The Rowe Family Blog

Recently I rented a car from Alamo for a family vacation.  I was amazed at how successfully car rental companies rip people off.  Some of the ways are obvious and some are not quite as obvious.

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Not two weeks after Hoselton spammed me I received yet another spam from them. This was after I “unsubscribed” and also after I sent them an email indicating my disappointment in their choice to opt-me in to their mailing list. While this won’t stop me from continuing to use their Toyota service department it has lost them a potential customer. When I buy a new vehicle it will not be from the Hoselton family of dealerships.

I was surprised that Hoselton Auto Mall sent me unsolicited bulk email today. I am a customer of Hoselton Toyota but I do not believe I have ever opted to receive advertisements. I sent an email to them expressing my disappointment. What I wrote is below:

I am disappointed that Hoselton Auto Mall chose to distribute unsolicited bulk email, otherwise known as spam, to one of my email addresses.

I understand the desire of business to advertise. However I strongly disapprove of sending out bulk email to customers who never opted to get bulk email from your company. Had I opted to receive email from Hoselton I would have no complaint. I did not opt in.

I urge you, in the future, please do not send out bulk emails using “opt-out” strategies. If you feel you must send advertisements via email please utilize “opt-in” strategies.

Sincerely,
Greg Rowe

I recently became an eBay seller. It is nearly a necessity to use Paypal if you buy or sell on eBay. I’m very unhappy with Paypal. I find them to be incredibly deceitful. Read the rest of this entry »

Back in April I got spam from an address I used only with Motley Fool.  Yesterday I received an opt-in request for that same address.  It was to sign up for a mailing list with Millenium Traders.  Luckily for me this mailing list appears to be legit because they did not sign me up with out confirmation.

Today I received an ad via email from Seagate.  Based on the address I know with 100% certainty that CompUSA gave them (sold them?) my email address.  I hate spammers.

I participated in the Epson ink lawsuit settlement.  For each of my two qualifying printers I received a $25 check and a code worth $20 at the Epson Store.  Since my Epson printer rarely works correctly I wasn’t interested in buying $23 ink cartridges.  Besides, that would cost me money out of pocket.  Instead I wanted to purchase a scrap-booking album for my wife that cost around $35.  I wanted to combine the two $20 codes so that I would be out of pocket for only shipping (as I doubt the settlement code covers shipping charges).  The Epson store would not allow me to use two codes.  I assumed this was just a technical glitch that customer support could resolve so I emailed their customer support.  They replied and told me I could not use two settlement codes in a single purchase.  They told me I had to use one code per purchase.  I wrote back saying that was not acceptable.  They pretty much wrote back again saying I was out of luck.  They provided a phone number and recommended I speak to the president of Epson.

Sure, like I’d ever get put through to the president of Epson Corporation.  I called the number anyhow and was promptly patched through to Epson Store customer service.  I explained the issue and again they told me I was out of luck.  They also told me that I was not the only one complaining about this.  They said they only thing they could do for me was to patch me through to customer relations.

I spoke with Tara from customer relations.  She told me that there was nothing she could do for me.  It sounded like she was annoyed that Epson Store customer service reps kept sending calls to her department.  She wasn’t able to offer me any help.  Her only recommendation was that I write a letter to John Lang the CEO of Epson America.  I asked her if she really thought  that would make any difference. Her response wasn’t convincing.

I’m not going to waste my time writing a letter.  I’ve already wasted enough time.  Instead I’m writing this blog entry and I hope to draw attention to it.  I’m not sure it will get anywhere but I filed a complaint with the New York State Attorney General (this links to the complaint form).  I also attempted to contact Rust Consulting the administrators of the settlement.  I’d like to contact John Lang, CEO of Epson America to complain to him but I haven’t been able to track down any reliable contact information yet.  It may be jlang@epson.com.

I wrote previously about how poorly I felt that Rust Consulting handled the Epson Ink Lawsuit settlement.  They sent me rejection letters for each of the two eligible printers that I applied for.  I had been rejected incorrectly and I wasn’t too happy about that.  Then, not too long ago, I received an email regarding the dates in which special codes for discounts at Epson’s online store would be active.  Those codes are part of the settlement that they incorrectly decided that I was not eligible to participate in.  Much to my surprise I found two checks and discount codes in my mailbox about 2 weeks ago.

I still contend that they did a very poor job handling this settlement but I am pleased that they recognized their error.

A short time ago I ordered some cabling and related items from Markertek.   I was happy with ordering from Markertek for a few reasons.

• The items, although out of stock, arrived quickly.
• The shipping charges were LESS than what was estimated at the time of order
• They had a “customer care” survey that they take seriously.  I emailed my answers to their survey which included some suggestions for improving their website.  They replied to my email and also said that they had passed my suggestions on to their webmaster.

I was spammed again with a stupid automatic opt-in system.  In this case I signed up to receive a “free” mp3 from the band Machine Head through Roadrunner Records.  I got the mp3 but I also got an unwanted email “newsletter” today.  Why annoy potential customers like that?