting back to the 'standard order'. If I accepted this proposal, I would receive a refund on my credit card for the difference in price. Additionally, the ring would then be shipped so that I could receive the order by my target date.

At this point, although I was disappointed, I had no recourse, so I decided to downgrade and take the standard ring.

Email #2 (from me): 11/19/2008
I responded to their email later that same day, agreeing to the order change. I requested information on the new shipping date.

Email #3 (from me): 11/21/2008
After a day and half of no email response, I sent another email. I wrote a message very similar to Email #2 above.

Email #4 (from me): 11/21/2008
Another half day went by and I heard absolutely nothing. This time, I resent the message, but sent it to the generic customer service email address that is provided on the 'Contact Us' page of the website.

Call #1 (from me): 11/24/2008
I had now waited 5 days (3 business days) and not gotten any response whatsoever. I gave up on email communications since they were apparently not working. It seemed extremely interesting that a .com company would not do a better job of monitoring and responding to customer emails. Since all orders are placed via phone or the internet, would it not be common sense that those forms of communication be given high priority? Apparently it was only the initial order (and payment) that was important. Regardless, I made a call to the company and reached the "customer service representative". I use that term loosely, since I couldn't tell if I was actually talking to a representative of the company. There was nothing to the effect of, "This is tanzanite.com, how can I help you today?" I definitely got the impression that the woman A) Hated her job B) Hated me and C) Would definitely rather not be talking to me. The idea that this woman was potentially taking orders, helping to answer questions, or even worse, resolving issues, is absolutely comical. After describing my situation and explaining that I could not get an email response, she agreed to change the order over the phone, and revert the order to 14K gold. I was overjoyed that I could even get a response at all, so I generally overlooked the fact that to receive my order by my target date (November 28th), I needed to pay for overnight shipping. Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, I needed to pay an additional $19.95 for overnight shipping to get the ring on time. Of course, the reality of the situation was that if I had received an email response on the 19th, I would not have needed to pay this expense, and the order would have been delivered in time, just as was promised in their original email response.

Response Email #2 (from tanzanite.com): 11/24/08
I received an email communication from the same person who originally sent me the response on the 19th. Laughably, he apologized because he had been "out of the office for a few days." That is when I first learned that tanzanite.com has a customer service department of 1. He was writing to follow-up that the order had been changed, and would be shipped out on the 26th (now a standard order but still required over 24 hours to ship out, I assume for the resizing).

Order Received (by me): 11/28/08
The package was delivered. Upon opening it, I was fairly happy with the looks of the ring. It was pretty, but not very robust. I had my fiancée's engagement ring custom made at a local jewelry store, and that ring looked solid and high-quality. This ring did not compare, but then again I had paid much (thousands) less for it. So overall I was happy with the product.
The wedding was December 6th. Less than 48 hours after the ceremony, we were in the airport heading off for the honeymoon. Right after we got the airport, my wife looked at her ring and was shocked to see that one of the tanzanite stones had simply fallen out of the prongs. The ring had not been subjected to any excessive stress; it was almost like brand new. As of December 8th she had to stop wearing the ring.

Call #2 (from me): 12/17/2008
I called the customer service department to find out what I needed to do to return the ring. I, of course, knew I had nothing to worry about since tanzanite.com jewelry carries a 5-year warranty:
"All fine diamond, colored gemstone, platinum and gold jewelry purchased from Tanzanite.com. is warranted for (5) years from the date of purchase. All fine jewelry is genuine, authentic, and of consistent high quality and value." Surely a company claiming consistent high quality and value would go out of their way to uphold such a fine reputation.
The customer service representative informed me that I could ship the ring back, where it would be inspected to determine if there truly was a defect which caused the stone to be lost. I can understand why they would need to inspect the jewelry before agreeing to a repair or replacement; that is good business. However, there was no mention of the shipping costs, which, with tracking confirmation and insurance, rang up to a total of $12.75. Apparently that wasn't their problem or concern.

Defective Ring Shipped (by me): 12/19/2008
I sent the ring back with a note to the customer service representative, asking him to keep me apprised of the situation. I actually wrote that I would be happy with either a repair or replacement, that I would leave that choice up to the "experts" based on their ability to recreate the ring's condition when it was new. The next week was the Christmas holiday, so I was not expecting a speedy response. I guess I should rephrase – since next week was the Christmas holiday, I was just hoping for any response.

Defective Ring Delivered (to tanzanite.com): 12/22/2008
Checking the postal service tracking website, I was able to confirm the delivery date.

Email #5 (from me): 12/29/2008
After waiting 7 days from the delivery date and hearing absolutely nothing, I thought it was time to send another message. I sent an email to the generic customer service address given on the website, asking them to confirm that the shipment had been received.

Order Received (by me): 12/30/2008
Without any prior contact, confirmation, or communication, I was stunned to see the delivery man at my door holding a package from tanzanite.com. My wife and I were so excited that we got the ring I didn't even hold it against them that they never once gave me any idea of the return order status. That excited feeling died a speedy death. We opened the box to find the 'new' ring. The ring was not new, but in fact repaired. That was not a problem; I had stated in my note that repairing it was a viable option. What was a problem was that the ring looked like it had been purchased for $20 at a local flea market. The third stone had been replaced, but apparently by a child. A jeweler with any skills or pride would not have given approval to ship the ring we received that day. Looking at the ring from the side, the third stone was clearly set lower than the other 2 existing stones. And the third stone did not appear to be the same size as the other two. The ring just looked bad. We knew immediately that it needed to go back.

Call #3 (from me): 12/31/2008
I called customer service, and to say that I was livid was probably an understatement. My favorite female customer service representative answered (see call #1 on 11/24). To summarize, she told me that I needed to call back at a different time (preferably January 5th or later), because it was a holiday week and no one was there. That is, no one who had any authority to make decisions or actually attempt to help rectify the situation. Needless to say, I don't see any "Customer Service Rep of the Year" awards in her near future.

Call #4 (from me): 1/5/2009
I called again to talk to the lone service representative who had been handling my order up to this point. I need to take a brief diversion at this point, to illustrate how phenomenally professional this company is: when I called the toll free number listed on the website trying to reach the customer service rep, I was actually automatically routed to an individual's personal voicemail. Even better, the message on the voicemail was such a mumbled mess and lacking enunciation that it was nearly impossible to tell what the person was even saying. I found that to be classic. How appropriate was it that after all my experiences in dealing with this idiocy, that the company's toll free number for orders, customer service, EVERYTHING, was being routed to a personal voice mailbox in which the person could not be understood? For a minute I thought the company might have actually went bankrupt and the phone number was being used by someone else. [I digress]
Luckily I found a backup number to reach the company's directory switchboard, so I was able to get through to the representative. I explained the entire situation to him, and let him know the ring was, in no uncertain terms, completely unsatisfactory. At this point I told him that I was no longer interested in keeping any ring manufactured by tanzanite.com, or for that matter, having any interaction with their company. I demanded that I receive a full refund, not only for the ring itself, but also the shipping costs I had incurred to date.
First, he had to verify with his supervisor whether or not a refund would even be approved, since the company policy is to only allow refunds up to 30 days after the purchase date. After conferring with the supervisor (who I found out was also a relative, as most of the company employees are), they determined that after I shipped the ring back to them again, they would examine it to determine whether the "repaired" ring truly warranted a refund. They also agreed to provide their FedEx shipping account number, so that I could mail the ring back for free this time. I didn't really see these actions as going above and beyond the bare minimum in order to maintain the company's integrity and ensure a positive customer experience.
I told him I did not find their resolution acceptable, and that they owed me the money I had spent. His only response was to apologize repeatedly. Apologies seem a little hollow when there is no proactive action to back them up. I finally told him that I wanted to be done with this entire episode so badly that I would accept losing the shipping costs, if they would give me the refund. Even without a verbal guarantee to refund my purchase, I sent the ring back for a second time.

Defective Ring Shipped (from me): 1/6/2009
The ring was shipped back a second time with the manufacturer's appraisal and a copy of the original invoice.

Defective Ring Delivered (to tanzanite.com): 1/8/2009
Checking the FedEx tracking website, I was able to confirm the delivery date.

Response Call #1 (from tanzanite.com): 1/8/2009
Amazingly, this time the customer service rep handling my case actually called me. He had promised during my previous call that it would in fact be his supervisor who would inspect the ring and then follow-up with a call to discuss the refund. Regardless, I suppose I should feel both honored and thrilled to be contacted at all. I missed the call but called him back within the hour. He said the company/supervisor had determined that I could be granted a refund, for only the original purchase price of the ring. The only shipping cost they agreed to cover was the one for which they had already paid, the second return shipment. I again let him know that to me, that was unacceptable. There was not much else to say so the conversation ended, after he indicated that a credit would be forthcoming.

Credit Card Account Credit Transaction Date: 1/8/2009

Credit Card Account Credit Posting Date: 1/12/2009
I think that here I will have to give the company the benefit of the doubt, and assume that it was the banks that caused the 3-business day delay in the actual posting of my credit.


I could go on further, and write more venomous words aimed at disparaging the name of tanzanite.com. The sad thing is, there are even more details which I omitted that illustrate their complete and total lack of professionalism. I believe, though, that the documented timeline speaks for itself. If there is nothing else that you take from this, then just know this: after the original order, I contacted the company 9 times; they contacted me 3. Is that a ratio that a reputable company would be proud to share? Does that sound like a company founded on integrity and excellence that is willing to stand behind the products they promote?

Two months to the day after I placed my order, I had no ring, 2 shipping expenses, and the lingering feeling of being completely screwed.

Before you place an order with Tananite.com, check out your local jewelry store or a site that you know and trust. It will be worth it. And if you really want to give your money away, then I still implore you NOT to navigate to tanzanite.com. Pick a favorite charity and give money to them – at least you will feel a lot better about yourself.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Brick or Prick

Location: Ontario, Scarborough
Industry: Retail
Annoyed By: The Brick @ Kennedy Commans


To Whom It Concerns:

Sequence of events: (HUF138EA) Invoice Number 121284K0517001

1) Purchased an HACN 13.8 Freezer white on December 12th, 2008

2) Was advised it would be delivered on December 23rd, 2008

3) December 22nd, 2008 rec'vd a voice mail advising us that the freezer was still not in stock and would get it on or around December 31st.


4) January 2nd, 2009 I called customer service and was on the phone from 5:15 pm until 5:45 pm explaining what happened and that the freezer had not yet been recv'd and then she tells me after 1/2 hr that she is only the receptionist (Kelly)and can't answer my questions. Asked to speak to a supervisor and she said that there was no one available, I asked her to have one call me back


5) January 2nd, 2009 the supervisor Cheryl called me at 7:30pm, she advised that it was still not in stock and the expected date was now January 15th, 2009. She could not guarantee anything though. I advised her that the same model was on sale at Leon's for $70 less and that they had them in stock so why wouldn't the Brick? She could not answer that but offered me $100 dollar credit which was fine


6) January 15th, 2009 we did rec'v the freezer, waited 24 hrs prior to plugging it is as the manual stated, then waited another 24 hrs for the freezer to reach temp level 4 as stated in the manual. When we went to look at it today the light works and the freezer doesn't, no cold air or freezing what so ever. The fan is very weak and all in all it is inoperable.


7) Called customer service at 2:40 PM January 20th to advise them that we recv'd a defective freezer, spoke with Najawa and the first thing she tried to do was to redirect my call to repair. I advised her it wasn't repair I am looking to speak with, I want a new replacement freezer as it is suppose to be brand new. She then advised me that there were none in stock and that they could be coming in on January 26, 2009 but there are no guarantees. She then said she could arrange for an exchange but couldn't give me a date or anything, To this point we had already given up a day to wait for the other delivery. She then said that she could arrange for me to get another type of freezer but I would have to come and look at them and pay the difference. Asked to speak with a supervisor and once again was greeted with "there is no one here right now" asked her to have the supervisor call me back


I am writing to you as I am at my wits end with something so trivial. Why on earth would your company sell something knowing full well that it isn't in stock and then to make matters worse could not give a solid date of delivery.

Another concern is that there are never any supervisors available to speak with right then and there. I would have to come to pick out a new freezer? Like I think not, if I am going to pick out another freezer then I will go to another company. Is this the customary type of service the Brick is known for? If so, then in today's economic crunch you will lose a lot of your business. As you know the old saying, "bad service spreads amongst people like wildfire" is this what you want for your company? Do the math, order purchased and paid for on Dec 12th, 2008 today is January 20th, 2009. This is a bit of a delayed timeframe and now I am losing money that could be sitting in my bank account collecting interest.

I would like to hear from you ASAP to rectify this issue.

Friday, January 16, 2009

who else? BEST BUY!

Location: Ontario, STC and Markville Mall
Industry: Retail
Annoyed By: BEST BUY


During the X'mas holidays, i wanted to purchase Little Big Planet. I saw it on sale for $49.99 at Best Buy, so i zoomed to the STC best buy.

I pick up one out of an entire stack of Little Big Planet cards when i was told they're sold out. SO i went to get a raincheck. They said they would call me once they had it in stock and i could buy it for $49.99. 2 weeks later, Best Buy had a sale on Little Big Planet for $44.99. OBVIOUSLY they had not called me when they had it in stock!

The 44.99 sale started next day so i go over to the Markville Best Buy at 10am (they open at 9am) to have them tell me. they sold out.! So i dash over to the Best Buy at STC and they too said it was sold out.....UNTIL I HELPED AN EMPLOYEE PICK UP AN EMPTY CARDBOARD BOX THEY HAD DROPPED. apparently there was "one more sitting in the back room".

never trust Best Buy....

Apple and Microsoft

Location: Ontario, Brampton
Industry: Technology
Annoyed By: Apple


I plug an iPod nano into my state of the art computer running Windows 2000 and I get a message I need to upgrade to iTunes 8.0 (7.3.2.6 on Windows 2000). My problem is...Apple carry on in their commercials about how "Windows friendly" their products are, well if that is the case, they should be supporting EVERY version of windows (from 2000 on, DOS based 98 and earlier really sucked). XP was actually built on top of 2000 (the core of XP is 2000) so I am inclined to believe that maybe Microsoft and Apple have a secret 'upgrade' collusion. Apple is no better than Microsoft, at least with building your own PC, you have a choice in hardware, etc. Apple's hardware is overpriced to say the least and the secret identifier chip on their motherboards just prove they are no better. F*ck you Apple and f*ck you Steve Jobs.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

US-CREATIONS WEBSITE AVOID IT !!

Location: Other, New Delhi
Industry: Technology
Annoyed By: www.us-creations.com


Hello,

I'm writing this to share my bad experience with US Creations, a design and development firm based in New Delhi, India (www.us-creations.com)

First they will attract you proposing you really low prices for the services they offer, then they ask you to pay 50% of the price when they start the project and then nothing, they keep you waiting postponning the deadlines all the time, when after a while you ask for your money back because nothing was done they keep it in custody.

Avoid this company at all costs

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Avoid Yang's Kitchen Sushi Bar in Markham! Police involved!

Location: Markham, Ontario
Industry:
Restaurant

Annoyed By: Yang's Kitchen mv
md

The below thread is one of the "life long" thread in RedFlagDeals.com back in 2007 and it is still under hot discussions !

Hey RFD,

I just had the worst dining experience at Yang's Kitchen Sushi Bar tonight, which is on the plaza in front of the Volvo dealership in Markham.

It wasn't about the food, but was the management/ownership in question (as well as customer service). Basically, we had a brief and civilized talk with the owner in regards of a mandatory service charge attached to the bill. While we agreed to the mandatory charge (as it was clearly noted in the menu), we didn't agree to the tip being added on top of the taxes. I gave her my reasoning, and she simply said that there was nothing she could do - as it was hardwired into the computer (as they've been doing the same thing for years, without complaints). I asked politely, if she could waive the 3 dollar difference between tip on subtotal, and tip on after taxes - by just not paying the three dollars. She rudely declined.

I realized that there wasn't a point in further arguments, and simply told her that I'd pay the three dollars, but would not be returning again (in a polite manner). She left at this point.


When we were digging up money from everyone.. she came back - looking to argue some more! WOW, so I told you that I was going to pay your stupid three dollars - you're going to argue with me and further piss me off? She repeats the same thing over and over - that this was hardwired in the system, and that I had gone overboard by calling them "cheats". I never had said they cheated their customers, but only said that it was "unethical". I tell her that I had no intentions of resisting the charge anymore and insisted that the argument should end - with us never returning again.

She calls us cheap, and then continues to stand there, waiting for the money. After a bit, I told her that we're still waiting for someone to come back, as they left midway throughout the dinner and didn't leave their money. She informs us that "we're lucky that she hasn't kicked us out of her restaurant, as tables are limited to 1.5 hours seating time, as specified in the menu". I flipped to the menu, and informed her that it was "dining time" that was limited to 1.5 hours - and we weren't dining, but paying the bill. I told her, if you're going to force us out of the restaurant - we'll leave, but we don't have enough money at the moment - and this is all you'll be getting from us. Basically, I told her "either you wait for the money, or take it as it is". A few employees come over to see what's happening, and the owner is talking smack about us (such as "our mothers not properly teaching us", and how "we were troublemakers"). This was all spoken in front of us, so that we could hear everything (deliberately, perhaps?).

So since the other person was taking awhile, I decide to foot the bill with my credit card and get the money from the person later.. They tell me that their machine is down - and that I'll have to run to the bank for money. The owner informs us that only I'm allowed to leave - and the rest will have to stay (because she said we were going to run with the bill unpaid - basically calling us thieves). I do this, and take a charge of $1.50 from the bank.. come back and pay them.

At this point, I proceed to take my receipt - and they told me that we had already received one. I asked them if they could print off another one, and they told me that they were not going to - in the rudest tone of voice. I insisted that I was going to take it, as I needed proof that I paid them. She starts yelling and swearing at me as I proceeded to the door.. and actually told one of her employees to chase after me (who informed me to "watch my back, and just give back the receipt"). I continued to insist that I was going to leave with my receipt simply because they were obligated to give me one after payment. I grabbed my girlfriend and walked out the door.

Doing that, she goes completely insane. She starts screaming off her lungs - and told me if I left - I would be committing theft (of a receipt?), and she would be calling the police. This was probably the only time I raised my voice, to which I responded by yelling back "Go ahead! Call the police, we'll see what they say about everything! Call them, but I'm leaving!".

She runs out the door, and literally jumps on me.. and tries to grab at the receipt from my hands. I proceed to put the receipt in my pocket, and she continues to assault me - by punching me, and continuing to grab the receipt.

I walk away from her, and everyone is pretty much at disbelief at her actions.. I try to leave, but she tells me that I'm not leaving until I give back the receipt. She tells us that "we shouldn't eat outside, if we can't afford to pay for it" - after we paid in full ($250.36)! Because we're being held against our will, I take my phone out, and start dialing 911 - but hung up, as I didn't want to block up the emergency lines and wanted to actually call the non-emergency.

We have more arguments, and she's still yelling her head off.

Police calls back, and I informed them of the situation. Two cops come over, gave the owners a lecture on assault and holding people against their wills and they end up (forcibly) surrendering the receipt to me. Police ask if I want to press charges, but I said no - simply that I didn't want a measly three dollars to escalate into criminal charges being laid - and the potential ruin of an entire restaurant. I simply told the police that I wanted the owners to understand the magnitude of their actions, and that it won't happen again (to other customers).

They never even said sorry!

That said, I will never return - and I'm sure none of the people who were with me today would as well. I'm posting this story here, so that you're aware of the people running that restaurant.

Summary Notes:

* Yangs Kitchen Sushi Bar (4261 Highway 7, in Markham)
* Charged a mandatory tip on top of taxes, rather than on the subtotal
* Heated argument, and owner decided to talk personal smack about us
* Smack includes things like "our mothers not teaching us well"
* Absolutely rude, when we were being reasonable
* Failed to provide us with a receipt after payment
* After taking the receipt, owner swears and yells at us
* Owner continues to chase us out the door for the receipt and assaults me
* Owner holds us against our wills until the receipt is returned in the cold (at night)
* I call the police, and everything is sorted
* Do not visit this restaurant.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Stop Talking to the Machine. Get me a human !!


Calling any kind of customer support is frustrating. First, you have to find the right number to call. Then, you have to wade through an endless automated system.

“Press 1 for English ....”
“Please enter your account number....”
“Did you say blah blah blah blah ? ...”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t get that. Please try again ....”

Aargh! Just give me a person !!!

These systems make you want to throw the phone out the window. However,most customer support numbers have ways to bypass that nonsense. With a little help, you can go straight to a human !

Here is a consolidated list we found from gethuman.com, which is a database that offers customer support numbers of over hundreds of companies and the tricks in getting to a human representative:


COMPANY PHONE NUMBER
THE TRICK
407ETR 1-888-407-0407 Just wait
Aeroplan 1-800-361-5373 Press 1, *.
Air Canada 1-888-247-2262 Press 1, 0, 0, 0, 0.
Bell Canada 310-2355 from any area code After Emily asks you what you want …
Just keep saying "Customer Services" (about 2 times)
Bell Mobility 1-800-667-0123 Press 0 at each prompt, ignore "Emily."
Best Buy Canada Ltd. 1-866-2378-289 Select language at 1st prompt. Then press 5.
Canada Post 1-800-267-1177 Press 0.
Canada Post 1-866-607-6301 Press 0.
canada revenue 1-800-959-8281 Press * at each prompt.
CIBC Visa 1-800-465-4653 Press 0, 0.
Designer Depot 1-800-521-2364 After language selection, just wait.
DHL 1-800-225-5345 Press 1, 1, 1.
Expedia Canada 1-888-397-3342 Direct to human.
Fedex 1-800-463-3339 Press 0 three times.
Fields 1-800-521-2364 After language selection, just wait.
Flight Center Canada 1-877-967-5302 Direct to human.
HBC Credit 1-800-263-2599 After selecting language, enter 16 digits at 1st prompt
enter 8 digits at 2nd prompt.
No callback after hours
HBC Gift Registry 1-877-408-1510 After selecting language, just wait.
HBC Rewards 1-800-844-8131 After selecting language, press 0#0#0#
HBC.com 1-866-746-7422 After language selection, press 1
Home Depot Credit 1-800-747-3787 Press ####.
Home Outfitters 1-800-521-2364 After language selection, just wait.
Presidents Choice 1-888-723-8881 Press 000.
Purolator 1-888-744-7123 Press 0.
RBC 1-800-769-2511 Just wait for a human.
Residential Tenancy Office 1-604-660-1020 Press 5, 1.
Rogers Cable 1-888-764-3771 press 0 at each prompt.
Rogers Prepaid 1-800-575-9090 Press 0 at each prompt.
Rogers Telephone 1-888-764-3771 Press 0 at each prompt.
Rogers Wireless 1-888-764-3771 press 0 at each prompt.
Sears Canada Financial Services 1-800-265-3675 Press 00 quickly.
Shaw Communications 1-403-750-6990 Press 0 at each prompt.
After the 4th time, you will get to a human.
SunLife Financial 1-800-786-5433 Press 1, 0, 0.
TD Waterhouse 1-604-654-3700 Press 2, 2.
Telus - Internet Service 1-780-493-4404 Direct to human.
Telus Phone Service 1-780-493-4401 Direct to human.
The Bay 1-800-521-2364 After language selection, just wait.
Via Rail Canada 1-888 842-7245 Just wait.
Zellers 1-888-226-2225 After language selection, just wait.

ihatebadservice.ca

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

USA DentalCare is a huge Rip-off. Beware!

Location: Other, Internet
Industry: Health
Annoyed By: Entire company


This is an internet company. My son signed up Sept 11 08 for a reduced-fee dental plan then changed his mind and canceled on Sept 17 08.
We called for a refund and was told only the first month's fee would be refunded and the enrollment fee wouldn't be and that policy was listed on the website. My son would receive his refund in 2-4 weeks.
I checked the entire website and found nothing of the sort so I emailed them detailing this and requesting an entire refund. Email came back us undeliverable.
So I phoned them again, got an answering machine. Never received a call back.
I've been emailing and phoning them since Sept (it's now mid-Jan 09) and get no response at all and no refund.

Rip- off company. There's no way to contact them, no business address. You get directed to a live chat page but no representive comes online.

www.usadentalcare.com is the URL.

UTi Worldwide agent resorts to physical threats to competitor

Location: Other, Worldwide
Industry: Transportation
Annoyed By: Tyler SHeff: Fairpricedshipping (MarketRateQuote)


When has competition and breaking the law gone too far? Based on a UTi Transport Agent Tyler Sheff, it should go as far as bodily threats and physical harm.

Tyler Sheff, who has been reported online for bait and switching, seems to feel directing his anger on these actions at other companies/people. To the point where in desperation he threatens to break legs and hunt people down. Not very professional if you ask me……..

Per Tyler Sheff's remarks online:
"Run and hide bitch"
"time to feel pain"
"knowwhereyoulive"
"coming to find you"
"legs to be broken"
"you are a pussy"
"boy this is gonna hurt"

Is this the model employee that UTi Transport Solutions allows? By their corporate counsel Dennis Heil (General Counsel / VP Legal UTi Transport Solutions Inc. - a UTi Worldwide Company), yes and he has allowed it to continue.

I was told that since their company representative is an independent agent, they have no control over them. If that is the case, then it would seem that UTi has a bigger problem than rogue agents.

Where does the liability fall? Who can be liable? Does it seem UTi Worldwide allows their agents to break the laws, even when they are opening themselves to litigation by allowing and condoning illegal activity from their agents.


Logged IP addresses showing a trail of lies and threats of physical harm have been presented to Dennis Heil of UTi and his answer? Do nothing say it is not UTi's issue. Even though all agents who access UTi via computer need a static IP address, he still denies this illegal activity happened.

There have been several reports about Tyler Sheff and his "shady" practices to getting legal brokers kicked off a website so he can run his dubious practices of bait and switch.
He has also been known to purchase domain names in forms of competitor's business names as well as personal names and create slanderous blogs and pages about those people.
He has also emailed and called companies as a UTi Transport Solutions representative and lied about employees and their actions to try to get them fired from that business. UTi's response, nothing that we have seen.

Who does this really hurt? Tyler Sheff, a UTi Worldwide agent seems to think only his competitors. UTi legal counsel Dennis Heil seems to think it is not a UTi Worldwide company issue.

Tyler Sheff operates under several business names/aliases
Fairpricedshipping.com
Parcelsforward.com
eBay: parcelsforward (has been changed multiple times)
MarketRateQuote
Outboardshipping.com
Tyler Sheff Incorporated (listed under different address)
Captaintylersheff (located on Amazon but not restricted to)

On a report listed: http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/384/RipOff0384668.htm
Tyler Sheff in his own words states "It is unfortunate that a competitor chooses to use slander as a tool to increase his business…. we pity them for feeling the need to resort
to such childish antics". It seems that Tyler Sheff; FairPricedshipping/UTi Worldwide agent cannot take his own sagacious advice.

Per Dennis Heils' statement about this legitimate threat of violence from a UTi Worldwide agent: "high school kids sniping at each other". Does this mean that in his high school days, he faced physical threats and violence that seems commonplace and acceptable? Was breaking someone's legs a typical school day? What a rough neighborhood he grew up in.

Authorities in multiple states have been notified that UTI Worldwide agent Tyler Sheff o Fairpricedshipping.com is the IP address owner, which was not denied my UTi. He should be held accountable for his crimes and I am sure they are working diligently to put together the pieces to make sure this type of dishonest work and more importantly, threats to do bodily harm are documented and that he be held responsible. Hopefully UTi Transport (UTi Worldwide) will take the same action and eliminate their exposure to legal proceedings do to a "rogue" UTi agent and realize that physical violence is not how most companies succeed. I have heard of Guerrilla Marketing but this is far beyond the normal scope of doing business.

So far UTi Worldwide's reaction "Obviously if you can track his IP address you have the means to block him from your site easily enough". Yea, that's what we will do, that will stop Tyler Sheff from following through on bodily harm and I can see that IP block working on my home or office front door or better yet, my 6 year old daughters' school. Thanks for your actions Dennis Heil, I feel so protected now.

I hope Eric W. Kirchner UTi worldwide's new CEO does not make company decisions based on this sage advice from UTi's lackluster crack legal team.

Friday, January 2, 2009

Unlimited Texting Plan...Not!

Location: Ontario, Ontario
Industry: Telecom
Annoyed By: Bell Canada


So I have had the unlimited texting package with Bell for well over a year now. About 7-8 months ago I called Bell to see if Facebook Mobile sending and receiving would cost anything extra they told me because I had unlimited texting I would not be charged, great I thought now I can keep in touch with my friends easier with ones that do not have cell phones. So fast forward to two months ago, I called Bell to extend my contract with them for another 3 years and my plan stayed the same. Except they were now emailing me my bill instead of me having to pay extra for a paper bill. So not receiving a bill in my inbox, I checked online about a month and a half later. 201 dollar bill!!!!!!! It was usually 45 max. So I inquire and I was charged for every facebook mobile message sent and texts sent while in digital roam (which I never was before this month). The month that I was in I was already charged about 30 extra dollars as well. So I call Bell and demand they take that off my bill. They say the best they can do is take my 20 dollar roaming charges off and that I should have been charged with the Facebook Mobile charges since the beginning and that it finally caught up with me and there is nothing they can do about it. Told them to look at my past bills before that and they would see I sent a lot and didn't get charged for them and they said they did and I was lying. So I am stuck with Bell for a while, but I definitely will not be sending Facebook Mobile texts no longer. It would have been nice for them to have sent a letter or a notification text telling me that I was being charged for them.