Jaqi M.

I recently signed my granny up for QLink phone services and the enrollment and receipt of the phone went smoothly. However, upon checking up on delivery of a Sim Card Kit the other day we realized she was de-enrolled! How? Why? It was simply not possible, as nothing had changed, so I attempted to contact QLink. There, BEGINS the nightmare. (LONG, but worth the read).

I was sent to an endless loop of only four phone options - NONE of which was the choice of a LIVE AGENT. I must have phoned at least twelve times, chosen every option and every one sent me back to the same loop. I then logged in to send them a message from their website, but it kept taking me to a de-enrolled page. I was able to finally find a contact site and sent a message.

After doing so, I immediately contacted the PUC who gave me the number for Texas Lifeline and was lucky enough to speak to a really great guy. He told me that everything was in order on their end in regard to the program itself, but that he showed that she had TWO accounts with QLink. Apparently, a de-enrolled one because "the provider had neglected to send in a number (?) within a necessary time allotment", and one, which had been "enrolled" just TWO DAYS PRIOR (just two days from/before when he and I were speaking). Whaaat? He suggested we phone QLink and let them know what they showed. I explained that I had tried contacting them to no avail, but that I would try again. (I figured that QLink had just enrolled her again, so perhaps their system had not updated). I attempted to contact QLink by phone a few more times, but it appeared that the phone I was calling from was flagged as associated to her account, so again, I received no more than the four options and none to a live agent.

The next day, we received an email which said, "call us and a live agent will help, or click the button below, and a live agent will contact you within 48-72 hours." Figuring they had fixed the problem where I couldn't reach an agent before, I phoned in, and of course, it was the same garbage loop - no live agent. To add insult to injury, however, the 'Click Here, Someone Will Phone You Back' Button DID NOT WORK EITHER. IT sent me into an endless loop on their site, which still said she was de-enrolled.

Well, having worked for the CEOs of two major companies in the past, you kind of develop that pit-bull mentality they have - where you just can't let go of a bone... and I was irked. I researched the owner of QLink, an "Issa Asad", his company, and located a number for the counsel he used for his Petition For Expansion of ETC Service Area into our state. Digging way deeper still, I was able to locate a number for him. Now, let me digress for a moment and say that I have contacted three or four heads of major companies before; heads of companies WAY bigger than QLink; and what is surprising to me, is that without fail, they have expressed genuine concern and gratitude for bringing up issues that they may not be aware of, to their attention. That was NOT the case with Asad. (I guess names really are telling).

The first time I phoned, the number rang and rang and rang at least a dozen times, to where I wondered what kind of line it was, then it clicked and switched to another kind of ringing, and then went into a voicemail system where he said he was busy and if immediate help was needed, to contact some of his associates (no numbers for them) or to send him a text at that number. I left a message in which I went into a little of what was happening and my inability to reach anyone from Customer Service. I think my voice gave away the stress of the past few days and I wasn't as even-tempered or cordial as I normally would be. Upon hanging up, I called right back again, at which point he answered, and was really rude, short and dismissive. He seemed upset that I had contacted him directly, and had not one ounce of understanding or empathy about or for what I had been dealing with for days because of some error on his company's part.

In a rushed and almost contemptuous tone, he told me to "call customer service", at which point I asked him what he thought I had been trying to do and that I was contacting him, because I did not have the ability to reach them. He then asked for my number which of course he should have had, but I gave it to him.

About 15-20 minutes later, I received a call which was obviously being recorded but for which there was no message saying it was being recorded, and a woman identified herself and asked what the issue was. She said her records showed that the lifeline program had de-enrolled my granny and that she did not have services through them. She too was rude beyond belief. I explained what I was being told by Texas Lifeline, and told her that quite honestly, 'common sense would dictate that they knew what they were talking about'. (Why would they say there were two accounts if there weren't)? She said: "Well, they don't have our records." I felt like asking how in the world the government agency that oversees the program, and who by law, they report to, 'could not have access to their records', but this was one of those silly people who don't even matter enough to argue with because they are just too dense and incapable of common sense, so you'd never get anywhere with them.

After we spoke, I called Texas Lifeline Services yet again, and reached a sweet young lady who told me, pretty much verbatim, what the gentleman I spoke to the other day had: that she showed TWO accounts with QLink - a de-enrolled one and an enrolled/active one which had been enrolled just a few days prior. She said she could de-enroll us, or that she could open an investigation. I chose to open an investigation, if only for the very simple fact that I will be happy to text Asad a copy of what is revealed at the conclusion, although I can tell you now - he won't care one way or another.

In closing out this review, I have to tell you that none of these companies really make any BIG money off of the 'government phone' program (they make it from added services), so customer service will always be lax at any of them. This one however, QLINK, seems to have an inborn, inherently dismissive and couldn't-care-less attitude that comes from the owner himself. Do yourself a favor, save yourself some massive headaches and frustration, and do not reward them with your business.

-----------------------------------
P.S. Some of the legal stipulations of Asad's deal with the U.S. Government in order to provide this type of service, includes:
Q LINK ETC Service Area Will Serve The Public Interest
Q LINK Will Comply With Applicable Service Requirements
Q LINK Will Satisfy Consumer Protection and Service Quality Standards; AND:
Q LINK is dedicated to quality customer service and care, specifically:
"Lifeline customers can reach Q LINK's Customer Service department via phone, mail, e-mail, fax, or online"... which we have already established, is not the case.

If you have issues with them, open an investigation or request help from the Lifeline program in your state.

Ever since my husband and I had a couple of really, REALLY bad experiences with LG a few years back, we began turning our backs on LG and started adding to our (then) small Samsung collection of goods. An Edge, a couple of Galaxy phones, a microwave, a refrigerator, a washer and dryer set, then a couple of years back, a 58" UN58NU6080 TV, and just a few months back, an 82" UN82RU8000 - which may very well be the most beautiful thing I've ever seen ;).

SO, yesterday we decided to install a Sony home theater system I inherited as a hand-me-down from a friend, on the Samsung UN82RU. While we were able to get the sound to work on the channels and apps associated with the Sony blu-ray player, we could not hear anything from Live TV, SamsungPlusTV (or its channels), from our cable Flex box, or any other channel not on the Sony app. As such, at our wits end, I attempted to phone Sony, and reached a message that they were not taking calls during the pandemic, and to please try them through other means or look for answers on their forums. I then tried Sony Live Chat, and they were closed for the day... I then CALLED Samsung.

Now, there is a reason I capitalized the word: "CALLED".

In today's 'world', where it is almost impossible to actually reach companies and/or their live agents... Samsung connected me to someone in less than FOUR minutes. What's more, they helped troubleshoot our issue and rule out that it was a Samsung problem, helped tweak the TWO TVs, and answered some minor questions we'd always been dying to ask about THEIR features, etc. They were great. BUT, that's not the reason for my review!

In short, (TL; dr version), the reason for my review, is that after the call, it DAWNED on me, that in all these years of surrounding ourselves with Samsung products, not once, not EVER, have we had to deal with Samsung because not ONCE, NOT EVER has a Samsung product EVER failed us or stopped working on us.

Not EVER. In years.

In today's world, that is almost unheard of - and it really shouldn't be.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EDIT:
WOW! I posted this review without having seen their score on here or having read other people's reviews. I am confused/baffled and dumbfounded! My reviews are always 100% honest, and to realize others have so many problems with Samsung is just... inconceivable. I am pretty unfamiliar with Sony (until now), and absolutely detest LG due to some failing equipment we had from them in the past and their utter lack of customer service on high-priced items. To us, Samsung is King, and I'm surprised and sorry that others have had bad experiences with them. :(

OMG - it is with SUCH a heavy heart that I am changing my Amazon Review from FIVE to ZERO (one) Stars.

For the past few months, I have received a SLEW of USED products and items; orders that differed COMPLETELY from their images and product descriptions; and NON-WORKING items! This issue had been voiced by others in the past, but since I had not experienced it for myself, I really didn't 'get it'. If YOU do not as of yet, you're lucky.

The WORST part of it is that NOW Amazon has ALSO changed its return policy and not only do they NO LONGER pick up the item at no cost (cost is now $7.99 for EACH item to be picked up), but on certain items they want you to pay $6.99 at the UPS DROP-OFF LOCATIONS!

LISTEN to what I am saying: THEY (ultimately) are responsible for what their vendors/sellers are sending out, but it can (and IS, more and more) be ANYTHING from used items to non-working items, and yet they want us to not only go and drop the wrong items off, but pay for the return. ABSURD.

My main regret is just how much MONEY i've spent with them and the loyalty I felt toward them and voiced on sites such as these, as well as on my social media accounts, only for Amazon to laugh all the way to the bank with the Lion's share, and not feel the same loyalty to their customers, while doing so.

****************************************************************

ORIGINAL REVIEW:
I've had an Amazon account since 2016 only, and I had never been a big Amazon shopper until this year. To me, they seemed more expensive than eBay, and I am ALWAYS looking out for the 'better' deal. After a few bad purchases on eBay however, I began using Amazon more and more... and the more that I have, the more and more impressed that I have grown with them. To clarify, am I saying they are perfect? No. (See below). However, in my experience so far, they try and go the extra mile to ensure an all-around positive transaction, on each transaction.

I have purchased a few electronics and they have all turned out pretty great. On my last two electronics' purchases I opted for the lower-cost options Amazon sometimes provides on open-box, used, etc. models, and again, I've been greatly surprised and satisfied with what was received. So much so, in fact, that I have not yet had to return anything, so I cannot review the returns aspect of their business.

Very recently I signed up for Prime as well (which I will be reviewing separately) and can say that I am equally satisfied with it. I have, literally, never had a bad experience with Amazon. That's A LOT more that I can say about several companies I do business with.

If I had to add cons, one is that unlike eBay or Google, Amazon does not provide a negative (-) function in order to exclude a word from a search. For example: Alienware -legacy -collectible (the dash preceding a word or term, serving to exclude it from results). While they do provide the options on the left, these are not always all-inclusive or helpful enough to narrow a search down enough. That said, it is a small issue for me and something they will hopefully soon incorporate. The other is that much like eBay did, to its detriment, it seems as if Amazon now too is opening their provider 'doors' to more and more Chinese companies with less proven track records and longer shipping times. We, as buyers/consumers, need to do a little homework regarding what we purchase and opt to purchase through not only Amazon, but everywhere.

In closing, I'd like to add that I am a HUGE believer that companies must demand a high level of excellence from themselves in order to obtain positive reviews.

If companies do things at merely an 'okay' level, why bother reviewing them? Technically, they are doing a minimum to receive a minimum.

If companies do a terrible job, then they should be reviewed as terrible, in order to save other people the headache, and so that new customers do not reward them with their hard-earned money.

Amazon, in my opinion and experience with them thus far, seems to demand excellence from itself, and so, deserves a positive review.

UPDATE: It's obvious that just like they allow trolls to manipulate ratings on their own site AND how they now ALSO manipulate ratings on their OWN site (See: The Little Mermaid 2023), IMDB, owned by Amazon, is now posting reviews here on SiteJabber, to try and mitigate their bad rating: a rating which went from "1" - the same low score as they have on other review sites like TrustPilot - to almost a "4" in just under a month. Shameful.

In the past couple of days, my HONEST review and rating of 6 for The Little Mermaid was rejected three times, while new user's reviews that go along with IMDB's agenda for the film, keep being posted. In short, IMDB is NO LONGER TRUSTWORTHY. This is PROOF that their movie reviews (especially newer films, of course), are purposefully manipulated BY IMDB - with the driving factor not being able to be anything else BUT the almighty dollar. NOW, don't get me wrong. The issue is not that I am upset that MY review is not published. It is the fact that IMDB is proving that my prior assertion that ratings are manipulated, to be true; and when viewer's wallets are involved, in that some do rely on THE GENERAL PUBLIC'S REVIEWS (NOT IMDB's PREFERENCES), that is just WRONG for them to do. (See Amazon's 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' review on IMDB to see how Amazon/IMDB quickly shut down reviews on it).

Make no mistake about it, the review market is huge and in the multi-billion-dollar film industry, it can be bought, through IMDB.

**Since my review (below) was first published, they have updated their reporting tool by adding a comment box to their reporting feature, but reviews are still very RARELY, if EVER, deleted.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Original Review:

IMDB is no longer a site which can be trusted for honest, correct ratings and reviews. The problem? Well, aside from the blatant and overt distortion and manipulation of ratings on a growing number of films, it is the fact that no one at IMDB seems to care. In fact, in my opinion, and I must stress that it is my opinion only, I sometimes think that maybe the site itself receives kickbacks of some kind in order to facilitate the ongoing deceptions. The reason why I so firmly believe this, is that to begin, they have no real kind of reporting tool save a report button under each person's review, which leads you to a choice of four options - none of which cover "suspected ratings manipulator" (or something similar) - and when you do choose another of the options, nothing ever comes of it. Reviews very RARELY, if EVER, get deleted from the site.

An example of one such a film out of many, is a 2015 film called Whispers ("Whispers (2015) - IMDb"). Until a year back, it had a rating of 9.2. I kid you not when I tell you that every single day, for YEARS, the creators or those involved in making the film, would "up" the rating by at least 30 votes. Every DAY. I KNEW this because of several reasons. 1. we had been duped by the high score into renting it and were irked to discover it was a terrible film; 2. After I left a bad 1-star review on it (and then saw all the other 1-star reviews on it which had been hidden at the bottom) the "fakers" came and posted THREE 10-star reviews to drown out mine, which caused me to begin checking it every SINGLE day; 3. When other people left bad reviews on it (all saying the same thing: "don't fall for the fake good reviews") the fakers would rush in and again post three or four reviews right after; and 4. Every SINGLE day the 10-Star reviews would gain almost 30 up-votes and the 1-star reviews would be down-voted at least thirty times. EVERY SINGLE DAY - FOR YEARS. I promise this is true.

After a few months of watching this, I reported it on the IMDB Get Satisfaction Page (which is anything but), only to find that it had already been reported. IMDB did NOTHING... for YEARS. During that time, I can only imagine that the creators of the film raked in money in rentals and other royalties (the film was available on RedBox where they also left fake reviews). In my eyes, IMDB was complicit in fIeecing a great number of people by not doing anything when they were advised of what was happening.

As it is, years later, that title has now (mostly) been cleared up and cleaned up. I say mostly, because although IMDB deleted a huge number of reviews (both bad and good) and removed the plumped-up ratings which brought it from the 9.2, to a more believable 4.4, the fakers STILL visit the site and have up-voted all the positive reviews back up to the top. Again, that is only ONE title out of MANY (hundreds, even?) that this is happening to. (SEE MORE example titles at the end/bottom of review).

In short, IMDB used to be great. Now it is untrustworthy.

A while back, they changed the default review "view" to Prolific Reviewer (which can be TOO easily manipulated) and they did so WITHOUT allowing individual users to SET it back to what each individual prefers, such as Helpful Reviewer, Review Date, etc. WHY would they do this? It basically invalidates peoples votes. Are we supposed to vote 'helpful' on the reviews IMDB PREFERS to show us? It's baffling!

There is one guy who boasts of submitting over 9,000 reviews, but almost EVERY one of the 6-10 titles he reviews a day, is not a review, but a plot summary (WITH spoilers and no spoiler tag). Prolific? Sure. Review? No. (If you wish to see it for yourself, he is one of the first few reviewers you can find on the 'Everything, Everywhere All at Once' page).

In short, IMDB is still a behemoth in regard to film reviews... BECAUSE THERE IS NO ONE ELSE DOING THE SAME (RT is a joke and Metacritic is too simplistic), and hey, more power to them for knowing and cashing in on that, but the more people keep falling for fake reviews and high ratings, the less people will use them. Of course, there will still be fake accounts a'plenty, and reviewers who enjoy seeing their usernames on reviews and who up-vote themselves to the top, and those who monetarily or in other ways benefit from planted reviews, but REAL users will be fewer and fewer.

And so it is with a heavy heart that I post this review. I hold a glimmer of hope that a new site, with stricter measures or perhaps better algorithms may pop up. One that would see through all the "fake", to give us clean, unvarnished opinions from one film lover to another.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There is a Netflix film called Time Trap where 80% of the positive reviews all say the same: 'give these guys a sequel!'; 'I want to see Part 2!'; 'This should be made into a television series!'; 'there needs to be another one of these films!'... only, the first one was pretty bad... and the positive reviews mostly ADMIT that it was terrible, but always include a caveat: "Yes, there are plot holes galore and the acting is pretty bad and the ending feels rushed... BUT...". It's sad. (And yes, I fully admit that not everyone is going to like the same thing, and THIS film (NOT Whispers) :), could very well be one of those).

M Night Shyamalan's "Glass", has at least FOUR 1-Star reviews from who can only be the same person. This person talks about having wanted the film "to be about the cheerleaders" in all four small reviews AND all four "reviewers" have all reviewed the same three or four films. It isn't rocket science!:)

A Ghost Story? Again, a divisive film. Some "real reviewers" will truly, honestly, really love it and other "real reviewers" will die on the hill of how very much they passionately hated it. EITHER way, if you study it for a while, will see that some weeks all the "1 Star" reviews are overwhelmingly at the top and then it appears there is a day of... something happening... and all the higher ratings are moved up and hide the lower rating. It's hilarious!

There are favors, and then... there are FAVORS. Trust me when I tell you that if you are considering using Direct Express, or if you have for some reason been led to believe that you HAVE to use Direct Express, I am about to do you the biggest favor, EVER. I am even not exaggerating (that much).

There are companies which are terrible to do deal with and which you should avoid at all costs. Well, Direct Express takes that "Terrible to Deal With", runs with it, and finds the muddiest pit imaginable, then digs down, way down, into the realm of "Even Worse Than Terrible to Deal With". In fact, it's almost as if they invented the concept, and then perfected the practice of being Even Worse Than Terrible to Deal With.

My granny is adamant that she does not want to sell her house and in that she wants to keep being as independent as possible, which at her age, is not very independent at all anymore. As such, I handle most of her finances, her grocery shopping, etc. For a while, we would receive her SS check in paper form, but then began to receive notices with the check, that we HAD to set up a form of direct deposit. These notices (shame on you, SSA!) 'pushed' Direct Express to the point where any reasonable person would think the Social Security Administration and Direct Express are associated - They are NOT; or that Direct Express is a government entity - it is NOT.

Simply, if you believe that you are required to enroll with them, this is NOT the case. The Direct Express card and Direct Express itself, is a third-party OPTION for federal benefit recipients to receive their benefits electronically.

I opted for using them because I am the payee on her account and my bank account is in my married name, and mostly because I did not bother to read the fine print (shame on me) and thought the SSA and DE were associated and thought the entire thing would be easier because of it. I was wrong.

The main and most concerning things about Direct Express, is that it is EXTREMELY difficult, IF NOT DOWNRIGHT IMPOSSIBLE, to get through to them over the phone - while at the SAME TIME, their online presence and "help" options are practically NONEXISTENT.

You literally call in, have to go through several phone options, only then to be told that they are "experiencing heavy call volumes" (always) and to "call back", right before you are summarily disconnected and have to do it all over again. 'HOW is this possible' you may ask. I ask myself the same. If this is the card/company of choice for the SSA (and by the way they push and almost market the use of it, you'd say it was), HOW can it be so damn awful? Not sure, but it is.

After having registered her, we waited 14 days (two weeks) for a card which did not arrive within the 7-10 days we had been told to expect it by. I made three calls before I could reach anyone and was told that their system showed it was in "the mail pan", and I kid you not, this person told me that we might have to wait up to FORTY days. I thought to myself, that cannot possibly be right. Don't many recipients live from SS check to SS check? What if my granny did not have us to fall back on? I then attempted to call again just in case that forty-day information was incorrect. This time it took 11 times (just in case that was not clear, that is ELEVEN calls) before I could actually get a line in, and before I could speak to anyone.

Note here, that they have two different numbers *******311 and *******115). The second is WAY busier than the first, but on the first number they do not have nearly all the information that the people on the second number have. (The person who told me we'd have to wait up to forty days was at the first number).

Upon reaching someone at the second number, I was told it had been sent out and that sometimes they just run late and to give it a few more days before calling to have it canceled and reissued. Both our homes are subscribed to the USPS Informed Delivery service which sends me images of what mail pieces to expect, and I had not seen an envelope which might have been the card within the images they send, however, I decided to wait, mostly because the idea of starting the entire process over was a little too much. Thankfully, it arrived a few days later. (Day 19 or 20).

After we received it, thinking that we did not want to have to call back twenty times each time if we ever needed anything in the future, we decided to just change the direct deposit from Direct Express to my bank. After a few (MORE) calls, I was told that I needed to contact the SSA to do that. Upon contacting the Social Security Administration, I was told that my 93 year old great-grandmother would have to GO IN AND VISIT a SS Office in order to make the change.

Save yourself the headaches. If you have a good bank you trust, make sure you avoid dealing with Direct Express at all costs.

Updated review:

I cannot remember ever waiting so long for one of their shipments to arrive. It has been FIFTEEN days since I placed a $240 order for flea meds for our three dogs, and the Global Tracker estimates another 8 days to arrive. Beyond the time it now takes (because on some things, if you plan successfully, you can wait), their "tracking" system sounds like a SCAM. Basically, you pay extra for a tracking number - which they do not give you unless you contact them for it.

I am beyond sad that a really, really good business has gone the way of 'down the drain'.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Original Review:
A few years ago, in looking for a lower cost option as to where I could obtain my pet's heartworm preventative, I came across a site which had been opened by a couple of veterinarians and which did not need prescriptions, and where the items they sold were purported to be the "REAL" and "EXACT" products you would get at your vets. The reviews, although not many, were positive. Although wary, I figured I would take the chance and see what it was exactly that I received.

I placed an order for one pet only, waited for about a week, and then received the heartworm preventative I had ordered. I immediately compared both internal and external packaging. I looked for misspellings in their directions, ingredients, etc. It passed the test in that the packaging was pretty much identical. Still with a little bit of trepidation, I administered the first monthly dose to my dog. No issues. I then ordered from them a couple of more times before they closed. In their closing messages however, they recommended BudgetPetCare. Well, based on the recommendation from where I had been happy shopping, I visited BudgetPetCare's site, and immediately felt comfortable ordering from them. Again, not only was it recommended from a company who had established itself as what they said they were, but I liked their website layout; their no-frills, informative pages; their prices; and their money-back guarantees.

I placed the first of a few orders through them, that very day.

That was a couple of years back, and I have been satisfied with every purchase since then.

If there is one (minor) thing to be aware of, it is the number of promotional emails you receive from them once you order. It may be less or more of a problem for you, depending on how much of a pet peeve receiving unsolicited email is for you personally, but it was just this side of annoying for me. On the flip side, I would not recommend unsubscribing from them, because they always contain coupon codes, and the like, to save you a few extra dollars off of their already low prices.

In short, I cannot recommend them enough! Unfortunately, it is a sad fact of life that some pet owners find it difficult to decide between keeping up with the cost of their pet's well-being and paying the light bill (or in some cases, a new set of earpods). BudgetPetCare HELPS!

*******************************
EDIT:
Needed my dog's Heartgard, so I prepared to order it from BudgetPetCare, and discovered they have begun to carry something called NuHeart. Researched it and saw it was supposedly a 'generic' Heartgard, and a lot less $$. Ordered it expecting it to take over a week, which was fine, but it arrived in 5 days, which was nice. I read the inserts for both types (based on dog weights), felt comfortable giving it to my dogs on August 18th (17 days ago) and have seen no adverse reactions. The one minor detractor is that it comes in little pills versus the meat-like chunks that Heartgard come in and which my dogs seemed to prefer. On a good note, the pills are easily given (my dogs did not just volunteer to eat them) and they are also water-soluble from what I read. See new pictures.

SHORT VERSION
EBay and their practices: Grossly immoral and ethically remiss.

Really LONG version below.

I've had issues with UPS previously, such as delayed items, etc., but nothing too egregious for me to consider them worse than FedEx (who I consider to be bottom-of-the-barrel-bad). Then again, not many of the shippers who I received deliveries from in the past, had ever used UPS enough for me to have developed a concrete opinion about them. Until now.

Anyway, against my better judgement, I had purchased through eBay again, and waited excitedly for my package to arrive. Unfortunately, when the box did show up, it was split open on two sides, torn, three of the corners were damaged/sunken in, and most telling and laughable (if it had not been so sad), was that it had been left in front of my door, actually balancing on one of the sunken-in corners of the box. Almost like a joke.

The worst part, I thought, upon seeing the box in that state at my door (although I do admit that UPS may not have known this during shipment), was that it contained electronic equipment of a fragile nature. Upon thinking about it further, however, I realized: WHO CARES whether UPS specifically KNEW it contained electronic and/or fragile equipment? Shouldn't they transport each and every package with the care necessary to ensure NO damage to ANY package? You know - almost as if EVERY package contained electronic and/or fragile equipment? Nope. No care whatsoever, and as I later discovered upon opening the box, the remote control was missing, a leg and foot was missing, two sets of cords were missing, and the main unit was broken (missing a chunk of its corner and side).

Upon seeing this, I contacted the seller who assured me that they had "packed the shipment well" and that "apparently the shipping company was loading crates on it". Now, I did not really believe the seller, because:
1). I realized upon opening said package, that this nincompoop had basically just
Thrown everything in a box with NO padding, foam, crumpled-up-newspaper
- nothing for protection;
And
2). How would/could he know that the 'shipping company was loading crates on it'?

I THEN contacted UPS and asked if they had a "Lost & Found" of sorts, where missing items from a package might be held at. They said that they did not. I then asked if there was a way for me to possibly contact the actual warehouses where it showed that the box had physically been at. I told them that I was simply interested in seeing if I could track down the MISSING parts and pieces, the remote control, especially. I was told there was no way for me to do so. I then asked if there was possibly somebody, ANYBODY, who might want to go beyond what was generally expected of them, and perhaps reach out to a couple of the locations to see if maybe they found a remote control of some kind. They said 'no'. I was, however, told that I needed to file a claim and that as part of said claim, they would investigate what may have happened to the missing items.

Seeing as the shipper was sticking to his guns that the sale had been a "no refund" sale, and that he had "packed the shipment well", I filed a claim. I mean, IF the shipper had packaged it less-than well, shouldn't UPS have refused to ship... or after acceptance, again, shouldn't they just have handled it with care?

A couple of days later, I received a call from UPS telling me that they were closing the claim and that I should advise the seller to file a claim since HE was their customer.

I told them to F-off.

Personally, I will never give this place a dime and will (try) to avoid sellers who state they ship through them.

Really helped my granny a lot during some months she was on this service and during which time I could not run lunch over to her and Doordash was getting way too expensive. Some of the volunteers aren't very sunny or well-dispositioned, but the service itself was a god-send.

Sorry, but all I had heard and mostly read about this company was negative. Seeing as I like to make up my own mind, I decided to open an eBay and PayPal account. While PayPal worked great with eBay, when I had a dispute with an outside company who pretty much jerked me around for THREE months with no sign of what I had purchased, PayPal hung me out to dry. I swear,, it is as if there is not one person who has any common sense at PayPal, and then their moronic 'supervisors' have no clue what they are speaking about.

The company I dealt with said they sent the product a few days after I ordered it, provided a bogus tracking number, then would not respond to emails until, finally, after a barrage of emails from me, they responded and said the package had been returned by US customs. Still giving them the benefit of the doubt, I asked AGAIN for the correct tracking number to 'see why customs had returned it'. Of course, they did not provide it. Days later (more than a month after the original order) the company said it had resent the package, and provided another tracking number. It did not arrive either and even weeks later, all the tracking information available, was: "Label created". Yet THIS tracking info was what PayPal wanted to go by, ignoring the time from when the order was originally placed.
To add insult to injury, the Supervisor I spoke to was a rude idiot.

Sorry, but no. All the negatives about PayPal are right. I should have listened, and so should you.

Without exaggeration, since buying this printer at the end of JULY 2020, I have needed to contact Epson each and every time I have needed to print.

Each
And
Every
Time!

I am beyond frustrated with it and want to throw it out the window, then run around the house to go stomp on it for good measure.

HOW can we be so advanced in so many areas, and yet Epson's connect and print technology is still so outdated and crappy? SERIOUSLY, you'd think that with the EIGHT different bloatware programs their "lite driver" (I'd hate to see the non 'lite' one) installed on my system, ONE of them would actually be able to communicate with the printer, but noooooooo!

After being on hold with them for 27 minutes, someone just picked up, then hung up. #&%@$@!
After finally reaching someone and after an hour and one minute of 'troubleshooting', I was transferred to a supervisor, and then a Level 2 Escalation Technician... THE very FACT that they need Level 2 Escalation Technicians FOR SIMPLE PRINTERS, ought to tell you something.

Stay away from Epson printers.

NOTHING worked, so DID indeed throw it out the window after Epson did not even offer service or replacement on a practically NEW unit.

Let me reiterate:
Stay away from Epson printers!

Not only is customer service pretty much 'nil' at their brick and mortar establishment(s), but their online and phone support is terrible.

My card was just declined when attempting an online purchase, and when calling to ask them to fix the problem, their outgoing message SPECIFICALLY TELLS YOU that due to the Covid-19 pandemic they do not have people to help or take your calls. SERIOUSLY? While almost every other company is doing their part to help Americans during this time, this company obviously lets its employees go AND leaves their customers out to dry? I'd say that can't be right, but having been a customer for a little over seven years, I know better. I also understand that because they are a financial institution, the leeway one can give a working-from-home employee is pretty sparse. That, however, has not seemed to affect other financial institutions which are working through it and finding a way to do it WELL.

EDIT: I was finally able to get through to someone on a line reserved for disabled people, apparently, and the CSR I spoke to said she wished she could help me, but that unfortunately, the credit and debit card departments are both closed on Saturdays and Sundays. WOW. So on the days where / when people most normally SHOP? Great-going, Chase. TRUTH: I have another account with Discover - which has always been pretty fantastic - and I just moved the bulk of my account to them. Do I sound upset? I hope so. You see, I'm funny that way. You know... thinking companies should look out for its employees and customers.

Later in this review, I will show you what to choose as answers and what not to choose, but just to begin:

We had purchased four different warranties from SquareTrade through eBay and WalMart: two which we never used and expired; one that we have not used and is still good for a year; and the one I filed a claim on today. The one I filed a claim for, was for a portable A/C & Heating unit we purchased on WalMart.com in July 2019. We did not use, or even unpack the item for a few weeks after we received it, but kept it stored properly - in fact, just as it had arrived, and in the corner of the den. When we did finally use it, we noticed that it really did not cool very well. I phoned SquareTrade and they had a very short message saying they were closed. This went on for several days. WHAT KIND OF COMPANY IS ALWAYS CLOSED? I guess the kind that racks up dollars but never pays anything. That kind.

Anyway, life got in the way, the unit was placed in a hall closet, and we did not have a need for it until a family with a baby was staying with us over the holidays. While it did heat well, it became full of (condensed?) water, and had to be lugged and emptied almost every two hours. Who wants to wake up to a loud beeping (which woke the baby) and have to open the doors to empty this thing in the dead of winter and every two hours? It went back in the closet.

A few days ago, I was doing some house cleaning and finally decided to do something about this thing. I plugged it in and waited for it to cool. While it did stream cool(er) air than the air a fan would push, it was not very much cooler and in no way was it cold air. The room itself did not grow any cooler; it was in no way a 14,000-BTU cooled room, or system, as touted. I phoned SquareTrade again. AGAIN THEY WERE CLOSED! No recording about Covid closures, etc., just "CLOSED".

I called the next day. CLOSED AGAIN.

I got it then. Pretty much, they are a grotesque parody of a "Warranty (protection and coverage) or Insurance Company" and operate in a surreptitious, slimy way, hoping that you do exactly what we did: forget about it - don't deal with it - take it as a loss, and move on. In short, they are GARBAGE. I knew this then, before even going further.

At that point, I went through our emails, found our original receipt, date of purchase, and finally a link to filing a claim. If I had not been convinced of this company's shadiness beforehand, I more than was convinced after going through their claim process. Trust me, it is SPECIFICALLY AND PROFESSIONALLY ENGINEERED to steer you into not being able to process a claim.

Before filing you have to assert that you are not filing a false claim and that if you file any false information, your claim can be denied. This is all well and good, EXCEPT for how the Claim's questions are laid out and how they ALLOW you to reply to them. You must SELECT data about your product, but not all the data (manufacturer, model, etc.) is provided as a selection, so technically you cannot proceed WITHOUT IT, but IF you choose the WRONG selection, they can say that you "provided false information". Catch -22, or as it should be called: SCAM; PLAIN AND SIMPLE: SCAM. Next, you proceed to a screen which either asks you for your serial number - you cannot proceed without that, OR more often than not, directs you to a screen which tells you that you should check with the manufacturer because your item might still be under warranty with them. Well if so, THEN WHY BUY SQUARE TRADE AT ALL? IF it does not take you to that screen, it takes you to a screen where you must choose whether the item was working when you received it, and HERE is where they got me, and where you need to be careful!

Technically, mine does not cool a 560 sq ft room like it says it should. It blows cool air out, but it does not cool the room. In other words, it does not do the job for which it was purchased and intended. So, does it mean it is or isn't working, and if so, has it ever cooled? I did not know which of the two to choose, seeing as one could see it either way, and so I chose "NO". BIG MISTAKE. ***DO NOT CHOOSE THIS***.

The most laughable part of the entire thing is one of the following questions which asks you not only to tell them "in your own words" what "happened", BUT where they have already pre-filled a 'sample' statement of: "My cat spilled water on it", which of course, again, is PURPOSEFULLY meant to drive a person to fill it out in a manner in which THE BUYER (YOU) assume responsibility, ergo making the claim deniable AND TO BOOT, THEY ONLY GIVE YOU 250 characters to explain. Again: SCAM.

After your claim is denied, they DO give you a number to call (I did not include all of it on the screenshot in anticipation of them using that as an excuse to have this review removed in an effort to clean up their negative online presence), but when you do phone in, you invariably speak with a representative who in a bored fashion literally READS OFF a litany of canned replies as to why your claim was denied. When you try to explain that there is not enough information allowed in the claim in order to make that decision, they again read the exact pre-canned response.

This is NOT the only review to say this. As such, do your research before buying a so-called warranty from them. 9/10 times it will not be honored.

In closing, I know I've said certain companies are "the worst", but I must now go and edit those reviews as SquareTrade has been crowned as the absolute worst of the worst of the very bottom-feeding, sludge-forming worst.

If anything good comes out of this entire thing, it is the takeaway that SquareTrade is an "Allstate" company, and seeing as how they conduct themselves and in my opinion PURPOSEFULLY, INTENTIONALLY AND DELIBERATELY try to SCHEME AND SCAM its customers out of JUSTIFIABLE and VIABLE small claims, just imagine how much of a nightmare and enemy they would be as they most assuredly try to deny a house or auto claim.

Their offerings, while super processed, are really very yummy, but on the high $$ end when considering other options. The items are normally well-packaged and are easy to heat and eat. Delivery, of course, is very convenient to have, and in my estimation, a huge part of the reason Schwan's is still around.

My issue with them is not the food itself, but rather with the experience we had with them. We used a coupon code twice (which brought what was ordered down to a more reasonable price/cost), and the second time, the driver said he could not accept it, after it had already been accepted online upon placing the order. In the end, he did honor it, after which he said he could not accept it "next time".

While I understand that coupon codes are normally a one-time deal, this one did not specify that anywhere, and again, it was accepted with no problem both times upon placing the orders. In fact, had the total cost not been brought down somewhat by the coupon, we would have not ordered either time. (To us, the items Schwan's offers are somewhat overpriced for what they are, and ordering would not have been worth it). More so, however, it was the driver's attitude that sealed the deal for us and convinced us we would not order from them again. As I later read, it seems as of the driver's are paid a percentage of sales, so perhaps this is why he was so adamant about not accepting the coupon, but all we knew at the time, was that we placed the order, entered a coupon, it gave us our total, and then at the door he wanted to charge us more.

No big loss.

With the advent of grocery stores that deliver now, and especially Walmart joining in there is just no occasion I ever foresee where we would consider Schwan's again.

Just AWFUL. Not only are their prices on the high-end, for equally nice or better lenses you can find elsewhere for less, but I literally sat through close to THREE months of bogus tracking numbers and condescending emails (when they CHOSE to reply), telling me to "be patient, dear".

This is one company that really warrants negative review numbers.

Save yourself the headache and trust me (I don't think I can posts links) when I tell you that there are prettier lenses available at a lower cost if you look.

KUDOS WHERE KUDOS ARE DUE, AND THEIR SPORT CHANNEL SELECTION IS "GREAT"
Sport channel selections are top-notch from what my husband and brother-in-law don't say. (Get it? They don't say, because they're too busy watching them). In all seriousness though, they are thrilled with the selection, and in-between manly grunts and chili fries, they have voiced their sincere approval. YouTubeTV, from what I understand, beats ESPN in a lot of ways.

REGULAR TV CHANNELS
I have binged so many past Cake War episodes that I think I gained five pounds just watching. Now I just sit farther from my screen. ;) Lifetime, however, is not included, and I'm addicted to one of the shows on there, so that's a miss. Edit*** Earlier broadcasts can sometimes not be easily re-watched. Example: HLN is presenting excellent coverage on the George Floyd case, but upon missing one day's coverage, neither that day, nor any previous days (termed Episodes on YTTV's Site), were available to view).

TOO MANY ISSUES with MOVIE SELECTIONS
While YouTubeTV offers a better SELECTION of more current / newer movies than Flex or Peacock or Tubi alone, because they pull them from each of those platforms, their collective offering is pretty solid, although not excellent. PROBLEMS include:
1. Normally, their featured films are "UPCOMING", meaning you need to wait a day or two for them to begin streaming. SO, you click on a featured title expecting to view it, only to find out you have to wait days for it to come on. (Seriously, Youtube, whoever came up with the idea to tease, or not 'deliver', something we are specifically clicking on and prepared to view, only to be told it is still not playing, should be fired.
2. With movie trilogies, sagas or franchises, only a fraction of the complete series is normally included. Sometimes it is a good fraction, but still a fraction. Example: 19 out of the 23 Marvel Franchise films.

PLATFORM
The platform itself is bulky and not very user-friendly. It loosely resembles the regular YouTube channel rather than other streaming services, which is okay for YouTube, but not for a streaming service. It needs a complete revamp in several areas to do with searching/finding. For example, if you want to watch Fox or CNN, or whichever your cup of tea may be, you can search for either, but the results are much too broad or too few, confusing, murky, not very descriptive, not laid-out well and most of all, mostly not playing even if you specifically search under "LIVE TV". Definitely another miss.

VPN
YoutubeTV will refuse to work with a VPN, and that is a major con for us. More and more of us have moved toward using VPNs for online security and I sometimes like to use social media while I have the TV on in the background. With YouTubeTV, you cannot run a VPN without it refusing to connect. Huge miss.

COST:
I am frugal. I like good things, but I love good deals, and the fact that we're paying almost $76.00 a month for this service, bugs me enough to where I am keeping an eye out for alternative options, one of which is HULU, who offers ALMOST the same number of channels for $10-$12 LESS a month. "What's $12?", you may ask. Well, it's 3 gallons of milk, two quarts of Baskin Robbins mint chocolate chip ice cream, a co-pay on a prescription, the difference between an older model and newer model external hard-drive on Amazon, a dog toy which will last for a week in this home, and enough to gas up my car for 3.5 visits with my grandmother. On the other hand, can I really put a price on seeing my husband happy after a long day's work, relaxing on a plush leather recliner and watching his favorite NFL team score a touchdown while he waits for a slice of my latest cake-decorating masterpiece?

It's a tough call, but in a nutshell, if we could find a streaming service which offers the same channels for less, we'd move quickly. YouTubeTv while plentiful with CHANNEL SELECTIONS lacks way too much in other departments to win over our loyalty.

I have NEVER found a working coupon / promo code on RetailMeNot. Not ever. In fact, I actually thought I had blocked that site from my search results with a google extension because of it.

Well, this morning I ran a general Google search for codes for Instacart, and RatailMeNot popped up, so I went ahead and tried again - with 12 or more of their so-called coupons - and every single one of them was kicked back as "not valid" or "use exceeded"! I later realized that under some, next to "Submitted by: (Name)", the name oftentimes matched the first digits on the coupons/codes (i. E., Submitted by A. Santana | Coupon Code Sant63F086). This can only mean that some *geniuses* are submitting their one-time-use codes and RetailMeNot is not validating the submissions.

In short, this place seems more like an advertising site than a promo code site. What a waste of time for me.

---------------------------------
EDIT: To RetailMeNot Rep.
Thank you for your reply, however, I see you've replied to several reviewers, and yet all of these replies sound more like excuses than anything else, because it is something that is obviously never addressed. Simply: Don't bother responding. Rather, concentrate those efforts into providing coupons which actually work, instead of pages upon pages of coupons that do not. In today's world, very few people have half-an-hour or more to waste in having to do half your work for you (advising YOU of the coupons which do not work).

To begin: I am a firm believer that a pet owner, should be able to purchase flea and tick, as well as heartworm PREVENTATIVES for their pets WITHOUT the need of a prescription! The ONLY reason that an Rx is required, is of course, for the vets to make money. While that is fine and well, some people just don't have the money and there is NO reason in the world for the PET to suffer because of it. Until pets are seen as more than property, there is no reason to have to go to the vet for a piece of paper for something pets NEED consistently.

That said:
1. The first time I ordered from here, there was an error in processing the online order. I then called them and reached a LIVE person. This was awesome. They were very helpful and although we could not get the card problem corrected and I had to call my credit card company before I placed the order, the personal one-on-one, live interaction was appreciated.

2. I honestly believe that the 'bad' reviews are shill reviews that are being left by people who don't want this business selling directly to the pet's 'parents', and are trying to dissuade people from buying from them.

3. I received the Heartgard I finally ordered in just a couple of days (yeay!), and IMMEDIATELY checked the package for any tampering (can't be too sure), and since I had unfortunately thrown away the last package we purchased from our last vet, went online and found images of real packaging and compared the two. Everything seemed correct, and in place, lot numbers, etc. Dogs did well on it.

4. Website now closed, but it was a great place to order online! BudgetPetCare is now my go-to.

Note that I am only reviewing their delivery / pickup options, as I have not stepped foot into an Olive Garden except to pick up food, in YEARS.

Anyway, I normally make a better version of their Zuppa Toscana at home, but when I'm too lazy (which turns out to be about once or twice a week :)) , we like to order it from them for pickup. WELL, I am not exactly sure when their phone menus changed... but it is a godawful experience to call in and try to place any type of order over the phone. HOW, i ask you, do companies survive with such a moronic way of doing things? It's mind-boggling! While the phone system message heavily tries to sell you on their online ordering system (which we will get to in a moment), there is literally no way to get a live person without jumping through hoops, so I can only imagine the number of people who have called for other things, and have just become fed up (hahha) and have hung up.

Now, I understand the desire that companies have to automate things, BUT COME ON! I AM LITERALLY CALLING YOU TO GIVE YOU FIFTY DOLLARS for what basically 'boils down' to sausage, potatoes and water! The least you can do is act as if you care. As it is, as a customer, one has to sit through an entirely long and tedious/tiresome message asking you to order online... The kicker? The kicker is that their online ordering system did not have (in the past - not sure if they have added it) the option for a GALLON or two of soup. So, if you really want their soup you have to make a conscious decision to go through the Never-Ending Message Loop of Boredom before you could place an order.

Furthermore, as for their delivery, it is nonexistent to a home address.

While they do have what is technically dubbed "catering", get this: YOU CANNOT ORDER FOR DELIVERY TO YOUR "HOME" because... (ready?): they cannot "set it up" for you. Well, who is asking them to? Should that not be the prerogative of the person placing the order? Should I order from work so that I can then jug around two gallons of soup to my casa? NAY! No soup for us.

Really, with so many other options out there, I just can't fathom how companies with no obvious common sense toward the CUSTOMER, survive for as long as they do.

-----------------------------------------
Update: Re. "08/06/19 Soup Run" - Houston Willowbrook location
Phoned in and a manager took the order. Once home, we saw that the soup had very little sausage which had never happened before! I am in no way exaggerating: we had to stir and stir and stir and kind of dig down in order to find a few pea-sized pieces of sausage. Curious as to how this had happened, (as, again, we'd never experienced that before), I phoned them. Well, upon reaching the manager again, and explaining why I was phoning, she was pretty rude. I got the feeling she thought we were full of 'it', which kind of upset me. WHY would we - out of the blue - despite having ordered for years, decide to - all of a sudden - say the soup had no sausage? Ridiculous.

To me, it just feels as if Olive Garden (or maybe their parent Darden Restaurants), as a whole, feels that it has "enough" business, to where keeping customers really isn't that important. In my estimation judging from the experiences we've had with them, lost customers or business is of little consequence to them... And, well. Maybe it is just me, but I want to do business with a company who WANTS and values my dollars.

To begin, they are LEAGUES better than Yellow Cab, and slightly less expensive than Uber. Unfortunately, they are still greedy, disorganized and unprofessional.

We "found" Lyft when Yellow Cab left us stranded, and our first several rides with them went SO well, that for MONTHS we literally became addicted to not driving, and just took Lyfts everywhere. A few months in however, the shine began to wear off. We began noticing that a few of the drivers weren't the greatest. Some were unkempt, a little rude, got lost - yes, even with GPS, they got lost... It was so hit or miss, we began driving again. It is difficult though to go back to driving once you are driven around so much.:)

The straw that broke that camel's back however, was a round-trip to pick up an order of wings. Again, this driver could not set his GPS, and got lost on the way there. That was not a problem that time, as we weren't on a tight schedule or anything. AFTER the trip however, I saw a $25 charge on my card above and beyond the fare and tip.

When I contacted Lyft to inquire about it, they said it was for cleaning the driver's car, since we had supposedly left grease in it from the wings. Knowing our order had not leaked (I carried the bag on my lap and had a tan dress on), I immediately canceled my credit card and asked for proof from them. They sent me pictures of a clear puddle of LIQUID on the SEAT. Ummmmm, where we had been sitting(!), floor, and base (or footrest) of door. I told them that it was not grease from our order, as our wings were "hot" wings and the oil and sauce on them would have been at least a little orange, and not "clear" (the seats were white leather). I also asked them to explain how SO MUCH oil was on the SEAT where our butts had been. Did the order leak THROUGH me? Did they think one of US leaked oil? Wouldn't the oil have been at least a little hot? Wouldn't we (or the driver for that matter), have noticed this oil at the time and made an effort to CLEAN it? More so, for there to be the amount of oil in the pictures, wouldn't common sense dictate that the wings themselves had to have been SWIMMING in oil/grease that we then would have had to purposefully invert onto the seat? Did they think we ordered the "Wings In Grease Soup Special"?

It was obviously a scam on the part of the driver, but no one at Lyft was smart enough to put it together, or cared to even TRY, which says a lot about them. The two agents with whom I communicated had ZERO common sense, and after a few emails back and forth, I simply contacted my banking institution and opened a dispute for the $25 charge which was immediately credited back while they conducted an investigation, and which became final around a month later. In the interim, however, I received yet another message from Lyft which stated that a $SEVENTY-FIVE$ dollar charge would "not go through" and to please "update" my card.

Ha! As if.

We have never used them again, nor will we.