I’ve been enjoying finding former Army colleagues and friends and being found by same the last couple of months in particular. Imagine how near-impossible it would have been only a few short years ago.

Defense Language Institute-San Francisco folks, 18th MI Bn Munich, Germany folks, old college friends both in the US and Austria…and anyone else that’s found me online at any point in the past, present and future: Hello. Again.

I look forward to reconnecting. In most cases, it’s been quite a while.

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We have a Buffalo Linkstation Live NAS, model HS-DH500GL hanging off our home network serving personal files. The unit includes a print server. You hook up a USB printer, and it works. And for most of the first year, it was flawless.

Then, at some point in 2008, it stopped printing. Or, rather, it stopped printing from Windows. In the case of this particular printer, it’s shared on one local network here consisting predominately of Windows and Linux computers; the odd thing is that we could still print from any random Linux box we’d attach to the LAN. No PC running Windows would work any longer.

And after probably two months of printing from Windows not working, it suddenly spit out some old stuck docs (roughly two months old or so–I know, right?) and started working again. And it worked again normally for many, many months.

Until a few months ago, when it stopped again. And this time, it’s shown no signs of coming back to life.

And once again, we can still happily print via Linux all day long, like there’s no problem at all. File server functionality (across all OSes that access it) is still totally fine as well.

Digging around, it seems it’s a pretty common problem. These devices (and not just our 500G model, it seems) apparently don’t handle Windows printing very well and, over time, eventually fall over, seemingly dead (from a Windows printing point of view). Documents seem to stick in a print queue somewhere. In our case, on any Windows machine we looked at, the Windows print queue always seemed to show as pending the last print job from whatever Linux box–a print job that we know has printed and been held in our hands.

So those stuck documents…are they really stuck? Attempts to empty spooler folders, restart print services on Windows, monkey with bidirectional-communications settings, etc… nothing worked. XP, Vista, made no difference. We have not tested this with Windows 7, but we assume the problem exists there as well, as it appears it’s a Buffalo/Linkstation problem, and not an issue with Windows itself.

The only apparent solution is to completely wipe everything from the Linkstation device (not just configuration info, but all of your data), monkey with setting the NAS software into a debug mode, and force-updating/overwriting the firmware to “reset” it completely. This resets everything. User data, user configurations, everything. We weren’t about to blow away the data or deal with moving it around if we didn’t have to. If that solution works for you, go for it. Sadly, even this extreme solution does not work for everyone.

We went a different route. Our workaround? Installing Print Services for Unix, under Windows. It’s dead-easy, assuming you have access privileges on your Windows machine, and here’s a Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) article that tells you how:

Print Services for UNIX: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324078

You’ll need to install this on each Windows machine that won’t print (likely all of them once this bug rears its head); it can be automated in the normal ways if you have a larger installed base of affected computers.

The normal way Windows users are told to connect to their Linkstation’s print server is via Network Neighborhood. You navigate to your Linkstation device, see the print server, right-click, and choose “Connect…”. That sets up a printer connection. You choose the driver or provide one, and you’re off to the races. If you don’t go that route, you can always add a printer via the Printers control panel and end up with the same result. Only, once it stops printing, good luck printing consistently that way ever again.

Follow the KB article instructions to get Print Services for Unix installed, then configure an LPR port as described, giving either LAN IP or name for your Linkstation, pointing drivers at it, and start printing again.

It doesn’t solve the problem of Windows printing directly, but it does pretty easily solve the more general–and ultimately more useful–”I just wanna print from Windows, but can’t” problem. Hopefully it works for you, too. We wanted to let this run for a few weeks or so without issue before writing it up; so far, so good.

And Buffalo, we shouldn’t have to say it…. but you might want to finally fix this long-standing bug in a way that doesn’t require people to pay for twice the archive/backup hardware they really need (buying another backup/archive solution as temporary or replacement storage altogether).

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Except this time, when I whip out the camera for the first time on our trip. I’m now in the middle of nowhere, camping. Looking at the Flip Mino HD’s display, I notice there’s only 3:33 (three minutes, thirty-three seconds) of available recording time. But I erased the videos… or did I?

I double-check. The camera’s empty, it tells me. Umm, now what? I whip out my smartphone, so I can try to get online and check Google for any other instances of this problem. I find mention of a reset procedure using the pinhole inside the tripod mount hole on the bottom of the Flip. I had not known there was a hole and reset switch there before this, so hey, this could be great!

The hole itself is super-tiny. I finally managed to locate something small enough to insert into that hole (I pulled a staple out of some service documents for our Pilot from the glove compartment, straightened it out, and used that) and press the reset switch. The hole is that small, seriously. No ballpoint pen tip will work here. You need a needle or pin or thinner.

Hold the switch for 5 seconds. Then turn the unit back on, and without touching any of the buttons, wait another 5 seconds. Or something like that, I no longer recall.

Except, it didn’t work. Turns out this is a soft-reset for fixing the sensitivity of the touch controls, and that’s apparently it. Where’s a proper hard-reset, Flip?

I almost brought my laptop along, but didn’t because it was just an overnight thing. I was tempted to bring our Acer netbook, but didn’t. So we had no PC available. I break out my phone again. We’re not exactly in the best place for cell reception. I have a single bar if I walk up the hill from our camp site, face west, and hold the phone up like I’m engaged in some sort of offering ritual. My phone clearly doesn’t like being starved for towers, and the battery’s been draining since we got there, seeking and seeking away…

I finally manage to pull up Flip’s website using Pocket IE. I start filling out the form on their support page, because Flip apparently only offers email support. What? No phone number to call? This is a miss for Flip. Sure, they say it’s a 4-hour window for a response, so whatever; I’m thinking it’s better than nothing even if it’s kind of crappy having to wait.

I get the form as filled out as much as I can, but the site uses Javascript that Pocket IE apparently doesn’t comprehend, and I’m stuck. Can’t submit my support question. Pocket IE is an arguably common mobile browser; and it seems reasonable enough to make a support page simple enough that any functional browser should be able to access and use it.

I had similar results on my phone with Opera Mini, by the way.. and then we hit the point where my smartphone finally died from a drained battery… And after all this, the Flip still sits there, taunting me with it’s “Time Left: 3:33″ display and continued insistence there are no videos on the device.

It would also only record 3:33 of video before stopping as it does when it’s normally full. I’ll basically have to know in advance if the next 3:33 I record will be more awesome and save-worthy than the previous 3:33 recording… This is terrible!

I wasted about an hour pecking away on my phone at this point, for nothing.

I only have my smartphone’s car charger along for our camping trip. I plug the phone into the car and left it to charge a bit. I come back later, managing to post to Twitter, hoping that maybe, just maybe, Flip monitors Twitter? Let’s try…

Apparently Flip does not monitor Twitter. As of this writing–now more than a month later–we have still not received any kind of response to any of my Flip-related tweets. Clearly it’s not going to happen. This is yet another (series of) miss(es) for Flip.

We have since learned that they do seem to barely maintain a @FlipVideoBrand account, though:

You can guess: no response to that tweet, either. Flip, come on.

So we eventually return from our trip. Short, fun trip. Kids are young, fun, had a blast with us, each other, their cousins, and their grandparents. It really would have been great to have caught some video of their antics. We have… none. Huge disappointment.

Now at home, I plug the Flip camera into my laptop and look at the files and folders on the unit. The DCIM folder is empty. Fine, but the computer’s also telling me I only have a puny amount of free storage on the Flip, which seems wrong but consistent with the storage shortage issue. I don’t normally use the Flip software at all, by the way–ever, in fact, because I run Linux on my main laptop and the software’s not compatible. I notice a couple of folders with fairly recent dates on them: .cache and .Trash-nnn. Ohhhh. At this point, I delete those two folders. Suddenly my laptop reports 3.7GB free… and it seems we’re fixed.

I unplug the camera and fire it up. “Time Left: 60:00″. Hurr-freakin’-rrrah.

The problem? It looks like I forgot to “Empty Trash” before I unplugged the camera from my laptop, to flush those deleted images from the camera completely. Oops. But still, this should not be the showstopper it became!

Anyway, we’re now all charged up, and storage capacity is back to normal. Too late for this trip, but fixed nonetheless, it seems.

During all of this troubleshooting and searching/researching, I discovered I had missed Flip’s release of their Ultra HD camera. Two hours recording time, HDMI out, takes rechargeable (or regular) AA batteries… might work out better for us. Time to look for that Costco receipt?

How could this have been made better? Offhand:

• Flip could more closely monitor Twitter. They obviously have at least one account. They’re a hip company with a great product; a well-maintained Twitter presence at this point is a complete no-brainer.
• Flip’s website should not suck. Support pages that don’t support mobile devices isn’t helping anyone that’s out and needs help.
• Flip should provide phone support. I’ve since read that they do, but I was unable to find this information when I needed it (and I’ve still not yet seen direct evidence of this myself).
• Flip cameras should support a hard reset if they don’t already. I understand the Flip software is stored on the unit, but there needs to be some way to wipe out and fully reclaim the storage capacity of the unit without requiring a PC to do so. Again, if this is an option, I could not find it when I needed it.
• The reset hole could be larger. Apparently not directly related to my situation, but even if the Flip had an available hard-reset option, I would have had a very hard time engaging it using the existing reset hole without something as thin as a straightened staple or needle that few people carry around with them on the go.
• And finally: I could have not been an idiot when I failed to empty the trash after deleting the images from the camera. However, if we had a hard reset option, I could have still fixed the problem in the field without a PC to help, and we’d have more great videos of our kids!

And that’s about it. We still really love the camera a lot, overall; we take more video now than we ever did with a traditional camcorder. We’d happily take an Ultra HD or two as compensation for our troubles, Flip… Are you listening?

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We’ve been Vonage customers for 5 years come mid-July. This very likely ends soon.

Let’s first say something, though: overall, we’ve enjoyed having Vonage. It was nice to be able to tell Ameritech/SBC where to stick their lackluster customer service and ridiculous billing. The Ameritech/SBC rep at the time had no idea what Vonage even was (which would hopefully no longer be the case).

They also couldn’t touch Vonage’s pricing. And it’s recent Vonage pricing changes that have us seriously considering surrendering our account with them…

We’ve had Vonage for our mixed-use/SOHO line since 2004. It’s been pretty good for us, mostly. We’ve never used it that much, so the 500 (outbound) minutes per month plan for $15/month seemed like a pretty good deal. It was actually more than we needed at the time; as it turned out, we had to work pretty hard to even use 300 minutes in a month–and that’s only happened a handful of times.

So for $15/month, we had a fairly nice, relatively-inexpensive solution to keeping a landline in our home for the random phone call we needed to make or–more critically, really–receive. And it worked pretty well. Once we worked out the router QoS settings and gave it the right amount of bandwidth, you’d never know it wasn’t a ‘real’ phone line.

We did go through a period where we had a lot of problems with Caller ID, though… even going without it at all for more than a year at one point. We wrote and called them and attempted to get someone to even acknowledge the CID issue, but Vonage was unwilling and/or unable to work with or help us. In the end, Vonage additionally refused to issue us a credit for any of our hassles at all–despite it eventually being a well-established issue by many other Vonage customers on many Vonage-related forums and other websites–because, in their words, “you’ve had active service all along”. We’re not paying for just the dialtone, Vonage; way to miss the point!

We were not amused, but at the same time, it was still the best bang/buck option available to us… so that came and went, and came again briefly, and went again… and overall, for fifteen lousy bucks a month, there’s just not that much complaining you can do.

And then the fees started to accumulate, bloating our bill.

Vonage started acting like a Real Phone Company, insofar as feeling it necessary to preemptively charge us for taxes and other fees they felt they might eventually have to start paying should they not get a pass on VoIP-related legislation. We were getting Milwaukee County Miller Park renovation fees tacked onto our Vonage bill. Really, Vonage? We started feeling like we were back with SBC/Ameritech, getting nickeled and dimed all over again.

Vonage was also involved in a lawsuit or two along the way, which no doubt redoubled their efforts to be as “preemptive” as possible collecting as much money from their customers as they could get away with. Our $15/month was rapidly turning into $18, $19, $20/month… a sizeable increase for something that shouldn’t really increase at all. It’s really no different than having a subscription to an online game, after all. It’s an online service we use over the Internet. Not really any different than web browsing, instant messaging, telnet, ssh, irc, and on and on.

Well, it seems Vonage is on another money grab. As of February, they’ve raised the rates on their $15/month plans to $18/month. With the fees, this jacks up our monthly bill to nearly $23/month. For a 500-minute plan.

Vonage’s solution to our $23/month dilemma? “Upgrade to our $24.95/month unlimited plan!”

Yeah, we’re just dying to do that. Looking at a recent billing statement, we used… thirty minutes the entire month of April. Thirty. Our $23/month bill, including fees and taxes, means we’re paying a nearly-ridiculous $0.77/minute.

If we upgraded our plan to the “unlimited” (note: not really unlimited-read the fine print!) $25/month plan, after taxes and fees, we’d be paying right around a dollar a minute. A dollar a minute!

So, as a result, Vonage will almost certainly be losing our business. We’re apparently not tethered enough to our phones to make it worthwhile, and they’d rather not bother. it’s a shame, because VoIP with Vonage could be one of those Great Equalizers, able to accommodate everyone at every usage tier and/or income level. And indeed, I thought that was kind of the point of Vonage in the first place. A for-profit business, to be sure, but also a company clearly interested in being a reasonably-priced VoIP provider that could and would dominate and maybe even destroy the Bells, bringing everyone along into VoIP fold.

Maybe Vonage feels they’ve succeeded at that, I don’t know. If so, they’re wrong. They’re certainly facing increased competition from Internet providers that are offering similar–and often more featured–telephony options alongside their Internet service.

What Vonage needs to do is consider the lower end of the market; something no one else is really doing effectively. “Skype”, you might say… but Skype isn’t really pedestrian enough a solution for most people. People want what seems and feels like a real phone. Skype too often feels like a toy (and frequently sounds like one, too). It’s great for all the geeks, but it’s not such a hot solution for the grandparents.

Vonage could easily offer lower-end services, at even lower prices, for people interested in paying less because, hey, they use the service less. What will be happening instead is Vonage will be losing those customers they’re attempting to force to upgrade, that already don’t get full use of the lower-tier plan. And again, after taxes and fees, I’m guessing Vonage’s $25/month unlimited plan would top out over $30/month, which means last month’s 30 minute of usage here would end up costing us a buck a minute. No thank you.

So Vonage, either offer us something that will keep us around, or they’ll lose us. And others like us, no doubt. I’d think even $10/month is still better than $0/month, for those that barely use the service, but would still like to have something around that works reasonably well. Even a cheap parking/forwarding service, to keep the number and allow inbound-only calls… I’d strongly consider it, and I’m sure others would, too.

We’ve tossed around the idea of a $200 Ooma box, but we’re not quite sold on their business model, although the break-even point after purchasing the box is at around 10 months. There are no mandatory monthly fees with Ooma,, but there’s a premium package that’s certainly got our attention. That’s still $100/year (minus the hardware cost) for a few dozen minutes a month, though…

And of course, too, we want something we can hang onto and not have to change. We also don’t want a Sunrocket situation with Ooma going belly-up and leaving us and our phone number stranded and difficult if not impossible to recover.

Of course, I have no idea what it costs Vonage to maintain a line and number for a customer, so maybe that’s part of their pricing, too… but surely there’s some kind of option to keep Vonage from losing the lower-tier customers. Jacking up the price, by the way, if it wasn’t already clear… isn’t really one of them.

So, Vonage, we prepare to bid thee adieu. Will you be around still in 2, 3, 5 years? Who knows. It’s no longer a bet we’re willing to take.

Update: Vonage has been running commercials recently bragging about how they’ve never raised prices. Watch the commercial closely. They specifically limit their claim to their $25/month “unlimited” plan. They conveniently leave out the gouging they’ve been doing trying to force people off thei 500-min/mo plan, jacking that up from $15/mo to $18/mo. They’ve also not mentioned they’ve kept adding fees to the bills over time, causing increases of several dollars over the years in the total price of the service per month. In a nutshell, the commercial’s technically truthful, but otherwise fairly dishonest and deceptive. Buyer beware.

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I’ll be out of the office here this weekend, taking part in the first-ever WordCamp Chicago.

I’m looking forward to meeting a few Wordpress people. The event has sold out all 200 seats, which is great! Huge thanks to Lisa Sabin-Wilson for not only coordinating the conference itself (with Brian Gardner), but also managing the ticket cancellation and resale process to help get tickets into the hands of people who thought they weren’t going to make it this year (this means me, among others). If you don’t own her WordPress For Dummies book, by the way, you really should go out and buy it.

And just in case you don’t know what a WordCamp even is:

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“Mary”, you certainly do make a valid point about us being losers! In a retail sense, as consumers who’ve spent money at Colder’s expecting to be treated honestly, fairly, and with respect, we are indeed huge losers so far! And so are many other people who have given Colder’s their hard-earned money at one time or another. We’re all big losers because we shopped at Colder’s!

As for getting a life, “Mary”, that really got us pondering! Who might have less of a life and more urgently need to “get” one: people raising awareness of a company ripping off consumers, detailing shoddy customer service and their experiences so others don’t make the same mistakes, or employees who willingly take 100%-commission jobs and then reduce and demean themselves chasing down shoppers like the filthiest of lawyers chase down ambulances? We prefer to remain in the non-stalking, pro-consumer, down-with-crap-companies camp, thank-you-oh-so-very-much.

We then wondered: could someone be considered a big loser lacking a life if they spent part of their Easter Sunday leaving comments like yours, above? Any insight there, “Mary”?

At least you didn’t call us extortionists!

“Mary”, it’s perfectly OK to disagree with us. Really! However, a tip, if you don’t mind one: if you really want to have an impact, some actual substance to accompany the grade-school-variety name calling might help you establish your position and even ‘win’ the discussion.

For example: what about our observations and opinions lead you to believe we have no lives? What is it that you feel really, truly makes us big losers? If you work for Colder’s, or have some other less-direct affiliation with them, that alone is OK; we definitely don’t hate you or anyone else for just that, at all. There’s really no need to take any of this personally, either, “Mary”. What parts of our very real observations, opinions and feelings about our Colder’s experiences bother you so much, and why?

As it stands, “Mary”, you’re apparently calling us names like some kind of self-indulgent, insolent child for pointing out–truthfully and honestly, by the way–that we don’t like to be treated badly. Do we want to be literally hunted like so much prey in the case of the Grafton Sales Stalker when we visit a Colder’s store–or any retail store? No, thank you, we do not. Do you?

We previously wrote:

[...] we have absolutely no interest in buying from someone that doesn’t respect us, our space, or our time to shop at our own leisure. We can’t check out items in the store when we’re feeling eyes burning into our backs as we’re standing there. We feel like meat.

Reading that, your get-a-life/big-loser comment really doesn’t make any sense–to us, anyway–unless you’re the stalker or are otherwise just trying (and failing) to defend the stalker, Colder’s itself, or both.

Do you believe being treated like that as a customer is acceptable? Would you honestly appreciate that as a consumer? Is such behavior appropriate for any salesperson? Would such a technique get you to spend a lot of money with that salesperson and their store/company? Did you answer ‘yes’ to any of these questions, “Mary”?

So please, do feel free to try again, “Mary”. Really. We’re listening and want to hear what you have to say, assuming you actually have more to say. While we have stated many times that we value every comment we receive, some are ultimately more–or less–valuable than others. Try to make your next one really count. OK, “Mary”?

And again, reiterating: We absolutely recognize commission sales jobs can be hard. We know a lot of good people work them. Many because they have no choice. Others because they’re good at it. And some people even like it. We do indeed recognize and respect the work and people out there doing it. But in the case of the Grafton Sales Stalker, we’re confused about how throwing all dignity and self-esteem out the window is even remotely worth whatever money she might make from it. We’re not laughing at this person. We feel sorry for her. Such extreme behavior is embarrassing to watch. It seems so…desperate. Unnecessary. Rude. It’s very uncomfortable for us as shoppers. It does not make us want to visit Colder’s Northshore in Grafton or any other retail establishment that has employees behaving like that. We have avoided the Grafton Colder’s many times because we just don’t want to be accosted by that woman yet again. We’re convinced she drives away more sales than she makes, stalking people like that.

By the way, “Mary”, before we forget: we were completely unable to reach you at the “biteme@msn.com” email address you provided. Maybe just leave us your @colders.com email address next time? Thanks again for your comment, “Mary”!

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Here’s yet another now-former Colder’s customer who had a bad experience with Colder’s Northshore in Grafton last year and shared it online:

Like the furniture, hate the service

I am very disappointed in the poor quality of customer service I’ve experienced from Colders.

I purchased a living room set of a sofa, loveseat, and recliner at the Grafton store. I placed my order with Cindy Hoffart on Saturday 7/12. She completely neglected to tell us the chair was on backorder and when we left the store we were expecting a complete delivery of all three pieces.

On our scheduled delivery date, Friday 7/18, I called the store because I had no idea what time to expect the delivery. The person on the phone read my order out loud and mentioned a love seat and sofa. I said we ordered a recliner too and her reply was, “The recliner is on backorder. Didn’t you know that?” I replied that I didn’t know that and she said she would email our salesperson to find out the details. Shouldn’t the “customer care” department know the details? It was then I finally looked closer at our receipt and I saw BACKORDER after the recliner.

Early Saturday morning we received a voice mail from the saleswoman we worked with. It was a standard courtesy call after a delivery. She asked how everything went. She did not mention anything about the recliner in the message so I called her back. I asked her when we were getting our recliner and she said that was the reason she called earlier (but said nothing about it). She told me she was not at a computer where she could look up the status of my recliner and she would call me back in 30 minutes. She never called back.

I called the store this morning, Monday the 21st., and asked once again, when I could expect to receive my recliner. The woman on the phone said more were due in this week and one could be sent to the Grafton store for me to pick up. Even though I paid to have all of my furniture delivered I am going to pick up the recliner with my own car because I am tired of waiting.

I might also add that everyone I’ve talked to on the phone sounded like they were half asleep, they weren’t very friendly, and your phone system is awful. I could barely make out anyone is saying no matter where I called from.

Over the next year my wife and I were planning on buying new office and bedroom furniture. I can assure you we won’t be buying these items or anything else from Colders ever again. We certainly won’t be recommending your store to our friends and family either.

It may be Standard Operating Procedure. It may just be incompetence, too, but that’s an awful lot of repeat stupidity…

Either way, it’s undeniably terrible customer service–completely unacceptable behavior for any retailer.

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Milwaukee Rising.net’s original article–posted just last month–asks the question:

Guess which company is more likely to get repeat business from my family and me?

The article compares/contrasts two recent customer service experiences had by the writer, with both Amazon.com and our Milwaukee-area Colder’s Furniture. Amazon handled things well. Colder’s–surprise!–did not:

Amazon — which resolved the issue within a few hours — or Colder’s, which finally dropped off a table without the leaf and a chair that was broken en route and “repaired” with glue that was still so wet when the furniture was delivered that the piece broke off when I brushed against it? (No, the delivery guys did not disclose the problem.) And then did not return our calls? And when I finally went to the store myself and demanded action, ordered the wrong leaf at least twice? And then told me the replacement chair had been delivered when it hadn’t been and did not return my call when I tried to follow up just a few minutes later after talking to my dad? And then, six months to the day after the furniture was delivered, finally came up with a chair that matched the set, but was not the requested captain’s chair (the kind with arms)?

Just guess.

No need to guess. Wet glue? Six months later, and still got the wrong merchandise? You would logically think there’s simply no way any company could be so incompetent and unwilling or unable to get it right. But we’ve had “The Colder’s Experience”. Others have, too.

This same family was also unnecessarily berated by Colder’s staff, another apparent hallmark of Colder’s customer-service program:

Colder’s [...] customer service rep berated my sister when my dad’s new furniture didn’t arrive for more than an hour after the store called and said the deliverers were on their way

So familiar. It’s happened to us, and it’s apparently happened to far too many of you, too (and is still happening). It’s almost amazing that anyone is surprised anymore.

Bad customer service increasingly seems to be the rule with Colder’s–rather than the infrequent exception from even the best businesses. Sketchy sales promotions, bad customer service… it’s just not worth it.

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Tim’s comment:

I absolutely hate colders pricing methods.

The main issue with the full back or buy back program is that the “retail” price or higher price on their tags is SOOOOO expensive, that it’s inconceivable that anyone would be stupid enough to buy an item at their “retail” price.

The other price they have on the tag is “floor model” price which means that you must take the item off the floor. This to me is not consumer friendly. Also, with the economy the way it is, the floor model price is now the same price for a new item in the box. Colders is starting to realize how uncompetitive they really are.

Their sticker pricing is so ridiculous, that any good consumer who does his or her homework should be able to spot these ridiculous prices and not be fooled.

Please do your homework before you make an expensive purchase and you will not get burned.

I honestly believe that the Colders in Grafton will not be open much longer. The store is never busy, and even the Sales Associates who are 100% commission have commented to me on how ridiculously over priced their “retail” price is.

Thanks for sharing, Tim.

We believe Tim is spot-on about Colder’s pricing. We’ve had people defending their pricing, being OK with paying hundreds more for an item because they were getting “money back” toward “something more”. We admit we don’t quite get it. That “something more” has to then be purchased at Colder’s regular-retail price, which we’ve often seen to be high compared to competitors, so where exactly are the big savings? And even if you do manage to score a deal and save, say, a couple hundred bucks…if you end up having problems or need something after the sale–we’ve read enough reports of Colder’s showing absolutely no interest in fixing items or otherwise taking good care of honest customers–was it really worth it?

Once they have your money, apparently, that’s it for them. Some deal that is, right? And your cash-back credit? That’s money in their pocket, too, if you end up not cashing it in…

We drive on I-43 and Hwy 60 past the Grafton store quite often, sometimes several times a day, and definitely agree with Tim’s won’t-last-much-longer assessment. The parking lot is almost always embarrassingly empty. We can recall only a few times where there was more than one other party of shoppers in the store at the same time we were. That can’t be sustainable for too (much) long(er)…

We also don’t get how Colder’s sales associates deal with it. We’re not surprised to read Tim has heard sales associates complain, either. Colder’s salespeople are paid on a 100% commission basis, as Tim mentioned; we can’t imagine any sane person taking such a job at a virtual ghost town, or lasting very long there if they did. If they’re busy, at Colder’s normal prices, it certainly has the potential to be lucrative, but the lack of customers means lack of sales, which in the case of a 100%-commission position means a total lack of income…

It’s crazy to stand around all day earning nothing. Maybe that explains the behavior of the saleslady that’s stalked us through the Grafton store so many times, too.

The Colder’s Northshore/Grafton problem will become more exacerbated or maybe even solve itself by way of store closure if/when Steinhafels builds more or less right across the street; Steinhafels allegedly owns property right off that same I-43 exit and it’s assumed they will eventually build a store/showroom there. (Disclaimer: this is not in any way an endorsement of Steinhafels.)

We definitely think there’s demand for a bigger-box-variety retail furniture store in that part of Ozaukee County. But Colder’s isn’t it, by our own estimation, and it’s increasingly clear it’s their own fault–brought about by terrible pricing, ridiculous promotions, unethical sales behaviors, general rudeness, poor customer service all the way up their corporate ladder to Colder’s corporate head of “Customer Service” Sue Lewicki, and likely beyond. Before, during and after the sale. And not limited to just the Grafton/Northshore location, either.

Company-wide, they’re Doing It Wrong.

Really, about the only thing we think they do right is provide a relatively large selection of merchandise (which does not, to our knowledge, include the Inflatable Toast Mattress, pictured above…). Nearly everything Colder’s sells you can find–and buy–elsewhere in the Milwaukee area or even online, easily enough.

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There are plenty of places in the Milwaukee area that sell bedroom, living room, dining room, home office, appliances, and electronics merchandise. Consider going to any one of them instead of patronizing Colder’s. This list is far from complete, in fact; do your own online search–for furniture in the case of the graphic above–and you’ll find plenty of alternatives to Colder’s that may provide a much better shopping experience before, during, and after the sale.

The quality of the merchandise at these alternative businesses is generally the same (lots of it imported from China), or better. Don’t get sucked in by Colder’s Half-Back, Full-Back, “Something More”, “Spend a Dollar, Get a Dollar” ads on TV and elsewhere, either, unless you really shop around and know what you’re doing. It may or may not be a better deal in the end.

Many of these other stores will have better everyday pricing than Colder’s. You might even avoid being stalked throughout the store like a piece of meat, too.

We are NOT endorsing any of the stores listed in the graphic above. Any of them–all of them–could potentially rip you off or cause you grief in some fashion, maybe in the same or a similar way Colder’s is ripping off us and others.

You may notice that Colder’s isn’t even listed in the short results; they don’t show up in the extended results until several pages later. From our perspective at this point, the farther down the list, the better.

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the half back credit can save you money in the long run. the promotion should be used all at once. if you walk out of the store with a credit for a future date, then why didnt you purchase the item at the lower price in the first place? the way the promotion was explained to me is that it can save you money on a “package price”. that means that buying multiple items and issueing/redeeming all at once can save money. it saved more money on the multiple t.v.s we bought than anyone else would try to save us. plain and simple, if you want to use the credit to extort a sale item, then dont be surprised when they dont like losing money so you can save a dollar.

just my $.02

We’d like to reiterate that we truly appreciate every legitimate comment we receive, regardless of its position or opinion.

That said, we’re not going to let stuff slide like calling us extortionists. Re-read what we’ve written here; we’re not the swindlers.

We sat on the above comment for a while. We’re still not sure if this was from a Colder’s employee feeling the need to ‘reach out’ on the defensive as Unpaid Company Cheerleader, but it certainly has that kind of feel. There’s simply too much about the comment that doesn’t ring true for us based on our own Colder’s experiences and comments we’ve received or seen/heard elsewhere.

Of course, we may be wrong, and we’re willing to admit as much if it’s actually true. And we do realize, of course, that the possibility may truly exist that:

• We have a comment from a legitimately-happy customer of Colder’s who had a positive experience with their Half-Back promotion, and
• He enjoyed that experience so much he had to share it with us, and
• He also enjoyed it so much he ALSO believes our bad experience can’t possibly be true, and
• The only logical, possible explanation for all of our Colder’s posts here is because we’re trying to extort money or merchandise from Colder’s.

Imagine. You can draw your own conclusions.

There’s really very little else to say here. We’re not at all shocked that Colder’s “dont like losing money so [we] can save a dollar.” Clearly, from Colder’s completely arrogant and indifferent dismissal of our concerns, particularly by Colder’s corporate Customer Service manager Sue Lewicki, that’s all this is about: the money.

For us, it really boils down to one thing: a principle. Something that’s one of the most basic tenets of good business. Something that anyone not only versed in basic customer service should know, but as a professional in charge of same at the corporate level, should completely understand–live and breathe–and want to aspire to, as much as possible: keeping promises. Telling the truth. Honoring commitments.

We’re not here saying “the customer is always right”, because the customer isn’t always right. We’re here saying “if a customer gives you money, and you say you’re giving them X in return, you damn well better give them X like you said you would.”

It’s that simple. Honesty. Integrity. Pick either one; Colder’s seems to lack it. But, according to Brett, we’re the extortionists. You and me. All of us, dirty thieving consumers. For trying to get companies like Colder’s to give us what we paid for. Riiight.

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Here’s the full text of that comment, reposted here so it hits our RSS feed and gets as much online reach as possible:

hi alex,

boy, i sure wish i had come across your blog before i went shopping at colders! jeez, where do i start?

on 3/5 i went in to take advantage of their serta ‘full back’ offer. i bought a matteress set for about $1750 (reg price). so then i was able to pick out $1750 in ‘free’ stuff…at reg price. i bought a bed frame (850) a blue-ray (409) and a ‘19 tv (400) . not too bad of a ‘deal’. i had to pay less than $50 difference., no big deal. i priced the serta set (online and on sale) for about $1200-1300. so i feel i got a good deal. BUT…..(hear comes the problem) ………..

……that night i also purchased a floor model tv for $1150. (reg price was around 1600?) i didn’t receive any cash back because it was clearenced and a floor model. ok, no problem. i took home the tv that night and the next morning when i hooked everything up and turned it on, a blue vertical line from top to bottom, a quarter of the way in from the left, appears on the screen. wtf? i played around with the remote and all the settings to see if that might have fixed it…nope. i called colders and they told me i is probably the cable reception. so i called time warner and set up a time for them to come out and ‘fix’ it. that was on 3/10. just as i though, it wasn’t any problem with the signal. so i called colders for the 2nd about the issue and was told to talk to the salesperson who sold me the tv. of course, he was not there at that time. so i called the next day and was able to speak with him and he said i needed to speak with someone in service, so i was transferred. the person in sales told me i needed to speak with, yet another person, jim who has already left for the day! and won’t be back until monday!! ugh!!!!

so now, over a week goes by, and its the 6th time i call about this situation with no results. i finally was able to get ahold of ‘jim’ on 3/16 and told him what is going on and basically told him i want to just return the tv. he then has me transferred to another guy, whose higher up, and when he gets on the phone he basically tells me i can’t return it and its per manufacturers policy and that the tv needs to come in to be serviced. they would be able to come to my house to pick it up on the27th or 4/2…lol you have to be kidding!? i told him that i’ll be in that night to bring it in. so, i take it back to colders and told them i’m returning it. the poor girl in customer service/pick-up location didn’t know what to do. she was calling to 3-4 people to get an answer about taking a return and all each and every one of the people she talked to seemed like they didn’t want to ‘help’ or get involved…….

so, i left the tv there to be repaired, but was told to call the next day (which was today) and talk to the cust. serv. mgr. was told she works from 9-4:30. i called around 1pm and aked for her and was told she ‘left for the day’. boy, if i’m not getting the run around, wtf gives!!!!!??????? now i feel foolish because they have my money AND my tv!

Colder’s, shame on you–again and again and again.

We’d call this unbelievable, but unfortunately, stories like this are apparently entirely common. So sorry, Lisandra.   Which Colder’s location? Do you have any more details regarding the names and exact positions/titles of people with whom you’ve spoken? We’d be happy to out them all.

As we mentioned in our comment reply to Lisandra, there may be other options available to you, if you feel you’ve been swindled by Colder’s (or anyone else). You may have recourse if you paid with a credit card (including many debit cards, Visa/Mastercard-logo’ed or not). You can dispute charges with your bank/credit card provider and possibly get the item(s) charged back and off your account. Your bank/card provider may offer other buyer-protection options as well. Call them and ask; it’s good information to know anyway.

Additionally, you can always contact your state’s Attorney General’s office and file a consumer complaint. Here’s the Wisconsin Attorney General’s site for filing:

http://www.datcp.state.wi.us/cp/consumerinfo/cp/complaint-form/file_complaint.jsp

Please, good readers, help us help the rest of you. Get the word out. We hate reading these stories (this one was definitely not the first). We hate that Colder’s business model seems to predicate heavily upon an ability to play hard-working Milwaukee-area consumers for suckers. Talk to other people. Share your experiences here. Milwaukee, southeastern Wisconsin, northern Illinois… they all need to know about this bad-apple retailer.

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This is sad, troubling news indeed. No specific mention of where it’s happening yet, but if it comes to the Milwaukee area–or wherever you’re located–do yourself a favor and run away from it as fast as you can. There’s no sane reason to support this money grab. And that’s really all it is. It’s a huge step backwards; you simply don’t go from unlimited to metered service like that, limiting access, moving people to a cellphone-variety plan with early termination fees, etc.

The following snippets are from a DSLReports.com article; please visit their site for the full article and follow their discussion there as well:

[...] Time Warner Cable was conducting a trial in their Beaumont, Texas market that imposed caps ranging from 5GB to 40GB on the company’s existing tiers of service. [...] trial participants would be charged $1 per every additional gigabyte consumed, a huge markup for Time Warner Cable over cost, and a first for a major US ISP.

[...] Time Warner Cable is perfecting its marketing of the unpopular metered billing idea to consumers. Carriers love the idea, as it gives them a way to monetize and/or control Internet video, which poses a very serious long term threat to their cable television revenues. Selling consumers on the idea requires some finagling.

New customers in Beaumont are put on metered plans automatically, while existing Beaumont customers are lured into the metered fold via some fine print trickery. Customers are promised twelve month price-lock guarantees, provided they sign a new contract. But the contract fine print holds some surprises: customers previously on unlimited plans are promised “guaranteed savings,” only to find out they’re now facing a $150 ETF, low caps, and $1/GB overage penalties.

[...] Time Warner Cable COO Landel Hobbs said that the cable operator would be expanding their metered billing experiment into additional cities this year. Hobbs didn’t say which cities would get the honor. A spokesman suggests [...] there will be four of them [...] The carrier has yet to upgrade its network to the latest technology (DOCSIS 3.0), but has taken the industry lead on metered billing. Uncompetitive markets will feel the brunt of this “innovation.”

[...]

Beware the fine print, folks.

In other news, I still think Time-Warner should have offered a general rate reduction for the removal of Usenet newsgroups in the last year or so, but I’m guessing there are more than a few people out there reading this that have no idea what I’m even talking about. I suppose it’s offset by the ‘free’ upgrades in speed over the years, though…so just pretend I didn’t mention it…

Time Warner really needs to start giving more love to their customers, not less. Contracts? Caps? Overage Penalties? Early-termination fees? Seriously? But in markets dominated by Time Warner, they clearly have little incentive to be nice. People want broadband, and Time Warner’s the only game in many towns… and they know it.

In and around Milwaukee, though, you do have options. Not a lot, but some. No guarantees those options aren’t just as evil as Time Warner, though, ultimately…

It’s unfortunate that Time Warner’s even allowed to do this at all in markets where they’re the only real broadband option available. It would be even more unfortunate if this sets a trend for other ISPs to follow and do the same.

(via Time Warner Cable To Expand Metered Billing – Will move outside of Beaumont, but company offers no specifics… – dslreports.com)

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There’s a salesperson at the Grafton Colder’s store that seems to hang out just past the staircase, close to a desk near the front end of the center area of the store. She acts like some sort of crazed attack dog or starving wolf. If she sees you walk in the door, she will beat a path to you to hound and hound and hound you. Even when telling her–politely, repeatedly, adamantly–that you don’t want to be bothered at ALL, she still forces herself on you, shoving business cards at you, spewing on and on about who-knows-what.

And then she proceeds to stalk you around the store, lurking about 50-100 feet or so away, trying to lag back behind displays, even following you around upstairs if you go up there, waiting to pounce.

We don’t know her name, but if you’ve ever been to the Grafton Colder’s, you probably know who we’re talking about.

Lady, people NOTICE. You might otherwise be a really nice person, but it’s too much. We don’t want to buy from someone that’s constantly accosting us with all the pressure they can muster. We’re sure others feel the same way. Really. It will never work in your favor.

For us, she really excels at making the Colder’s shopping experience feel extra sleazy and high-pressure. The problem for her is that we have absolutely no interest in buying from someone that doesn’t respect us, our space, or our time to shop at our own leisure. We can’t check out items in the store when we’re feeling eyes burning into our backs as we’re standing there. We feel like meat.

We’ve avoided shopping at Colder’s of Grafton many, many times because we do not appreciate being virtually mauled by this woman–seriously, every. single. time. we’re. there.  The last few times we were there, we’d actually preemptively run up the stairs or duck into the elevator, or take any other wide path in the store in an attempt to steer well clear of her.

Of course, again, this isn’t the only problem we have with/at the Grafton Colder’s store; there’s that one other lingering problem, too.

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No real nuts-and-bolts mention of how you can–or, most critically, how you can’t–spend the credit. Just the presented notion that you’re going to get a free dollar for every dollar you spend, to use at Colder’s however you please.

In  fact, Colder’s New Year’s Sale ad even goes so far as to visually depict the cash-back credit as actual US currency–with their onscreen character clearly, specifically handing back a dollar bill for every dollar bill it receives.

Deceptive? You decide.

So, Colder’s: Is the ‘Half Back’ or ‘Full Back’ or ‘Quarter Back’ or ‘Spend a Dollar Get a Dollar’ credit the same as cash, or isn’t it?  Back in July 2008, when we spent $1200 bucks at your Grifte…err, Grafton location, it sure was supposed to be, according to your salesperson. Even your latest television ads continue to (quite directly) suggest it’s true!

This New Year’s Sale television commercial is Yet Another Colder’s Ad that seemingly says one thing when the reality may actually be something rather different. Imagine your shock if you came back a second time to use your credit and find you were unable to use it on a slew of merchandise, including any and all items with advertised sales pricing, and floor models. The very credit that got you into the store. The credit you were told was the same as cash. The credit may likely never be allowed to leave the store–not entirely intact, anyway.

It doesn’t quite seem kosher to us to offer and advertise something for sale at one price, then look at how you’re planning to pay for it and say “oh yeah, that price on the tag there… you can’t have it.”

Colder’s… where the “Something More!” customers get might otherwise be described as an unwelcome and unfriendly and seemingly unethical–if not also illegal–Gotcha! And really, even if they are now telling customers about this particular restriction as they’re shopping initially, they may still have been lured into the store by a current Colder’s ad and it’s apparently-deceptive premise that they’d be getting dollar-for-dollar credit to put toward additional “Something More!” merchandise of their choosing.

We suppose as long as you understand that you may not really be getting a real dollar back for every very-real dollar you spend, you can go right ahead and overspend buying stuff at Colder’s you should easily be able to find–likely at a better price–at nearly any other Milwaukee-area retailer that sells what Colder’s ’sells’; Colder’s imports products from China just like other similar area retailers.

But honestly, you as a consumer should be smarter than that. We were not, and we’re learning that now. Shop around. Don’t patronize Colder’s unless you really, truly understand what you’re getting–or more specifically, not getting. Don’t get stuck with a half-baked cash-back credit you’ll find hard if not impossible to use. And again, because it’s so very important: GET IT ALL IN WRITING, no matter where you ultimately end up.

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Mission Statement

The time of selection of a major item for your home should be a joyous occasion!

Our Selection, displays and knowledge are here only to help you select those items which best fulfill your dreams of betterment in the home.

It’s like someone copied bits from a fortune cookie… Or it was written by actual monkeys. Maybe both.

Given the fact–per their own website–that Colder’s retail-sales employees are 100% commission (“100% commission gives you great opportunities to write your own paycheck”) it’s not surprising that Colder’s mission statement makes little to no sense, because ultimately, it doesn’t matter. Colder’s mission statement might as well be just like this:

By the way, did we mention that Colder’s seems to be ripping people off? With a mission statement this muddled, it’s really no surprise they can’t seem to write up detailed terms/conditions/restrictions for their various promotions and other “sales” that, to us, more closely resemble bait-and-switch schemes than straight-up, honest deals for their customers.

Until Colder’s gets their act together, and starts acting a lot more consumer-friendly, we strongly recommend you do not shop at any local Milwaukee-area Colder’s locations.

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“Something More!”? More like “Something A Lot Less”.

In the end, you will most likely find Colder’s “Spend a Dollar Get a Dollar Back!” is only sort-of true. Not only is the offer limited to certain items at initial purchase, but it’s also limited at redemption time, and you’ll almost certainly find–as we and many others have, the hard way–that you can’t take advantage of ANY sale pricing, meaning you’re out the difference. The credit you thought was worth several hundred real dollars at Colder’s…ends up being practically worthless, as you’re almost always better off taking the sale price and not using your credit. Colder’s leaves you with money they’re apparently expecting you to never redeem. And indeed, Colder’s promotions seem set up specifically to make full-value redemption of your Quarter Back/Half Back/Full Back/Spend a Dollar Get a Dollar/etc credit as difficult as possible. The only thing, of course, is that you probably were not/will not be told this at the time of your initial purchase. Why would they, right?

Classic bait-and-switch, anyone?

You can read about our still-ongoing issue with Colder’s (which is still–now months later–entirely unresolved) and their scam. Be sure to check out the comments left there with that post, too, where others have written in to share the same or similar issues and stories of their own Colder’s shopping experiences.

If you’re reading this too late and have already participated in Colder’s New Year’s Sale, take close look at the terms and conditions of the sale–the restrictions in particular–and make SURE you got a great deal. Most people doing the math and understanding all the restrictions will probably find they did NOT get the great deal they thought they were getting.

Wait, you did get the terms/conditions/restrictions of the offer in writing, right?

Actually, you probably did not receive anything in writing from Colder’s detailing the terms and conditions of the promotion you participated in, leaving the interpretation and rules up to Colder’s to determine later when you go to use your credit. We have yet to see anything in writing from Colder’s detailing all the terms/conditions/restrictions of any of their promotions. They do list some details on their otherwise-useless website, but only for the current offer…and they’re incomplete and confusing. Also, as the page changes with each new deal/offer, it’s not only useless for people that don’t use the Internet, but for anyone that expects to find the terms for the deal they took weeks or months earlier when a new deal’s details have replaced that page’s contents entirely.

If you didn’t get anything in writing detailing all the terms and conditions–and restrictions in particular–of the promotion, we urge you to press for this, or face the very real and likely possibility of getting screwed over even more later. Realize, too, that for each Colder’s employee you talk to, you may get a different set of rules and stories about the terms, conditions and restrictions. This past summer, we didn’t get anything in writing, trusting the sales staff, and we’re still having trouble with Colder’s taking responsibility for the lies we were told–and the other details we weren’t told, despite our asking–at our initial purchase.

Colder’s, on average, seems to be more expensive than a lot of other retailers selling the same variety of furniture, kitchen appliances, washers and dryers, bedding, living room and bedroom stuff, electronics, etc. You may well want to take your item(s) back for a refund and instead buy from a more reputable and likely less-expensive retailer that isn’t solely interested in getting you in the door to rip you off…not once, but twice!

Consider yourself warned. There are plenty of other places to shop for everything Colder’s sells. We strongly recommend you do not shop at Colder’s… unless you like wasting money, taking advantage of promotions that end up not being anywhere as attractive as they’re advertised when you finally go to redeem whatever credit, or simply getting burned, over and over again.

It’s a shame a local Milwaukee-area business chooses to operate this way.

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All the best to everyone out there; we look forward to continuing our relationships with you in 2009 and beyond.

– Alex and Crew

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Wisconsin No Call List
https://nocall.wisconsin.gov

National Do Not Call Registry
https://www.donotcall.gov

(If you’re not from Wisconsin, please check your state for something similar.)

Both sites have details on how to register your telephone numbers; you can register online, or by phone. Regular-mail may also be an option; if you’re reading this, though, you already have Internet access, and the online signup really is the fastest way.

The national registry requires you submit an email address along with your phone number(s) to confirm your registration. They accept any number(s) you give them. The only information Wisconsin requires is a valid Wisconsin zip code along with the phone numbers. Wisconsin’s No Call List used to only allow land line registration, but they’re now also allowing cell phones, so if you had not previously registered your cell phones, now is a great time.

Telemarketing companies are required to update their records and drop registry-provided numbers every 30-31 days, so it can take as much a month’s time for them to drop your number(s) from their marketing lists. We have enjoyed a tremendous silence since we first started using these registries a few years ago.

Your numbers are registered ‘for life’ with the national registry. Once registered, you do not need to do it again. Wisconsin currently requires you to renew every two years, so set a reminder in your calendar.

Please let people know about these lists. Also, if you know anyone that isn’t computer-savvy or just doesn’t want to mess with it, but you know they’d benefit from fewer telemarketing calls, nothing in either system prevents you from registering their number(s) for them… Asking them first to be sure isn’t a bad idea, of course.

Enjoy the silence…

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