Supersized Quick-hitters, And Customer Service Rants and Raves (Time Warner, J&R, Newegg, Discover)
I’ve decided to stay away from the latest Diva Favre news.
And the story about my horrible computer build will have to wait.
(Yeah, I’ll manage.)
Quick-hitters:
- I think I figured out the secret as to why diet drinks and protein shakes either work spectacularly, or not at all: they are intentionally made to taste disgusting!
(Have you ever tried Strawberry Milkshake flavored Muscle Milk?)
These drinks are so disgusting that you’ll either not want to eat anymore ( = instant weight loss!) or you’ll immediately go back to eating junk food after one day on the diet 
- File this one under “Quick ways to earn tons of stupid points.” Do you remember how your high school chemistry teacher always told you to never sniff the chemicals in a beaker/test tube/flask/whatever, and that the proper thing to do is “waft” the odors towards you?
I should probably have heeded that advice. Yesterday, while cleaning my bathroom, I found a nearly empty bottle of Tilex. Thinking that my sister might have added water to it (you know, add a bit of water in a nearly empty bottle of cleaner, shake it around, and you have a decent quantity of a dilute cleaner that could be useful for 1-2 more cleanings), I unscrewed the spray, and sniffed the contents of the bottle.
I have no idea what happened in the next 10 minutes.
(Fifty thousand stupid points.)
- So I finally have a serious gripe about my Logitech Cordless Desktop MX3200 Laser keyboard + mouse combo. The way my desk is set up (opposite the single torch lamp in the room), the media keys—next, previous, volume up/down, mute, play/pause, etc.—are virtually impossible to distinguish! Am I going to have to buy a small lamp for my desk just to make sure I don’t hit next instead of play/pause???
Too bad this keyboard doesn’t have a built-in backlight.
(Whew! That was long!)
Before I get to my customer service rants and raves, can you guess which of the companies I listed above are going to get rants, and which are going to get raves? Decide, and then read on.
- Time to rant and rave!
1) Thank you, Time Warner. Seriously. Three rate hikes in three months wasn’t enough?
I got an email from Time Warner saying that my next month’s bill was ready. That’s when I immediately noticed the amount due: ~$80. FOUR rate hikes, and we’re only in July???
It turns out that Time Warner is now charging a “Digital Programming Fee,” bundled into the cost of the monthly HD Set Top Box (STB) rental (now $9.00). They also, I believe, raised the rental fee of a regular STB to $6.00.
I’m probably going to have to cancel HBO. I wonder what fees they’re going to try to charge me this time. I know the downgrade fee is a given. Will I get hit with a “Live Operator” fee? How about a “Dial Tone” fee? Who knows?
(If you put Time Warner in the “rave” category, you must be smoking something. Can I get a hit of that stuff? :P)
2) So I ordered some free after rebate (naturally) software from J&R a couple of days ago, and two days later, I got a shipping confirmation. Unfortunately, J&R could not provide me any tracking info, or so their shipping confirmation stated.
The USPS Delivery Confirmation number on the address label of my padded mailer says otherwise.
(Huge drop-off from the first story, huh?)
3) I ordered a Belkin surge protector from Newegg.com a couple days ago. It was advertised for $9.99 - a $5 coupon - a $5 mail in rebate and free shipping. When I placed the order, I noticed that I was charged $8.25 for shipping and handling.
I immediately fired off an email to Newegg customer service, requesting a refund of my shipping and handling charges. That was three days ago.
I eventually found out that the free shipping was a misprint, a Newegg Live Chat CSR explained. The rep offered me a refund on my shipping charges anyway, and soon after, I got an emailed “invoice” from Newegg granting my credit.
(We’ll score that a half rant, half rave.)
4) OK…this one is neither a rant nor a rave; it’s just a funny story. I got a letter in the mail about a 0% balance transfer option with Discover, and for kicks (that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it), I called in to inquire about it. I had intended on doing a transfer in the $2,000-$2,500 range, and explained this to the CSR.
The CSR, who sounded overly cheery for a phone CSR, answered all my questions quickly and adequately. Right when I was about to hang up, though, she offered me a reduced cap on the balance transfer fee, which was 3% capped at $99; she offered a reduced cap of $75.
It took me half a second to point out that a 3% balance transfer fee on a $2,500 balance was going to cost me $75 anyway.
All the rep could do was chuckle and say “Whoops!”
(OK OK, we’ll score this one a rave anyway. So if you guessed rant, rant, 50/50, and rave, congrats! You win 50 Ung-bucks!)
Whew!