Month: September 2005

eBay and the Egret

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So we made a stop at the local post office today to send out some mail, including the Sea World Busch Gardens tickets I finally managed to sell on eBay. Even though they went for $152.50, after all the stupid eBay fees, Pay Pal’s cut for the credit card payment, and postage, it was closer to $130. Ugh!

The funny thing is that we wanted to buy a book of stamps and the man helping us looked a bit shocked, yet pleased, when Joe asked for the Egret stamps. As if no one could tell what kind of bird that was! Ok, to be fair, I was the one who told Joe “I want the Egret stamps”; he was going to ask for “the white bird stamps”. Of course, I didn’t realize it was the Snowy Egret. Well la-dee-da, aren’t we a fancy bird?! ;)

I’d be interested to see whether Joe’s son knows what it is. I think I’ll quiz him next time he visits. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets it right. He loves those animals. He watches the Discovery Channel and is a proud owner of the World Almanac for Kids.

King of Queens

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Autographed Photo of Kevin James In June I wrote to CBS and The King of Queens to request an autographed photo of Kevin James for Joe’s birthday since it is one of our favorite shows and we joke he’s Doug because he loves to eat and I’m Carrie because I’m so bitchy. Well, better late than never, the photo came today. I’d like to think it was really signed by Kevin James too since it is addressed to Joe.

Joe wants to frame and hang it in the garage and get the autographs of the other stars of the show now too. I have a feeling this is going to end up like our obsession with Friends: once we’ve seen every episode five times, we’re going to stop watching altogether. Of course, in this case King of Queens is still airing new episodes, so it will be awhile before we get to that point. New season airs September 19th!

As a side note, the DVR recording options are a bit limited. I can either choose King of Queens to record on all channels, or only one channel. If I select the latter, then I have to manually record all the new episodes on CBS (since I’d rather it automatically record the syndicated episodes that air twice every night on WCIU). If I choose all channels, however, it records the simultaneous high-definition broadcast when the new episodes air, so I have to go in and cancel those individually. I wish there was an added option like “all channels except hd” or “hd only”.

I scream for ice cream!

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You know you’re addicted to ice cream when you almost have a heart attack when you can’t find your new favorite flavor at the store or the manufacturer’s website. Thank god Edy’s still makes Espresso Chip. I’m just a dork and for some reason thought it was called Cappuchino Chip. I am almost poistive I got it at the Super Target initially, but they no longer have it, and Edy’s website says the closest grocer that has it in stock is Cub Foods. I never shop there, so either I’m going to cross my fingers I like the new flavor I picked up today, Mocha Almond Fudge, or I’ll be visiting Cub Foods very soon.

Oh wait, even better. As I was writing this I noticed on their site you can set it up so they e-mail you when a particular flavor is stocked at the store(s) (up to 3) of your choice. So now if it’s delivered to the Dominick’s, Super Target, or Meijer, I will be right on it.

*Sigh* Do I even need to mention that I had White Castle cheeseburgers for dinner? I’ve fallen off the healthy eating wagon, but I plan to get back on tomorrow, I swear!

Apples

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Yesterday I was upstairs on the bed with the heating pad on my belly while the kids were reading their books downstairs. Between the quiet, warmth from the heating pad, and the nice breeze from the open window, I fell asleep. Next thing I knew, Joe was on his way out to pick up the pizza we had decided to order for dinner. Talk about a perfect day. It doesn’t take much, really.

After dinner we shared a piece of pecan caramel apple pie we got at the apple orchard earlier in the day. I’m a bit disappointed in the orchard this year because they fenced off the kids’ play area so they could charge admission. That’s like charging admission to a park. They wanted $4 per person, which included parents who were required to accompany their kids. So it would have cost us $16 for the kids to play on a slide, a hay bale, and in some corn. Isn’t that the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever heard? We only spent about an hour at the orchard. Just enough time for me to get a few photos, while the kids picked two 1/2 pecks worth of apples. We are now proud owners of 10 lbs. of fresh-off-the-tree Gala and Ozark Golds. Joe made apple pancakes today, but we’re going to have to find some more apple recipes so these beauties don’t go to waste.

This sounds good, doesn’t it?

Warm Apple Crisp

5 apples, peeled cored & sliced
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, cold

Arrange apples in a buttered 2 quart casserole. In a separate bowl, mix flour, sugars and cinnamon. Cut in butter dry mixture to make crumbs. Cover apples with crumbs. Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees. Delicious served warm with vanilla ice cream.

Buy.com No More

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Well you can add Buy.com to my boycott list. I’ve had it with them. Like the saying goes, three strikes and you’re out.

The first strike came a year ago when a few days after I had made a purchase, they sent me a coupon for money off my next purchase. They never ever sent me a coupon before, but they conveniently wait until I already ordered something to do so. When I contacted them, they refused to let me use the coupon toward the purchase and it hadn’t even shipped at that point!

Then a few months ago I ordered an audio stand from them that came to us in pieces, and not just in pieces that needed to be put together. The pieces were in pieces and water damaged. So I had to do that whole return thing and ship it back.

A couple of days ago I ordered a memory card for the new camera I am going to be getting for $64.95. The item shipped out, I still don’t have it, and the price went down $10! I contacted them to see if they would issue me a credit, much like I did with Wal-Mart recently. Well they said no, offered no explanation, and left it at that. Well screw that. There are plenty of other places I can shop online. Here’s the e-mail chain in case you’re interested in the specifics. It’s from oldest to newest in this case.

I wrote:
Hello, I just ordered the Kingston SD card, haven’t even received it, and I noticed the price on your site went down almost $10 from $64.95 to $55.99. Can you please issue me a credit for the price difference? I would think this is fair as many brick and mortar stores do this when something goes on sale within 30 days of purchase. I look forward to your response. Thank you!

They wrote back:
Thank you for contacting Buy.com.

This is in reference to your email regarding the order #BlahBlah.

We apologize for the inconvenience you may have experienced. We are writing to inform you that we are unable to match the prices at this time.

We apologize again for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.

Thank you again for writing to Buy.com.

Sincerely,
Buy.com Customer Care Team

So I wrote back:
I find your response unacceptable, especially considering you offer no explanation. Saying you’re “sorry for the inconvenience” twice does not suffice. It’s not an inconvenience, it’s a disgrace, because you’re not sorry at all. If I were to go to your site right now and order this item it would be $10 cheaper, but you won’t extend the same courtesy to someone who is already a repeat customer? I’ll definitely keep that in mind for all my future shopping. I’ve already boycotted Best Buy due to their horrible customer service; consider yourself added to that list.

I’ll be sure to pass along the message of how inflexible you are to everyone I know via my website and in-person conversations and I won’t be recommending your site to my friends anymore. I hope angering and losing a repeat customer over $10 makes financial sense to you. Considering all the options available to me for online purchases, who do you think this will ultimately hurt more? Yes, I am one person, but I’m not the only person out there who will think your poor attitude toward customer service is acceptable. And over a $10 savings you’re already offering to other visitors to your site no less? Did they teach you that in Customer Service 101? I’m surprised you’re still in business.

So I’m keeping my promise by sharing this experience with you, dear readers. The problem these days is that everyone allows these companies to treat them poorly and they continue shopping there. If we were to refuse to accept this treatment, places like Best Buy and Buy.com would be forced to improve their customer service or else go out of business. Just something to keep in mind next time you’re mistreated. And trust me, I know it isn’t always easy, as I’ve shopped Best Buy a couple of times since boycotting them years ago, but I’m back to boycotting them 100% because I’m tired of giving my hard-earned money to these heartless corporations.