Best Buy Sucks

A recent bad experience at Best Buy has pushed me over the edge, and I refuse to shop there any more. My girlfriend purchased a television and after we lugged it to her home (27" CRT - heavy and bulky) we found that it would shut off for no apparent reason. We lugged the TV back to Best Buy for an exchange. The new TV seemed to work, until it started to do the same thing after about 30 days. The problem is that the warranty was only good for 30 days. After arguing with the Best Buy folks that the TV was clearly defective when purchased, they agreed to send a technician to repair the TV. The technician who came knew exactly what the problem was. "It's the flyback transformer. This TV has a problem with that. We get this all the time." Well, the problem did not go away after the technician's "repair", so we went back to Best Buy to return the TV. They did not want to take it. Even though they were knowingly selling a defective TV, they hid behind their warranty limitations and did not want to take it back. Finally the agreed to an exchange for another TV. We said "Hell no" since we don't trust Best Buy for TV's anymore. Ultimately the best we could do was get them to allow an exchange for other merchandise. They would not give us store credit (we had to do the exchange THAT day) and they would not refund our money.

The worst part of the story was the Store Manager said that it was not possible for him to give us store credit or a refund. That the "system" would not allow him to issue a credit/refund. If he was lying, shame on him. And that is reason enough to never shop at Best Buy again. If he was telling the truth, then nobody should ever buy anything at Best Buy. Any store that does not empower the store manager to deal with customers is not fit to be in business.

That really blows my fuse.

Rave: Opus Dei

With the impending release of the Da Vinci Code movie (based on the bestselling novel), it is not surprising that there would be some stir over the controversial religious themes in the (fictitious) story. The conservative religious group Opus Dei, who is depicted as the villain in the novel, has asked Sony Pictures for a disclaimer to accompany the movie . It is a rare thing for me to praise a religious group for their response to a controversial situation, but in this case I am inclined to praise Opus Dei for their stance. They are not shouting outrage or asking people not to see the movie. They simply want to be treated with respect and not judged by a work of fiction. I, for one, tip my hat to them for not going off the deep end, as many religious groups seem inclined to do.

That really makes my (Opus) Dei!

Class Action Lawsuits

There might be no bigger farce at the moment in our society than class action lawsuits. The concept is a reasonable one - have a company suffer punitive damages for a situation where they were negligent and caused injury or financial loss to their customers. But the system is a joke, and the upshot of these affairs seems to be millions paid to lawyers, nothing to the injured party, and a slap on the wrist to the corporation.

Here is how these typically work:
1. A company imposes a fraudulent fee of $4.95 to 12 million customers over a 5 year period.

2. A class action lawsuit is filed.

3. The way you happen to find out about this is when you see an advertisement in small print on page 55 of TV Guide that says "If you stayed at a Sheraton hotel between August 1993 and May 1998, paid an "Administrative" fee, and have all of your receipts, you might be entitled to participate in a settlement."

4. You spend 3 hours going to a website and/or calling a phone number to find out that no information is available, but you can mail a bunch of documents to 666 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY.

5. The final settlement is reached. Sheraton agrees to send coupons for 5% off a future stay to the 11 people who sent in the proper paperwork, and to pay the $1.6 million legal fees (leaving them a profit of $58 million on the fraudulent fees).

By the way, lest you think this is a hypothetical example, as part of one of these settlements I received a voucher last week from Starwood Hotels for $8 off of the rack rate at any of 12 named Starwood hotels in Florida and Texas, provided I call a special 800 number when making the advance reservation. You can now insert your own joke at my expense.

This action has no class.

My E-mail Friends

Here are nicknames for my 10 friends who haven't figured out yet in 2006 how to send e-mail.

1. Old Subject Guy - Either doesn't know how or is too lazy to paste my address into a new e-mail, so he replies to something I sent him 6 months ago without changing the subject line
   
2. Bottom Feeder - Replies to my e-mail and inexplicably adds his comments all the way at the bottom of the e-mail
   
3. Thoughtful Idiot - Sends me the latest fake virus warning, but shows me how smart he is by adding "I know some of these are hoaxes, but better safe than sorry"
   
4. Dr. Pepper - Peppers his responses to my e-mail throughout the original, so I can enjoy hunting around for his insightful comments
   
5. Confucious - This person has a wonderfully thoughtful witticism in his signature. It grows more and more wonderful as I read the same quotation dozens of times in e-mail after e-mail.
   
6. Mystery Attachment Guy - Nothing says he cares like the mystery attachment he sends with every e-mail entitled att00001.txt, along with his .vcf data file.
   
7. Multimedia Dude - That e-mail he sends with the cute music and animation is not only hilarious for me, it was enjoyable to all of those around me.
   
8. Mr. No AIM - He is never logged on to AIM, so conducts "old school" chat by sending me an e-mail that says "hey, what's up". 3 days and 10 e-mails later I find out that he wanted to go out for lunch.
   
9. Important Dude - Flags every e-mail as "Important". Not sure why, seems like it is usually women who do this.
   
10. The Space Saver - Deletes out my original message in his reply, so I get a response to something I sent a week ago that just says "sounds good". The Space Saver sleeps well knowing that he saved a tree in cyberspace.

Why Didn't I Think of That?

A man was arrested in Miami for going door-to-door pretending to be a doctor and giving women free breast exams. It wasn't until one woman was asked to remove all her clothes and was given a purported genital exam (without rubber gloves) that she became suspicious. What is wrong with people? A doctor that makes house calls would make me immediately suspicious.

What a boob!

Atheism vs. Intelligent Design

I stumbled across an interesting website devoted to the defense of intelligent design (or more specifically Christianity) over atheism. This site is well developed in a sense that it includes a comprehensive list of questions/doubts an atheist might have about religion. The website attempts to use logical arguments for its cause, which is a refreshing change from arguments that use emotion or bible quotes. Unfortunately, I found many of the answers to the questions to be unsatisfactory and flawed.

I found this statement on "Absolute Proof of God's Existence" amusing...

No, God has not left His name etched onto the surface of planets. However, according to the Bible, you can get absolute proof of God's existence. One way to get proof is to die (which we will eventually all do). I do not recommend this method if you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

Take a look at this website and let me know what you think. I'd enjoy some comments!

Strong Security

They have now gone so far with the security verification that no human can decipher the letters either...

Reason #46 Debit Cards Stink

I will use a credit card over a debit card any day. The concept of shelling out money from my bank account directly and immediately is disturbing.

Read this article for Reason #46 to dislike debit cards:

Man Is Charged $4,300 for Four Burgers


That really charges me up!

The Blind Spot Moron

It is impossible to pass another car without passing through its blind spot. However, if you happen to find yourself in somebody's blind spot, DON'T STAY THERE! If you maintain speed with another car but stay in the blind spot, you are a complete moron. If you see the person put on their blinker, suggesting that they might possibly be heading into your lane, and you still stay there, you are asking for trouble.





That really cranks my engine.

The Dangers of Truthiness

The word "truthiness" has recently been used by Stephen Colbert to define the "quality by which a person purports to know something emotionally or instinctively, without regard to evidence or to what the person might conclude from intellectual examination."

On his show, The Colbert Report, he uses this word to mock the current government administration...

"Consider Harriet Miers. If you 'think' about Harriet Miers, of course her nomination's absurd. But the president didn't say he 'thought' about his selection. He said this:

Bush: 'I know her heart.'

"Notice he didn't say anything about her brain? He didn't have to. He 'feels' the truth about Harriet Miers.

"And what about Iraq? If you 'think' about it, maybe there are a few missing pieces to the rationale for war. But doesn't taking Saddam out 'feel' like the right thing?..."

I believe that Stephen Colbert has hit the nail on the head. We are in some serious trouble. Not only are we tolerant of this government of truthiness, we are seeing it in other places.

Take, for example, Yahoo! Answers. On this website, users can answer questions posted by other users. Then, the person who posted the question gets to select the best answer! Who cares about the credibility of the source? Often the answer that "feels right" is selected.

That just doesn't feel right.

That Busy Guy

You go to pick up your office mail from the mail kiosk. You casually glance at your coworkers' mailboxes. There is always at least one box that is completely overstuffed. It looks like the person has not bothered to pick up their mail since 1986. You would think that this is the mailbox of the Sales Director for Asia who only comes into the office every six months. But it's not. It's the mailbox of somebody who comes in every day. You even see him walk by the mailbox every now and then, but he NEVER stops to pick up his mail.

What is up with that? Was this guy actually layed-off in 1993 but is still working because he never picked up his pink slip? Does this guy know that the dental plan changed last year? How does he function without ever reading his mail?

That really stuffs my envelope.

Why Bother

You are on the phone with a salesperson or a customer service agent and they are going to send you something by email, or perhaps snail email. They ask you to spell your name. You spell it for them very slowly and carefully. You get your email or package and there is your name, spelled incorrectly.

Why Bother?

OnStar

We are giving away all of our money in dribs and drabs called monthly fees. There is the cell phone, satellite radio, magazine subscriptions, TiVo, and the champion of all -- Onstar.

As bad as it is to pay a monthly fee for something that you will probably never need and is mostly redundant with a cell phone, the real rant here is Onstar's fear-based marketing. Even before 9/11, companies were acutely aware of the concept that fear sells. Onstar has taken this to a new level. I think we have all heard these commercials on radio and TV:

Onstar: This is Onstar.
Desperate Woman: I locked my keys in the car with my baby, and it is sinking in a lake and on fire! Also, I have a headache.
Onstar: OK, calm down and give me your VIN number.
DW: T36882402895458216829
Onstar: OK, you're all set. The doors are unlocked and I put some aspirin in the glove compartment.
DW: Thank you, OnStar!

So now I am a bad parent and can't sleep at night because I am not protected by Onstar. I think the commercials should really go more like this:

Onstar: This is Onstar
Desperate Woman: Help! My kids are driving me nuts, and we really need a vacation.
Onstar: OK, let me connect you with Travel Services. How much money do you have?
DW: Uh, none. We're actually in debt.
Onstar: You know, if you didn't sign up for Onstar 12 years ago you'd have enough for a Mediterranean Cruise.
DW: Oh.
Onstar: I went ahead and unlocked your car. You should go trade it in for a Hyundai.

That really pushes my button.

Cell-Phone Rave!

I suppose that I can't call this a rant and RAVE blog unless I actually rave about something (I prefer to rant).

For many months, I have been suggesting that it would be wonderful if your cell phone could connect to the internet through a Wi-Fi connection. There are so many Wi-Fi hot spots, why bother using the cell towers when you are in an urban area? You will get better reception and reduce your phone bill, especially if you have a VOIP account like Vonage.

Many of my friends thought I was nuts. "There is no way the cell phone providers would provide that capability, it cuts into their business." If that were true, I should have gone into business making Wi-Fi phones. However, I would have been trumped by the big boys. All the major carriers are about to provide Wi-Fi capable phones (see link). So there, nay-sayers.

That really vibrates my handset!

Mall Depression

I only had two goals for my trip to the mall this weekend; eat lunch and buy sneakers.

Walking along, I passed Lady Foot Locker and Kids Foot Locker until I arrived at Foot Locker, my sneaker-purchasing destination. Yes, there were three Foot Locker stores in a row. The first pair of sneakers I looked at in Foot Locker appeared feminine. I glanced up and saw that I was in the Ladys section. Ladys section? They have a whole store of ladys sneakers next door. I glanced over and saw a kids section as well. Sigh. I walked over to the mens sneakers. I found a pair I liked. They were in the "Classics" section. I felt old. At least I wasn't wearing black socks.

I went to the food court to get a burger. The menu was a picture menu of 4 different mouth watering burgers I could select from. All of them were topped with yummy seasame seed buns... at least, in the pictures they were. My burger was delivered in a plain, seedless bun. In fact, everybodys's burger was seedless. Fraud! I thought about complaining to the manager. It may only be a few seeds, but how dare they swell my hopes with false visions? I felt a little better after eating the burger (it was good) and decided to just rant on the blog and then move on with my life.

That really burns my buns.

I Want McFries, Please

Have you ever gone to McDonald's and been told that they are out of fries? Or to KFC and been told it will be 20 minutes for extra crispy chicken? There was this one KFC/Taco Bell I used to go to that would occassionaly be "out of Taco Bell". Out of Taco Bell? OUT OF TACO BELL? Savages!

How poorly managed do you have to be to run out of the stuff you sell every day? Why wouldn't every McDonald's keep at least a week's worth of fries stored in the freezer at all times? Don't these people realize that the only reason I ever walk into their establishment is because I have some undeniable craving for some specific junk food?

That really fries my potato.

Perils of Stock Ownership

When you buy a stock or mutual fund, you get a fancy prospectus with all sorts of exciting information. But no where in there do they warn you about any of these annoying things that are about to start happening after you purchase shares:

- You will be getting letters about once a month to announce to you the important fact that "We are happy to announce the following change to our Board of Directors: Replaced H. Whitworth Shipley with Woodruff Alabaster Bigglesby"

- You will be getting letters about once a year to announce "Widget Co. is happy to announce the spinoff of Widget Inc. and the merger of Widget Trust. you will receive 0.018 shares of common stock for each share of Widget Co. unless you inform us otherwise before March 1. Otherwise, your holdings will be converted to dividend shares. For additional information, please consult your tax attorney." (My tax attorney?)

- You will be getting letters about once every three years to announce "A class action lawsuit has been filed for all stockholders who purchased shares between July 9, 1994 and April 6, 1997. Please send all paperwork from that period to the above address. At the completion of the litigation, you may receive an amount between $0.04 and $0.07 per share unless you opt out of the settlement."

- You will get a thick envelope once per quarter with a quarterly report explaining that the reason the fund lost 4% while the benchmark went up 6% is that there were instabilities in the Middle East that affected the price of oil.

That really licks my envelope.

Why Does My Computer Lie To Me, Mr. Gates?

I am sure that this happens to you as well. I am sitting at my computer, I click an icon or try to move a window on the screen, and nothing happens. Or, at least, nothing happens quickly. My computer is "busy" thinking about something. I check the task manager and it says "System Idle Process" is using 99% of the CPU time. LIAR! Mr. Gates, why does Windows tell me nothing is going on when clearly my computer is extremely busy thinking about something? I believe that Windows arbitrarily decides which processes to display in the task manager and some remain hidden. What do you think about that Mr. Gates? How am I supposed to be a power user when you won't let me see what's going on. You are so lucky you run a monopoly.

P.S. My lawyer advises me to mention that everybody should disregard this rant. Windows is great, Windows is GREAT!

Enough with the Smokers' Protests

Currently, smokers in NJ are upset about a new proposed ban on smoking in bars and restaurants. I've had enough of the lame arguments against smoking bans. The smokers really have no reasonable arguments to support their cause.

"We have a right to smoke" - Since smoking is legal (assuming you are over 18), you sure do have a right to smoke. But you do not have a right to smoke in a bar or restaurant. You have a right to not wear a shirt, or shoes, but not in a restaurant. You have a right to masturbate, but not in a restaurant. This may be a crude point, but look at the facts...

	Smoking	Masturbation
Legal?	Yes	Yes
Enjoyable?	Yes	Yes
Vulgar?	To some	To some
Harms others?	YES	usually not

So, I believe it would be more appropriate to allow masturbation in public before smoking in public.

"Next, they will be taking away our right to smoke in our homes" - I don't allow people to smoke in my home. But I will stand in a protest line with you if they try to impose a ban on smoking in your private home. That is a completely different thing.

"I am addicted to smoking, it is a hardship to not smoke in public" - Hmm, if they told me I couldn't have coffee at work, I'd be very grumpy. However, you can chew nicotine gum or chew tobacco instead. You don't like that idea? Too bad. The harm you do to others by smoking is far worse than the inconvenience you suffer by having to seek alternative fixes.

That really burns my butt.

We Care...

The United States Postal Service was nice enough to let me know that they had problems deliving one of my holiday cards this season. The only piece they were able to salvage was the return address, which doesn't really do me a bit of good. I wonder who was supposed to receive this one? I guess the $50 Starbucks gift card is just gone. I suppose I could reuse the stamp, only now I need to cough up another 2 cents.



That really tears me to shreds...just my two cents.

I hate Christmas!

My Christian friends, lend me your ears. Everybody else can skip down to the next post, you already know what I am going to say.

I hate Christmas. For everybody who does not celebrate this holiday, it is quite an obtrusion. I heard a great analogy recently that I'd like to share. Imagine, my Christian friends, that everywhere you go, people are wishing you a Happy Ramadan. And when you try to go shopping, there are people in your way everywhere, praying on their prayer mats. Then, you are forced to take a day off of work on Ramadan Day (I know it's a month, but this is just an analogy), when you would rather have a day off for Christmas instead. Everything is closed on Ramadan Day, so you end up hanging out with other Christians, kinda forcing you to celebrate the holiday in some sense. Oh yeah, your favorite TV shows are in re-run and all that is on TV are shows about Muhammad the Prophet.

I know that most people celebrate Christmas personally and unobtrusively. I am sure it's a wonderful holiday, deep down. But yet, I hate the way it effects me. I've actually had the following things said to me...

Christian: "Why don't you put up Christmas lights?"
Me: "I'm Jewish"
Christian: "So, Christmas lights are not religious?"

Christian: Why don't you put up a Hanukkah bush?"
Me: "Ugh."


Ba Humbug.

Plastic Bubble Wrap From Hell

What is the deal with that obnoxiously hard plastic packaging that small electronics and everything else comes in? I find it extremely difficult to open these packages. You can not rip them open. You can not use standard scissors. The plastic is too hard, and the package is designed with no straight edges to cut. In fact, it seems that they went to great lengths to make sure that you can NOT open the stupid things. Lately, I've been using a pocket knife. It is still a challenge to make sure I don't cut the product or my fingers. Even after you cut a huge opening, you still can't pry it open the rest of the way, the plastic is too hard to rip. Once the package is open, you are just as likely to slice open your fingers with the sharp plastic edges you just created.

That really bursts my bubble.

Movie Reviews

I am annoyed by movie reviews. They are written on the premise: tell as much about the movie as possible, without saying the one thing that happens in the climactic scene.

So a typical review will say "This is a film about coming of age in a small town. It features lush cinematography, a great performance by Gwenyth Paltrow, and takes the philosophical stance that it is better to leave home for the unknown than to stay and never know what could have happened. Young Lily graduates high school while her mother cares for her dying father. She falls for a friend who is leaving for the big city in the Fall. It all builds to her needing to make a decision one way or the other."

So now I am supposed to pay $9 to see the one scene at the end of the movie that the review didn't tell me?

And I hate reviews that give away the philosophical premise or statement of a film. "This movie is an allegory that takes a stand in favor of assisted suicide". Great, now there's one other thing I don't need to worry about figuring out. In fact, I would have preferred you told me the whole plot and left out the interpretation altogether.

That really pops my corn.

Software License Agreements

I really hate the way software license agreements, website privacy policies, etc. are presented in an intentionally dubious way. One of my biggest pet peeves is when these agreements are presented on websites in a teeny-tiny box. You can only read a few lines at a time and the whole document is hundreds of lines long.

Why not make the box bigger? Why not provide a downloaded text file? Because then, people could ACTUALLY READ the policy and MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION.

My other problem is that they are filled with legalese and nonsense. My eyes glaze over whenever I read one.

That really disagrees with me.

Two Annoying Things about Vonage

After using Vonage for a few months now, I've become aware of two annoying things that they make no mention of when you sign up for the service.

1) Other people will not be able to identify you when you call. Your phone# comes up, but caller ID is for "Unknown Caller"

2) You must keep track of some other phone# in order to check your voicemail from outside your home. You can't call your phone# and then punch a code in to activate your voicemail. You dial this other phone# and then type in your phone#. It's really rather lame.

Vonage should have been more upfront about these items. They try to tell you that they are just like all other phone services, but they are not. And the fact that they don't provide access to information about their differences is underhanded.

That really pushes my buttons!

Rant with a Silver Lining

Today I experience the classic example of why stores should use queues instead of individual lines. I was 3rd in line at the only open register at Bed, Bath & Beyond. A few folks filled in the line behind me. One of the employees noticed that the line was getting large, so she opened up a new register and called out "I can help the next person in line." The woman in front of me moved over to the new register. I should have moved over, but I didn't. It was only after it was too late that I noticed that the person being helped in front of me was purchasing 28 items, some of them were not scanning properly, and the kid running the register must have been no older than 12 (maybe an exageration). So I moved over to the other line, but by that point, I was now behind several people.

Here is the silver lining. The gentleman about to be served at the second register noticed that I had moved over and also realized that I should be next one served. He offered for me to go ahead of him. (FYI, I was only buying 2 items). Most people don't do the right thing, as this man had done.

Some stores are getting it right: Best Buy and Borders are two that pop into mind. However, not only do most stores get it wrong, but I would say that at least 30% of the time I shop at a non-queued store I end up being pissed off when I wait much longer than somebody who got into line after me, but at another register.

That is really out of line!

Voice Mail Systems

I have three phone systems to deal with: cell phone, home phone, and work phone. Each one has a voice mail system that uses completely different commands to operate. It drives me nuts.

To enter into voicemail on my home phone, I must hit * while my message is playing. My message is short, "I'm not home, leave a message," so I have to act quick. Otherwise, I have to hang-up and recall my home phone. If the next time you call me I have a 30 second greeting, I apologize. It's because of my voicemail system.

To enter into voicemail on my work phone, I must hit **. A single * exits the system. WTF? Then, to access my voicemail, I must enter my extension# and then my pin code. I have to enter my extension even if I direct-dialed my office.

And that is just to get into voice mail. Each system has a different command structure to access/replay/delete messages.

There is a solution, a simple one, even at that. There must be a standard. It's the only way. There are examples everywhere of standards being the key to survival... HDTV, next generation CD/DVD... well those are bad examples because there are competing standards fighting to be chosen. But look at USB computer interfaces, web pages (HTML, CSS), etc.

That really pushes my buttons.

Home Owners Associations

I recently moved into my first home and, as such, I am experiencing the joys of dealing with an HOA for the first time. Actually, overall, my HOA seems to be doing a lot of good things for the community. Despite that, the fees seem to be a bit too high.

The thing that irritates me the most about HOA's, condo associations, etc, is that they dictate such silly little details about the appearance of your house. Now, my neighbor routinely leaves empty soda cans and other pieces of litter on his front lawn. So what? The thing that REALLY pisses them off is that my backyard fence is the wrong SHADE of brown. See picture below. The color on the left is the old and "bad" shade of brown. The new "proper" color is on the right.

That really peels my paint.

Blockbuster Rewards

We signed up for this rewards program at Blockbuster. Basically, it costs $20 and you get a free rental each month for a year. This seems like a good deal on paper. Of course, there are several obvious catches to this. For example, most people are not organized enough to remember to rent the free movie each month so they just throw money away.

The biggest outrage with this scam is the coupon. You have to bring in a silly piece of paper to get your free rental. First of all, there is no reason they can not keep track of this on the computer. The only reason for the coupon is (a) if you forget the coupon, you will probably still pay for the video since you went to all the trouble to drive to the store and pick it out (b) there is a good chance you will lose the coupon (c) they can make it very difficult for you to get the coupon in the first place.

Regarding (c), you might think that they give you a stack of 12 coupons when you sign up. No no. You have to go to the store each month to get the coupon for the next month. The worst experience of all was the last time I went to the store. The guy said they don’t have the coupon, I need to go to “the website”. So I go to Blockbuster.com and nowhere is there any indication as to how I get the coupon. I sent an e-mail to their support, and got a form letter that says I can expect a response in 3-5 business days.

After all that, if they expect me to “be kind and rewind” they have another thing coming.

This whole thing really blocks my buster.

Random Rant

This morning I stopped into the local 7-11 for some coffee on my way into work (~8:30am). There was a woman dressed in a crossing guard uniform buying a six-pack of Natural Light beer. She was paying by check (you can do that in a 7-11?). I am not sure why but...

That really makes me cross.

Car Wash Expiration Dates

Our local Exxon has one of those automatic car washes. There are two things that really tick me off about this car wash.

1. It is very slow, about 8 minutes per car. So if there are 6-7 people in line (not unusual for a nice day), you better have something to read because you will be in that line for the better part of an hour. Note, this does not go over too well with the kids if they happen to be with you. The annoying part is that it is designed in such a way that there is a long pull-through, so by the time you realize what is happening it is already too late. I guess you can try backing all the way out of the impossibly serpentine entry-way (if there's no one behind you). If you prefer a forward egress, good news - they give you a little escape pull-out just before you get to the front of the line. However, this is just to tease you, since you've already waited 45 minutes to get there so there's no way you're pulling out at that point.

2. The bigger problem is that there is about a 7 day expiration date on the receipt. My experience is that the car wash is "out of order" about 20% of the time. (Note, they will still sell you the car wash at the pump even when it is currently out of order). So now you have 7 days to get back to that car wash or you lose your $5-$10. There is no reason for this expiration date, other than to steal your money. If they want to have it expire after 6 months, fine. But 7 days? And usually when it's broken, it takes them a few days to fix it. So you come back 2 or 3 days in a row, then you give up and throw out the receipt - figuring it will expire by the time you come back and it is fixed. Meanwhile, you're driving around with chunks of mud on your windshield; you will not clean them by hand, just on principle. One time I went in and asked for my money back. The guy says "oh don't worry about the expiration date. It should still work". Now I'm really annoyed. First of all, I'm not waiting 45 minutes in line to find out whether or not this guy is clueless. Second, this just proves that the (meaningless) expiration date is a fiendish plot to have you throw out the ticket without getting the wash.

The whole thing really bursts my bubble.

Hidden Fees

I recently had a tight cash flow situation, so asked our HR person about taking a loan from my 401(k). She said no problem, there are no fees or anything. I was surprised, and asked again if there are definitely no fees. She said yes.

Then I take out the loan and there is an $85 administrative fee. Not only that, I find out that it's an ANNUAL fee for having a loan. This is an outrage. First of all, none of the papers I filled out said anything at all about an administrative fee. Second, this is a huge fee. That means if someone take a $1000 loan, they are paying 8.5% just for the fee! Tack on the 6% interest, and you are paying 14.5%! You might as well put it on your credit card!

It should be illegal for companies to tack on these hidden fees. But they get away with it because everyone just pays the fee and probably doesn't even notice it. You can only find it (in this case) if you dig deep into the transaction ledger of your account.

So I decided not even to cash the check when I heard about this outrageous fee. Problem is, they decided to deduct the money from my account, even though I didn't cash the check. Three months later, I finally got the money credited back (but not the investment gains I lost) and I'm still down the $85 admin fee for a check I didn't cash. And then I find out it's illegal for my own company to give me back the $85 because that would be discrimination against people who didn't get their fees refunded.

The name of the company is DailyAccess (http://www.dailyaccess.com). Pass along to anyone considering them as a 401(k) provider that they are a disgrace.