Month: January 2010

Windy City Rollers

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I’ve got to hand it to Joe – I mentioned to him on Thursday that I really wanted to go out and do something different this weekend and he rose to the occasion. I’m the one who makes our plans 99% of the time but he sent me an e-mail on Friday with a link to the Windy City Rollers and suggested we attend their season opener. I thought it was a great idea, so we purchased our tickets this morning at the Carson’s so we wouldn’t have to pay to print them or waste time picking them up from Will Call.

I also mentioned our plans to my friend, Jim, who I recently starting talking to again after losing touch for several years, and he said he’d be going too, so we made plans to meet up.

We arrived about a half hour before the first bout and since the tickets are general admission, had our pick of seats. I really like the UIC Pavilion because all the seats have a good view of the track. That didn’t stop us from getting stuck behind some rather annoying people, but that seems par for the course for us. I really can’t understand why people will pay to attend an event yet spend more than 50% of their time walking around, talking, or getting over-priced food and drinks. It boggles my simple frugal mind.

We saved a seat for Jim since he was running late, so we were rather lost for the first two bouts. We were also a little underwhelmed by the two teams. I wanted to see some aggression and it just wasn’t happening. We were extremely entertained by the half-time show, however, which included male cheerleaders.

The second half was when we really got into the action thanks to Jim’s explanations of what was going on and us getting better at following the action. Jim has been to these events before because his sister used to be on a team and a girl he dated is (well, technically now, was, since she’s moving out of state) on The Fury. We were going to meet her after the show, in fact, but he couldn’t find her. It was nice seeing Jim, though. We haven’t seen each other in flesh since 2000!

They started kicking people out less than a half hour after the event ended, so we parted ways. Jim was thinking about meeting up with the teams at another location and we were hungry and looking to get food in our bellies. We slept in this morning and stuffed ourselves with gyros around noon which meant we hadn’t eaten for quite awhile. We were too full before we left for the event and too cheap to buy their crappy food while there. :)

I think it’s cool that a lot of the girls from the teams come out after the event to meet with fans. And even though cameras are technically banned, no one made a big stink about people having them anyway. I left mine at home and the iPhone camera positively sucks ass, but the videos I took actually came out pretty decent. Next time I’ll just bring my P&S Canon and perhaps sit a bit closer so I can see the girls’ expressions.

We had a great time and I hope to do it again, if not this year, next year for sure. We learned it’s much cheaper to buy tickets at the box office than through Ticketbastard. It was only $21 total per ticket instead of the $52.50 we ended up paying for our two tickets. Not that I’d want to stand outside in the cold – the lines were quite long – but when the weather is warmer it won’t be such a big deal to save $10.50. That almost covers parking right there.

Blistex Silk & Shine

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What the heck is going on lately? Am I having unusually bad luck with corporations or am I just getting a kick out of complaining to see what will happen?

This post is brought to you by Blistex Silk & Shine and their misleading packing which resulted in a very unhappy camper, aka me.

On January 25th, after breaking open the package of my new lip balm and slathering it on, I was taken aback by the overwhelmingly sickly sweet scent and flavor of berries. Quite surprising, given the fact that the packaging hadn’t indicated there were any flavorings at in in this particular balm. So I went to their website to complain.

I normally purchase Nivea lip balm, but saw that your Silk & Shine was on sale this weekend and decided to try that instead. I am very disappointed in the fact that nowhere on your packaging is there a mention of the product smelling/tasting like berries. If I wanted a berry flavored lip balm, I would have actively chosen one. I, apparently incorrectly, assumed that since your product didn’t specify a “flavor” that it was just a regular lip balm. Since the berry flavor is too overwhelming, I now feel like I wasted my money on a product due to the misleading packaging. If you are willing to refund my money (I can send a scan of the receipt, if necessary), that would be ideal. But I think at the very least you should change your packaging to let a consumer know exactly what they are purchasing. Thank you.

The following day, I received a response.

Dear Nicole;

Thank you for taking the time to contact us about your recent experience with the Blistex Silk & Shine Lip Balm. Your comments are receiving our close attention. Blistex Inc. takes great pride in the products and services that we provide. Feedback from consumers, such as you, helps us continually improve our products and services. We do list the word “flavor” in the inactive ingredients. We need to ask you to please provide the lot code number that is located on the bottom of the tube.

We sincerely regret any inconvenience this occurrence may have caused you, and if you will please provide your address, and what you paid for the product, we will be happy to send you a refund for the product. We certainly hope that you will continue to use and have confidence in our products.

If we can be of any further assistance, please feel free to contact me directly.

My reply followed the same day.

I appreciate your prompt attention to my concern. While true, there is an item in the ingredient list labeled “flavors”, I think you will agree it’s quite vague and still does not indicate the very overwhelming berry flavor the balm contains. I do hope your company considers adding this to future packaging.

The lot # on the bottom of the tube is S020918. I paid $1.74 total ($1.62 plus 8% tax).

Again, I appreciate your prompt reply. If you could tell me which of your products do not have a flavor, I will definitely consider Blistex in the future thanks to your excellent customer service.

I never received a reply, but today in the mail I received a check for $1.88 and two 25 cents off coupons. I really do hope they change their packing, though, because for now I will stick to Nivea since I can’t trust I will be getting a flavor-less balm with Blistex.

iFrogz Update

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My replacement purple iPhone case from iFrogz came in the mail yesterday and it fits great! It’s so nice to get good customer service from a corporation. I highly recommend their cases, too. They don’t add much bulk to the phone but have saved my device from breaking the few times I’ve dropped it. Just buy them from Amazon instead of the official site because they are much cheaper that way. My magenta one was only $12, the green one was around $15, and the purple one was about $20. Not sure why the color affects the price, but it’s still cheaper than the $30 list price I’ve seen on their site and at the AT&T store.

Late Night Wars

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This article reminded me to write about how this whole “Team Coco” stuff is total bullshit.

I get that NBC seems to be screwing Conan O’Brien over royally. Although truth be told, it’s his staff who will be hurting more so than he will be, unless he’s a complete moron who has spent every dime he has ever made.

You can tell by watching his show that he’s feeling really salty about the whole thing, but from this has come some pretty entertaining stuff, including a post on Craigslist selling the studio. He’s really ripping NBC a new one which is so weird to me because they’re still his employer and it seems wrong, but I guess that’s nothing new since SNL does it all the time. Not that I can blame them. From what I’ve read, NBC really can’t make up their mind what they want to do.

What I don’t understand is all the scorn against Leno, particularly if what he said on a recent show about the situation is in fact the truth. All these people are taking sides when this is all NBC’s (un)doing.

Admittedly, ultimately I really don’t care who ends up where or in what time slot. I DVR all the TV I watch anyway. I don’t have a favorite late host, although I seem to record Leno more than the others so maybe he’s my favorite without my knowledge. I check the guest lists every week and program my DVR accordingly regardless of what show they are on. Sure, there are certain segments I enjoy, like Jay’s Headlines and Jay Walking, but I also like Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and some of the goofy things Conan does. I also like Craig Ferguson, Jimmy Fallon, and Jimmy Kimmel. They all have value.

The only host I don’t like is David Letterman, which is why I’m not crying a river over the fact that he didn’t inherit the Tonight Show over Conan in the first place. And even with my dislike, I’ll skill DVR a show if someone I really want to see is on, like Kiefer Sutherland who showed up wearing a dress last week.

Why no mention of Carson Daley? Well, I’ll just take a quote from Jimmy Fallon when he played Carson in a Total Request Live skit on SNL – “Hi, I’m Carson Daley and I’m a complete tool”.

Thank you, and goodnight!

CategoriesTV

Recent Retail Experiences

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You all know I’m not one to get screwed by a company and keep my mouth shut, so here’s a recap of my recent “run-ins” with a few businesses.

Domino’s Pizza

I haven’t eaten a Domino’s pizza in well over a decade (because I remember them tasting like cardboard), but shortly before Christmas we bought a Hasbro board game with a coupon inside for a free medium pizza. The coupon stated you had to place your order online, so I followed the directions and after choosing my local Domino’s and entering the coupon code, it confirmed the code was valid but informed me that they wouldn’t honor it. Nice. So I fired off a complaint through their website and got a response back a couple of days later:

Thank you for taking the time to contact the Domino’s Pizza Customer Care Team. As a valued Domino’s Pizza customer, your comments are extremely important to us.

I want to apologize for the situation you encountered at the [redacted] location. Domino’s Pizza takes great pride in providing the quality products and service you have come to expect and trust every time you place an order with us.

Because your Domino’s Pizza store is independently owned and operated, I have forwarded your comments to the franchise owner with the expectation that the franchisee will follow-up with you.

We appreciate the opportunity you have given us to address your concern and improve our operations. Again, thank you for taking the time to contact us. Your feedback is very important to us.

Our goal is to make every Domino’s Pizza experience an enjoyable one!

When a week had passed and I still hadn’t heard from the local Domino’s, I fired off a reply to the above e-mail that said, “I just want you to know I haven’t heard from the local Domino’s. It’s obvious to me they aren’t interested in anyone’s business. You can be sure I will share this experience with others as I think it’s very poor customer service.”

A few days later I received this response:

I apologize that your local store had not gotten back to you. I am sending you some gift certificates to replace the Hasbro coupon you received in your game.

Once again, please accept our apologies and we do value your business.

Sure enough, a couple of days later I received a letter from Domino’s with two $5 gift certificates. I’ll be sure to use them at the same location who has still never contacted me and rub it in their face AFTER I get the food to ensure they don’t spit in it since I don’t plan on going there again anyway. Not going to pass up free food though. What a bunch of a-holes to offer a coupon and then not accept it. I get that each store is independently owned but that’s no way to do business. Plus now they have to give me $10 in free food instead of $5 so their selfish behavior cost them more in the end. Morons!

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Taco Bell

When we were in Phoenix, Joe’s sister had acquired coupons for a free Fruitista Freeze at Taco Bell. We had no problem using them there, and I think we got three during the week we were visiting. She gave us two to take home so we stopped there on New Years Eve once we realized they were expiring. We had the kids with us, so we ordered four, but expected to pay for two. They wouldn’t honor them. I looked at all the fine print and there really wasn’t anything on there other than that bullshit “valid at participating locations” they put on every coupon so they can get away with that crap. So we turned around and left. Perhaps they think they can deny coupon use since most people would end up just paying instead. Not me. Oh no. I also complained through their website but haven’t heard a peep back. I probably won’t go so far as a boycott, but Taco Bell will definitely be getting less of my business in the future thanks to that move. I mean, how stupid are they anyway? They would have still gotten money for the other two items.

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iFrogz

This one actually has a happy ending, or at least it should. Joe bought me two iFrogz iPhone cases for my birthday – one in green/black and another in purple/black. Unfortunately the purple/black one doesn’t fit quite right so I sent them feedback through their website asking for a replacement. They replied if I could either send them a photo of the problem or send the bad case to them, they’d do so. I sent them a photo and they replied that a new case is on it’s way. I really hope this one fits as well as their other cases I have.