Samsung Online Orders

My husband gave me a new Samsung Galaxy Tablet for Christmas. Because I have a desktop computer, two laptops and an Android Smartphone, I had never thought about a tablet, but I love it! I can read magazines at a whim, play games when I have a few minutes to kill, and a million other things that are just more fun on the larger-than-mobile screen. And, a new tablet calls for new accessories. I needed a cover to protect my new tablet.

Since I'm 40 minutes away from the closest big city where I can do some real shopping, my routine shopping is done at a handful of local shops or at Wal-Mart.  The electronic accessories were pretty picked over at Wal-Mart right after Christmas and I couldn't find anything for my new tablet. I was out of luck.  I stopped at Staples and a Verizon store and still nothing, which led me to the Samsung website to shop for a new cover online.


My husband and I were in the car driving to Home Depot about 20 minutes away, so I jumped on my tablet and went to the Samsung website where I found the cover and placed my order. I chose not to click the box "allowing Samsung to keep me informed via email about new products" and proceeded to finalize my order but I got an "Invalid Credit Card" error. I re-entered the number and got the error again. My husband told me this had happened to him on another site before and he suggested I use another card. Same problem again. Something told me to check the box allowing Samsung to keep me informed . . . and guess what? My order went right through! We had just arrived at Home Depot, which means it took me 20 minutes to place an order that should have been a quick and simple process.


Since they had what I needed and their website was easy to shop, I'll give them the benefit of doubt that the check box may be glitching. But, be forewarned if you head to http://www.samsung.com to shop, the pricing on their website is laid out in such a way that their "Savings" is easily misinterpreted as the Sale Price instead, which made me question the price and have to return to the product page when trying to checkout. Sadly, I'm certain that was intentional.

If the check box is not a glitch and is instead a black-hat practice, it's shameful because worse than bad customer service is intentional deceit.

Final Word:  Beware

Krispy Kreme, Chattanooga, TN: Really?

I'm not a big sweets eater, but lately I've been jones-ing for donuts.  So when I passed a Krispy Kreme store while in Chattanooga, TN a few days ago, I couldn't resist.  The night before I watched a rerun of Duck Dynasty where Jase, Jep, Si and Godwin had a donut eating contest and Si won the $80 prize by eating 34 warm donuts.  As I waited in the long drive-through line at Krispy Kreme, I wondered if the donuts would be warm, then I thought of course they'll be warm. They're made here! Plus, it was just after 6:00 pm when their official Hot Light Hours began.


I was the 6th car in the drive-through line and it took over 10 minutes to make it to the window to get my box of 4 donuts -- two original glazed and two chocolate iced.  I could hardly wait to open the box and taste the warm ooziness of those donuts because I know they really do melt in your mouth when they're warm.  And when I opened the box, what did I find?  COLD DONUTS! Seriously??!!


How can a donut bakery actually serve cold donuts to the customers who drive to their location and wait in long lines that circle the building?  How stupid was I thinking that they would be serving warm donuts during their Hot Light Hours? I could have gotten these at the corner gas station.

All I can say is, Krispy Kreme, if your Hot Light sign is on, you need to be serving hot donuts!  It's that simple. Or, at least alert your naive customers that they're not getting fresh, warm donuts even though the Hot Light sign is on and they're at the location where baking apparently occurs.  And, by the way, I would gladly pay $2 for a warm donut but I'm not paying another dollar for a cold one.

Krispy Kreme Donuts, 5609 Brainerd Road, Chattanooga, TN.

Joy Report Rating: Really?

Porter's Steakhouse, Chattanooga TN: Really?

My husband had to work in Chattanooga, TN on Christmas morning, so I decided to meet him in town and have Christmas dinner with him.  I discovered that Porter's Steakhouse would be open on Christmas day so I called earlier in the week and made a reservation for 2:00 pm.  A nice guy named Eric made my reservation, then called me back moments later to ask if we could move it from 2:00 to 2:30 pm, which was fine for my schedule.  I was impressed with the call back -- sounded like they may have a full house for Christmas day.

Porter's On Broad Street

My husband and I had heard that Porter's was a great steakhouse.  It's located downtown on Broad Street in the business district and weekdays see many local business leaders lunching and dining there.

We arrived early, at 2:00 with plans to share a drink at the bar until our table was ready.  When we arrived, the restaurant was nearly empty, with only 3 or 4 tables occupied.  We walked into the lobby and the waiter behind the bar greeted us and asked us to wait until he finished up.  We told him we had a 2:30 reservation but we were early and he grabbed a couple of menus and said that was no problem, he could go ahead and seat us.

Porter's Main Dining Room

The restaurant was nice and at the tables that were occupied were a family of six, a mid-30s man with his parents, and two other couples.

The bartender/waiter arrived at our table to take our order before we had time to really look at the menu.  We ordered Gin Gimlets and crab cakes to start, then settled on rib eye steaks for our main course.  The Gimlets arrived in martini glasses and were so strong that I had to request a splash of tonic water and a glass of ice to make it palatable.  The bartender/waiter brought me a glass of ice and left me to transfer the martini-glass full of Gimlet to the ice glass, which of course made a mess all over the white tablecloth as I suspected it would.  When the waiter came to clear our salad plates, he removed my salad fork from the plate and placed it back on the table.  I picked it up and gave it back to him and asked for a clean fork for my dinner.  He looked at me as if he was thinking, 'Seriously?!'  As we set there waiting for our meal, I noticed that there appeared to be only 3 waiters taking care of the 5 or 6 tables.

The man at the table beside us got up from his chair and asked his father to ask the waiter -- when he came by -- to see the dessert tray.  When the man returned 10 minutes later, his father said, "No one has come by to ask us about dessert . . . "

A Second Try

I had ordered my steak medium well (yeah, yeah, I know . . . but I like it that way) and my husband ordered his medium rare.  They apparently switched them on us because mine was more rare than my husband's and I had to send it back to the grill.  When a different waiter returned the steak to me -- a little on the charred side -- he didn't notice that I had no utensils and I didn't realize it until he had walked away.  At this point I'm getting a little frustrated so I decided to see how long it would take for someone to ask me how things were or if I needed a fork and knife.  I sat quietly without touching my plate while waiter #1 walked by me twice; waiter #2 (wearing a name tag that read Lacy) walked by me 3 times; and a bus-person walked by clearing the tables around us.  Though both waiters glanced in my direction, they didn't offer assistance or ask why I wasn't eating.  Finally, I flagged down Lacy and asked for a knife, which he had the bus-person deliver to me.

Fatty Remains of Cliff's Steak

I ate my steak and became increasingly frustrated with every bite.  After we both finished our meals, Lacy stopped back by and asked, "Is that a Gimlet?  Are they good?"  My response:  "Not here, they aren't."  That prompted him to ask how our meal was.  My husband chimed in at that point to let Lacy know what a disappointment our experience had been.  Lacy knelt down beside our chairs and glanced at the bar several times. He explained that they had no bartender on duty -- it was the manager making drinks and he wasn't trained to do so.  He then told us how the restaurant was to have been closed on Christmas day so most of the staff had made other plans, then at the last minute the restaurant decided to stay open but most of the staff who were scheduled to work didn't show up which left them short handed.  Despite the fact that Lacy had no business telling us that information, I appreciated that he
was trying to help me understand their predicament.  I told him they should have closed instead of under-performing and leaving customers frustrated and unhappy.

Lacy offered to cover our meal and we declined, saying that it wasn't necessary.  He checked with the bartender/waiter/manager and returned to tell us that there would be no charge for our meal. They insisted.  With drinks, appetizers and dinner, our bill would have been close to $200 but instead it was lost revenue and potentially lost future business.  Only because of Lacy's attention will we give Porter's another try, though definitely not on a holiday.  I have to wonder, will Lacy's name tag still ready "Lacy" or will the hostess at the front desk be wearing it?

Porter's Steakhouse, 827 Broad Street, Chattanooga, TN.   Joy Reports Rating:  Really?

Taco Bell, Chattanooga, TN: Really?

On December 30th I had to drive from Scottsboro, AL to Chattanooga, TN for end of year doctor's appointments.  I worked all morning and as usual was in a rush to head out the door to Chattanooga, so I planned to grab lunch on the road.  It's an hour-and-a-half drive to Chattanooga and I wasn't in any hurry to eat.  After a time change from Central to Eastern time zone an hour into my drive, I decided to pull off at a Taco Bell.  (And, yes, I have been eating entirely too much fast food!)

Taco Bell #029051

I went through the drive through at the Taco Bell #029051 at 3715 Modern Industries Parkway in Chattanooga, next to an industrial park with lots of offices and warehouses.  It was 2:34 according to my receipt.  I ordered a Chicken Cantina Bowl, which has been a good choice at my local Taco Bell in Scottsboro in the past.  When I opened the lid, I realized that it wasn't a good choice at this location.  The romaine lettuce in the Cantina Bowl was old, in various shades of red and brown, and where it had been cut along the spine, the inside of the spine was dry and hollow.  Nummy . . . that was really appetizing.

I picked around and finally decided to just remove all the lettuce.

I had ordered a small cup of ice to add to the iced tea that I brought from home, which made a perfect container for the lettuce -- it filled half the cup.  Yuck.  I picked around and ate a few bites of the rice, beans and corn, then decided to call it done.

Instead of taking the half-eaten Cantina Bowl and cup of rotting lettuce to the counter and asking for my money back, I just tossed that $5.23 in the trash and kept going on my way.  This isn't what I recommend.  We all need to take the time to stand up and let the business manager know -- and see -- the quality of their product.

I did take the quality survey advertised on my receipt and told Taco Bell about my experience.  To date, I haven't heard anything from them.  That's not a good sign. I expected more but, as usual, received less than I had hoped.



Taco Bell #029051
3715 Modern Industries Parkway, Chattanooga, TN

Joy Reports Rating: Really?

TailorByrd Men's Sport Shirts: Love It!

My husband loves shopping at Costco. Every Thursday when he leaves Chattanooga heading for our lake house in Alabama, he stops at the Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia Costco to pick up necessities and whatever else grabs his attention. Two weeks ago he came home with a new sports shirt that I glanced at but, as usual, I was probably distracted and didn't really pay attention. Last week, he bought two more shirts because, he said, "Even though I don't usually wear stripes and plaids, these are really great shirts!"

  

Because my husband usually pays upwards of $100 each for his dress shirts, this time I looked more closely and discovered that these really are great shirts!  The brand is TailorByrd, whose tagline is "Amazing Fit. Effortless Style. Endless Compliments." The shirts are made of beautiful cotton in gorgeous saturated colors and prints, contrasting inside collar and cuffs, embroidered logo on the inside yoke and the bottom of the placket, and so meticulously stitched that it would be fine to wear it inside out.

I had never heard of TailorByrd so I found their website at www.TailorByrd.com.  The Byrd Evolution page talks about the quality of their shirts, and they feature four different collar options (spread, button-down, hidden button-down and modern button-down) plus big and tall Sports Shirts priced from $79 to $99.  Which makes the Costco price for this shirt utterly ridiculous:  $12.97.  No, I'm not joking!
     
  

I called my local Huntsville, AL Costco and they aren't carrying them, or they're already sold out.  But, I called the Fort Oglethorpe Costco where my husband bought these shirts and a customer service employee, Lisa, told me that they have 300 of them in stock at Fort Oglethorp, as did all the stores she checked in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina . . . She said the stores that don't have them have probably just sold out.

Because these shirts have embroidered logos instead of sewn-in tags, I asked Lisa if these were a special order by Costco but she didn't know.  Regardless, these shirts would be a great buy at $59, but at $12.97 they're a steal!

If you're a man who wears stylish dress shirts (or sports shirts as they officially call these), or you're a woman who knows a man who does, get yourself to Costco and grab some of these TailorByrds.

TailorByrd Sport Shirts Classic Fit at Costco.
Joy Reports Rating: Love It!

Discount Home Furnishings.com: Love It!

I've been shopping forever for new hardware for my kitchen and bathroom cabinets but at $5 to $6 per handle, I just haven't wanted to pay that much.  One day last week I decided to check Ebay for hardware and I found several options that I liked -- all from the same vendor -- and the price was half what I would have paid at my local Home Depot or Lowes.

The vendor is Discount Home Furnishings out of Springfield, Kentucky. Their website is discounthomefurnishings.com.  After spending a couple of hours browsing their website, I finally placed my order for 44 handles for my kitchen, plus 10 knobs in one design for my master bath, and 10 knobs in another design for my guest bath.  Because the price for these handles and knobs averaged under $2 each instead of $5 or $6, I hoped that I wasn't going to receive some small scale, light weight version that wouldn't be worth even $2 -- but I decided to take the chance.

     

Good Morning January 1st - Scottsboro, AL

There's something about January 1st of every year that makes me excited.  It's not that it was my mother's birthday or that it's a day off work, but the perception of a fresh start, of new opportunities, of good things to come in the next 364 days that follow.  But why doesn't every day feel like January 1st?  Why can't we wake up every morning with the same anticipation and motivation that we do on the first day of a new year?

The weather on January 1st doesn't seem to change our point of view.  Even though the day arrives in Winter and it may bring bitter cold, snow, rain or wind that could otherwise make many want to stay in bed with the covers pulled tight, even a dreary January 1st brings butterflies to our stomachs and an eagerness to get out and do something interesting and to make the most of the day. And even if we don't act on that motivation, but instead stay inside watching old movies or doing nothing productive, it's still okay because this is the start of a brand new year and tomorrow is a new day.  Or, we can veg until Monday when it's the start of a brand new week in a brand new year -- that's when it all matters most anyway, right?  Perception is a funny thing.

I don't usually make New Year's resolutions, but this year I have.  I resolve to perceive every day as a fresh start and a new opportunity and to keep my January 1st butterflies alive and kicking every day.

Happy January 1st everyone!  Make a point. Make a difference. Make it good!