Dalum's ESC Key » Buyer Beware

It’s the simple things in life that make you mad when it’s not right

dalum — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 14:30:39 +0000

It’s not too often where I complain about one of the Meccas of foodies everywhere, Trader Joe’s. I just have to this time because something isn’t right and I’m not happy about it. It’s my Orange Juice. I know, I know… Everyone is probably saying, “Really? Orange Juice???”

If you are asking that, then you should go back and read the title of this post because it’s like Clarissa: It explains it all. If that doesn’t work, maybe my quick note to them on their website will fill in the blanks:

I purchased a tall carton of your OJ w/ Extra Pulp on my last trip down to your Rochester Hills, MI location. As always, the flavor is delicious and is one of the sole reasons I make the pilgrimage as often as possible. I enjoy the quality and quantity of pulp in your product as both components are above and beyond all others I have had in the past. My issue is this… The current carton was opened this morning on my way out to work and when I sat at my desk, I found that my tumbler is devoid of anything pulp related. This would be OK if I didn’t drive 90 miles, 1 way, to buy your products. What can we do to fix this?

Right now, all I have in return is their automated emailer giving me their response to sit tight. I’ll put up any responses as they come in.

At least it’s not this…

Got my new glasses!

dalum — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 04:41:29 +0000

Well I didn’t JUST get them… I’ve had them for almost 2 weeks now. I wanted to have them for at least a week to give them a fair shake in case they sucked and exploded in my hands. I’m glad I did! No they didn’t explode in my hands. To back up a little, I have been on the prowl for new glasses, actually a new prescription. Well I got my exam done locally and found a place on the web that offers glasses starting at $8.00!

After himming and hawing about what style I’m going to get since it was quite a decision to make as I couldn’t touch them or try on the pair before finalizing the order. Well I finally bit the bullet after a few months and made my order. I snagged a basic pair and something that was really a blind jump into experimentation.

Safe Frames:

What Was I Thinking Frames:

Both of these frames turned out GREAT and are very durable. I didn’t get them with any extra coatings or any other bells and whistles. The only thing extra I picked up was a pair of universal clipon shades since the lenses are so similarly shaped. I don’t think I can be happier with an internet purchase.

I don’t think I’ll ever go back to another brick and mortar shop to get my glasses made again. (That’s unless someone I know that’s ABO Certified comes back to the area… Yeah, you know who you are.) With the amount of money I would have spent on 1 pair that I probably didn’t want fully, I spent less than that for 2 of them with a little bonus. I can’t complain. Not at all.

http://www.zennioptical.com/

So Tweeting about DishNetwork ruffled some feathers!

dalum — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 02:29:34 +0000

I put up some really not nice things to say about DishNetwork on their official Twitter feed (@DishNetwork) and I also used the hashtag #DishNetworkSucks. Apparently, this got all the way up to the execs. One of them actually picked up the phone and called me directly! Now that’s pretty impressive. They must not like the kind of negative exposure that Twitter can give since it only took 2 Tweets to get their attention. This unnamed executive gave me some promises that I don’t think he can keep, but we’ll see what he can do. He said that he will have a high up rep call me after hours to get everything documented and to see if anything that can be fixed. I gave him this list:

They need to figure out how to get my SD DVR to stop hesitating and stalling during playback (confirmed that there’s a ticket into the engineers to get that fixed)
1 minute recordings in sucession (causing 30, 1 minute recordings of shows instead of 1, 30 minute recording. This get sexponentially worse when it’s an hour long show or a whole movie!)
Mislabeled titles (Folder is named Futurama, episode is labeled Futurama, actual episode is How I Met Your Mother. Annoying, at best.)
Resetting when the sched is looked at or anything is rearranged. (This has not yet happened on this new DVR which is only 3 weeks old. Still keeping my fingers crossed.)

That’s only 4 things, but they are pretty major. The biggest thing is that we keep replacing DVRs. How many companies out there have firmware updates that happen over the air or on a wire? I’im not talking about just satellite providers either. There are all kinds of electronics out there that do firmware upgrades, even regular ones that fix all kinds of bugs. I’m at a loss for how much I miss a stable service. Is it too much to ask to have TV just work?