Free Loaders

They are everywhere. Leaches, Scum’s of Society, Candy asses. Lazy good for nothing bums who will not work and haven't got the guts to help themselves.Oh sure! they all got a Jillian excuses for their miserable existence, but not one good solid reason. why they cannot help them selves. These same people who contribute nothing to society think society owes them a living.

They all have tricks of their own. That old ace in the hole so to speak. Some bilk the welfare system. Some write the old folks for money. Others sponge off relatives and friends for their living,some stand about with signs saying "Will work for food , etc" but under no circumestances will they work. Some of these sign packers even have dogs. Heck I myself have been there a time or two an no way could I afford to feed a dog. Heck some days I couldn't even feed myself. They are like blisters and always show up after the work is done. I say "Get off your Lazy butts you worthless pieces of crap. I for one, am sick of supporting your useless hides I believe in Aiding those in need. I do what I can when I can, but it's getting harder to tell the needy ones from the Leaches upon society. Perhaps if we gave them no coin. Give them a can of beans, soup an apple or a sandwich, etc. I think they would soon give up their favorite spot on the roadways.

The Guy Who Won't Come Back

Here is one I like

I'll never set the world on fire;
I'm just a happy, carefree buyer.
I like to spend my do-re-mi
On things that in the ads I see.
And I expect the folks who sell
To welcome me and treat me well.
But if they don't, I never "yak" —
I'm just the guy who won't come back!

When service people take my car
And tell me what its troubles are,
Then when I pick it up at night
And find they haven't fixed it right,
Or if it isn't ready yet,
There's one thing, friend, that you can bet —

I'll never, never "blow my stack";
I'm just the guy who won't come back!

No — public scenes are not my game;
I simply note the place's name
And pay my bill without a "crack"
Because I'm just the guy who won't come back!

-Anonymous

Tricky Sneaky Warranties

I would like to express my opinion regarding warranties. Most are not worth the paper they’re written on. Watch out for these tricky, sneaky little devils. On the surface they look great & you think "good deal". Not necessarily true! Read the fine print & you may find said warranty is as good as no warranty at all. Some require you to pay shipping cost both ways which in itself can sometimes exceed the cost of your item. Some cover the cost of parts but not labor or vice versa. Most say they will replace or repair at their discretion, which means they may not even cover the item under warranty.

Beware of those new car warranties, particularly those that state “bumper to bumper” coverage. The fine print of this warranty will reveal many things that are not covered, such as brake shoes & pads, belts, hoses, tires, spark plugs, filters etc. Beware also of purchasing that extra warranty that’s supposed to take over when the original one expires. I myself have purchased one of these new car additional warranties from a Chevrolet dealer. Then when I went to have a defective part repaired I found out my warranty was not bumper to bumper as I was led to believe by the sales person. It only covered my transmission and drive train, nothing else. Yep, I paid $1,600 for extra warranty protection for nothing. True, in a way it’s my own fault, I went for it with both eyes open & my brain in neutral.

Remember, when a fast talking salesman talks about the warranty, ask them about what is NOT covered as well as what IS covered! Even then, don't take their word for it! Read it carefully for yourself.

This is True

I have just added a link for True-a-Day to the right hand sidebar, just beneath the archive links. What this means is that a different story from This is True will appear on the sidebar every day. If you aren’t familiar with True, I’ll quote part of the description from their web page: “This is True is a weekly syndicated newspaper column by Colorado humorist Randy Cassingham. True reports on bizarre-but-true news items from legitimate newspapers from around the world (never ‘tabloids’).” True is distributed by email or RSS feed and has both a free and a premium edition. If you would like more info, links are at the bottom of the True-a-Day story in the sidebar. I enjoy these stories and I hope you will too.

Kudos for Radio Shack

I would like to give credit to an establishment that has been in business for more years than I can remember. Radio shack has always stood behind its products. I like it's no hassle return policies, their courteous service and the help they provide to customers like me who know little about electronic items. Oh sure, there have been jokes about their slogan "You’ve got questions, we’ve got answers." Heck, nobody’s perfect and everyone is entitled to a miss or two now and then. I have dealt with Radio Shack ever since I was a young man and never have been dissatisfied. Their products are of good quality and reasonably priced. The very few times I've had to return an item I was treated with respect and was at ease with the transaction.

Recently I purchased a Hewlett Packard notebook computer from a Circuit City store. Several days later when I unpacked it & went to use it, I found it to be defective. When I sought to exchange it I discovered that Circuit City’s return policy was only good for 13 days. Any return after that was subject to a 15% restocking charge. I found out Radio Shack is a service provider for Hewlett Packard. Then I was dissapointed to find that they only service note book computers out of warranty (which brings to mind another pet peeve of mine concerning warrantees, which I will post at a later date). The clerk at Radio Shack spent many long minutes on the phone arguing with Circuit City and Hewlett Packard's repair center. His extraordinary efforts resulted in FedEx showing up the next day to ship my computer prepaid to HP, and in one weeks time I had my computer back and up and running again with no cost to me. Thank you Radio Shack for being who & what you are. I am completely satisfied.

Rebate Turn-ons

I’d like to thank Chipper who’s comments on my last posting inspired me about another gripe I have; rebates. Most rebates require that you send in the original UPC code from the packaging. This means that if you mail in the rebate and then find out that your item is defective you can not return or exchange it at the store, since they won’t accept the item back without the barcode! This forces you to either send the item in to the manufacture’s warranty repair center, or forget about it. I can’t help but wonder if this might be a way for stores or manufactures to discourage exchanges and returns.

I think all rebates should be “in store” or “instant rebates” only. After all, rebates are a gimmick to suck you into their store to by their products, and hopefully a lot of other merchandise while you are browsing around. I say let the store give you the rebate at the cash register and let them hassle with getting their money back from the manufacture. After all they are the ones who profit.

Let me just give a little example of some of the rebate hassles I’ve had. I purchased three cell phones for myself and family at U.S. Cellular with rebates as part of a two year contract. After waiting almost three months for my rebates I finally received two of the three of them. For some reason the third rebated was deemed ineligible. After a few calls to the rebate center I finally got them to reprocess the rebate, where it was once again deemed ineligible. After several further calls and a couple to the local U.S. Cellular office and threats to cancel my phone contract, the mater was resolved and I received my remaining $30 after having to wait and worry about it for over six months.

The rebate center at Staples (a national office supply store) twice lost my rebate and clamed they never received it. This also happened once to my son. After a couple trips to the store and speaking with the manager, waiting for their call back and returning again to the store I was finally told the best they could do is offer me store credit which is only redeemable for more of their products. Just today I received a $20 check from Staples instead of the $35 rebate I was expecting. After speaking to the manager on the phone today (Friday) I was told that she will investigate it and call me back, probably Monday, and I will have to go into the store at my expense and inconvenience and sign a form to claim the $15 owed me, then doubtless more waiting to see if I get a check back.

Big-Box Defects

Throughout the years I have purchased many defective items from "chain stores" such as Wal-Mart, Cost-Co, & Toys R Us, etc. This in itself is frustrating. What irritates me most is when I take said merchandise back for exchange. I have seen clerks in these stores put my defective exchange right back on the shelf to sell to some other poor soul. Many stores charge a 15% restocking charge for normal exchanges. Why don't they give a discount for returned defective merchandize? After all there should be some compensation for my time and expense to return their junk. Hey, I buy an item to use, not to sit in the repair shop. Had I wanted a repaired item I would have bought a used one and at a hell of a lot cheaper price! This practice might even lead to better quality control and a lot fewer defects on the shelves. How do you feel about it?

About Crow's Corner

Crow’s Corner has been created in order for people like myself to express their opinions about the everyday things in life that provide, grief, joy, irritation, or just plain piss you off. I believe that credit should be given where credit is do, and that blame, pet peeves, hypocrisy, rip-offs and just plane stupidity should be exposed when they are flung in your face. I invite you to read my entries in the hope that it may help those who fall victim to the little things in life that we often take “lying down,” and that my ramblings may inspire you, the reader to comment or respond with gripes or comments of your own.

I ask that you refrain from the use of excessive profanity, obscene remarks and uncalled for racial slurs. I realize that it can be difficult to do that when airing your grievances, but try to keep it clean. Most of all enjoy and have fun.