I had some notion that there was a reason for them blathering on in the voicemail, though my Earthlink account is worse than my cell account.
blog post: Wasting your cell phone minutes
Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Good Corp, Bad Corp
(deleted expletive). That's my feelings about Conexis, a company handling UCSF flex-spending accounts (pre-tax benefits for health care and child care).
From a Walgreen's drugstore receipt, you can see the annotations next to items reimbursable via a flex account. More stuff than I imagined -- contact lens solution, aspirin. So I get a letter from Conexis: AUDIT -- they want my receipts to prove what the money was spent on. I was worried about all those little Walgreen items, but never fear, they don't care about those small potatoes. They want the receipt for the BIG item -- CONTACT LENSES, which is the reason I opened the account in the first place. Never mind that the audit page says the the money went to an OPTOMETRY OFFICE -- a reimbursable expense. They want my receipt and are threatening to cancel the credit card if I can't produce it. Oh sure, I know they say to keep all receipts, but it seems a little suspicious that they're asking me to produce a receipt, and threatening cancellation about it, when the item on their very audit print-out says it's to an optometry clinic. (and this is my own money anyway -- set aside ahead of time for health care expenses). (deleted expletive).
An the other hand -- GOOD COMPANY -- while at Walgreens I picked up some hair conditioner, in part because there was a tag on it that says "this bottle FREE -- just send in tag for rebate." I sent in the tag, and wow -- before the bottle is even half-empty, I am reimbursed for the product. Organix hair conditioner. Smells good too !
From a Walgreen's drugstore receipt, you can see the annotations next to items reimbursable via a flex account. More stuff than I imagined -- contact lens solution, aspirin. So I get a letter from Conexis: AUDIT -- they want my receipts to prove what the money was spent on. I was worried about all those little Walgreen items, but never fear, they don't care about those small potatoes. They want the receipt for the BIG item -- CONTACT LENSES, which is the reason I opened the account in the first place. Never mind that the audit page says the the money went to an OPTOMETRY OFFICE -- a reimbursable expense. They want my receipt and are threatening to cancel the credit card if I can't produce it. Oh sure, I know they say to keep all receipts, but it seems a little suspicious that they're asking me to produce a receipt, and threatening cancellation about it, when the item on their very audit print-out says it's to an optometry clinic. (and this is my own money anyway -- set aside ahead of time for health care expenses). (deleted expletive).
An the other hand -- GOOD COMPANY -- while at Walgreens I picked up some hair conditioner, in part because there was a tag on it that says "this bottle FREE -- just send in tag for rebate." I sent in the tag, and wow -- before the bottle is even half-empty, I am reimbursed for the product. Organix hair conditioner. Smells good too !
Saturday, April 11, 2009
San Francisco Taxi Medallions
Outside of drug dealers sweeping into town from Richmond or Oakland, taxi drivers are the next rudest class of drivers in San Francisco.
Part of this is the fault of the city, and its medallion policy. From what I understand, possessing a taxi medallion theoretically is proof that one is suitable for operating a cab. However, the way the system works is that medallion holders actually rent their cabs out to other drivers, who may have no qualifications.
Instead of the city making money by charging a larger number of drivers to get qualifications, a limited number of medallions are issued, and the medallion holders make money renting to unqualified drivers. What's wrong with this picture? Well, riders and visitors to the fair city are putting their lives into the hands of questionable characters, and people walking or riding bicycles on the streets are subject to idiot drivers who are either rushing off to find a new fare, assuming their passenger wants to get somewhere in a hurry, swerving around making U-turns in congested areas, or sitting in the bike lane waiting for a fare or dropping one off.
This is an easily fixed problem. Make every driver get qualified and responsible for their actions. Let the city make the money instead of the taxi-lords.
Part of this is the fault of the city, and its medallion policy. From what I understand, possessing a taxi medallion theoretically is proof that one is suitable for operating a cab. However, the way the system works is that medallion holders actually rent their cabs out to other drivers, who may have no qualifications.
Instead of the city making money by charging a larger number of drivers to get qualifications, a limited number of medallions are issued, and the medallion holders make money renting to unqualified drivers. What's wrong with this picture? Well, riders and visitors to the fair city are putting their lives into the hands of questionable characters, and people walking or riding bicycles on the streets are subject to idiot drivers who are either rushing off to find a new fare, assuming their passenger wants to get somewhere in a hurry, swerving around making U-turns in congested areas, or sitting in the bike lane waiting for a fare or dropping one off.
This is an easily fixed problem. Make every driver get qualified and responsible for their actions. Let the city make the money instead of the taxi-lords.
Bed Bath & Beyond
Today in Bed Bath & Beyond, I experienced the major omen of bad management: not one but TWO sales associates who offered to help, but were actually useless in the help they offered. I was looking for a specific type of shower curtain. The first clerk gave me broadly sweeping directions -- oh, there are more around the corner. The second clerk gave me a blatant misdirection, "everything we have *should* be hanging up on display."
After looking through everything hanging on display around the section, I was about ready to give up, then noticed, second time through, that there were other shower curtains on the shelves that WEREN'T part of the display.
I had faith that the shower curtain I was looking for was probably available. That makes TWO sales associates that BB&Beyond is wasting money paying to wander around the store.
Reminds me of something I read this morning about CompUSA -- another company that was rife with sales help running around the store too busy to actually assist customers (it always seemed they were running in some official "pack" on business, or headed off to their break). They deserved to go out of business.
After looking through everything hanging on display around the section, I was about ready to give up, then noticed, second time through, that there were other shower curtains on the shelves that WEREN'T part of the display.
I had faith that the shower curtain I was looking for was probably available. That makes TWO sales associates that BB&Beyond is wasting money paying to wander around the store.
Reminds me of something I read this morning about CompUSA -- another company that was rife with sales help running around the store too busy to actually assist customers (it always seemed they were running in some official "pack" on business, or headed off to their break). They deserved to go out of business.
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