Frausters at work in B.C. Budget Rent-A-Car · Tuesday November 20, 2012 by colin newell
I think it’s odd with Budget Rent-a-car being in the news lately… allegedly scamming victim after victim to the tunes of tens of thousands of dollars — with nothing happening… no police investigation or law suits… that any one person could walk into a Budget Rent-a-car (and I am NOT advocating that anyone try this…) and say: “Give me $1000 right now and I will not ‘punish’ you…” Again: Do not try this… ever!
I am pretty sure the person would be tracked down and thrown in jail for 5 years or more – for theft, attempted theft, behavior contrary to public order etc…
Which I get. You would not do this in a bank or a Starbucks… and I believe that theft is theft.
Or (and I am not suggesting this…) if someone were to stand outside a Budget rent-a-car and bounce the occasional crab apple off of their windows –
I am pretty sure this person would be incarcerated and given a psych evaluation.
So. What is so upsetting about this, is that hundreds, if not thousands of British Columbian residents may have been victimized and scammed by a small assortment of rental car places in B.C. – and nothing happens to them – the excuse being tossed around: “Car rental companies are not regulated in British Columbia…”
Say what? I think criminal behavior is regulated in B.C. — I know it is for me and you… So why not Rental Car agencies? Word on the street this is more widespread in Canada.
From my personal experience: I have been renting from the same Rent a Car agency since the mid-eighties (AVIS rent a car) and I have nothing but gushing praise for them, hundreds of rentals and nary a blip — so, the bottom line is, these companies are capable of great service…. but somewhere along the way, some companies lose their moral compass – and I am not sure why.
Some more stories on this issue from the good folks at the CBC – Budget employees reveal
BC Budget Rent a Car repair scams
Bottom line avoid Budget Rent a Car in B.C. until this issue is sorted out…
and PLEASE, do not hassle the hard working staff at Budget Rent a car and do NOT throw apples… and if you have been scammed, make sure you harass the crap out of your credit card company and be firm with your car agency – Some tips upon rental include – do a walk around with the rental agent and take lots of pictures with your iPhone – and be prepared to contest any fishy charges.
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Bonus blog - serving the social media masters - but why · Tuesday October 9, 2012 by colin newell
Between my blog (right here), my coffee website and my radio-tech-geek site, I have upwards of 100K readers per month.
100 thousand. Unique readers.
And the stats to back it up.
But I consistently ignore the bigger audience (you folks out there in blog land)
in favor of spending my free time quipping on Twitter and posting the periodic axiom on Facebook.
But why? Why? WHY?
Well. I have been thinking about it.
Part of having 1800 twitter followers – which is a small number in the big scheme of things, is that I can attach a face to so many of these good people. It is, in fact, a conversation – a back and forth if you would. A kind of interaction that does not really happen as effectively on the Blogosphere. Unless of course the occasional blog reader chooses to comment on something – which is great. I LOVE comments.
Twitter is great. No question. But it can be frustrating at the same time. Every one of the 1800 followers is a sentient personality, with fabric, substance and real edges. Twitter is blog-3D. And a twitter writer needs to put substantially more energy into the 140 character snippets because you are trying to convey a focused thought and be aware that potentially several thousand sets of eyes might take a peek at your thought… and react to it… good or bad… in near real time.
So. I love twitter and my following readers.
And if twitter is fun (and not effortless) then Facebook is even more challenging and more frustrating… because you are preaching to a largely converted choir, who are going to be less tolerant to the spectrum of your (my) muse.
Meaning, as over the top as I can be on Twitter – as funny or unfunny as I can be – or as cynical or jaded, my thoughts are quickly lost in the conversation as other funnier quips move up the feed chain.
Not so much on Facebook. Things are moving a little slower – and I find it way easier to become impatient with my FB friends and likely they are experiencing the same thing about me. I am challenging at the best of times – and not always in a good way.
So. My big audience gets nixed more than occasionally. I guess it is about balance and managing all the social media tasks. I will most certainly talk more about this – because the discussion has merit and it’s an opportunity for me to dial it down a bit… and who in my social media circle would not want that!
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2012 The rise and fall of common professional courtesy · Tuesday February 28, 2012 by colin newell
Have noticed some trends developing over the last year or so – and it might be part of the current economic slump while tied into modern tech-etiquette…
Tech-etiquette: A bit of an oxymoron.
I have been doing IT and web stuff since World Wide Web day 1 (as a side thing…) – which takes us to the mid nineties. That is long long ago in internet time. Try explaining to a young person, a time before smart phones and personal devices… texting and social media, etc.
“Please, Tell me more grandpa.”
Well, it seems that technology has become so advanced and so accessible to everyone and so “point and click…” than anyone can do it.
Which on the surface would seem great and all – and very convenient, but it does not underline the actual complexity of the underlying technologies.
Websites for instance: On my islandnet account I can actually log in, click one button, make a few selection of some plugins, give my blog a name, and within a minute have a very pretty blog – which I can then keep auto-updated with the additional clicks of a mouse.
A monkey could do this.
But wait: There is still the issue of access. Of content. Of media. Of SEO. Of security and so on. To this day I still need to explain (to lay internet users) very carefully that “The Web” has evolved beyond HTML editors, FTP clients and a desktop cluttered with tools… into a largely “server-side” World – where everything is “out there” “in the clouds” as it were.
We are a generation of instant deployment and remote content managed online entities… and most people do not know it yet.
Which brings us to the issue of effectively valuing and marketing your talents in an environment that sees everything as instant and cryptic at the same time.
Instant in that your cousin or nephews girlfriends kid brother can create a blog or web presence for you in minutes. They cannot tell you what you can do with it beyond the initial rush of launch moment or what is under the hood…
that is the cryptic part. Nor can they create actual content or understanding marketing or connect you with the right match for you product or ideas. Nope. They cannot. Because they understand the surface technology like their understand the face of their iPhone of the dashboard of their Honda Civic. Under the hood? Haven’t a clue. Aren’t there people for that?
Thrice in the last couple of months I have had 3 separate scenarios play out:
a.) A web site (I have been maintaining) and a company that I have been working with for almost a decade, all hands on, all regularly updated and checked announced to me one day while I was brainstorming an important update… “We have a new developer and our new site, being beta tested, is over here…”
Uhm. Hello? How about a word to your loyal web guy who has been doing this all this time? Oops, says the company owner. “Yea, I guess we could have let you know…”
b.) Was planning a major build to a media company for almost 2 years – with promises from the owner, “Yup, Colin… you are the guy.” We spent many, many e-mail working out the details and as we approached the day we would finally tackle the bricks and mortar of the site… “Oh… My son-in-law… a real web whiz kid with this sort of thing… you know family… they come first… I will call you if the work he does goes South…”
c.) Same as in b.) but a different project. This time it was the daughters BF or something… “Struggling young people making their way…”
OK – so I get and appreciate that. I do.
When your car breaks, do you take it to the factory trained mechanic or to your Uncles girlfriend because she likes the feeling of grease under her fingers? When your Air Canada flight is blasting down the runway, hope and pray that the avionics were tested by someone that knows what they are doing and not someones jack-of-all nephew. They are geeks too.
Point is: It is hard to come across as a professional when nobody understands what the heck it is that you do… beyond the surface sheen that is. And yet results vary between professions.
Sigh. Apparently it is World Pancake Day today. Ironic that it is not World Syrup Day for another couple of weeks…
And too bad people do not take the time to remember a little common courtesy when engaging technical professionals (like a lot of people that are reading this right now…)
Geeks are people. Learn a bit about us. And treat us like people. And thanks!
The decline of the American small business empire part one · Thursday October 27, 2011 by colin newell
My buddy Chris, and I, sit over coffee most mornings at the University of Victoria’s Finnerty Express – it is my morning hang out. We are often in the company of retired or working Math professors, economists, technicians and even gardeners. There is always a lively discussion on topics as widely varied as politics, religion and events of the day.
Chris had a story recently that was too hard not to share. And it is all about the decline of customer service and small business in America (much of this could apply to Canada as well…) So here we go.
Chris and I are both aspiring musicians, both of us being active guitar players and singers. We actually performed recently in front of a lively crowd of around 100 people in one of the Grad student lounges on campus.
Chris likes to build and modify guitars – for most of us guitar types, the endless tweaking of our instrument is in our blood. In this particular instance, Chris was ordering a neck for one of his prized instruments, an old Fender Telecaster. He was ordering this new component from Seattle – and as it turned out, one weekend recently, he found himself in Seattle, not far from the factory that makes the parts that he was looking for.
So. Brilliant. He was in town and decided to head to the factory store and get his purchase directly. Over he goes. When he gets to the store, somewhere near Redmond Washington, he drives into the parking lot and walks up to the door. Looking in he can see a wall of instrument parts and the desired neck he seeks. There is a sign on the door. “Appointment only – showroom not open!”
Chris sees someone working in the store and beckons him to the locked door. A fellow comes over and open the door an inch. The guy points to the sign. Chris says, “I have come all the way from Victoria and would like to buy one of those necks… I have the cash in my pocket…” Store clerk: “We do not accept drop ins… you will need to call for an appointment…” Clerk hands him a card with the 1-800 number.
Chris backs away and phones the number.
You guessed it. The clerk in the store picks up the phone at the counter. I kid you not.
The clerk takes his information and comes back to the door.
Chris comes into the store and points to the neck he is interested in.
Clerk says: “We do not do direct store sales generally…” “You will have to place an order on the internet…”
Chris repeats, “I have cash in my pocket, I want that neck on the wall… and you have a shipping area in the back… can I pick it up there?”
“the shipping area is for couriers only… fedex, purolator, etc…” the clerk tosses out.
At the end of the exchange, Chris was several feet away from a guitar component that he was ready and willing to pay for on the spot – and was unable to because of a poorly operated business with completely and unflinchingly inept staff.
This is one reason while America is failing. They have lost touch with reality and the ability to do business.
Example two from the beleaguered Chris:
Chris recently bought an audio mixing board from a company in the U.S.
Over the internet.
Audio mixing boards: All of us musicians have one. We often use it to hook up multiple instruments and microphones in a studio or stage situation.
Chris needed a small mixer for performance scenarios. He found the one he was looking for at a decent price. Brand new. When he purchased it online, he took the option for “extended warranty and insurance coverage” — for virtually any situation; drop it off a cliff, it is covered. No worries.
Within a week, his mixer arrives. But it does not work properly.
He calls the help line for the equipment company that sold him the equipment.
Chris tells his story, “The gear arrived but it does not work… it is broken… there are several channels that are dead…”
“Not sure what we can do for you…” says the voice on the telephone…
Chris reminds them, “I bought warranty coverage for this piece of…”
“Ah, says the fellow on the help line…” “you are describing a pre-existing condition sir… it did not fail while it was in your possession! Your warranty coverage does not cover this!”
Say what?
I looked at the mixer for him – it was a simple take apart and I am a qualified technician. By the looks of it, it could not have worked even from the factory – it was defective in that there were cold solder joints and solder bridges from the factory. It never worked. It could never have worked. Shocking.
Anyway – 2 months on and Chris is still fighting via the phone and the internet to get his money back, a refund or something functional.
Another reason why America is in trouble…
Because small business and manufacturing have utterly lost their way.
This is the 1st chapter in what might become a small series in why we are falling down in the area of manufacturing and customer service in North America.
Victoria Summer 2011 Design ideas from Italy Chapter 2 · Sunday July 24, 2011 by colin newell
A P.R. firm in Italy has spent the last 13 months coming up with a re-branding for their product.
13 months and this is what they came up with.
Feel free to click on the photo for the slighter larger view…
I have been polling this story pretty broadly and so far only one guy (a colleague that lives and works in Taiwan) thinks it’s OK to lampoon, minimize, diminish or profit from the misery of the past.
Example: There is a good reason why we discourage commercial use of images of Nazism and Adolf Hitler in ad media around the World.
And for similar reasons, the embracing of multiculturalism and leaving behind of old stuffy racist colonial thinking is known as progress.
The image above was custom made, for me, by the P.R. firm in Italy with the designer begging me for a change of heart with a frequent; “What? WHAT? What is wrong with using this lovely plump African woman dressed in 19th Century clothing to help sell espresso beans?”
My attempts at explaining my position on this matter have prompted more; “What? What? I don’t get it…”
Help me out here folks: Using racial stereotypes to sell stuff in Europe is not, like, this common, is it?
And for the record, the White guy that lives and works in Taiwan does embarrassing impersonations of Chinese Cab drivers that would have fallen flat on a 50 year old episode of the Ed Sullivan show – still, I appreciate all opinions…
Especially yours!
