Diamond Certified Blog

As I told you last week, I was frustrated and puzzled when a contractor didn’t provide an estimate after visiting my property and promising to send over a bid. While waiting, I started wondering if some companies do this because they simply don’t want your job for one reason or another. That I understand, but just tell me that and I will stop bugging you! Maybe the job is too small or too far away, or they sense that you’ll be a difficult customer. Maybe the company is too busy, but just tell me that.

In this case, the reason for the delay was something else. The company owner had some serious family issues that had distracted him from the business. Read more

Most anyone in the Bay Area can commiserate with me when I say I’m frustrated with service people who don’t return phone calls, and even worse, service companies that promise an estimate and then don’t bother to produce one.

I’m trying to get a couple of projects done around the house — a small area in my backyard needs to be landscaped and I want to remodel a bathroom. For the landscaping, I’m trying a few estimates and I’m shocked that some companies don’t return messages. You keep hearing how tough the economy is, and how people are looking for work, so why not call an eager customer back? I have money and want to spend it! Read more

I LOVE the seasonal tips from Diamond Certified company owners like this one.

Craig Kozy, owner of DeMartini Orchard, a Diamond Certified company, has lots to say about squash, and pumpkins in particular. Did you know that some are better for making puree for soup or pumpkin pie than others? The best ones are “Wisconsin Cheese” pumpkins or “Sugar Pie” pumpkins with the speckled skin. These are marketed later than your jack-o-lantern pumpkins. Seeds from all types of pumpkins and squashes can be roasted for a tasty snack.

Hard squash come in a number of varieties: kabocha (good for soup), carnival, butternut, spaghetti, Danish, acorn, gold nugget, to name a few. Read more

My husband’s 2008 Honda CRV has only gone in for an oil change twice since he’s owned it. It now has 30-some thousand miles on it. I keep bugging him to get an oil change, but he says the manufacturer suggests waiting until the oil indicator light goes on. That light rarely goes on. That happens about every 12-15,000 miles. My dad drilled into me that you get an oil change about every 5,000 miles at least.

To settle our disagreement, I decided to find out what one of the Diamond Certified auto repair experts thinks about that. Richard Cordes, owner of European Sales and Service, Inc., a Diamond Certified company, says it’s a mistake to wait that long. Read more

Here’s How I Did It.

How often do you hear about kitchen remodels costing less than someone expected? Maybe never?

I can proudly say that I came in $15,000 under budget. For one thing, my starting budget was realistic. For another, I hired a contractor who understood my goals and objectives, and we had excellent communication.

Here are some other key things that helped me manage costs:

1) I set up a separate checking account for the kitchen project so I could keep track of the money I was spending every step of the way.
2) Whenever possible, I reused existing materials. For example, the contractor re-installed my old disposer and molding. Read more

What inspired my blog entry today was Seth Godin’s (marketing expert/guru) blog to businesses about “choosing your customers.” He makes the point that savvy businesses get to choose their customers, not the other way around. They choose them with their pricing, content, promotion, outreach and product line.

Well, both sides can take the same approach. Savvy consumers get to choose their service providers, not the other way around. When choosing, ask yourself:

How much do I need this type of business?

How difficult is this sort of business to find?

How valuable is a relationship with this particular business?

Does the business make it easy for me to deal with them? Read more

A few months back, I told you about how frustrated I was when I had to wait nearly 90 minutes for a routine blood test. One lab tech attempted to provide service to a room full of people. I complained to corporate headquarters, pointing out that it was both a customer service AND a safety issue, not having enough staff on-hand. They responded quickly saying they were working on making improvements to that location. I promised to report back to you on whether they did.

Last week, I returned for another routine lab test. This time I’m happy to report that I had an entirely different experience. I had not one, but THREE people all pitching in to register me and draw blood. Read more

When you don’t pay attention, you can get burned, especially when you’re rushing around and/or in a new environment.

While visiting New York City, I ran out to the store to buy pasta ingredients. The pine nuts I threw into my cart were for a salad I never made. As I checked out, another shopper started talking to me about how to know when cut flowers are fresh. I rushed out and never gave a second thought to why my bill for everything came to more than $80.

It wasn’t until I was balancing my checkbook on the plane home, and reviewing receipts, that I found the error. The store had charged me $23.99 for a small package of pine nuts that should have been $3.99. Read more

When I was out to dinner a couple of weeks ago at Carmel Valley Ranch, I literally thought about fastening my seat belt. The service was so uneven I felt like I was riding a roller coaster. I was duly impressed when the waiter offered me a black napkin, rather than a white one, because I was wearing black pants. Things got off to a good start. But then we sat there without any attention for the next 30 minutes. No waiter in sight. It started getting real uncomfortable and annoying. After the drink orders were finally taken, another 20 minutes go by. My dinner partner saw the drinks on the bar, and went to get them herself. Read more

I will always remember the first time I wrote a consumer complaint letter. It was an empowering experience.

During college, I was making Toll House chocolate chip cookies with an electric portable hand mixer. While mixing all that butter and flour, which strained the motor, the appliance started smoking and conked out. I thought that the mixer should be strong enough to handle something as simple as chocolate cookie batter.

Disgusted, I sat down and wrote a complaint letter to the manufacturer. I explained what I had done, what I expected from the product, and expressed by frustration and disappointment. The letter ended with my request for a replacement unit, so that I could continue to “impress my friends with my fantastic cookie-baking skills.” How could any college student live without freshly baked cookies? Read more