Adventures in Consumerland

A few recent experiences - the type I've seemed to experience many times over the years like buying a yesterday's newspaper and being asked by the clerk afterwards if I "grabbed it from the right pile" or complaining to the E.G. Nick's manager about the caked-on dried mud on my baked potato and being told "Well they do grow in the ground sir" - the list goes on and I have two more to add...

Recently at the Taco Bell in Keego Harbor I asked for a cup of water at the drive thru to go with my food and was told they can't do that because they don't have cups for water. This is horrible customer service - I just finished reading a book about word of mouth marketing detailing how the power has shifted to the consumer like never before because of blogs like the one I'm writing. Not that tons of people read this, but they just pissed off and lost a customer over a lousy 10 cent cup that they refused to put a little water in for me. Last I checked the physical properties of water were similar enough to most other digestible liquids that it doesn't require a special cup.

This one is better. I bought a surround sound system to put in our studio in West Bloomfield (Frameable Faces www.frameablefaces.com is my wife's photography studio in the Orchard Mall at Maple and Orchard Lake if you didn't know) and I got a great deal on a Yamaha floor model. The floor model came with the remote control, but when I set it up at the studio I discovered that it was in fact the wrong remote control and would not work with this system. After a couple of phone conversations with ABC and a failure for them to call me back to resolve it like they said they would I went up there with my wrong remote to get some resolution. The first person I spoke to was a guy whose name I think was Tracy. He went into the back to check for remotes but couldn't find one. The conversation then went like this:

Me: So what do I do now?
Tracy: Well when we sell the floor units they come "as is" so......
Me: Yeah but in this case "as is" included the remote control
Tracy: Well obviously it didn't because that's the wrong remote

Can you f--king believe he actually said that to me? Like I'm the dumb ass for falling for the ol' give 'em the wrong remote trick.

Me: Well the problem is it was presented to me as the right remote you see
Tracy: Well I can't help you - you'll have to talk to the manager
Me: Where's the manager

The manager hemmed and hawed, putzed around looking at their universal remote selection and then told me that he'd be willing to refund my money if I wanted to bring the system back. I told him I don't want to bring it back, I want it the way it was sold to me. He passed me off to another guy who ultimately took care of it, having me purchase the remote from a website right there in the store and then refunding the amount on my original sale so the correct remote wouldn't cost me anything. I do love the system I bought, and they did make it right eventually, but they need to evaluate and coach some of the folks they have on the floor there who deal directly with customers.

Ending on a positive note I had a coconut curry fried rice with onions and chicken at Thai Peppers tonight on Orchard Lake Rd in Farmington Hills. Interestingly enough I ordered it and then just for assurance asked if it was good, and the waitress tried to steer me away from it, saying the last person who ordered it took two bites and had enough. I ordered it anyway because A) the food is great there and has been for years even through a couple of ownership changes B) the menu description was what I wanted and C) my curiosity was now raised and I needed to know if it was really that horrible. A bit of a risky move to be sure. I can't remember the name of the dish now, but it was the 6th and last item in the fried rice section of the menu and it was AWESOME. I highly recommend it.

Real vs. Natural, Some new tunes

Stupid item (and subsequent crazed rant) of the day... I noticed while eating my bowl of Banana Nut Cheerios (which is one of the best cereals ever) that on the front cover of the box it advertises the product as being flavored with REAL Banana AND Natural Banana flavor. I'll let you ponder that for a second...


What in blazes is the difference between real bananas and natural banana flavor? So wouldn't natural banana flavor come from an actual banana which they already just told us is in the cereal? I hate the commercial food industry with its high fructose corn syrup, mass doses of sodium and blue no. 2. I love food but I hate stupid B.S. and this is clearly stupid B.S. Wow - real bananas, and as if that weren't enough, natural banana flavor added just in case the bananas they used didn't happen to have banana flavor of their own! AMAZING!!! Wait - there's more if you act now etc. etc. etc..... Did I mention I love the cereal? I'm ranting about a cereal I love and a relatively healthy one at that. Yes I need a life I suppose...


On another note I got a glimpse of what my summer will sound like with some new stuff. The new Black Sabbath - Heaven & Hell - The Devil You Know and the new Church - Untitled #23. At first listen they both sound incredible. I've also picked up the new self-titled Secret Machines album and Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet. They both sound pretty good, and lastly the Raconteurs album Consolers of the Lonely is climbing back into my frequent play list as it's turning out to be more of a grower than I anticipated. What an album.