Diana M.

ONE LAST UPDATE:
I looked at all of my bills from Mavis Discount Tire over the last few years. The reason was that I finally had time to analyze all that they had done wrong. I believe that I now have enough proof to have the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles take action against them and I am consulting attorneys because a lawsuit should be brought against them. Due to the negligence of Mavis in my local area, I risked my safety and maybe even my life. I found out that my rear brakes had been very bad for years. They had never been replaced since I purchased the car. It is a 2012. However, they replaced every part of my front brakes on three different occasions within less than four years. This included my rotors and my calipers which seldom need replacement. They, also, flushed my brake system twice within four years. This never needs to be done. I spoke with three mechanics from other service centers who told me that brake flushes are never needed and are a scam.

Finally, exactly five years after I first went to Mavis for my brakes, I went to another service center which repaired my rear brakes. When they replaced my rear brakes, the service center stated "Remove and replace rear brake shoes front shoe was metal to metal and the drums had deep grooves and cant be machined replaced all hardware and adjusters." So, I was driving on dangerous brakes for five years because Mavis is so negligent.

I do have images as proof but I will not be posting them because I am saving them for court. I do have all of the original documentation as well.

For everyone else who has been scammed by Midas, hold onto your paperwork. I may be able to start a class-action lawsuit.

UPDATE: I received a phone call from a no caller ID number which turned out to be a Training Regional Manager from Mavis. He told me that he had seen the review and so was contacting me. When I mentioned the email from Mavis Customer Service, he told me that his Regional Manager had not received it. He said that he will be checking with the Regional Manager about the situation. I will update here whenever anything progresses--if it does.

I had spongy brakes. So, I went to Mavis Discount Tire. For many years, they had been honest and had made many repairs for me. Not true today.

I called the day before and asked for an appointment. The man I spoke to told me that he made a ten o'clock appointment for me. When I arrived, I saw that the shop was very busy. All bays were filled and the parking lot was also full. I told the man at the counter my name and that I had a ten o'clock appointment. He looked at his computer then told me that the other man had not written it down. I told him that I would like to come back later because it was obviously busy. He told me that it would be busier later. I wondered how that was possible.

After three hours, my car was finally in the bay with the wheels removed. The man at the counter went into the bay area, looked at my brakes then came back to me to tell me that my brake pads were fine and would not need to be replaced. I asked if I could go into the bay area. He allowed me to do so. I didn't bother to look at anything except the rotors because he had told me that the pads were fine and that the caliper needed to be replaced. I believed him. I should not have and I should have taken pictures. My rotors were fine. They had a little rust around the edges but there was no scoring of the rotors at all. They were otherwise like new. I knew from past experience that they did not need to be replaced.

After another hour, the counter man said that my car was finished. At this point, I was so tired of waiting that I just paid the bill without even looking at it. I should have looked over the bill and questioned many of the charges but I just wanted to leave there. Later, I received an email with the bill. I saw that the brake pads that the counter man had said did not need to be replaced had been replaced. I also saw that the rotors which I knew did not need to be replaced had been replaced as well.

Since I knew that Mavis employees were dishonest, I contacted Mavis customer support. They sent me an email stating that the Regional District Manager would get back to me about the issue. It has now been almost two weeks and he never got back to me. Maybe that is because I told them that I knew that they operated on commmission. I had surmised this by the fact that they trumped up the bill.

So, I made an appointment with my local, trusted mechanic. When I spoke with him, he asked me "Why would you take your car there?" I explained that it took three to four days to get into have him look at my car. Then he told me "They operate on commission. You should never take your car there." He explained that he was honest and would never replace something that didn't need to be replaced. See my Firestone blog reasons for spongy brakes image. Rotors and brake pads don't cause spongy brakes. If the calipers were bad, my car would have pulled to one side and squealed when braking. Now I can report them to my state repair shop licensing agency to prove that they are fraudulent.

My words of advice: Number one--don't take your car Mavis. Number two: If you are in a real hurry and need to do so, be patient, don't just pay for unneeded repairs like I did. Number three: Bring someone who knows cars and have them look at the "needed" repair before you say yes. Never let them go to town on your car. They will replace everything that they can just to increase your bill. Even tell them that you would like to take pictures before the repair is done. In this way, they will know that you have evidence. My evidence is the bill, the emails, and the Firestone blog image. Number four--when they complete fraudulent repairs, report them to your state repair shop licensing agency.

After someone asked about the site, I checked it. It does not contain job listings. It is a site dedicated to affiliate links. That is, the site recommends sites with links. When someone clicks on the link, this site receives money. All of the links lead to businesses asking you to pay money to earn money. A legitimate job site does not use affiliate links. It lists jobs. I know what affiliate links are because I have had my own websites in the past and used affiliate links. You can tell that this is what is happening when you click on a link and see "subid2=*******" or similar on the search bar. This is how topjobsreviewed.com is getting paid. The reviews are phony and I would doubt that they were seen on MSNBC, ABC, USA Today or any of the other sites they show. If they were, it was to advertise their site. Stay away from topjobsreviewed.com. This smells like a scam.

I have spent a year searching for a remote job due to illness. Many sites do not offer jobs for everyone. If you don't have a bachelor's degree and several years of experience, you will not find a job. Many of these sites charge for the privilege of not finding a job. Some sites just don't offer very much. Also, there are many scam site on the internet. I have signed up for a few only to find out that they just wanted my email address so that they could attempt spam me or scam me. You have to be very careful which websites you use to seek employment.

Today I had a unique experience. Theworkathomewoman.com sent me an email listing including "The Best Work-From-Home Jobs for 2020". It had jobs that I can do as well as resources to help me and even jobs for beginners. No degree required. And her job postings are free.

Theworkathomewoman.com offers legitimate work-from-home opportunities. She has been featured on Forbes, CNN, Woman's Day, Mashable and many more. You can sign up for her emails very easily. Just click her "Get it here" link. She will send you a "free 36-page Scam Prevention Planner to research companies, track your applications, and steer clear of work-from-home scams." You will also be signed up for her emails filled with job information.

Her free resources are amazing. Her articles will assist you with your job search, resume, training and qualifications and all for free.

Not only does she offer jobs but "Start a Business", "Start a Blog", and "Make Extra Money" articles.

Theworkathomewoman.com is extensive. It is filled with job ideas, prospective employers, and, most importantly, remote jobs that many people will qualify for.

And, gentlemen, it is not just for the ladies. You can come here too. It's really great information.

She does state "This post may contain paid and/or affiliate links. Please refer to our disclosure policy for further information." However, she also states "This page includes affiliate links. Please be aware that we only promote advertising from companies that we feel we can legitimately recommend to our readers." You can also choose to not have your information sold.

I highly recommend her website.

I was searching for a listing of search engines. I found that Alexa had "The top 500 sites on the web" and thought that it would be good because Alexa use to list search engines rankings before Amazon bought it. As I went through the listings on Alexa and checked each search engine, I found that at least half of the listed search engines were defunct, no longer search engines, or were companies selling products. Others were now malicious sites that have taken over many of the domain names. I had to be really careful to not infect my computer while checking the urls. The top sites are still in existence but what are their true ranks?

There is no way to contact Alexa support unless you sign up for a trial membership. So, you can't even question their data. A membership starts at $149 a month. Certified Alexa Rank starts at $19.99 for 10 million page views per month. What are they certifying? What are people really getting for that amount? The information is old. How can site owners be given rankings if Alexa doesn't even know what it is ranking?

Alexa is a scam. I would advise website owners to think twice before signing up Alexa.

I haven't bought anything at BrandsMart USA but I will! I was looking for a window air conditioning unit. They had the best price online for what I wanted. The only problem that I had was that they wanted to charge a lot for shipping. I wrote BrandsMart USA customer service and told them that I didn't buy my AC there because of the shipping charges. Then I bought one locally. I should have waited an hour because they IMMEDIATELY wrote me back saying that I should not be charge when ordering over $100. I know that this is true because I checked them out on the Better Business Bureau website. They are accredited by the BBB and they have an A+ rating. If you need appliances of any type, big or small, check them out. I'm going to start checking them first when I need any type of appliance.

Last year I bought a Toshiba RAC-PD1011CRU 10,000 Cooling Capacity (BTU) Portable Air Conditioner at a great price. It is chilling my living room again this year. This AC rolls from room to room easily and it is not evaporative. So, I don't need to fill it with water all of the time as I would with many portable ACs. It has many settings and even comes with a remote control. It is also a dehumidifier. It's two in one!

I thought that I would just roll it around to different rooms but I decided to buy a window AC for my bedroom this year. So, I bought a Toshiba RAC-WK0512CMRU window AC. It, too, blasted out cold air within only a minute of turning it on.

I like the Toshiba designs. That is one thing that I look for when buying anything. Some companies have not changed their designs in decades. I'm sorry but they are outdated and ugly. Also, I trust Toshiba. They are a reputable company. I don't know some of the other companies that I saw and I wouldn't buy anything made by a company that I don't know to be reputable.

I didn't want to spend a lot, either, as I would have done with most of the major name brand companies. Toshiba does have the best prices for whatever BTUs you want. I always check for the best product at the best price from a reputable company. I like being a smart shopper.

Besides these things, Toshiba ACs come with everything you need for installation. You don't need to try to find the right installation kit.

So, I completely endorse Toshiba air conditioners.

In fact, the only problem I had was that the window unit was quite heavy. My daughter told me so when she installed it. She told me that her ACs were lighter. I don't know which brand she has. I researched to find out that the lighter an AC is, the less area it can cool. The weight is due to the amount of copper used in the AC unit. The more, the better.

So, while you are considering air conditioning units, definitely keep Toshiba in mind.

And if you ever have an issue, you can easily get in touch with Toshiba at https://www.toshiba-lifestyle.com/us/. This includes their US 800 number and Technical Support Outside the US among other things.

I shop at both Lowe's and Home Depot. I trust both stores to carry many items that I want at good prices. I like them both for different reasons at different times.

They are both very similar but there are differences. I always look up items online before going to either store. One will sell something that I want for much less than the other. It doesn't matter if it is a low dollar item or a high value item. They will carry very similar products but the prices for those products will vary a lot between the two stores. Then, they vary slightly with what they offer. One might have something in the quantity that I want while the other will not. One might have a color or design that I prefer.

Lowe's had landscape fabric pins for less than at Home Depot. Home Depot had vinyl sheeting flooring for less than Lowe's. With the flooring comparison, Lowe's does not carry TrafficMaster. I checked reviews online and TrafficMaster is quite similar to Congoleum which Lowe's does carry.

I did have a problem with my local Home Depot store when I purchased my range. They had the best price but it was a floor model. Since it was a floor model, they were going to charge me for delivery and for installation. I found out that I could order it online, not a floor model, for the same price and have it delivered and setup for free. I didn't try to buy a floor model appliance at Lowe's. They had the best price for the type of refrigerator that I wanted and they delivered for free.

I really like both stores but I think that you need to check online before shopping at either store.

After spending hours downloading free software from Ashampoo, I thought that I should do Ashampoo a favor and tell people how great they are.

I have used Ashampoo software for years. They have always given away free programs and I don't buy much software. I have used their free Winoptimizers for several years with no problems. There are a lot of excellent freeware and open source software programs online. So, why buy commercial? Of course, you have to really search to find the good ones. Then they usually don't have all of the features of commercial software. A few do. Some are a little buggy but they do have the features you want and they are free. I should tell you that I have worked with software for almost twenty years. Yep, I'm an old geek.

Ashampoo offers lots of free high quality commercial software along with tons of specials on the software that they do sell.

After my huge number of downloads, I felt obliged to actually purchase something. They did have something that I needed at an excellent price. I'm not sure how I would have found that free. I paid $20 for PhotoZoom. Now, I can finally resize images without distortion or image loss. It's worth it.

They offer so many products--multimedia including audio or video or photography, system utilities, office, cad, security, burning and many more. When you view the products, you can choose the category that you want or view all of them. Under Windows 10, I found 24 free full version programs available to download. They also have software for older Windows versions as well as android, ios and MacOS. They even offer software for I don't know how many languages if you don't prefer English. They have trials if you want to try out the software that they sell before you buy it. They also have demos. Their deals page has 47 discounted programs.

Their customer service is even excellent. I had a question. When I submitted my question, the page stated that we will get back to you within half an hour and they did. How's that for service? Their company has been in business for 21 years. They aren't going to be gone when you need to ask a support question.

The only downside I could see was that they did not offer a manual. There is one built into the software but who wants to read it anyway. I would only go there if I had a problem. However, while searching for the manual, I found out that they have a YouTube channel with so many videos that I couldn't even count them all. They have at least one for each program. They also have FAQs as well as tips and tricks for their softwares on their site.

So, to me, Ashampoo is an excellent company, one you need to check out if you love software as much as I do.

No, I don't work for Amika but it might sound that way after I'm done telling you how much I love them. I'm a buyer, not a seller. I didn't even know that Amika existed until my daughter asked me to buy some things for her. They didn't cost too much and she's my daughter. So, I did.

There was a problem with the first shipment. It was the dead of winter and the items arrived in a wet box. They had exploded because they had frozen. I called Amika. They were very nice and they immediately sent out new ones, no questions asked. I was very impressed. I'm used to dealing with poor customer service, poor quality, high prices, even downright fraud. Read my other reviews. Amika was an honest to goodness good company.

After this, I went back to their website to see if they had anything that I wanted. Of course they did. I'm big on using good hair care products--no laureth sulfate, no parabens, no harsh chemicals. I would like to keep my hair, not have it fall out because of harsh chemicals. Just read the back of a bottle of most hair care products to see what I'm talking about. They advertise the great things they put in their products but they don't tell you about all of the bad ingredients that they also add. I was shocked at what I saw on the back of one bottle of a major brand that states all of the great ingredients they put in their products. So many bad things in it. Amika states on their about page "We only make products that make us proud. Highly effective haircare that have always been cruelty-free, formulated without sulfates, parabens, aluminum starch and over 1,300 questionable ingredients banned by the European Union."

On top of that, Amika is fun. They have a beautiful, fun website and amazingly artistic designs on their products. Their products are high quality at reasonable prices.

They even have a wonderful page of information on diverted products, products that are not authorized by Amika to sell. It explains why it would be bad to find their products at a discount site.

The only thing bad I can say about them is that I'm not in love with their chatbot. I wanted to ask about a hairdryer but it couldn't help me and you can only call them 9 to 5 Monday to Friday. You can email them. If you email them on the weekend, I'm sure that they get back to you by Monday. As I said before, they are quick to respond.

So, Amika is the best place I know of to shop for hair care products.

I recieved an email from PCH telling me that I could enter the $10,000 a week for life sweepstakes. So, of course, I clicked on the link. It took me to $5,000 a week for life. I should tell you that I attempted to enter on the same day I received the email. I check my email many times a day. I contacted PCH customer support to ask what was wrong. Oh, the answers they gave me!

First, they told me a lot of frivalous information about how to enter PCH contests. I know how to enter PCH contests. I've been entering for many years, even when they only had paper entries. I receive emails everyday and enter everyday. At the bottom of that email they told me "it is not win $10,0000 a week for life it is win $10,000 instantly and $5000 a week for life".

Naturally, my next email included an attachment to show them that, yes indeed, it was for $10,000 a week for life, not a one time $10,000 opportunity. Then they sent me a link which turned out to be how to clear my cookies. Then, after I kept asking them, they sent me an email asking me whether I had cleared my cookies.

At this point, I was angry. I emailed them back that I cleared my cookies on three browser, restarted my computer then tried to click the link in my email on all three browsers. I also told them that I had Googled and found the PCH blog. It, too, contained a link to the $10,000 a week for life sweepstakes. The blog link also took me to $5,000 a week for life. I also told them that I am a website developer, that is the truth, and explained how links work. I asked for a direct link to the $10,000 a week for life sweepstakes. Of course, they never gave me one. There isn't one. Below that I told them that I would write bad reviews on major websites if they did not provide one.

At this point, they replied that they would like me to call them. I replied that, obviously, that would give me no proof.

So, if you would like to enter a PCH sweepstakes, don't believe that you can ever enter the $10,000 a week for life sweepstakes. That is bogus. PCH is fraudulent. Do they even have winners of other sweepstakes and contests? They used to. I won $200 about 20 years ago. Now, I'm not sure.

Porkbun has excellent domain name prices, free WHOIS privacy, and free SSL certificates. You won't find that at most of the big name registrars. You can try their hosting for free and if you decide to keep it, it's only $24.00 per year. Try finding that elsewhere. They also offer almost any domain name extension you might want.

And they don't jack the price up high for renewals like most domain name registrars. Above all, they don't play games like ionos who adds things you didn't request. They are, hands down, the best company to buy a domain name from. I have used them for many years for many domain names without ever having a problem. They even offer great phone support if you have a question. And they are also just plain fun.

I absolutely recommend Porkbun!

I'm really disappointed with Price Chopper in Watertown, NY. I shop there and I have my prescriptions sent there. Today I needed an important prescription but I was too sick to drive to get it. I checked online and found that they would deliver for $5. So, I called the pharmacy. They told me that Watertown Price Chopper doesn't do this and that I could have it mailed out but that would not happen until next Tuesday, 4 days from now. I finally called a cab and had it delivered. Now I will not only start using a pharmacy that will deliver but I will be checking everything when I shop at Price Chopper. I don't trust them anymore.

I post reviews all of the time except at ConsumerAffair.com. I used to but they never posted my reviews and I wondered why not?

After a little research I found out why not. They have two sides to their story. On the one hand, they tell consumers that they are there for "For life's important purchases" as if they are informing consumers about companies that they might be checking. And, yes, they do post reviews--good and bad. One would presume that they will give consumers valuable information so that they know which companies to patronize and which to stay away from but...

There is much more to the story. It works like this. They allow the companies who pay them to "resolve" the issues that they have with the consumers who have written the reviews. They also post affiliate links. Affiliate links are links to companies to which the posters are paid to send consumers via the links. In other words, a company wants to draw people to their websites. So, they pay other companies, like ConsumerAffairs, to post links which will lead shoppers to their sites. I realized this when I tried to look for Home Depot. There was no search function. I could not search for Home Depot and many of the "accredited companies" had "learn more" links that gave information then used another link to ask for my contact information to assist the companies in question to get in touch with me. That's sales, not honest reviews.

There's more. Some of the unaccredited companies only have reviews. Other companies have "Author Reviews". That is, the contributing editor of the section, I chose "Find the Best Bathroom Remodeling Contractors", touts the features and benefits of the company in question. So, I presume they have also paid ConsumerAffairs. After all, the author reviews don't give pros and cons, only pros. I also presume that the companies that are not written about did not pay. Those are the honest reviews--yes, they do have a few. They allow you to look at ratings from 5 stars to 1 star. That's good. There is some use for ConsumerAffairs.

At the bottom left of the page is a button/link that says "Want your company to be on this guide?" So, of course, I clicked on the button. Here I was brought to the page for companies. It stated "Millions of shoppers use ConsumerAffairs.com each month to research purchases and leave reviews. Our platform provides you with a complete solution to engaging with and managing these reviews, all while getting you high-quality prospects." So, they stated that they are slanting the reviews and giving sales leads to companies. They don't currently give details on the page. They have a contact form to fill out but they did use to give details. When they did, I screenshot them. Yes, I've been here before. Previously, they stated "ConsumerAffairs for brands is your complete solution for online reputation management". If you would like to see this for yourself, use the wayback machine. Go to December 2019. They went into great detail about how they help businesses.

Also, on the homepage you can click the "How it Works" button to see that they help businesses instead of consumers.

So, some of their reviews are genuine but most are paid advertisements. I don't write reviews there anymore. I write reviews here and on Trustpilot among others.

I wonder how many people have been defrauded by 1and1 otherwise known as ionos. They sell domain names. So, you buy one. You receive a confirmation that your domain name has been successfully registered. At the same exact time, you receive an email with the subject line "Contract Confirmation". Of course, you are sure that this is just official contract information. So, you don't read it.

A year later you receive emails with the subject line "Upcoming Domain Renewal". You don't read those either because you want your domain name to automatically renew.

You don't find out until after the domain name renewal that 1and1 has pulled a fast one. They have defrauded you. Isn't that illegal? When you happen to look at your bank statement, you find that they have charged you a much larger amount than you would pay for a domain name renewal.

The aftermath is that you call them to ask why you have this charge on your bank statement. They tell you that it is for your hosting service. You never asked for hosting. You just bought a domain name. You argue the point but they tell you that it was in the emails that they sent you. They signed you up for hosting. You did not sign up for hosting. Then they horse you around and tell you that they will give you some money back but that the amount will be prorated, again, even though you did not order this. They added it.

So, you check your emails--hopefully, you saved them all. You find that they have actually written in those emails that you will be charged for hosting after one year. Again, you did not request this. They have done it without your permission. You also notice that their subject lines say "Upcoming Domain Renewal" not upcoming hosting renewal.

The only reason that they finally agreed to give my money back was that I told them that I would write a review to tell other people what they had done. I never promised that I wouldn't if they did give me my money back.

They are a completely shady business, I would say illegal. How many millions of dollars have they made overcharging their millions of customers?

I would never buy another domain name from 1and1. I warn you that you should not either. The best place to buy a domain name, and believe me I have bought many, is Porkbun.

I needed some groceries. So, I went to Walmart. I noticed a man pushing carts back into the store. He had no gloves on. Inside I noticed that none of the employees had masks or gloves. When I checked out, the cashier was wiping down the counter. I asked her whether Walmart provided masks or gloves. She quietly told me "no".

Walmart is the largest bricks and mortar store in the United States. They rake in over $374.80 billion a year. That should be enough money to supply personal protective devices to their employees. They are risking the lives of their employees during COVID-19. People are dieing and Walmart, obviously, does not care if this happens to their employees.

This is not just a health risk for the employees but for shoppers as well. If a shopper touches a cart that someone with Coronavirus has touched, they could become infected. If an employee who has been exposed, breaths on a patron, they could become infected. It doesn't matter how many times the employees wipe down the counters if they are not protected from breathing the same air as people who have the disease. Hundreds of people go through their lines everyday. Some of those people have COVID-19. Cashiers are being exposed. Then, customers are exposed to the cashiers. Everyone in the store is risking their life.

Walmart is completely negligent in their approach to this deadly disease. Yes, there is a line of carts that shoppers need to go around to enter the store but this is unimportant compared to what is really needed. Once in the store, employees and shoppers face a dangerous situation.

I'm a smart shopper. I never spend more than I should unless I really have to.

I wanted to quit smoking--again. So, I went to my local stores. They only sold products by the J company and they seemed expensive. Then I thought why not try online. When I Googled, I found my old friend blu.com. I had forgotten about them but had purchased from them many years ago.

When I got to their website, I was confused about what to buy since I hadn't vaped for a while. I had to call blu customer service. A very nice CS rep. Named Harriet helped me out. She didn't try to oversell me on things that I didn't need but she explained what my options were. I was glad that she made it so simple. By the time we were done talking, I knew exactly what blu was selling and what I wanted to buy.

I was even happier when I received my vaping kits. I didn't even know that the package was from blu because it came so quickly. I thought it was something else that I had ordered. So, I didn't even open it for a day.

I do trust blu. I know that they have been in business for many years and have always treated me right. I have never had any problems with anything that I bought from blu.

After I bought two myblu Starter Kits for $10.99 each, a myblu Device for $9.99 and a two-pack of myblu Gold Leaf Liquidpods, my total before tax was $41.96. The kits come with a pod each. So, I had 4 pods for this price.

On a lark, I went to the J company to see what they would have cost for the same things. My total there would have been $75.96 before tax because I would have had to buy pods and their devices separately because they don't come with pods. They do come with chargers, like the blu kits but... see below. Then I would have had to buy 4 pods at $15.99. So, the total would have been $75.96 before taxes.

I saved $34 by going to blu.

The mouthpiece on the J company devices even looks inconvenient to me. And their charging docks look like they would let the devices fall out if you didn't lay them on a flat surface. Blu gives you a usb with a cord.

Then the warranties. Both companies warranty devices and chargers. The blu warranty is lifetime while the J*** warranty is one year.

A plus is that I just found out that I CAN buy blu in my area. If my device or charger stops working, I can return it locally and have it replaced.

The only complaint I have about blu is that they are not currently stocking the e-cig liquids. Neither does the J company. I'm not buying pods--they cost more. So, if they restock, I will buy from them. Otherwise, I will buy from another company.

I am so sick of Etsy selling products at outrageous prices that I finally have to write this review. They also have "come-ons". Just $5 or $7 or $9 but that is for a swatch or a sample. Their ads don't say that but it is what they are. Not only that, but the sellers lie about what they are selling. I even contacted Etsy about it months ago. They just told me that the sellers set their own prices. So, almost anything with measurements is "not as described". This is, actually, illegal. Deceptive Measurements or Quantities "The federal Lanham Act allows civil lawsuits for false advertising that "misrepresents the nature, characteristics, qualities, or geographic origin" of goods or services. 15 U.S. C. § 1125(a). The FTC also enforces false advertising laws on behalf of consumers."

Etsy's homepage states "What is Etsy? Etsy is a global online marketplace, where people come together to make, sell, buy, and collect unique items."

Unique?!

I did a lot of online research and found the wallpaper that I wanted. So, I was happy to see that an Etsy seller had this wallpaper for $7.50 plus. How much could a roll be? As usual, when I went to Etsy, it was actually almost twice as much as most other sites.

Also, the seller lied. How? The seller described it as "Peel and Stick Vintage Chic Blue Florentine Medallion Tile Wallpops Wallpaper NU2235". The Wallpops and the NU2235 both gave it away. It's not vintage when I can find at many, many other stores. It is being sold at Home Depot, eBay, Amazon, Wallpops.com, Target, Walmart, Joann.com (Joann Fabrics), Bed Bath and Beyond, Overstock is out of stock but did sell it, and, of course, Etsy. The other sites I listed are the reputable ones. It's not vintage! That is a lie. If they had said "vintage style", they would have been honest. At least they didn't place it under the vintage category.

I guess Etsy sellers can sell their merchandise at any price they wish -- except when they have to lie to do it. I take exception to this.

This is not the first time, either. I tried to buy curtains and a prom gown from Etsy. Same story. I don't even go to Etsy anymore to buy things. I just like to look to see how much the seller lied and how expensive their items are.

Well, at least Wayfair's was a little unique. I guess I should find my unique items at Wayfair and I don't like them either. I never got exactly what I ordered from them but at least they gave me my money back when I returned merchandise.

So, cautious online shopping everyone!

I went to collectionsetc.com for the first time after seeing them on Google Shopping. The first thing that I saw was that I would receive free shipping if I ordered over $35. So, I put my items in the cart. They were over $35. I used the code and it said that the code had expired. I called customer service who asked where I got the code. I told her that it was right on the top of the homepage. She gave me a different code. Now I needed to order over $45 to receive free shipping. Ok, was there anything else that I wanted there? I tried but couldn't find anything.

Next, I noticed that if I signed up for their newsletter I would get free shipping plus 10% off my order. I tried to sign up but it suddenly stated orders over $50 and had to be used within 48 hours. I kept checking my email and signed up several times but I did not receive an email from them. Was this even real? Would they have given me a discount?

Then, I went to my cart. Suddenly, my low order had a fairly large shipping fee along with a processing fee. What is the processing fee? I've never seen that at any other site, and I shop a lot. By the time I was done, my order had become almost twice the cost it started out to be.

Next, just to see what would happen, I removed my original order from the cart, then ordered a $1.97 item. I went to my cart and began to check out. My $1.97 order had a processing fee and $6.99 shipping. The total for my $1.97 item was $13.78. I'm glad that I didn't actually want the item.

This was the first and last time that I will ever shop at collectionsetc.com. They are a very bad shopping site.

I was looking for new curtains. I had a certain style and color in mind. I had shopped online and was now checking local stores.
Luckily, I went to Ollie's before Big Lot's.

Ollie's had good quality curtain panels for $10.00, Waverly and others. Big Lot's had brands I did not recognize for $25.

Ollie's sheers were $6.99. Of course, I bought them. Big Lot's? $10. I noticed Big Lot's lovely Broyhill sectional sofa when I walked in but I also noticed a coffee table with the set that severely needed dusting.

Of course, the shelves in Big Lot's contain many types of items. They are crowded together, not neatly arranged as you would see in a large chain store be it department store or grocery store.

Both Ollie's and Big Lot's are selling closeout items. But Big Lot's suddenly thinks that it is an upscale department store. The problem with this is the dusty coffee table and, on another occasion, the things that I asked the store worker for that they don't carry as would be done in normal chain stores. They only carry what you have been able to buy as closeout lots.

Again, there are the prices. I looked at my brand of cat food at Big Lot's. It was as much as any major grocery store, more than some.

It is not as if their store is well decorated and carrying designer products. They usually don't.

Of course, you will find Boyhill Naples collection furniture at Big Lots but if you go to Broyhill and click on it, it will lead you back to Big Lots. They are the only sellers of this collection. Does this mean that this is a bad collection? Certainly not, but it means that this Broyhill is a closeout lot or a super low priced set from Broyhill sold only to Big Lots.

Big Lots Google listing states "Big Lots! Live BIG. Save LOTS." That is completely untrue.

Overall, Big Lot's is pretty much a cheap store now trying to masquerade as an expensive department store.

I will not shop at Big Lot's again but I will keep checking back with Ollie's. I have gotten some really amazing deals on quality products at Ollie's.

I shop at both Lowe's and Home Depot. I trust both stores to carry many items that I want at good prices. I like them both for different reasons at different times.

They are both very similar but there are differences. I always look up items online before going to either store. One will sell something that I want for much less than the other. It doesn't matter if it is a low dollar item or a high value item. They will carry very similar products but the prices for those products will vary a lot between the two stores. Then, they vary slightly with what they offer. One might have something in the quantity that I want while the other will not. One might have a color or design that I prefer.

Lowe's had landscape fabric pins for less than at Home Depot. Home Depot had vinyl sheeting flooring for less than Lowe's. With the flooring comparison, Lowe's does not carry TrafficMaster. I checked reviews online and TrafficMaster is quite similar to Congoleum which Lowe's does carry.

I did have a problem with my local Home Depot store when I purchased my range. They had the best price but it was a floor model. Since it was a floor model, they were going to charge me for delivery and for installation. I found out that I could order it online, not a floor model, for the same price and have it delivered and setup for free. I didn't try to buy a floor model appliance at Lowe's. They had the best price for the type of refrigerator that I wanted and they delivered for free.

I really like both stores but I think that you need to check online before shopping at either store.