NFL Divisional Playoffs Thoughts, I’ve Been Cookin’, And ZoneAlarm Rebates Hell
Quick-hitters:
- Current rebate-o-meter: approaching $1,500, no thanks to the tax software deals. The number will be dropping, though, as I’m expecting another couple hundred dollars in rebates.
More on rebates later (unfortunately).
- I got a letter from Sallie Mae a couple days ago, with “Important Information” enclosed. Yeah right…right?
Actually, it was a notification that my student roan consolidation interest rate was dropped a full percent for my exceptional payment history! W00t!
Too bad I couldn’t have taken out a $100,000 student loan, just so that I could have invested the excess.
- It’s amazing how well the Ung-hex works at times. Didn’t I just say, a couple days ago, that the Lakers were playing well and Andrew Bynum was a stud?
Laker fans, you may commence sending me your hate mail.
- Here are my NFL Divisional Playoff thoughts:
1) Ryan Grant is a stud. Two fumbles, and then he follows those up with 201 yards and three scores?
(Packers fans, prepare to send me your hate mail next week :P.)
2) I don’t know what’s crazier: Eli Manning actually beating the Cowboys, or the fact that I actually bet on the Giants + 7.5 in the first place!
By the way, enough of the Tony Romo/Jessica Simpson “controversy!” Though I must wonder…will a sportsbook put out future odds on who Romo will be dating in 2008?
And sorry TO, but I’m not buying the whole teary-eyed defense of your QB. Weren’t you the same guy that throws his QBs under the bus?
3) Billy Volek? Michael Turner? Darren Sproles? Seriously? THAT was Tony Dungy’s (likely) swan song? What the hell was that???
By the way, was I the only one who felt that there was an NFL fix going on with the refs in the SD-Indy game? Did you see that horrible pass interference call? How the hell did the Colts NOT win on Sunday?
I suppose it had something to do with Peyton Manning reverting back to his early 2000s self, and the defense playing like sheer crap.
and finally…
4) Should we just go ahead and crown the Patriots* the 2008 NFL Super Bowl Champions*? We might as well give the Super Bowl MVP* trophy to Brady too, while we’re at it.
I can’t wait for the 2008 NFL season.
- I’ve been doing a lot of experimenting in my kitchen lately (sorry, no pics!). What have I been making?
- Won ton soup, twice, both times altering my filling recipe slightly
- Cream cheese wontons (imitation crab meat, cream cheese, green onion, and a pinch of salt and pepper)…remind me next time to make only 3-4 per person *gag*
- Pork burgers; in my defense, I had some unidentified meat in my freezer that looked like ground beef, and it was only when I cooked the meat did I realize that I was using soy sauce-marinated pork instead.
(Tangent: Is there a more frightening phrase than “unidentified meat?” If there is, please let me know.)
- California rolls, sans avocado, sadly. My 99 Ranch had soy wrappers, which were awesome to roll, but very difficult to cut; at least the seaweed wrappers (nori) had perforations on them, which made cutting a heck of a lot easier. I didn’t have medium grain rice, but my long grain Jasmine rice worked quite well. I would have made Philadelphia rolls, but I couldn’t find any smoked salmon.
Pardon the pun, but I wonder what I’m going to cook up this week.
- Finally, I have to talk about a horrible experience with MyRebateOnline.com, the guys that are in charge of processing ZoneAlarm rebates (and probably other stuff). For the records, these guys handle rebates sent to Bensalem, PA.
Background: in both October and November, I bought a copy ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite 3 Pack from Frys.com. Each item came with a $40 mail in rebate attached to it, and I made sure that I qualified for both rebates separately (each rebate had a different offer number assigned to it). I had heard nothing from the rebate processor regarding the status of my rebate—usually, rebate processors are supposed to send an email upon receipt of a rebate submission, notifying you of the status of any promotion a buyer attempts to claim—so I decided to give the rebate center a ring and see what was going on with my two rebates.
HUGE MISTAKE.
Unfortunately for me, I got a CSR on seemingly the worst day of her life. I gave her the spelling of my last name (three times!), followed by my zip, and then she asked me for my address. I began spelling out my address, and she cut me off with a terse “I can see address right in front of me. Just confirm it!”
After doing that, the CSR told me that my rebate submission was rejected. Hold on, I said. I pointed out that I had two rebates that I was inquiring about, and wanted to know which of the two rebates was rejected. The CSR, obviously miffed, went on a huge rant:
Look, I don’t have that information in front of me. Our rebate processing deparment [you mean the guy in the cubicle next to you?] says that your rebate has been denied for missing the receipt!
[and here comes the kicker]
(like a parent scolding her kid) WHY DIDN’T YOU SUBMIT THE RECEIPT? WHY DIDN’T YOU MAIL IN THE RECEIPT WITH YORU SUBMISSION?
WHAT. THE. [expletive]. HELL???
Trying to keep my cool, I then asked about what I could do to fix the rebate, even though I had no idea which rebate I was attempting to clear up. The CSR immediately pointed out that I could mail in my receipt (the one that I supposedly didn’t mail in; I did, for the record, and my PDF’ed copy of my rebate submission will back this up), provided that the rebate promotion was still valid!
Naturally, this wasn’t going to happen, as both rebates were valid in October and November, respectively. Even if I assumed that “valid” referred to the rebate postmark dates, most rebates require the postmark date of the rebate submission to be within thirty days of the purchase date.
Nevertheless, I decided that I was going to attempt to resolve the October rebate, even though I wasn’t sure that that rebate was even submitted, much less invalid. Evidently pressing my luck, I asked the CSR one more question: was there some other way I could clear up this matter (fax, perhaps?).
*click*
I know I’ve said this before on this blog, but I’ll say it again.
Listen, ZoneAlarm CSR: I’m sorry that your life is clearly not going in the direction you thought it would. However, you don’t have to take it out on an unsuspecting customer who is just trying to figure out why he hasn’t received his check for promotions from three and four months ago! May I suggest a career change? I might consider giving one of those colleges you see advertised on daytime TV a call.
After shaking off that horrible phone conversation, I decided to go straight to Fry’s.com CS and see if they could help me out. A very nice lady (not just by comparison) answered my call, and asked me to fax in both of my resubmissions directly to Fry’s. She said that I could call back within a week or two to check the status of my complaints.
*crossing fingers*
And yeah, complaints to my state Attorney General and the Better Business Bureau are coming, if Fry’s isn’t able to help me out.