So the All-Star game happened, I think, and now it is time for the second half of the season to start up. The TV results are in from the "Midsummer Classic" and the results do not look so good. This year's All Star game was the worst rated All-Star game in history. Now this could be slightly misleading, since I am fairly certain the first one was not broadcast on TV, thereby getting a 0 rating. Be that as it may, it certainly was not well watched. My question is, why is this so?
I have my theories on the subject. This year's AL All-Star team eventually included 42 players. 42!! There are 14 teams in the AL with 25 players on each team. Let's cut that down to the 9 regulars in the lineup plus maybe 4 pitchers per team with a legit shot at being an All-Star (2 starters, a setup, a closer). This means there are now realistically 182 players with a shot at being an All-Star, and 42 of the made the team. That is 23% of the league wide players that we see on a regular basis.
The NL is not much better. 39 players eventually were included on the roster. For the NL, there are 16 teams, however, we offset that by the fact that there is no DH. So really, we have only 12 players per team that I would say have a legit shot at being an All-Star. This is 192 players, and 39 made the team for a staggering 20%. Is this just becoming a participation award?
Let's say for a minute that you are a Cleveland Indians fan. You have one player on the All-Star team this year, and his name is Fausto Carmona. He is a pitcher. The roster includes 18 pitchers, for a 9 inning game. Stay Tuned Cleveland... you may see your All-Star throw a pitch, after this commercial break!! Oh how exciting. How do you expect for those fans to really tune in, unless there is really nothing else on TV. Same with Pittsburgh, the Nationals, Orioles, any team that will be very lightly represented. That is a tough sell for all but maybe 6-8 teams who have several representatives.
Now, let's say you are one of those fans of a team with multiple representatives. This probably means that your team is competitive this year, and you would love to see your league win, so your team has homefield in the WFC. Commissioner Selig would lead you to believe that this is the most important thing in the WFC. Well, after last season, the home team is 4-3 in the WFC since the All-Star rule came into being. I am not saying that home field means nothing, but the evidence is not exactly overwhelming. Also, if you have multiple players in this game, you are probably just holding your breath the whole time, hoping that none of them gets hurt. I was pretty happy when they pulled Doc, and when Howard was lifted. I was just glad to see Howard as the DH. No chance he will collide with anyone in the field when he doesn't go on the field other than to strikeout. This is good news.
But is that all? People are not watching because the game is watered down? Well, I think there is more to it than that. This year's game was a bit of a sleeper. In the first several innings, it appeared that the sun prevented any hitter from seeing the ball, and when the starters are chucking the ball at 100mph, seeing the ball is important. The greatest hitter in baseball history got a hit basically 3 in every 8 times to the plate. That still means that even an average pitcher was going to win those other 5 times. Put the sun right in the batter's eyes and put well above average pitching on the mound, and the advantage is hugely in the pitcher's side. I have the utmost respect for talented pitching, and I can enjoy a good 1-0 game (especially when Doc is throwing a perfect game in a 1-0 game), but most fans are not into that. The 1990's ESPN commercial was right, chicks dig the long ball, and there were none of those after the derby. Not exactly a made for TV drama.
Also a factor, the pregame show. Erin and I watched a movie that night, and it ended around 835 PM. I recalled the All-Star game was set to begin at 8PM, so I flipped on Fox to see how it was going. Wrong. They were preparing the first pitch. Isn't that what a pregame show is for? So that when game time comes along, the game starts. Instead, the game started at 845PM. You are losing a large amount of your east coast audience as the night wears on, and many of your more represented teams (NYY, NYM, BOS, PHI, CIN, TB, ATL, etc) are going to fall in that category. Just like the WFC, you are losing some of the general audience when these game start too late for the east coast. Let's try starting the game at 8PM in the future, and not spending an hour doing pregame shit that no one really cares much about.
Lastly, maybe the general public is speaking up about the voices on the air. The portions of the game I watched were definitely less enjoyable listening to Joe Buck and Tim McCarver. I just cannot stand those fools. It seems like I am not the only one. Would it make me not watch something as a result? Well, I did listen to a lot of the playoff games in the past on the radio, and have the TV on just for visuals. So, yeah, I would say that it makes me think about whether I really want to watch something if I know Buck is doing it. What I want to know is, are there pro-Buck people out there? Many people complain about him, but he still calls many games. Do some people like him?
Anyway, just my thoughts on the ASG. Not exactly the most exciting night in sports. Of course it beats Chris Berman saying "back" 1,000 times the night before during the home run derby, and it also beats the ESPY's the night afterward. But the competition is not exactly too tough in that crowd.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Friday, July 2, 2010
ESPN, the Inquirer, and why my Dad is right
It has come to my attention recently, mostly just from reading my own posts here on this blog, that I have a lot of beefs with random things. I like to laugh about Erin's grandparents, and how they got so upset when people parked across from their driveway, even though neither of them had driven in several years. I laugh about my Grandfather, and how he apparently spent some time in the summer sitting in a lawn chair, by a stop sign, blowing his referee whistle at cars that did not properly stop. Old people have a lot of vendettas against random things. So do I. Maybe I laugh at them because I easily see why that upsets them, and it is a plight that everyone has experienced. It is a pain when people park near your driveway making it difficult for you to pull out, or even your friends if you don't drive. Sometimes I do wish I had a whistle in my car, so I could blow it at people who disobey basic traffic laws. In the Philly area, you would be out of breath every time you went for a drive.
This brings me to my point. A few months back, I thought that I was seeing my dad's first telltale sign of reaching that age, when complaining about things is just a part of daily life. I am not saying that my dad won't stand up for what he believes in, but I would say more often, my mom picks the consumer fights, and that is where the rest of us get it from. My dad however was growing increasingly unhappy with the writing in the sports section of the Philadelphia Inquirer. He felt that it was becoming mostly just opinion pieces, and that so many of the writers were becoming so negative. One of his favorites is when the writers attack Uncle Charlie. They love to harp on his lack of being able to do a double switch, small ball, etc. My dad thinks this is a crock. He is 56 years old, he has lived near the Philadelphia area his entire life. In those 56 years, the Phillies have made the playoffs exactly 9 times. 3 of those trips have happened in the last 3 years. In the 57 seasons he has been alive for, the team has finished with a winning record only 29 times. In this span their win percentage is 49.2%. During the Uncle Charlie era? 5 out of 5 winning seasons (6 if we count this year, but it is not over). Winning percentage? how about 55.0%. If you wanted to write in an era of complaining, you should have written for the Phils from 1918 to 1948. One winning season (78-76), a low water mark of a 27.8 Winning percent, and 6 seasons at 30% or less. That would be the era to hate on the Phils. It just seems as though these writers came here, knowing that the franchise is historically not good, and knew they could write angry stuff everyday. Well, not according to my dad.
So what did my dad do about this? He canceled his subscription to the Inquirer. This is probably a subscription that he has held for more than 25 years. I cannot remember a prolonged time in which we did not have the paper coming to the house. At first he was worried that he wouldn't not have his crossword puzzles to work on during the train rides, but he quickly learned that he could find other things to do. Here we are, now maybe 5 months into his cancellation, and I have never once heard him mention that he wants to go back. He just got tired of it. Realized that he wasn't enjoying reading it, so why bother? He even got a call from them one time, offering him a discount on the paper, or just the Sunday edition, which is bigger with more content. He asked if the same people wrote for them on the weekend. They said yes. He told them that didn't solve his problem then... so true!
So how does that relate to ESPN? Well, I have had this issue with ESPN in the past. I feel like they don't report on the day's best plays anymore. They report on so much crap. They have so many "analysts" on the shows, some of which are OK, most of which are terrible. I am not even sure who to put on the list of guys I despise who are on ESPN, but I think most people would know my least favorite (Merril Hoge), and he might need his own post sometime. That would have to be a day when I really want to get myself upset since I will need to read some of his stuff to cite examples. Ugh. Anyway, I would watch these shows like Baseball Tonight and Sportscenter, only to find myself frustrated that they won't show me the highlights, they just talk about everything instead. Gotta analyze why they think everything happens. Most of these guys are no more knowledgeable than I am. They always do this thing where they cite "sources". Who the fuck are these sources? The same sources who a month ago said the Big 12 was disbanding? The same sources who said Doc was coming to Philly last July? The same sources who know where LeBron is going? These sources are right as often as Merril Hoge's Championship predictions (ugh, back to him I go). For those not familiar with Hoge, this means they are terribly inaccurate.
A poster on Deadspin this morning did a good job of showing this yesterday. At one point in the afternoon, out of the 10 headlines on the main page, 4 of them read as follows:
"Source: Utley out 5-6 weeks for thumb surgery"
"Sources: Johnson likely staying with Hawks" (this one has a video too!!)
"Source: Stoudemire long shot to return to Suns" (Really?!?! There are 30 fucking teams in the league. If everyone had an equal share that is 1 in 30 chances he goes back there. Thanks for the newsflash asshole!!)
"Source: Chargers' Jackson Suspended" This one had a video and a link to a blog. I write a blog. My brother writes a blog. Is this your source.
Really? 40% of their stories cited "sources". How did they do with these stories? Well, later on news was released saying 8 weeks for Utley, that one is tough to grade. He did have surgery at least. Jackson was suspended, but not exactly going out on a limb. He did get a DUI for the second time. The middle 2? Well, who knows. But whether or not they come true, to me it doesn't matter. It is just some person writing an opinion that this person will or will not return to their team. Your guess is as good as mine is as good as theirs.
Even at the writing of this story, 2 of the 10 headlines begin with "Sources", while a 3rd starts with "Rumors". Oh but I can't read that one, you have to be an insider. Seriously. I would need to pay them to hear about those rumors. Unreal. Who is Buster Olney? Why is his opinion on these things worth anything? Not only that, but if this story becomes true, it will be a headline anyway. It will say something like this mornings article that says "Utley out 8 weeks with Thumb Injury". Whew, saved myself the Insider Fee.
Other articles currently posted on ESPN.com that would require me to pay to read them:
"Peter Keating: The truth about World Cup Shootouts" - This is a tournament that has been going on for 80 years. I think by now we have a good idea about how they work, but apparently this guys knows something we don't. Let me get my wallet.
"E.J. Hradek: Free Agency Day 1 winners and losers" - We know who won already? Really? Interesting. This asshole probably thought that the Phillies sending Larry Bowa and Ryne Sandberg to the Cubs for Ivonne DeJesus was a winner for the Phils at the time. How can we judge these deals before any of them play any games? Dumb.
"Joe Lunardi (also the bracketologist): Expect a Pac-10 surge after last year's low" - In other words, expect a conference who has routinely put out powerhouse teams, won championships, and dominated NCAA football for the last 10-15 years to have some success next year. So bold. Thanks for that Joe. I have one for you. Expect the Yankees to win another World Series this century. Dope.
So what am I doing about this? Well, I have stopped watching things on ESPN unless it is a specific sport, or a documentary. I will watch Sunday Night baseball, Monday Night Football, and 30 for 30. If I want baseball news, I will watch MLB Network, or I will go on yahoo sports and just read the story. They are a big part of my thoughts on why I still have cable. Half of the shows that come on my TV just bother me, so why have them? Why watch ESPN? Why go to their website? Maybe if I didn't have them, in 6 months, I wouldn't be looking back either, just like my dad and his paper.
I long for the days watching Sportscenter with my brother in the living room when we were little. I could not stand Charlie Steiner then because he just read the news. When it was him and Bob Ley, those were the worst. All news, no character. Kilborn and Olberman, now there was a team. Sadly, from there it went to Stuart Scott, and all these dumb promotions in the middle of SC, Peter Gammons leaving Baseball Tonight, and we are left with a bunch of highly opinionated, supposedly highly plugged in, ultimately blathering assholes. Well Done ESPN. Well done. I am ready for my 80s right now.
This brings me to my point. A few months back, I thought that I was seeing my dad's first telltale sign of reaching that age, when complaining about things is just a part of daily life. I am not saying that my dad won't stand up for what he believes in, but I would say more often, my mom picks the consumer fights, and that is where the rest of us get it from. My dad however was growing increasingly unhappy with the writing in the sports section of the Philadelphia Inquirer. He felt that it was becoming mostly just opinion pieces, and that so many of the writers were becoming so negative. One of his favorites is when the writers attack Uncle Charlie. They love to harp on his lack of being able to do a double switch, small ball, etc. My dad thinks this is a crock. He is 56 years old, he has lived near the Philadelphia area his entire life. In those 56 years, the Phillies have made the playoffs exactly 9 times. 3 of those trips have happened in the last 3 years. In the 57 seasons he has been alive for, the team has finished with a winning record only 29 times. In this span their win percentage is 49.2%. During the Uncle Charlie era? 5 out of 5 winning seasons (6 if we count this year, but it is not over). Winning percentage? how about 55.0%. If you wanted to write in an era of complaining, you should have written for the Phils from 1918 to 1948. One winning season (78-76), a low water mark of a 27.8 Winning percent, and 6 seasons at 30% or less. That would be the era to hate on the Phils. It just seems as though these writers came here, knowing that the franchise is historically not good, and knew they could write angry stuff everyday. Well, not according to my dad.
So what did my dad do about this? He canceled his subscription to the Inquirer. This is probably a subscription that he has held for more than 25 years. I cannot remember a prolonged time in which we did not have the paper coming to the house. At first he was worried that he wouldn't not have his crossword puzzles to work on during the train rides, but he quickly learned that he could find other things to do. Here we are, now maybe 5 months into his cancellation, and I have never once heard him mention that he wants to go back. He just got tired of it. Realized that he wasn't enjoying reading it, so why bother? He even got a call from them one time, offering him a discount on the paper, or just the Sunday edition, which is bigger with more content. He asked if the same people wrote for them on the weekend. They said yes. He told them that didn't solve his problem then... so true!
So how does that relate to ESPN? Well, I have had this issue with ESPN in the past. I feel like they don't report on the day's best plays anymore. They report on so much crap. They have so many "analysts" on the shows, some of which are OK, most of which are terrible. I am not even sure who to put on the list of guys I despise who are on ESPN, but I think most people would know my least favorite (Merril Hoge), and he might need his own post sometime. That would have to be a day when I really want to get myself upset since I will need to read some of his stuff to cite examples. Ugh. Anyway, I would watch these shows like Baseball Tonight and Sportscenter, only to find myself frustrated that they won't show me the highlights, they just talk about everything instead. Gotta analyze why they think everything happens. Most of these guys are no more knowledgeable than I am. They always do this thing where they cite "sources". Who the fuck are these sources? The same sources who a month ago said the Big 12 was disbanding? The same sources who said Doc was coming to Philly last July? The same sources who know where LeBron is going? These sources are right as often as Merril Hoge's Championship predictions (ugh, back to him I go). For those not familiar with Hoge, this means they are terribly inaccurate.
A poster on Deadspin this morning did a good job of showing this yesterday. At one point in the afternoon, out of the 10 headlines on the main page, 4 of them read as follows:
"Source: Utley out 5-6 weeks for thumb surgery"
"Sources: Johnson likely staying with Hawks" (this one has a video too!!)
"Source: Stoudemire long shot to return to Suns" (Really?!?! There are 30 fucking teams in the league. If everyone had an equal share that is 1 in 30 chances he goes back there. Thanks for the newsflash asshole!!)
"Source: Chargers' Jackson Suspended" This one had a video and a link to a blog. I write a blog. My brother writes a blog. Is this your source.
Really? 40% of their stories cited "sources". How did they do with these stories? Well, later on news was released saying 8 weeks for Utley, that one is tough to grade. He did have surgery at least. Jackson was suspended, but not exactly going out on a limb. He did get a DUI for the second time. The middle 2? Well, who knows. But whether or not they come true, to me it doesn't matter. It is just some person writing an opinion that this person will or will not return to their team. Your guess is as good as mine is as good as theirs.
Even at the writing of this story, 2 of the 10 headlines begin with "Sources", while a 3rd starts with "Rumors". Oh but I can't read that one, you have to be an insider. Seriously. I would need to pay them to hear about those rumors. Unreal. Who is Buster Olney? Why is his opinion on these things worth anything? Not only that, but if this story becomes true, it will be a headline anyway. It will say something like this mornings article that says "Utley out 8 weeks with Thumb Injury". Whew, saved myself the Insider Fee.
Other articles currently posted on ESPN.com that would require me to pay to read them:
"Peter Keating: The truth about World Cup Shootouts" - This is a tournament that has been going on for 80 years. I think by now we have a good idea about how they work, but apparently this guys knows something we don't. Let me get my wallet.
"E.J. Hradek: Free Agency Day 1 winners and losers" - We know who won already? Really? Interesting. This asshole probably thought that the Phillies sending Larry Bowa and Ryne Sandberg to the Cubs for Ivonne DeJesus was a winner for the Phils at the time. How can we judge these deals before any of them play any games? Dumb.
"Joe Lunardi (also the bracketologist): Expect a Pac-10 surge after last year's low" - In other words, expect a conference who has routinely put out powerhouse teams, won championships, and dominated NCAA football for the last 10-15 years to have some success next year. So bold. Thanks for that Joe. I have one for you. Expect the Yankees to win another World Series this century. Dope.
So what am I doing about this? Well, I have stopped watching things on ESPN unless it is a specific sport, or a documentary. I will watch Sunday Night baseball, Monday Night Football, and 30 for 30. If I want baseball news, I will watch MLB Network, or I will go on yahoo sports and just read the story. They are a big part of my thoughts on why I still have cable. Half of the shows that come on my TV just bother me, so why have them? Why watch ESPN? Why go to their website? Maybe if I didn't have them, in 6 months, I wouldn't be looking back either, just like my dad and his paper.
I long for the days watching Sportscenter with my brother in the living room when we were little. I could not stand Charlie Steiner then because he just read the news. When it was him and Bob Ley, those were the worst. All news, no character. Kilborn and Olberman, now there was a team. Sadly, from there it went to Stuart Scott, and all these dumb promotions in the middle of SC, Peter Gammons leaving Baseball Tonight, and we are left with a bunch of highly opinionated, supposedly highly plugged in, ultimately blathering assholes. Well Done ESPN. Well done. I am ready for my 80s right now.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
When Wizards are Misguided
It is not often that a wizard makes a poor choice. Obi-Wan Kenobi, who some called that crazy old wizard, may have appeared to make a poor choice when he fought Darth Vader only to be destroyed. However, he became immortal, and helped Luke the entire time. I bet Vader was sad that he had done that, thereby making this a great decision by a wizard.
I however, had a different experience with a wizard. The wizard in question is shown here:
He may look innocent enough, and it would appear that he had good intentions. However you will quickly understand that this wizard made a poor choice. He did however make good on this later.
In June of 2009, I placed a call to this wizard in question. He sent one of his pupils out to meet with me and discuss all of my wizarding needs. We looked at three particular places in my house where a wizard of his caliber was required, and we reached an agreed price. As part of his wizarding work, he would also leave me with an opportunity to make some of my recently spent funds back. Through an agency that the head wizard himself endorsed, MyFreeTravel, we could send in $100 worth of receipts from the grocery store of our choice each month, and we would receive a $25 Visa gift card. I agreed, and the wizarding went off without a hitch (it truely was quite a wizarding session, with the windows being fully removed in a matter of minutes).
Now we move ahead a month or so. Time to register with MyFreeTravel to get my grocery rebates. As part of the registration process, one must send in some information such as the store you will shop at, address, etc. You also send in a $9.95 registration fee, which will be reimbursed after your first month of successful participation (this was explained to me that in order for the agency to make money, they had to have people participating. If you just mail in your info and never do it, it costs them money to make the account, process your papers, but then the grocery store will not pay them if you dont shop there. Seems fair.)
So, in August of 2009, I successfully signed up, and beginning in September of 2009, we would commence shopping at out newly designated shopatorium, SuperG. As if naming your store Giant does not imply the size of the footprint alone, this store is a Super Giant. Even bigger than giant. Huge.
September of 2009 comes, and we easily spend out $100 at SuperG. All receipts were collected, mailed in, and posted to their website. Things are looking good. October continues in the same fashion, with more than $100 spent, and receipts mailed. Again, this is posted on MyFreeTravel's website. At this point, I have not received my first gift card, but it did say that it can take 6-8 weeks for your first one to arrive, then you would get them in 4-6 weeks afterwards.
Now we are well into November, still no signs of a gift card. I contact MyFreeTravel, and they inform me that they are having some processing problems, and not to worry. They will get these gift cards out soon. OK, so we continue spending at SuperG.
Now it is December, still no signs of gift cards. Also, at this point, they have not acknowledged my November receipts. This doesn't seem good. Time to contact them again. This time, I do not receive an answer via email. So we try a phone call. After waiting, literally more than an hour, I speak to someone. This person tells me that they will have to get back to me. I do not like where this is going.
One week passes, no word back. I call again, wait again, and am told that the person I spoke to is not in and I would need to call back. I began to explain how this was not acceptable, and the person just hung up. This is definitely not looking good.
It is at this point that I contact the Wizard again. Time to find out if I am the only one having trouble. From the sounds of it, there were others having trouble. A Wizarding representative tells me they will look into the matter and get back to me. So, we continue waiting.
End of December rolls around, and now we reach a new low point. The website tracking these rebates has disappeared and left behind only a text document posted on a blank website saying that they could no longer fulfill any rebates submitted after December 1 2009. This would make me think that I should at least be receiving 3 rebates, and then we could figure out what happens. I contacted the Wizard again, and received a message that they would be attempting to solve this in the near future. I also then filed a report with the Illinois Attorney General's office (this was a first for me, but the form was easy). I also filled out a claim on the BBB website. If you look them up now, they have a rating of F. Pretty hilarious.
If you did a google search this afternoon for MyFreeTravel, you will see that there are numerous folks with the same problem that I have. The Wizard was not the only one who vouched for this company, and the Wizard would not be the only one taking a hit on this one.
In February of 2010, the Wizard himself mails a letter to those involved in this scam. He apologized for what happened, said that it was his decision to work with this promotion, and one he regretted. As a result, he would offer us $500 towards a future project if we agreed to free them from any future litigation. You could also get a $50 Visa gift card, again freeing them from blame.
Hard to imagine that the Wizard could not utter some enchantment to force MyFreeTravel into handing over the loot. It is also hard to imagine how much money these people may have walked off with. Thinking of not only the $10 that the participants mailed in, but also the money that was sent to them by Windowizards to run the promotion, the money sent to them by grocery stores to include them in the choices, and the gift cards that may or may not have been purchased. It seems like a lot of money that just went missing. The AG's office has said that they are pursuing them, but that it appears as though the company is bankrupt, and had no funds to seize to distribute to those who were hosed.
In the end, we needed a new front door and storm door, so we had $500 to use towards this door. I also squeezed the Wizard a little more and got a discount on the whole order.
So the lesson, when I saw that there was a registration fee it was probably time to get the Wizard involved. The deal was not as advertised, and should have been suspicious right there. If any of you come across a similar sounding offer, I would avoid it. There have been multiple processors doing this, and all have gone belly up in the last few years, taking the money with them. Wizards make mistakes too.
I however, had a different experience with a wizard. The wizard in question is shown here:
He may look innocent enough, and it would appear that he had good intentions. However you will quickly understand that this wizard made a poor choice. He did however make good on this later.
In June of 2009, I placed a call to this wizard in question. He sent one of his pupils out to meet with me and discuss all of my wizarding needs. We looked at three particular places in my house where a wizard of his caliber was required, and we reached an agreed price. As part of his wizarding work, he would also leave me with an opportunity to make some of my recently spent funds back. Through an agency that the head wizard himself endorsed, MyFreeTravel, we could send in $100 worth of receipts from the grocery store of our choice each month, and we would receive a $25 Visa gift card. I agreed, and the wizarding went off without a hitch (it truely was quite a wizarding session, with the windows being fully removed in a matter of minutes).
Now we move ahead a month or so. Time to register with MyFreeTravel to get my grocery rebates. As part of the registration process, one must send in some information such as the store you will shop at, address, etc. You also send in a $9.95 registration fee, which will be reimbursed after your first month of successful participation (this was explained to me that in order for the agency to make money, they had to have people participating. If you just mail in your info and never do it, it costs them money to make the account, process your papers, but then the grocery store will not pay them if you dont shop there. Seems fair.)
So, in August of 2009, I successfully signed up, and beginning in September of 2009, we would commence shopping at out newly designated shopatorium, SuperG. As if naming your store Giant does not imply the size of the footprint alone, this store is a Super Giant. Even bigger than giant. Huge.
September of 2009 comes, and we easily spend out $100 at SuperG. All receipts were collected, mailed in, and posted to their website. Things are looking good. October continues in the same fashion, with more than $100 spent, and receipts mailed. Again, this is posted on MyFreeTravel's website. At this point, I have not received my first gift card, but it did say that it can take 6-8 weeks for your first one to arrive, then you would get them in 4-6 weeks afterwards.
Now we are well into November, still no signs of a gift card. I contact MyFreeTravel, and they inform me that they are having some processing problems, and not to worry. They will get these gift cards out soon. OK, so we continue spending at SuperG.
Now it is December, still no signs of gift cards. Also, at this point, they have not acknowledged my November receipts. This doesn't seem good. Time to contact them again. This time, I do not receive an answer via email. So we try a phone call. After waiting, literally more than an hour, I speak to someone. This person tells me that they will have to get back to me. I do not like where this is going.
One week passes, no word back. I call again, wait again, and am told that the person I spoke to is not in and I would need to call back. I began to explain how this was not acceptable, and the person just hung up. This is definitely not looking good.
It is at this point that I contact the Wizard again. Time to find out if I am the only one having trouble. From the sounds of it, there were others having trouble. A Wizarding representative tells me they will look into the matter and get back to me. So, we continue waiting.
End of December rolls around, and now we reach a new low point. The website tracking these rebates has disappeared and left behind only a text document posted on a blank website saying that they could no longer fulfill any rebates submitted after December 1 2009. This would make me think that I should at least be receiving 3 rebates, and then we could figure out what happens. I contacted the Wizard again, and received a message that they would be attempting to solve this in the near future. I also then filed a report with the Illinois Attorney General's office (this was a first for me, but the form was easy). I also filled out a claim on the BBB website. If you look them up now, they have a rating of F. Pretty hilarious.
If you did a google search this afternoon for MyFreeTravel, you will see that there are numerous folks with the same problem that I have. The Wizard was not the only one who vouched for this company, and the Wizard would not be the only one taking a hit on this one.
In February of 2010, the Wizard himself mails a letter to those involved in this scam. He apologized for what happened, said that it was his decision to work with this promotion, and one he regretted. As a result, he would offer us $500 towards a future project if we agreed to free them from any future litigation. You could also get a $50 Visa gift card, again freeing them from blame.
Hard to imagine that the Wizard could not utter some enchantment to force MyFreeTravel into handing over the loot. It is also hard to imagine how much money these people may have walked off with. Thinking of not only the $10 that the participants mailed in, but also the money that was sent to them by Windowizards to run the promotion, the money sent to them by grocery stores to include them in the choices, and the gift cards that may or may not have been purchased. It seems like a lot of money that just went missing. The AG's office has said that they are pursuing them, but that it appears as though the company is bankrupt, and had no funds to seize to distribute to those who were hosed.
In the end, we needed a new front door and storm door, so we had $500 to use towards this door. I also squeezed the Wizard a little more and got a discount on the whole order.
So the lesson, when I saw that there was a registration fee it was probably time to get the Wizard involved. The deal was not as advertised, and should have been suspicious right there. If any of you come across a similar sounding offer, I would avoid it. There have been multiple processors doing this, and all have gone belly up in the last few years, taking the money with them. Wizards make mistakes too.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Let's Play "Do I really need it"
For years, I have bitched about cable companies. Every year it seems as though the price just keeps creeping up. If you call them up and complain, they will typically allow you to reduce the price increase, and they will offer you some free shit in return. I call it "shit" because that is exactly what it is. "Hey, if you stay with us, for just $10 more we will give you these 5 channels on Russian Art History and a live, Underwater Basket Weaving channel!!!"
Thanks, but no thanks. For the longest time, I have just kind of gone about my ways, continuing to call up various cable companies every 6 months, to complain about the high price, only to end up paying $5 more than I was before, and with some additional perk I will never use. About a year ago, I signed up for FiOS at my new house. I figured I would give them a try and see if things were really any different. You probably still see ads in your neighborhood about some bundle deal with the best cable package, some internet, and a phone line for $99 per month. That is the plan I am on right now, where the "phone line" I have is my existing Verizon cell phone. This is something that no matter what Comcast/Xfinity does, they cannot offer me a cell phone. So, for $99, this is not too shabby.
Well, then we get into the additional fees. The most annoying one is the rental fee for the boxes. With FiOS, and now with I guess almost all cable companies, you need a box for every TV in the house. The basic, no frills, standard definition box is $5.99 per month. I have two of those, one on a TV that gets little use, but would be almost useless otherwise. Then, we have the main box. This one has the DVR on it, High Def tuner, and Home Media DVR which allows me to watch the shows I record on this DVR in any room in the house (assuming I record it in Standard Def). How much for this little gem? $16.99 per month. That brings my equipment fees up to basically another $30 per month. This is for just 3 tvs. My parents house has probably 10 tvs. You would be looking at a minimum of $60 per month to cable all the TVs. If the TV doesn't have cable, then it is not as valuable either. So, hard to decide whether you would box all of them.
Recently, I started talking with Erin a lot about maybe removing cable. If I just did a really nice internet package with no bundle at all, it would cost in the neighborhood of $50 per month. This leaves me $80 per month to work with until I would be better off paying for cable. What could be done with this $80 to still enjoy the shows we like?
Well, I understand that Hulu will save the last 5 episodes of many of the shows we like to watch. For Erin and I, this list of shows includes, House, Law and Order CI, Law and Order SVU, probably Law and Order LA, NCIS, NCIS LA (who doesn't love them some crime shows!!), 30 Rock, Community, Office, Family Guy, Simpsons and usually we will try some other shows each season (this year it was Forgotten and Flashforward, in the past we had Pushing Daisies, Parks and Rec, and probably others).
From my work computer, I cant access Hulu, but I recall that some of these shows are offered for the last 5 episodes. These are free, and if we did a good job keeping up with them, we would not need to pay for any of these episodes.
Let's pretend though that we missed them. All of them. So we are looking at a worst case now. We have to pay for all of the shows. ITunes will sell them to you. And I guess that episode is then yours forever at $3. So, let's see how much it would cost to buy all of these episodes.
For House, there were 22 shows last season, so we are looking at $66. Simpsons had 23 episodes and Family Guy with 21, adding $132 to the total bringing us to $198. Law and Order SVU had 24 episodes, CI had 16, and LA is slated to have 13 episodes for now. This makes LaO $159, bringing our total to $357. 30 Rock had 22 episodes, Office had 26, and Community had 25 episodes, making Thursday Night cost $219, for a total of $576. NCIS had 24 episodes and NCIS LA had 24, making NCIS cost $144, and a new total of $720.
The $80 per month gives us $960 to use for the year until we have spent more than the cost of cable at today's price. It should be pointed out the prices above are assuming that we dont get any episodes for free, and that we buy each episode from ITunes. Throw in a few shows that we watch occasionally, and we might be getting closer to the $960.
Another thought. On September 21 2010, Law and Order SVU Season 11 comes to DVD (the season that just ended). The price is listed as $54. We would have paid $72 through ITunes. I also think that every year, around Black Friday, these shows go on sale. I think it is very possible to buy them for less than $40, but that means you have waited a full season to catch up on last season. It is a trade off. In return, you have now purchased these episodes and you own them forever, rather than just having them on a DVR that you watch once and then erase. Good or bad, this method makes these episodes yours.
The last thought on this issue is Sports. I mostly use my TV for live entertainment when I am watching sports. Rabbit ears will get me all of the Eagles Games, minus Monday Night Football. I will not see the majority of Phillies and Flyers games, but the radio will carry them. I would also be able to see golf majors, March Madness, Super Bowl, World Series, etc. I would lose some of my live sports, but to save how much?
Thoughts? Could this be done? What do you do with the time that right now you spend just watching a little TV? Would we all sleep better if we didn't watch TV at night? At what point do you just decide that the convenience of cable is worth the extra $XXX?
Thanks, but no thanks. For the longest time, I have just kind of gone about my ways, continuing to call up various cable companies every 6 months, to complain about the high price, only to end up paying $5 more than I was before, and with some additional perk I will never use. About a year ago, I signed up for FiOS at my new house. I figured I would give them a try and see if things were really any different. You probably still see ads in your neighborhood about some bundle deal with the best cable package, some internet, and a phone line for $99 per month. That is the plan I am on right now, where the "phone line" I have is my existing Verizon cell phone. This is something that no matter what Comcast/Xfinity does, they cannot offer me a cell phone. So, for $99, this is not too shabby.
Well, then we get into the additional fees. The most annoying one is the rental fee for the boxes. With FiOS, and now with I guess almost all cable companies, you need a box for every TV in the house. The basic, no frills, standard definition box is $5.99 per month. I have two of those, one on a TV that gets little use, but would be almost useless otherwise. Then, we have the main box. This one has the DVR on it, High Def tuner, and Home Media DVR which allows me to watch the shows I record on this DVR in any room in the house (assuming I record it in Standard Def). How much for this little gem? $16.99 per month. That brings my equipment fees up to basically another $30 per month. This is for just 3 tvs. My parents house has probably 10 tvs. You would be looking at a minimum of $60 per month to cable all the TVs. If the TV doesn't have cable, then it is not as valuable either. So, hard to decide whether you would box all of them.
Recently, I started talking with Erin a lot about maybe removing cable. If I just did a really nice internet package with no bundle at all, it would cost in the neighborhood of $50 per month. This leaves me $80 per month to work with until I would be better off paying for cable. What could be done with this $80 to still enjoy the shows we like?
Well, I understand that Hulu will save the last 5 episodes of many of the shows we like to watch. For Erin and I, this list of shows includes, House, Law and Order CI, Law and Order SVU, probably Law and Order LA, NCIS, NCIS LA (who doesn't love them some crime shows!!), 30 Rock, Community, Office, Family Guy, Simpsons and usually we will try some other shows each season (this year it was Forgotten and Flashforward, in the past we had Pushing Daisies, Parks and Rec, and probably others).
From my work computer, I cant access Hulu, but I recall that some of these shows are offered for the last 5 episodes. These are free, and if we did a good job keeping up with them, we would not need to pay for any of these episodes.
Let's pretend though that we missed them. All of them. So we are looking at a worst case now. We have to pay for all of the shows. ITunes will sell them to you. And I guess that episode is then yours forever at $3. So, let's see how much it would cost to buy all of these episodes.
For House, there were 22 shows last season, so we are looking at $66. Simpsons had 23 episodes and Family Guy with 21, adding $132 to the total bringing us to $198. Law and Order SVU had 24 episodes, CI had 16, and LA is slated to have 13 episodes for now. This makes LaO $159, bringing our total to $357. 30 Rock had 22 episodes, Office had 26, and Community had 25 episodes, making Thursday Night cost $219, for a total of $576. NCIS had 24 episodes and NCIS LA had 24, making NCIS cost $144, and a new total of $720.
The $80 per month gives us $960 to use for the year until we have spent more than the cost of cable at today's price. It should be pointed out the prices above are assuming that we dont get any episodes for free, and that we buy each episode from ITunes. Throw in a few shows that we watch occasionally, and we might be getting closer to the $960.
Another thought. On September 21 2010, Law and Order SVU Season 11 comes to DVD (the season that just ended). The price is listed as $54. We would have paid $72 through ITunes. I also think that every year, around Black Friday, these shows go on sale. I think it is very possible to buy them for less than $40, but that means you have waited a full season to catch up on last season. It is a trade off. In return, you have now purchased these episodes and you own them forever, rather than just having them on a DVR that you watch once and then erase. Good or bad, this method makes these episodes yours.
The last thought on this issue is Sports. I mostly use my TV for live entertainment when I am watching sports. Rabbit ears will get me all of the Eagles Games, minus Monday Night Football. I will not see the majority of Phillies and Flyers games, but the radio will carry them. I would also be able to see golf majors, March Madness, Super Bowl, World Series, etc. I would lose some of my live sports, but to save how much?
Thoughts? Could this be done? What do you do with the time that right now you spend just watching a little TV? Would we all sleep better if we didn't watch TV at night? At what point do you just decide that the convenience of cable is worth the extra $XXX?
Thursday, June 24, 2010
C&C Stuff Factory: Boarded up and heading home
Yesterday marked the end of an era. The ebay store, most famously known as C&C Stuff Factory, closed up shop yesterday to minimal fanfare. After a 2 year run on the market, rising ebay fees doomed the young store. I wrote a recent post describing the problems with the store in the new ebay fee structure, and after some more thought, it just seemed like this was the time to close up. As it was, the fees ebay charged to remain open were close to the profits on the items, but with 4xing the listing fees on me, the margin became small enough to the point where most of my items would cost more to list than I would be able to profit. Breaking even, or losing money, was not the intentions of C&C Stuff Factory.
I would not say that this ends my schemes at making money. That is the nice thing about get rich quick ideas. You might have a bunch that fail, but you just need that one to work, and then you are rich. And you don't have to go to work. Or bathe. Or do anything you don't want to do. So, we shall see what the next idea brings. One idea is in the works right now, with my brother being the lead on this project. Maybe a future post can detail some of that plan, but first I will need to consult with him on the public release notes.
The blog however will continue. Still many good things (and bad things) to talk about so stay tuned!
I would not say that this ends my schemes at making money. That is the nice thing about get rich quick ideas. You might have a bunch that fail, but you just need that one to work, and then you are rich. And you don't have to go to work. Or bathe. Or do anything you don't want to do. So, we shall see what the next idea brings. One idea is in the works right now, with my brother being the lead on this project. Maybe a future post can detail some of that plan, but first I will need to consult with him on the public release notes.
The blog however will continue. Still many good things (and bad things) to talk about so stay tuned!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Do you feel more special?
Today's post is more of a poll than anything else. I had this dispute now with a few different vendors, most notable my mortgage lender and the Phillies. If you are reading this, and at this point trying to figure out how someone could manage to have the same argument with the Phillies as you would have with your mortgage lender, then I suggest you read on.
How many of us receive mail that is addressed to you? Of course, most of us do. However, sometimes you may note that it comes addressed to Mr or Ms. To many of you, I am sure that this goes unnoticed. For a guy like me, who has a name that can be used for either gender, I notice this a lot. (Take for instance Robin Roberts, you could discuss the Hall of Fame pitcher for the Phils, or the broadcaster for ESPN and others, one male, one female, same exact name).
The discussion that I have had with these places, is why bother addressing the envelope to a Mr. or Ms. at all? Why not just send the information to Robin Czyzewicz. I was super unhappy when I got a letter from my mortgage lender addressed to Ms. Robin Czyzewicz. I had recently taken out a $200,000 mortgage with them, on which they would make $100,000s, and they have no idea whether I have a penis or a vagina. Would I have felt any more special had they acknowledged my proper genitals? Probably not. It would go mostly unnoticed. The time I notice it is when they mess it up. It just leaves them hanging out there to look bad.
The same thing came up with the Phillies. I organized a trip for 100 people to the game tomorrow night. When I made the final payment on the tickets, for roughly $4,000, the tickets came in the mail a few days later, addressed to none other than, Ms. Robin Czyzewicz. I realize that to the Phillies, $4,000 is no big deal. To me, charging that purchase, and the organizing the group, was a big deal. For them to turn around and guess at whether I am a male or female just seemed stupid. Again, it added nothing to the conversation, other than to leave them looking stupid, and me pissed off. I called them up and they did not have a great explanation for this mixup. In the system, they have a spot for Mr. or Ms. on their account, and mine was not filled it. Now it had been adjusted, but I still am not sure where the error originally came from.
Having dealt with gender confusion due to my name for my entire life, I usually let it roll off my back. Sometimes though, it really bothers me, especially when it is with big business. If I were running a company, I would just send the mailings to. I have met plenty of people with gender bending names, and I am sure I am not alone. Just send my mail to Robin.
So, how do you guys feel? When you get mail that is specifically addressed acknowledged your genitals, does it make you feel better? Do you even notice? Have you received one in error before? And why bother?
How many of us receive mail that is addressed to you? Of course, most of us do. However, sometimes you may note that it comes addressed to Mr or Ms
The discussion that I have had with these places, is why bother addressing the envelope to a Mr. or Ms. at all? Why not just send the information to Robin Czyzewicz. I was super unhappy when I got a letter from my mortgage lender addressed to Ms. Robin Czyzewicz. I had recently taken out a $200,000 mortgage with them, on which they would make $100,000s, and they have no idea whether I have a penis or a vagina. Would I have felt any more special had they acknowledged my proper genitals? Probably not. It would go mostly unnoticed. The time I notice it is when they mess it up. It just leaves them hanging out there to look bad.
The same thing came up with the Phillies. I organized a trip for 100 people to the game tomorrow night. When I made the final payment on the tickets, for roughly $4,000, the tickets came in the mail a few days later, addressed to none other than, Ms. Robin Czyzewicz. I realize that to the Phillies, $4,000 is no big deal. To me, charging that purchase, and the organizing the group, was a big deal. For them to turn around and guess at whether I am a male or female just seemed stupid. Again, it added nothing to the conversation, other than to leave them looking stupid, and me pissed off. I called them up and they did not have a great explanation for this mixup. In the system, they have a spot for Mr. or Ms. on their account, and mine was not filled it. Now it had been adjusted, but I still am not sure where the error originally came from.
Having dealt with gender confusion due to my name for my entire life, I usually let it roll off my back. Sometimes though, it really bothers me, especially when it is with big business. If I were running a company, I would just send the mailings to
So, how do you guys feel? When you get mail that is specifically addressed acknowledged your genitals, does it make you feel better? Do you even notice? Have you received one in error before? And why bother?
Friday, June 18, 2010
Turning point for the Ebay store
So, the store is hitting a crossroads again, and it is time to figure out what the intentions are. It has been fun having the store around, but the problem right now is this...
When the store opened, my brother and I had just sold all of our N64 games and system for roughly $250. The store fees were $15 per month, and that allowed you to list 250 items in your store inventory at $0.05 per listing. These listings would then last 30 days, before being relisted and charging an additional $0.05. Not a big fee. When the item sold, you would pay the ebay fees as usual. I was finding that for the popular book titles, like Batman, the title would usually last about 2 months. This would mean the fee would be about $0.10. There were also many other titles being offered, and they would typically be on the market for a good 4-6 months, some have never sold. So, these texts slowly rack up fees, but someday they may sell, and even if they sit there for 2 years, it would cost me $1.20. The average amount I making on a book is just a bit over $2, and the books cost about $1. So, if the book sits for 2 years, I roughly break even. I still think it looks better to have a big store inventory rather than remove titles.
Fastforward now to the present day, and ebay's new fee structure. For the basic store plan, it now costs $0.20 to list the items, with relisting every 30 days. The fees quadrupled!! For these books where I am trying to make just a little profit on each, this fee hike is killer. I just sold a book that was listed on Monday night. The title went for $4, including shipping. Shipping cost $1.90, and the ebay fees, including paypal, added another $1.10. This meant that I got $1 for the book, which cost me just about $1. So in other words, a book that sold in its first listing, profited virtually 0, whereas before it would have at least profitted something. Granted this was a non-Batman title, so the price was lower, but still.
So, can my model work? I am thinking not. To get the fees back to the $0.05 listing price, you need to upgrade to the $50/month store, which is significant. I think, sadly, this may spell the end of my ebay store, unless I can find a new business model quickly.
When the store opened, my brother and I had just sold all of our N64 games and system for roughly $250. The store fees were $15 per month, and that allowed you to list 250 items in your store inventory at $0.05 per listing. These listings would then last 30 days, before being relisted and charging an additional $0.05. Not a big fee. When the item sold, you would pay the ebay fees as usual. I was finding that for the popular book titles, like Batman, the title would usually last about 2 months. This would mean the fee would be about $0.10. There were also many other titles being offered, and they would typically be on the market for a good 4-6 months, some have never sold. So, these texts slowly rack up fees, but someday they may sell, and even if they sit there for 2 years, it would cost me $1.20. The average amount I making on a book is just a bit over $2, and the books cost about $1. So, if the book sits for 2 years, I roughly break even. I still think it looks better to have a big store inventory rather than remove titles.
Fastforward now to the present day, and ebay's new fee structure. For the basic store plan, it now costs $0.20 to list the items, with relisting every 30 days. The fees quadrupled!! For these books where I am trying to make just a little profit on each, this fee hike is killer. I just sold a book that was listed on Monday night. The title went for $4, including shipping. Shipping cost $1.90, and the ebay fees, including paypal, added another $1.10. This meant that I got $1 for the book, which cost me just about $1. So in other words, a book that sold in its first listing, profited virtually 0, whereas before it would have at least profitted something. Granted this was a non-Batman title, so the price was lower, but still.
So, can my model work? I am thinking not. To get the fees back to the $0.05 listing price, you need to upgrade to the $50/month store, which is significant. I think, sadly, this may spell the end of my ebay store, unless I can find a new business model quickly.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
A good experience
So with all the complaining, it is good to mix in some stories of places who seem to do things the right way. Lowe's has been very good to us in the last few months with allowing items to be returned opened, beyond 60 days, and without receipts. Here is how it has gone.
Back in November of last year, Erin, myself, and many helpers, constructed a new railing in our house. The prep for this project began in the fall, with the wood pieces being stained and sealed. We had one large trip to Lowes in September in which we dropped $1200, including a coupon which got us 10% off. As part of this trip we bought not only all the wood pieces we would need, but also an array of hardware we thought we might use to do the install. Of course, this was based on just some basic internet research into building and installing a railing, something none of us had ever done.
By the time we finished the install in the middle of November, we had numerous ideas that did not pan out (several of them are well documented in photos on facebook for those interested). At this point however, we were past 60 days since the purchase had been made, so it was tough to say whether they would accept these items back.
I took them to Lowe's, with receipt at least, and the woman told me that the items were beyond 60 days, but she could see it was a big order, so she issued me a store gift card for the returns (which was for only about $30). This was such a good decision, since we had spent so much money, and only wanted to return a fraction of it. Why chase someone to a different store over such a small amount?
Later, Erin and I decided to remodel our powder room. Another trip to Lowe's, another $1200 on the Lowe's card. This time, when the project was over, we had just a few small items to return, but I could not find the receipt of hand. I recalled that if you had the card you charged it to, that was enough, and receipt would not be needed. So off we went to the store. 3 of the items returned without a problem, but a 4th, which was one piece of crown molding, would not come up. He scanned it again, and again, to no avail. I was sure that it was on this credit card, but it jut wouldn't work. Erin and I decided that the problem was we have purchased 4 of what we thought were the same items, but it turned out that we had 2 of one color and 2 of another slightly different color. As a result, they had different UPC labels I am sure. When we checked out though, we just told the woman we had 4 of these, and handed her one to scan. There was a good chance this item was never really checked out. So what do you do?
Well, it was a $3 item, so the guy just decided to hand me the cash. I feel like there are other stores (Radio Shack) where this would not be the case. But for Lowe's, they were willing to take these items back with barely any questions asked. What does that do for them? Well, by my best guess, in the last year, I would say Erin and I have spent well over $4000 at Lowe's, and roughly $150 at a Home Depot not far away. Good customer service will bring the fans back.
Back in November of last year, Erin, myself, and many helpers, constructed a new railing in our house. The prep for this project began in the fall, with the wood pieces being stained and sealed. We had one large trip to Lowes in September in which we dropped $1200, including a coupon which got us 10% off. As part of this trip we bought not only all the wood pieces we would need, but also an array of hardware we thought we might use to do the install. Of course, this was based on just some basic internet research into building and installing a railing, something none of us had ever done.
By the time we finished the install in the middle of November, we had numerous ideas that did not pan out (several of them are well documented in photos on facebook for those interested). At this point however, we were past 60 days since the purchase had been made, so it was tough to say whether they would accept these items back.
I took them to Lowe's, with receipt at least, and the woman told me that the items were beyond 60 days, but she could see it was a big order, so she issued me a store gift card for the returns (which was for only about $30). This was such a good decision, since we had spent so much money, and only wanted to return a fraction of it. Why chase someone to a different store over such a small amount?
Later, Erin and I decided to remodel our powder room. Another trip to Lowe's, another $1200 on the Lowe's card. This time, when the project was over, we had just a few small items to return, but I could not find the receipt of hand. I recalled that if you had the card you charged it to, that was enough, and receipt would not be needed. So off we went to the store. 3 of the items returned without a problem, but a 4th, which was one piece of crown molding, would not come up. He scanned it again, and again, to no avail. I was sure that it was on this credit card, but it jut wouldn't work. Erin and I decided that the problem was we have purchased 4 of what we thought were the same items, but it turned out that we had 2 of one color and 2 of another slightly different color. As a result, they had different UPC labels I am sure. When we checked out though, we just told the woman we had 4 of these, and handed her one to scan. There was a good chance this item was never really checked out. So what do you do?
Well, it was a $3 item, so the guy just decided to hand me the cash. I feel like there are other stores (Radio Shack) where this would not be the case. But for Lowe's, they were willing to take these items back with barely any questions asked. What does that do for them? Well, by my best guess, in the last year, I would say Erin and I have spent well over $4000 at Lowe's, and roughly $150 at a Home Depot not far away. Good customer service will bring the fans back.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Follow up from MasterCard International
This morning I received the following response from MasterCard International. I think at this point, I am going to send a letter to the RewardZone Mastercard people, asking that they reimburse me for my time with some rewardzone points. See where that goes.
Dear Robin,
First and foremost, we are sorry to hear about the inconveniences you have experienced with your MasterCard account and specifically with a card breach event that resulted in the issuance of a new account in your name. We also appreciate the concern and diligence you are taking to protect your finances as it relates to credit cards and the inquiry regarding this card account breach.
You should know that MasterCard licenses its' processing network to banks, who in turn, acquire cardholders and manage cardholder accounts. Specific to card breaches, MasterCard cannot determine which merchant transaction caused a card breach since this data is not provided to us. I have provided below a typical scenario of card breaches and the subsequent activity.
* Merchants use a processing company, or what MasterCard calls an Acquiring Bank, to consolidate all of their MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Discover transactions
* Processors are used to simplify how the daily charges are submitted
* Most card breaches occur when the computer system of a Processor is compromised and data in the computer is ‘exposed’ to an unauthorized source or person
* When the Processor realizes that an exposure has occurred, they send a list of the exposed accounts to MasterCard, Visa, etc in a large batch file
* In turn, MasterCard separates the list by issuing bank and then notifies each that a compromise has occurred
* MasterCard provides each issuing bank with a list of only their card accounts that were exposed; again this is an aggregate list of card accounts not specific merchant transactions
* The issuer then makes a decision, based on the risk presented, what actions they will take; sometimes that means the issuer will replace card accounts
I provide this explanation so you realize that MasterCard cannot provide the specific and infractional information cardholders request. We simply do not have this data, nor does the issuer. We do take each card breach occurrence very seriously and work closely with investigative agencies. Additionally, MasterCard has stiffened penalties to Processors to help ensure each of these companies protects cardholder data with extreme care and diligence.
Dear Robin,
First and foremost, we are sorry to hear about the inconveniences you have experienced with your MasterCard account and specifically with a card breach event that resulted in the issuance of a new account in your name. We also appreciate the concern and diligence you are taking to protect your finances as it relates to credit cards and the inquiry regarding this card account breach.
You should know that MasterCard licenses its' processing network to banks, who in turn, acquire cardholders and manage cardholder accounts. Specific to card breaches, MasterCard cannot determine which merchant transaction caused a card breach since this data is not provided to us. I have provided below a typical scenario of card breaches and the subsequent activity.
* Merchants use a processing company, or what MasterCard calls an Acquiring Bank, to consolidate all of their MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Discover transactions
* Processors are used to simplify how the daily charges are submitted
* Most card breaches occur when the computer system of a Processor is compromised and data in the computer is ‘exposed’ to an unauthorized source or person
* When the Processor realizes that an exposure has occurred, they send a list of the exposed accounts to MasterCard, Visa, etc in a large batch file
* In turn, MasterCard separates the list by issuing bank and then notifies each that a compromise has occurred
* MasterCard provides each issuing bank with a list of only their card accounts that were exposed; again this is an aggregate list of card accounts not specific merchant transactions
* The issuer then makes a decision, based on the risk presented, what actions they will take; sometimes that means the issuer will replace card accounts
I provide this explanation so you realize that MasterCard cannot provide the specific and infractional information cardholders request. We simply do not have this data, nor does the issuer. We do take each card breach occurrence very seriously and work closely with investigative agencies. Additionally, MasterCard has stiffened penalties to Processors to help ensure each of these companies protects cardholder data with extreme care and diligence.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Time for a new fight
Sometimes a little fight is a good thing. It helps to relieve any stress building up. I strongly believe in this. I also strongly believe in voicing my opinions, and standing up for what I consider to be "right". Some may call me stubborn at times, but I see it as confidence at other times. So, with that in mind, I am going to share with the readers my most recent battle that I am in the process of fighting, against a very large company. Here goes...
I do a pretty significant amount of internet shopping with my credit card. In fact, I use my credit card just about everywhere I go. I used to be embarrassed when I would use it on purchases that were pretty inexpensive, but the more you do it, the less bad you feel. The way I see it, is that I accumulate so many points to use on things, that I don't really care if someone at the register thinks I am strange for charging $1. Also, remembering my days at Rita's, I realized that the person at the register, probably doesn't care. It is not their store, and they are not paying the service fee. So, if no one cares, then why should I? I pay all my credit cards in full each month, so no harm done.
My most heavily used credit card is a BestBuy Rewardzone Mastercard. This is my go to card, and the only time I don't use it is when there is a problem with it, which has been very rare. I also may use one of my other cards once in a great while so those accounts don't close (having old accounts supposedly helps your credit rating). In any given month, I rack up roughly 1000 rewardzone points, which equates to about $20 in bestbuy gift cards. I am storing my points up right now, and as of the writing of this post, I have 32,500 points, which is good for $650 in gift certificates. Not bad, and all for free since I pay the card off each month.
Things were going along fine with this plan, until about one month ago. I was using my credit card on a Thursday evening to shop at an internet vendor, and the order went right through. The next morning, I used my credit card to order some postage from USPS.com, and the card was rejected. I tried again, same story. I used a different card, and it went right through. Very odd. I called the rewardzone mastercard people on the phone and I was told that their records indicated that my account had been compromised, and the account number closed and moved to a new card. I should receive it in the mail in about 7 days. When I asked what happened, they told me that mastercard international called them and informed them that a vendor I had shopped with misplaced some information, and as a result they thought I should change my credit card info. I asked who it was, and they told me that I could speak to a different person and maybe find out some info. I had to go to work, so I told them don't bother.
The annoying part of this was that I have my credit card saved in so many different places, I am still finding places where I need to update that. I also had a lot of autopay accounts setup, and I was not sure when those payments would try to go through. I asked how this would be handled, and mastercard told me that those payments would be rejected. They suggest I change the information, but at this point I don't have my new credit card. So, I went ahead and changed roughly 8 places where the old number was saved to avoid having any charges get rejected. This was a painful process, as I had to look through old statements to figure out which vendors I use autopay, log in to all of them, remove the old card, update a new card, only to log in a week or so later and use my new card info to repeat the process.
Once everything had settled, I decided that this bothered me more. I spent some time fixing everything, and someone should pay for that. Most notably, the vendor who was careless with my personal data. So, this morning, I called Bestbuy RewardZone Mastercard to ask who effed me. The conversation went something like this:
Me: My card info was compromised by a vendor about a month ago and I wanted to know the name of the vendor.
BBMC: I am sorry sir I cannot tell you that information.
Me: Um, why not? Isn't it my information that was compromised?
BBMC: If I told you this information you probably wouldn't shop at that vendor anymore.
Me: Exactly...
BBMC: Sorry sir, I cannot give you the information.
Me: Well, I need to hold someone accountable for this error, and if you can't tell me the vendor, then I will hold Mastercard responsible for this.
BBMC: Sorry sir, I cannot give you the information. Mastercard International told us of the compromise, so we merely followed instruction.
Me: OK, can I have some contact information for them?
BBMC: Sorry sir, I don't have that information.
Me: OK, I think we are done then.
BBMC: OK sir, I hope I have answered your questions and have a nice day.
Me: Sorry, I don't have that information. [hangup]
I was more than a little annoyed at this point. This conversation circled a few times in the middle, with me determined to get my answer. I even asked for a supervisor, and she told me that I would not get my answer from them either. So apparently, the problem is further up.
At this moment, I am working up a letter to MasterCard, and a letter to the RewardZone MasterCard offices. It is a difficult situation. I feel as though I need to follow through in my claim that someone should be held responsible, or if nothing else, compensate me for my time spent (what is a few thousand rewardzone points to them?!?!).
So what do you guys think? I really like this card and the rewards are the most useful for me out of any credit card. I don't really want to stop using the card, but at the same time, it does bother me that someone messed up, and I can't hold them accountable. Jurassic Park has been on a lot lately, and John Hammond, the park owner, has a good line in it where he says: "I don't blame people for their mistakes, but I do ask that they pay for them. "
I think that quote accurately summarizes how I feel about most companies. We all make mistakes, and we all pay for them. Time to pay up!!
I do a pretty significant amount of internet shopping with my credit card. In fact, I use my credit card just about everywhere I go. I used to be embarrassed when I would use it on purchases that were pretty inexpensive, but the more you do it, the less bad you feel. The way I see it, is that I accumulate so many points to use on things, that I don't really care if someone at the register thinks I am strange for charging $1. Also, remembering my days at Rita's, I realized that the person at the register, probably doesn't care. It is not their store, and they are not paying the service fee. So, if no one cares, then why should I? I pay all my credit cards in full each month, so no harm done.
My most heavily used credit card is a BestBuy Rewardzone Mastercard. This is my go to card, and the only time I don't use it is when there is a problem with it, which has been very rare. I also may use one of my other cards once in a great while so those accounts don't close (having old accounts supposedly helps your credit rating). In any given month, I rack up roughly 1000 rewardzone points, which equates to about $20 in bestbuy gift cards. I am storing my points up right now, and as of the writing of this post, I have 32,500 points, which is good for $650 in gift certificates. Not bad, and all for free since I pay the card off each month.
Things were going along fine with this plan, until about one month ago. I was using my credit card on a Thursday evening to shop at an internet vendor, and the order went right through. The next morning, I used my credit card to order some postage from USPS.com, and the card was rejected. I tried again, same story. I used a different card, and it went right through. Very odd. I called the rewardzone mastercard people on the phone and I was told that their records indicated that my account had been compromised, and the account number closed and moved to a new card. I should receive it in the mail in about 7 days. When I asked what happened, they told me that mastercard international called them and informed them that a vendor I had shopped with misplaced some information, and as a result they thought I should change my credit card info. I asked who it was, and they told me that I could speak to a different person and maybe find out some info. I had to go to work, so I told them don't bother.
The annoying part of this was that I have my credit card saved in so many different places, I am still finding places where I need to update that. I also had a lot of autopay accounts setup, and I was not sure when those payments would try to go through. I asked how this would be handled, and mastercard told me that those payments would be rejected. They suggest I change the information, but at this point I don't have my new credit card. So, I went ahead and changed roughly 8 places where the old number was saved to avoid having any charges get rejected. This was a painful process, as I had to look through old statements to figure out which vendors I use autopay, log in to all of them, remove the old card, update a new card, only to log in a week or so later and use my new card info to repeat the process.
Once everything had settled, I decided that this bothered me more. I spent some time fixing everything, and someone should pay for that. Most notably, the vendor who was careless with my personal data. So, this morning, I called Bestbuy RewardZone Mastercard to ask who effed me. The conversation went something like this:
Me: My card info was compromised by a vendor about a month ago and I wanted to know the name of the vendor.
BBMC: I am sorry sir I cannot tell you that information.
Me: Um, why not? Isn't it my information that was compromised?
BBMC: If I told you this information you probably wouldn't shop at that vendor anymore.
Me: Exactly...
BBMC: Sorry sir, I cannot give you the information.
Me: Well, I need to hold someone accountable for this error, and if you can't tell me the vendor, then I will hold Mastercard responsible for this.
BBMC: Sorry sir, I cannot give you the information. Mastercard International told us of the compromise, so we merely followed instruction.
Me: OK, can I have some contact information for them?
BBMC: Sorry sir, I don't have that information.
Me: OK, I think we are done then.
BBMC: OK sir, I hope I have answered your questions and have a nice day.
Me: Sorry, I don't have that information. [hangup]
I was more than a little annoyed at this point. This conversation circled a few times in the middle, with me determined to get my answer. I even asked for a supervisor, and she told me that I would not get my answer from them either. So apparently, the problem is further up.
At this moment, I am working up a letter to MasterCard, and a letter to the RewardZone MasterCard offices. It is a difficult situation. I feel as though I need to follow through in my claim that someone should be held responsible, or if nothing else, compensate me for my time spent (what is a few thousand rewardzone points to them?!?!).
So what do you guys think? I really like this card and the rewards are the most useful for me out of any credit card. I don't really want to stop using the card, but at the same time, it does bother me that someone messed up, and I can't hold them accountable. Jurassic Park has been on a lot lately, and John Hammond, the park owner, has a good line in it where he says: "I don't blame people for their mistakes, but I do ask that they pay for them. "
I think that quote accurately summarizes how I feel about most companies. We all make mistakes, and we all pay for them. Time to pay up!!
Monday, June 14, 2010
Back in Business
It has been a long time since I wrote here, but maybe this time I will be a little more dedicated to my blogging. In other words, I now have my own office at work, and over lunch might be the best time to add some material.
I am in the process of upgrading my ebay store. For the longest time I have been torn between the idea of letting the store go and close it up, or putting in some time and getting some new items. I finally decided that I was going to go ahead and get some new items, and try to push some more stuff out the door. It might be a temporary experiment, as it seems like increasing ebay fees and paypal fees are slowly pushing $5 items off the site, but I am willing to give it another try.
A month back, the Phillies celebrated Roy Halladay bobble head night. This was where the store started to make its turnaround. I had 12 bobbles to auction off, all very successfully (there should be some Sarge hats up there this weekend if you are interested...)
When those items went quickly, I decided that I just generally enjoy selling stuff on there. I have tried buying some deal a day items from best buy, with some mixed success there (I sold a few things for more than twice what I paid for them, sold a few for just a bit less than what I bought them for). I think there is some potential here, I just need better research before I commit. There have also been a lot of yard sale type items that have come up recently, and some of those went for a lot (sold our Super Nintendo and about 20 games for a little more than $225).
So, this is where I am. Working on new schemes. The thing about get rich quick schemes is that you only need one to work. So far I haven't found that one yet, but when I do, you will know about it.
Please comment with ideas you have, or just to let me know that someone out there might still read this.
I am in the process of upgrading my ebay store. For the longest time I have been torn between the idea of letting the store go and close it up, or putting in some time and getting some new items. I finally decided that I was going to go ahead and get some new items, and try to push some more stuff out the door. It might be a temporary experiment, as it seems like increasing ebay fees and paypal fees are slowly pushing $5 items off the site, but I am willing to give it another try.
A month back, the Phillies celebrated Roy Halladay bobble head night. This was where the store started to make its turnaround. I had 12 bobbles to auction off, all very successfully (there should be some Sarge hats up there this weekend if you are interested...)
When those items went quickly, I decided that I just generally enjoy selling stuff on there. I have tried buying some deal a day items from best buy, with some mixed success there (I sold a few things for more than twice what I paid for them, sold a few for just a bit less than what I bought them for). I think there is some potential here, I just need better research before I commit. There have also been a lot of yard sale type items that have come up recently, and some of those went for a lot (sold our Super Nintendo and about 20 games for a little more than $225).
So, this is where I am. Working on new schemes. The thing about get rich quick schemes is that you only need one to work. So far I haven't found that one yet, but when I do, you will know about it.
Please comment with ideas you have, or just to let me know that someone out there might still read this.
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