Birdz & Beez

Who knew the words HP Netbook were actually Greek for expensive paperweight???

2010-03-03T19:48:00.004-06:00

In the infamous words of Clark W. Griswold, "If I woke up tomorrow with my head sewn to the carpet, I couldn't be more surprised..."

The netbook has found its way home. 33 days after leaving my hands, for a 5 to 7 day repair, it has been sent back to me, unfixed. The FedEx guy showed up on my doorstep at about 9:45am, on February 22, with my beat up shipping box, the serial number and model number of the netbook written in ball point pen on the outside. Enclosed in the box was a letter from HP telling me that after inspection of my machine, it was out of warranty due to ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES that are not covered. Not even the same reason that they gave me over the phone, about the service tag being missing from the bottom of the machine. Wow, way to keep your stories straight. I am gonna guess that is a standard "cover the bases" kind of response, because really, how do I fight them on that one? Kinda makes you appreciate of your in-house IT people, I'll just bet. Suddenly, Geek Squad is looking pretty good from here.

I have been asked, repeatedly, what I am going to do now. It was under warranty when I sent it in. I was promised something in writing. I was lied to, money, time and effort were taken from me and all I got in return was my broken computer returned to me long after my return date to MicroCenter had passed. I have pondered, thought, meditated, prayed and asked for opinions on how I should follow up on this. Once I did all that, I completely disregarded it and decided to LetItGo. One word... LetItGo. I can file in small claims, continue my crusade, send a corporate wide email and post ugly Twitter messages for the next year... but I won't. That's just not me. I don't have the time, energy or desire to pursue this any farther, I am sorry to say. Part of me wants someones head on a platter... hello again, Paul... a written apology and a shiny new SSD drive shipped to my door. But, I would also like a million dollars to fall from the sky, a free trip to Disney World for my family of 3 and a live in nanny/maid. Ain't none of it ever gonna happen... so I'm gonna just LetItGo.

For now, I will just have to be satisfied knowing that this blog and all the emails from HP are posted here for the world to see. I will just have to be satisfied with knowing that I did everything I possibly could to make this situation turn out as it should. I will just have to be satisfied knowing that I was right and they were wrong. I will just have to be satisfied with the fact that they only screwed me out of $100 dollars and many hours of headache. And, I will just have to be satisfied with my new mission in life, to convert all my friends and fellow business owners to Dell users. Goodbye HP, it's been real.

How do you spell "STOLEN" in binary?

2010-02-21T15:39:00.003-06:00

Well, I suppose that I should have expected it... but my highly contested netbook has disappeared. My last post was about 10 days ago, when I was threatened by the tech at HP that they would return my netbook to me, unrepaired, IF I didn't pursue any legal action OR complain about my treatment publicly. Um, yeah, that's kind of out the window at this point! I have sent a detailed report to the Attorney General, FTC, BBB, posted the links to this blog on Facebook and Twitter and lodged a complaint at www.ripoffreport.com. I have to say that when this whole thing started, I felt like I must be the only consumer in the world that HP had singled out to screw. A strong statement, that... but it's what has happened so far. However, I have discovered that I am certainly not alone in my plight. Just go out to Google and type in HP Complaints and see what you get. Read through a few of those, it's a real eye opener. Some of those folks are out thousands, I am just out about $110 and my time, and effort, and lost work, and shipping, etc.

So, let's get up to speed. On Wednesday, February 10, 2010 my netbook went missing from the HP system. I was supposed to be able to continue to log on with my service ticket number and zip code and track my return. But, almost immediately after going public with my story, my entire service ticket just *poof* disappeared. Here is what I get now, when I log in with my info...

About what I had expected, but not what I had hoped for. I continue to check my Twitter account in the hopes that someone from HP would have bestowed upon me the pleasure of actually keeping their word, but, alas, no such luck. Here is the last communication I have had with them via Twitter, dated back on Feb 5...

So, no help there. Finally, just flat out tired of waiting and doing nothing, I got on HP's website to file a complaint straight with them. I figure there is a circular file labeled "Complaints" under someones desk but I didn't think it could possibly hurt to try. Boy, was I wrong. Check this one out...

VERY NICE! I go to file a complaint and get a virus! SWEET! That COMPUTER COMPANY is right on top of it because they have a built in link to complain and this is what happens when you try! Dude, I'm kind of surprised that I haven't had my bank account hijacked and a hit man at my door if this is what happens when you try to file a private gripe right with them!

So, I did what any normal, rational person would do in my situation... I called the police. Independence Police Department to be exact. I found out that I can't report the netbook as stolen, it's more like kidnapped or hijacked at this point. That, is a legal issue but not something that I can file a police report for. Since I WILLINGLY gave the laptop to them in the first place, as opposed the them coming to my house and just taking it, I can't report it as stolen. I kind of figured as much, but at least I tried. The IPD kindly suggested that I not let this go and to file in small claims court. I guess that's my next step. Sheesh, all I want is what was promised to me IN WRITING... my SSD replaced. Why is this hard?

By the way, "STOLEN" in binary is 01010011 01110100 01101111 01101100 01100101 01101110! Somewhere the head of an IT person at HP just exploded, because they don't know what binary is. Here is what I have to say to that...

01011001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01101111 01110111 01100101 00100000 01101101 01100101 00100000 01100001 00100000 01101110 01100101 01110100 01100010 01101111 01101111 01101011 !!!

I vote we go back to the Commodore 64...

2010-02-10T14:34:00.019-06:00

Ok, so many big and some not very exciting things have been happening around here lately and I will get to some of them later, I promise. But, for now, I have to have someplace to put the entire chain of events together for my HP Netbook repair mis-adventure. This is a very detailed list of ALL the things that have happened since my misguided purchase of my HP Mini 1116NR. Dude, this is gonna be long... go to the bathroom now, get a cup of coffee, whatever... it's gonna take a while.

So, a man walks into Micro Center... that's how the story begins. I had been shopping for a Netbook online for several months and didn't want to spend much money for something that was going to be just a mobile machine for this little business of mine. I thought I found the perfect solution in the HP 1116NR at the Overland Park, KS Micro Center. It was online for $104 and it was a clearance item, only one in the store. I bought it online for in store pickup and sent my husband out in a blizzard - literally - to get it. He paid for it with our credit card and brought it home to me to setup. The date - 01/06/10 (Wed). I didn't work with the machine much that day but started to "build" it on 01/07/10 (Thur). Within 24 hours I knew I had a problem. I wasn't entirely sure what, but it wasn't going to be easily fixed. I tried some patches, updates, purging the system but at the end of the day I knew that I had a hardware problem.

On 01/08/10 (Fri) I accessed the HP Support site with my Mini and ran some online diagnostics. Tadaa! The Solid State Drive - SSD - was bad. HP Support site recognized the problem, agreed with me that I had a bad part, and electronically promised to send me out a new SSD via Next Business Day shipping. I was told, on-screen, that I would receive one email within a few minutes as confirmation and another within 5 hours with tracking information. I didn't get either.

On 01/11/10 (Mon) I emailed HP Customer Care with my issue via their online form. I explained everything that had happened to that point and pressed the submit button, not knowing when to expect a reply. The first one came at 11:26am. Fortunately, I saved EVERY EMAIL between me and HP! I have a record of everything that was written between the two of us. I have converted all the emails to text and removed MY personal information. Absolutely nothing else has been changed. Anyplace you see ♦♦♦ is where I took out my name, email, address, etc. Here is the sequence of events from Monday...

My online form submission

Original Text
From: ♦♦♦
To: HP Support
CC:
Sent: 01/11/10 22:45:41
Subject: HP Mini 1116NR PC e-mail support

hp e-mail support
Webform submittal date/time : 11 January 2010 17:16:28 UTC
language_code : en
language : English
Country of Residence : United States
product_line : KV
product_oid : 3921954
product_name : HP Mini 1116NR PC
part_number : NM125UA,NM125UAR
purchase month : 1
purchase year : 2010
problem area : hardware
serial number : S2MC90923L4
operating system : Microsoft Windows XP Home
Was the CD/DVD writer drive built into the computer when you purchased it? : no
problem description: Yesterday I ran a series of diagnostics on my new HP Mini 1116NR, purchased from MicroCenter on January 6,2010. I was informed via the diagnostc tool that the hard drive is bad and was told that I would be receiving a new one. I was given a case number of 4608911337 and was told that I would be receiving two emails shortly. One was supposed to bedelivered within a few minutes after submitting as confirmation and the other within 5 hours with shipping and tracking information. I have received neither email. If I am not going to be receiving the part, I would like to know ASAPso that I can returnthe Mini to MicroCenter and buy a ne machine. Thanks.
tech skill : Advanced
first name: ♦♦♦
last name : ♦♦♦
phone : ♦♦♦
email : ♦♦♦
form url : https://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/email?product=3921954&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&lang=en&cc=us
form country : United States

Their reply to the form submission

From:MININB_SUPPORT_EN@MAIL.SUPPORT.HP.COM [mailto:MININB_SUPPORT_EN@MAIL.SUPPORT.HP.COM]
Sent: Monday, January 11, 2010 11:26 AM
To: ♦♦♦
Subject: RE: HP Mini 1116NR PC e-mail support

Hello ♦♦♦,

Thank you for contacting HP Total Care.

After reviewing the e-mail, I understand that you have an issue with HP Mini 1116NR PC wherein the hard drive fails the hard drive self test.

I regret for the inconvenience that this type of issue might have caused you.

♦♦♦, I appreciate that you have forwarded your issue to us and given us a chance to help you in this regard.

I, on behalf of HP Total Care take ownership of your issue. I will definitely assist you in this matter up to the best of my abilities.

The most possible cause of this issue is hardware malfunctioning.
In order to resolve the issue let us perform a troubleshooting step that will fix the issue.

Hard Drive Self Test:

* Shut down the Notebook if it is running.
* Press the powerbutton to turn on the notebook.
* Start tapping F10 when the HP/Compaq loading display.
* It will automatically go to BIOS screen.

NOTE: Here the mouse pointer will not work

* Then after the BIOS setup utility displays, use the Right Arrow key to select Tools or Diagnostics menu.
* Select HDD Self test.
* Press enter to display a list of HDD/Self test Option.
* Select Notebook HD and then press F10, display an estimated test time.
* Press F10 to continue the HDD test executes a Quick test, or a comprehensive test, one by one

If the hard drive fails it will be replaced free of cost, so in order to proceed revert with some information:

Result of Hard drive self-test
Error code (if hard drive self-tests fails)
Place of purchase:
Country of Residence:
Personal details: (US or Canada Shipping only)
• Name:
• Organization:
• Mailing Address (No P.O. Boxes):
• Apartment/Building/Mail stop:
• City:
• State:
• Zip/Postal Code:
• Email Address:
• Phone Number (including area code) Home:
• Phone Number (including area code) Alternative:
• Preferred call back time
Time zone:

Note: - HP needs US or Canada based shipping address to initiate the process.

Product details:
• Model number.
• Product number.
• Serial number.
• Purchase date.
• Place of purchase
Please revert at the earliest.

If you need further assistance, please reply to this message and wewill be happy to assist you further.

For information on keeping your HP and Compaq products up and running,please visit our Web site at: http://www.hp.com/go/totalcare

Sincerely,

Arnab

HP Total Care

***Do Not Delete Service Ticket Number***

{ticketno:[8033985397]}

***Do Not Delete Service Ticket Number***

Our advice is strictly limited to thequestion(s) asked and is based on the information provided to us. HP does not assume any responsibility or liability for the advice given and shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages in connection with the use of this information. Always back up your data. For more information, including technical information updates, please visit ourWeb site at http://www.hp.com/support. HP does not require you to send any financial data in your reply to this email. As a prudent reminder, do not insert credit card details or other financial information in any e-mail replies.

Ok, so run some tests and get back to them. I can do that, no problem. So, I proceed as they request and then gave them the answers from those tests...

My reply

From: ♦♦♦
To: MININB_SUPPORT_EN@MAIL.SUPPORT.HP.COM
CC:
Sent: 01/11/10 23:16:27
Subject: RE: HP Mini 1116NR PC e-mail support

Thank you for your quick reply. I followed the instruction that you forwarded but can’t complete them. Here isthe process…

I started the machine and pressed F10 to enter the BIOS.

I right arrowed over to the diagnostics screen and was able to view the testing options.

Primary Hard Disk Self Test – Not Support shows up first and is grayed out.

Memory Test shows up second and is white. I was able to perform the Memory Test with no problems / failures. But the Hard Disk Test is unavailable for me to select.

I Exit the BIOS.

The systems restarts.

Yesterday, I was logged on to the HP Support Site running all required updates. I got to one of the updates and it wouldn’t write to the hard drive. I rebooted and tried again, but still had the write failure. I ran a suggested diagnostic on my hardware and was notified that the hard disk was bad and that I would automatically be shipped a new one. I was given that case number that I provided earlier: 4608911337 and told about receiving the emails that I never did get.

Is there something else that you would like me to try? Another way of diagnosing?

In the mean time, here are the answers to your questions that you wanted me to reply to.

Thanks again for your help,

♦♦♦

Place of purchase: Micro Center in Overland Park, KS
Country of Residence: USA
Personal details: (US or Canada Shipping only)
• Name: ♦♦♦
• Organization: ♦♦♦
• Mailing Address (No P.O. Boxes): ♦♦♦
• Apartment/Building/Mail stop:
• City: ♦♦♦
• State: ♦♦♦
• Zip/Postal Code: ♦♦♦
• Email Address: ♦♦♦
• Phone Number (including area code) Home: ♦♦♦
• Phone Number (including area code) Alternative: ♦♦♦
• Preferred call back time
Time zone: Central time - afternoons

Note: - HP needs US or Canada based shipping address to initiate the process.

Product details:
• Model number. HP Mini 1116NR
• Product number.
• Serial number. S2MC90923L4
•Purchase date. January 06, 2010
• Place of purchase Micro Center in Overland Park, KS

So, the hard drive test didn't work because it won't on a SSD. You would think that someone in IT over there at HP would have paid attention to that, but alas, no. They didn't. So, I email them back again with those failure results and get the following brilliant and confidence inspiring response.

Their email back to me

From:MININB_SUPPORT_EN@MAIL.SUPPORT.HP.COM [mailto:MININB_SUPPORT_EN@MAIL.SUPPORT.HP.COM]
Sent: Monday, January 11, 2010 12:13 PM
To: ♦♦♦
Subject: RE: RE: HP Mini 1116NR PC e-mail support

Hello ♦♦♦,

Thank you for contacting HP Total Care.

After going through your e-mail I understand that your issue still persists.

I regret the annoyance you have faced in the course. I comfort you that I, as a part of HP Total Care, take the ownership of the issue you are experiencing and would try to make your mind up the issue to the best of my abilities and up to your contentment.

♦♦♦, thank you once again for getting back to us with the required information has been asked in to the previous reply. I would like to inform you that we are HP hired technicians and we have to abide by certain rules and regulations of HP. According to the company until HDD self-test result fails and the particular failure error message comes up. Please update BIOS from the link below and after that perform HDD self-test by following theprocedure mention in to the previous reply and get to us with the result and consequences. We willdefinitely go ahead and do the needful to fix your issue completely.

ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp45001-45500/sp45107.exe

NOTE: Clicking the link may give an error indicating it is invalid. If this occurs, copy the address portion of the address on the remaining lines and paste it at the end of the address showing in your browser until the complete address is displayed in the address box.

If you need further assistance, please reply to this message and we will be happy to assist you further.

For information on keeping your HP and Compaq products up and running, please visit our Web site at: http://www.hp.com/go/totalcare

Sincerely,

Raul

HP Total Care

***Do Not Delete Service Ticket Number***

{ticketno:[8033985397]}

***Do Not Delete Service Ticket Number***

Our advice is strictly limited to thequestion(s) asked and is based on the information provided to us. HP does not assume any responsibility or liability for the advice given and shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages in connection with the use of this information. Always back up your data. For more information, including technical information updates, please visit our Web site at http://www.hp.com/support. HP does not require you to send any financial data in your reply to this email. As a prudent reminder, do not insert credit card details or other financial information in any e-mail replies.

Oh, well that really makes me feel so much better. They are comforting me now that they are, once again, taking ownership of my problem. Whew. What a relief. So, my computer's fixed now? Wait... it's not? And once again, my awe-inspiring technician is asking me to do the impossible by making a HDD test work on a SSD. Well, I'll just get right on that for you. Hold your breath, huh?

My response again

From: ♦♦♦
To: MININB_SUPPORT_EN@MAIL.SUPPORT.HP.COM

CC:

Sent: 01/11/10 23:59:53

Subject: RE: RE: HP Mini 1116NR PC e-mail support

Hello again –

I am really not sure where to go from here.

I had already updated the BIOS via HP’s website, before running my other updates and getting the write and hard disk error. Because you requested me to, I did it again.

I got a message saying that that update had already been performed, but would I like to do it anyway and I chose yes. I let the system update the BIOS again and did a reboot. I shut down again completely and then went back into the BIOS via F10 on start up. The exact same thing happened. The Hard Disk Test is grayed out and is not selectable. It has a note next to it that says Not Supported. I can’t do anything else from there except chose other settings to modify or just exit the BIOS screen. When I exit and reboot everything goes back to how it has been all along.

You are going to have to give me another way to check the Hard Disk. I am notentirely sure what the problem is, since I did all this testing through HP’s website yesterday, received notice that my SSD was bad and was told that I would receive an email with tracking and shipping info within a matter of hours. Can someone not go back and find those results that led to the generation of my Case Number?

What would you like me to do next? Should I just take the Mini back to Micro Center?

Thanks,

♦♦♦

Ok, so the updates that they want to me to do I have already done, but do again. The BIOS test still won't work and now I just flat out ask if I should take the machine back because you guys can't seem to scrape enough knowledge together between you ALL to be able to do something about this. I have been handed off to a different person each time, who then takes ownership of my problem, but from what I can see... we aren't getting far with that. So now it's back to them... God help us.

Their reply to me

From:MININB_SUPPORT_EN@MAIL.SUPPORT.HP.COM [mailto:MININB_SUPPORT_EN@MAIL.SUPPORT.HP.COM]
Sent: Monday, January 11, 2010 1:33 PM
To: ♦♦♦
Subject: RE: RE: RE: HP Mini 1116NR PC e-mail support

Hello ♦♦♦,

Thank you for contacting HP Total Care.

I noticed from your last email that you are again unable to perform hard drive self-test even after updating the BIOS.

I appreciate your patience and cooperation for you have forwarded your concerns regularly to us and given us so many chances to assist you. I on behalf of HP Total Care take ownership of your concern. I will definitely assist you in this matter up to the best of my abilities.

I deeply apologize for all the inconvenience caused to you due to delay in resolving the issue.

♦♦♦, I checked the product specification of your HP mini netbook. It has an SSD hard drive. Hence the hard drive test is not possible.

In that case, since you have received the message that the hard drive has gone bad as per the diagnostics tool so I would request you to take a backup of all your important data in order to prevent if from loosing.

At the same time I will say you not to worry about the hard drive because if the netbook (at this moment) somehow is working fine, simply take back up of all your data and work with your netbook.

In case of a sudden crash of the notebook, we will go ahead and help you to get the hard drive replaced. At the same I time I would request you to get back to us with any symptoms, which you are currently experiencing with the notebook

Please get back to us with your observation; new error messages if any, answering these below mention queries to make us comprehend the issue in a better way:

1. Is the netbook taking a long time to boot up?
2. Is the netbook very slow in terms of performance?
3. Are you getting any clicking noise?

If you need further assistance, please reply to this message and we will be happy to assist you further.

For information on keeping your HP and Compaq products up and running, please visit our Web site
at: http://www.hp.com/go/totalcare

Sincerely,

Addey

HP Total Care

***Do Not Delete Service Ticket Number***

{ticketno:[8033985397]}

***Do Not Delete Service Ticket Number***

Our advice is strictly limited to the question(s) asked and is based on the information provided to us. HP does not assume any responsibility or liability for the advice given and shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages in connection with the use of this information. Always back up your data. For more information, including technical information updates, please visit our Web site at http://www.hp.com/support. HP does not require you to send any financial data in your reply to this email. As a prudent reminder, do not insert credit card details or other financial information in any e-mail replies.

Well, that certainly cleared things up. It would appear as if the drive has gone bad, per the diagnostic tool. Really...? Check again to be sure, because at this point I've only lost about 6 hours with this little techie back and forth we have going here. But, now they have more questions and I will give them answers... oh, yes. I will give them answers.

My response

From: ♦♦♦
To: MININB_SUPPORT_EN@MAIL.SUPPORT.HP.COM
CC:
Sent: 01/11/10 17:40:59
Subject: RE: RE: RE: HP Mini 1116NR PC e-mail support

Thank you again for your reply.

I am, however, getting a bit frustrated with this process. I gave my model number at the very beginning of all my contact with HP. I have diagnosed the machine through HP’s own website and was told by HP that my hard drive was bad. I was told that I would be receiving emails regarding shipping and tracking information of my new part –emails that I didn’t receive. I have been told to run diagnostics that won’t work, download patches that have already been made. I have given my case number several times during this whole thing and just recently someone thought to look it up and find that the diagnostics that I have been told, all morning to run, won’t work on a SSD? Please understand, I have apparently purchased a machine that doesn’t work, have brought it home, run diagnostics, confirmed through HP’s website that something is broken and so far, all day, I have been asked for more and more information, test, error message, fixes… without ever getting was I wastold I was going to receive, in writing, less than 24 hours ago!

So, here are the answers for this round of questions…

The netbook takes a very long time to boot up.

It takes a very long time to shut down, if it will even shut down on its own. I have had several instances that I have had to just power it off because it locks up in whatever it is doing.

I can’t install some updates and programs because I get writing to hard drive errors. I am asked to reboot and try again, which I do, but it changes nothing. Some of my programs don’t work and others won’t install.

The delay when accessing programs is unacceptable. I can click on an icon and at can be 30 seconds or more before it responds… if ever. Sometimes you just have to keep trying and then end up with 5 windows open for the same app.

The only error messages that I have received are the writing to hard disk errors but there were no codes attached. I have not gotten to the point of blue screens ortotal crashes yet. I do not need to make a backup, as I have not yet loaded any personal data on the machine. I just purchased it from Micro Center a few days ago.

I do not notice any clicking or grinding. Just significant delays in processing, large lag times at boot and shut down, write errors on installing programs / updates, etc.

Since I have discovered the hard disk errors I have stopped working with the machine entirely. I have just shut it down and left it plugged in to the AC Adaptor. I am not going to take any chances with losing anything so I just don’t deal with the machine at all. It will boot, it will shut down, but there is virtually no performance to speak of.

Please let me know what to do next. There is absolutely nothing else that I can tell you about this situation. I have described, in detail, through these emails and on HP’s site what the problems are. Either it’s going to be fixed or it’s not, but a decision needs to be made either way so that I canget back to work.

Sincerely,
♦♦♦

So, pretty much just get something figured out here, because I need to get back to work. Just give me an answer - do I need to return it or are you going to fix it, since you guys are really good at avoiding the big one like WHY IS MY PART NOT BEING SHIPPED TO ME AS PROMISED IN WRITING??? Why are we going through this, why am I having to answer these questions. The drive is bad, I have a 90 day warranty, so just fix the thing already. Not quite that simple, I'm afraid...

Their very clear reply

From:MININB_SUPPORT_EN@MAIL.SUPPORT.HP.COM [mailto:MININB_SUPPORT_EN@MAIL.SUPPORT.HP.COM]
Sent: Monday, January 11, 2010 5:03 PM
To: ♦♦♦
Subject: RE: RE: RE: RE: HP Mini 1116NR PC e-mail support

Hello ♦♦♦,

Thank you for contacting HP Total Care. From reviewing your e-mail, I understand that you have performed all the possible steps but the issue still persists.

♦♦♦, I appreciate that you have forwarded your concern to us and given us a chance to assist you in regard to this matter. I on behalf of HP Total Care take ownership of your concern. I will definitely assist you in this matter at the best of my abilities.

In response to your email, I will like to inform you that I have validated your address and the net book would be taken for service. Before taking in for repair I would like to confirm the shipping type.

We have two repair options for you. In both the cases the repair would be free. However, in the first case, you would receive a box without a waybill, and you would have to send the HP Mini PC according to your convenient courier service and after the repair the HP Mini PC would be sent after 5 days. In the second repair option, you would have to pay for the courier services, i.e. $19.99. In the second option it would be a one-day shipment of box and after the repair you would get it within a day or two. USPS in Canada and FedEx in USA would pickup the HP Mini PC for you and after repair send your Notebook PC at your doorsteps within 1-2 days.

Please let us know the service that you want to choose.

Thank you for your time and cooperation that you have shown towards us.

Reply to us with the information for further assistance. We will be glad to assist a valuable customer like you.

For information on keeping your HP and Compaq products up and running, please visit our Web site
at: http://www.hp.com/go/totalcare

Sincerely,

Debashish

HP Total Care

***Do Not Delete Service Ticket Number***

{ticketno:[8033985397]}

***Do Not Delete Service Ticket Number***

Our advice is strictly limited tothe question(s) asked and is based on the information provided to us. HP does not assume any responsibility or liability for the advice given and shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages in connection with the use of this information. Always back up your data. For more information, including technical information updates, please visit our Web site at http://www.hp.com/support. HP does not require you to send any financial data in your reply to this email. As a prudent reminder, do not insert credit card details or other financial information in any e-mail replies.

Again with the ownership??? As far as I can tell, each person takes ownership and then forwards the trail of emails along. Did you see how many RE:'s there are by this time? Well, I feel like the rat at the end of the maze and the cheese is right there waiting for me. I just have to pick which method I want to handle this by. Pay them $19.99 more for their extra special shipping or just ship it myself in the box they provide and then wait for it to come back. Seriously, not gonna pay them the $19.99. I may pay that on my own but there is no way that I am going to fork over cash to them at this point! But, by the time stamp on this email, I see that it's after the close of business and I am just not in the mood to do this anymore today. I will resume my campaign tomorrow, or so I thought.

At 7:41pm I get this little jewel of an email and think that all my problems are solved.

HP's email

From: Zhong, Ming (Tom,TSDO-GSC-DL) [mailto:mzhong@hp.com]
Sent: Monday, January 11, 2010 7:41 PM
To: ♦♦♦
Subject: Regarding case ID:4608911337

Hi ♦♦♦,

We are sorry to tell you that the case(ID: 4608911337) you generated has failed to proceed. We are currently unable to order the part in our system. Please take your time to call HP technical support 800-474-6836, and the technician that you are going to speak to will manually order the part for you.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Best regards

HP Services.

Well, glory be.... that just about made sense. Totally different format, different type of email address and actually referenced the case number that started this whole thing off. Now, it's going on 8pm and I am not going to call tonight. I have a task for the morning... yay...

On 01/12/10 I started my phone campaign.. I call the number given to me in the email and after a period of time on hold I get to speak with someone. I have a timer on my phone and I can tell you with some certainty that I spent 80 minutes and some change on the phone that afternoon. Wanna know how I know that? I was Twittering about it. You can go to my Twitter page and see that on 01/12/10 I Tweeted 4 times about how things were progressing with HP. On the 13th I posted the end time was over 80 minutes. During that call, I asked repeatedly for my SSD to be shipped to me and over and over I gave out my case ID as listed above. I didn't get anywhere with that. I did get transferred around on the phone - AND I'M HOPING THEY TAPE THOSE CALLS - because I was asked over and over from some information on the service tag on the bottom of the machine and I stated over and over that the machine didn't have one. Over and Over.. and Over. No service tag. The CSR practically called me a moron and said that there HAD. TO. BE. a tag on the bottom of the Mini. Um, nope. It didn't have one when we bought it. Is that a problem? I was told that it was not normal for machines to be missing the service tag but that they could get the information they needed from the BIOS. We did. Serial number, model number, hard drive size, blood type and my first born were all listed in that BIOS. I made it to the end of the call and was told about the two shipping options as stated in the emails from the night before. Wait... I thought that I could call and get the part shipped to me. Um, nope. Not gonna happen and no explanation as to why. They just kept ignoring that question entirely.

I ended up having to do some kind of validation thing at the end of the call. We went over again the model number, serial number, my address, name, phone number, etc. I was asked to get something off the service tag, but said AGAIN that the machine didn't have one and that it didn't when I bought it. Nothing was said about that, they told me that they had everything that they needed and that they would be shipping out a box. I was to pack up the Mini minus the AC Adapter and the battery and ship it back at my own expense. I agreed and we ended the call.

At 3:12pm I received another email from HP confirming that they were going to be sending me a box and giving me a new case ID number.

On 01/13/10 at 9:23am I received another email that my shipping box had entered the FedEx system and I would have it in two days. At 7:17pm FedEx emailed me confirmation that I had a box shipping out and that I would have it in two days. That would be Friday, 01/15/10.

On 01/15/10, FedEx showed the box out for delivery but never brought it to my house.

On 01/18/10, FedEx brings the box to my front door at 9:15am. I packed up the Mini and took it to the local UPS office for shipping back to Texas as 1:37pm. I do have the tracking number for the package. Delivery was set for Wednesday, 01/20/10.

On 01/20/10, my box was delivered to the repair center in Hidalgo, TX and signed for by Jesse. Check it out. I have removed the tracking number for my own security.

On 01/27/10 (Wed and after it had been a week) we called in to check on the status. At the very beginning of all this we had been given a web address that we could go to, to check the status of the repair. A full week after signing for the packing the website still showed that it had not been received. My husband was told that the unit was unable to be located in the warehouse that that “someone would go look for it and update the status ASAP”. We were told that we would receive a call back within 24 hours to confirm that it had been found. Yeah, that really never happened.

On 01/29/10 (Fri) we called in again and were told the same thing. That they were looking for the machine in the warehouse and that we could call back in and check on it but that the status would be updated over the weekend. Um, no... still didn't happen.

On 02/01/10 (Mon) we called in again. I was told that the machine had been found, was fixed and would be back in my hands in 3 days. The person that I spoke with said that if I had any problems I could call FEDEX!!! and find out from them where the unit was. Yeah, because the problem here lies with FedEx. I was then given my original UPS tracking number from MY shipment into HP as my “order number” and a “service ticket number” of 8034051682. When the Netbook wasn’t back in our hands in 3 days (never thought it would be) we called in again.

On 02/05/10 (Fri) My husband called and talked to a CSR. He was complaining vehemently about the problem that our laptop is missing and the lady that he spoke with told him that they were working on it, as in repairing it, now and that someone would update the status on the website ASAP. He asked to speak to a manager, she told him no. They chatted a while and he asked again to speak to a manager, she agreed this time, put him on hold "to transfer him" and then disconnected him. After all that, we decided to take another route. On Friday afternoon I finally took my complaints to Twitter. I got on HP_PC's site and the Twitter page of someone listed as HPSupport. I have told the total story to the second and have given highlights to the first. No reply from either. BUT...

On 02/08/10 (Mon), my machine had been found! Woohoo! The HP.com website showed that it had entered the "Repair" status and that it was "in warranty" and the money that was due was listed at $0. They seriously didn't receive it on 02/08 - remember tracking had it signed for on 01/20 - but the sucker had been found and someone was working on it. I thought that it was all just a matter of time. Yeah, no such luck.

The status didn't change at all on Monday 02/08 or at all during the day on Tuesday 02/09... but, I checked it last night about dinner time and this is what I get now ( I have removed the Order number and tracking number as security again)...

Um, what? I have a service charge of $246.41, my status is now listed as "out of warranty" and check the list of stuff that is "wrong" with my machine. Yeah, I'll bet it is now...

Not sure what to do about this new turn of events, I figured that I would let it sit for a day and then call them... AGAIN. Well, they got to me first. HP called this morning on my business phone and left me a message. I called them back within about 10 minutes. I was told that I would not be getting my repairs because... Wait for it... the machine has no service tag on the bottom...wait, what??? But I told HP that over and over. And Over. AND OVER. No service tag. Right. I know that and they know that. But, what has happened here is that I started complaining publicly and lo and behold, my netbook has been kicked out of the warranty, it has more wrong with it now that when it went in and I am expected to pay more for the "repairs" that I bought the machine for in the first place.

So, while talking to PAUL!!! Hi, PAUL!!! I told him, maybe not so calmly that I was going to start legal proceedings with the MO Attorney General and with the FTC. He got short with me and simply said "Ma'am, I can't help you at all if you file any sort of legal documents" or something along that line. He told me that there were still options that he could help me with as long as I didn't go that route. I wasn't taping them but they were taping me and I hope that helps because I love this part... I calmly stated "If I promise to stop complaining and do nothing legal, what sort of help can you offer me?" He told me that if I let it go he can either return my machine to me, unfixed or he can have it repaired for the service fees shown. Dude... I think he just threatened me. I said "what can you do for me IF I shut up" and he replies with "I can send back your broken netbook". So, I take that to mean that if a take a long walk down this legal road that I will never see my netbook again. The phone called ended with me telling him to pack it up and ship it back ASAP. I still own it.

So, WWYD. What would you do? I have fought with them over email and phone. I have been promised something in writing multiple times. I stated repeatedly that the unit didn't have a service tag on it when I bought it. I never tried to hide that. I didn't ship it out to the Service Center and have them go.. WTH? The tag is MISSING! No, I told it to every tech that I talked to that day over the phone. And that is the excuse that they are going to go with? So, it was in repair on Monday? And Tuesday? And then... wait. Did anyone check the bottom of this machine for a Service Tag - 2 days later? Anyone? Anyone???

I think I have something legal to stand on here. He told me that if I stop complaining and do nothing legal I will get my machine back. It popped out of warranty after I started griping about it publicly. I have never heard back from HP_PC or HPSupport on Twitter. I don't have my machine back after being "lost" for weeks and I don't have even the part that I was promised, in writing, to fix it myself. I think... here's my theory... that HP figured out how much it's going to cost to fix and that I only paid just over $100 for it in the first place and they are willing to fight me on it vs. fix it. I can't stop them but I don't have to sit here and take it either. At this point I have a $100 paperweight and if it comes back to me unfixed I can't return it to Micro Center either because there was only a 7 day return on it in the first place. I do believe I let HP know that too. Oh, yes. I did. So, what about Micro Center? They are the ones that sold me the machine without the tag. Can I do anything about that? How would I prove it? It would be so easy for Micro Center to just say that I took it off myself after purchase.

Or, consider this... the machine was a refurb in the first place. Ok, it's had problems before. Some other person bought it, figured that out and returned it. It was "fixed" by HP and shipped back out to Micro Center to sell again. Within 48 hours of ownership, I am on HP's Support site trying to diagnose my new computer. What do I stand to gain by removing that tag? I would certainly be removing any chance I have of getting it fixed under warranty. It's not like it's something the Repair Center is just going to miss. I think that this machine is a lemon and HP is hoping that I will sour on this whole thing and that I'll just let it shrivel up and die. Well... to that I say, Pucker up, Buttercup...

Not for all the bleach at Clorox...

2010-02-01T20:32:00.011-06:00

A little over three years ago I had the brilliant beyond brilliant idea that I should start a business - maybe you've heard of it? I began by selling lip balm. Seems innocent enough, right? How much could it possibly cost to make a tube of lip balm??? Let me tell you... it was $108 dollars. No kidding. $108 dollars to perfect my lip balm recipe and have it ready to sell to the public. I have since given up the attempt at selling that lip balm, knowing that the other "bee" named company is so much better at it that I could have ever been... but it just so happened that I was using my lip balm in a salon one afternoon. I had never been there before, my first visit, having some streaks put in my hair (I have way too much hair to maintain being a full blond), pulled out my little tube of Buttercreme flavored lip stuff, slapped it on my lips and picked up my first store. That salon happened to be Blondie's. It was fortunate for me that the owner, Jennie, decided that she loved Buttercreme lip balm and also fortunate for me that she forgave me when I stopped selling it. Jennie still owns Blondie's, it's still my salon of choice and for 3 years they have been selling Birdz & Beez products with great success.

When it came time to start putting out a newsletter, I knew that I wanted to feature Blondie's at the very beginning. I firmly believe that they are the best place in the KC Metro to kill and afternoon with your head covered in tin foil and breathing in the scent of bleach and Good Scentz candles, of course. I was able to get an appointment with Jennie (that's a lot harder to do than it used to be!) and ask her a few questions about herself, Blondie's and life in general. Here is what Jennie Doran had to say to me. Thanks girl and it's about time to get out your foil again...

Queen Bee: So, Jennie, I've known you for quite a while and I have been coming here about as long as you have been open. What was that date? When did you "snip the ribbon" on Blondie's?

Jennie Doran: Well, we opened the doors on September 5, 2006. We just celebrated our three year anniversary with a big open house back in October! It was great!

QB: What is your favorite thing about being a salon owner? I am going to assume it has something to do with your love of hair!

JD: I always knew that I wanted to be a salon owner. I had been working as a stylist at a salon that was also a retail store. When that store went out of business, all of us stylists were obviously looking for another home. I knew then that was my time to go out on my own. I got some help from my family to get all the funding together for my own place and the rest is history.

QB: What is your favorite thing to do for your clients... foil, perms, what?

JD: I LOVE to do short razor cuts and foiling! Those are always fun to see the results at the end of the appointment.

QB: What would be one piece of advice that you would give to all of your clients?

JD: Change it up! Just try something different for the new season! Don't worry about it at all, since hair grown back! It's a constantly repeating opportunity to reinvent your look!

QB: If I looked in your fridge right now, what would I find?

JD: Lean Cuisine for me, strawberry milk for my daughter and leftover pizza that belongs to my husband. I actually have a lot of condiments. I don't have a bunch of food but I do have a bunch of stuff that goes with food!

QB: If you could go to the past, WHEN would you visit?

JD: Boy, I would love to be my great-grandmother's hairdresser! She had these really awesome finger waves and I would just love to know how to do that!

QB: Roadrunner or Coyote?

JD: Coyote, of course!

QB: Tom or Jerry?

JD: Tom.

QB: What is the first thing that you would buy if you found out that you had just won the lottery?

JD: I would buy a Chick-Fil-A franchise. Yum!

QB: If you had one superpower, what would it be?

JD: I would be a mind reader! Can you imagine how much you would love your hairdresser?

That was the end of our "appointment" and Jennie had to get back to her REAL CLIENTS for the day. I am so thankful that, not only did she take some time out of her schedule to chat with me, but she also made a special offer available to my newsletter readers for the entire month of February!

You can visit Jennie - or any of the other ladies - at Blondie's at 17201 E. 40 Highway, Independence, MO 64055. Their hours are from 9am to 7pm Tuesday - Thursday, 9am to 6 pm Fridays and 9am to 5pm Saturdays. Appointments are required but I would strongly recommend one. Call them up at 816-373-9594 and join in on the fun. You can find out for yourself if life really is better blond!

2010-01-10T23:00:00.004-06:00

Ahhh... the newsletter.... The place for those of us that run a business to run our special offers, witty remarks, earth-shattering revelations, etc. I, of course, have decided that I need to jump on this bandwagon and get my newsletter rolled out to those of you that really do care... *crickets chirping*

When I decided to start a newsletter, I knew that I didn't want to fill the entire thing with paragraph upon paragraph about lil' ole me, so I thought that it might be nice to convince some other business to join me in my little adventure! One brave soul took me up on my offer and I really appreciate him for doing it! I'm not related to him, have never dated him, in fact, have yet to set eyes on this gentleman, but I do know his business is respected, he is interesting and kind enough to let me interview him over the phone (since we had about 12 inches of snow on the ground and it was about -5 below) and dude, he makes chocolate... by hand. Enough said! The following text is the interview that he gave me for my newsletter! I really enjoyed it!

I recently got the chance to sit down with the owner of Andre's Confiserie Suisse, Rene Bollier!

Never a busier guy will you meet, but he certainly loves his career - handcrafting some of the finest chocolates in the world!

Without taking him away from his confectionery magic for too long, I got the chance to ask a few questions that I, the Queen Bee, was just dying to know the answers to...

QB: So, Rene... how long have you been the owner of Andre's Chocolates?

R: About 9 years now. I started training with my dad (Marcel Bollier - Andre's son) from the time I was about 5 or 6 years old. My dad had me start at the bottom, you know, cleaning floors, straightening up and then to cutting cookies, slowly I worked my way up. I actually spent a number of years in Switzerland training as a pastry chef before I came home to Andre's."

QB: What is your favorite thing about making chocolate?

R: Definitely the creativity that goes into it. Every aspect of it is extremely creative. I love to work on developing new recipes, manipulating the chocolate to have certain looks... certain textures. But the creativity of it, for sure.

QB: What is your favorite "flavor" of chocolate?

R: We hand make a variety of single source dark chocolate truffles with cocoa beans that come from Madagascar, Ecuador, Bolivia & Venezuela. Much like coffee beans or the grapes for wine, when you take items from a specific location they will have a unique, individual flavor. The single source truffles are fantastic. Some are earthy, some fruity, really bold... interesting.

QB: So, if I were planning a visit to Andre's Chocolates - and I am - what would be the one thing NOT TO MISS?

R: Well, we really have 2 items that you shouldn't miss out on. Our Signature Chocolate Covered Almonds are the first. Those are, by far, our biggest seller. Every year we produce about 40,000 pounds of chocolate and almost half of that production goes to the almonds. The second "must haves" are our truffles - both milk and bittersweet. Those are very good! Our ratio of cream to chocolate is just right to give a really bold flavor. There is just the right amount of creaminess to the fillings.

QB: Ok, Rene... all seriousness aside! Tell me... if I looked in your refrigerator RIGHT NOW, what would I find?

R: (chuckling) Very little. Mostly, just a lot of milk for my 3 year old. Both my wife and I love cooking but we really do it on the spur of the moment. We don't stock up on large quantities of food. Living in Europe, we got used to being really close to the grocery store and would just go and buy our food for the day. Now, we really just stock the essentials. Milk and maybe some Boulevard Beer.

QB: If you could go to the past, where would you go?

R: I think I would want to experience the 60's. It seemed like it was a generation of forward thinkers, young individuals. It seems like it would have been a really interesting time.

QB: Roadrunner or Coyote?

R: Roadrunner.

QB: Tom or Jerry?

R: Tom.

QB: What is the first thing that you would buy if you found out that you had won the lottery?

R: A lake house, somewhere close.

QB: If you had one superpower, what would it be?

R: Invisibility! I could just disappear!

This was the end of our conversation, as Rene had to get back to make chocolate that the world loves. I can't wait until the roads are clear enough for me to get out of here and go try out some of the items that he recommended to me! I will certainly be taking the coupon that is included in our monthly The Beez Kneez newsletter. He offers FREE CHOCOLATE to my readers. Now, you tell me, what is better than that?

You can visit Andre's at either location... 5018 Main Street, Kansas City, MO 64112 or 4929 W. 119th Street, Overland Park, KS 66209. Both locations have different hours, so be sure to check their website to find out when they are open. Andre's Chocolates Online

Thanks again to Rene Bollier and everyone at Andre's for the special offer and taking the time for my interview. I look forward to visiting... again and again!

The only thing missing is the village idiot...

2010-01-05T13:42:00.001-06:00

So.... it's been a really long week. Well, a long few weeks actually. When school is on break, things are both easier and harder, especially since we home school. Plus, combined with the weather (think 5 degrees with 5 inches of snow predicted for tomorrow), it has been difficult to get as far as I would like to each day. I've been putting many, MANY hours into Birdz & Beez stuff, from updating the website, shopping for a new shopping cart, studying into SEO, implementing a plan to offer rewards to those loyal subjects that are dying to market our products for us, end of year inventory, taxes, shipments, deliveries, and on and on we go. I find myself now dreaming in html, daydreaming about more followers, watching my Twitter and Facbook pages obsessively and actively trying to grow my mailing list!

It finally came to the point that I needed a very serious break! Over this last weekend our church had about 550 people in for a big family weekend, just full of activities. I only chose to go to one event and that was the costume dance - I couldn't get away for more than just this one thing. Since I am the Queen Bee around here and the theme was Royalty, what else would I go as, except a Queen, of course!

My dear husband went as Henry VIII and I think his "dress" was very pretty, too. My son was Robin Hood (Prince of Thieves) and spent the evening distributing gold coins to all the children in the land (read cafe-gym-atorium). By the end of the night, some of those kids were following him around like the Pied Piper!

Alas, a good time was had by all, but I was sad to have had to return the dress to the costume shop from which we rented it. I think that it might be fun to just dress up in it and deliver packages, go to the UPS Store, stop by my Post Office Box or just answer the door all decked out in my queenly attire! The huge hoop skirt and 3 inch heeled boots could be completely optional! A boisterous thanks goes out to Costumes & More in Kansas City, for outfitting us at the last minute -again - and giving us an exceptionally great price! We have used Costumes & More previously and will continue to do so in the future. It's always fun to just go in there and look around. I think that place might just be able to outfit every one of my personalities...

So now, the fun and games are quite literally over and I am once again stationed at my desk, where I stare at my computer screen for so many hours each day that it feels like my eyeballs will become square!

I have recently decided that what I really need is an unpaid worker bee. Someone who would be willing to be paid next to nothing but will do my every work related bidding. I have my son and husband to fulfill all my other wishes. My ideal worker bee job description goes something like this: Publicity genius with tons of contacts, bubbly personality but can be a stinger if needed, impeccable organizational skills, mind reading, able to predict the future and will work for candles, soap, diapers or sprays. If you know anyone that fits this description, please send them my way!

So, this week I am working on all new, exciting stuff. I have decided that since I am not nearly busy enough, what with running the business, being my own webmistress, home schooling, running the house, paying the bills and walking the dogs... I really just needed one more thing to do. So, I am starting a newsletter. I hope that I will be jam packed with good useful information that will complete your life and nourish your soul. In lieu of that, I just hope to be able to provide a special offer or two, fun information and a reason to read about us once each month! So, if you feel like you just have to be "in the know" sign up at the website to be added to the mailing list. Otherwise, you are really going to miss out on all the wisdom, wishes and warm feelings that I impart on my loyal subjects. Oh, you know you want in...

Customer Service is not just a verb...

2009-12-21T20:04:00.008-06:00

Ok, so unless you have been living under a rock since the day of your birth, you just have to know that Christmas is in 4 days. Christmas Eve is in 3 days. Christmas Eve eve is just two days away. And you get the idea. Even though we don't celebrate Christmas in our home, family or church, that doesn't mean that it doesn't effect every person living in this house. As a retailer, I know down to the seconds how much time I have left until my shipping deadlines and even how much time until next Christmas, when this whole thing will start all over again.

So, here I sit, with my bowl of soup (from a bag) nearly empty and a wooden wick candle (home made, of course!) crackling behind me thinking about what Customer Service really is. Am I good at it? Do most companies feel that if they just ignore the customer long enough they might go away? In the age of "The customer is always right" I wonder if that could possibly still hold true. Do any retail companies or service providers care about anything but BUCK$? Here is what got me started on this collision course of thought...

Twice this week, I was jaw droppingly surprised at the level of Customer Service that I had received from a couple of different companies. The first is a HUGE nationwide conglomerate and the second is a smaller local business. The surprising part of this revelation was that both companies performed excellently. That is not what I had expected.

Several months ago we took part in a promotion with Kellogg's for a T-Shirt give away. It was for my 8 year old son and he paid the shipping with his own money. The promotion was for a Star Trek Shirt that would be a replica of what was worn on the new movie that was released in May. Yes, we are huge Trekkers, I'm no longer ashamed to admit it after completing my 12 step program. So, the shirt was supposed to be shipped and received within 6 to 8 weeks. Long story shortened, it didn't come. But a postcard did, forwarded to our new address (we had moved during the wait) letting us know that there would be an additional 90 day delay. Well, I was irritated but hey, what can you do? If they are out, they are out and I will just sit here and wait, I guess. So, another 90 days goes by and still nothing. My son is getting antsy and I don't know what to do about it. We don't show up in the tracking system, but we did get the postcard, so I know they know about us. So, I did what any normal computer savvy person would do in this day and age. I sent an email to Customer Service asking "What the hell are you guys doing over there that 20 weeks isn't long enough to ship a shirt but it's more than long enough to cash the check?!?!" Turns out that the distribution company that handles the processing had a problem between our two addresses and the Post Office wasn't forwarding what they were supposed to be forwarding. So, through no fault of Kellogg's, I jumped into cyberspace basically screaming that they had my $10 for crying out loud, I WANT MY SHIRT! MY CAPTAIN KIRK GOLD, ADULT SMALL SHIRT! NOW!

I got a very polite email back from Kellogg's letting me know about the shipping problem and telling me that the shirt was going to be immediately reshipped to my new address and hey, for all my trouble, they are throwing in some extras. So, now I feel like a jerk for the e-yelling but kind of happy too, that I am going to get what I paid for. So, was I right?

The second example of awesome Customer Service was with a local limo company. I had planned a date night out with my husband and thought that I might surprise him with a limo for the evening. I had gotten several quotes through an online service but the company that I had used before wasn't in the list. I had to root around in the back of my brain for the name of that company, because I can count on 3 fingers the number of times I have been in a limo (and all of them with this company) but none of the times have been recent. I located the web address for the place I was looking for and found that they had an online ressie system that you can either book or just get a quote. I elected to get a quote, filled out the form, and really never expected to hear anything at all, because what I wanted was a limo, for cheap, in 2 hours on the weekend before Christmas. Likely? I think not!

Lo and behold, not 2 MINUTES later and my phone rang. It was the limo company calling me about my request. The lady that I spoke with didn't want to take a chance on emailing me and me not getting it because I needed my car in 2 hours. So, they called. And said they could accommodate me. And were the cheapest rates I found of all the companies that I had quoted all afternoon. Dude... That's service. I ended up not renting the limo (my husband would have killed me for spending that money, but I just wanted to check it out anyway!) and thanked the lady very much. I told her that I was a past client and between the two of us we determined that my husband and I were one of the VERY FIRST customers of this company almost a decade ago. Now, I feel old. Just in case you were curious, our limo company is Pech Limousine and they can be found at www.pechlimo.com

I'm not affiliated with either of these companies past these stories that I have just typed, by hand, but I just have to give credit where credit is due. Between the nationwide company and the little local place, I was quite impressed with both. It seems like plenty of times customers will write in to complain (like I did in the first example) but not take the time to praise companies that go above and beyond. What do you, the reader, think? Is a job well done OUR JOB as retailers and service providers and you should only have to take time out of your life to complain; or is outstanding service cause for compliment? Let me know...

It smells like unicorns crapping kittens in here...

2009-12-04T21:22:00.002-06:00

Mercifully, I have reached the end of a very long week. It was a good meeting today at the salon, although I can still smell the hair coloring bleach, even now, after not having been there for 5 hours! I wonder if my hair will lighten by environmental osmosis? It's a flipping miracle that I can smell anything at all over the pungent aromas of the 117 different essential oils that I have been working with today. One of them spilled on my work island and it is forever going to smell like ginger in here, which I truly detest. Why can't there be an essential oil that smells like S'mores or unicorns or Disney World?

A new line of products is going to be released next week that will include five items, but, so help me, none of them will smell like ginger! We went into final testing today and I will be glad to get this stuff out. We don't test on animals, or not that often anyway, but the Boxer and Rat Terrier don't really scream anymore when I spray stuff in their direction. Now we test on actual kids, sometimes babies and pregnant women, but we try to stick to kids. They're pretty resilient. My current tester is about 5 years old and as long as she falls asleep tonight, I will be a very happy camper. If not, I will be sure to hear from her mother in the morning, first thing. Either way, I will know if what I am trying to make now works and is ready to be released on an unsuspecting public. Want some?

Sunset around here marks the Sabbath and that means that I won't be working for about 24 hours. What a lovely break! If only I could shut my brain off too. But I am pretty sure that when I go to sleep tonight I am going to see candles and labels and bottles and websites and blogs dancing like sugar plums in my head! At sunset tomorrow night I will be back on the clock and ready to hit the ground running while my husband tried to entertain our 8 year old son with something that keeps him from interrupting MOMMY WHILE SHE IS CRAZY! I will know that the hard part of the product release is done when all the vials and jars and droppers and sprayers disappear back onto my work shelves from which they came. There will soon be a link on the website that talks about the new products, but I am not going to go into detail on that now. Now, I am on a break. Just as Ross and Rachel, I'm on a break.

For now, the most important thing if my life is a shot of Theraflu Severe Cold, a trip to the hot tub and maybe a piece of turtle pie. I gotta tell you, if turtle pie doesn't cure what ails you, you might as well be dead. Especially since it's made from real turtles... Just because I don't test on animals doesn't mean I won't eat one.

The end may be near...

2009-12-03T18:39:00.002-06:00

I can always tell that it's not going to be my greatest day ever when I open my eyes in the morning to a blinding, screaming, rampaging headache. I stand by that statement even now. It wouldn't have been quite so bad if this hadn't been the second morning in a row that that has happened and I am now in my 3rd week of being sick.

About two weeks ago, after not feeling well for several days, I went to see my regular doctor. I was hoping that he could shed some light on the problem. The light that he shed on it was the surgical halogen of the medial lamp over my emergency room bed. It would seem that I scared my poor doctor just a wee bit with the fact that I couldn't breathe, my oxygen was way down, my heart beat was erratic and I kept feeling like I was going to fall over. Sorry for the fright, big guy, but you got me back by planting me in the ER for the rest of the day, didn'tcha'?

Long, boring story very shortened up, I was released after 2 EKG's, a couple of chest XRays, a CT Scan, 117 vials of blood drawn and the conclusion of what I DIDN'T have. The problem with that kind of thinking is that we still don't know what I do have. Although it doesn't seem to be contagious, thank God, since the folks living here with me are still living, if you get my drift. Husband and son are both healthy as ~~jackasses~~ horses, and I continue to wither with this illness of unknown origin while trying to keep up with all my work.

So, back to the headache. Although it wasn't a huge surprise, it was a disappointment since I had an event to do tonight on the Kansas side of the state line and I am going to miss that. Sorry, Hilary, hope it all goes well! I have a meeting in the morning with one of my stores and the owner, a friend of mine now, knows that I am sick and seems to be willing to take her chances. I'll be sure to not give her a big hug when I arrive nor will I spit in her cup of iced vanilla coffee with double vanilla and lots of Equal. I will cough into my elbow, wear a surgical mask, and try to not contaminate anything in my path. I am pretty sure it's safe. Between the bleach and the acrylic nails, you know nothing as simple as a virus can live in a salon!

So, in about a week (or less) I will be announcing the next big thing that I have decided that I absolutely must make so that my life will be complete. And if you think that I am exaggerating, I can give you my husband's cell number and he will assure you that I AM NOT! This new product line will become my obsession over the next however long it takes to complete, but once done, I can resume being normal and just work on working until the next inspiration strikes and I absolutely must make something else so that my life will again be complete. And before you start feeling all bad for my husband that only has to ignore my craziness, think about the poor guy that has to create all the labels for this stuff. THAT. I. MUST. CREATE. Feel sorry for that guy... and his wife... and maybe his kids... because while I am resting this evening, with this headache that is bigger than my body, he'll be working on those labels, again, that will grace every product that leaves this place. Good luck with that...

And so it has begun...

2009-12-02T18:01:00.001-06:00

With the launch of our new website, I thought it only prudent to tackle the next open vista, that being the blog. Until this point, neither myself nor the business that I head has had a blog. I have resisted it with every fiber of my being, all the while reading the blogs of other writers that I thoroughly enjoy. So, if nothing else, this will be for comic relief!

What we have here is not a place for the posting of ads (although I might do that one day), nor for product reviews (may do that too, dunno yet), unless they are my own products! This blog, this infinite open space for thoughts, ideas, photos and comments will be filled with my musings on what it is like to (attempt to) run a business - from home even, be and stay married, raise a child, home school said whelp, live peacefully with the two dogs that allow us to inhabit their domicile, shop for groceries, send out orders, experiment with new products and, ultimately, what it is like to just participate in the lunacy that I live with day in and day out!

In the coming weeks and certainly months, there will be posts about my family, my job, my website, my husband, my kid and my dogs. From those writings, you will get to know me. After a while, you may wonder why that seemed like a good idea at the time. But, for now, it is what it is and it is now a blog on my new website. So, I owe, I owe, off to work I go. I have an event that I have to prepare for in Overland Park Kansas tomorrow night, that I am not nearly ready for... I might want to get to that...