Ah…it has been an interesting week for this consumer. Twice I’ve been wronged by two different companies: one a large business we all heard of and the other; a small non-profit that really should value their customers, but in my experience really doesn’t. I’m going to share my experiences here, so, hopefully, you can learn from them, or share your experiences and teach me a thing or two.

First up is a bad shopping online experience with the wonderful world of greedy and infamous Walmart.com. Ah…Wal-Mart….the name for me envisions crowded stores, impersonal store policies and cheaply made products.  I hate going to Wal-Mart. Hence, I shop with them online. Overall, I hate the store, but they have things I’d like to purchase, though, I hate buying from them. If I can avoid it, I do. Anyway, this time, I placed a rather large order of household items I needed. Well, I received my email confirmation of the order of when it was shipped out. A week later, I hadn’t received the order. The one good thing Walmart.com does is ship out quickly. However, that is also a fault. Stay with me. I was going to check online for statues of my order when I received an email that said that my order had been successfully returned. Another email followed that said my credit card had been credited for the items returned. Strange thing is that I never received the items to return them. Perplexed, I picked up the phone and called walmart.com. The Customer Service representative was shocked and apologetic, which I greatly appreciated, but did nothing to fix the problem.   The Customer Service representative was just as confused at first, but then, she noticed the reason: the shipment had been so badly damaged that FedEx had shipped it back to Wal-Mart.  Wal-Mart received it and processed it as a customer return instead of the shipper returning a damaged shipment. As a result, I wasn’t notified that it had been sent back and given an option to have it reshipped. Instead, I had to spend forty minutes on the phone with the Customer Service representative and reorder everything again. And for all the inconvenience this caused me, do you know how this multi-million dollar store chain rewarded me? They gave me a $10.00 credit. Wow! Needless to say, I asked for more. It seems and I quote the supervisor that I asked to speak with for more than $10.00, I was told that corporate policy was $10.00 and no more. If the representative or she gave me more they would have been fired. Of course, I also filed a written complaint about the poor packaging for whatever good that will do, as it appears to be an ongoing problem.  Lovely company, huh? It just makes me all warm and fuzzy realizing how very much Wal-Mart values their customers. I’m going to write to corporate office for $25.00 credit, as this was not the first badly damaged box I received from them. I’ll let you know what happens, if I get a reply from them.

Just a few months ago, I received a large box from Wal-Mart that had a wet squished bottom. When I opened it, I immediately saw why. Amongst the vitamins, and food items, a bottle of liquid dish detergent had opened and spilled all over the items: covering everything in the box. The liquid detergent has not been wrapped separately and sealed in a plastic bag, as they had been done before. I immediately called Wal-Mart to discuss my dilemma. The Customer Service representative was shocked and apologetic, which I greatly appreciated, but did nothing to fix the problem. As a result, we had to spend time on the phone reordering every item. Of course, I also filed a written complaint about the poor packaging for whatever good that will do.

The other incident involved a non-profit seller of Endangered Species chocolate bars, which I often buy. You probably heard of them or at least saw the candy bars in the natural food section of your local supermarket. They’re natural, gluten-free and delicious, usually, that is. Over the weekend, I purchased my usual, a milk chocolate bar. When I bit into it, I wasn’t pleased at all. Instead of sweet tasting milk chocolate, it tasted of bitter dark chocolate, which I didn’t favor at all. Had I wanted a dark chocolate bar I would have purchased one. I called the company today and met a rather nasty unprofessional customer service representative named Natalia. I told her the situation and my displeasure with the taste of this chocolate. She was affronted. I gave the company the benefit of the doubt that perhaps the bar had been mislabeled or the bar had not been blended properly. She proceeded to tell me that the different chocolate bars were mixed on different days. But were they wrapped on different days too? After I informed her to lose the attitude, I asked for a refund. I didn’t want to ask for a refund from a non-profit, small company but times are tough and I had paid $3.00 for this one that was horrible tasting: I was not satisfied. From the “Enjoy by” date, I gave her; they can supposedly pull out samples and taste them. I am awaiting a phone call from them tomorrow to see what they learned. This ought to be good.

Tell me, my fellow consumers, what is going on with businesses and non-profits now days? In these hard times in which consumers are watching their expenses, you’d think they would value those that spend money for their product and/or services. As my experiences show, they don’t.

So, what has been your shopping mishap? How did you settle it? Were you pleased with your solution? Let’s hear it here when you can vent all you want. Just a reminder: no profanities please.

Have a great day. May all your shopping experiences be good ones.

Best Wishes,

SSilva

 

Today in the news...our tax dollars at work, or not....

Today in the news we have quite a few headlines that affect all of us: "Payroll Tax Takes A New Bite". "Obama demands quick action to raise debt Limit." Both these headlines dig deeply into the consumers pocket and I wonder how you feel about it. Here is the space to vent and share tips with other frugal minded souls affected by our rising deficit.

"Payroll Tax Takes a New Bite": We all knew it was coming. We all knew that the temporary reduction in payroll taxes to social security was not permament. Nevertheless, the chunk of money taken out of our paychecks, those lucky enough to have paychecks, was a unpleasant surprise. According to the Yahoo news article, the cut reduced from 6.2% to 4.2% gave Americans hundreds of extra dollars in their pockets to spend the last two years. I don't know about you, but I wasn't spending all that more since my paycheck hasn't gone up in three years and I was already cutting back and trying to save more, just in case.

In the first Yahoo article about the Payroll taxes increase, "Roberton Williams, a tax economist and the Sol Price Fellow at the Tax Policy Center in Washington, said the expiration of the payroll-tax cut will leave the average American household with $18 to $20 less to spend each week, or $900 to $1,000 a year.
For the country's consumers as a whole, Mr. Williams said, that is a decline of $120 billion from last year. The total comes to about 0.8% of U.S. gross domestic product and is nearly equivalent to the most recent full-year sales at P&G, J.C. Penney Co. (JCP) and McDonald's Corp. (MCD) combined.
The impact on the economy now is hard to quantify, because it isn't clear how much of the money in consumers' paychecks was spent and how much of it was saved. Still, "it's a significant amount of money that's being pulled out of people's pockets and not being replaced," Mr. Williams said.
The tax hit could affect companies such as consumer-goods makers, clothing retailers, department stores, food producers, grocery stores and restaurants. Some companies said it is too soon to estimate the potential impact of the tax break expiration on their sales and profits, but it nevertheless has been a nagging concern."

You think? Did we really need a financial expert to tell us all of this that we already know. I can answer that question, Mr. williams: I don't know about you but I am spending less already, and I am going to spend even less now. My paycheck at the end of the year was significantly smaller with me having $70.00 to spend than before and that is quite a chunk of money. Thank you, Mr. President. If you want the economy to grow, Americans need money to spend. Americans will only spend if they have more money to spend and feel safe about their jobs and stability. Less money in pocket = less money to spend. Seems logical enough to me. Along this vein, I made a New Year's Resolution that I would boycott spending. As I mentioned on the first post, I am tired of being unappreciated and treated like dirt by businesses when they should value my custom. Unless something is absolutely necessary to purchase, such as groceries or gasoline, I am not going to buy it. Plain and simple. This is my goal. I know it is a lofty goal, but I am determined to follow through. It is fourteen days into the year and I haven't spend any of my money of "luxuries" or "frugalities". Last night, I had to purchase a tax program to do taxes this year and it almost killed me to do so. Yes, I know there are free tax programs at there, but I don't feel secure to do them solely online, plus I also need a state program.
No more using the credit card for "luxuries" of dinner out or impulse purchases for me. Instead, I'm going to stash, stash, stash away my money in the bank where my money can collect the paltry interest I've come to accept.

I'm not a psychic, but in 2002 I knew all of this was going to happen. The housing bubble would burst and the economy would tank, as it has. I saw it. I felt it. Sadly, I was correct. Last year, I told my spouse that it would get worse before it gets better. Personally, I don't see any recovery for another nine years and this year, 2013 is going to be the worst. I hope I am  wrong, but whenever I have a bad feeling about something it always comes true.

Anyway, over those last several years, I've done my best in cutting back. We don't have cable or satellite tv. In fact, where we live we don't even have tv reception and a digital receiver we had to buy was a waste of time, effort and money. We have an extensive video collection and rely on that, or go to the library to borrow some from there. It has come to the point where we don't even miss tv anymore. We also receive Netflix since 2004 to add to the mix. I never ever pay full price for a brand new dvd. I mostly buy used, which saves us quite a bit.

I set up several savings accounts over the years: ie. emergency funds, vacation funds, etc, which work out well. I ensure we contribute to our IRAs, even if it isn't the maximum allowed. Some years we just couldn't afford it and $500.00 in the IRA is better than nothing at all.
We read a lot, but I neve buy a book brand new-NEVER. Books are just way too expensive for me to justify, and you usually only read it once anyway. Amazon and eBay are two of our best friends for purchasing videos and books.

This leads us into the other Yahoo news article," Obama demands quick action to raise debt Limit."
"Obama virtually dared Republicans to let the government shut down rather than renew funding beyond March 27. "It will hurt the economy," he said emphatically."
Whoa, Mr. President, what are you talking about? I thought we should cut back instead of spending more. Don't you think it is time that this country started tightening its belt instead of continually loosening it up? Why aren't you setting an example for Americans to follow instead of the other way around that you continually ignore. Americans can only cut back so far before we are left trying to squeeze blood from a stone, and we all know how unsuccessful that will be. We have to cut back. It is time you did the same thing. Besides, don't you think the economy is already hurt? There isn't a bandage large enough to heal it. Wake up and smell the coffee. The spending has to stop and I'm not talking about cutting programs. Why arent' our servicemen in Afghanistan brought home yet? There is a chunk of money that can be saved. Wars aren't cheap, yet we keep spending. Why are we sending more soldiers out to Africa, etc. When is enough enough?

How does all of this government spending make you feel? Have you cut back on spending? Have you found a successful way or ways to save money? Are you spending more? Are you spending less? Share your experiences here; we'd love to hear. Maybe we can learn from you.

That's all for now. May all your shopping experiences be good ones and may your pockets attract lots of cash instead of losing it.
My best,
SS

Laugh when you can....

Remember this;

LAUGH WHEN YOU CAN, APOLOGIZE WHEN YOU SHOULD, AND LET GO OF WHAT YOU CAN’T CHANGE.
KISS SLOWLY, FORGIVE QUICKLY, PLAY HARD, TAKE CHANCES, GIVE EVERYTHING, AND HAVE NO REGRETS.
LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO BE ANYTHING BUT HAPPY.

A Consumer's blog: In the beginning....there was a buyer....

Are you tired of spending your hard earned money only to be treated like dirt by companies that take your money? I am and that is why I created A Consumer’s Blog. Here is a place to vent, share your experiences, and maybe even get a little help  with that company or store that treated you badly.
Life is short, but that doesn't mean you have to take things lying down, or be a door mat to a company or store that treats you as if you should. I know. I have spent a great deal of money over my life time. I have shopped with some companies since as far back as 1986. Do they value my business? No. Do they thank me for my business? No. In these hard economic times, you'd think that companies would value the customers that spent a lot of money with them, but no they don't. You'd think that in these hard times, companies would value the fact that you still shop with them, but they don't.
Here is the place to tell your story about the company that did you wrong. Here is the place to tell it like it is. Go ahead. Say it all. Tell the world how ABC company took your money and then didn't deliver, or when they did, it was late, damaged or the wrong item and when you called to complain the company didn't care. Here is the place to find out what you can do to get an apology or your money back. Share your experiences and tell it like it is. No holds barred. All I ask is that no profanity be used here. Other than that, let us hear what happened to you. Tell us how you fixed the problem or what you'd like to fix. Maybe someone here can help. Tell us where you told that company to go.
We the consumers have had enough. The big banks and companies were bailed out by the U.S. government by our tax dollars without even asking us how we felt about it. How did you feel about it? Do you think it was the right thing to do? Are you one of the homeowners that was foreclosed upon by one of the banks that we the taxpayers bailed out? Let us hear your tale.
A Consumer's Blog is written by a consumer, not a company, for you my fellow consumers. Come. Write. Tell your tale. Tell it from the heart. Just tell it like it was...
To begin with and get the ball started rolling, I'll tell you about some of the experiences I've had as late, which yielded me to conceive this blog.
Umn....which bad experience should I start with? there have been so many this year alone. What would you like to hear about? Let's start with an annoying trend in 2012 with magazine subscriptions....
There was a magazine I purchased three years ago that I really enjoyed reading. It was interesting, informative and educational about computers. I know next to nothing about computers, so this magazine helped out a lot. The magazine was called Smart Computing. I had initially subscribed for three years and enjoyed the the subscription immensely. In 2010, when it was time to renew, I did so without hesitation. Come mid 2011, the magazine issues seemed to be thinner. With so many other things going on in life on a daily basis, I really didn't catch it at first. I merely thought it was a one-time occurrence. Then, next month was the same and the same afterward, etc.. I also noticed the disappearance of columns I enjoyed reading. Finally,  I noticed this alarming trend and contacted the editor in Jan 2012. Initially, he seemed concerned and helpful. Then, when I told him what was wrong and what was missing and that I wasn't satisfied: I mean, hey, I paid for a subscription to a magazine with nearly 100 pages, which was now about 75. What gives here? He responsed, curtly, with would you like a refund and that other subscribers liked the new format. Wow! I was astonished by the reply. Of course, I wanted a refund, but gee, I told him, I thought that in these hard times, you'd want to keep the subscribers you have instead of alienating them. Well...needless to say, that wasn't the case. The editor was a real snot and I told him so. I also told him about Karma. I never did hear back from him, but I did get a refund for ONLY the remaining issues. I hope the magazine goes out of business.KAPUT!  A shame since it had been a worthwhile magazine to me, then it wasn't.
Now, that is just a start...feel free to share your experience, long or short, it doesn't matter. As long as it matters to you, we want to hear it. I'll share more of my experience, new or old as we move onward.
Until next time.....best wishes...may all your shopping experiences be good ones, but if they're not, we want to hear them here and what you did or didn't do to try and make it right. And if you had a memorable shopping experience, a good one, that is okay to. Please share and let us  try and make it a better world one shopper and one dollar at a time. Thanks for stopping by!
My best,
SS