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

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

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

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

Every now and then it’s worth spending the time to “unsubscribe” to many of the newsletters and promotional mailings that arrive in your inbox. I must have devoted more than an hour unsubscribing to an assortment of things the other day. Do I really need to hear about deals to Portland, Oregon from TripAdvisor when I have not had plans to go there for 3 or 4 years now?

What surprised me is how difficult some companies make it to opt out. A few require that you sign in before you’re able to get off the mailing list. That’s ridiculous. Some ask if you’re sure about your request to unsubscribe – maybe you’re having second thoughts. Read more