Roy W.

Recently I needed to replace an old screwdriver from the 1970s. It was an electricians screwdriver and so insulated with a big rubber handle to isolate you from possible electrocution and give you a great grip.

I went to our outstanding builders hardware store here in San Francisco and found just what I wanted in a Powerbuilt 7 piece Electrical Screw Driver set. It was not cheap at $15 but since it was the only one with the features I needed I went for it.

When I returned home I opened it up to find that none of the driver bits would lock into the head - they just all fell out. They should lock by magnetism or possibly due to a ball joint in the bits. This driver had none of these features and was worthless.

The company which makes them has a big spiel about standing behind their products. All Trade Tools is their web site and the company sells under the name of Powerbuilt Tools. I tried contacting them several times without any reply from them and even filled out an on line survey they have citing they are useless creeps.

I'm letting you folks know this as they sell a wide variety of tools - I was only taken for $14 God forbid I bought an expensive item from them.

I wanted to add to this review that Craigslist is located at 222 Sutter Street near Kearny St. In San Francisco, CA. Someone noted their corporate address is in New York but their physical address is on Sutter Street in San Francisco and this is not widely known. They have offices there in an office building with other companies...

Craigslist has changed a lot over the years... At one time if you wanted to post you needed a verified email and phone and they would call and check before you could post.

Frankly I wondered why so many foolish and flaky ads then I found anyone can just enter an email there and post anything. Years ago I sold of a big lot of collectibles and Craigslist was helpful - More recently I've been unable to even buy when I tried (and this was several times)...

What is most scary are the singles ads so here are some things to be wary of... If a guy or gal looks too good to be true it is probably not their photo. If you use google chrome you can click on the photo and do an internet image search on the picture. You will often find the photo is a scam and not the person who posted so check it out and see before replying if you use chrome.

Another thing to check are singles ads which are posted in the late night or early AM. Why because often they are from offshore posters who are posing as locals. Craigslist was intended for local to local business but I now see ads posted which are far away. I just saw a posting from a supposed local gal who looked good that is until you read it and she admitted she is in jail 2,000 miles away but posted as a local and needed financial help to reply until she gets out of jail and comes to live with you...

On buying on CL. If it does not feel good don't go for it. In our locality people have been robbed and injured by meeting someone they don't know to buy on CL. My personal experience is sellers are so flaky you can't even buy if you want to. I wanted to buy some old tapes and contacted a guy who lived in a nearby community - no problem he said I can bring them into town. Two hours before we were to meet he calls and can't make it. Yet he ran the ad for the old tapes for a month afterword with no takers. I guess he threw them out as the ad finally went away with him trying to get $5 for the lot I had offered him $25 on (I mean why bother with this BS?).

Another time I wanted to buy a Monster Power item. I wrote the guy Thursday could we meet Saturday - no reply. I went out of town and get an email Sunday saying if I can meet him in a hour we can do business (one day after my suggested time and four days later when I'm out of town with 2 hours notice).

Craigslist is delusional and a total waste of time. I'm wondering how long they will survive with almost everything there appearing to be a sham lately. Use it if you will but you probably won't be successful or satisfied with the results that is is you get lucky enough to have anything real happen there in the first place,

I tried meetups several times and neither time was worth it...

The first time I attended what sounded like a great group - but the guy who set it up did not bother showing up. The PR made the group sound like a lot of people would show up and about 30 people did. The location was in what was supposedly public space but private security informed us that to have so many people there required a permit so with no leader we moved on to a restaurant and had lunch with some of the group members.

With no leader bothering to show up and chased off from the meeting location others attending could not find us. If I had it to do all over again I would have skipped the lunch since we split the ticket so those who ordered expensive items got a free discount from those of us who ordered moderately priced items.

There were no interesting gals there but I struck up a conversation with some interesting people. It turned out one was some sort of a cult nut who tried to force me into going to see "something wonderful" (without any explanation) so I balked. This might work with kids but not me. So add to the above dysfunctional mix people recruiting for cults at meetups...

So we have a group the leader does not show up, get thrown off of the location and the 30 people who showed up tried to improvise not a good deal at all...

I'll usually give anyone a second chance so I figured another meetup might be interesting about a year later... Recently I saw an ad on craigslist from a gal I had met briefly at the second meetup I tried. She was attractive so I replied. It was obvious the person placing the ad was not the gal (someone took her pictures from the meetup site and posted them pretending to be the meetup gal). I got suspicious when chatting with the CL fake and thought I could reach the gal through meetups. I contacted the gal and she was pissy (keep in mind I only briefly chatted with her in the past and so did not know her well).

Anyway I can see why someone wanted to get even with her by using her meetup photos to pose as her on craigslist because she came across as a $#*!. Had I known I would not have bothered trying to help her out by informing her someone was impersonating her on craigslist it was not worth the hassle...

If you add up my personal experience with meetups you should run for the hills and save yourself a lot of hassles.

EBay continues to disappoint... Back in eBay's early days they had a lot of problems and it seems all these years later they have come full circle with many of the same problems.

EBay formerly jumped on sellers with high shipping costs and who did not accurately describe their goods. I just recently bought a new old stock stereo component from them. It is a good example of how they let people mess with you.

First the item was described as new old stock which it is. But the seller said everything worked but it did not. The key here was the machine both plays and records but the seller did not test to see if it recorded yet posted it as working fine. So if you should buy make certain the seller answers any questions you have before you bid.

Another big turn off is shipping cost. My item cost $25 to ship as it is heavy but I point out similar sellers are charging as much as $75 for economy shipping for it which in some cases is 50% or more of the asking price. This is wrong and should be addressed by eBay who could care less.

The next problem was the $#*! did not know how to pack my item. Its was heavy yet loosely packed in the shipping box. When it arrived the front was caved in. I'm lucky that I can fix such things and managed to fix the damage caused by bad packaging.

Unfortunately this is a rather common problem. Earlier in the year a clueless gal sold me an old bottle. I asked her to carefully pack it but she used one wrap of the pimple sized bubble wrap then put in in a too large box. It arrived in shards. The gal not only lost her bottle but had to refund my shipping and purchase price which she did under threat of filing a claim against her.

If you get taken file a claim listing the item not as described in most cases eBay will give your money back even if the seller won't. Some sellers try to ignore complaints but back when I sold on eBay I made certain my customers were treated the way I wanted to be treated.

EBay needs to get real with questionable dealers but there are good dealers there too. I always check for two things before I bid one is their feedback. If they have a problem and then diss the buyer I skip them regardless how good they look as bad attitude is a sign of a bad dealer.

I agree eBay customer service is nothing I don't understand why they have the agents since they are non responsive. Even with this if you go through the steps and file a claim item not as received you will probably get a refund.

But then the bigger issue is do you want to waste your time trying to buy there when it might not be as described, might arrive damaged and you will only get BS when you try to talk to eBay customer service.

What about the potential dates you are going to meet?

Yes, many have problems with billing and get overcharged. But when you get on there the people you find may not be not real, sincere or anyone you want to meet. I recently met a gal who sounded amazing. In person one of the best looking most charming women I've ever met yet problematic. She writes back with interest and knows how to choose her enticing words.

She is a recent widow who did not care about her deceased husband in my opinion who she found on match com only five years ago. After meeting her I checked her story out. She was married to the guy for only 5 years. When he recently died he left her a lot of money and property. She did not even bother to have a funeral service for him and just had him cremated. She sold his $1.5 Million house and yacht and so is pretty well off.

She jumped big time into match far too soon for anyone who is anything but a gold digger in my opinion - most people who were in love would have wait longer to date... She speaks fondly of her departed husband but appears to have no grief which is inappropriate and questionable in my opinion...

So why do I feel this way? She got me mixed up with other people several times before we met. My take on her was interested then passed on me only to then follow up after whoever was before me proved not to her liking. She makes appointments she forgets because she can't keep all of the respondents to her ad sorted out. We set a date to meet then she writes back forgetting we have a date saying I'm a great guy and we need to meet. I reminded her we had a date which she showed up for but glided over the point she forgot who I was. One night when we were talking she forgot to meet with another guy who called her while we were on the phone. She said she had nothing to do that weekend even after she had set a date with me. (My point is in her replies she wants it to appear it is all about you when she is telling this to everyone some of whom she forgets).

Most people never meet anyone on match then there are players like this gal. I think she took the last guy she met there on a ride which lasted only five years before he passed on making herself rich in the process. I watch too much Agatha Christie but I must wonder why the last guy she found there only lasted five years passing on too young and then why no funeral for him? Why no mourning for him either?

Craigslist is as risky as match but I had better luck meeting a couple of great gals there and it cost nothing. They were both as attractive and charming as this gal but were sincere. At my age you meet a lot of widows. One was widow crazy which I define as running hard to get past your pain (which is the opposite way of handling loss instead of hiding from life after loss of a spouse). The second craigslist gal I met eventually went back to her abusive husband. But know I got better results from a free craigslist ad than paying match through the nose to meet a gold digger.

At the worst you pay and get no replies; at the best you might find someone who is charming and pretty only to find out she is a gold digger and insincere so match for me is just a waste of time.

If you use Google Chrome as your web browser do an image search on your intended love's photo. In about 8% of the cases you might find out who the person is or find it is a bogus photo for a bogus ad. I recently saw a craigslist ad with a lovely photo someone lifted of the first Australian Navy Woman Admiral who is a looker saying they were living on the US west coast (when the real gal is a top governmental official in Australia). So please look before you leap for any ad. If a potential match poster hasn't been on line for three weeks they are gone from match. Their stale listing is merely recycled to inflate current posting results using a stale account to make it look like there are more results you would like. If you get winked at and cannot find the source know unregistered people just looking at match can wink at you but cannot reply and you can't find them.

I wanted to leave you with a thought few people mention when it comes to dating or life for that matter. The late Maya Angelou once said "Never make someone a priority when you are only an option!" My comments above clearly outline you are only an option to match com and many posters there when what you want to be is a priority with someone special. If you find yourself only an option move on to someone who makes you their priority as it is more likely you will find happiness in this scenario.

I hope you find love but it probably won't be at match com with the craziness and lies...