Year: 2011

…and take your Product Replacement Plan with you.

I just recorded the end of a conversation I had with Best buy Product Replacement Services in their corporate office.  When I bought Amy’s cell phone I paid $40 extra for the Best Buy “guaranteed” Product Replacement Plan which will “cover any damage no questions asked”.  Well, Amy damaged the phone and took it to Best Buy where the customer service employees regurgitated something about the PRP (Product Replacement Plan) not covering physical phone damage, “only software”.  Well, they sold it to me as “cover any damage no questions asked” didn’t they?  “Software only” is simply the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard for a smart phone warranty.

So I called the administrators of the product replacement plan at the Best Buy corporate contact number.  They informed me the plan did, in fact cover replacement on this phone and said they would call the store on my behalf for an explanation.  Store number 1492 in Knightdale, NC.  After 20 minutes all customer service and management ignored the call of the corporate rep from PRP services until she had no choice but to hang up.  That’s right, the store employees, including the manager ignored a call from the corporate office regarding a customer service issue and product plan they were wrong to dishonor.  I will be selling any future gift cards I receive for these losers at a bargain basement price.  I have lapsed in the past but my resolve is firm now: I will never make another purchase from this company again.

This is one of the best summaries of the current political devistation occurring based on hard right ideologies I’ve ever read.  From the comment section of the NY Times article Obama Rejects Further Budget Stopgaps:

You have to grudgingly admire the Republicans’ sheer chutzpah, even as you despise it. They create a financial catastrophe by doubling the national debt in 8 years under Bush and by deregulating the financial services industry over the past 30 years so that it ran amok and brought the whole economy to its needs.

Having caused the mess — aided, to be sure, by a spineless opposition afraid of its own shadow — the Republicans then use it to enact a strictly ideological agenda that serves only the interests of their core constituents: the wealthy and corporations. The middle class, the needy, and the poor are thrown to the wolves.

Why the middle class, the needy and the poor continue to vote for these people, whose heartless agenda is so obvious and blatant, and so adverse to the interests of those constituents, is the single greatest mystery of modern American politics.

The “trickle down” ideas proclaimed in this budget proposal have been tried for the past 30 years, and the jury is in. We’ve seen the results. It is very, very clear that when you give rich people and corporations tax breaks, it only serves to make them richer. They do not invest in America or create American jobs. They invest in China and great Mexican jobs. They hoard their increased earnings in foreign tax havens, buy more yachts and houses and cars. And they also back the careers of Republican politicians, who continue to feed them tax breaks and privileges at the expense of the rest of us.

I honestly feel that unless the average American does not wake up and smell the coffee soon, if the Democrats and the President do not find their spines and offer real alternatives to this corporatization of the nation, then America as we know it is done. The country is bought and paid for by what George Carlin called “The Ownership” of America. Real change is becoming almost impossible, as conservative ideologues are stuffed into positions of influence and on the benches of the judiciary, so that desctructive conservative policies can be unchallenged in any venue.

The process is almost complete. Either we act, or we sink into the Darwinian social jungle the Republicans want to see replace any semblance of fair society. This proposal is one more step toward the undergrowth.

Gfagan – 4-5-2011

So many posts on facebook and a few on twitter.  No entries in the ‘ol blog for over a month.

I think I’m being socialed out.  My new word…”socialed”.  Facebook is where all the photos live and an occasional rant.  The blog was once a place for me to vent frustrations.  Now it’s just a lonely space that few visit except for updates on tired, old issues that aren’t going anywhere.

Work is outrageously busy.  Amy inherited a little money from her Grandmother who passed away on Nov. 21, 2010.   We’re trying to sit on.  Possibly some home improvements.  I bought a Lieca D-LUX 5 camera (I might return) and Amy got a new phone.  We all got a new TV for the living room.  Other than that we’re trying to stay humble.  Going to invest and save most of it.  A few home renovations are definitely in order.

Connor learned to ride his bike and tie his shoes during Christmas break and Logan has started preschool.  Zach is a full blown toddler now.  He’s a walker and cute as can be.