Bitter/Better Blog

Joe's American Bar & Grill - BITTER

2011-06-19T23:32:00.002-04:00

Went to Joe's American Bar & Grill tonight for dinner in Paramus, NJ. It sucked, plain and simple. I'll give them this. The hostess and who I believe was a manager were super nice when I came in. They set up my family's table promptly and I was seated right away. If I had gotten up and left right away, I would have nothing but good things to say.

However, we went there to eat and so we stayed. Our waitress came out and took the drink order, read us the specials and then took our meal order very kindly. The drinks took a bit longer than I would have guessed and shortly after that she told us that she would bring out some bread for the table. Within a few minutes, a different woman brought a hot loaf of bread to the table, fresh from the oven and some butter. After she left, which was very promptly, we realized that we had no place settings on the table. It took us at least 5-10 more minutes to get the attention of our waitress who sighed when I told her we had no utensils or plates to use for the bread. She brought them out right away and apologized.

It would have been a whole different story if the bread was sliced for us when it was brought to the table. At least then we could have eaten it while we waited. I really hate that some places now make you cut the bread yourself. Again, it would be one thing if they brought you a bread knife. No. They don't do that. They want you to use an extremely blunt butter knife to slice through the hard crust of an otherwise highly compressible loaf of bread. When you are done cutting it, you get to hand off that smooshed mess to your family member who then tries to figure out where to put the butter on it!

One slice of bread cut and handed off and the food is delivered to the table. I couldn't help but laugh openly. The guy who brought the first 2 dishes (yes, now a 3rd person) was confused why the other 2 dishes were not behind him. He said that maybe the guy (I guess a 4th) must have gotten lost on the way to the table. I said, yeah, just like the plates. The food finally arrived and after I finished my piece of bread I decided to dig in to my Bacon Cheeseburger.

First, if you are going to serve a burger disassembled, serve it disassembled. Do not lay the top bun partially over the bottom. When the patron goes to remove the top bun to put the lettuce and tomato on the burger, the cheese usually sticks to the top bun and comes apart making a big mess. Second, use a bun that is at least 90% of the size of the burger. This burger was falling all over out of the bun. Third, invest in a bun that can actually support the weight of the burger patty that you are going to put in it. And lastly, if your burgers are greasy as hell, make sure the bun is dense enough to absorb some of that without getting soggy and flattened.

Joe's American Bar and Grill does not adhere to these guidelines and so I had a soggy, flattened, greasy as hell burger with a mess of cheese all over. Literally, when I picked up the burger there was a pool of grease on the plate.

My son ordered the buttered noodles from the kids menu. The kids menu item comes with a beverage. We ordered a lemonade. When his food was delivered he needed a refill on the beverage because in his estimation, the cup had so much ice that he finished it in one sip. I believe it was server #3 who brought him the first refill of the lemonade. He started eating the noodles and immediately complained about them. I took a bite and while it wasn't awful, there was something different about it. I don't know if it was real butter sauce or some kind of substitute, but there was a pool of it at the bottom of the plate/bowl.

When the waitress came to check on us, I didn't even bother telling her about my burger, which was now about 1/2 eaten. I did tell her about the kids pasta and she agreed to take it back and remove it from the bill. My son said he didn't want anything else, just another lemonade. The waitress then said in a soft voice that the lemonade does not come with free refills. Say what the heck now? So she let me order my kid a drink with his meal that does not qualify as a free drink with the kids meal. Then the next guy, Server #3, gives me another without a comment. Now, on the 3rd, I'm being let in on the secret. I told her that it shouldn't matter because they are overloading the cup with ice and it's barely a sipful in it anyway. She brought another lemonade and said I wouldn't be charged for the refill.

Then, and you know I've got a pet peeve about this from a previous post, she asks if we're going to be wanting to indulge the "D" word. I said, "well, my son (different one) had a meal that includes it, right?" She said yes and then brought us a desert menu.

Desert was nothing special and eventually the bill came. Guess what was not removed from the bill? That's right. The pasta was still on it. I handed over my card and mentioned it to the waitress who blamed it on the manager for not taking it off. Maybe an honest mistake but maybe not. I paid the bill and left pretty quickly.

On top of all of the above, we had the delight of sitting next to who I imagine was the girlfriend of another waiter and her friend. Someone definitely needed to tell these girls to go easy on the perfume. The overbearingness of it just compounded the wait time for our food so that another smell could attempt to overpower it. Not the restaurants fault, but they definitely just sat there hanging around because of the boyfriend, so I'll go ahead and mention it.

For bad food and lackluster service (on Father's Day, no less), Joe's American Bar and Grill gets a greasy BITTER.

Encyclopedia Brown Book Series - BETTER

2011-06-13T22:49:00.000-04:00

When I was growing up in the 80's, I remember being introduced to a young detective by the name of Leroy "Encyclopedia" Brown. He ran his own detective agency out of his garage and was so smart he even solved crimes for his dad, the Chief of Police. His stories were short and each had vital clues given to help the reader solve his mystery. Once you thought you had it figured out, you could flip to the back of the book and read the solution.

With a son of my own that is very fond of reading, I was shopping for Christmas present about a year and a half ago and came across a box set of the series in reprint. I was instantly taken back to the joy of my youth reading these stories. I was even lucky enough to watch the HBO series of the same name. I instantly purchased the set and couldn't wait to relive this whole experience through my son.

So what happened? He opened the gift rather indifferently and the books sat on his shelf for about a year. The one day when he was all finished reading the last of the Club Penguin books and the Scooby Doo books, I suggested he give one of the Encyclopedia Brown books a try. Again, indifferently he indulged me. Once he started reading though, this kid was as hooked as it gets.

A few months later, he is through 12 books in the series and I now have a few more on order. He absolutely loves the style of the books and seems to have really taken to the mystery genre. Admittedly, I did have to explain to him what an encyclopedia is (or should I say was?) to give Leroy's nickname some context but that was fun too. As a child born with the internet, he had no frame of reference for things like reference books!

I think after we get through all of these books (twenty-something in all), he will be moving on to A to Z Mysteries at his own request. I couldn't be more thrilled that something from my own childhood could be bringing such joy to my own son.

If you want to encourage your young 1st to 4th grade child to start reading more, I would highly recommend the Encyclopedia Brown Series from Donald J. Sobol. (My son even did a special school project on Sobol, now his favorite author!).

For sheer entertainment value, as well as bridging the gap between 2 childhoods 30 years apart, Encyclopedia Brown gets a BETTER.

Ronnie's Bagels - BITTER

2011-06-12T23:41:00.000-04:00

Ronnie's Bagels has a couple of location in norther New Jersey. Apparently, they have been voted the best bagels in NJ. As far as service goes, hell to the no.

I should say that historically, I really like the food at Ronnie's. They seem to take a long time to make everything, but they take the sting out by having free bagel chunks for you to snack on. My biggest beef is that they seem to operate against the customer. Here's what I mean.

A few months ago, I was in there and they had signs up around the place advertising a free beverage with any sandwich (or something like that). I ordered the sandwich and then when it came time to pay they cashier said nothing about my free drink. When I asked about it the reaction was like "Oh, yeah. You do get that. You know we've got to make you ask for it. We can't just give it to everyone." Say what now? Of course you can give it to everyone. That's why you are running the promo!

Same thing happened to me this weekend. I went it for my regular meal and saw the following ad all over:

Of course, when I was rung up, guess what? No discount. I didn't even bother asking for it this time. They can keep my dollar but it is the last one they are getting.

On top of that, Ronnie's did another thing I can't stand. They raised the prices AND cut the food portions. I know I've ranted about food portions that are too large before, but when you take a normal sized sandwich and noticeably cut the meat by 50% or more, I take issue. Also, Ronnie's no longer gives you a side of macaroni or any other salad with your order. Come on now. I'm paying $9 for a sandwich. Throw in the darn 4 ounce tub of macaroni salad.

Like I said, I doubt I'll be going back to Ronnie's anytime soon. For poor service, a scam artists mentality, and sticking it to the customer on price, Ronnie's Bagels gets a BITTER.

Canon 60D - BETTER

2011-06-11T23:01:00.000-04:00

I recently updated my camera from an older, albeit HD Kodak EasyShare to the Canon 60D DSLR and I really can't say enough about the thing. It is an amazing camera. I believe I tried a Canon point and shoot years ago and actually returned it without being too thrilled. This camera though is pretty amazing.

I did a whole blog post comparing (in layman's terms) the Canon 60D to the Nikon D7000 which I think covers my thoughts on the camera.

Once you read that one, you can come back and appreciate that I give the Canon 60D a BETTER.

Phillips Dual Screen Portable DVD Player - BETTER

2011-06-08T02:04:00.001-04:00

There's not much to say about this great road trip accessory other than that it is great. Why try to deal with a single screen DVD player jammed between the 2 front seats and all the screen glare that goes with it when you can have a 2 screen system for not much more money? I've got one of these and it is awesome for longer trips in the car where the kids need a little entertainment. Even though both screens show the same movie, each screen has its own controls and volume. If you only need one screen, you can just use one of them. I had an older, cheaper portable DVD player that constantly said "invalid disc" 80% of the time I tried to use it. And amazingly, this Phillips 2 screen system takes less time to put in the car than the old single unit device. You literally just clip each screen around the front seat headrests and pull the straps tight. Then plug in the power cables and the AV connector and you are good to go. It takes about 2-3 minutes total!

This upgrade was well worth the expense, especially when taking a 20 hour car ride! For that, the Phillips Dual Screen Portable DVD Player gets a BETTER.

Dunkin Donuts - Free Order Scam - Bitter

2011-06-03T00:24:00.000-04:00

So Dunkin Donuts has a sign that reads something to the effect of "If you do not receive an accurately priced receipt, your order is free." I noticed that the register worker was going so fast that he was not handing any receipt at all to anyone. When I did not receive my receipt I asked about the deal for my order to be free and if I should be getting my money back. I was told that the sign only applies if you actually get a receipt. That's total bull. They simply use the sign as a marketing gimmick knowing that no one will challenge it because of the same reason they aren't giving out the receipts. Everyone at Dunkin Donuts is in a rush. Anyway, I just thought I would point out this ridiculous practice.

For that, Dunkin Donuts gets a BITTER.

Insanely Large Portions - BITTER

2010-08-02T00:24:00.003-04:00

OK. I think we now have a real problem in this country with portion sizes. Here's a decent article on the topic. Go to Wendy's and order a medium. May sure you rent a hand truck to cart it away. After the movie Super Size Me literally killed the Super Size/King Size concept, everyone kept doing the same thing, only they just changed all the contents of small, medium, and large.

Anyway, I went to this pancake place the other day since I heard it was the best rated and always packed. I took the family and we ordered a bunch of different pancakes. I was told I could get 4 medium sized or 2 oversized pancakes. I got the 2 oversized and boy were they ever. These 2 pancakes were each the size of a small pizza. It was served to me on a platter and the pancakes were pouring over each side. No syrup here unless I wanted it all over the table. The kids also got food spilling over their plates and they barely touched it for the sheer impossibility of working with the food.

I ate literally 20-25% of the food, about 1/2 of 1 pancake and then asked the waitress, "Has anyone...ever...actually eaten all of this?" She pointed to a wall of names. The busboys were walking around the restaurant with take away boxes for anyone that wanted, but I thought, "What's the point?"

When I finally got up I started to notice everyone looking at my table. I let them know that I obviously had no idea what I was ordering.

I think at a restaurant like this the wait staff have a responsibility to tell you if they have insanely large portions. Also, just asking if I want the over sized pancakes is not the same as asking if I want to super size it. People who eat a super size fries do not get their name on a wall.

That may be the underlying problem after all. If I have the girth to be able to shovel two garbage can lid size pancakes down my gullet I get celebrated on a wall. In a few years, that wall is going to end up being pretty crowded by my estimation.

Here's an idea! Give a wall to the normal sized families with the normal sized kids that eat normal sizes meals and don't have a Coke with a vat of pancakes at 9am.

Out of control food portions, you get a BITTER.

Traingle Shaped Crayons - BETTER

2009-06-21T21:14:00.003-04:00

This will be just a quick one. Was having a nice Father's Day lunch out today and as most restaurants do these days, the hostess left some crayons for the kids to use with a little activity sheet. The different thing today was, the crayons were triangular, not round. They are especially designed for restaurants so that they do not roll of the table. I must say that this is absolutely brilliant. I don't know how many times we've had to pick crayons up off the (likely very dirty) floor under a table at a restaurant. This is a very simple solution to one of the biggest problems facing parents with kids out to eat.

Whoever invented these triangular shaped crayons, you get a BETTER.

While these were not Crayola, here is a link to some of their triangle shaped crayons (which I had no idea existed until I searched on Google).

Social Media's Trojan Farce - BITTER

2009-06-09T10:03:00.002-04:00

An interesting thing is happening as of late. More and more people are getting their news online, especially from social media sites, instead of from TV and newspapers. There is an unfortunate problem with this that needs to be discussed, though. On the Internet, there are few editors. Anyone can write anything. And then someone comes along and takes an unedited, unchecked piece of information and propagates it as fact, often citing it in a blog or other article of their own.

A recent example of this involves a blog post titled, "Riding Social Media's Trojan Horse", by Alexandra Samuel via the Harvard Business Publishing website. In the story, she discussed 3 high profile companies, McDonald's, Hertz, and Walmart, that didn't fare well as the result of social media exposure.

In each case, Alexandra goes into a brief overview of the situation each company faced, hyperlinking key phrases which link back to the original "news story". While these links make her story seem far more legitimate, each link merely points back to another blogger's post.

In the McDonald's case, the source blog is riddled with guesswork and no fact checking to back it up. The author, Mack Collier, never indicates whether or not he tried to contact McDonald's to find out why comments were taking so long to show up on their blog (which means he didn't). So he just suggests that they are likely censoring it. But he doesn't know. Alexandra herself provides mostly facts in her description of the story, but it doesn't change the fact that she is republishing what are essentially another bloggers comments and assumptions as fact.

The same goes for the Hertz incident. It gets a bit worse here because the video clip that she references in her post directly contradicts most of what is written. She mentions that the lone Hertz agent leaves the customers unattended, which is completely untrue. In the video you can see at least one other person working at the counter and at least one customer using one of the rental kiosks. The problem is, the guy who shot the video is aggressively narrating and tries to convince the viewer that you are not seeing what you really are are seeing. And he does a good job. If Alexandra has read the comments on that video, they go at least 50/50 with many disgusted with the way the person behaved toward the Hertz agent. Again though, the video itself is treated as worthy of reference as fact.

It is more of the same again for Walmart. While this story does seem grounded in basic fact, one has to be concerned when reading that media mentions went from positive to criticism. The media site that gets linked to for the criticism? Wikinomics. I was expecting maybe USA Today or CNN. Wikinomics is not mentioned by name, though, as it is relatively unknown and will likely detract from the believability of the story.

Let's face facts. Most readers will not follow any of the links from this story. The mere presence of hyperlinks gives the blog post more implied credibility, as does it being published on a site with Harvard in the name. Does it really have credibility? I don't think so. Neither Alexandra nor any of her sources seems to have many any attempts to contact the companies being discussed to get a balanced view of any of the situations being presented. The 3 companies are vilified and the court of public opinion adjourned. Funny enough, I think that is the real point of the blog post. It tries to talk about how social media can burn a company that isn't ready. However, I'm not sure Alexandra really meant to be pushing the problems with social media to the next level.

Could each of the companies have done a better job? Absolutely. I just don't think any of them have been treated fairly here in a blog post masquerading as a well researched news story.

Somehow, we are letting the people who normally get interviewed by reporters on street corners become the reporters themselves. What we end up with isn't reporting at all. It's commenting. And that's what most blogs are (including mine). They are usually just some person's comments. That's not really news, is it? But that's how it is received and most readers are none the wiser.

Since this blog post was published, it has been tweeted over 100 times, bookmarked about half that, and cited in other blog posts that have since gone on to be pushed out by some high profile Twitter users like @guykawasaki. In the end, this "article" has been sent to hundreds of thousands of readers, most of whom will implicitly trust it as valid and trustworthy news.

Bloggers masquerading as reporters (you know who you are), you get a BITTER.

Cheesecake Factory - No Children's Menu - BITTER

2009-05-29T00:29:00.003-04:00

In today's day and age, there is simply no excuse not to have a children's menu at a restaurant, especially at a family friendly restaurant like the Cheesecake Factory. The menu that they do have is in the ballpark of about 15 pages, and not even 1/2 of one page is a children's menu. They have 2 full pages of cheesecake flavors, and no children's menu. They are doubly at fault for not having children's sized portions of either meals or deserts.

So I was there last weekend and when asking for a children's menu I was told that they had "kid-friendly" items on the regular menu like chicken fingers. Great. I ordered that for my 4 year old and was told it would be the appetizer portion. OK. That should be somewhere near appropriate. Right? No. They served a large bowl (yes, a bowl) of chicken fingers to a 4 year old child who would normally eat 4 small chicken nuggets. 90% of what was in that bowl got thrown away on my dime.

When it came to desert, same deal. No children's portions. So instead of getting 4 deserts, we got only 2. And since my 4 year old doesn't like cheesecake, that meant I didn't get to eat cheesecake since we had to share. And after sharing? We still threw half the cake in the trash because of how ridiculously big the portions are.

Back to the point. It is just plain lazy and completely ridiculous that the Cheesecake Factory has no children's menu. They get a BITTER.

A BETTER Funeral Home

2009-05-22T22:00:00.005-04:00

Unfortunately, I found myself spending a couple of days at a funeral home recently. All other things aside, I came across something quite unique when I went inside with my wife and children. Right off the main entrance was a special children's play room. It was decorated straight out of a Pottery Barn catalog, really nicely taken care of in every way. There was a bookshelf full of puzzles and books, a mini kitchen, Etch-a-Sketch, toy vacuum, toy fish tank, and various blocks and Lego's. In all the various funeral homes I've ever visited, I've never come across anything other than basic sitting rooms full of chairs and tissue boxes. It was definitely a Purple Cow in a sea of tradition.

Scott's Turf Builder - Shame Marketing - BITTER

2009-04-25T21:49:00.003-04:00

Scott's is running a commercial for its Turf Builder product right now which I really don't like. It falls into a category of ads I called either "stigma marketing" or "shame marketing". (Dan and Chip Heath did a great piece on this concept in Fast Company last year.) These ads try to create a problem to make the viewer feel ashamed or embarassed.

In this particular commercial, a husband and wife are discussing the tradgic problems they had with their lawn. It was riddled with dandelions and they were the bain of their neighborhood. They felt awful because they never wanted to be "that neighbor". Finally, though, after using Scott's Turf Builder, their lawn was cleaned up and perfect. They profess that, "now the neighbors wave at us" as if prior to "perfecting" their lawn they were treated like the scum of the earth. Its the equivalent of trying to make all women think they need to be a size 4 to be accepted. Truly ridiculous.

At what point did someone decide that dandelions were the worst things in the world? I have small children and, at one point, was a child myself. These were actually the greatest things in the world at the time. Free flowers you could pick and attempt to cultivate in a paper cup. Spores you could try to blow out like birthday candles. This is living to a child. When did the lawn become the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel?

When I eventually do have a front lawn of my own, I fully intend to go natural with it. No chemicals fertlizers or weed killers. Just hopefully a lawn without any big missing patches and hopfully a few of mother nature's beauties for the kids to bring in to their mother.

Scott's, for trying to make all of us feel criminal, you get a BITTER.

No Turn Signals - BITTER

2009-04-11T00:45:00.004-04:00

While I'm on the subject of driving, what's up with nobody using their turn signal anymore. People don't use it making a simple turn and they don't use it when they change lanes at 80 miles per hour in front of you. I've recently heard this regarded as the single biggest danger on the road today.

There's a great scene in the film, "Shoot 'em Up", with Clive Owen where someone cuts him off without using a turn signal and he instantly goes into a tirade about it. It's what we've all felt I think. Unlike the rest of us, he catches up to the guy and runs him off the road. If only.....

A BETTER Traffic Light

2009-04-04T23:30:00.003-04:00

Is there anything worse than sitting at a red light at midnight for a minute or two when there isn't a car in sight? OK. Of course there is. But when you think about it, the whole thing is really silly. You, sitting there at midnight, with no cars around. That's not why they put the traffic light there is it?

They put it there to manage traffic at rush hour most likely. If you drive the road any other time of day, you'll just be inconvenienced a little.

There isn't one person reading this who hasn't contemplated running the red light if only they knew they wouldn't get caught. Why? Because we all know it's ridiculous to sit at a red light when there is clearly no danger.

I'm of the basic opinion that all traffic lights, at least on purely 2 lane roads, shift over to blinking red and yellow signals after say, 10pm. One side is typically the busier side, so it gets the flashing yellow. The less travelled way gets a blinking red, which means drivers have to stop, but then can go if there is a clear roadway.

Sure, some traffic lights do this. But doesn't it seem like this is a rather arbitrary decision when the light is put in place? I'm just asking for a little coordination and a standard policy. It could make life just a little bit better for people who actually have to be out driving late at night.

Service Charges and Tipping - Better or Bitter?

2009-04-02T01:16:00.004-04:00

Here's just a very quick post. When getting food via delivery, many restaurants now charge a delivery fee. I'm not sure if this started when gas prices were spiking, but it's here to stay. At the same time, I still tip anyone who delivers food to my house.

The question is, should you tip someone if there is a service charge? We have become accustomed to tipping people like waiters and waitresses because their pay system is primarily based on the tips. Would you feel the same way though if you got the check and there was a line item for "Food Service Charge"?

I tend to feel that the delivery charge has nothing to do with the delivery person, so the tip is still necessary, but I just thought I'd reach out for your take on it.

Kawasaki, Scoble and Tweet-Spam - BITTER

2009-03-27T21:51:00.010-04:00

So I'll admit that I'm not the biggest user of Twitter but I've started getting my feet wet. I have my criticisms of course, which I've posted in a previous entry. I realized though, that there are definitely some offenses within Twitter that I would call worse than others.

I will preface this whole segment by saying that I really like both Robert Scoble and Guy Kawasaki. One of the first "professional" books I ever read was Kawasaki's Rules for Revolutionaries. I read Robert Scoble every month in Fast Company.

My problem with how both of them operate their Twitter accounts is that they are about 20%-30% personal (meaning either observations, pearls of wisdom, or the comment about breakfast) and 70%-80% random reposting of links to various web articles or pages. Kawasaki, for example, has tweeted 54 times thus far today. About 40 of those tweets were just random articles such as Hubble's Greatest Hits and Crimes Most Stylish Crooks. When I add Scoble's 39 tweets, 20 of which were article/page reposts, you can imagine how difficult it gets to find anything else, especially when you follow dozens of people.

In my previous post I referred to Twitter as being like "listening to 100 collective streams of consciousness all at the same time, unfiltered." Now imagine that a few of the 100 are screaming. These users have what could be referred to as "twitter tourette's".

"Sitting down at lunch, but they are serving breakfast....... 30 Funniest cats! Fast electric cars! Who likes horses?........ lunch was good...... New Microsoft ad campaign! Twitter for Moms!...... shit.bitch.fart."

If I were Digg, I'd be taking notice. I'd be trying to sell "guy.digg.com" and "scoble.digg.com" right away. That would really make much more sense. At least there, we could follow an organized, structured list of the pages/sites/videos/images that our favorite "publishers" wish to share. Because that is what I see in Twitter. I see the full swing shift from 90% monotonous posts about cats and teeth brushing to 90% republishing of other materials, which is what Digg already does.

On Twitter, I'm much more interested in personal pieces of information. In Scoble's defense, he actually has a decent share of tweets today about more personal iPhone problems that he and others were having. Buy for Guy Kawasaki, I would much rather get less as long as it was things Guy wanted to say. That's why I'm actually in the middle of reading Reality Check right now.

Someone who really seems to have it nailed down is Tony Hsieh from Zappos. He tweeted twice today and both were messages very relevant to his tribe of followers. One was about a pizza making vending machine that he suggested might find its way into the Zappos offices and the other about a book he just finished reading that he was adding to the Zappos library. A couple of very relevant updates.

I know. I know. If I want to, I can just stop following people who basically spam my Twitter feed. I may have to do that. I did it with the feed from TechCrunch already. It's just tough when I know that some of the tweets will be really meaningful to me from these individuals that I have followed off of Twitter. Add to that the fact that I've seen other big names figure out a really great standard of messaging on Twitter, and I guess I just wish for the best of both worlds.

Guy Kawasaki and Robert Scoble's overuse of Twitter as Digg gets a BITTER.

Best Buy Plots Against Price Match Guarantee - BITTER

2009-03-24T20:27:00.006-04:00

Jacqui Cheng at ars technica reported yesterday that a class action suit has been filed in the state of New York against Best Buy "alleging false advertising and deceptive practices" relating to its fullfillment policy on the "price match guarantee". This guarantee reads as follows from the Best Buy website:

BestBuy.com Price Matching/Price Guarantee

If you've made a BestBuy.com purchase and discover a lower price offered on our Web site or at a Best Buy store on the same available brand and model, let us know and we'll match that price on the spot, tax included.

Exclusions:
The BestBuy.com Price Guarantee does not apply to competitors' offers; third-party offers; online auction sites; shipping charges; clearance, Outlet Center and open-box items (when price matching with a Best Buy store); items for sale November 27th through 29th, 2008; special offers or promotions such as mail-in incentives, gift-with-purchase and financing offers; services such as installation; or typographical errors. Best Buy stores in Puerto Rico have their own price match policy.

Apparently, an internal Best Buy e-mail was used in the court filing detailing examples of how employees should try to not honor the policy. You can read exerpts on the ars technica site.

Anyway, I am not surprised by this lawsuit in the slightest. I have tried to price match at Best Buy in the past and indeed been met by these excuses and walked away without the policy being enforced. Of course, when the policy was first enacted, I price matched many times successfully. I think a lot of people were doing it and management likely decided to start trying the tactics described in the lawsuit.

The mistake that Best Buy makes on a daily basis is that they use their customer service policy as a marketing campaign with no plan to follow through. Not good, especially when their biggest competitor just went out of business. And that doesn't mean Best Buy can get comfortable because stores like Walmart are jumping right into the ring in home electronics.

Best Buy, for my own personal experiences that seem to jive with the allegations in this lawsuit, you earn a BITTER.

The Container Store Sliding Drawer Organizer - BETTER

2009-03-23T22:16:00.005-04:00

So the best thing in my kitchen might actually have cost about $15 at the Container Store.

Many a night I spent frustrated at how little space I had in my silverware drawer in the kitchen. I always looked around at stores like Bed, Bath, and Beyond for a better drawer organizer but never found one.

When the Container Store opened, my wife and I were browsing around when I found the most amazing drawer organizer. It is something like this. It is 2-tiered. That means there is literally a bottom section that is the full width of the drawer and then a top piece that is only half as wide that slides back and forth. Sheer genius. You can hide the stuff you don't use every day like the serving pieces and ladels under the one side while everything you normally use is plainly accessible.

It's amazing that will all the gadgets and electronic appliances in the kitchen, the coolest thing I have is a little piece of molded plastic.....

Container Store, for offering a much wider array of storage options than most, AND solving my kitchen drawer problem, you get a 2-tiered BETTER.

Paramus Miniature Golf - Phone Says Open. Padlock on Gate Says Closed. - BITTER

2009-03-22T20:05:00.003-04:00

So I thought it would be nice to take my boys to play miniature golf today since the weather was pretty good. I called up the Paramus Miniature Golf course to check if they were open. Yes says the recording on the phone. 10am - 10pm 7 days. Sweet. I headed right over.

After the 15 mile drive I was psyched to see it wasn't busy like I thought it would be as I pulled up. Then I got closer and noticed a padlock on the gate. It wasn't open after all.

My younger son started crying, of course, as he had been quite keyed up to do some golfing. I'm not really sure what happened here. I'm guessing it was just laziness in not changing the phone message.

Paramus Mini Golf, I'll probably go back because you have the nicest course in quite a distance, but today you earned a BITTER.

Twitter BITTER and the Social Network Bubble of 2009

2009-03-17T21:42:00.007-04:00

Social Networks. More than likely you belong to one at this point. They seem to be popping up everywhere. Your friends are on them, and they invite you to join yet another. Newscasters mention them, celebrities, and athletes are now using them. The problem is, there are simply too many of them to keep up with, to keep updating, and to keep straight in your head. My theory is that 2009 will be the year that we start to see some social networking backlash. I could be wrong, but....

In it's most basic history, the first MAJOR social network to catch on was MySpace. It started as a way for unsigned, independent musicians to promote their music without a major record label. That changed, though, and millions of people had Myspace pages. There are MySpace business pages, Myspace bullying, and MySpace court cases.

The next MAJOR social network to really catch on was Facebook (even thought it was created about the same time as MySpace). It started out with college students only, but soon opened up to anyone and everyone. Facebook was more structured, though. It wasn't overloaded with crappy backgrounds and non-stop music restarting with every press of the back button. MySpace has been retooling, but Facebook got hold of people's attention pretty good. Besides, Facebook lets you send virtual drinks to your friends! Who wouldn't switch social networks for that?

I believe that today, the fastest growing social network is LinkedIn. LinkedIn was originally meant to be about creating high quality professional connections. If someone was listed as a connection, you could be guaranteed that the two connectees knew each other well enough that if you asked one to introduce you to the other, they could. Not so today. LinkedIn is all about the number of connections, quality be damned. This is a basic point that all the networks fall victim to. As soon as you make the number of friends/connections/followers public, it turns into a competition to get the highest number.

And then we get to what I'll call the peak of the bubble, Twitter. Twitter is referred to as a microblogging tool that allows you to broadcast out short messages to you legion of followers. It has become the mainstream face of social networking. It is mentioned on the news, people like Shaq are using it, and even President Obama made major campaign announcements over it. I remember being introduced to Twitter by the online news show, Rocketboom, quite a while ago. The host, Joanne Colan was trying to do the newscast but kept getting interrupted by inane little blips, called tweets, on her cell phone.

With Twitter, we are starting to see people with thousands of followers, even hundreds of thousands. I'll bring it down to about 100 for what the average person might contend with. Now, the best way I can illustrate what Twitter is like would be if you stood in a room with 100 people and had to listen to their collective streams of consciousness all at the same time, unfiltered. It really can be quite difficult to manage. And some people tweet more than others. I thought it would be a good idea to follow TechCrunch on Twitter. They completely overwhelmed my "newsfeed" (to borrow the term from Facebook) with 10 times as many tweets as anyone else and I had to stop following them.

CNET has an article online about getting started with Twitter. It recommends that you should not just tweet every little detail of your day as was the norm in Twitter's early days. Here's an excerpt:

Finally, what should you write? Literally answering "What are you doing?" may get boring fast. At least to folks following your time line. Some of the most enjoyable posts are witty observations, breaking news, and links to interesting stuff, like Web sites and pictures.

How many people do you know that can consistently provide you with short, witty observations? I tend to think that many people are signing up to see what it's all about but in the end will simply be lurkers (people who are basically idle, listening but not contributing).

If you look at the complete over saturation of information that the average person has to deal with and will have to deal with, you'll get the idea. On a given day, you might start off by checking your e-mail and your Facebook. Then you go over to check your Twitter account (unless you've got them tied together). Perhaps you check your blog and respond to a couple of posters, or you read a blog you follow and post there. Then you check your cell phone and there are more text messages on there that need to be answered. And THEN, you might actually have to check your voice mail and talk to someone. E-Mail bankruptcy is already upon on. The average person simply doesn't have the mental capacity to handle much more and it is increasing exponentially.

We've already seen networks fading away this year. Second Life, once quite popular and touted as the future of online is retooling and repurposing as a distance learning application. My prediction is that LinkedIn will be next. Users might not start cancelling their accounts en masse, but I bet that their growth will crash and few professionals will regard it as anything of value.

In all honesty, if you are out at a sporting event, shouldn't you just be enjoying the event and not worrying about telling everyone at that exact moment where you are and how much you're enjoying the event???

And here is the real problem with social networks, born out of their greatest value (in my opinion): the power to turn dormant friendships into passively active ones. This is where people you haven't talked to since high school or college all sync up on a social network. Everyone is following everyone and so you get tons and tons of updates every day from people you have not seen and may not see for years. This can have a dilutionary effect in the long run because you will start paying less attention to your newsfeed and maybe miss the really good stuff from the ones we're closest to.

I suppose the question that will really be the deciding factor will be how much the human brain can handle and get through in given day. I think we're already exceeding capacity.

Domino's Pizza Part 2 - Still BETTER

2009-03-17T00:30:00.004-04:00

I hate doing a follow up to the Domino's post so quickly, but they've done something that warrants it (and not just as a comment on my last post). In the mail today, I received a letter from the Manager of Domino's Store Operations thanking me for being a great customer. Also enclosed was a little card entitling me to a free pizza with no strings attached. This is likely about a $7 value. Not much, but it is the gesture that really matters here.

This is just really good, personalized service. I didn't have to join a loyalty program at Domino's to get this service. Yes, I saved a profile online so that I could order pizzas over the internet, but that's it. Domino's figured out based on my order history that I am a regular customer and acted upon that in a very localized way. I'm not naive. I know it likely was a form letter churned out to all customers matching a certain segment. That doesn't really matter.

What does matter is that I got something personalized, that reflects my wants. It's not just another newspaper insert or mass mailer. Further, the Manager of Store Operations included his cell number in case I had anything to say as well as a special e-mail address to write to with comments. That's bold service.

All in all, this was a perfectly executed marketing campaign. Domino's Pizza has amazingly earned another BETTER.

TV Network Programming Directors - BITTER

2009-03-15T18:27:00.003-04:00

I'm sure over the last 5 years you've noticed a little change in the programming lineups of the major TV networks. No, I'm not talking about the steady decline in the quality of shows on network TV culminating in NBC's decision to replace the grittiest hour of prime time, 10pm, with more watered down Jay Leno fare. I'm talking about the mysterious change in scheduling that has some of the more popular shows running 32 or 62 minutes.

Are the TV shows longer? Nope. This was exposed years ago when NBC started running its Super-Sized 40 minute long episodes of Friends. Those were just filling in more ads. Why the change now then? I have a basic guess: DVRs.

I theorize that this entire change in programming strategy was designed to screw with first generation DVRs, which a lot of people still have. By first generation, I mean that it can only record 1 show at a time and has no program overlap protection (clipping). By running shows 2 minutes long, it means that the viewer at home cannot record a show on NBC let's say at 9pm and then another show on ABC at 10pm. You can so it, but it would involve setting up a manual recording that will actually force you to start the 2nd program at 10:05pm. Setting up manual recordings was the thing that most people had trouble with when VCRs were popular, and I think the network heads know this. The plan is to screw up the DVR so it can only record the first show.

Of course, this only really worked for the first network that decided to do it. Once everyone was doing it, it stopped being an edge and even the first network was just as likely to have their shows manipulated out of viewership by the new system.

Thanks to companies like Tivo, we can now record multiple shows at the same time, partially fixing the problem. In addition, if a show runs 2 minutes over, the next show will start promptly 2 minutes in, automatically. Since usually this 2 minutes is the opening credits and the "previously on...." you don't miss much. The whole convoluted system just ends up being a pain in the ass that really has no benefit but that lots of people have to spend millions trying to fix for us, the home viewer.

Whoever was the first person to come up with concept and to all those who followed, you get a big BITTER.

A BETTER Way to Wait in Line

2009-03-13T20:05:00.002-04:00

If your establishment has multiple registers, it would seem that there are 2 ways to setup the customer lines:

Individual lines at the registers. Let the customers decide which one to get on.
One line for all registers. The employees call the next customer in line.

For me, the clear choice is number 2. Having a single line eliminates all the anxiety of trying to choose the fastest line and all the analysis of the clerks and the people waiting on each line and how many items they have that goes along with it.

When you are waiting on "the slow line", nothing burns more than watching someone get on "the fast line" well after you and then seeing them leaving while you're still on line. If everyone is on the same line, there is no decision to be made and the line actually seems to move faster because someone is always moving up to a register.

The store that comes to mind as a winner in this area is Kohl's during the holidays. Normally they operate under scenario #1 but in the holidays, when everyone is particularly stressed and their lines are very long, the switch over to scenario #2.

Everyone who ever got burned on the slow line, especially by the deceptive looking person with only 1 item who is actually holding the place in line for a person with 50 items, let your voices be heard below! If you know of stores/restaurants/etc. that have great line setups, please post them.

Domino's Pizza Online Ordering - BETTER

2009-03-12T01:20:00.009-04:00

In 1997, I remember going to the Pizza Hut website to check out some experimentation they were doing with online ordering. It wasn't widely available and it didn't really take off. At the time I remember thinking that the process was probably e-mail and couldn't possibly replace the phone order. Oh, how times have changed in a decade.

It wasn't Pizza Hut, but Domino's that really stepped up and made online ordering work. Like many things online, it really does take longer than picking up the phone but there is a level of control that you just can't replicate by having a conversation. I've happily spent 15 minutes ordering pizza on the Domino's website.

The first really cool feature is the pizza builder. The original release just allowed you to build your pizza without seeing it, although a more recent release changed that. As a customer you can really "have it your way" to take a slogan from Burger King. An example of a pizza I frequently get: "Thin Crust, half plain cheese pizza, half with no cheese plus pineapples and ham". I almost always get a follow up phone call on that one because Domino's wants to be sure I didn't make a mistake. I placed that order tonight and got a phone call within 1 minute. That's instantaneous response in my book.

As if being able to build my order, apply coupons, and even pay for delivery pizza on a credit card wasn't good enough, Domino's took it to the extreme by adding a "pizza tracker" to their website. This is an online display that tells you whether your order is in one of the following stages:

Processing
Prep
Baking
Boxing
Out for Delivery

It even tells you when it left on delivery and who took it. I love it and my kids love it. Whenever I order from Domino's (sometimes I really want pizzeria pizza), I leave it up on the screen so that my oldest can watch for the changes in status. It really does what Domino's intended for it to do, which is to lessen the anxiety over how much time it has taken between the order and the receipt of the food.

Did you know that inside Domino's they have a video screen that shows them how they are performing in customer service against all other Domino's restaurants in real time? Good committment right there.

I should point out, in case I get feedback from Pizza Hut saying they offer similar features, they do. It looks like they tried very hard to copy what Domino's did, but they fell far short. The website was sub-par and unreliable. I could not be bothered with it after 2 failed attempts on separate occassions.

Domino's, for mastering the online ordering process and actually turning it into "an experience", you have won a loyal customer away from Pizza Hut and get a BETTER.

Zappos.com - BETTER

2009-03-07T21:11:00.000-05:00

My wife has ordered shoes from Zappos.com in the past and I never heard of any problems, but I'd never actually ordered anything myself.

So this past week I had a big professional event to attend in New York. The one thing I realized with just a few days to go was that I really needed to get a new pair of shoes. I was literally getting ready to go out and hit Macy's when my wife said I should just go on to Zappos' website. She told me they always give overnight shipping and I would have the shoes on time.

I went to the website and it is pretty easy to use. They have great filters by size, color, style, and others that really narrow down the options for you. They also make it very clear that they have a "free returns" policy to break down that barrier of fear most people would have buying shoes they have not tried on. I was a bit nervouse myself since my shoes are a 10 1/2 but my sneakers are 11 1/2.

I actually found 2 pairs of shoes I liked and ordered them both. The shipping said it could be 5 days or so, but again my wife reassured me. I figured I would get both, see which one I liked once I had them, and I'd send the 2nd pair back.

Sure enough, I did get the shoes the next day. I picked a pair, which I actually think I owned once before, and everything worked out.

Zappos.com, for having the foresight to break down barriers for customers and allowing them to essentially mimic the in-store experience in their living rooms, you get a BETTER.

Corn Refiners Run Ads for High Fructose Corn Syrup - BITTER

2009-03-06T20:02:00.001-05:00

So I saw the following commercial on television the other day:

I was completely blown away. An organization called the Corn Refiners Associations is trying to combat all the negative press given to High Fructose Corn Syrup by attempting to convince people that not only is it safe for our kids, but that you just might be a moron if you believe otherwise. I did provide a link above to their website above, but be warned. It is a propaganda machine, hard at work.

The woman in the ad says that HFCS is fine in moderation. I offer anyone reading this blog a challenge. Go into your pantry and/or refrigerator and start scanning the labels of the food items you have for some variation on high fructose corn syrup. I'll warn you. You are going to find it a lot. I'll give you 2 items that surprised me the most: Ketchup and Bread. And then it made perfect sense to me why kids love to dip everything in ketchup. There is a secret sweetener in there.

Because corn is subsidized by the government, it supplanted sugar as the sweetener of choice by manufacturers. The problem is, it is HYPER processed and your body does not digest it anywhere near as easily as regular sugar. You may have noticed things like "cane soda" or even bottles of "blue agave" sweetener in your local supermarket. These are products made from either sugar cane or other natural sugars. Even these should be consumed in moderation, but they are far more natural than the typical HFCS product.

Unless you completely control your diet and make everything you eat at home, you are going to consume some high fructose corn sugar. To that extent, it's really not going to be a problem. However, I personally have started scrutinizing the labels of almost all the foods I buy from the supermarket, especially for my kids. One of the best brands is Annie's Homegrown, which has lots of great products that don't contain HFCS. They carry it at ShopRite, Whole Foods, and even Amazon.com. Yes, they make ketchup too.

If you want to learn a bit more about the food industry and how corn (and most industrially processed food products) is killing us, I highly recommend reading Michael Pollan's, "In Defense of Food" and "The Omnivore's Dilemma".

Corn Refiners Associations, you get a BITTER.

If you want a little more information, Consumer Reports did a write up on this ad as well.

Hampshire Self Storage Rents Out Customer Parking - BITTER

2009-03-01T20:22:00.001-05:00

If you ever had to load or unload anything from a door into a car (or vice versa) you understand that the closer the car is to the door, the better. And so starts the story of Hampshire Self Storage.

There are numerous entrances to the storage building so that you can enter as close to your individual unit as possible. Parking spaces line almost the entire outside of the building for customer convenience.

Unfortunately, somebody decided to start renting out the parking spaces without really considering the impact on the customers who actually have storage units. Today, I saw boats on trailers, snow plowing vehicles, commercial vehicle like plumbers vans, and numerous race team trailers and pickup trucks. These vehicles are all parked in the spaces closest to the entrances. While there are, in fact a few numbered spaces on one side of the lot, Hampshire has decided that there is more money to be made.

I actually have no problem with that. I just want them to do it in a way that has the least impact on customers. I went into the office and spoke with someone who was working. I asked if, as a courtesy to the customers, they could get the owners of these vehicles to park them in the spaces furthest from the doors. The response I got was very casual. "The thing is, there are no numbers on the spaces and these guys bring the vehicles in at night, so there's nothing we can do."

I couldn't believe what a defeatist attitude this was. Sure there is something that can be done. Paint enough numbers on enough spaces to allocate an assigned space to each person renting a parking space. Problem solved with about $10 worth of paint and a brush. Instead, they end up annoying the regular customers who actually have a need for those particular spaces near the door, some of which, like me, have been customers for almost 10 years spending thousands of dollars with them.

I know that the average person doesn't really feel empowered at work, but with at least 3 rival storage facilities within 5 miles, I would think that Hampshire would be more customer friendly.

I won't even get into the story about how I discovered that the prices on the units had been lowered only to be told that the onus is on the customer to find that info out and have their rental rate changed....

Hampshire Self Storage, for not caring enough to manage your parking lots properly, you get a BITTER.

Organics Turkish Bath Towels by Crate and Barrel - BITTER

2009-03-01T02:01:00.000-05:00

Ok. So I like buying organic. I get organic food when its available and I try to get my kids clothes made from organic cotton (do you have any idea how many chemicals are used in making a traditional cotton shirt?).

So I go into Crate and Barrel looking for some organic bedding which I saw online. I could never buy sheets without touching them. So the sheets are alright but they are mail order only, so I figure I'll get them online. While I'm there though, I thought I'd replace some towels that were fraying.

I saw the Organics Turkish Bath Towels. They felt really great so I bought them. Here's the weird part. I used the towels for the first time today, and they simply do not get you dry. The towels do not absorb any of the water. They just move it around your skin. Maybe the friction is supposed to dry you off. I have never experienced anything like that in a bath towel. Hand towel? Same deal. My wife tried the towels with the same results.

To add insult to injury, the towels shed. I was covered in ivory colored lint after I used the things, and yes, I did wash and dry them before use.

I threw out the receipt because I was certain the towels would be great. I mean, who has ever heard of a towel that doesn't get you dry. That's the whole purpose of the towel. I guess Crate and Barrel engineered the drying right out of the towels. Hopefully they can look it up on my credit card or something.

So I was planning on buying the sheets, like I said, but after my experience with the towels, I'll be looking elsewhere for my organic sheets. Anyone got any recommendations?

Crate and Barrel, since you sold me towels that don't absorb water for a very premium price, you get a big BITTER and a lost order.

Apple's Mac can Beat the PC....in Time

2009-02-27T22:27:00.000-05:00

I think that there is a pretty straightforward way that Apple can make inroads into the home computer market, it just will take a decade or so.....children.

Apple needs to work on the education system, and literally grow its user base.

Imagine what would happen if Apple gave away 50 computer labs per year to grammar schools across the country. Young children getting their first experiences (outside the home of course) would be on Macintosh. Parents, being what we are, always want to make sure our kids have EXACTLY what they need to succees in school (have you ever been in a Staples in August???). If the kids use Mac in school, we're far more likely to want them uing a Mac at home.

Now think about the number of students per year that Apple has just influenced. Let's assume 300 students per school times 50 schools = 15,000 potential new customers each year. Then there is the peripheral gains due to siblings and parents, who then become evengelists for the Mac. After 10 years of doing this, Apple will likely have effected about 1/2 million potential customers.

Apple is in a unique position to make this work even more than most companies could. All they have to do is integrate some type of educational package on the Mac with the iPod and/or iPhone. If Apple had THE educational product suite, there really would be no stopping them.

Please post any comments you might have on this. I can't wait to read them!

United Airlines Drops Customer Service Phone Line - BITTER

2009-02-23T22:19:00.001-05:00

I can't even believe that I legitimately saw this so I had to verify it on a few different sources. United Airlines has decided to stop accepting customer comments via telephone and will only be accepting e-mail and snail mail. And yes, the year is 2009.

I can't imagine what went on in that board room. "Hey, our stock's dropped 90% since 2007 and our industry is in tatters. I've got an idea! Let's stop letting customers talk to us on the phone. We know how much they love the uncertainty of sending a message off into the abyss without ever knowing if they'll get a response. Yeah......that's the ticket!"

I'm getting visions of an old Saturday Night Live sketch of Tom Hanks and Jon Lovitz at their high school reunion. "Heeeeello, customer........and Goooooood Bye Customer. She didn't even notice us...."

This is surely the last desperate act of a company about to close its doors. "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your CEO speaking. For your safety, please assume the corporate fetal position immediately." As more and more of the world is adopting more and more ways to communicate with their customers, this is really a move that I don't understand.

I have the distinct belief that soon, the e-mail will be cut off too and the only way customers voices will be heard is either picketing outside the UAL headquarters, or perhaps while being interviewed by the local news crew about sleeping in the airport because their tickets are no longer valid.

Point of disclosure. I was holding a return ticket from Africa on Pan Am when they went under...

Good luck, United Airlines. I don't see you competing with the big dogs very much longer. Companies like JetBlue are going to beat you every time. I will give you this, though. You have definitely created a Purple Cow that will turn heads. It's just for all the wrong reasons.

United Airlines, for disregarding all sensibility and shutting down your customer service phone line, you get a BITTER.

President Obama, the Housing Plan and the Stupidity Tax - BITTER

2009-02-20T22:32:00.000-05:00

"The plan I’m announcing focuses on rescuing families who have played by the rules and acted responsibly," the President said, "by refinancing loans for millions of families in traditional mortgages who are underwater or close to it; by modifying loans for families stuck in sub-prime mortgages they can’t afford as a result of skyrocketing interest rates or personal misfortune; and by taking broader steps to keep mortgage rates low so that families can secure loans with affordable monthly payments." - President Barack Obama

I could not be more infuriated by the above statement. President Obama says that he is trying to help those who played by the rules and acted responsibly. This plan is estimated to help 9 million homeowners with mortgages, out of roughly 52 million, I think. This is about 20% or 1 in 5. Are you trying to tell me that 1 in 5 current mortgage holders was in some way duped, swindled, or pushed into something that they didn't understand? Are you trying to tell me that all of these homeowners who are or are near underwater on their mortgages (owe more than the house is worth) had no idea that they were drastically overpaying for their homes? I refuse to accept any of this nonsense.

I'm not going to deny that some level of predatory lending went on, but the rules of real estate didn't get written recently, like so many other Wall Street financial instruments. Investors may have something to cry about given the complex nature of the things they bought and the potentially unscrupulous ratings agencies who left things rated too high for far too long. Homeowners had better think again.

The rules of buying a house have existed for a very long time. You should be able to buy a house that costs roughly 3 to 4 times your gross income. If you make $50,000 per year, you should be buying a house for about $200,000. That's not a $200,000 mortgage. That's the house price. Over the last few years, people and banks seemed to forget about that pesky 20% downpayment. The vast majority of people did not play by these rules. It was not uncommon over the last few years to see people buying houses as much as 10 times their gross income with ZERO downpayment. Banks didn't care since they were dumping the mortgage on Wall Street anyway. But no sane human being can honestly stand in front of me and tell me they truly thought they could afford these houses. And I don't care what kind of sub-prime, interest only, or even less than interest (kudos Washington Mutual on that one) mortgage product you were offered. The basic rule of a loan is, you eventually have to pay it back. All of it.

And then there are the other group of homeowners who are lining up for their personal bailouts, the fake home equity line of credit folks. These are people who had houses before the bubble but, upon learning that their houses were exhorbitantly valued now, decided that they would cash out massive amounts of money in home equity loans, sometimes in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. And what did these newly "fake wealthy" people do with this money? They went to Best Buy, BMW, and Bermuda. Seriously, has anyone even looked at how fast big screen TV's have made their way into living rooms in the last 5 years?

I was in the market for a new home in 2003, when I bought what I could afford at the time. I bought a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom condo. I splurged on a new television because I had the cash and happened to watch a lot of TV. I bought a 46" widescreen rear projection model. I was the first person I knew with a TV that big. Now almost everyone I know has that size or bigger, and oh yeah, theirs are all LCD or Plasma. People spent so much money that for the first time in our history, we actually had a negative savings rate. This means people were spending, on average for the entire United States, more money than they were making.

I recall hearing a radio news program a few months back about some financial counseling going on outside Washington D.C. and the intent was to make you feel bad for the people whose stories they told. Then they paraded out the story of a young guy who saved for years, bought his house, but now couldn't afford his payments. But then the young guy starts talking about how after he saved his money and bought his house, he decided to upgrade everything inside the house to the latest and greatest appliances, etc. How can I feel sorry for that? That's someone making some very stupid choices.

That's what President Obama is doing to us now. He is creating what I will now call "The Stupidity Tax". People that have ACTUALLY PLAYED BY THE RULES AND ACTED RESPONSIBLY are being punished. People that did not spend outside their means and have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for house prices to come back down are basically being screwed by this administration and our President. Not only are we not going to be able to buy a house, because of the anything and everything the Administration (combined with the Fed) is doing to artificially prop up house prices, we now are having our tax dollars, via the Stupidity Tax, used to keep many undeserving and downright stupid people in the houses they can't afford!

On top of all that, the Bush Administration tried out some of these same tactics last year. What happened to all the homeowners that were helped out, whose mortgages were modified? Over 50% of them went back into default within the year. Absolutely ridiculous.

And what about the speculators? That's right. What about all the people who are holding mortgages on homes that they don't actually live in. A significant portion of the home forclosures involve vacant investment properties that were bought for the sole purpose of "flipping". Should we feel sorry for people who saw 1 too many shows on TLC about making easy money this way? I don't think so.

I really wish that Obama would stick to what he said in his campaign by forcing people to take responsibility for their own actions. It insults the intelligence of the vast majority of Americans who used good judgement over the last few years to claim that he is only helping those that acted responsibly. If he were doing that, he would accellerate the normalization of housing prices so those people who should really be able to afford one could go out and buy one.

Unfortunately, many of these people simply need to get out of these homes. They can move into rentals and jumpstart the economy by paying a landlord some money instead of a bank.

A special thanks to Patrick Killelea, whose website I have been reading for several years now. He has been one of the few advocates of truth in the housing bubble for years before it was popular.

Hess Gas Station - BITTER

2009-02-19T20:08:00.000-05:00

This one is as much a rant as anything. I've just decided this evening that I will no longer get gas from my formerly favorite gas station, Hess. The gas station by my house has 14 pumps in a newly remodeled (completely torn down and rebuilt) location.

Every time I go there it takes unbearably long. They typically have 2 workers that have to handle all 14 busy pumps on the side of a major highway. These 2 gentlemen handle the pressure of the situation by moving at the speed of a snail looking for directions. I don't necessarily blame them. I blame the manager who is in the little store inside who clearly does not care at all about the situation outside to staff the location properly.

Further, the Hess company has decided in its infinite wisdom to put in a security measure which prevents customers from pumping the gas themselves. It's a swipe card that activates the pump so you can't do it yourself even if you want to. Fortunately, they can't stop you from finishing the "pump process" by putting the pump back on its holder and taking your receipt.

Last but not least, and this goes out to all gas stations who do this, when did it become the acceptible standard to leave the customer's credit card sticking out of the pump while the gas is flowing? Why can't you just reach over and hand it back? I'm honestly surprised that there are not more credit card thefts from gas stations. It would be unbelievably easy.

Hess spent tons of money to make a location look really nice and didn't bother spending any money on attendants. It's going to look real nice from now on as I drive by at 55 mph.

Hess, today you get a last straw BITTER. I'll be going to the Exxon up the road 1/4 mile.

NHL - Show the Game Clock During Intermission

2009-02-13T20:19:00.000-05:00

I'm watching tonight's hockey game on television, something I've done at least a thousand times before, and something hit me during the intermission. How nice would it be for the TV network to mirror the experience at the hockey arena by posting the time remaining until the start of the period?

This is a basic courtesy to the fans that is done before the game and in both intermissions that would translate beautifully to the televised experience.

If they did this, I could get a few things done between periods without worrying if I was going to miss the start of play.

NHL (and NFL, NBA, etc.), please start showing the time clock during the pre-game and intermissions. Thanks.

(Yes. I know this is my first post without giving a bitter or a better. I can't really express all my thoughts in that format.)

Toyota Sales - BITTER

2009-02-10T22:23:00.001-05:00

I'm pulling this one out from last year because it really gets me still to this day. I was in the market for a new SUV in August of 2007 and I went into my local Toyota dealership to inquire about leasing a Highlander. Everyone is very nice and we drive one around a bit. We like it and decide to sit and work the numbers out with the salesman.

This is where it goes south.

The salesman starts trying to convince me to buy the car. He tells me for just a little more than the amount I'd be paying on the 3 year lease, I could do a 5 year loan and own the car. I tell him that I don't want to own it. (My father has been a mechanic for 30+ years and highly recommends against owning your car from a maintenance cost perspective.) I tell him that I don't want to get locked into owning an pure gasoline vehicle, given what I viewed as oil troubles on the horizon that would lead to mass adoption of alternative engines.

Now we get the "big gun" from the back room. I repeat everything to him and he treats me like I'm ridiculous. He then goes for the bottom of the car sales scum barrel and rolls out this line, "Well, if you can't afford it...." at which time I told him, "Thanks but no thanks." My family got up and walked out of the dealership and ended up leasing a Honda Pilot instead.

So we go another 9 months into the future on this story and what happens? Oil starts the skyrocket toward $145 per barrel, gas goes over $4 a gallon, and the SUV market falls through the floor while everyone under the sun is trying to score a hybrid. Granted, the oil market crashed and normalized again, but it still doesn't change the fact that the car market was changed forever because of where we are in the history of fuel.

If I remembered the name of the "big gun" I would definitely have gone back to Toyota and had some words, but instead, I'll just have to give Toyota a BITTER.

Fisher Price - BETTER

2009-02-04T20:08:00.000-05:00

Last year, we bought our son the Fisher Price Smart Cycle. This is essentially a stationary bicycle that plugs into the television. In order to progress in the game (often a road, with graphics similar to the ancient Enduro...) the child needs to pedal the bicycle. The faster he/she pedals, the faster the game play. In addition, the child does need to steer as well.

Long story short, one of the pedals never quite worked right. It just wouldn't fit into the cranks the right way and would always fall out. So we basically had a one pedal bicycle which as you can imagine was useless. It sat in the corner unused for about 11 months.

As I was about cart this very large toy out to the dumpster, I was met with some very sad faces. I put it back in the corner and decided to make a call to Fisher Price, which I thought would amount to nothing. I spoke to a very nice woman and asked her if she had ever heard of my particular problem. She said that she had, but not in a long time. Once I gave her the serial number, she acknowledged that my Smart Cycle was one of the older ones that was prone to this issue.

(Actually, there must be lots of pedal issues still, since they have a special page explaining the assembly.)

What she told me next shocked me. She told me to cut the wire off the Smart Cycle that connects to the TV and mail it in to Fisher Price. Once they got it, they would send me a new Smart Cycle. She e-mailed me the shipping label and the instructions and having done what she asked, I received a brand new Smart Cycle in the mail this week. My son is obviously very happy.

Fisher Price, for great customer service, gets a BETTER.

Edible Arrangements - BETTER

2009-01-29T20:58:00.000-05:00

Just a quick one today. Yesterday someone sent me an "edible arrangement" which is essentially made to look like an arrangement of flowers but it is made of fruit. This was the first time I'd every received one (never purchased one either).

It was amazing. There were strawberries, grapes, and pineapple. Some of the best fruit I've ever eaten and the delivery guy was even pretty nice, wishing me well on my special event.

It may seem expensive, but for quality and presentation, I will definitely be sending one of these in the near future.

Edible Arrangements gets a BETTER.

Facebook 3rd Party Apps - BITTER

2009-01-26T20:23:00.000-05:00

Does anyone read the disclaimer you are presented with on Facebook when it attempts to install a 3rd party application (giving gifts, throwing snowballs, something about ninjas and vampires, etc)?

Here's what it says:

"Allow Access?

Allowing '3rd party app' access will let it pull your profile information, photos, your friends' info, and other content that it requires to work.

By proceeding, you are allowing '3rd party app' to access your information and you are agreeing to the Facebook Platform User Terms of Service in your use of '3rd party app'."

Who in their right mind would accept these terms? In order to throw a virtual snowball at someone, you would give up access to all of your personal information, your friends list and how you know each and "anything else it requires to work"?

The federal government need not press on with illegal wiretapping operations. They just need to create a Facebook app for "Sending a Bailout" to a friend. They'd get access to tons of info.

I take a personal responsibility to post inside Facebook every now and again that these apps are potentially dangerous. Keep in mind that these apps not only have access to whatever is in your profile right now, but they also get access to whatever you add later.

I really enjoy Facebook and the way it lets me keep up with my friends all over the world. Sharing photos though? I'll stick with Kodakgallery with forced login and a guestbook of everyone who looks at my pictures.

Because they make you sign your e-life away to throw a snowball, Facebook Apps gets a BITTER.

Macaroni Grill Curbside To Go - BITTER

2009-01-12T21:22:00.000-05:00

So I call up the local Macaroni Grill for an easy dinner (their food is actually really great as takeout) and when I am on the phone placing the order, I ask for a child's Spaghetti and Meatballs and the question I get asked is this:

"That comes with a drink and a desert. Do you want those?"

This hits me as a very odd question to ask. Do I want everything I'm paying for? What do you think? Of course, I just said, "Yes," and finished ordering.

I just find it particularly strange that instead of simply presenting me with my options for the drink and desert, the Macaroni Grill has its people basically encouraging patrons to not take what they've paid for.

On previous occassions, I wasn't even told that the food came with the additional items and at least once I requested it, didn't receive it when I picked up the food, and then had the employee give me a look when I asked for it.

I love their food, but Macaroni Grill Curbside To Go gets a BITTER.

Maukilo Customer Service - BETTER

2009-01-12T20:59:00.000-05:00

On December 19th, we ordered a gift for our son on Maukilo.com, a European toy store specializing in non-toxic materials. We purchased 2 day express shipping from UPS, guaranteeing that we would get the gift by December 24th. We followed the package on UPS package tracking (still one of my personal favorite innovations on the web) and by Tuesday the 22nd, the package was in state. Over the next 24 hours, the package moved about 10 miles and finally on the morning of the 24th, it said "Out for Delivery".

When our normal 5PM delivery time came and went we got nervous and called UPS. At 5:30PM we called the UPS Customer Service and were guaranteed the package would arrive and that the drivers would be out extra late. Again we waited, nervous, but reassured by UPS. At 7:30PM we called again and were told that the drivers could arrive as late as 10PM and again we are reassured that the gift will arrive in time for Christmas. I asked my wife, "Should I go hit the stores to find a replacement gift?" since this item was the only thing he had asked for from Santa. We agreed not to completely interrupt our Christmas Eve dinner and festivities more than we already had and trusted UPS to come through. 10:30PM and no package. We called a 3rd time to UPS and were a 3rd time told that drivers were still out and could deliver packages as late as midnight. "The package is coming." My pregnant wife finally had to go to sleep at about 11PM and I had to stay up to diligently wait for UPS.

At 12:05AM Christmas morning, we still had no package and I made a 4th and final call to UPS. After 30 minutes on hold (the same time it would have taken me to just go pick it up from your shipping center myself), the gentleman I spoke with at this point said he could pretty much guarantee that the package was not coming. He said it would have to be registered as a lost package and it likely got taken off the truck by mistake when it went out. If the package wasn't found, I would have to take it up with the shipper. The package was delivered on December 26^th, 4 days after it arrived 30 minutes from my home. Terrible, terrible, terrible from UPS.

So how is this a BETTER post you ask?

I sent an e-mail to some people at UPS detailing the issue and the ensuing problems of not having a child's special gift on Christmas. I CC'd the Customer Service address at Maukilo.com. While UPS basically has ignored my e-mail, Maukilo took serious charge of the situation.

Here is an exerpt of the note they sent me:

"We are so sorry to hear of your problem. We have contacted UPS and are very dissatisfied with what we were told. According to them they cannot guarantee delivery on December 22,23, and 24th. They will not refund us the price of the express since they do not guarantee delivery on those dates. We do understand that problems do arise with weather, such as last year, but they could not explain why they were out for delivery and did not deliver your package. We as a corporation spend a lot of time on customer service and try to do the very best for our customers and to offer an option for express shipping. We have now contacted the North East Representative which we have heard no reply from as of yet. We know that the blame game is not a good game to play, you did your part and we did ours. So we will refund you the cost of the express shipping that you paid and will continue our dispute with UPS. We have also forwarded a copy of your e-mail to the NE Rep.

Sorry sometimes can not wash away bad feelings. We are shipping out something very special to your son as an apology.

If there is anything we can do please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Once again sorry for any inconvenience.

Thank you"

The note blew me away by itself. When we got the gift they sent, I was in complete disbelief. It was that good, and in actuality was worth much more than the item we purchased in the first place. That wasn't the point to Maukilo, though. They know that the long tail is the most important thing and a little extra cost to them right now can translate into lots and lots of purchases for years to come. It will.

Maukilo gets a huge BETTER.

Dyson Vacuum - BETTER

2008-12-21T00:40:00.001-05:00

This is probably the first product I ever truly evangelized. I've owned the standard yellow Dyson vacuum for about 4 years now and it really is the best vacuum I've ever owned. The mere fact that I feel compelled to write about a vacuum should say a lot. If you know anyone else who has one of these Dyson vacuums, I'm sure you heard all about how great it is before.

You could be staring at what seems to be a clean carpet, run your Dyson over it, and be amazed by how much extra dust and dirt ends up in the canister. Amazing stuff.

Well, I'm pleased to tell you that Dyson has amazing customer service as well. About 2 years ago, a piece of the extendable hose ripped. I used it for a while like that, assuming it would be a big hassle to replace it. When I eventually got around to calling Dyson to buy a new hose, I was in for a big surprise. The representative took my name, address and the type of Dyson I owned. He asked what part was broken and then apologized and told me the part was on its way. That's right. I was not charged for the new hose.

This is what it means to have good customer service. By empowering their customer service reps to truly help customers, Dyson has ensured I will be a loyal customer for a long time. On top of that, 2 years later I'm still talking about that experience. How much did the hose cost? Probably $10. That's not much to pay for lifetime customer. How many other companies would pay the $10? Not too many, unfortunately.

James Dyson and the Dyson family of vacuums get another big BETTER from me.

A&P Supermarket - Expired Food on Shelves - BITTER

2008-12-21T00:28:00.000-05:00

It is becoming more and more common to find expired food on supermarket shelves these days. At my local A&P, on numerous occassions I've had to bring items to customer service because they were already expired. And these were not perishables. I'm talking about boxes of tea, bottles of mustard and things like that. Seriously, how many people check the expiration date on a box of tea bags?

I've been through the A&P in the middle of the night so I know that they have a whole bunch of people working stock, so I'm surprised I've personally found numerous instances of expired foods. There are tens of thousands of food items in a supermarket of which I would normally shop for less than 100. Imagine how many items are actually expired.

Because I've had to change brands due to my preference being expired, A&P gets a BITTER.

Learning Express - BITTER

2008-12-17T22:10:00.000-05:00

I'll start by saying I really like the Learning Express toy store. They have really unique items and, even though they are a chain, they have the feel of a local store.

That said, I was in one of their stores a few weeks ago and had an experience that left me a bit sour. My wife had waited on line for a while to pay for some gift items and completed our purchase, but I decided I wanted to buy another item. I had commented to my wife that the line seemed to take a very long time. She told me it was because of the way that it was being handled.

Basically, the clerks were offering a gift wrapping service, free of charge, to all customers. Of course, many were making use of it. Unfortunately, the same people ringing up sales were doing the wrapping. This caused an inevitable and highly predictable backup on the line. As a result, I skipped the additional purchase and thought I'd come back another time. I haven't been back and have since decided I can live without that one item.

A much smarter decision would have been for one or two of the clerks to do the register sales and then transition customers to a separate waiting area for the gift wrap, which would be done by an employee not taking sales. This would keep the customers happier who just wanted to pay. I doubt very much that customers who wanted the free gift wrap would have minded waiting just a bit.

Since the lack of organization cost them a sale, I have to give the Learning Express a BITTER.

Natural by Nature Grass Fed Milk - BETTER

2008-12-16T20:19:00.000-05:00

Natural by Nature is a provider of grass fed dairy products, based near Lancaster, PA.

Earlier this year, I read Michael Pollan's "In Defense of Food" and it really changed the way I thought about food. I already buy a lot of organic foods, but in case you didn't know, the "organic" label on a lot of products means less every day. Standards are being relaxed and products that are less than 100% organic can still be certified organic. The same goes for the statement, "No Hormones or Antibiotics". It really doesn't mean anything as even animals like cows who are given antibiotics do not typically get milked during this time anyway.

The expression goes, "You are what you eat." Well, apparently we are what we eat ate too. And the basic food fed to most animals these days is completely unnatural. Unless you see, "grass fed", the odds are that the source of the product you are about to buy is eating corn. It is this unnatural diet that typically leads to common illness in animals requiring the use of hormones and antibiotics. Animals that feed on grass are healthy and contain more of the things humans actually need than corn fed ones.

From the Natural by Nature website: "Cows are meant to eat grass, not grain. Pastured cows are healthier and less stressed. At NDP, we strive to make fresh pasture the main diet for our cows. Our farmers own and operate small family farms in Lancaster County, PA. Together they form LOFCO, the Lancaster Organic Farmers Cooperative, which is committed to producing organic, grass-fed milk."

In addition, Natural by Nature milk is not UHT (Ultra High Temperature) Pastuerized. It is pastuerized at a high enough temperature to kill off anything harmful, but not high enough to kill everything good too. Most organic milks by companies like Horizon may seem really good on the shelf but we're still talking about grain fed cows and nutrient deprived milk.

On top of the health benefits, I can honestly say that the Natural by Nature milk (whole) is some of the best tasting milk I've ever had. It makes me feel good to drink it. Maybe its the principle of the thing that makes it taste so good but I really don't care. I'll pay the premium price (about $4.99 for a half gallon) and know that I'm buying the best for me, my family, and the environment.

If you live in Northeast New Jersey and would like to try this milk, visit Farm Fresh Dairy for home delivery. Yes, that right. You can have the milkman bring it to you.

Natural by Nature gets a very big BETTER.

Softsoap Wastes Soap - BITTER

2008-12-15T20:17:00.000-05:00

I bought a container of Softsoap liquid hand soap recently. It comes in a pump which is clear. A nice touch since you can see how much soap is left. Unfortunately, the little hose that sucks up the liquid soap isn't long enough to reach the bottom of the container. This means that with about 10% of the soap left, the pump doesn't work anymore. Not only is it useless at this point, it does nothing but frustrate the person trying to get at that last bit of soap.

You now have two choices:

Take off the pump and start pouring the soap into your hand, which will likely be an annoyingly slow process while the water is running and hands are slippery.
Get a new soap and throw out the old one with a little soap still in it.

The average person is likely to go with throwing out the old soap, thereby wasting almost 1/2 ounce of soap (in a 7.5 oz. container). If you used a new Softsoap every 2 weeks or so, which is very likely, that's roughly 13 oz. or almost 2 full containers of soap a year.

I'm not going to speculate, but that sounds like a lot of soap waste generated every year, presumably because someone didn't want to make the hose 1/4 inch longer.

Softsoap earns my first BITTER.