Comments for Calexis

Comment on Country? What’s a Country? by Walter

Walter — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 01:48:37 +0000

Cathy and Chris Reed are another good example for you. They are brother and sister Americans born in Kalamazoo, MI competing for Japan because their mother is Japanese. What makes it really weird is that their sister is competing for the country of Georgia. You are asking the right questions.

Comment on Whatever Happened to the Line Between Commercial and Editorial? by Skanist369

Skanist369 — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 01:20:17 +0000

I was offended by the commercialization of the People’s Choice awards. Why do they have to sandwich products into absolutely everything. Aren’t these people making enough money already?
I hadn’t thought about the Oscars being just a promotion for the entertainment industry but you have a point there, and it is held in the Kodak theater. Think about that!

Comment on How Aeroplan Learned to Suck by Don

Don — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 02:01:43 +0000

I have just waited eight and a half hours for an Air Canada delated flight. I think there is a race between Air Canada and Aeroplan on which can be worse.

Comment on Car Dealers Don’t Know how to Advertise. by Murph

Murph — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:23:45 +0000

Car dealers treat their businesses like ego farms. It is all about them. Wake up boys! The party is over. This blog makes sense. But I am going to bet that dealers think they know better.

Comment on Car Dealers Don’t Know how to Advertise. by Camilo

Camilo — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 22:35:42 +0000

I agree with you. Who do dealers think they are when they stand up like gumbahs and shout that they have the best deals in town. Or parade their kids and grandkids and hired bimbos in front of the camera in shameful requests for our business. What idiots!
What I want from a car dealer is straight talk (am I on drugs???) and an honest deal (I must be on drugs!!!!).
You point out some interesting things. Isn’t insanity defined some times as doing the same thing over and over and expecting the results to change? Since dealers are expecting us to make one of the biggest purchases of our lives, second only to that of our homes, why don’t they treat us like we are smarter than morons? They keep doing this, as you say, as their sales plummet and their cohorts shutter their dealerships.
Does their continued use of the same techniques make your point that they simply rode a wave of economic growth and had little to provide but a weaselly end service to the car distribution channel?
Murray’s point is good too. Don’t they know that the more legal type they throw in their ads the less we trust them and the more we think the deals are all in their favor.
Look for more people to buy through Costco and other buying arrangements and not count on car dealers who continue to portray themselves, in their own advertising, as shady customers just out to grab a buck. Why should we believe them?

Comment on Car Dealers Don’t Know how to Advertise. by Murray

Murray — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:52:15 +0000

I think you make some good points.
Let me add.
As an accountant, I am confused bv many of the price and financing conditions in the messy car dealer ads.
There is so much legal falderall and babble. I mean, would some of these dealers honestly buy themselves under these conditions?
All the legal mini print just confirms what we all believe about car dealers – that they are shady customers who want to cheat us of our money and not give us an honest fair deal.
Nice article.

Comment on Browser Review: Opera 10 by mvk

mvk — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:25:44 +0000

In my opinion widgets of opera are not really like add-ons of firefox (Now widgets can be run without opera running) and they cant be really compared. The closest one to add-ons are the buttons. And the mouse gestures are something worth mentioning!! And now flash block is available for opera also!!

But it was a nice post!!

Comment on Lost Skills by Laura

Laura — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:09:34 +0000

I just lost my entire comment. Computers – Argh!

I can use a fax. In fact, my company is set up to be a mostly paper society. As a purchaser, I am not able to email orders or even order product online. I don’t think we even own a scanner. Don’t get me started on how negotiations take place. I am queen of the fax machine!

I cant fold a map-I can barely read one. I am forever holding it in the wrong direction. I need a compass to tell me which way is North. As a former Girl Guide, I know how pathetic this is.

I write letters…its the only way I can justify my pen buying habit. If I stopped writing letters, I couldn’t buy more pens

Send me your records. I love vinyl. I would much rather listen to records than any other medium….besides the cover art can be fantastic – and its just not the same on cd. Send me your records!

Ever pay for your purchase with lots of change – and very few bills. Cashiers don’t even count coins anymore – they will just assume its exact.

Do they still make Jiffy Pop?

What are the phones called, where you crank the arm-and you get the operator? My parents had one for years-but I couldn’t understand how it worked when the part that you held up to your ear was attached to the box by a piece of rope. that just does not make sense.

Don’t you own a watch? I am guessing if you don’t write letters with a pen, then you might not know how to tell time.

No- people can’t drive anymore. Out here people just sit in their car’s and yell at other people sitting in their car’s. At least this is what happens at 4:30 pm every day.

Wikipedia is the best site ever- you can seriously mess people up on this site. People are ready to believe everything.

My lost skill comprises of one major item.

My computer skills get worse every single day. This happens when companies don’t upgrade their computer systems. I personally think its so their employees can’t leave (no updated skills). I use Windows 98 at work. Enough said.

Comment on Quadrillion Mistake Obvious – But Still Takes Two Hours To Clear Up by Barry

Barry — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 22:12:18 +0000

I recently signed up for some SCUBA lessons and my credit card was charged $141,435.16. This brought swift response from CIBC my VISA carrier. Within seconds I received a phone call as I stood at the cash trying to clear up the mistake. They were right on top of it and were very helpful.

Comment on What Will Happen to Real Estate When Labour Isn’t Local by George

George — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:51:22 +0000

Good start. I like your thinking and you are trying to shine a light on the path to the future. The question remains if the readers can really view this with their their eyes wide open or are they tightly closed against change and if they appreciate the direction you have given them. I would love to find time to reinforce your assessment and share my view.

Comment on Quadrillion Mistake Obvious – But Still Takes Two Hours To Clear Up by Murph365

Murph365 — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 17:33:25 +0000

How do I get a card with that kind of limit?

Murph365

Comment on Stop Shrombarding Me! by Laura

Laura — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:52:52 +0000

Chip Taylor is almost famous for a few things.

He discovered James Taylor.
He wrote songs for Janis Joplin, Chrissie Hynde, and Anne Murray.
Before he was Chip Taylor, he was James Voight- which makes him the uncle of Angelina Jolie.
He produced a song by the very sparkly Neil Diamond.
He was some country artist-that Rolling Stone magazine liked very much in 1973.
and is an enemy of the IRS (or once was).

*none of this information was gathered from Wikipedia.

Now, what do I win???

Comment on Are Companies Training Customers to be Jerks? by Laura

Laura — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 22:53:57 +0000

I believe that the companies that are training telecom companies (and the like) used to work for government programs. Ever tried calling Medical Services Plan (of BC)? The average caller has to stay on hold for 22 minutes, and not listen to soothing elevator music, but rather audio advertisements ensuring us that our needs will be met very soon (again 22 minutes).

After my marathon on hold session, I was connected to a very entry level CSR, who not only doesn’t understand my case, he doesn’t care about it. When I was finally connected to a manager, I was told that I obviously misunderstood the letter that they had mailed out to me.
And that payment was required immediately, even though my insurance covers it.

When I let them know what I thought of their solution – they suggested that I pay the full amount, and that they will look into the matter, and if it requires a refund, then they will pay me back.

Customer Service Fail!

The payment is “in the mail”.

Comment on How to get Large Files to People Without FTP by Viet

Viet — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:34:28 +0000

MegaUpload now supports multi-file uploads. Depending on your video format, any video uploaded to MegaUpload automatically gets converted and is available on MegaVideo.com for streaming viewing. Other good sites for uploading include GigaSize.com and MediaFire.com.

Comment on Are Companies Training Customers to be Jerks? by Murray

Murray — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 05:15:09 +0000

I am an accountant and I understand the cost of providing personal service to customers. So what he says makes sense.
But I am also frustrated by the morons that I encounter when I have to call to sort out some problem.
I think my blood pressure goes up just thinking of having to deal with these people. They are really irritating.
It positively kills me when they end up with “anything else I can help you with today” when they have done dick-on-a-stick for me but infuriate me.
I think the marginal cost utility would payback with a little positive service. If I am calling to sort something out it is because I have a problem, not because I am a “jerk” but they always seem to treat me like I am the moron.

Comment on Are Companies Training Customers to be Jerks? by Bob

Bob — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 22:20:03 +0000

I agree with what you say. I just spent two hours on the phone between Visa and my insurance company. The insurance company had put the Visa payment through three times and thought it didn’t go through. Visa said it went through twice. Visa wouldn’t talk to the insurance company and the insurance company couldn’t figure out what to do since they claimed they didn’t have the funds.
Why is it always the customer that is always WRONG?
All the phone centers seem to do is try to get their employer off the hook and blame someone else. The phone company blames the equipment. The cable company blames your TV. No one cares about customer satisfaction.

Bob in St. Pete