Free Money Finance

The Right Way to Get a Complaint Resolved

Kiplinger lists what they call "the right way to get a complaint resolved" as follows:

1. Be prepared. Have documents, such as receipts, contracts, etc., to prove that you purchased a product or received a service. Know what type of resolution you would accept: replacement item, money back, store credit.

2. Contact the seller, service provider or manufacturer. Explain the problem politely. If that person doesn't resolve the problem to your satisfaction, ask to speak to that person's supervisor.

3. Put it in writing. If the merchant doesn't resolve your complaint, write a letter with your name, address, phone number and brief statement of the problem and what you've already done to resolve it. Tell the merchant or service provider what you want done and give a reasonable time period for a response. Keep copies of all correspondence.

4. Get help from the government or nonprofit agency.
 
5. Go to court.

IMO, this is very good advice. Let me add the following comments:

1. It's very important to document everything and to have your facts straight. I often write down what happened when (with as much detail as possible) ahead of time to be sure I communicate everything and don't forget something.

2. ALWAYS know how you would like the situation resolved. When I recently took the mower back to Home Depot, I knew I wanted my money back (since I was concerned about that model and wanted to do some more research.) So when they asked me if I wanted a replacement, I said I preferred my money back. Then when the department manager arrived he suggested we step out of the customer service line and he could check out the mower, but I said I wanted a refund. True to their word, they gave me one, but the outcome could have been different if I hadn't known what I wanted.

3. I usually start with the retailer where I bought the item if it was a recent purchase. For example, I could have contacted Toro directly with my mower issue, but what's the point? I probably would have gotten a big run-around even if I would have been able to find the right person to handle my issue. Instead, I was able to deal with a person at a local Home Depot and they handled the issue for me. Now they can deal with Toro (and they are in a much better position to do so btw).

Some items will even include a sheet of paper that says something like, "If you have a problem with this item, please contact us (the manufacturer). Do NOT return the item to the store." I totally ignore these. Any decent store will make it right almost immediately and IMO dealing with manufacturers is both spotty and a hassle.

4. It does pay to escalate things if need be. Sometimes lower-level workers/managers don't see the "big picture", just say "no" automatically, and hope you go away. Managers, district managers, and people at the corporate office (if you can find the right contact) are often more understanding. Yes, it can be tough to locate these people, but increasingly major companies have online contacts via Facebook, Twitter, etc. that you can reach out to and establish contact with. This is how I've dealt with Comcast. Granted, it's been less than ideal, but it would have been impossible without the online connections.

5. When having service issues that you can't get resolved (and in particular pricing-related problems), it helps to have information from competitors. If you can show that a competitor has a better price, better service, etc., companies all of a sudden become much more flexible.

6. I'm skeptical about getting help from a government or non-profit agency. Anyone used either of these to resolve a consumer issue?

7. I would go to court only in an extreme case -- and one with a good amount of money involved. Not worth it otherwise.

How about you? Do you have any tips for getting consumer issues resolved?

A Great Customer Service Experience

I recently had a GREAT customer service experience that I have to share with all of you! I'm the first one to complain when I have a bad experience (like with Sears or Comcast), and I want to be sure and share the good ones too.

A few weeks ago I was in the market for a new lawn mower (my 17-year-old Craftsman has been on its last leg for years now). I did my research with Consumer Reports and decided that Toro was the way to go (great blend between cost and performance.) I had it narrowed down to a few models, and off we went to Home Depot to see what they had.

It took us awhile to hunt down the department manager there, but once we did he was able to answer our questions. He did a decent job -- not adding anything extra we might want/need to know, but certainly taking the time to answer everything we had questions about. Finally we decided on a model and he helped me load it (in the box) on a cart. I pushed it to the checkout, waited a bit for a self-serve line to open, paid for it, took it to my car and loaded it in. When I got home, I took it out of the box and set it up (not a big deal -- maybe 30 minutes to do.)

But something wasn't right with the mower. First, it sucked gas like a hog. I had to fill it up TWICE to do my lawn (which my old lawnmower would do in less than one filling.) Second, it didn't go backwards very well. The self-propelled wheels were supposed to disengage after I stopped pushing it forward, but they never did. Needless to say, I wasn't happy with the mower. So after two mowings (I wanted to be sure there was a problem with it -- and there was), I was done with it.

We called Home Depot to make sure they would take it back and they said they would since we'd purchased it less than 30 days ago. When we got to the store, they did what they said -- they took it back -- so kudos to them. They offered us a replacement, but we said we wanted to think about our next step a bit more.

The next day I did some more research and found that 1) there were a lot more models of Toros than what Consumer Reports had listed and 2) there was an authorized Toro dealer (or whatever they called their "repair center" partners) close to where we shop (just a mile east -- somewhere we usually don't go.) It was a True Value hardware store. So I downloaded a Toro brochure detailing all their models and off we went to True Value.

When we arrived, a young sales associate was in the mower area. He had a decent amount of knowledge about the products (about the same as the guy from Home Depot), but it was clear that by this time I knew more than he did. Then the owner of the store showed up on the scene (the store had been in his family for something like 50 years). This guy knew everything about every mower they had (and they had a huge selection of Toros.) He answered all my questions in complete detail and volunteered extra information that I wanted to know but didn't even know to ask. He spent 30+ minutes or so with us, taking us through the pros and cons of each mower. He also noted that his prices were the same as the ones at Home Depot (a fact I confirmed later online -- he did have good prices  compared to HD and to other stores.)

I thanked him for his time and told him my wife and I would talk it over and decide what to do. He gave me his name and phone number and said if I wanted to get a mower from them to call him in advance and he'd have it ready for me when I showed up -- as long as I gave him 20 minutes or so notice.

Over the next couple of days we decided which model we wanted (it was actually a higher-end, more expensive model than what we got at Home Depot -- a model HD didn't carry.) I called the owner and told him I'd like to buy the item and would pick it up the next day and he said it would be ready for me.

When I showed up the next day, the mower was at the front of the store with my name on it. It was fully assembled (the owner said "we don't sell anything in a box") and full of both oil and gas. The paperwork was complete and I simply handed them my credit card and the transaction was done. When completed, he took me through a few things that were unique to my machine, then he went out to my car with me and helped me load it up. I felt very well taken care of and decided that when I needed some other hardware items, I would shop there.

A few days later, I got a message from the True Value store at home. The owner told me that the day after I purchased my mower that Toro had declared a $40 rebate on the item. He said he wouldn't feel right if I didn't get the rebate since it was so close to the announcement, so if I'd stop in with my registration card, he'd make it right. I stopped by a few days later, saw the owner, and he rung me up. I left with $40 in cash!

Now, do you think Home Depot would have done that? No way. In addition, they didn't spend the time, have the knowledge, and have the selection that the True Value owner did (though they both had the same prices). Since then I've been telling everyone I know about this great True Value store that I love. And I'm determined to shop there when I need something. Sure it's a bit out of my way, but for service like that, I'm willing to drive the extra distance.

Is Buying a Car through Costco a Good Deal?

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In the April issue of the Costco Connection, they tout their car buying service with the following facts and figures:

• 96.5% rated the professionalism of the authorized dealer contact as "good to excellent." (86.4% said "excellent)


• 96.4% would recommend the Costco Auto Program to others


• 96.3% rated the value of the Costco Auto Program "good to excellent" (84% rated it "excellent")


• 200,000 vehicles sold through the program last year (over 1 million in the last five years)


• 2,200 dealerships are part of the program


• Costco members save $200 million last year through the program

Here's the pitch for the Costco Auto Program (in my words, spoken by Costco):

• We're huge and as such, we can negotiate the best possible prices.


• We've done this with 2,200 dealers.


• All you need to do is let the dealerships know that you're a Costco member (not sure how this is done), and you'll get the cheap, pre-negotiated price.

I have thought about using Costco to buy a car, but I'm a bit leery of the program. I'm sure they do have the best price (or close to it) for a mass-negotiated program. But I'm not sure they can do better than I can using my tried-and-true method of buying a car (which involves the apparently successful method of using the web.)

My suspicions were reinforced when I saw this comment on my post titled How to Buy a Car the Same Way You Would Buy a Big Screen TV: 

I purchased a new car in 2007 doing just this. My comparison price was the so-called "no haggle" price available from the likes of Costco and AAA. I saved some $2,600 compared to those Costco/AAA prices, which were already discounted. A few observations:

1) I can only assume that whoever wrote that somehow this is a huge time commitment doesn't realize how much of a commitment it is to drive around to several dealerships and think you'll do better. If you do this right, you're only visiting ONE dealership, and that's just to do the paperwork.

2) I would make two alterations to the author's recommendation as written. In Step 2, you have to get dealers to give you an all inclusive quote to drive it off the lot. Dealers think that car buyers just want to brag about discounts below MSRP, so that's what they'll dangle if you let them. The problem with a price $X below MSRP or over dealer invoice is the double-secret sucker fee they tack on at the bottom of the invoice. Tell them you don't care about anything but the bottom line and not to bother impressing you with line item discounts.

3) In my approach there was no negotiation, really, not in my experience. Tell them up front what you're doing and that you don't intend to haggle, just to buy from the lowest bidder. One third will balk or won't reply and two-thirds will. For the ones who replied, the prices were great and nobody budged from their initial response, even when I told them they were underbid.

4) Two other things surprised me. 1) One guy actually tried to argue that the lowest price -- remember, this was the all inclusive price, calculated to the penny -- wasn't necessarily the "best price." He knowingly implied that there was some other, secret definition of "best price" that he knew and I didn't. Guess he showed me. 2) Before visiting the dealer who quoted the best price, I called a dealership close to my home (a dealer who never replied to my initial e-mail) to see if they'd match my best price. Over the phone they said they would and invited me in. When I visited they TWICE tried to bait/switch me with the paperwork. First they asked me to sign an invoice with a higher price, and then they asked me to acknowledge the options on a separate sheet, which was a blank sheet of paper. After I made them correct both, they gave up and gave it to me for a few dollars less than I asked.

So, have any of you used the Costco Auto Program to buy a car? Do you think you got a good deal? Why or why not?

Comcast Update

Here's an update from yesterday's post:

• My contact just called.
• Said he's adjusted the bill so all I need to pay is my $19.
• Said he should have been more proactive and done this in advance. (Duh! That's why I asked him about it two weeks ago!)
• He said he'll be more proactive in the future and catch it in advance. Yeah, right. I'll let you know how it goes.

Needless to say, I'll start saving the Direct-TV, DISH, etc. ads from the paper as my Comcast expiration date nears.

Comcast, Round #3

For those of you new to this story, read these posts (in order) to catch up to the rest of us:

• We Got Cable TV 

• Why I LOVE Comcast!!!

• Comcast Blows It and then Saves It 

• Comcast Blows It, then Recovers, Again

So here's the latest in my Comcast saga.

We returned from our Easter vacation on April 6 and found out that Comcast had turned off our HD channels. You know, some of the channels we got for free as a "we're sorry" for last time's mess up. Sure, we still had the channels in non-HD, but who can go back to watching regular TV after having seen HD? Not me!!! ;-)

So I called my "special" contact -- the guy who was supposed to make sure all was well with my service (he's someone higher up in customer service) -- a couple days later (I was busy and it took me some time). I got a call from him the next week (he was out on spring break the previous week). Here's what happened: the local Comcast team had done an audit, saw we weren't paying to get certain features (they're giving them to us for free, again, from last time), and turned them off from outside our home. Interesting that they only turned off the HD -- not the rest of the premium channels.

He said we'd need schedule a date to turn it back on, and I received a call at work from a "regular" Comcast representative (someone who I guess works for him) a few days later to make an appointment. Apparently, even though they can turn off things without us being there, they require us to be there for them to be turned back on.

I told her to call my wife and set up an appointment. She called, missed my wife, and left a message that she had automatically set up an appointment for 8 am to 10 am on Sunday (April 18) morning for us to get service and to call back if this didn't work. Now for those of you who read this blog regularly, do you think I might have a prior commitment on Sunday morning??????

My wife tried to call back four times -- the first three she gave up after being on hold for 15 minutes (one time even longer) each time. Finally she reached someone, cancelled the appointment for the 18th and rescheduled one for the next available time -- Monday, April 26. Yes, we're now working on the third week of "problems" before we get it fixed. But we're patient and willing to work through the process.

Then things went south. When we got home from church on April 18, we had a ticket on our door and several voicemail messages from Comcast saying they were there to check our cable per our appointment and we weren't there. My wife called them back (she got someone quickly this time) and found out that the appointment had never been cancelled and the new one never rescheduled. So she rescheduled officially for a new time on April 26.

Later that day (4-18), I discovered that we didn't have the soccer channels we paid for. This is when I hit the roof! Cutting off something we were supposed to get for free was one thing, but cutting off a service we were paying for was another matter altogether. And not to mention we're in the final weeks of the English Premier League and the semifinals of the Champion's League. I know that doesn't mean much to most of you, but imagine your TV went off a few days before the NFL Championship games (AFC and NFC). You wouldn't be happy, would you?

So I called and left a terse message for my Comcast contact saying I had had it and I wanted this issue resolved now -- not on April 26. He didn't call back by 9:30 am the next morning (Monday morning), so I called him and left another message. Got called back to me on 4-19 at 2 pm and told he would manage the problem himself all the way through the process -- until I was satisfied.

He called me back at 5 pm and said someone would be at my house before 7 pm. At 6 pm, the local guy showed up to fix my cable, but didn't know what to do. He said, "What am I supposed to do?" I wanted to tell him to turn on everything, but I gave him the details on the packages I was supposed to receive. It took him about 15 minutes to get us back up to speed. The one problem: he had to bill us at the regular rate (versus our $17 per month) because he had no authorization to do otherwise. I told him that was fine -- that I would cover it with my contact.

The next day (Tuesday, April 20), my contact called me to see if all was well. I told him it was and that he needed to adjust the price to make sure I was billed appropriately. In addition, I told him to be sure and cancel the appointment for Monday. He assured me all was taken care of. He was half right. The appointment was taken care of -- no one showed up. But on April 28, I received a bill for $89.37. Ugh. I have a call into my contact (he's out until today) -- I'll let you know if anything interesting occurs.

From here, we'll see how it goes. I started this process by giving them the benefit of the doubt, but now my money is on another screw-up happening again before too long. The most likely candidates are continued billing issues and/or the local guys changing my service again. I hope it all works out well though -- it sure would make life easier for both me and my contact.

BTW, I saw that the Consumerist named Comcast the worst company in America the other day. What have I gotten myself into?

Comcast Blows It, then Recovers, Again

When I wrote Comcast Blows It and then Saves It, it was a happy time. I had a problem, they fixed it (in a very nice way, BTW), and I was enjoying life with my new Comcast programming. I was happy even though not everyone was rejoicing with me. In particular, one guy tried to rain on my parade by leaving this comment:

Just wait until you get your next bill for $200 for the full price of the new package, etc. and have to spend an hour on the phone sorting it out. Trust me, it WILL happen.

Ha! Some people always look on the negative side of things. Obviously, he had no idea what he was talking about...

Guess what happened?

Fast forward to The evening of March 29. I come home from a long day at work, see the mail, and sit down to open it. I notice that there's a Comcast bill in the pile and I open it. Here's what they billed me for (remember, I was supposed to get upgraded service for no additional fees -- I was paying a total of $19):

• Technician visit: $30
• Partial month's service on new premium package: $30.48
• Next month's premium package charge (plus my remaining sports package): $52.99

Then there were miscellaneous fees and some credits for services they had cancelled (basic cable) that I had paid for, so the total bill ended up as $111.40. Ugh. Now I had another mess to sort out. Is this what they call customer service?

So I called the number/contact I had at Comcast. To do this, I had to call their toll free number, attempt to get a live person on the phone, and then have them transfer me to my contact. No dice. Trying to navigate their voicemail and speak to a live human being is a minefield. The first time I ended up in some continual loop. The second time I finally made it through, only to hear, "We are experiencing unusually high call volume now. If you do not have an emergency we suggest you call back later since hold times could be very long." (These aren't the exact words, but they are close.)

Here's the translation of what they were saying: "We don't have enough people answering the phones because we're trying to save money. It's better for us to inconvenience you than to actually talk to a customer. Call back later when we may or may not be able to talk to you."

Obviously, I was not amused. In fact, I was quite angry. Here we had dealt with an issue to my satisfaction and it was all taken care of. It was water under the bridge. Everything was fine. So why was I having to take time (and frustration) and deal with another, related issue????!!!!!!!!

So instead of calling back, I had a phone number for a supervisor and called him (he was not in the office since it was 6 pm or so, so I left him a message). The next morning I also called and tweeted @comcastcares. He responded back and said they would get it handled.

So the morning of March 30, I received a call from the supervisor. He apologized and empathized, then told me that I should ignore the bill (not even make the payment I was supposed to make -- $19 -- but ignore it completely) and that it would pick back up again next month with the correct charges. he told me he would check it in advance and that if I had any problem in the future, to call him directly.

Ok, so here's my take on the situation:

1. I was frustrated (and still am a bit) about the billing problem.

2. That said, they did make it right rather quickly. At least they're good at handling mistakes.

3. I'm on the verge with them. One more problem and I think I may go ballistic. It just shouldn't be this hard to get cable TV.

I'll let you know if there's a problem with next month's bill and/or if I have problems in the future. Stay tuned.

Has Customer Service in America Gotten Worse, Better, or Stayed the Same?

In my post titled Comcast Blows It and then Saves It, one commenter suggested the following:

Maybe you should ask your readers to discuss the state of service in America: Has service in general in the US got worse over the last 5 or 6 years?

He's asking because he's been out of the country that long. So what do you think? Has customer service in general gotten worse, better, or stayed the same?

I'd say it's gotten worse, but it's been over a longer period of time than five to six years. To me it seems like good customer service has been on the wane for a decade or more. It used to be that many companies built their businesses on great customer service. These days, hardly any do. And for most of the companies I interact with, customer service seems to be defined as "do the minimum needed to be sure the customer is just happy enough not to leave us." What happened to over-the-top service?

Let me know what you think. Also, if you have dealt with some companies that are very good or very bad at customer service, list those as well. I'm sure we'll see some common themes. ;-)

Comcast Blows It and then Saves It

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I've detailed how we got Comcast cable last August as well as how much I was enjoying the service. During those posts some of you had warned me that trouble with Comcast was looming (comments like "it's only a matter of time" were made.) Well, the time has come. I did have a problem with them. Here's what happened:

• In early March, our "On Demand" (the Comcast option where you can see select episodes of shows and movies on stations you don't subscribe to) went out, giving us an error message every time we tried to call it up.
• We called Comcast and were taken through a series of steps to try and get it up and running (turning off the entire system and waiting 30 minutes, restarting it, etc.) It didn't work, so they set up a time (a span of time mind you -- 9:30 am to noon -- not a specific time) when a rep would show up to fix it (I believe it was the next day, which was something I was pretty impressed with at the time.)
• When the rep showed up, he informed my wife that we should not be receiving On Demand and if we wanted it, we could upgrade our cable to another $30 more per month to get it. We pay $17 ($19 with fees) a month and were not going to pay $30 more for On Demand.
• During the conversation, the rep said something to the effect of "we're not going to sue you for the time you used On Demand without permission." I'm guessing he was joking (I wasn't there) but my wife wasn't sure. She informed him that COMCAST was the one who set up our system and they installed the On Demand.
• My wife asked the rep if the only reason he showed up was to tell us we shouldn't be getting On Demand, why didn't he just call? Or why didn't the customer service person the night before tell us. It would have saved my wife waiting around the house to meet a rep who had nothing to offer. He said it was because he likes to deliver this sort of news in person. It felt that he did it because he wanted to try and upsell us more services -- not the customer service we were looking for.

A few days later, I tweeted my dissatisfaction to @comcastcares saying the following:

@comcastcares Getting ready to write a blog post about a bad Comcast experience yesterday. Hope 14k subscribers respond kindly...

I received no response, so I assumed they didn't really care. A few days later when @MichaelHyatt tweeted that Comcast was the "gold standard in customer service", I responded "You're joking, right?" (BTW, Michael Hyatt has 75k plus Twitter followers, just for the record.) Comcast then responded to me and asked what sort of help I needed. I emailed them the details above along with the following comments:

As you can tell, the whole event left a bitter taste in our mouths. I'm sure you're also aware that there are alternatives available to Comcast cable (Dish, Direct-TV, U-Verse, etc.) and this situation has made us start to investigate each of them (I saved their ads from this weekend's Sunday paper) as we decide what to do when our Comcast promotional rate is up in August. For something as simple as turning on our On Demand (even if we weren't supposed to have it, we did have it and now it's been taken away), a cost that's probably very small for you, the company has risked our business. And even if you couldn't turn the On Demand on for some sort of reason (contractual, etc.), Comcast could have told us over the phone and not make my wife wait around for a sales pitch.

I wanted someone in authority to know that this happened and give you the chance to respond. I tweeted about it the other day and copied you, but got no response so I assumed you blew me off. Perhaps you just missed it with the volume of tweets you see. That's why I responded the way I did to Mike's tweet this morning.

Comcast emailed me back asking for the phone number on the account and a contact phone number where they could reach me.

A few days later after I followed up again twice (the guy I was emailing was on vacation/traveling, so I can cut him some slack), I got several calls from three different Comcast customer service people. I finally talked to one on Saturday, March 13 and they told me:

• They weren't sure why my On Demand was turned off.
• They were sorry for the inconvenience and trouble it caused me.
• To compensate me for my trouble they were going to reinstate the On Demand, but to do so, they needed the TV hooked up to their premium digital package (120 of the best channels) and they were giving this to me for FREE!!!!!!!!!!
• They were extending my promotional rate ($19 per month) another month through September.
• They gave me a number and contact to call in September so we can discuss "being sure they retain this business" at that time.

OK, that sounded good to me. ;-)

I put my wife on the phone and she set up an appointment for a Comcast tech to come out and set up the system the next Tuesday. When he showed up, he didn't have any specific instructions from the home office about what package to give us. So my wife called me to confirm and put him on the phone. He said he didn't know anything about what he was supposed to give us and wanted to know if I did. I was tempted to say, "They told me I'd get something like 500 channels, HBO for life, and a new 60-inch 3D TV." But instead I told him the truth and asked him if 120 channels rang a bell with him. He said it did and we hung up.

When I got home that night I checked out the system. It's good to go. I didn't count the channels, but there are a ton of them -- way more than we'll watch (we don't like to spend too much time in front of the TV, especially during the two months of spring/summer/fall we get here in Michigan.) ;-) Anyway, Comcast gets kudos for doing the right thing, taking care of a customer, and making the best of a bad situation. I'm not sure I'd call them the "gold standard" in customer service because our initial efforts got us nothing, but once the right people found out about the problem, the fixed it the way you'd want a company to respond when you have a problem.

So for now, they're back on my "good" list. ;-)

The Pain of Ordering Online

Let me start by saying the following:

• I LOVE ordering online most of the time. You can get great deals, better selection than most stores, and the product comes right to your home. It's a great time saver and you can usually find free shipping deals that eliminate that issue from the decision-making process.
• I did most of my Christmas shopping this year online. Soooooooo convenient and kept me out of the packed stores.
• In particular, I like Amazon. I can always find what I want there, it's at a good price, and they get it to me relatively quickly.

All those said, I have a rant coming. Exit now if you don't want to hear it.

I ordered an audio book from Amazon the other day and they ship it to me a few days later. It came in a cardboard envelope (not a box) and when I got it, it was CRUSHED! Not the CD itself (I'm assuming it was ok, I didn't open the CD package), but the flimsy package of the audio book was crushed. And who would expect anything different? It was put into a cardboard envelope that probably pushed on the product even before it was shipped. Then, with the handling caused by shipping, there's no wonder that it was damaged. Who packed this thing anyway, a five-year-old?

Now comes the pain of ordering online -- the dreaded return (actually an exchange as I wanted a new one). If this was a store, I would have to drive back, so in that way, the pain of getting a return authorization, packing the item back up, and getting it sent back isn't that much different. Then again, if I bought an audio book at a store, I could see that it's not crushed. It's just a useless waste of time and effort and one I don't appreciate from any retailer.

Furthermore, try TALKING to anyone at Amazon (or emailing them). Just try. Your chances are better of breaching Fort Knox. Amazon has set up a system designed so it's very difficult, if not impossible, to have a conversation with a person. What sort of conversation would I like to have with them? Consider these facts:

• The product is not saleable. There's no way that anyone will buy it at anywhere near retail.
• They're going to have to pay to have it shipped back.
• They're going to have to pay to ship me a new one.

So if the product is worth half of its $15 cost, then it's now worth $7.50. And if you deduct $3 for shipping it back and another $3 for shipping me the new one, the net value to Amazon of going through all of this is $1.50.

What about me having a conversation with them, detailing the above, and us reaching some sort of compromise? If I agree to keep the damaged (but, I assume, still working) product, how about they refund part of my purchase price? Anything they would get above $1.50 is a better deal for them than the process detailed above. But try talking to someone there about this -- just try. Nope, not gonna happen.

If I saw a damaged product in a store, I'd ask for a discount and odds are I would get one. But how do you do this with Amazon and other online retailers? You can't.

Now the glitch is that if they actually did this some people would be calling in and claiming their product was damaged when it really wasn't. Or if Amazon required a photo to back up such a claim, maybe the buyer would damage the product themself to try and get a discount. This is probably why they don't make such offers. But still, in my case, when the product was so blatantly mis-packed -- don't they have some sort of exception to develop a win-win solution for the issue?

As I processed the exchange I left them feedback in a couple of places about the packaging, so they know what happened. What did I get back? A canned email response. It left me less than heart-warmed, as you can tell.

Amazon does have one of the least painless systems for returning items. However, there was an even better solution than a return in my case. And I'm not happy about the fact that it wasn't an option I could pursue.

Ok, I feel much better now... ;-)

Is It Risky to Buy a Toyota?

When I recently gave an update on our shopping list, I noted that I'll probably be getting a new car in the fall (and starting the shopping process this summer.) At that point, the leading candidate was a Toyota Highlander. It is a good blend of a four-wheel-drive vehicle (to get me through the tough winters we have here) and a bit roomier than the Forester I have now (the kids are getting bigger, want to take friends along with us, etc.) Plus it met the reliability ratings that I always rank pretty high before I decide to buy a new vehicle.

Then, as you know, the latest brake problems arose (which includes the Highlander). This leaves me wondering: Is it risky to buy a Toyota? Or maybe this is just a blip on the quality radar (and perhaps now's the best time to buy)? Or maybe I should move along and look for something else (maybe even an "American" car)?

In the end, the question is whether or not Toyotas still have their reliability/quality advantage over much of the pack or if they are simply just another car company at this point (like this article suggests).

What's your take on the issue?

Office Depot's Strange Way of Applying Coupons

A week or so before Christmas I had a bit of personal and stocking-stuffer shopping left to do. So I headed to Office Depot armed with my "$10 off a purchase of $50 or more" coupon.

My purchases looked something like this (I'm approximating prices and leaving out tax to make this example simple -- but how the discount was applied is 100% true):

Plastic chair mat: $25
Desk accessories: $15
Stocking stuffer #1: $5
Stocking stuffer #2: $3
Laptop table: $20

Total: $68

Most stores would ring this up as $68 less the $10 coupon equals $58. Not Office Depot (at least not mine.) They took the $10 savings and applied it to each individual item based on that item's percentage of the total cost. So my discount looked like this:

Plastic chair mat: $25 - $3.68 = $21.32
Desk accessories: $15 - $2.21 = $12.79
Stocking stuffer #1: $5 - $0.74 = $4.26
Stocking stuffer #2: $3 - $0.44 = $2.56
Laptop table: $20 - $2.94 = $17.06

Total: $58

So the total's the same, but the way they got to it is unusual. But it doesn't really make a difference, does it? That is, until you want to make a return.

My wife didn't like the desk accessories (they were the ones she wanted me to get for her, but they just weren't right for some reason.) So she went back to Office Depot with the receipt to return the item. Now if we hadn't purchased the desk accessories in the first place, we would have still been over $50 and still received the full $10 discount. But they credited her with $12.79 (the cost of the desk accessories less the amount of the coupon applied to them.) My wife tried to explain to them the issue and they tried to fix it (she left the store thinking they did), but in the end, they gave us back less than we were due. Not a big deal because we're talking $1 here, but still, it's interesting the way they do things.

Then we decided we didn't like the chair mat (it was too flimsy.) So we went to return it as well. Now if we had never purchased the desk accessories AND the chair mat, we would not have been able to use the coupon since our total amount would have been $28. We talked about this on the way there -- that they'd probably take all the rest of our discount away -- and we were ok with that. But we also discussed the strange way they applied the discount and decided that whatever they gave us back, we'd accept -- it just wasn't that much in the total scheme of things and it was more of a headache to fight/explain it than it was worth.

So when we returned with the chair mat, they credited us for $21.32. This left the discounts on the other three items we ended up keeping -- giving us $4.12 off the purchase of $28 in supplies.

Obviously we're not dealing with tons of money here and the fact that I even noticed this and then posted on it could be considered obsessive, but I did think it was interesting on several fronts:

• How they applied coupons when almost everyone else does it a different way
• The fact that if you return something but still have over the coupon amount, you lose money
• The fact that if you return something and now have under the coupon amount, you save money

So does this mean you can always have a coupon at Office Depot, no matter how big the purchase amount is? Simply buy what you want plus a bunch of other stuff to get to the coupon level, get the savings, then return the stuff you don't want. You'll lose the coupon amount on those purchases, but not on the stuff you keep.

To me, this is dishonest and really not worth the trouble anyway, so I wouldn't do it. But having such a system does leave them open to this type of abuse.

Is it only my Office Depot that applies coupons in this manner or do they do it elsewhere? Anyone else had a similar experience?

McDonald's Turning Cheapskate

A month or so ago my boss and I were on the road to Chicago where we were attending several days of business meetings. We stopped at one of the last exits of civilization before we entered the urban sprawl/traffic nightmare that seems to surround the city by 50 miles or so on at least the south/southeast side. It was 10 am so we didn't have a lot of choices to choose from, and we ultimately decided to go to McDonald's to get some breakfast.

I used to eat at McDonald's a lot -- especially their breakfasts. Their pancakes are a good source of instant energy when you need it and, as such, McDonald's is a great stop on those 50-mile bike rides (or as a reward afterwards to refuel.) So I know McDonald's and I know McDonald's pancakes. I'm not some sort of newbie in this area, mind you.

I also like a lot of syrup on my pancakes. McDonald's, in all their wisdom, has somehow decided that one packet of syrup is enough for three pancakes. It isn't. Even if you're a "light syrup" person, one packet barely does the job. So I usually ask for an extra packet of syrup to make sure I have enough. I didn't do so for some reason this time, and when we got to our table, I realized I needed more syrup.

So I went back to the register and asked the woman who gave us our order, "May I have an extra packet of syrup?"

"That will be 27 cents," she said as she turned around to get the packet.

What? Pay for an extra syrup? Since when did this happen?

I was stunned for a few seconds, but somehow managed to dig out the change in time and get my syrup.

But are you kidding me? They're now charging for syrup? What's next in line to be charged for -- ketchup, straws, napkins, the right to sit down, the right to use the bathroom, or something else?

I have NEVER been asked to pay for syrup in a McDonald's. And I was just in one on a trip over Labor Day. I asked for extra syrup and they provided it with no hassle and no charge. So is this a new policy at McDonald's? Or maybe it's just something this one McDonald's does? Either way, it's a poor reflection on the chain as a whole IMO.

Yeah, it's only 27 cents. And maybe it's right that I should pay for it since I do use "extra." But I'd argue the following:

• It's a new expense that I've never had to pay before. It's quite common for people to be upset about things like this.
• It's not really "extra." One packet is not enough to cover three pancakes.
• I have options. I can easily say "good riddens" to McDonald's and go somewhere else where the pancakes are just as good (or better) and the syrup isn't rationed.

What's your take on the issue? Do I have a right to be upset? Or am I a cheapskate, syrup-grubbing pig looking to pick a fight over nothing? :-)

What a Rip Off

Here's a story that transpired a few weekends ago. I still find it unbelievable.

• A friend of ours called my wife one Saturday and said she had locked her keys in her car. The friend was at work (still had several hours to go) and wanted to know if my wife would run over to her house to see if there was an extra key there (we have a key to her place and it's only a few blocks from our house.)
• My wife said she would, she did, and she found the extra key. She brought it back to our house and called her friend. My wife said she could drop it off (about a 15-minute drive) in the afternoon if that was good.
• The friend said not to worry about it since in the meantime she'd called her dealership (very close to her place of work). They had looked up her key code number and were going to simply cut her a new key. The guy she talked to said it would be free since she was a customer and was so close. The friend even told him she'd give him a free haircut for his trouble.
• Later that day (we found this part out that night), the guy shows up, delivers the key, and checks to make sure it works. It does. Then he gives our friend a bill for $70!!!! What happened to FREE?????
• Our friend PAYS THE BILL (ugh, I'm dying) because "what else could I do?" When my wife asked about the promise of a free key, the friend really didn't have an explanation for why she didn't ask about it and/or put up a fight.

Here's what I would have done:

• Asked about the free key offer. If someone says something is free and then wants to charge me $70, that's their problem, not mine. And they need to explain it.
• If the guy didn't have a good reason for the price (and really, even if he did have a good reason, he still told me it was free) and couldn't/wouldn't give it to me for free, I'd call the dealership and ask to speak to his boss or customer service. I'd tell them how I was promised a free key and now they were trying to charge me $70.
• If I didn't get the free key (and an apology) after this effort, I'd tell them to forget it -- that I didn't want the key. I'd also tell them that I was no longer a customer of theirs and was going to spread the word about how they had dealt with me.
• I would then call my friend (my wife in this case) and ask her to bring me the extra key.

I still can't believe that this happened -- that the dealership did this and that our friend paid it.

FYI, the dealership was a Buick dealership. You think they would be looking at serving every potential customer in the best possible way these days.

Why You Shouldn't Buy Tires at Costco

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I've now purchased two sets of car tires from Costco. They are great tires (Michelin) at the best prices I could find anywhere. The first set lasted as advertised and I had no problems with them or the service at Costco. But the second set has been a bit different. Not with the tires themselves, but with the service from Costco. It's so bad that it's making me re-think my future tire decisions. I probably won't buy another set of tires there.

For those of you who don't know the setup at Costco, when you buy tires from them, they will rotate the tires free of charge every 7,500 miles. You simply bring the car in, turn the keys over, and they rotate them for nothing. Not a bad deal, right? Well, there are a couple of snags:

• You CAN NOT make an appointment for a tire rotation. It's simply first come, first served. Forget trying to time a tire rotation to coincide with regular shopping at Costco -- if you're three hours from any sort of semi-popular shopping time at the store (which is almost any time they are open), you're looking at a two-hour wait at least. Why can't they simply let people make appointments?

• After the tire rotation is completed, they strongly suggest (you have to sign something that says you've been advised of this) that you come back after 25 miles to make sure the tires were put on securely. I'm sure this is some sort of legal protection policy, but it says one thing to me: "Unlike other garages, our mechanics aren't that good at tightening nuts on a tire, so be sure you bring your car back in to check because there's a good chance one of your wheels will come flying off at 70 mph." In addition, if I leave Costco, make a couple other stops, then drive home, I'll be at 25 miles with one trip back there. Does this make any sense?

So to try and minimize the hassle of waiting for a tire rotation, I arrived before the store opened a few weeks ago. As they were opening the doors, I tried to go in the "out" door (which is the side where the tire department is.) I was waived back to the other door by some follow-the-rules clerk, and in those 20 seconds I missed, another guy had walked up, passed me, and was at the tire counter before I got there. I was second in line, was notified that it would be an hour before they were done, and when I got there an hour and 15 minutes later, I still had to wait 10 minutes. Ugh. 

So here's the problem for me: time is money. If I have the uncertainty of having to wait for an indefinite amount of time and have to plan my entire life around trying to get a semi-decent length of time to get my tires rotated, it's just not worth it. I can get tires for only a bit more somewhere else that does take appointments -- and that has mechanics that know how to tighten nuts the first time too. As such, I probably won't buy tires from Costco again.

If you have ideas on how to deal with this issue, I'm all ears. I've tried shopping in the store, and I can kill an hour doing this. But at the time I go shopping it's usually far over an hour's wait. I've thought about having my wife follow me in her car and then her bringing me back a few hours later, but Costco isn't that close to home -- and why should I have to deal with this anyway?

Why I LOVE Comcast!!!

Ok, I don't really love Comcast, but I thought that title would get more people to read this post. :-)

Anyway, there have been a few updates since we've gotten cable that I wanted to share with you all. here goes:

• So far, all my bills from Comcast have been correct and for the agreed upon amount (several people commented that I'd never get what was promised for $17 a month.) So far, I have.

• The DVR is GREAT! I can record shows (like soccer games) and then watch them in a fraction of the time they would normally take (fast forward until a goal is scored.) I can "watch" 5 to 6 games in the amount of time it would take to watch one live (note: I don't watch this many games and I do watch a game now and then live -- but it's difficult since many are not on at viewer-friendly times for US viewers.) And on regular shows, cutting out the commercials saves a ton of time as well.

• Looks like I'm going to be able to pay for the entire year's worth of cable simply through the money earned refereeing soccer this fall. I have a post coming up in November with details on how we're doing with this extra money maker.

• Here's what I REALLY love. Comcast called and left a message on our machine the other day that we now have (at no extra charge) NFL Red Zone. What's it show? Every touchdown of every game. We can watch the best plays/moments from eight games in the time it takes to watch one regular game. Click through to the site if you like to see a flavor of what's shown on Sunday. But for us, it's a great way to watch the best moments of several games without having to deal with the two-yard runs. :-)

Oh yeah, and the TV is great! Makes watching that much better.

What's Wrong with Warehouse Clubs

You all know how much I like warehouse clubs stores. I LOVE Costco and shop there quite often. That said, club stores aren't all milk and honey -- they do have their downsides. And while this list of 10 problems with warehouse clubs is over-blown IMO, they do have some legitimate points. For instance, here are a couple disadvantages of shopping at club stores:

7. "Try our website. It will try your patience."

10. "You'd better like what we like."

My thoughts:

1. I've already detailed the problems I had last year with the Costco photo calendars. My understanding is that they went with a new online provider. The process was much more difficult to complete (the forms were much slower to react), there weren't as many style choice, the pictures weren't as crisp, and one of the calendars came back wrong. Not sure whether or not I'll use them this year.

2. If you've ever shopped at a club store you know that you'll get great prices on the items they have, but they only have a few items in every category. It's a bummer because if you like Brand A even though it's not the leading brand, it's likely they won't carry it. Ugh.

These things said, I still like club stores and enjoy shopping at them (for obvious reasons). :-) I know I won't find every brand I want, so I simply deal with that problem. As for the photo calendars/online photo store, I hope Costco fixes their problems from last year. Otherwise, my photo purchases with them are history.

Another Financial Pet Peeve of Mine

I've already noted a couple financial pet peeves of mine (getting solicited on the phone and dealing with rebates) and thought I'd share another I've experienced recently a few times. It is:

Not getting a receipt for a purchase at a gas pump.

I like to get receipts when I purchase things. They help me track what I'm spending, where I'm spending it, etc. And when I get gas, I also don't want to take extra time by going into the store -- I simply want to gas up, get my receipt, and go.

But do you know how many gas stations can't manage to get a simple receipt to print out? Here's what I've experienced in the past few weeks:

• A station near my home has about a 50% print-out rate. When I went in the store last time to get a receipt the clerk said, "Yeah, that happens all the time." Ugh. (BTW, I don't go there any longer.)

• On vacation, a receipt didn't print out at a very nice-looking gas station we've stopped at a time or two before (because they also sell Icees). I went in to get a receipt and the cashier didn't even apologize for my inconvenience (and I was especially perturbed because I had to wait in line to get it.)

• At another station near our home, I could hear the receipt printing out but nothing came out of the machine. I went in and got my receipt and at least the clerk went out as I was leaving to fix the problem.

I know that I'll get comments like "it's not that big of a deal" and "why do you need a receipt anyway", and I admit that there are many more important financial (and other) issues to be concerned with than not getting a receipt at a gas pump. But then again, aren't minor annoyances the definition of "pet peeve"? ;-)

How about you? What are your financial pet peeves? 

The Problems with Rebates

Consumer Reports details how many people send in rebates as follows:

• 47% always/often
• 23% sometimes
• 25% never
• 5% N/A

Of the 25% that never send them in, the top reasons are:

• 52% - too many steps
• 46% - amount too small
• 42% - missed deadline
• 32% - feared placement on mailing list
• 30% - lost receipt
• 26% - doubted they'd get the money

I have a love-hate relationship with rebates -- I love to hate them. But when an item is significantly cheaper with a rebate than without, what's a shopper to do? If it's worth the time and hassle, I will buy an item with a rebate. Then I apply my steps to be sure I get the rebate and monitor the process until I do.

I've mentioned in the past that Costco has a great rebate system. It's online and easy to follow -- taking out many of the problems with rebates that people mention above. I recently found another company that does it right as well -- Staples. Their forms are on the web, simple to complete, and I've found that the rebates come faster than expected. I save $10 off a chair for my daughter's desk (which was 1/3 of the total price, btw) and got two reams of paper for free (which got me over a price hurdle so I could use a $5 coupon too, btw) and both rebates worked as advertised and to my satisfaction.

That said, I still hate the rebate process. How about just giving us the rebate in-store, huh? Seems like it sure would save a lot of administration costs on the part of the company offering the rebate. Then again, they wouldn't benefit from the hoards of people that buy because of the rebate and then don't fill them out -- the true reason they offer rebates in the first place (they can advertise the rebate price without actually having all buyers get that value).

We Got Cable TV

Yesterday I shared that we recently purchased a new TV. Well, we also knocked another item off our list of stuff to buy shortly thereafter -- we got cable TV. Here's a quick run-down of our cable-related decisions/activities:

• Those of you who have antennas know that the switch to digital hasn't been all that great. We had some stations totally disappear and depending on the weather, some stations we "knew" we could get were spotty at times. After missing our neighbor's daughter on Jeopardy as well as almost missing my appearance on the local news (work-related, positive stuff), I said enough was enough. We HAD to get a reliable signal.

• We had received a promotional flyer from Comcast a month or so earlier (money saving tip: keep hold of those promotional flyers) and had stored it away in case we were ever shopping for cable (we knew we were getting a TV, so cable has been an option for awhile.) My wife had called to check on the price and was told that basic cable and the "sports package" (which includes the Fox Soccer Channel) was $22 a month (plus $49 installation), so we assumed this is what we would pay. We decided to proceed with the purchase once we got the TV.

• Just to note here, we didn't really consider a satellite-based option since I didn't relish climbing up on my roof in mid-January to shovel two-feet of snow off my dish so we could watch AFV. Not a pretty picture.

• We then misplaced the Comcast flyer (which was valid until early September), so my wife called Comcast to reconfirm the pricing. This time she was told the pricing would be closer to $30 a month for the basic cable and the sports package. Ugh. We started a frantic house search for the promotional flyer.

• In the meantime, I was informed by a friend that if we wanted the true HD experience we needed to get the "HD box/package" from Comcast and that this would likely be an additional charge. After seeing one over-the-air show in HD, I HAD to have it. So we decided to add it to the list.

• We finally found the Comcast flyer and my wife had great notes on it (including all the costs, who she talked to, etc.) One key learning: it was a different phone number from the "regular" Comcast number she had called a couple days earlier. Very sneaky, Comcast -- different numbers for different offers.

• My wife called Comcast and hit the jackpot. She was quoted $17 for basic cable (plus $25 for installation), the sports package, the HD box, and a recorder (not sure what to call it) that allows us to both "freeze" a show in progress as well as record something like 250 hours of programming (this is for a one-year contract). Oh yeah, sign me up!!!!

• The Comcast installation guy came out a few days later and he was a piece of work. (Question #1 for Comcast: Do you have any sort of dress code for your employees? This guy was a slob -- he looked like I do after having mowed the grass on a 90-degree day.) Anyway, he seemed to know slighty more than I do (which is not much at all) about cable TV and was having a problem getting it up and working. (Question #2 for Comcast: Do you tell your installers to take their shoes off (or use footies) when working inside and then outside? Our guy was in and out and left tracks all over our house.)

• The Comcast guy said he needed to drill a hole in the side of our house to run a cable in. Now I'm not too excited about anyone drilling a hole in my house, and I was especially not excited about him doing it (since it appeared he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed.) I asked that if I allowed him to do this was he sure he could find a cable that worked. He said, "no." So why again was I going to let him drill a hole in my house?

• Anyway, I finally told him that I needed some sort of guarantee that the drilling would be fruitful. I walked him around the house, we found the cable he wanted to use and I asked him if he could test it prior to drilling. He said he could. (Duh!) I asked him to do so, he did, and it worked. Now knowing that we had a working connection, I gave him the ok to drill. I figured that if he screwed it up I could sue Comcast for a ba-zillion dollars anyway.

• As he started to drill, my daughter said, "He may be destroying our house, but Dad's sure going to get his cable TV." :-)

• Anyway, all went well and it got installed. Bonus of bonuses: the NFL channel is included in the sports package. My son and I spent our first night with the cable watching a great show on that channel in chrystal-clear HD. This weekend we watched both Arsenal and Liverpool play as well as parts of the PGA Championship in HD. It was wonderful. ;-)

• We not only get the Fox Soccer Channel, but GolTV as well. Our new TV also has a computer port that we'll be able to use to view ESPN360.com soccer events. There shouldn't be a major soccer game on TV that we won't be able to get.

That's about it for now. I'll end with a question: Anyone want to come over for a Super Bowl party in 2010? :-)

Why Even Ask?

A couple weeks ago we were out and about and decided to make a quick run to Walmart to get a few things. They were in the process of remodeling the store and it was a bit of a mess (though not that bad.) But they had things moved around and were low on several staple items -- I assume it was because lower inventories made it easier for them to move shelving as they remodeled.

As we're checking out, the Walmart checker asks, "did you find everything you wanted today?" My wife said (kindly by the way, not in a rude tone in any manner) that we hadn't, that they were out of some basic items they usually stock and that she couldn't find some other items as well. The clerk then proceeded to make excuses why they didn't have what we wanted or why we couldn't find items (primarily the remodeling.)

So why, if she was only going to offer excuses and no help, did she ask in the first place? It certainly wasn't because she cared or wanted to help. I'm sure it was because she was trained to ask. But did they also train her to ignore the response and detail how inept the store was? Is this how Walmart wants to represent itself? Or is it just indicative of the level of talent they can/do hire? Whatever the reason, Walmart isn't helping itself out by having clerks ask, "did you find everything you wanted today?" and then do/say nothing to help rectify the problem if the answer is "no." It leaves the impression (probably correctly) that they don't really care about their customers. IMO, they would be much better off not even to ask than to ask and then ignore the response.

But let's pretend they actually want to be helpful (oh, and BTW, SELL MORE STUFF -- is anyone at Walmart reading this?) What's a better way to handle this sort of issue? Here are some good responses (some better than others) for Walmart clerks to give when someone says they weren't able to find everything they wanted:

• "I'm sorry to hear that. Would you like me to call someone to assist you?"

• "I'm sorry to hear that. We are remodeling and I know it's an inconvenience. I know we'll be much better when you return again."

• "Yes, the remodeling certainly is playing havoc with our normal levels of service. I'm really sorry for your inconvenience and I know we'll do better on your next visit."

• "If you'd like, I could report the items that were out of stock to the manager so we're sure to have them the next time you come in."

Ok, these probably aren't the best answers either, but they're a lot better than the standard response and you get the idea of what I'm going for.

In the end, we left the store wondering why the clerk even asked if we found everything we wanted. Yes, we knew it was probably because she was told to, but still, it didn't help the situation in any way and actually made us feel a bit worse about shopping at Walmart. Thumbs down to them on this one for sure!

P.S. Is this the company Seth is talking about?

Thumbs Down for Costco on This One

One way to save money on subscriptions, members, etc. -- anything that has an annual or regular fee -- is to let the membership expire if you don't need it for some time, then renew it once you do. For instance, let's say you shop at a warehouse club once every other month because you buy in bulk and you buy a lot when you go. So if your membership expires on July 31, you make a shopping trip right before that, then let your membership expire. When you need to go again at the end of September, you renew your membership for another year and hence you didn't pay for two months when you didn't need it.

Or at least that's how it works in theory. Costco is on to this trick though. They used to back-date subscription renewals for five months (so if you let it expire on July 31 and you renewed on December 15, part of your fee went to pay for the July 31 to December 15 time period -- a time you weren't using their services. On top of that, your annual membership now only had seven months left on it.) What a rip-off!

I say "used to" because they got sued. Now they "only" back-date a membership for two months. So if you renew within two months of letting your membership expire, you pay for those months you didn't use. If you renew after two months, the entire amount paid goes to a new 12 months.

What a deal, huh? I say, "what a rip-off!" Why is there any back-dating at all? Why isn't it a get-what-you-pay-for system like everything else?

Personally, I love Costco. I love their samples, their gas prices, the amount you can save using their store brand, their service, and so much more. But this policy is anti-customer and against the general "members first" policies that seem to be the norm at Costco. I urge them to reconsider and eliminate any sort of back-dating at all.

FYI, this experience hasn't ruined my complete perception of Costco, but it's certainly done some damage.

A Good and a Bad Experience

From the start of this blog I've documented both good and bad experiences I've had doing business with all sorts of companies. I recently had one of each with two companies and thought I'd share those with you.

The good experience was at Best Buy. We're looking for a new TV, and a friend suggested we go to Best Buy and look at all the options they had available (he didn't say we should buy from them, simply look at the various alternatives since they have a wide selection.) While there, a young and knowledgeable salesman talked us through the options and answered all of our questions. In all, he spent 30 minutes with us and gave us a ton of what we felt was good information. I don't know if we'll buy a TV there or not, but simply by interacting with him, my impression of Best Buy went up dramatically.

The not-so-great experience was at Applebee’s. Let me start by saying that we don't usually eat at Applebee’s. But since my son and I received gift cards there for working a soccer tournament, we had to spend them. So the family went off to a local Applebee’s for a weekend lunch. The experience was "fine". Nothing major happened that caused a problem for us. But we left with two impressions of the place: bad food and too expensive. IMO, you can get much better food at a much lower cost at about a hundred different places. The trip simply reminded us why we don't usually eat there.

How about you? Have you had any good or bad experiences with businesses lately?

Another Good Experience

Remember when I went to my car dealership for a quick repair and they saved me $90 by being honest? When I was there, they tightened up the heat shield that was rattling under my car. A week later, it was rattling again (or maybe it was a different one -- they didn't say.) So I made an appointment, went in, and had them fix it.

When I got to the cashier's desk, there was no charge. This was probably because they felt they hadn't fixed it fully the first time. Still, I expected some charge. But no, there was a $0 balance. And they even washed my car for me to boot!

I don't know why it stands out so much to me when I get good service these days, maybe because so few companies do a decent job with it.

Anyway, I was impressed and will certainly be back to that shop. They are honest AND have great service, what's not to love? Yeah, the price isn't that great, but they send me coupons to get it within reason.

How about you -- anyone out there had a great customer service experience lately?

Anyone Use Upromise?

Anyone remember Upromise, the program where you sign up your credit card, shop/eat at participating stores/restaurants or buy certain products, and get a rebate percentage back to be used to pay for college expenses? Here's a summary of how it works:

Once you join Upromise®, nearly everything you buy or do can mean more money for college in your Upromise account. Check out all these great program options. Remember: the more you do, the more you can get back. You'll be able to watch your Upromise account accumulate daily with all your eligible purchases.

All your earnings are automatically saved securely into your Upromise account. Then, you decide if you'd like the potential to grow them tax-free in a 529 plan 1 to pay for college, use them to pay down a Sallie Mae student loan, or receive a check for college expenses. 

Seems to me like this was "all the rage" several years ago, but I haven't heard much about it lately. I'm sure some of you use it. How do you like it?

I signed up for it at one point but for a reason I couldn't remember, I never really used it. Then I searched their site of participating restaurants within 15 miles of my home. I didn't recognize a single one of the 30 or so that were participating. Then I looked for my grocery store to see if it was included. It was -- as long as I wanted to shop online. What? Ok, so now I know why I didn't run with the program -- I'm not interested in any of their offerings. Guess that kills their "nearly everything you buy or do can mean more money for college" claim.

Anyone out there using this program with great success? What are your tips for making the most of it?

And Yet Another Reason to Hate Etrade

I've detailed previously that I hate Etrade because they closed their index fund leaving me high and dry. Not only that, they closed it at the end of March. Do you know what's happened since the end of March? It's up about 15%. That means I would have an extra $4,000 in my Etrade accounts if things had stayed the same and the index fund had not been closed. Ugh!

So anyway, I'm in the process of transferring my Etrade accounts to Vanguard. Here's a brief history of what's happened on that front:

• I got the forms from Vanguard to initiate the transfer. On the forms it tells me that I may need a medallion signature guarantee if the firm that I'm transferring the assets from requires it.

• So I call up Etrade to see if they require a medallion signature guarantee for a transfer.

• I get a snot-nosed kid (sounded like he was 15 years old) Etrade customer service rep who cuts me off in mid-explanation to inform me that I have to initiate the transfer with the company that I'm transferring to, not from, so why am I calling Etrade?

• I tell him I know that and if he'd let me finish, he'd know why I was calling.

• I tell him the rest of the story and ask if Etrade requires a medallion signature guarantee or if I can simply sign it myself and that will be fine.

• He says something to the effect of, "Oh. Let me ask." He puts me on hold.

• He comes back a few minutes later and says that as long as the name and address on the new account is exactly the same as that on the Etrade account, I do not need a special signature to transfer.

• Since I plan to keep everything the same title-wise, I follow Etrade's advice and sign the forms. I send them in to Vanguard.

• Last night, I get a notice from Vanguard saying they'd love to transfer my accounts but that the company I'm transferring from requires a medallion signature guarantee.

Ugggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! I HATE Etrade!!!!!!!!!!!

So now I'm back to square one. I'll go get the signatures needed and send in the forms again. I'm betting Etrade socks me with a huge "transfer fee." At this point, I don't care -- I simply want to be as far away from this company as possible.

KFC Blows a Great Opportunity to Win a Customer

I'll admit it, I love KFC. I know, I know. The grease. The calories. The heart-attack waiting to happen. They way they treat their chickens (I threw that one in for you PETA fans.) It's a disgusting, unhealthy in every way sort of place to eat. And yet it tastes so good... ;-)

For the reasons mentioned above, I only go to KFC a couple times a year (and then only because someone in our family decides on their birthday or some other special occasion that they want to go.) My wife detests KFC (for the reasons noted above) and usually eats one piece without the skin (the rest of us fight for the skin) when we go and that's it.

As many of you know, KFC has recently come out with grilled chicken as a way to get health-minded customers into their restaurants. As part of their launch, we got (not sure how -- I think it was in our Sunday paper as an insert) a coupon for one free piece of grilled chicken to try for ourselves (FYI, this was BEFORE the recent Oprah coupon that caused havoc at several restaurants). This was their chance to win over my wife and have her be a more-willing customer. Seemed like a GREAT idea to me.

So a week or so ago the kids and I head to KFC. We order for us as well as request a free piece of grilled chicken with our coupon. Now I noted that the coupon said that the restaurant had discretion to provide whatever piece of chicken it wanted, and I assumed it would NOT be a breast (too big), but I also thought it wouldn't be a wing (too small). My actual guess was that it would be a thigh. Anyway, we got our food, they noted we got a free piece of grilled chicken (it was in a box), and we headed home.

When we got home, I opened the box with the grilled chicken in it and saw -- you guessed it -- a wing. And it wasn't even a good wing. Either this bird was a midget or some sort of Cornish game hen, but the wing was very tiny. Even my kids noticed and one chimed in, "That's so cheap!" My wife tried it, but couldn't even really get a taste of it. KFC had lost their chance to win a customer.

Now I'm not complaining about what they did -- it was a free piece after all and they could give us whatever they wanted. But it does seem like a huge waste of a marketing effort. Their intent is to let people try their new grilled chicken. And yet, they give a piece that can't be properly evaluated. Furthermore, it makes them look cheap and as if they really don't have the best interests of their customers in mind (don't they want to make a good impression with their offer?) Is this really the sort of place where you want to  eat -- a company that provides the least acceptable option there is? Probably not.

Now my wife will probably never try the grilled chicken. KFC wasted their chance. This is just another example of how one bad experience can ruin a company with a consumer.

One Bad Experience Can Ruin a Company

Eight years or so ago (I'm not sure how long exactly but it was soon after we moved to Michigan and we've been here almost 10 years now) my wife and I went out to Perkins. She had always loved eating there as a kid and wanted to eat there again. We went in and no one was in the place. Literally, no one. We thought there had been some sort of hostage situation and the workers taken to the back. After a couple minutes and creating some noise, a waitress showed up and seated us. A few minutes later we saw a couple other waitresses and a few other customers came in as well.

We looked at our menus, decided what we wanted, then started what I'd call "the great wait." We waited and waited and waited. It didn't seem that long since we were talking and enjoying ourselves but by the time the waitress came over to take our order, 20 minutes had passed.

Our order was taken and we started waiting again. The first 15 minutes or so weren't that bad, but then we began wondering if our food was ever going to arrive. After half an hour, I asked our waitress where our food was. She said she'd check. She returned and said there had been a mistake and that our order hadn't been submitted, but that they were working on it now and it would be out shortly (any minute).

Fifteen minutes later, I asked again and was told it would be out any minute now. Fifteen minutes after that, we were so disgusted and couldn't get our waitresses attention that we simply got up and left. We haven't been to a Perkins since then and, whenever we see one, my wife makes some sort of comment about how bad their service is, how it's not a great place to eat, etc. -- even if it's not the Perkins where we were treated poorly. In other words, a place she'd loved as a kid and had remembered fondly was now classified as a "bad" restaurant simply because of one very bad experience.

Shoe Money had a similar experience. One bad trip lost a ton of business for a restaurant.

There really isn't a personal finance application to this story other than to realize that we all have lots of choices when it comes to buying goods and services and if someone isn't treating you well, you can always go somewhere else. From a business standpoint, these stories highlight the need to make every experience a good one and if something bad happens to address it immediately to take care of the customer. Otherwise, you'll not only lose that customer, but lose the many more people that they tell about the experience.

Have you ever had a very bad experience with a business that caused you to refrain from shopping/eating there again? If so, please share it with us all in the comments below.

Another Example of How a Knowledgeable and Fair Sales Person Can Save You Money

We take our cars to a local Goodyear shop for oil changes. They are cheap, accept competitor's coupons (which I get from my Entertainment Book), and since almost anyone can change oil without messing it up, it's a good arrangement for us. They also sell tires (of course) and do other "repair work", whatever that may be.

Almost every time we go there, they find something on my car that "needs work." It's usually in the $75 to $120 price range, but it's a regular occurrence. I think it's part of their company strategy -- to do the basic work and then find more work that may or may not be needed so they can earn some extra money. As a result, I take everything they say with a HUGE grain of salt and don't ever simply go with their recommendation. Besides, would I really want any car work done by a tire shop?

The last time we took my car in, they called me to say my car was ready, but that the power steering fluid was "dirty" and needed to be changed. It would be $90 for them to do it. Would I like them to proceed? I said "no", and I went to get the car. When I picked it up, they said I really needed to get that fluid changed, and I told them I'd take care of it.

Around the same time, I started getting a rattling under my hood. I knew what it was immediately -- the heat shield (to what, I don't know) was loose and needed to be secured. I had this happen one time ago (about 40k miles ago), so I called my dealership and set an appointment to come in. While there getting my heat shield fixed, I asked the head mechanic to check the power steering fluid because I had been told it was "dirty." He gave me a strange look when I mentioned it, but said he'd check it.

When he came back to tell me that the heat shield was fixed, he said the power steering fluid was fine. He said that some dirt is normal and that he had 40,000 more miles on his car (same make and model as mine) and his was ok. He didn't think I'd ever have a problem with it.

So here's another example of how a knowledgeable and fair sales person can save you money. He could have easily said I needed it changed (and he would have probably charged me more than $90.) But he was honest and told me the truth. As such, whenever I need anything done to my car in the future, I'll give my dealership a call. They don't have the best prices (they're among the most expensive options), but they have an area where I can get other things done (I wrote and posted my Earth Day post from there), they send me coupons (which I keep) to help on the price, and, above all, they're honest. I can trust them to tell me when something isn't wrong as well when it is. And that's a quality worth paying for and rewarding in my book.

Besides, the way I look at it, I already kinda owe them $90. ;-)

Ratings of Big Retailers

In their May issue, Consumer Reports rated "big retailers" for "customer satisfaction with all shopping experiences." Here's how the retailers ranked:

1. Costco
2. Kohl's
3. Target
4. JC Penney
5. Sears
6. Sam's Club
7. Macy's
8. Walmart
9. Kmart

I've had a lot to say about most of these, but let me comment here on them so my thoughts are all in one place:

1. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Costco. I have been a member there for several years and have purchased everything from tires to personalized calendars for gifts there. (Not to mention, grabbing a free snack or two.) I shop there often and recommend them to all who ask.

2. Kohl's is hit and miss to me. If you get there at the right time (by chance) and are willing to dig through all they have available, you can get some great deals. My biggest beef with them -- they almost NEVER have my size running shoes (shown in their ads.) I see the shoes I want, go there, and time and again they don't have my size. I've since stopped going there as much.

3. We don't go to Target as much because we get most of what we could get there at either Walmart, Meijer, Costco or Walgreen's.

4. I think I was 12 when I last went into a JC Penney store. Ok, it wasn't that long ago, but I know I haven't been in one in at least a year, maybe two years.

5. Don't get me started on Sears. I'm almost at the end of my gift card they gave me as a result of the great elliptical problem. I plan to use it on a new lawn mower this spring and then be done with them.

6. I don't go to Sam's because I shop at Costco. Why belong to two warehouse clubs?

7. Don't get me started on Macy's either. Almost at the end of my gift card there too.

8. I personally like Walmart, though I can see how people hate it (kinda dungy, not the greatest crowd, zero employee help, etc.) But still, they have some good deals -- especially on store brand products.

9. Don't shop often at Kmart for the same reason we don't shop at Target. Oh, and the fact that our Kmart is more ratty than Walmart doesn't give us any incentive to go their either.

For more of my thoughts on retailers, see which ones I had good and bad experiences with in 2008.

How about you? Which of these do you like and which do you dislike?

Fidelity Takes Automatic Steps to Save Me Money

I've already talked about how I switched from regular Vanguard shares to Admiral shares to try and save on some investing costs. I took those steps proactively -- I called them and made the switch. But one of their competitors made the switch for me -- without me even asking.

As I've recently reorganized all of my investments, I now have a high concentration of dollars in a few funds. I also made these changes in my Fidelity 401k, moving from a handful of funds to one fund that has all my company retirement money in one place (I have other retirement money in IRAs that I've rolled over from previous 401ks -- the money I'm talking about here is just for my current 401k.)

When I made the changes at Fidelity, I put all my money in Fidelity Spartan Total Market Index Investor Class (FSTMX) shares. In short, this is a total market index fund. Here's a description of it from Yahoo:

The investment seeks to match the total return of the Wilshire 5000 index. The fund normally invests at least 80% of assets in common stocks that are in the index. It includes all of the stocks in the S&P 500 index, excluding foreign securities. The advisor uses sampling techniques to replicate the returns of the index while investing in a smaller number of securities. To select stocks, the advisor takes into consideration capitalization, industry exposure, dividend yield, price/earnings ratio, price/book ratio, and earnings growth.

The expense ration from the fund is a very low 0.10%.

But my consolidation put me with over $100k in this fund. A week or so after I made all the transactions, I got a note from Fidelity telling me they were automatically converting me to Fidelity Spartan Total Market Index Advantage Class (FSTVX) shares. The assets are EXACTLY the same as with FSTMX. The only difference is that the new shares have an expense ratio of 0.07%. In other words, the old fund would run me $100 in expenses per year at $100k invested while the new one runs me $70. I'll take $30 per year for doing nothing different, thank you very much! Over 20 years, that's $600 at $100k, but since I'll be adding to the amount, my savings will be much greater over time.

Ok, it's not a fortune, but I was impressed that Fidelity took the steps on their own to make the change, save me some money, and take care of a customer. Kudos to them!

BTW, Vanguard may have done this as well -- I don't know. As soon as I transferred the money there I made the change myself. If anyone has had experience with them in this sort of change, please let me know.

Why I Hate E*Trade

Got this today from E*Trade. UGH!!!!! I am so through with this company!!!!!

After long and serious consideration, E*TRADE Securities has made the decision to discontinue our family of proprietary index mutual funds.

As a result, the E*TRADE S&P 500 (ETSPX), Russell 2000 (ETRUX), Technology (ETTIX), and International (ETINX) Index Funds will be liquidated on a date no later than March 27, 2009 (the "Liquidation Date").

Of course, even though we are discontinuing these funds, as an E*TRADE customer, you have access to over 7,000 funds to help you find the right alternative.

Here are a few important points to keep in mind:

• Effective as of the close of business on February 23, 2009, no purchases of the funds may be made and any applicable redemption fees or account fees charged by the funds will be waived.

• If you do not redeem your shares yourself, your shares will be automatically converted to cash equal to their net asset value on the Liquidation Date. You will receive proceeds equal to the net asset value of the shares you held on the Liquidation Date after provision for all charges, expenses, and liabilities of the fund.

• The redemption is treated as a taxable transaction, and you will have to pay taxes on the proceeds of the liquidation, even if your shares are automatically redeemed on the Liquidation Date.

Please be assured that this decision has nothing at all to do with the financial health of E*TRADE FINANCIAL, which has been, and continues to be, very well capitalized by every applicable regulatory standard.

View an important prospectus update with more detailed information about the liquidation. Enter the ticker symbol to access the prospectus supplement for your particular fund.

You can easily find alternative funds with the help of our powerful screener or, if you have questions or would like help finding alternative investments for your cash proceeds, please call 1-800-ETRADE-1 (1-800-387-2331) from 7 a.m. to midnight ET. Or log on to your account and send us a Secure Message through the Online Service Center.

As always, we appreciate your business and the opportunity to serve you.

I Better Spend that Gift Card Quickly!!!!

Bad news for one of my most-disliked retailers. Is this the beginning of the end? I need to get rid of the gift card I have ASAP!!!!!!!

Extreme Saving Tips for Sample Eating at Costco

Ok, I debated whether or not to publish this post or not. As you'll see, it's a bit over-the-line (at least for some people -- or maybe many?). After all, there should be a limit to what we're willing to do to save money, right?

Anyway, I've detailed my friend's method for getting a free weekly lunch at Costco. Well now, here are a couple ways to maximize your snacking opportunities there to save even more:

• Befriend the servers -- If you're at Costco a lot and are a friendly sort, you'll soon get to know the servers pretty well. And they are quite willing to let friends and acquaintances take an extra sample or two. My friend speaks Spanish and at least one of the servers at his Costco is a native Spanish speaker. He converses with her in her native tongue and she feeds him lots of samples (just hope she doesn't draw the "imported olives" or "tofu candy" sample for the day!)

• Use the group to your advantage -- If you're in a group, everyone can have more of what they want if others in your group don't like what's being offered. For instance, let's say I don't like olives (which I don't) and yet someone in my group does. He gets a sample for himself and I pick one up for me too. But instead of eating mine, I give it to him. He then reciprocates when we get to a sample he doesn't like but I do.

So there you have a couple tips for getting the most samples you can. Over the line? Or is all fair in love and shopping?

Amex Took Care of Me When My Card Number Was Stolen

The other day my wife got a call at home from American Express. They said there was a security issue with my Blue Cash® from American Express card and that I should call the number on the back of the card. She called me, and I called them.

Turns out someone had used my card to make several "suspicious" charges (to Napster, no less). I confirmed that they weren't from me, and Amex said they were canceling the card. They also told me to review my next statement to make sure all the charges were legitimately mine.

Then they transferred me to the "replacement card" division (not sure they called it that, but that's what it was.) The lady there told me they'd have a new  Blue Cash® from American Express card to me in the next two weeks. Really? TWO WEEKS? Yikes!

I told her that my Blue Cash® from American Express card was my main card, that I charge $25,000 a year and that by taking two weeks to get me my new card, they were missing out on a ton of charges. She then said they could offer next-day, expedited shipping to me for no charge. Thanks, I'll take that. ;-)

I asked her if they had any idea how my number had been swiped and they didn't. She said it could have been a restaurant, online, or even someone randomly entering numbers into a website.

Anyway, my new card showed up the next day, and I was back in business.

BTW, I'm working on a comparison of the Blue Cash® from American Express card (review here) versus the Chase Freedom card versus the new Schwab card. So far, the results are very interesting...

Can You Pay for a Costco Membership by Eating Free Samples?

I've already asked if you could pay for a Costco membership by saving on gas alone? (answer: probably not.) But now comes this question:

Can you pay for a Costco membership by eating free samples?

Here's why I ask:

A few days ago, a friend told me that at least once a week he and his wife head off to Costco to shop. When there, they eat enough samples that they are no longer hungry and that these trips serve as a meal for them. Yep, true story -- I'm not making this up.

So let's say you would have spent $2.50 on the meal (which is a decent meal if cooked/prepared at home but very low if you were looking to eat out.) So if you saved $2.50 per week for 52 weeks, that's a savings of $130 per year. And this is per person. So if my friend and his wife each skipped a meal each week because they ate at Costco, they were saving $260 per year. At this rate, they are certainly saving enough money to justify the Costco annual membership costs.

A few other factors that influence the payout calculation:

• If by "shopping" at Costco once per week they ended up buying more than they would have otherwise and/or spent more on items they would have purchased elsewhere at cheaper prices, then their savings could be eaten up quickly.

• If they would have spent more than $2.50 per meal per person, then their savings would be greater.

• If they had more people eat the samples (like their kids), then their savings would be greater.

Once a week is a bit extreme, but even if you employ this strategy only once a month, a husband and wife can still save $60 per year eating a Costco and pay for their entire annual membership this way.

I've talked before about how we often eat at Costco during sample time and often we're so full that we skip meals (or at least postpone them) because we're so full, but we don't use this as an intentional money-saving technique. In addition, we often each the samples because we're genuinely interested in trying something new -- something we probably wouldn't buy anyway without the sample -- that we may or may not buy after trying it. I'd guess that we end up buying one in ten items we sample, maybe a bit fewer.

So, what do you think? Is this a valid way to save money? Or do you think people would end up buying too much that would erase their savings? Or maybe using this strategy is in some way dishonest and over-the-top when it comes to saving money? I'm interested in your thoughts.

Good and Bad Company Experiences in 2008

As part of my series on looking back at 2008 posts, I thought it would be fun to review the companies that I had good and bad (and mixed) experiences with in 2008. It was interesting to go back through all the posts I had talking about company experiences -- who knew I had so many interactions with businesses worth writing about in 2008? Anyway, here's the list -- enjoy:

Good Experiences

• Menard's -- Very few companies make cents these days like they do.

• Logan's -- They seemed to deliver again and again.

• AAA -- Worth the price.

• Bed, Bath, and Beyond -- Always seems to have a good experience here.

• Chase -- I know, a shocker. But they made good for me in 2008.

• Dick's -- Usually high-priced, but they gave me the correct price on a mis-marked item.

Bad Experiences

• Checks in the Mail -- They just don't get it.

• Dell -- Are their computers really as crappy as their salespeople make them seem?

• Macy's -- Not much good to say about them.

• Kmart -- Not much to love here (except they help me buy cheap stuff to work off the Sears card I got as a refund.)

Mixed Experiences

• Costco -- I love how much I can (usually) save at Costco, but their (usually great) calendars were not up to par this year.

• Target -- They got a bad review early on, but turned things around in the end.

• Sears -- Sears came through on 2007's issue, then I had ANOTHER problem with them. It finally got resolved (though I had to write a letter to make it happen.)

• Walmart -- Thought I was done with them, but I went back and it's been "ok."

How about you? Are there any businesses that were clear winners or losers for you in 2008?

Revenge!!!

Check this out -- Sears sales down 7.3% and Macy's sales down 4%. Think it could have anything to do with the facts that they have poor customer service and high prices?

I (we all) better use those gift cards quickly...

Why I Hate Macy's

As I mentioned, I received a Macy's gift card last year as a Christmas present. Guess what? I got another one this year. Now after a year of shopping the original one is down to a $40 balance. Then I have another full one to deal with. Ugh!

So we headed off to Macy's for the after-Christmas sales. The store is such a rip-off. Why do I say that? Let me give a few examples:

• We started on the ground floor and noticed they had holiday gift baskets at "50% off." I walked up and saw they were nice baskets -- comparable to what you could get at Harry and David for $50 or so. As such, 50% off should be a great deal, right? Nope. The "regular" Macy's price was $110 to $150, so even with the 50% off, many of the items were higher than what they should have been anyway.

• So we then went upstairs and noticed the Christmas decorations were on sale. 60% off stocking holders. We've been looking for some and knew that the full price at Target was in the $8 to $15 range (before any discount) for comparable items. The Macy's regular price: $36 each. So with the 60% off, they were still $14. (We later headed over to Target and bought some there for a discounted price of $4 each.)

• We finally made it to the men's coats. I wanted to check their prices versus a new Columbia winter coat I had purchased at Costco the week before for $99.97. (We decided that if I could find it or something similar cheaper after Christmas, we'd return the Costco one.) Anyway, Macy's had the EXACT SAME COAT. Same style. Same color. Same everything. Their "original cost" was $230 but it was now "on sale". Macy's new price: $165. What a rip!

• We finally made it upstairs. I have been looking for a chair massager from HoMedics and figured I could get one after Christmas at a great discount. The one I wants usually goes for $199 (I looked on the HoMedics site as well as a few others stores and sites). Macy's had the one I wanted for a "regular price" of $349, but it was on "sale" for $199. Now tell me, has anyone, ever paid $349 for this massager? (Other than an unknowledgeable Macy's customer, that is.)

We ended up finding a few things that were comparable to regular prices (or maybe even a bit better when you take into account both the sales and the coupon we had from the paper) -- towels and a crock pot. But other than those, there wasn't much there that we wanted -- and what was was waaaaaaay over-priced. Yeah, I've heard of people who "work the system" at Macy's and get "great deals", but are these really great deals? Some may be, but I suspect that most are "great deals" when compared to Macy's over-inflated prices. And imagine how many people pay full price or get 10% off and think they're saving a bundle -- when they're really paying way too much for something they could get for a lot less somewhere else.

Have I mentioned that I hate Macy's?

P.S. A few days after the Macy's trip, I found the massager I wanted on sale at Amazon for $149. Plus they offered $20 off immediately, so I paid $129 in the end. With free shipping. And no sales tax. On a rewards card that gave me cash back. ;-)

P.P.S. Anyone want to buy my Macy's gift card? ;-)

Another Reason to Hate Macy's

I have my own reason for hating Macy's, but here's another one:

Some Macy's stores overcharged holiday shoppers who used debit cards to make purchases on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

Ok, so it was only for a two-hour period on one day, but still...

Update: Beware 2008 Costco Photo Calendars

As many of you know, I've recommended the Costco photo calendars in the past as great gift items. I've given them out for the past several years and have always had rave reviews. In fact, they are the only gift I've ever given that people request year after year (they start in November, asking me to make sure that I'm getting them a new calendar this year.)

Anyway, today I received this email from a reader:

Based partly on your enthusiastic recommendations, last year we created photo calendars through Costco.com. Exactly like you said, they were amazing quality and a hugely popular gift with the kiddo’s grandparents. This year, I went straight to Costco.com to do them again.

They arrived today. And look horrible. Apparently they switched providers/printers, the customer service rep indicated that they were “swamped” with refund requests and quietly recommended snapfish.com when I inquired if I could still get the “old style” calendar. I did get a full refund, but now will have to scramble to replace them in time for the holidays (and they will be considerably more expensive even before the rush shipping).

I had the same thing happen to me. I ordered five this year, and they screwed up one of them (put the cover on backward). I am supposed to get a refund (they emailed me and said I'd be credited when I called them, but their phones are swamped and I haven't been able to get through), but who knows if that will happen. In addition, the quality is waaaaaaay below what it was last year. Very, very poor. I can no longer recommend their service to anyone.

I hope they switch back to their original provider -- or at least one with comparable quality to what I've seen in the past. If not, I'll be looking elsewhere for my photo calendars next year.

Update: Just got this response from the original emailer:

I had to wait on hold about 30 minutes last night before I could talk to a customer service rep. Once I did, he was pretty sympathetic and very forthcoming with a full refund.

Good luck getting your money back.

33% off calendars at Snapfish.com if you order by today with code CALENDAR33 (which brings the price down close to Costco levels). And if you go through fatwallet.com, they are offering a 12% rebate.

FYI, I sent Costco and email note this morning. I'll let you know how they respond.

Menard's Makes Cents

I was at Menard's a couple weeks ago buying a bag of mulch for putting my roses to bed (we need winter protection for roses here in the great, white north). The bill came to $4.01 with tax and, as usual, I didn't have any change with me. I gave the guy a $5 bill and expected him to give me $0.99 back. Instead, he said, "No need to give you all that change back" (or something like this) and handed me a $1 bill.

This was the sort of treatment that used to be commonplace among retailers. I can remember as a kid that it seemed like a "rule" in my small town -- if the customer was lacking a penny or two, the retailer simply paid that part of the transaction so the customer didn't get a ton of change back (which very few people like to carry.) This practice then morphed into the "penny jars" at various establishments where you could pick up a penny if you needed it or leave one (or more) for someone else if you had extra. It was a system where customers worked together to eliminate the dreaded handful of change issue.

But this too seemed to go by the wayside. Sure, some retailers still have a penny jar (I see it mostly at rural gas stations), but most don't. I guess with the combination of people paying more by credit card as well as retailers working to squeeze every penny of profit they can, the options of the retailer picking up the cost of a penny and the penny jar are not really viable today.

That's why I was shocked when the guy at Menard's spotted me a penny -- and I thought it was worth a mention. I guess there are still some retailers out there who do that little extra to make their customers happy. Well done, Menard's.

Target Makes Good for the Salvation Army

In my review of Target earlier this year, I took them to task for their bah-humbug banning of Salvation Army red kettle bell ringers at their stores. This issue came to my mind again earlier this season when we stopped by a Target (something we don't do very often) and, as I expected, there were no ringers -- which took away from the "feel" of the season for me, but that's for a different post. Anyway, I've tried to correct mis-statements, opinions, thoughts, etc. on this blog when conditions change or new information is brought to light, and now I need to revise my thinking in Target and the Salvation Army. Why? It appears they recently gave $1 million to the charity. The details:

MINNEAPOLIS (November 12, 2008) –Target today announces a $1 million donation to The Salvation Army to revitalize the organization’s libraries, media centers and educational facilities across the country. The retailer announces its commitment, which includes $25,000 grants to all forty divisions, at the unveiling of The Salvation Army Bushwick Community Center’s newly transformed library. The introduction of the Center’s updated library will serve as the kick-off of forty more library, educational and after-school facility renovations to take place throughout next year.

Now what I don't know is what Target is currently giving versus what the Salvation Army used to get by having bell ringers in front of Target stores (maybe this is way more, maybe it's way less, maybe it's the same), but I felt obliged to point out that Target isn't the Salvation Army-hating store I accused it of being.

I stand corrected.

Sears Makes Good!

Late on Friday afternoon I got a call from the manager at my local Sears store. He was responding to my letter/issue. He apologized several times, said they had done many things incorrectly, and asked what he could do to make me happy. I thought about saying, "give me a complete line of Craftsman tools" but instead I simply asked for the 20% discount I thought I was due. He said that was no problem and he issued the refund to my credit card.

So while it was not the best experience (they should have taken care of me from the start), Sears did eventually make good. Here's to one store manager who understands customer service!

Memo to Self: Yes, I Really HATE Sears

I thought my troubles with Sears were over. But I still have to shop there because I have $500 in credit from my last problem with them. And when you have to shop there, you're open to the same old Sears customer service.

Anyway, our old microwave died last week. We looked at Consumer Reports and a Sears Kenmore model was ranked #1 and was also a Best Buy. So we decided to use some of our credit to buy one. That's when the problems began. I'll let my letter to Sears (sending it our tomorrow) explain the rest of the story:

I have recently had a very unsatisfactory experience at your store and wanted to detail it for you. Here are the events that have transpired over the past few days:

• On Saturday, November 8, my wife and I purchased a new microwave at your store. Before we did, we asked if it was going on sale anytime in the future. The sales person said she didn’t know but we had a 30-day period after we purchased the item to get credit for any subsequent sales.

• The very next day (Sunday the 9th), we received a Sears ad in our Sunday paper. It noted that small appliances were 20% off. Not knowing whether or not microwaves were included (it didn’t say they weren’t, but it didn’t list them either), I asked my wife to call the store and find out.

• My wife called the store and got the automated message system. It asked her what department she wanted and she said, “appliances.” It then asked if she wanted large appliances or “small appliances like microwaves.” (This was the wording it used.) Of course she said “small appliances.” She was transferred to a phone that rang and rang and no one picked up.

• So she called immediately back, went through the process again, and asked for “large appliances” this time. Again, the phone rang and rang and no one answered.

• She repeated this process – calling both small appliance and then large appliances – the next day (Monday, November 10th). Again, the phones rang and rang with no one answering.

• So on Tuesday, November 11th (the last day of the sale), we drove to the store to talk to someone there. We saw our sales clerk and she wasn’t sure if microwaves were included. She said they were usually excluded in the ads, but that this ad didn’t have them excluded in print. So she called a “manager”.

• The “manager” (I didn’t get his name), then proceeded to tell us about store policy, what the ad meant to say, how things get so busy that people can’t answer the phone, how the store was under pressure to limit markdowns, and on and on. He also said he would not give us the sale price, saying he didn’t have the authority to do so. I explained to him the basics of customer service, how we had many options for buying microwaves, how we made a trip to the store because no one would answer the phone, and how he was risking future purchases we could make at Sears by acting the way he was. He was unmoved and tried to deflect the responsibility to someone else. As such, he said he’d bring the manager of small appliances over to talk with us.

• Jane, the small appliances manager, came over and basically said the same thing the earlier gentleman said. I told her what I’d said previously to the “manager.” She was unmoved. She also tried to deflect responsibility to someone else as well, but we passed since she said that person would give us the same response.

As I’m sure you can tell, I’m frustrated with the situation – with the lack of clarity in the ad, with the message on the phone lumping microwaves in with small appliances (which they apparently aren’t), with the failure of the staff to answer the phone, and with the failure of the staff to recognize the appropriate customer service steps to take when a mistake is made.

I’m sure you also know that we have a variety of places where we can shop for the types of goods Sears sells. Especially in this economy, I would think that store like yours would want to keep their customers happy. Already I’ve decided to hold off on a snowblower purchase I was ready to make at your store because of this incident. Obviously you can run your business however you like, but by having customer service as I’ve described above I believe you’re going to alienate people from shopping with Sears. And many of these people, just like me, are going to be regular buyers in multiple product categories – not just hit and miss buyers of one product. Can you really afford to lose buyers like this to Home Depot, Lowe’s, and the like?

I wanted to give you one last chance to make this right before I send a request to the corporate headquarters. I’m asking that you do the right thing so I can return to being a loyal Sears customer.

I'm sure I'll hear it from the "Sears didn't make a mistake, you did" crowd, and I'd partly agree. Sears probably meant to exclude microwaves from the sale. But they had several opportunities to tell us about this -- in the ad, on the phone where microwaves were classified as small appliances, and by answering the phone when we called. If any of these had informed us that microwaves were excluded, we probably would have given up the quest for the discount. But by the time we had to go to the store and find out, it was too late. We'd been re-buffed too much, and a 20% discount to make us happy for our time and effort seems like the least they can do.

I'll keep you all informed of how this turns out. BTW, we also found out that our Sears credit can be used at Kmart (got the kids some shoes there yesterday) and I'm hoping it can be used at Land's End as well. If so, we'll have a lot more flexibility in getting rid of our credit. Now if only Macy's had something similar.

Update: Sears made good!

Logan's Roadhouse Delivers Again

Remember not long ago when I had some kudos for Logan's Roadhouse? Well, it happened again today at lunch.

A friend and I ordered, we were busy chatting, then the food came. I never noticed that it was taking a long time or was "late", but I guess it was. Anyway, the manager came over, introduced himself, said the food was 13 minutes later than what they would have liked it to be, and that as a result our meals were on the house. Sweet! We chatted with him a bit and thanked him as he left. It's nice to give your business to a place that treats its customers right. So we left a bit bigger tip than I normally would have and left as happy campers.

BTW, Logan's has a "buy a $25 gift card and get an extra $5 free" deal going on now. I'm there all the time, so I think I'll buy a few of those for meals next year. It's a great way to get a decent discount on good food. 

Why AAA is Worth the Annual Fee

We've belonged to AAA for years. My wife used to have a Honda Civic that didn't have any warning (a beep or anything) when you left the lights on. It was a regular occurrence (about twice a year) that we'd go somewhere, leave the lights on, and come back to a dead car (for example, on a foggy morning where we'd turn the lights on for safety but it was so light out when we parked that we didn't notice they were on.) So we regularly had AAA come out wherever we were and jump the car.

Then there was the time my car was flooded at our church (long story) and needed to be towed to the dealership. AAA came to the rescue.

But it wasn't until we moved to Michigan that we REALLY started to value our AAA membership. Here's how it specifically saves us money:

• We have AAA car, house, and umbrella insurance. They are the cheapest around (believe me, we know since we shop around regularly for car insurance.) I'm not 100% sure if you need to be a member to get their insurance, but I was under the impression you had to be. Maybe someone can set the record straight for me on this one.

• I save gobs of money on hotels each year. I travel several times each year on business and we usually stay at Hampton Inns. Hampton ALWAYS has a AAA rate that's lower than the "normal" rate. True, this savings is for my employer as I'm reimbursed for travel, but then again, helping the company save money benefits me in that it makes the company more profitable.

• We also save on personal hotel costs. While planning for our recent trip to Chicago (it was ultimately canceled), we checked a wide variety of hotels based on costs and locations. We found a Hampton Inn we liked for $239 a night (for a suite, so it wasn't bad.) We tried getting a price several ways -- calling the hotel directly, going online to check various sites, and so on. The cheapest option was using our AAA discount which saved us $24 a night or $72 total.

• For the same trip, we were planning on taking the train to Chicago (fun for the kids, cheaper than driving and parking, etc.) Amtrak was going to charge us $184 for four tickets, but with a AAA discount it was $157 -- another $27 saved!

• AAA has free travel materials -- maps, books, etc. -- that we always end up using every year. Even if we don't buy travel packages/services from them (which we never do), these materials help us get a lot of information that we ultimately use to get the best prices possible. For example, some information from AAA helped us save a good amount on our trip to Disney last year.

• And of course, there's the roadside assistance that AAA is known for. I guess it's a form of insurance -- and we pray we never need it -- but if we do it will be nice to know it's there for us.

I'm sure there are tons of other ways to save using AAA, and I'm anxious to hear them. Anyone out there have some ways to save with AAA?

Can You Pay for a Costco Membership by Saving on Gas Alone?

We get gas quite often at Costco since it's usually the cheapest place to buy it around here. The other day while filling up my car, I started to wonder whether or not you could pay for your annual Costco membership just by saving on gas alone. So I ran the numbers for our family. These are the facts/assumptions I used:

• I drive 15,000 miles per year and my wife drives 5,000.
• At our average miles per gallon, I estimate we consume 881 gallons of gas per year.
• I checked the gallon estimate against what we spend annually on gas (at an average cost per gallon) and it appears to be a good number.
• Costco is anywhere from $0.02 to $0.07 cheaper than most stations in our area. Most often it's about $0.05 cheaper, so this is the number I used.

Given these assumptions, by getting our gas at Costco versus other options, we save just over $44 per year. The cheapest Costco membership is $50 per year, so the answer for us is "no, saving on gas alone won't pay for a Costco membership."

BTW, if we saved $0.02 each time the savings would be $18 and if we saved $0.07 each time the savings would be $62.

Anyway, there are a TON of assumptions that HAVE to be true for us to even get this close to paying out the cost of membership. For instance:

• This analysis assumes that ALL gas is bought at Costco for the entire year. Has anyone ever purchased all their gas in one year from one station? (When you travel, how do you even know that station will be around?) I never have.

• This analysis assumes that Costco is ALWAYS a better price. Maybe sometimes it isn't. I've had comments here suggesting sometimes it's better and sometimes it's not. I'm sure this analysis would have different results in different parts of the country.

• This analysis assumes you don't drive any farther to Costco to get gas than you'd drive to get it elsewhere. If we were going just for gas, we'd have to drive 15 miles (round trip) farther to get to Costco than our nearest gas station. That's a money killer right there. We get gas at Costco when we're already in their neighborhood for other reasons, so we don't have any extra costs in getting to/from their station.

There are probably some more assumptions that I'm missing, but I think these are the major ones. The bottom-line for me is this: Even if the true savings is only $10 or so per year, that's a decent start on paying out the cost of a Costco annual membership.

Then again, my annual membership is paid by my employer, so it's all gravy for me. ;-)

How to Save on Checks (Some Companies Just Don't Get It)

I haven't ordered checks from my bank in about 15 years or so (maybe not that long, but it seems like it's been forever.) I started ordering them through the mail and now order online because you can get a ba-zillion checks for not much money by ordering them that way -- versus paying much-higher-than-average prices by buying them at the bank.

I use fewer and fewer checks each year as more and more bills go online or are automatically paid with my credit card, so one box lasts a long, long time (plus I order two boxes at a time to make re-order times even longer), but I recently ran out of checks and needed to re-order. So I did what I normally do -- I looked in the Sunday paper as it's usually full of offers for cheap checks.

In the ads, I found an ad for Checks in the Mail that had the following in big, bold letters at the top:

CHECKS ONLY $3.99 PER BOX

That seemed like a pretty good deal. I got my last set of checks from Checks in the Mail, so I knew they would have something I'd like. Cool!

Then I saw a little asterisk by the last "9". It was tiny and had no details on the page on which it was listed. I turned over the piece and searched. After awhile, I found that the asterisk led to this statement:

Limited time offer - for first-time customers only

Hmmm. I was starting to get a bad feeling about this, but I was sure they would honor the price for me. Why not, right? It wasn't like they had a corner on the check business. It was better for them to make a sale to me at a cheaper price rather than make no sale at all, right?

So I went to their site and tried to re-order my check design. The prices came up as $12.99 for one box or $25.98 for two boxes for the design my wife wanted (not a "basic" design, but not on the "high end" either.) "First-time customers" could get the same product for $19.98. This still seemed high to me, but I was willing to pay it if they made it easy and gave me the reduced price.

I went to their site, found the contact info, and sent them this message:

I noticed that your prices for new customers (ad in the paper) are much better than those for returning customers. I would like to buy from you, but I can get checks from a competitor of yours for MUCH cheaper than the $12.99 per box you want to charge me (for comparable checks). If you'd like to offer me the new customer discount, please get back to me and let me know how I can get it. Otherwise, I'll be ordering from a competitor within the next 24 hours.

I sent the message, confident they would give me the $19.98 price (after all, they still had to be making good money doing this, right?) A day later, I received the following email:

Thank you for your inquiry.  We can not offer you the first time order prices.  All of our competitors and us have first time order prices that are lower so that you can try our company but for reorders all the companies go up in price.  We apologize for any inconvenience that this has caused.

I couldn't believe it. They were willing to lose a profitable customer for a measly $6. Unbelievable!

So I simply got another ad (told you there were tons of them) and ordered from a new company as a "first-time customer". I got two boxes of comparable-quality checks (a design my wife liked) for less than $12.

I'm in business so I understand how companies lure customers in with low prices and then work to charge them higher prices on later purchases -- those are facts of life in almost any business (grocery stores with loss leaders, magazines with initial subscription versus renewal fees, and so on.) But I also know that it costs much less to sell to a current customer than to acquire a new one and that it's better to make a smaller profit on a customer than to drive them away to a competitor. But that's what Checks in the Mail just did. They had a customer willing to pay a reasonable fee for a product and yet they turned him away because he wasn't willing to go as high as they wanted. This just doesn't make any sense.

Of course, it's their right to do so -- it's their company. But as a consumer, it's my right to go elsewhere for a product if I don't like the deal offered. And that's what I did.

Undoubtedly I'll get some comments like "you're so cheap" or "why did you spend all that time to save $14?" Well, it didn't take that long (the entire process took less time than it took me to write this post). Besides, it is ultimately a big deal to my finances. First of all, $14 here and there can add up quickly and become "real money" very quickly. Secondly, a mindset of shopping around and getting a good deal is just part of who I am. Yeah, it's "only" $14 this time, but the same principles applied on bigger ticket items can make a HUGE difference in your finances.

Dell Tells Me Their Computers are Crappy

I love Dell computers. I've had several of them throughout the years and we buy/use them at work as well. They've always been high in quality and I've never had a problem with them.

A year ago, my mom was looking for a computer, so I bought her a new Dell as an early Christmas present. She's loved it and I do too (since I hear from her more now that she has email.) :-)

Since I bought the computer, I was the owner on Dell's records (even though the computer was sent to Iowa.) So as the one-year anniversary comes up, Dell calls me to ask if I want to extend my warranty that's soon to expire. Thankfully my wife answers the phone and tells them that "if I'm interested, I'll call them back."

Well, the message didn't get through and the next time I wasn't so lucky. My son answered the phone, and when they asked for me, he handed it over. I didn't know who it was until I answered. I cringed immediately.

Anyway, the conversation really intrigued me. Why? Because the Dell rep was basically saying there was a good chance I'd have a problem with their computer. In other words, she said they made crappy computers. The conversation went something like this (not exact words, but the meaning is real):

Dell rep: Hi, I'm calling about the warranty on your Dell computer. The current warranty is about to expire and we'd like to offer you the chance to extend it.

Me: I don't want to extend my warranty.

Dell rep: Can I ask why not?

Me: Because that's why I buy Dell computers -- they last a long time with very few problems.

Dell rep: Yes, but what if something does go wrong?

Me: I've owned several Dells the past few years and never had anything happen to them. Why do I need a warranty on a product I think won't go bad?

Dell rep: To protect yourself in case the computer fails.

Me: I'm not going to be sold a product I don't think I'll need.

Dell rep: But what will happen if your computer goes bad? What will you do?

Me: I'm not going to be sold something I don't want or need. Good-bye. (I hang up.)

Does anyone else see the irony in this call? They market their computers a high in quality and reliability, then call a year later to convince me that the computers are crappy and I need to protect myself from their imminent failure. Sheesh!

The Best and Worst Buys at Warehouse Club Stores

Smart Money lists the best and worst items to buy at warehouse club stores as follows:

Best Buys

• Alcohol
• Milk, butter and eggs
• Electronics
• Meat
• Prescription medications

Worst Buys

• Designer clothing
• Items that won't get fully used
• Frozen food
• Paper goods
• Gasoline

I'm a frequent Costco shopper and I also compare their prices with other alternatives on a regular basis, so I think I'm fairly informed on the pros and cons of warehouse clubs. Here are my general recommendations/thoughts:

1. If you have a price book (or a great memory), you can accurately compare the cost per whatever (ounce, pound, etc.) between a warehouse club and any other place you can get an item. We'll be in Costco and I'll ask what my wife usually spends on item X. She'll give me a price and an amount (like "for 16 oz.") and I'll do the calculations on my calculator. Then we can really determine the better price.

2. I have NEVER seen Costco have higher priced gas than neighboring station. They're always 5 to 15 cents cheaper per gallon in our city.

3. Do warehouse clubs really have designer clothing? I never see it.

4. I'll need to do a toilet paper comparison. I always thought the Kirkland brand was a great deal, but maybe it's not.

5. Of course, if you buy something because it's cheaper and then you don't use all of it because it contains so much, you have actually cost yourself money. One solution to handle bigger quantities (like OTC medicine where you get a bazillion pills in their smallest package) -- find a friend or relative who will split the cost and item with you.

6. Samples, samples, samples. LOVE these! It allows us to try new and interesting foods that we would never try otherwise, so I consider this a big benefit of warehouse clubs.

7. Photos. Costco has a simple site where you can upload your photos and pick them up the same day at a local store. And of course they have the famous custom calendar as well.

8. Other things I think are good buys at Costco: 1.) Prepared food (at their restaurant.) There are limited choices, but for what they have the prices are decent. 2. Tires. I bought my tires there and so have several of my friends. One recent co-worked saved a few hundred dollars when I suggested he look at a warehouse club to buy tires.