Category: Retail Experiences

HTC Inspire

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Wednesday evening we found ourselves at the mall to take care of a couple of errands – Joe had an appointment at Sears Optical, and I wanted to take my new bracelet to the jewelery store where it was purchased to see whether they could remove a link so it wouldn’t be quite so loose around my wrist. They said they could, for $30, which I think is ridiculous. I’m going to wear it a few more times and if it bugs me too much I might just return it instead. I’m more of a necklace person myself. Speaking of which, the chain broke on my new necklace the second time I wore it so I have to go back there and ask them to replace it. I have another chain just like it from the same store which came with my pretty blue sapphire pendent and that one never broke so I think it was just a fluke.

Directly next door to the jewelry place is a new AT&T store. They used to just have a kiosk but the store is much nicer. We went inside to browse because Joe has been itching to join the 21st century and get a smartphone and he’s eligible for an upgrade in mid-March. He made a beeline right for the new HTC Inspire which I had told him about a few weeks ago before it was released. An employee approached us to help and suggested Joe call AT&T Customer Service to see if they’d allow him to upgrade a little earlier without penalty. Apparently sometimes if you’re within a month they are lenient about it.

Joe called AT&T and they said no problem. Before getting off the phone Joe confirmed, “so you are waiving the $200 early upgrade fee, correct?” and the guy said yes. We walked back into the store and the employee pulled up his account to see they notated the $18 activation fee was waived instead. Seriously? Are people retarded? Joe called back and spent ten minutes on the phone with them before they would notate the account correctly, but eventually everything was worked out and he bought the HTC Inspire for $100, and we also got a package of screen protectors and had the employee put one on since they do such a good job. You should have seen how excited Joe was walking out of the store with his first ever smartphone!



Initially I was jealous because the 4.3″ screen puts the 3.5″ iPhone one to shame, plus I was having new gadget envy because his phone responds faster than mine does to commands, but I think I’m still in love with my iPhone enough that I will wait for the iPhone 5 before I upgrade. I’m sure the faster processor, retina display, and improved battery life will be awesome. There are a few things Apple could learn from Android, however, and one of the big ones is notifications. The iPhone notification system just sucks, but so many people have pointed this out and complained about it that I’d be very surprised if Apple wasn’t already working on it for the next iOS release. They might be slow adding some features but they tend to design them well once they do. I’d also like more personalization options for the phone, the ability to create home screen widgets like the Android offers, and a larger screen too. Someone please tell Steven Jobs to get right on that.

Holiday Preparation

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Alternate Title: Preparation H. ;)

Now I remember why the flickering snowflakes we used to put up when we lived in the apartment have been sitting in a box for the past 6 years – they won’t stay put on the patio door! We finally found some suction cups and it turns out they won’t stay stuck to the door. After spending a half hour putting them up, and even using tape to help keep them in place, they are probably going to come down. Maybe we can hang them over the garage or something because they are really cute, just a pain in the ass. Kinda like me. ;)

I plan on taking a picture of the lights on the house this year at some point but I’ve been too lazy and it’s been too cold outside. Those two do not a good combination make.

So are we the only ones who have not yet put up our tree? We are putting it up this year, we just haven’t gotten around to it yet. At this rate it will be up for less than two weeks, but that’s fine by me given the configuration of our house and no real good spot for the tree.

I’ve been baking cookies for the treat bags I plan on handing out to my coworkers tomorrow. Monday I made snickerdoodles. I’ve only had them once before and wasn’t that impressed, but the Better Crocker mix is awesome and the cookies turned out delicious! Today I decided to make Gingerbread Men cookies, except the dough wasn’t dry enough and every gingerbread man was torn limb for limb as I tried to pry them off the counter to put on the cookie sheet. Yes, I floured the counter and the rolling pin, the dough was just too moist. I gave up and made regular round cookies and they too were yummy. I used to be a die-hard Pillsbury fan but between these cookies and the moist chocolate cake I made for K in August I’m sticking with Betty Crocker for the foreseeable future.

I’m a little peeved with Target.com at the moment. I placed an order for a gift for E on Black Friday and was getting nervous that it hadn’t shipped two weeks later. Yesterday I got an email from them stating the item likely won’t be delivered until February because it’s out of stock. Gee, it wasn’t out of stock when I purchased it. Either they have inventory control issues, or they realized what a great deal this item was (and it truly was as I can’t find it anywhere for less than $40 more) and decided to use that cop-out instead of fulfilling my order. In any case, I canceled the order and found something comparable elsewhere and I don’t plan on shopping their online store again. I’m pretty sure I had an issue with them the last time I ordered years ago. It’s too bad since I love their store so much.

Snowy Day

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Ugh. The first substantial snowfall of the season has arrived. Can it go away now? Once again my plans to visit Milwaukee Public Museum have been thwarted. I really do hope we get to go before the special frog exhibit ends.

Since we were snowed in (not literally), we tried to be somewhat productive even though we didn’t do too much before 11 am.

This is what I got accomplished:

Reorganized my recipe binder – I finally threw out the recipes I was hanging onto that I knew I was never going to try, making room for the recipes I have tried and liked but didn’t have room to file appropriately.

Created an Evite for a Roller Skating Party I’m putting together to celebrate my birthday next month – It’s been ages since I’ve roller-skated and I miss it. We’d have parties when I was in school and even though I didn’t have an outgoing personality, I always went because I loved to skate.

Reorganized the hall closet – It was getting pretty messy and I had to get a lightbulb to change out the one that’s “guaranteed to last 8 years” but only lasted less than 5.

Joe worked on my car. He was going to change the wheel bearings and brakes but only ended up doing the brakes because he couldn’t get the axle nuts removed. We tried calling a bunch of places to see if he could rent the appropriate tools but most places didn’t offer them, some were closed, and the one place that did have what we were looking for informed us how difficult it would be to get them off even with the tools they had available.

Thanks to Rental Max for their extreme helpfulness. One of the employees discussed the project with Joe for quite awhile. Talk about superb customer service! They didn’t have to help at all since we weren’t going to be renting any tools from them.

By the way, I’ve got another good customer service story to share. I contacted Hanes recently about some underwear I bought over the summer. I usually wear a size 5, but it was a bit tight, so I got a size 6. The problem is the crotch is like an inch wider in the 6. As if someone’s crotch is going to be that much bigger one size up! So I mentioned it and they asked for some additional details and are mailing me a check for what I paid for the package of undies.

I noticed I’ve had good luck with my complaints if I’m matter-of-fact about the issue. Some people just send nasty comments and I don’t blame the company if they ignore them in that case. Although I will say I’m disappointed with Clean and Clear for never getting back to me when I expressed concern over them discontinuing my favorite foaming face wash. I guess you can’t win them all.

Extended Weekend & Milwaukee

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I love extended weekends. The only thing that sucks about them is that they never last, and mine is now nearing its end. It was fun while it lasted, though!

Friday we prepared to spend the day inside waiting for FedEx to deliver my new computer. Imagine my surprise when the doorbell rang at 9 am! I’ve never jumped out of bed so quickly before. Completely unnecessary, however, since Joe was downstairs and answered the door. We unpacked the computer to let it reach room temperature before plugging it in and jumped in the shower. Then we went out to run some errands, including checking out a Chinese restaurant on my Yelp bookmarked list and getting some Xbox stuff from that horrible, horrible store called Fry’s. Read my review if you want to know why I can’t stand that place and don’t plan on shopping there again.

Saturday we saw a matinee of Hot Tub Time Machine which I new wasn’t going to be great, but was actually better than I was expecting. Afterward we did some grocery shopping at Meijer and then came home to clean the house, do laundry, and set up my new computer.

Jellyfish

Sunday we were up early to drive to Milwaukee. First we visited the Discovery World Museum on Lake Michigan. It’s actually a pretty small museum and not at all worth the $17 admission. The only part I even liked was the small aquarium. If not for the very cool jellyfish pictures I got it would have been a total waste. After that I was determined to do something to redeem the fact that we just spent almost two hours driving to walk around a museum for an hour. So off we went to the Mitchell Park Conservatory, otherwise known as The Domes. It’s nothing compared to the size of the Garfield Park Conservatory, yet they charge admission. Luckily it’s not too unreasonable at $6.50 per person. We burned through that place in less than an hour, though, and tried to find something else to do but nothing was panning out. We were thinking about touring the Miller Brewery but they aren’t open to the public on Sundays. Thoughts of food started to take over, but we couldn’t decide on a place to try nearby, so we got back on the expressway toward home figuring we’d stop somewhere on the way. We ended up at Texas Roadhouse in Kenosha. It was good too! I couldn’t believe how crazy busy it was at 1:30 in the afternoon, though. Must be a Sunday thing.

Today we did our weekly Target shopping. After we dropped the food back off at home and had a quick breakfast, we went to the Visionworks in the mall prepared to return my glasses. We had both bought two pairs of glasses each approximately two weeks ago but I could not get used to mine at all. They seemed hazy to me, not to mention I didn’t like how one of the frames I had chosen were fitting. Joe hasn’t had any issues with his glasses, of course. I’m the picky one. When I explained my issue to the woman who helped us, who happened to be the manager, she knew right away why I was having difficulty – I hadn’t gotten the anti-reflective lenses. Apparently with my prescription it’s quite noticeable if the anti-reflective lenses aren’t chosen. She offered to redo the lenses with that added on. I was also able to pick out another frame to replace the pair I wasn’t liking too. So even though it’s going to cost me a bit more, I was able to swap my glasses with two pair that should prove to be much better. Thank goodness for their 30-day money back guarantee! I just hope my new glasses don’t give me any problems. I won’t know until next week since they only had one pair of lenses available and have to order the other. I can wait, though, if they end up being awesome.

Milwaukee Photos @ Perfect Pixels

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.