Kris S.

Unfriendly, apathetic Staff and policies. I was meeting friends after a long day at a competition and I was tired and hungry. I rode a bicycle 8 miles to the location. I ordered a meal, which was prepared in a reasonable time but served with no utensils, I had to get up and go to the bar and ask the waitress for a fork/knife and return to seating. After 5 minutes of staring at the food, and still no fork or knife, I got up again, went to the bar and found a mug with plastic forks and knives. The food was okay. However, I have a condition that after eating I can feel drowsy for half an hour. After finishing, I close my eyes and listened to the activity in the room. I was there for 10 or so minutes, always upright on the bench. The same waitress that served me was directed by the manager to rouse me because the manager thought I was drunk. All I had was water and coffee that day and the waitress that served me did not bother. I got up, gather my stuff and left. I'm never going back until the staff is replaced and warning friends away from the Brass Tap. From other reviews about the Brass Tap, this conduct is not unexpected.

While Honey did save me some money, it could often lead to price increases during checkout and then you had to redo the cart to get back to the original prices. This is most pronounced with Swanson Health online store. I also had problems with the extension spuriously triggering at non-retail survey sites. It leads to extra attention to dismiss those unwanted pop ups. When I contacted Honey support, they were quick in response and worked diligently to absolve themselves of responsibility. These guys are parsimonious and not your advocate and seeing how they've been in business for over 5 years, not very capable.

While these products are of low cost, you pay for it with no support, in an beyond the "warranty' period, more on that later. I ordered a bicycle cargo trailer and it arrived without the wheel skewers. There was no bill of materials and they did not understand what a BOM was. I don't think it existed, ever. So I could not check the shipping box to make sure I received everything I needed. All they could do was send pics of a fully assembled wheel, which I was expected to have sufficient product knowledge to deconstruct and reply back what was needed. It took nearly 10 email exchanges, across a language barrier, before they would guess what was missing and sent two complete wheels. The parts I needed were in the parcel, in a pink pouch. That had the skewers, a wrench, and some misc hardware. This pouch was never identified with the assembly guide. It would have saved a lot of aggravation if they devoted a penny to add the BOM to the product guide. I put the trailer into operation with the skewers and had my next problem. At the factory, ALL the nuts were put on finger tight on the bolts. I didn't discover this until using the trailer and hauling groceries back from the store. The main bolt that holds the tow arm in place lost its nut and the bolt eventually fell out. This cause the whole trailer to pitch back and tilt to the rear while I was moving at a good clip. I always try to balance the payload over the axels. I reacted to this by breaking hard, this caused the load to pitch forward HARD and the bed of the trailer hit the tow arm and put a crease in the top of the tube. I salvaged the situation by moving the spring pins around and scavaging stuff from the side of the road and found a lag bolt to fill the hole. I sent Aosom the pics of the damaged arm and bolts from all over the trailer that was never tightened. Instead of sending a replacement arm and nut/bolt they refunded the purchase and instructed me to donate the trailer. This is when I discovered a disturbing Aosom position, not indicated in any public facing document or on their website. I attempted to pay for a new tow bar. However, since I was "out of warranty" because they refunded the purchase, I could not obtain ANY parts from them. They would not even sell me a spoke, tire or a complete wheel. Not only that, Aosom would not tell me any specifications so that I could find the parts independently. I don't think they know and they don't have the capacity to contact their own factories for information. Aosom manufactures many of the products they sell. So be aware that the lack of support that Aosom provides, means you may be disposing of an otherwise serviceable purchase prematurely because Aosom will not support or provide parts. This is not the strategy of a company with any notions of sustainability.

I decided to try this as a "backup" password archiver to the Apple Keychain because the Apple Keychain can evaporate without provocation. Well the more I used LastPass, the more I had to devote to getting it to work. LastPass hard sells the premium during trial period but provides the scantest support. You don't get a good impression that there is any better value. Support relies on canned responses. I complained intensively enough to get to upper management and I explained the shortcoming, of course, there was a vague promise to improving the product. So I decided to wait. A year later I received a market statement of a new release. It was prettier but still functionally flawed. I recommend trying more a robust Password manager that can seamlessly handle the Internet. Having to spoon feed a browser extension is not what I consider a robust app, especially because it is going to be handling sensitive information or ready to charge for.

While early bird books professes to let you have choice of subjects, you will be barraged with content you can't escape. This means the topics you interested in are diluted with reviews you have to wade through. What this also means if there are no new topics, you still get the stuff you didn't ask for. I asked to change this and here is Early Bird Books response. "Unfortunately there is no way to not include bestsellers and award winners. You will always receive those books..."

If you have to wade through titles, try the free digital content forum on slickdeals.

Yugster tries to give the impression of value. Only name brand items can be trusted to have consistent quality. And with what appears to be product model information is not included with the listing. This makes it much more difficult to verify if it is truly a good deal. Frequently I discovered it and was not. On knockoff Chinese branded merchandise, Yugster is completely comfortable passing along inflated specifications and support will grill and challenge you, if you try to return it for this reason. An example are Chinese ******* lithium ion batteries that advertised twice the rating of super high quality batteries and are lucky to test at a quarter of the capacity. You will also discover that the artifically short warranty is designed to prevent claims. Another strategy is to sell Apple computers and laptops that are capped at older and obsolete OS (per apple support). They conceal this by making it difficult to figure out the actual system configuration. Instead of providing the CPU information from the profiler application, they give the marketing number from the case. I sent Yugster an email offering to fill in the voids in the product description and the highest installable OS but was ignored.

So in short, Yugster is an gamble and the only honest deals are the junk boxes, because those are accurately represented. Otherwise you get a lot of junk that was suppose to be a deal instead of the real thing.

Wonolo seems to have a strategy for pairing freelancers and with gigs but only if you are willing to do it in a specific, drawn out fashion and only on a clunky app. Hence my title, Pedantic. Not a very good first impression. The onboarding process is just as pedantic, and have constructed a testing regime that reflects this, script regurgitation. Wonolo also has a practice of adding procedures that are very one sided, Such as an ominous sounding "breach of contract", Wonolo has made it difficult to back out of a gig. This is important because Wonolo provides sparse and scant overview of gigs. In three years of being in business, one would expect Wonolo would have worked to facilitate rather than regulate. I suggest holding off until Wonolo considers people more important than THEIR process.

I know I should not expect much from iHop, their menu is a corporate committee decision implemented by the lowest bidder. They have a promise that is undelivered. I've visited iHop scantly over the 40years and always have an unremarkable experience. I typically visit after I've forgotten the previous experience. I think iHop has this idea that bland dishes, with scant seasoning is a good way to save costs and salt, pepper and a few bottles of hot sauces is sufficient to compensate for blandness. My most recent experience was particularly marginalizing and unsatisfying. Here's list of issues I called out on the survey from the receipt.

1. I asked for a quite location, I was seated at a table in the center of the restaurant that became progressively louder.
2. The bathroom was disheveled, toilet seat detaching.
3. No posted wifi password and because the room was so loud, could not accurately hear the staff I asked for it.
4. No place to secure my bicycle, I had to use unoccupied outside benches.
5. I was not asked if I was an club member
6. Low menu diversity and unsatisfying menu options, and customizing what I wanted was going to cost more than I wanted to pay.
7. Low flavor meal, the water had more taste than the sandwich, all I could detect was the American cheese. The bread looked nice.
8. Plugged shakers, the pepper was coarser than the openings in the top, I had to unscrew the top to be able to add it to my meal.
9. Scant and paltry sides and add-ins. For $1 extra I got tablespoon of mushrooms added to the sanwich, the onions and mushrooms were only sufficient to be symbolic. I think there was meat in the sandwich. The hash-browns were as thin as a veneer, barely browned and smaller than the the bread.
10. The onion rings were low flavor, under cooked and had a pasty texture and flour flavor. I ate only one.
11. Waitress did not ask me about the onion rings when she cleared the table.
12. The register receipts print poorly and are difficult to read, the paper fades quickly shows stains prominently.
13. The waitress did not respond when I bid here good evening.
14. Not enough time to finish issue listing or enough text to list all issues.

I recently had an experience of really poorly prepared and implemented promotion, The daily deal. I went in and ordered the Sunday sandwich, at the location I was at, the normal price was $5.89, the special price was $6.00. I discussed this with the counter person and she did not perceive and problem. I contacted The main Subway consumer line, they gave an anemic response of having the franchisee contact me. However, this location is shutting down because they lost their lease. I've reported the location before for leaking roof, which has been going on for years and Subway Corporate let this continue for years. Subway Corporate has a pat answer that the franchisee is responsible for all poor customer interaction. This is a lousy policy and really points out how much Subway cares about the customer experience, they don't and won't lift a finger. I've had other problems with using their app and franchisees not preparing the staff to process orders, not opening on time, running out of merchandise, poor sandwich prepping, poor preparer attitudes and so forth. Also corporate customer "care" is arbitrary on what they will respond too, when they will respond to and what they will do, and what they consider an appropriate resolution. The most disturbing is forcing the customer to continue to interact with a bad franchisee, it's like they want to punish you by having to go back to the offending establishment.

This happens so broadly, because Subway is absent in the customer experience and they have an official stance to not get involved. They are not apt to be proactive in customer service, support and value.

WILL MAKE YOU LEAVE AFTER HALF AN HOUR. Flavourly, Stuck in the past with their old style burgers. WhataBurger has decent burgers, but if you were expecting to leisurely enjoy them with contemporary technology, you out of luck. No WiFi, no place to connect your devices. If you have their app and try to order in the restuarant with a weak cell connection, you're out of luck. Their burgers remind me of 60's food, and I realize some may enjoy having well lubricated meals.

While I was writing this review the general manager came out and told me I was loitering and had to leave.

I submitted complaints to BBB and to the corporate office, no response.

I'm dealing with BBB.ORG across the US. The website is prone to an Webpage error 500 to many of the offices. I really think the BBB at best is ineffectual and at worst a shill for the business you're attempting to get resolution for. They obviously favor businesses over the individual when responding. They gave one business 6 months to respond and only allowed me a week for my rebuttal.

They have very confusing, nonsensical rating system. A business can get a rating of A+ but have all complaints and negative reviews. When asked why, a vacuous answer was provided.

I'm dealing with the Austin office most recently and it's clear that the "dispute resolution specialist" favors business enough to distort or ignore the meaning of words in the Oxford dictionary.

I think, This problem stems from the fact that the BBB sells subscriptions to businesses for their rating and decal. This translates into the BBB becoming captured by their clients. They are captured because if the BBB presses too hard, the Businesses would not seek the rating. Perhaps if the BBB had a subscription service for individuals, we pay for the opinions we want and could get an equal footing.

I tried Smashburger earlier this month and found the experience unnecessarily complicated, unsatisfying beverage selections, overtly cacophonous, boring restaurant setting, a parsimonious rewards program", and the feeling I had to finish and leave. Plus there is no WiFi. There were napkins everywhere. I was so underwhelmed that I left my remaining coupons behind.

I was shopping for exterior storage to use at home. I found an excellent deal at Lowes for a Rubbermaid enclosure. However, being an astute shopper, I decided to do some price checking. It turned out no retailer came close to Lowes for this item. In fact, Walmart had the same exact model for 60% more. I decided to test the Walmart Price Match Policy. First thing I did was read the Price Match Policy and at the terms, conditions, and exclusions. I could not find anything suggesting disqualification, and Lowes was on the official list of authorized retailers. So I started a chat with Walmart before I made my purchase.

The chat started off fine, and I stated what I was seeking and my expectations, I also said I had read the Price Match Policy before contacting Walmart. When asked to provide my evidence, I submitted the Lowes URL. For some reason the chat advisor couldn't find the Walmart product in my cart, So I supplied that link as well.

After a VERY long wait, the chat advisor denied the request because the Lowes price was a "special" price. I apprised the chat advisor that the price was a regular price and the word "special" did not occur anywhere in the Lowes communications. I also apprised the chat advisor that there was no such exclusion or limitation in the Price Match Policy. I asked for the section or quote from the Price Match Policy that was being used to deny the claim. The chat advisor told me to wait, while he researched further, I agreed and this time waited a VERY, VERY long time. The advisor came back with the same decision supported by a supervisor. I again pressed for clarification and reasoning for the denial, and what part of the Price Match policy covered this situation. The response was I was using a But One Get One free (BOGO). I explained there was no such program at Lowes and pressed for clarification. This time the chat advisor sent the web link for the Price Match Policy, with no explanation where to read. I pressed to communicate with a supervisor. The chat advisor promptly disconnected.

In a short time, I reconnected with another chat advisor and started the process all over again. Same process, same denial and the same explanation, at first. When I pressed for clarification, this advisor explained that if the price is greater than $75, the request will be denied. I than the advisor for her honesty and ended the chat.

Now here is my analysis of what happened during my experience. First thing, I don't think English is the first language of the support advisors, there were consistent mistakes with word tense, plurality, and a poor vocabulary. The advisors were not empowered to make a decision, they deferred to a "supervisor" for a decision and delivered that to the customer. Meaning they could not give the customer an intelligent and thought-out decision. They primarily were a conduit from management. There is no escalation path to either a supervisor or another tier of support. Apparently, there is no downside to abruptly disconnecting from a customer. So, in my experience, this customer support team is primarily there to deliver positioning that is to the benefit of Walmart.

I bought the storage units from Lowes.

When buying from StackSocial, be aware they will not honor any warranty for the merchandise they sell. They will maintain this stance, even for products that are misrepresented, can't perform as advertised or are of low quality.

StackSocial apparently doesn't own the products they "sell" but rather act as curators. Their reasoning is because the products they sell are so deeply discounted, they can't offer returns,

I have filed a BBB complaint and notice they have a lot of complaints, more than half of them very recently. I think customers should be bothered by this new trend.

If you do decide to transact with StackSocial, I suggest PayPal. PayPal is committed to real issue resolution and customer service. Also registering a dispute through your PayPal account gives you more clout. You can still use the same CC by registering it as a payment option

Folks,

See updates continued at the end of the review.

I have ordered two times from Banggood and most of the stuff arrived but if there are problems encountered, be ready for kafkaesque run around.

My first order from Banggood inculuded a MacBook Pro screen protector. It was shown to have been part of a shipment but was not in the bag. I tried contacting customer service several times, never a response and finally just gave up.

A few months later I was working on an eBike project and decided to place another order. I had earned some Bangpoints from the first order, I want to try and use in the checkout process. Well even following the Banggood instructions to redeem, I could not do so. The checkout process reported I had "too good a deal", no further explanation. So I completed the order and sent a request to to customer service. After several days I got a response from Ada. She would only help me if I sent a picture. I replied back that I had already completed the order. I asked for a credit, this request was ignored.

So I moved on to the damaged screen protector that was delivered in the second order. Basically, whoever was packing the shipment decided to use and undersized paper sleeve and misorient the screen protector in the sleeve. The unprotected portion of the screen protector was severely creased and crinkled. Ada responded back, she wanted a picture for proof., of the item and the plastic bag. I sent the pic of the item and even showed the undersized, misoriented protective paper sleeve. The creases and crinkles were in the picture. I had already recycled the bag. I asked for a refund for the damaged and missing screen protectors. I received another response from Ada, asking for a picture showing the crinkles. Nothing else was acknowledged. I gave up.

In my two experiences I learned the following, if Banggood doesn't like your request, they ignore you.

Banggood ships exclusively with bags. This means that merchandise inside can be damaged. If your buying anything for retail, the product packaging will likely arrive crushed and deformed inside the foam shell they wrap the product with.

Small ziplock bags can empty them selves into the shipping bag.

UPDATE:

Well, I moved to what I thought was my option, I reported the order to PayPal. It's been over two weeks and Banggood stonewalls and will only acknowledge one of the three issues.

I think I'm starting to figure out Banggood's mindset, they just want, jilted, jipped, unsatisfied customers to go away. They will do this at any cost, even for a few dollars.

Finally, after persevering Banggood's customer service obstacle course I finally got recognition of the issue and some of my money back.

Here are the takeaways from my interaction with Banggood.

1) Customer service claims are addressed with convoluted, often contractory requests that require expending effort, that is out of proportion with the value of the merchandise.

2) Banggood expects you to retain all packaging for months.

3) The only effective leverage you have is to pay using PayPal dispute. They are very responsive to PayPal Claims. It is so dramatic a difference that I recommend using the dispute process instead of directly contacting Banggood customer service. If you want to use your credit card, create a PayPal account and register the credit card as a payment instrument.

4) Banggood points have so many conditions and disqualifiers attached to them that they are worthless. Once in a blue moon situation.

Kris