So web 2.0 it makes babies cry.

So I’m upset with Starbucks, to the point where I’m done with them until at least, 2012.  Considering my office is in the same parking lot as a Starbucks, where I love the people, that says a lot.  The short version of the long story goes something like this.  For the past 4 years that our office was in this location, since the owner’s of the company I work for also goto SBUX daily,  I’ve been purchasing them gift cards for Christmas.   This year, I decide to spice it up a bit more than the standard plain off the shelf card, what a mistake that was.

On December 10th, 2010 I placed my order, which included an extra $8.00 charge, which I was able to accept as I thought my gift would stand out more to them.

On December 12th it shipped, under the auspice of taking “6-8 business  days” from the Starbucks website and my order email, which has since been changed on the website, not sure about the order emails.

On December 22nd, I email them and explain that it’s now been over 8 business days and the order has not arrived, and inquired if it had been returned or lost.   There is no response for a few days

On December 23rd, I call support, and I’m rudely told that it’s 7-12 business days, and there is nothing they can do since it’s USPS.  Also, it’s “unreasonable to question” why it takes an envelope over week to travel anywhere in this country.   Worse case scenario, Seattle to NJ, will only take a few days at best.  I explain my displeasure with the entire situation to the service rep, who acts like he doesn’t care, but claims he will let his supervisor know of my displeasure with the entire process, per my request.  The CSR did not offer me any type of ticket number.

On December 24th,  get a response to my email sent on the 22nd, they say wait until the 12th business day then contact them again. This time, I get a ticket number.

On December 28th, I respond to the email explaining how I have now been embarrassed in front of my employers, and quite upset with the Starbucks brand.  I request in the same email that the cards be reprinted.

On January 4th, I respond to the same email asking if there is any status change or if anything has happened. All the while keeping the subject line intact with the order info, as well as all ticket numbers.

On January 5th, I get a response saying to call, with yet another ticket number, so I do.  On the phone, all of my existing ticket numbers don’t help her find any real information, so I give her the order string.  She tries to find me in their system, to see if I have a Starbucks card, then gets snippy with me for trying to explain that they are shipping to my office. After about 30 minutes she’s able to tell me that the cards were “signed for, then redeemed”.  I ask her how they could be signed for if they are just plain USPS, and she’s unsure, then ask her when they were used or redeemed. Again, she’s unsure.  I’m now told that this will have to be escalated, however I can’t speak to anyone about the issue, but she’s got a ticket full of the info, and of course a new ticket number, and someone will contact me with the resolution.

On January 19th, since I have not heard a word back from any supervisors I call back, and a very nice woman tells me there is an update to my last ticket I’m to be refunded because they are unable to reprint custom cards.  I explain to her that so far this has been going on for well over a month, and I’ve now spent about two hours of my life on the phone trying to resolve this, she is very apologetic and agrees that the entire thing is a mess.

On January 27th, a week and a day later, I contact my credit card company do charge back the initial charge.

On February 1st, someone calls me back and says “we see you disputed the charges, but we are going to send you coupons for a free coffee”..

I’m not going to sit here and rant and rave any further, but those of you in my office, and anyone in my personal life knows all about how badly this one was botched.  My recommendation is don’t’ bother wasting your time with Starbucks support staff, and especially don’t bother with custom gift cards. In short, thanks for screwing up my office Christmas and making me look like an ass Starbucks.

At least I’ll save a ton of $$ by either buying coffee elsewhere or making my own.  Now enjoy this funny, and freshly updated video:

When Santa Claus comes to town this week, he’d better watch out — because the federal government may be making a list of his crimes (and checking it twice), the Libertarian Party warned today.

 

“Hark the federal agents sing, Santa is guilty of nearly everything,” said former Libertarian Party press secretary George Getz. “The feds know when Santa’s been bad or good — and he’s been bad, for goodness sakes.”

Does Santa belong in the slammer? Instead of stuffing stockings, should he be making license plates?

Yes, said Getz, if he’s held to the same standards as a typical American. 

For example:

* Every December 25, the illegal immigrant known as Santa Claus crosses the border into the United States without a passport. He carries concealed contraband, which he sneaks into the country in order to avoid inspection by the U.S. Customs Service. And just what’s in all those brightly colored packages tied up with ribbons, anyway? The Drug Czar and Homeland Security want to know.

* Look at how this international fugitive gets around: Santa flies in a custom-built sleigh that hasn’t been approved by the FAA. He never files a flight plan. He has no pilot’s license. In the dark of night, he rides the skies with just a tiny bioluminescent red light to guide him — a clear violation of traffic safety regulations.

* Pulling Santa’s sleigh: Eight tiny reindeer, a federally protected species being put to hard labor. None of these reindeer have their required shots, and Santa’s never bothered to get these genetically-engineered animals registered and licensed. It’s no wonder: He keeps them penned outside his workplace in a clear violation of zoning laws.

* But Crooked Claus the Conniving Capitalist harms more than just animals — he’s hurting hard-working American laborers, too. Isn’t Santa’s Workshop really Santa’s Sweatshop, where his non-union employees don’t make minimum wage and get no holiday pay? Add the fact that OSHA has never inspected the place, and you have a Third-World elf-exploitation operation that only Kathy Lee Gifford could love.

* No wonder Santa is able to maintain his monopoly over the toy distribution industry: He’s cornered the Christmas gift market. Santa dares to give away his products for free in a sinister attempt to crush all competition — just like Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Antitrust Lawsuit Memo to the feds: Is Santa Claus the Bill Gates of Christmas?

The bottom line, said Getz: “It might be tough sledding for Jolly St. Nick this Christmas if the government decides to prosecute him.

“We’re just surprised it hasn’t already happened. After all, Santa Claus is everything that politicians aren’t: He’s popular, reliable, and gives us something for nothing every December 25th — instead of taking our money every April 15th.”

by George Getz

For those of you who were around me in the past week you will know that gift wrapping paper has been my gripe of the week. I guess you could say that it grinds my gears.  So as of now, I give up on this whole wrapping paper thing created by the hallmark’s and the CVS’s of the world! As of right now, 90% of the gift wrap is not recyclable due to the inks/gloss/foils, and naturaly it is not made with any recycled paper.  So yes, it makes the earth cry.

To top it off, it is expensive. I figured I spend on average about $4.00 per roll of paper, I usually use about -6 each and every xmas season.  That does not include the ribbons, tape, bags, tissue papers, etc. So therefore next Christmas season, I will be making at least a $25 donation to another charity.  Perhaps for my 2010 Pinups for Pitbulls calendar, since the 2009 one is HOT and for a great cause.

Next year, you can expect to see gifts wrapped in the brown paper that amazon.com uses a some package filling.  Or comics from the newspapers, or if I’m feeling really spunky the color ads they send out that are generally tossed. Got some paper scraps laying around? Here is an neat way to make your own gift bag.

If you think I’m out of my mind, please post a comment and tell me why.

I thought this was really funny!

What Santa really says!

I was starting to get bored with the default theme so I decided to freshed things and and change to this one.   I dig the green and the bike, since I am working on being green and dig bikes. If that bothers you, you can always go back to the blueline, or pick one of the ones from the “Theme Switcher” on the bottom left hand side.