Archive | April, 2013

Never Failed Never Lived

16 Apr

I always watch this video and other videos. I like it. It actually makes me keep going. A lot of people in your life will tell you to quit, give up, your idea is stupid, or take the easy way out and get a job any job.

My thing is what if this was a reflection of their own inability to do something big. In ability to dream big and go after it. Just because everyone around you is content with what they have does not mean that you have to.

What if you actually do have a good idea or a thought or something that would make it better for you and your family. How far would you go to make it happen. As they say if it was easy everyone would be doing it. Success is very hard and comes at a price. What are you willing to do to succeed how far are you willing to go to make your dreams come true. You see everyone has the notion that people like me go into business to make Lots and Lots of money. and that the only thing that drives us is money. While money is a big motivator you will find that most people who go into business is ultimately to pursue happiness. Not just money.

The way I see it is lots of people 1- hate their jobs 2- hate the life they lead because of what they do 3- are too scared to do something about it. Well what a life to live. We actually work an average of 10 hours per day yes thats the employed person. so you are miserable about 40% of your day and lets say you sleep an average of 7 hours or 33% of your day so doing the math you have 27% of your day to rush home, eat , and if you have kids fight with them etc. What time is left to be happy.

I still vote for me to be happy most of the time. But its up to you. you can join the flock and exist , or you can make a difference in your life and life of others. its all up to you. It is a very hard road filled with endless hours of work, but the satisfaction out of doing something you love is not measurable by any metrics out there.

As always I always welcome any comments or feedback.

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Customer complaints

15 Apr

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I was reading an article in the Toronto Star about the number of complaints the transit system has received last year in comparison the year before. The article stated that there were 45,408 Raider complaints up from 38,811 in 2011 and 34,107 in 2010. The article goes on to say that the TTC’s chief customer service officer indicated that they are tracking the complaints better and are making it easier for people to reach them. Basically they are LISTENING. Which is really weird and different.

You see in light of my recent run-in with the Home Depot, I went to the company website. I did not find a place to file a complaint. There was a contact us page with a form to fill out and someone will get back to me. No one did. Yet.

I went on and went on the websites of Best Buy, Future shop, McDonalds, Burger king, Lowes etc. There is no clear way to file a complaint. I went a step further. I went to the Facebook pages. I filled out a request for a process to file a complaint in the Home depot Facebook page, as well as Lowes and McDonalds Facebook page, And as of the publishing of this posting Only Lowes got back to me.

You see its not the fact that no one complaints, It’s the fact that I think big companies have a small army of soldiers who mask, cover and paint a great picture for you. how are they supposed to know if people are happy or not. They basically don’t , and don’t care. You see it’s a volume based. Where are you going to go from the big companies. For example if you hate one cell company and got to another the same amount of people left the other company to come to the company that you left.

I was talking to marketing Guru from TELUS. Its one of the large cell companies in Canada. He said yeah we decided to split the carries and introduce a low fare based carries called Koodo. Rogers owns Fido and Chatr, Bell Ownes solo mobile and Virgin mobile. And between these Ginormous companies they own 94% of the market. So go ahead switch carries. THEY ARE ALL THE SAME. Go ahead and complain, NO ONE CARES.

People can’t reach them. They have no easy way to complaint. And if by any miracle someone actually spends the time to look it up and pursues it then they just issue a gif card and say here shut the hell up and go away.

Big companies have the ability to cover just about anything. They drown people with advertising and Facebook and twitter crap that no one can see through the cloud of garbage and all that is called advertising.

Why don’t you try to figure out how to complaint to a big company? Choose any big company, find out if there is a complaint section, and see how long it takes to get back to you IF they do. I would love to be proven wring but I am just talking from experience and the fact that it is so hard to get your justice across especially if you are a little guy.

As usual you can add your email on the bottom right of my blog to get the latest updates and don’t forget I welcome your comments and promise to filter them like the big boys do.

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Home Depot Conclusion

12 Apr

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So They actually did respond to me Here is the response and the counter response. I must admit I was very surprised to get this response from a chain store. Usually these managers run and hide . But she actually stood in front of the cannon. Hats off lets hope this does not happen again. 

 

Dear Mr. Jihad Georgi,

Thank you very much for taking the time out to write this letter. I hear your frustration and I am very disappointed in my staff. I sincerely apologize for not meeting your customer service requirements. I have spoken to the associates involved as well as my leadership team.
I would really like to regain you as a customer. If there is anything I can do to help you please let me know.
I would like to offer you 100 dollars off your next order as compensation for our lack of customer service and your families waste of time.

I sincerely apologize to you and your family for the poor service we provided you at the Pickering Home Depot.

Sincerely,
L**** R***

 

 

Dear L**** 

I thank you for taking the Time to respond to me. I am surprised. But i think the you should know that the main reason i filed a complaint was not for me to get a discount on purchases. But rather to put forth the fact that its already hard enough to find someone to help you out in the store, and to get TWO not one employees to shut you out in the same time is Not something I was looking forward to. 

 
So having said that thank you for the acknowledgement.

 

I think It was fair to say good ending to this story. People screwed up and managers took ownership for a change. 

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Home Depot Experience

11 Apr

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My letter to the manager at Home depot. Of course I did not get any response. NOT SURE WHY

Attn.; L***** R****

Store manager Pickering

Home Depot of Canada

Good day Lesley and hope this letter finds you well. I am writing to
let you know about my experience with your wonderful staff on Sat
April 6th around 4 pm. I also am writing to apologize for my actions.

I came in with my family at about 4 pm to the Pickering home depot
looking for someone to help us with our project. We are planning to
build a canopy. So I walked in and asked who can help me. The customer
service pointed to a lady that was standing by the hardware section. I
walked up to her and no one was standing with her. I asked if she
could help me. She said yes. I proceeded to tell her about my project
and showed her the measurements I took.

She looked at it and said Oh. I am with a customer now (which made me
wonder since I seen no one around) and proceeded to tell me that she
can make a copy and give me a call in a day or so. I said sure but I d
need my paper, so she offered to copy it. We walked over the
commercial counter or whatever it’s called where she tried to copy it.
She was frustrated and I had made the comment that nothing is working
today she said yes especially when she is in a rush.

She also mentioned she was in a rush because her shift ends in about
30 min. I understand why would she help me if she can punch out in 30
min. How can I be so stupid as to ask someone to help me just before
his or her shift ended on a Saturday afternoon?

She was helpful enough though to tell me about another person who is in the
tools rental area who would be able to help me out.

We walked in to the rental area and there were 3 home depot workers
chatting and laughing and having fun (please apologize for me for
interrupting them ) the lady went and talked to one gentleman who
walked over and said can I help you. I said yes I am trying to build a
canopy and would like some help on how much wood I would need etc. He
immediately jumped, interrupted me and said I can’t help you I have 21
broken machines in the back that needs fixing and I am busy and handed
me the paper back (obviously this hard working man was going to get to
them as soon as he finished chatting with his co-workers.)

I walked out with my family and was thinking how rude of me to
interrupt people just before their shift ended or interrupt a worker
who was having fun and had so many broken machines to fix. So would
you please pass my apology through to these hard working Home Depot
Workers.

If there is a suggestion I can make, ( I really did not find a suggestion box in
your store) is please post the hours we are supposed to approach
people and each worker should have a sign that says ”I am available
you and are allowed to talk to me” Yet again you are the store manager
you would know best.

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GIVE US YOUR SOUL AND WELL GIVE YOU A CAR.

10 Apr

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So I was talking to a friend of mine this morning who lives in the US and she told me that the car dealers are advertising a 97 months financing. 97 months , I mean can you imagine paying for the car for 8 years. So basically by the time you finish paying for the car its time to get another one and the cycle goes around again.

In my view here is what is going on. The financial companies are getting short on innovative ways to screw people over and the car dealers need to keep pushing plastic cars out the doors. SO hey why not finance someone for the next 8 years. We just say that its 97 months, and show them that on a 30,000 car the monthly payments is ONLY 309.00 not including taxes and interest (which they put n small print). Or I like the innovative way of saying “BI WEEKLY”. You get your pay cheque every two weeks and we only take a little off of it so you don’t feel it. No worries we do the work for you.

So here is the reasoning that they are giving the working people. The prices of cars have increased but the salaries have not increased. In 1990 the average price of a car was $16,950 in 2008 the average price of the car was $27,958.00 That’s an increase of $11,008 Over 18 years or $611 per year.

The best line I heard is ZERO PERCENT FINANCING. what a load of crap. Ill show you how they calculate that part at a later date.

We (the financial companies) raised the prices, we raised the cost of borrowing, we kept your wages the same, AND we are doing you a favor by financing a car you shouldn’t buy over 97 months. Is everyone NUTS? I must be the nuts person for adding it up and calculating it.

As well has anyone thought about the maintenance cost of the car after the “warranty” expires? It’s a CAR that after 5 years will start falling apart so what value will it be over the 8 years period.

You know as soon as you walk in that they start with $300 per month but by the time you are done its $400 per month and the sales person say “its only $100 per month”. When someone tells me that I say good why don’t you pay for the extra 100.

If you can pay 400 per month pay only 300 and put the 100 towards bad time funds.
When you get a flat tire. Better yet take your kids or your spouse out to movies and spend the 100 on your enjoyment with your family. You know the excitement of the new car will disappear in a few months or until the new model comes out. The only thing that will not go away is the debt you just signed on for that car.

If you can’t afford it don’t buy it. Sit down and do the math buy a cheaper used car so you can actually pay for it. It will make you feel better about buying something less than the advertised “affordability” price. The car will only make you happy for a short time. It’s Just a car.

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