A lot of useful information that many of our regulars have stated from time
to time, but also some new info that hasn't come up before (Hair cut tips?
Tip Jars at Starbucks?)

http://shine.yahoo.com/financially-fit/common-tipping-mistakes-221500121.ht
ml

OK, this has been running through my mind for the past few weeks because
all this talk about Socialism and Capitalism and "Occupying Wall Street"
has reached a fever pitch as we move into another election year.

Let me just be frank, this is the land of the free and the home of the
brave, not the land of the FREEBIE and the home of the ENTITLED. As
Americans, I think some people have gotten it twisted and don't appreciate
how fortunate they are to live here and have the opportunities that we do.
They have started to buy into the hype that they are "OWED" things in life,
and that's just a shame.

Look around you. Do you have a job to go to every day? I know lots of
people who don't. Are you reading this on a computer? Lots of people
don't own or have access to a computer and surely cant afford Internet
service. Do you have a roof over your head, food in your belly and a warm
bed to sleep in every night? Again, lots of people aren't that LUCKY!

I'm reminded of the conversation I had with my Ex husband several years ago
(obviously before we split). At all of 35, he found himself applying for
SSDI and declaring himself disabled for some stupid choices he made that
negatively impacted his health. Now to be fair, his problems were severe,
but not completely debilitating, and it's not like he could point to
anything else (environment, other people's negligence) as the cause of his
malaise - he did it ALL to himself! His justification for being disabled
at 35 and sitting on his butt for the rest of his life was that "He'd paid
into the system for years and he was 'owed' this."

Now I'll give him that he came by this fallacious belief honestly. His own
mother, a single parent who got little if any support from his father,
declared herself "completely, permanently disabled" at 50 after what most
would consider a relatively minor accident at work that she decided she
didn't want to return from. Oh to hear her tell it, she worked and she
toiled all her life to raise them boys alone and by God, she was gonna sit
down and let someone else take over for a while. Whatever.

So she spent the rest of her life (nearly 20 years) not paying a cent of
her own money for food, or medical care or even most of her utilities. You
know who paid for all that? You, me and everyone else who still works! Can
you imagine if all that was added up what it would amount to???

And savings? What savings? When she passed away from lung cancer 5 years
ago (after smoking 2+ packs a day for 50+ years and telling her Doctor when
he advised she quit smoking to avoid making her cancer worse to "stuff
it"!) the only thing she had to her name was a house here in Cleveland that
was so low in value that the city didn't even collect taxes on it from the
estate!

There wasn't even a dime to be found anywhere to bury her butt, so the
responsibility fell to my Ex, his siblings and her brothers and sisters to
cover.

But SHE shouldn't have to worry about such things! She's EARNED the right
to not care and let someone else pick up the tab, right?

Now meanwhile, I have 2 kids with this man, her son, that I'm TRYING to
instill GOOD values in. But how do you do that with their own Dad sitting
home, mostly healthy, and their grandmother never working a day in all the
time they were alive contributing to sucking the system dry?

Now, I can't entirely complain about the system. After all, if it weren't
for his disability, I wouldn't get a DIME from him to support our kids. I
don't LIKE having to take my support this way, but I guess it's better than
the alternative. HOWEVER, I would NEVER say that I am OWED this. If
Social Security dried up tomorrow, I'd still have to find a way to take
care of my boys, even if his butt doesn't. That's what I signed up for
when I had them!

My own father, who with his own health ailments, really should have retired
2 years ago, but he's holding out for another year to reach his full
retirement age (65) to avoid losing more money by applying for retirement
early.

He had a pretty decent 401K while he was married to my Mom that he
exhausted after they divorced because he had child support to pay for and
it didn't leave much for him to live on (he was one of the rare ones that
actually took care of his own no matter what). Admittedly, not the wisest
choice he could have made, but given the circumstances and the limited
options, at least he didn't sit down and wait for someone else to take care
of things for him!

So again, why is it that I can figure out that all these people who are
rushing to get on welfare or unemployment or disability just don't get that
the money isn't FREE? It has to come from somewhere. Am I just some cold,
realist who thinks no one should be helped if it's taken from someone else?
Of course not.

I know there are some people out there that genuinely need the help and I'm
not begrudging a helping hand to get someone back up on their feet - i.e.
My sister's friend who developed Leukemia at 10 and her single mother had
to quit her job and go on Welfare in order to get her treatment. That girl
is 22 today and a graduate of Northwestern University and she EARNED her
way in with scholarships!

But to sit back and EXPECT it? No. That isn't the American Way.

And do I think that a lot of companies and the multi-BILLIONAIRES could do
more to give back to nation? You betcha! As Elizabeth Warren stated in her
viral YouTube video last summer, "There is nobody in this country who got
rich on his own. NOBODY. You built a factory out there? Good for you!
But I want to be clear; you moved your goods to market on roads that the
rest of us paid for. you hired workers that the rest of us paid to educate.
You were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that
the rest of us paid for. You didn't have to worry that maurading bands
would come and seize everything at your factory, and hire someone to
protect against this because of the work the rest of us did."

I can't say I entirely blame them, though - not wanting to pay for people
who do nothing, but expect everything. But again, everything to it's
appropriate place. Things would be a lot easier around here if people
would stop being selfish and only thinking of themselves and look at the
bigger picture. Live by 2 simple rules: Don't take what's not yours and if
you have some to spare - SHARE! Is that really that hard to do?

but a recent convo here got me thinking about the whole abortion debate.
When I was growing up, I was always pro-life. My Mom (who ironically
enough was an obstetrical nurse) was pro-choice. I couldn't understand
that at all. How could someone who's whole life's work is bringing babies
into the World be FOR abortion???

I argued (in all of my teenage wisdom) the facts of the terrible, awful
things that happen in abortion and that it's a human life that's being
taken. She wasn't being swayed, but not because she was pro-abortion.
Most people fail to understand what a huge gap there is between supporting
the right to CHOOSE and choosing abortion. They are so hyper focused on
the ABORTION part of it, that they completely miss the CHOICE part.

As I got older, it made more sense. I know my Mom would never have had an
abortion, nor would she ever counsel or encourage someone she knew to do
such a thing - but she wasn't about to tell someone they couldn't or
shouldn't if they believed that to be their best (or only) option. We
can't walk in someone else's shoes, nor can we take responsibility for the
outcome if continuing an unwanted pregnancy turns out badly.

I actually had to comtemplate such a horrible "choice" when I was pregnant
with my second son. We found out early in my pregnancy that my husband had
some health issues that could potentially affect our unborn son. Even
though I'd waited almost five years for the chance to have another baby, I
struggled with whether or not it was fair to bring a baby into the World
that I knew was going to have to face some pretty daunting health
challenges. Was I being selfish to give him a life like that just so I
could have another baby? Would my choice cause him to have a miserable,
pain-filled life? Luckily, I was determined that the fact he was there was
reason enough for me to keep going.

Today, he is a perfectly healthy (albeit a handful!) little boy and I thank
God for him every day. But I can't help but think of what I would have
done if the odds had been much worse and I hadn't at least had the option
to end that pregnancy. How would I feel now if he WAS miserable and in
pain every day of his life?

I watched a great show (which I've mentioned before) called 30 Days with
Morgan Spurlock. In the series people with diametrically opposed
backgrounds are brought together to experience the other's life and
(hopefully) come away with a little more understanding.

One lady lived in a Christian mother's shelter that was run by a group of
pro-life advocates for a month. She was staunchly pro-choice (again, NOT
pro-abortion!). The thing that struck me is that this woman went into the
experience with an open mind and attempted to understand the mindset of her
hosts. But when she asked legitimate questions to try and understand
better, she was usually met with little explanation and a LOT of rhetoric.

Further, the hosts (a minister and his wife who ran the shelter) were
deadset on changing the woman's mind and refused to listen to her, no
matter how much compelling evidence she provided.

Ultimately, the woman walked away having more respect for the pro-lifer's
stance, but still holding firmly to her pro-choice beliefs. The hosts,
seemed visibly disappointed that they hadn't managed to "convert" her way
of thinking and rather sarcastically commented that they would be praying
for her.

Personally, I don't believe ANY pregnancy is an accident. The fact that we
can create another life, to me, is nothing short of amazing. Something
like that could never be a mistake.

Just because JJ suggested it (and shamelessly sucked up to boot!) Here's
the WIR for July 23, 2011!

1. America's Favorite Pizza and Worst Customer Service? – Parenting -
FAIL!

2. thanks so much – Like, My BFF, Jill, She was totally crushing on this
really hot guy and then, like, OMG!! Mummy and Daddy said “Let’s go
shopping dear!” YAYZ!!!!! And so we went to Abecrombie and, like, everyone
was so SUPER SUPER friendly to us, seeing as Daddy flashed the triple
platinum, black diamond AMEX at them. And to think, all those clothes were
a deal at ONLY $2000! DUH!

3. Charmin Toilet Paper – Need TP for my bungholio!!!! HEH HEH!!

4. SCAM WINDOW STICKER ON HYUNDAI – I hate when car dealerships TELL you
they’re ripping you off!

5. ge money supervisor took my case personally, and went out of her way to
decrease my limit thats illegal – And then she came to my house, tied my
dog to a tree, put sugar in my gas tank and peed on my porch!

6. Knowledge of Coupon Policy and Customer Service – You need to apologize
to me for making me feel stupid for pulling out my handy-dandy, laminated
Target coupon policy, arguing with the cashier and the GSTL and holding up
the line over $0.40 off a roll of Scotch tape!

7. Being treated unfairly at PetSmart – I wanna tell customers their dog
died and still be promoted and sent to school too!

8. TALK IS CHEAP - EDWARD DID YOU MEAN WHAT YOU SAID? – Mark: Bugging
Costco for a damn security camera since June 2011!

9. Brand New Defective Item & AMAZON won't help !!!!!!! – Well of
course it’s new - a year ago! But I never used it, and now it’s broken! So
why won’t you stand behind your OBVIOUSLY defective product?

10. NEW COSTCO SUPER CENTER HAS ONLY 2 ELECTRIC CARTS FOR DISABLED
CUSTOMERS – Just goes to show, there is no reward for coming in third!

11. treated badly at top mapl road – Don’t tell Grama Donna to hurry up or
she’ll snap you with her bag and beat you over the head with her cane and
then yell at Management for coming to your aid! WHIPPERSNAPPERS!

12. Refusing Service to Cyclists – I just can’t understand why I can’t ride
my Schwinn through the drive through. I was polite and let that dump truck
and that taxi go before me!

13. Complaint regarding: 4309 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood Florida Location –
At what point does it make sense to STOP ordering from Papa John’s, when
you KNOW they have yet to get your order right – EVEN ONCE!

14. Whole Wheat Options!!!! – Q: Why doesn’t a low quality, inexpensive,
fast food restaurant like McDonalds have more healthy options? A: BECAUSE
NOBODY WANTS THEM, YA TREE HUGGING FREAK!!!!

15. Kirkland Bacon Bits are Dangerous – My dentist says to tell you thank
you!!

16. Poor experience at CVS - I'll teach you not to have a garbage can out
front, CVS!!

17. Rude confrontation with a senior member of your management. –
Seriously? I mean honestly. This isn’t even funny anymore.

18. Injured at Days Inn – Alcohol + hot tub = FUN!

19. Disgusting pulled pork sub from Subway – And you thought it would be
good BECAUSE. . . .?????

20. food quality and etc. – We are loyal Burger King customers, but we wil
no longer eat here unless you accept our expired coupon and get some better
catsup (Really? Does anyone still call it that? I haven’t seen that term
used since my GRANDMOTHER was alive and that was like 30 years ago!)

21. Appalling customer service from Budget Car Rental – Sorry, I just can’t
even come up with anything on this one – those employees were idiots and
have no business working in the public segment!

22. Netflix price increase is a very bad idea – Please make me feel good
about your service! PLEEEEEEEZ?

23. Feel like I have been slapped in the face! – Because shopping carts in
high end retail shops are TRES GAUCHE!

24. Delta's Padding Of Their Bottom Line Ruined Our Vacation and Father's
Day – Extremely long and unnecessary rant from an overly entitled family
who can’t appreciate how very fortunate they are, but yet, want to complain
about the same travel woes that plague everyone these days. Stand in line
honey! You aren’t the first to have a bad vacation and you won’t be the
last! OH! And tell your spoiled, thankless children that life doesn’t
always go as planned! SUCK IT UP!

25. Credit Limit – I really don’t understand this! Why are people publicly
begging to go into debt?

1,) 12 years and I am suspended and told I can never come back

I mean, it was only a few HUNDRED people I ticked off over the years!

2.) Used Car Auto Loan

What's a girl gotta do to get a loan on an overpriced TWENTY ONE YEAR OLD
CAR??

3.) Nike kicks off holiday season with poor service

Because in the magical land of Nike, there is an ethnic-specific sales
associate for each customer, but sadly none for me. Boo Hoo!

4.) Is Target Anti-Jewish?

Mind you, nothing specifically happened, I just got a funny feeling they're
like that!

5.) Cyber Day Shipping Scam! Includes text from online chat

I told Prince I was gonna tell EVERYONE how horrible KMart/Sears is and
even though he helped me and did EXACTLY what he promised, I still bashed
the company anyway.

6.) Rude confrontation with a senior member of your management.

CAN'T THIS LETTER DIE ALREADY!! SHEESH!

7.) Unhappy Wal-Mart customer

No shock there!

8.) Lured to Wal-Mart under false pretenses

And forced to buy JUNK!

9.) Treat your employees like humans not numbers!

Dontcha just LOVE helicopter parents?

10.) Target's Gift Card Giveaway Has a Serious Flaw

Because there really is no such thing as a free lunch!

11.) All I want to do is PAY MY BILL, Sprint!

and mah 2 front teef!

12.) trident- cleans and protects teeth while ruining your health.

ZOMG!!! It's the 2nd coming of the prohibition!

13.) honesty

"is such a lonely word. Everyone is so untrue. . . "

14. ) Boycotting Home Depot!

I'm still not sure if I agree with this or disagree with it, but at this
point, I'm so confused that I have a headache!

15.) Christmas carols ALREADY Sears?

Fa La La La La HA HA HA HA!

16.) Sears should be CLOSED on Thanksgiving Day

Because I am not about to roll my fat butt off the couch after eating all
that turkey to go shopping and I don't think I should have to miss any
really great deals because of this!

17.) Account number showing on paper statement

Because god forbid they let me know WHICH account they are contacting me
about!

18.) Allow The REAL God of Heaven to bless your employees through prayers
of REAL Godly people

Christianity = FAIL!

19.) Over Salting the French Fries

Yes, because too much salt is the WORST part of deep fat fried POTATOES!

20.) Assistant manager rude to my infant son!

WHAT??? Pizza Hut isn't responsible for providing entertainment for my
"screeching and screaming" toddler while the food cooks? Unbelievable!

21.) Poor Customer Service

This is why companies don't make policy exceptions to the over-entitled!

22.) Why Is My Business No Longer Valued?

What part of "Minimum Purchase Required" was confusing you?

23.) Why is the customer responsible for inaccuracies at the store level?

There actually was no inaccuracy, I just can't READ!

24.) What Can You Do for Us as President, John McCain?

AGAIN! Another letter that needs to just DIE! Obama has been in office
almost 3 years! Can someone PLEASE disconnect the life support on this
one?

25.) Rip Off Pizza Joint and only Average Pizza

David should really avoid pizza places!

Far too many times, I read letters on this site that just absolutely blow
me away with the outlandishness of the demands, arguments and situations
they present. In fairness, some are genuinely valid and need to be
addressed, but I think some OP’s may misunderstand what the expectations
for a company are and what things they as a customer ideally should do.
Yes, that’s right, I said THEY SHOULD DO! Believe it or not, the road
actually goes both ways in Retailville!

Here are a few key rules that every consumer should be aware of. Not to
say that companies don’t have their own set of rules that should be
followed, but it’s hard to expect good customer service without knowing
what constitutes a good customer.

1. This is perhaps the most important rule of all! You are not entitled to
freebies, discounts or any other “perks” just because you live and breathe.
Companies offer incentives to INCENT (or bring in) customers to shop with
them. Not everyone may be able to receive them (limited offers) and
sometimes you will have to do a little work (go to a certain store, show up
by a certain date or purchase a certain number of items) in order to
qualify for the discount. But nobody OWES you anything. There really is
no such thing as a “free lunch.” All those gimmies and trinkets and
discounts and rebates have to come from somewhere and the mere fact of your
existence is not always reason enough for you to get them. This goes for
people who show up "just a few days after" a sale or coupon has expired.
You have to follow all the rules and jump through all the hoops to get the
reward at the end. If you don't, you get zilch!

2. The definition of the term “loyal” states:
“1: unswerving in allegiance: as a: faithful in allegiance to one's lawful
sovereign or government b: faithful to a private person to whom fidelity is
due c: faithful to a cause, ideal, custom, institution, or product 2:
showing loyalty”
Therefore, customers who threaten to never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever
patronize a store again if they a) don’t get their way b) have one bad
experience or c) walked out and never bothered to tell someone in the first
place are not “loyal” customers! In fact, most retail and service
organizations are well aware that the customers and clients who make the
biggest demands for bonuses or privileges they aren’t due are rarely the
customers who have the best standing or have been the most “loyal” to
them.

And if you make a mistake with the bank or a creditor that costs you
fees,understand that they set forth rules when you opened the account
stating that if you botched your finances,they could charge you fees. No
matter how trivial you think the error was, unless you can prove it was not
your fault,you should expect to pay the penalties and take it as a lesson
learned. It really does pay to be a responsible consumer.

3. Again, following that logic, while it is not required for a customer to
speak up at the time of an incident, there are several reasons why it’s a
good idea:
1) It gives the store the chance to deal with the situation right when it’s
happening, thus giving them the opportunity to satisfy everyone
immediately.
2) If you choose not to speak up, it calls into question how serious you
really were about the situation. Occasionally, people will avoid speaking
up at the time, claiming that they don’t like confrontation or “just didn’t
feel like it” but then insist that the problem was so egregious and heinous
that they are “due” some sort of “compensation” for the injustice they
suffered. But again, how bad did you really suffer if you couldn’t be
bothered to speak up at the time and actually get the problem handled?
3) How would you feel if you were a manager and one of your employees was
doing a bad job? Wouldn’t you want to know BEFORE your boss was told by
some angry, irate client so you could do your job? Believe it or not, so
do most managers!

4. If you sign an agreement, any agreement, your signature indicates that
you read, understood and AGREED to everything they put forth. If you
blindly sign things and then complain that no one ever TOLD you – Sorry,
but that’s on you. Not being verbally informed is never a valid excuse.

5. There doesn’t need to be a sign to make it so. Where, exactly, did the
notion that something is not valid unless it is in print come from anyway?
A policy is a policy is a policy, no matter where it is or who invokes it.
Stores exist to run a business and good businesses establish policies that
serve not only the interests of the customers, but the company as well.
They're in business to make a profit, just like you are when you go to work
each day. To bend these policies and rules for any reason (no matter how
“good” you may think your reason is) puts the store and its employees at
financial and possibly legal risk.

6. NO does not = rude, mean, unfair or poor customer service. Just because
a store chooses to adhere to their policies and won’t bend for your unique,
special, extenuating circumstance does not mean they have done anything
wrong. Sure there is no harm in asking, but know when to walk away. If
you know up front about a policy (Customers are charged $35 per NSF
transaction) or even if you are informed of it after the fact (being
refused a return because it is beyond 90 days), if they fail to grant your
request for that “one time” exception, be prepared that the answer very
well could still be “No.” You asked. They said no. Let it go already!

7. Use common sense. Yes, people do sometimes make mistakes; after all, we
are all only human. But that doesn’t excuse anyone from using the good
common sense they should have been born with. Yes, it might not say that
you can’t leave your child unattended in a public place, but it’s not a
good idea. You can’t read all the magazines from cover to cover in the
stores, either. You can’t buy a car, drive it for a year and then be
surprised that the dealership will only give you a fraction of what you
paid for it and you shouldn’t jip a waitress on her tip because your food
tasted bad but you never let her know and then left in a huff like she
should have read your mind.

Some things we should all as adults just instinctively know. No one should
need to tell us, it doesn’t have to be in bold print and the answer should
be clear. There’s something to be said for accepting a little Personal
Adult Responsibility in our day to day dealings.

8. What good is a written apology? If you have been arguing with a company
for any length of time and they are not doing what you want, what benefit
is there to them forcing some alleged executive to pen a mea culpa begging
your forgiveness and swearing that you were right all along? If they
haven’t already made it right by now, how are some insincere words on a
piece of paper going to solve things? A forced apology is no apology at
all.

9. Understand that a few bad apples really DO spoil the whole bushel. This
was one of my Grama’s favorite saying when I was a kid. She was basically
saying that while things may seem harsh or unfair to you personally, it
only takes one other person’s stupidity, ignorance or selfishness to wreck
it for everyone else. Kind of like in grade school where one kid said
something snide to the teacher, so the entire class had to miss recess for
it!

Yes, everyone recognizes that YOU would never stoop to shoplifting or
fraudulent returns or lying to get something you aren’t due. But that
certainly doesn’t mean that others are above it. If a rule is especially
stringent, you can bet your life that it’s because a company lost money
because of it and needed to ensure it wouldn’t continue to happen.

Additionally, no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
There are apparently a lot of “thin-skinned” consumers out there that have
such a hyper inflated sense of ego (or paranoia) that they immediately jump
to the conclusion that everyone MUST be insulting, degrading, or
humiliating them if they are held to a policy or rule that they believe
shouldn’t apply to them. Believe it or not, it’s truly not personal. No
one is saying you are a bad parent or on welfare or a homeless bum if they
tell you that you’re bound by the same rules and policies as everyone else.
They are applying their policies evenly and fairly and in order to be able
to say that, everyone must be treated just the same. No exceptions.

10. Last (but certainly no least) the customer is NOT always right. Yes,
customers are the lifeline of any business – esp. in today’s heavily
service driven marketplace. But no one OWES you anything because you have
a credit card in your hand or a few dollars in your wallet. & just to set
the record straight, no one individual person pays all a company’s
salaries, no matter how much you think you spend there. Want to see the
quickest way to get crappy customer service? Tell some clerk she better do
what you want because you’re the reason she has a job!

“Customer Service” does not mean that anyone must 1) drop everything they
are doing and tend to your needs the second you arrive 2) bend any rules or
provide any unearned benefits or 3) tolerate disrespectful behavior or kiss
anyone’s backside. No, cashiers should not be on a cell phone or engaged
in a personal conversation with a co-worker when you are trying to get
checked out. And no, stores should not be closing earlier than their
posted times. However, it is not your place, nor your right to get
belligerent or irate because a cashier failed to smile at you and tell you
to have a nice day, nor is it good form to show up 10 minutes before close
with the intention of a full out shopping spree. Regardless of what some
people’s mothers may have told them as a child, the Earth definitely DOES
NOT revolve around any of us.

And another thing that peeves me, even though this is far less incendiary
than breaking “the rules”, is not including all the details in a business
letter. When contacting a business, always err on the side of too much
information and write as if you are educating your subject. Don’t assume
that higher ups (or anyone else reading your letter, like PFB commenters!)
will automatically know what you are talking about if you leave details
out. It’s a good bet that if the people on this site reading your letter
are not able to follow the story, the company rep reading it won’t be able
to either. But do leave personally identifying info out – account numbers,
addresses, phone numbers - no one needs an already bad situation compounded
with identity theft!

So there you have it – my rules of the road for the modern consumer. It's
too bad they don't teach this stuff in school! Can you imagine how few
complaint letters would be posted if they did?

I understand that some people truly get irrate when they are not permitted
to make a return. Some may even have really good reasons and be deserving
of being granted their request.

But this guy wins the award for taking it WAY over the top!

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20090605/BREAKING/906059977/2055/NEWS?
Title=Jilted-customer-starts-fire-in-Manatee-

The oddest part is that the guy is from Louisiana. So why was he trying to
return goods at a WalMart in Southern Florida???

No wonder they told him no!

So I landed a new job as a Wal-Mart greeter, a good find for many retirees,
but I lasted less than a day......

About two hours into my first day on the job a very loud, unattractive,
mean-acting woman walked into the store with her two kids, Yelling
obscenities at them all the way through the entrance..

As I had been instructed, I said pleasantly, 'Good morning and welcome to
Wal-Mart. Nice children you have there. Are they twins?'

The ugly woman stopped yelling at the kids long enough to say, 'Hell no,
they ain't twins. The oldest one's 9, and the other one's 7. Why the hell
would you think they're twins? Are you blind, or just stupid?'

So I replied with a smile, 'I'm neither blind nor stupid, Ma'am, I just
couldn't believe someone actually slept with you twice. Have a good day
and thank you for shopping at Wal-Mart.'

My supervisor said I probably wasn't cut out for this line of work.

I understand your frustration. But - you get really upset when you count
all the shopping channels, all the kids channel, the religious channels and
deduct it from the whole list provided. Then, take off all the 'doubles',
meaning when at several channels at the same time are running reruns of the
"Golden Girls" or some other series from way back in the 60s, 70s and 80s.
Also, deduct the channels with the reruns of movies. DirecTV offers
channels where the same movies are running on different channels just about
a weeks apart. Most channels have the nerve to announce a movie PREMIERE of
a movie already 5, 10 or even 20 years old and shown on 20 other channels
before. See what is left????? And, of course, deduct the NASA channel too
...

"Extend my coverage at no additional cost for 1 more month because I had to
reschedule the Dr's appointment."

"It is quite a way from home that we drove and then had to turn back
without seeing the movie. I believe a few passes to another movie would
make us happy."

Where exactly did the idea that mishaps and poor service should equate to
freebies and gimmes? It seems as if a few kindhearted, service concerned
organizations opted to toss a customer a "bone" (so to speak) to make up
for an isolated bad incident and now suddenly everyone thinks that every
little infraction, perceived slight or bad experience entitles them to
something.

With all due respect, the customer is NOT always right!

My Grama used to always tell me "There's no such thing as a free lunch!" I
took that to mean that I was not owed something for nothing. I had to earn
it. Had to come by it the honorable way. No one owed me anything and no
one was going to pay my way.

So where have we gone wrong?

Why do SO MANY people feel that they are "owed" things?

What kind of example are we setting for the younger generation when they
see that throwing a tantrum and making a scene will get them what they
want? Isn't that exactly what we try NOT to teach them as toddlers?

Don't get me wrong, I think bad service is inexcusable, but that doesn't
make it compensable either!

We should not be legislating things that should be common sense.
(http://www.planetfeedback.com/target/staff+attitude/knowledge/no+posted+po
licy+for+reading+magazines+at+target/316719)

Here is this clown, who by anyone's logic, should understand that you can't
stand around Target reading a magazine all day. Yet he has the gall to
insist that because there is no posted policy, that he is prefectly within
his right to do so.

I'll give you another great example - Ohio is considering a new law that
would make it illegal to send text messages while driving. Well DUH!

But is making it illegal to do this going to stop people from doing it
anyway? Not likely.

In theory, rules like these are good because it forces people to do the
right things, but you can't legislate common sense. All that does (as is
illustrated here) is create the idea that it's not necessary to think for
yourself or use your head because if it was really important, someone would
TELL you not to do it.

No one told the Octomom that it wasn't a good idea to have a bunch of kids
she can't take care of, so what is there to stop her from thinking that it
is perfectly acceptable to have FOURTEEN kids with no means to support any
of them? Kids can't grow and thrive on love alone, no matter what her
deluded mind thinks!

People need to think twice before they agree to pass more stringent or
restrictive legislature like this. You might not want to see certain
things going on in society and on the surface, it makes sense that you
shouldn't do these things, but banning it or outlawing it is not going to
solve the problem and probably won't make it go away anyhow. Look at
Prohibition. Alcoholism was reported to be WORSE in the 20's than at any
other time in our country's history.

Think about it. Does anyone truly believe that people who are dumb enough
to do the things that get outlawed (like drugs and drinking in excess and
murdering people) are going to be stopped by a ruling or a vote?

I'm thinking no.

Dear Loved Ones

As you well know, we are getting closer to my birthday. Every year there is
a celebration in my honor and I think that this year the celebration will
be repeated. During this time there are many people
shopping for gifts, there are many radio announcements, TV commercials, and
in every part of the world everyone is talking that my birthday is
getting closer and closer.

It is really very nice to know, that at least once a year, some people
think of me. As you know, the celebration of my birthday began many years
ago. At first people seemed to understand and be thankful of all that I did
for them, but in these times, no one seems to know the reason for the
celebration. Family and friends get together and have a lot of fun, but
they don't know the meaning of the celebration.

I remember that last year there was a great feast in my honor. The dinner
table was full of delicious foods, pastries, fruits, assorted nuts and
chocolates. The decorations were exquisite and there were many, many
beautifully wrapped gifts. But, do you want to know something? I wasn't
invited. I was the guest of honor and they didn't remember to
send me an invitation. The party was for me, but when that great day came,
I was left outside, they closed the door in my face .. .. and I wanted to
be with them and share their table.

In truth, that didn't surprise me because in the last few years all close
their doors to me. Since I wasn't invited, I decided to enter the party
without making any noise. I went in and stood in a corner.
They were all drinking; there were some who were drunk and telling jokes
and laughing at everything. They were having a grand time. To top it all,
this big fat man all dressed in red wearing a long white beard entered the
room yelling Ho-Ho-Ho! He seemed drunk. He sat on the sofa and all the
children ran to him, saying: "Santa Claus, Santa Claus!" as if the party
were in his honor!

At 12 Midnight all the people began to hug each other; I extended my arms
waiting for someone to hug me and ... do you know ... no one hugged me.
Suddenly they all began to share gifts. They opened them one by one with
great expectation. When all had been opened, I looked to see if, maybe,
there was one for me. What would you feel if on your birthday everybody
shared gifts and you did not get one? I then understood that I was unwanted
at that party and
quietly left.

Every year it gets worse. People only remember to eat and drink, the gifts,
the parties and nobody remembers me. I would like this Christmas that you
allow me to enter into your life. I would like that you recognize the fact
that almost two thousand years ago I came to this world to give my life for
you, on the cross, to save you. Today, I only want that you believe this
with all your heart.
>
I want to share something with you. As many didn't invite me to their
party, I will have my own celebration, a grandiose party that no one has
ever imagined, a spectacular party. I'm still making the final
arrangements.

Today I am sending out many invitations and there is an invitation for you.
I want to know if you wish to attend and I will make a reservation for you
and write your name with golden letters in my great guest book. Only those
on the guest list will be invited to the party. Those who don't answer the
invite, will be left outside.
Be prepared because when all is ready you will be part of my great party.

See you soon.
I Love you!
Jesus

P.S. - Please share this message with your loved ones,before Christmas.

Not that I'd want to support the morons who think Christmas and the
Holidays should ONLY be about Christ, but the whole PC crap and the
constant backbending to avoid even the remotest appearance of offending
anyone has just really gotten out of hand and is grating on my last nerve.

For those of you who aren't aware, the ACLU, (the American Civil Liberties
Union) is suing the U.S. Government to take God, Christmas or anything
Christian away from the holiday.

With that in mind, I humbly propose supporting the following idea. The
ACLU has no more right to take the Christ out of Christmas than the zealots
have to cram him into it.

Help put Christ back in Christmas! Send the ACLU a CHRISTMAS CARD this
year. As they are working so very hard to get rid of the CHRISTMAS part of
this holiday, we should all send them a nice CHRISTIAN card to brighten up
their dark, sad, little world.

Make sure it says "Merry Christmas" on it.

Here's the address, just don't be rude or crude. (It's not the Christian
Way, you know.)

ACLU
125 Broad Street
18th Floor
New York, NY 10004

Two tons of Christmas cards would freeze their operations because they
wouldn't know if any were regular mail containing contributions. So spend
41 cents and tell the ACLU to leave Christmas alone.

I have been mildly obsessed with the Nikki Catsouras case ever since I saw
the 20/20 ads on TV.

For those who might not have seen it, here is the story:

18 year old girl has a fight with Daddy, swipes the keys to his $150K
Porsche Carrera and goes out on a joyride at about 100 mph on a California
highway.

Trying to pass a Honda doing 70, she clips their car, loses control of the
Porsche and slams nose first into a toll booth. Needless to say, she
didn't make it home to face the consequences.

But that isn't where it ends. The CHP investigators take incredibly
graphic digital images of the crash, including some very gory images of the
girl's remains. (Trust me, I found the pics and they are VERY graphic!)

Somehow those images got leaked out of the department and wound up posted
to the Internet where some boneheads thought it would be "funny" to send
the images to this family. Someone even went so far as to create a bogus
MySpace account as a twisted homage to the girl. Very tacky and
inappropriate to be sure.

So the parents are SUING the CHP for leaking the images, claiming emotional
distress and invasion of privacy. Now, while I think it is horrific that
the photos got leaked at all and it's even worse that some punks thought
this would be a "cool prank" I can't say that I necessarily agree with the
parents.

They say they want their privacy and Nikki's dignity and memory
respectfully maintained but then they go on a major, prime time news show
and plead their case in the court of public opinion, which only fuels more
interest in the images. Nikki was killed over a year ago. Why pour
Kerosene on a smoldering fire?

And why aren't they doing more to go after the people who are actually
harassing them? Kind of seems strange to blame the CHP for doing their
job. No, they should not have leaked them, but they also are not
responsible for what some morons do for fun.

That's like blaming God because you're overweight or too short or bald and
people laugh at you!

Furthermore, I have to wonder how "sweet and innocent" this girl really
was. Most people would never dream of being so cruel and heartless in the
face of such tragedy. I have a sneaking suspicion that either this girl or
her family were not well liked. I'd hate to think that perhaps she was a
spoiled brat that people would be so heartless to her memory, but it sure
does look suspect.

Apparently, kids at her former HS, where her younger sister was attending
(they have since pulled her out to homeschool her for her own protection)
printed and posted the horrific images on the sister's locker. Again, what
kind of twisted person does that to someone who is described as being
"sweet?"

I had classmates killed tragically in HS and NO ONE would have posted
images or sent messages harassing their parents. So were we just more
civilized back then or was there more to this story than we're being told?

Well, it is now officially Thanksgiving morning, which means the Holiday
season is now upon us. So after you all finish gorging yourself on more
food than you would normally ingest in a week, watch lame parades and
football games (who the hell is playing today anyhow?) and watch Grandpa
snoring in his favorite chair (he looks more and more like a party favor
every year!)here are my suggestions for how to make the most of every
retailer's favorite holiday - Black (I REFUSE to say Super!) Friday

1) Spend the week before Thanksgiving scouring Internet sites like the
following:

http://blackfriday.gottadeal.com/
http://www.blackfridayads.com/
http://www.dealtaker.com/blackfriday.html
http://www.bfads.net
http://www.blackfriday.info

Sure, they all pretty much look alike and have the same ads, but you never
know when you might hit the jackpot!

2) If you aren't a football fan, spend the post meal hour plotting your
route (Khol's opens at 4:00 a.m.,so it's best to start there to get warmed
up for the real crowds at Best Buy at 5:00 a.m. and Toys R Us at 6:00 a.m.)
and planning which items you need (iPods, Wii's, diamond jewelery, and the
Lexus that guy always gives his wife every year with a red bow around it!)

3) Go to sleep at 7:00 p.m. Set your alarm for no later than 1:30 a.m.
Believe it or not, some people will start lining up at the stores as early
as midnight. If you really MUST sleep (turkey will do that you) take a
blanket and sleep on the sidewalk. Come on! It's only 4 hours!

4) Take the ENTIRE carafe of coffee with you - you're gonna need it. If
coffee isn't your thing, a minimum of 6 cans of Red Bull is an acceptable
substitute.

5) Most BF shoppers roll out of bed with unkempt hair, no makeup and
wearing pajamas or sweats. But don't underestimate the power of cleavage
and a tight pair of jeans (Guys, 5 o'clock shadow and a tight pair of jeans
are your best bet.) At this ungodly hour, the right outfit and a little
shameless flirting can make some poor pimply stock boy your personal
slave.

6) If at all possible, bring a partner. As I mentioned, the lines start
early and it helps if you have someone to park the car 2 counties away
while you wait in line to get into the store. Bringing cell phones or PTT
devices is also a good idea. That way one of you can wait in the 5 mile
long check out line while the other grabs the goods, or, you can hit
opposite sides of the store with especially long lists.

7) Police and security have little patience and even less sense of humor
at this hour of the morning. Bringing donuts can be a great way to help get
further in line or keep from losing your place while you hit the little
girl's room.

8) Black Friday is NOT the time for courtesy, politeness or pleasantries.
If some slow-ass old biddy is blocking a display, knock her out of the way!
This is serious business and there is no room for ambling, plodding or
shuffling along. The tortoise doesn't win this race.

9) Screw the shopping carts. There is no way in hell you'll be able to
maneuver through thongs of bodies 8 deep and if you have a partner, you
hopefully won't need one. (This is also where the sucking up you did to the
cop and the stock boy can pay off BIG TIME). However it is important to
note that sometimes the best treasures can be found in carts that some
lesser shopper abandoned or foolishly walked away from. (Hey, finders
keepers,I always say!)

10) Even if you don't think you'll need it, if it's a hot item at a great
price (i.e. Bratz dolls for $5 or video games for $10) GRAB THEM! You
would be amazed at the markup you can get for toys on eBay. And the beauty
of it is, if you can't unload them by Christmas, under most stores return
policies, you'll still be well within the time frame for making a return,
but MAKE SURE YOU KEEP THE DAMN RECEIPT.

You have all been officially warned. I don't want to hear any whining and
bitching on December 26th about staff members who were "uncooperative and
rude" because they would not "work with you" or "make an exception."

However you choose to kick off your holiday season, make it a good one.

I'm not sure I can remember what started all this potato nonsense, but it's
really getting old.

Last thing I remember, someone wrote a letter whining about the lack of
potatoes at Wendy's and then next thing you know, we all have "potato"
names and Clete/Jonas (whatever the hell his name is) apparently declared
himself "Mr. Potatoehead" (fitting, No?)

But I am so on overload at this point that I'm thinking of changing my
nickname to MAshed Potato.

I am at a loss for the OP's who believe it is better to silently storm out
of an establishment without making the local management aware that there is
a problem.

It reminds me of the whiney kids in grade school who, instead of showing
maturity and dealing with issues head on, ran and tattled to the teacher in
the hopes of getting the other person "in trouble."

And that just SO speaks to the mentality of some of the OP's. They don't
really want to rectify the situation. They either want to see what they
"can get out of it" (like our friend the "negotiator") or they are looking
to publicly humiliate the staff and management at the specific site.

To me, that seems so juvenile - not to mention self centered because it
shows that they think every little slight is personally aimed at them. As
if they are just SO IMPORTANT that employees of any major corporation would
plot to screw them over.

So to those who think it's a "waste of time" to go through the "proper
channels" when making a complaint or trying to get a problem resolved, just
remember this: Nobody likes a tattle tale!

To all my fellow Mommy's (and the Daddy's who help too) on "Our" day.

Hope the kids all did something extra nice for you.

& to all the "kids" (e.g. Zachary, Blackrack, etc.) tell your parents
thanks for raising such great kids!

What a craptacular weekend!

My M-I-L passed away about a week ago and we had to transport her remains
to her brother's farm in West Virginia for burial. Surprisingly that was
the most pleasant part of the trip.

I truly felt like the proverbial "city slicker" around here. We couldn't
take showers and were advised not to flush the commodes unless necessary
because their wells couldn't take the increased use.

And silly me, my hubby and I brought "funeral attire" (suits, dress shoes,
nylons) to treck up a hill in the mud to the little cemetery on their land.
We were the ONLY people dressed like this.

So by Saturday, I was surrounded by a lot of strangers that my husband
hadn't even seen in 20 years (we've been together 18 years & I've never
seen them around!), I was feeling quite slimy - oh yeah and it rained all
weekend.

On top of that, my M-I-L's sister passed away suddenly on Thursday, so
there were even more people than originally expected as they felt the need
to congregate to grieve.

I guess some people would think its nice that the family all came together
like this, but all I could think all weekend was that I was actually
GRATEFUL that my family has little to do with each other.

I really do not have any interest in having ALL my aunts, uncles, cousins,
and other assorted kin in my hair while I'm grieving the loss of a parent.
I'm sure it will sound bitchy, but let them grieve by themselves and I will
grieve by myself.

While the situation is tragic to be sure and I feel awful for my hubby &
his siblings, the irony is that my M-I-L was not an especially sociable
person herself and I can just imagine her looking down on all this
nonsense, puffing away on her cigarette, and shaking her head in
disbelief.

Why do people completely ignore people's wishes once they're gone? Isn't
that disrespectful to their memory?

One of my biggest pet peeves is when friends and acquaintances blindly
forward exaggerated or outright fictitious stories to me via email.

To counter this irritating trend, I usually will respond back to everyone
on their distribution with a link to a Snopes article or
urbanlegends.about.com the refutes the message I know its incredibly
bitchey, but 95% of them are so blatantly ridiculous that I can't believe
anyone would truly believe it.(Yeah, like Bill Gates is going to send me a
new PC loaded with Vista and Office XP if I forward some dumb email to 500
friends!)

But while perusing the latest entries, I stumbled across the following:
http://www.snopes.com/glurge/abbey.asp

Apparently this family's 14 year old dog passed away and their 4 year old
had taken it hard, so she decided to write a letter to God to ask him to
look out for their beloved pooch.

I won't spoil the rest of it, but what happens next is about the sweetest
thing I've ever heard of a stranger doing for another person.

Nichole had emailed me earlier this week about March of Dimes and Leanne
has been so busy helping out her friend who lost everything in a fire that
it got me thinking. We had such a great response and feeling with the
Compliment week, what would it be like if we devoted one week to "Good
Deeds?"

It wouldn't have to be grand gestures - something as simple as holding an
elevator for someone or paying the toll for the person behind you. But it
would be really cool if we all tried to do at least one good deed and then
reported back about it here on the blogs.

I look at it this way, its springtime, I've been cooped up in my house
since December (God I hate Cleveland!) and I am ready to get out there and
feel alive again!

This little letter really inspired me, so what do you all think? Could we
have a sort of "Pay it Forward" week?

I swear - post Compliment Week and the letters are even more absurd than
ever.

Where do they find these people? Is there some sort of special club for
the reality-challenged?

There's one who doesn't have the good sense God gave her to go speak to a
manager when all the "child friendly" carts are inaccessible (I can just
see her with a roll of quarters trying to get at the carts in the front!)
Another one who spews ignorance and intolerance, but is worried about a
public school district promoting the "Gay Agenda."

Still another who can't understand why they won't let him make a purchase
in a store over the phone with a credit card and then pick up his
merchandise days later.

And lets not forget the one who can't hold on to her child and then expects
the hotel she's at to comp her because her son tripped on a sign.

Welcome to the world of delusional and demanding!

In the year or so I've been back actively participating in the Planet
Feedback community, I've come to learn some things not only about the
retail and service worlds, but about myself as well.

A few years ago, I was pretty much just like many of the OP's who come to
PFB to blast some company that had done some horrible disservice and
deserved nothing less than divine punishment for their perceived
transgressions. I may not have been as "gimmee grabbing" as others, but by
God I was NOT going to take bad service lying down!

Ironically my first letter was to CompUSA over the 6 weeks my PC spent in
their shop "supposedly" being repaired under the extended warranty we
purchased. We got the impression that they were taking their sweet time
fixing it because they knew they weren't getting any additional money out
of us due to the warranty and there were plenty of other PC's that were
being billed by the hour to be worked on first. I honestly was not looking
for any kind of gimmee or freebie - I just wanted my computer back in
working order!

Because of that one letter (which not so coincedentally got sent to the
corporate, regional and local executives of the company) I wound up with a
BRAND NEW PC to replace one that was 2 years old. I was hooked!

Then in my days working part time as a Guest Service Associate at Target, I
would see clients everyday with problems and complaints. Some were
completely valid and yet got caught up in the policy and had to be turned
away, dissatisfied. Others had the audacity to come in to our store with
blatantly false claims trying to get refunds or exchanges when they clearly
weren't in compliance with the posted policies.

I actually had one guy show up with a heavily used vacuum, no box, no
receipt and he wanted to exchange it for a brand new one! After quoting
policy to him and having him throw what amounted to a tantrum in the store,
the LOD capitulated and allowed him to have another vacuum!

From this, I understood a little better the corporate side of it, but I was
still apt to believe that big corporations stick it to the little guy
moreso than the other way around.

But it took reading and responding here on PFB to really bring both sides
of this experience together for me - and I think its made me a much better
consumer for it.

For those of you who are new to the boards, I am not some heartless,
corporate drone who always backs the company line and believes all
customers are nothing but nuisances. Ironically, my "9 to 5" isn't even IN
the retail segment! But the philosophies that apply to customer service
are universal, no matter WHAT segment you work in - Make the customer/end
user/client happy, but always watch your bottom line.

I still believe in backing the consumer - the "little guy" if you will.
But now I have far less tolerance for the people who seek to screw Big
Business with their overblown, dramafied accusations and complaints and
their ridiculous demands for compensation in any form (free meals, gift
cards, refunds, etc.) Those who seek to bilk the system just don't
understand that they do so to the detriment of every other consumer out
there.

It stuns me the lengths some OP's will go in defending their POV, even when
20 other commenters have called them out on it. People who wonder why some
companies have such stringent, bordering on ridiculous policies and
procedures need look no further than some of the letters posted here to
understand why.

It might seem harmless to a letter writer to make outrageous demands -
after all, the companies have plenty of money! But if you look at it this
way, how many other people do you think have their hand out at the same
time as you. While you may be only one person complaining here, you have
no idea how many other people with valid or invalid beefs with a company
are also demanding to be comped at the very same time. That adds up.

And where do you think "ABC Co." will find the funds to finance all those
demands from their customers? By passing on that expense to EVERYONE ELSE
by raising their prices, closing stores, laying off people. That might seem
like an exaggerated scenario, but trust me, it can happen.

Our society today seems to have the mindset that every inconvenience, every
disappointment, every "no" is compensable - I blame the lawyers (no offense
LadyMac!). But really, just because you had to wait 10 minutes for a table
for your party of 13 or just because the clerk at the grocery store didn't
bend the company's policy of not accepting diapers for exchange, or your
child tripped over a 2' high sign BECAUSE YOU WEREN'T WATCHING HIM(!!!)
does that really ENTITLE anyone to some sort of windfall? I don't think
so.

So bottom line, understand that there is a big difference between making a
company aware of a situation for the sake of helping them correct it and
making them aware of a situation with the hope (or insistance) that they
provide some sort of benefit in return. Think of it this way, what would
YOU do if it was YOUR company?