Okay here is my rant for the day.

I am sick and tired of calling businesses and having the automated system ask me for an account number, phone number, or any other piece of information, only to finally reach a real person and have them ask me for the same thing. If your automated system asks me for it, that should be it. Why are you asking me twice? If the live agent can’t see the info I enter into the automated system, WHY DOES IT ASK ME FOR IT?

Yesterday I had to call both Bell and a government office. Both systems asked me for info (one was my phone number, the other my social insurance number) and in both cases, I had to repeat the info to the live agent.

I told my wife that I was going to bitch about this in my blog today and her comment to me was:

“I don’t even bother, I just hit ‘star, star, pound, star, zero, star, pound’ till I eventually get a real person.”

I think I will have to take up that technique cause it seems to work for her.

There are some companies out there who do the job a bit better though. For instance, when I call Mazda to book my car in for servicing, their call display pulls up my account info before they answer the phone.  They usually answer “Hi Scott, calling to schedule servicing?” or some other comment relevant to my account. I like that, makes believe that they remember me and care (even if it is an illusion).

We have been loyal customers of Shaw Direct (Formerly StarChoice) since 2005. Five years of paying our bills on time and enjoying their programming.

We have been thinking about getting an HD PVR for a while now, and their prices are around $500. Currently Bell has a deal on where new accounts can get one for $299. We decided to call Shaw Direct to see if they would match that price and send us out a PVR. They said no.

We told them that we would cancel our account and switch to Bell – the girl on the other end said, “Okay, well, have a nice day then”. Are you serious?

Shaw Direct really doesn’t want our service at all! Back in the “StarChoice” days, customer service would bend over backwards to keep a customer happy – since their acquisition things seem less customer oriented. (see my Post “Free HD PVR – But Not Really” from last year for another Shaw Direct experience

To top it all off, we are saving by switching – in the long run!

The Numbers

Stay with Shaw Direct
$39.99 / month + tax = $537 (for 12 months)

Switch to Bell
HD PVR Cost + tax = $446
Service + tax (@ $25 promo rate) = $336
$200 Promo Credit (for PVR purchase) = -$200
Total Cost for 12 Month Period = $582

That’s like paying $45 for the HD PVR when the dust settles.

BUT there’s more. The regular package price for the service is also $34.99 with Bell, an additional savings of $5 per month, so after 11 months of paying the regular service price, we will have recouped that $45, and after that we will start saving. So, basically, in the long run, all this will have saved us money, AND we will have the HD PVR. Can’t go wrong with this switch.

If you’re with Shaw Direct and want a PVR, you might want to consider switching…

Summary of why we are switching

• Great deal on HD PVR
• Lower monthly cost saves us money
• Better HD selection (more stations) in basic package
• Better Pay Per View selection

Do you ever fly? Has an airline ever lost your luggage? Have they ever damaged your luggage? Have they ever damaged your luggage before your own eyes and refused to take responsibility for it?

Musician Dave Carroll had this happen when United Airlines baggage handlers destroyed his $3500 guitar as he watched from inside the plane!

Here is an excerpt from his website:

“…my Taylor guitar was witnessed being thrown by United Airlines baggage handlers in Chicago. I discovered later that the $3500 guitar was severely damaged. They didn’t deny the experience occurred but for nine months the various people I communicated with put the responsibility for dealing with the damage on everyone other than themselves and finally said they would do nothing to compensate me for my loss…”

His website goes into great detail telling the story and unsuccessful ordeal of what he went through trying to get United Airlines to pay up for their mistake. He vowed to the last employee he spoke with that he would write three songs about what happened.

Below is the first song – its kinda catchy. Thanks to Ross Dunn for sending me the video – I suggest everyone share this story, as these big corporations should not be able to get away with behaviour like this.

Recently we received a notice in the mail. Switch to Shaw Digital and get a FREE HDPVR. This sounds great! We were already a Shaw customer for Internet and Phone, and thought we might make the switch from Star Choice.

Well, Star Choice is now owned by Shaw, and has changed names to Shaw Direct. As a result Shaw will not extend the offer to us. They say they are only offering it to people switching from other competing companies. I can understand that, but its quite annoying – simply because the direct mail they sent us didn’t say anything about that.

My wife called Star Choice (now Shaw Direct) to try and get the deal from them, saying “Shaw Digital is offering this deal, so if you cant match it, then we will switch to Bell”. After more than an hour on the phone with 6 different employees, the best Shaw Direct could offer was an HD PVR for $499… interesting, considering that they are offering that anyways!!!

We have been using Star Choice for nearly 5 years now, and until this recent event, have had great customer service. It seems that only when they made the switch to Shaw Direct that their service has gone significantly down hill. It is funny really – in this tough economy companies should be doing whatever they can to keep their customers, instead they are letting us walk away. They are willing to watch a loyal customer of 5 years spend their money elsewhere. Does that make any sense? I don’t think so.

If Shaw Digital can afford to give away a FREE HDPVR for a new customer, you would think that Shaw Direct could afford to give away a FREE HDPVR to retain a customer – after all, it’s really the same thing.

So after all these years with StarChoice, we will say goodbye, all because your parent company made us an offer that they are not willing to stand behind.

My wife and I just recently bought a house and lately have been buying and selling quite a bit using Craigslist. I have to say, that I am very surprised at how quickly you can sell stuff there, we have had a great response from our posts, and are selling stuff rather quickly.  Gotta love Craigslist!

One of the categories we check out frequently is the “housewares” category. Recently someone posted an ad essentially complaining about a particular retail store posting listings for new commercial products, and I thought I would use this as some inspiration for something to write about. First, this is the location/category in question: http://comoxvalley.en.craigslist.ca/hsh/

First, My opinion:

I have to agree with a few of the posters that commercial advertisments are a bit anoying here, and they should not be permitted. My reasons for this opinion is simple. I agree with the first poster, and believe that if commercial retailers start using Craigslist excessively, as this one particular business has been doing, then before long all commercial businesses will be doing the same thing, and this will drown out all of those who are trying to sell their used products.

I happened to notice the particular business posting quite a few items, but as I was looking only for used appliances, I simply ignored them.

As of my writing of this post, 4 people in total had responded to this issue. Here are their comments in the order they were posted.

First:

Is anyone else sick of Central Builders in Courtenay SPAMMING Craigslist with their inventory? This should not be permitted, at this rate all commercial retail outlets will eventually be posting here for Free advertising, littering the place with crap.

I went to Central Builders as I was looking for a fridge/stove, and their deals aren’t nearly as good as their Craigslist ad states, and there selection is terrible.

I am boy-cotting them until these posts stop.

Second:

Not sure what the problem was. I recently went to the business in question and found their selection quite good. And the prices that attracted me were quite clearly listed in the ads. Make your own decision.

A VERY satisfied customer.

Third:

I agree that there Craigslist ads are SPAM. This is not a place for commercial retail advertisement. Their selection & price is irrelevant, they should not be spamming here, its not the place. This is a place for individuals to buy and sell their used products, not brand new retail. I chalk their ads in craigslist up there with the mass spam email I get for Nigerian money scams and penis products.

Fourth:

I think you should check some of the other categories, like materials for instance. You will find plenty of commercial resellers there. If you had a bad experience, it probably should not be posted here.

So have your say with this new poll:

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Update:

Here is a Fifth Post:

How can the commercial resellers be listed as spam? It’s not sent to your e-mail and you are not forced to look at it. You sound disgruntled and need an outlet for your words I guess.

“Spam is flooding the Internet with many copies of the same message, in an attempt to force the message on people who would not otherwise choose to receive it. Most spam is commercial advertising.<continue reading their definition>.”

Have you ever paid “regular price” for anything? If so, you’re a sucker – and well, I guess that makes me a sucker too.

What is regular price? Well, it’s whatever price a retail store decides to stick on a product at any given time. Sure manufacturers set the MSRP (manufacturer suggested retail price) but stores are under no obligation to meet this price – it’s only meant as a guide.

You have to love the fact that just before a sale, the regular price seems to magically increase to make the sale price look better. When I was doing my Christmas shopping, one of the gifts I bought my wife was a new waterproof digital camera (The Olympus 850). The price has come down a ton since I first saw it about a year ago. Regular price last week at Future shop was $229. In their ad a week later they had it on sale for $199, BUT they also say “Save $50”. Last time I checked, that was actually a difference of $30, not $50.

Now if you called them on it, they may say, it was a flyer typo or something, but I have seen this happen time and time again, make the sale look better than it is by raising the regular price so people will be more likely to buy it. To me that equals a big time scam, and I am not so sure its legal.

(For the record I went to Walmart to buy it and they matched the Future Shop price – I hate Walmart, but I hate FutureShop more. I like London drugs (sometimes), but they wouldn’t match the price cause I wanted the orange camera and the one in the ad was black – Walmart didn’t care about the color).

Never, ever, buy anything that is not on sale, unless you desperately need it. Sales are stupid these days, they don’t make sense. Everything comes on sale at least once a month – what’s the point? All it does it cause us consumers to have no understanding of what regular price really is. If you pay regular price on anything, you’re getting ripped off because in a couple weeks it will be on sale again.

I have seen cases where the “sale” price is actually the MSRP – what’s up with that? Or better yet, the sale price is some stupid amount, say 5%, or 10%. Ten percent? That’s the best you can do? I can get 10% off just about anything at any time. Several years ago I used to work at Office Depot. Management gave us the authority to take 10% off the price of any item (some exceptions) for anyone, for just about any reason. If a customer walked in and wanted to buy a monitor but seemed unsure on the price, you could drop it 10% just like that. I can only assume that many other retail outlets have this authority given to their employees – and if they don’t, I can pretty much guarantee that management could drop the price for you.

Sure you’d have to take the effort to ask, but the mere fact that you can get it any time shows that the 10% “sale” price is not really a sale now is it. Give us a real sale, give us 50% off, or we’ll go to the store that will. It’s a recession people, these businesses will take just about any offer providing it is high enough for them to still turn a profit. If you walk they make nothing, if they drop the price, they make something.

I would be tempted to just move out to the woods in some secluded cabin with no contact with the outside world, hunting for my food, and burning wood to cook and keep warm. The problem is I like my stuff, I like my technology, and I like my modern conveniences. I guess I, along with everyone else living in the modern world, am prisoner to these retail stores and will be for the rest of my life.

BTW, Incase you are interested, this blog post was inspired by the photo below posted over at FailBlog.

Once upon a time, many years ago, I used to work at Office Depot. The retail days of employment are long behind me, but the job wasn’t bad. While we had our busy days, for the most part, the store seemed much quieter than the nearby Staples.

I always found it interesting that Office Depot advertised very little, where Staples advertises like crazy, and they seem to do a good job with it. I mean, who hasn’t heard of the slogan “that was easy”? Hell, they even sell the “easy button” from their commercials. What has Office Depot done that is memorable in advertising? I can’t think of a single thing – and I worked there for a few years!

Today I read that Office Depot is closing 112 stores in the US and Canada, cutting its workforce by 2,200 jobs. It seems that they are in financial trouble, and this is their band-aid solution. I have to wonder though, if they boosted their advertising, they may be able to boost their sales, and in turn allow those 2,200 people to not lose their jobs.

I signed up for this a few months back, and thought, more people need to know about it.

Recently us Canadians followed suit with the States and setup a National Do Not Call List. Now, often I get annoyed when we simply follow in the footsteps of our southern friends, BUT in this case, the idea is great, I love it.

Canadians can register here. You only need to give your phone number, no other personal information is asked.

Americans can register and find more information on their system here.

If you find that after 31 days of submitting your number, you are still getting annoying telemarketing calls, you can file an official complaint here.

You will need:

1. The telephone number at which you received the telemarketing call
2. The telephone number and/or name of the telemarketer
3. Whether the complaint relates to a fax, residential or business number
4. The date of the telemarketing call.

Keep in mind that those companies that you have existing business with, charities, newspapers, political organizations, and telephone surveyors, are exempt and still may call you.

Lets put an end to telemarketing – be sure to register your number, and if you still get calls after 31 days, file a complaint.

Take a look at that mouse of yours. Just about every computer has one in some shape or form. It may be the traditional 2 button optical or laser mouse, maybe you’re using some ancient ball mouse, or perhaps you’re on the laptop using the touchpad.

Have you ever stopped to think, I wonder how many mice are out there? No? Really? Well… neither have I. BUT that doesn’t change the fact that Logitech has seen its Billionth mouse roll, or as cnet says, scamper off the assembly line.

1 Billion mice. And that’s just one company. At first my mind said, is that possible, a billion mice? When you add up all the mice from Microsoft and… hmm… What’s another mouse company? I dunno, but there are others, so including them, I am sure that the total figure is at least 2 billion plus. That’s a lot of mice, and hard to believe, but I guess I have owned… 10? Maybe 12? In the past 15 years. Maybe more – so it’s no wonder how the number has grown to such heights.