Me vs. NetSol

Learning valuable lessons really suck sometimes. Last evening I received an e-mail from Network Solutions stating that I would not receive a refund, as I was told, for the $12 Web Forwarding service I blogged about on Sunday. Since I had to get up very early today, I didn't want to get into all the major specifics, so I sent them a quick reply asking for my money because their provided service shutdown all my websites.

I receive an e-mail this afternoon instructing me to call them. I didn't feel like dealing with it, but I felt I had the moxie to take care of it. I call and I get a fella named Frank who, after looking at my file apologetically tells me that I will not be able to receive a refund as it supposedly states in their Terms of Service. Whatever! Who reads the Terms of Service anyway, right?

I asked to speak with a supervisor and he said, "If I knew it would make a difference you would be on with him right now. He would tell you the same thing but be more blunt." He follows it with, "That's how Network Solutions does it." WHAT!?! I thought it was a great quote that made me laugh inside, but I was supposed to be a disgruntled customer so I didn't give any indication of my delight.

After ten minutes, I hung up the phone with Network Solutions without my refund. Frank the consummate salesman that he is, made me think about switching my web hosting over to Network Solutions. While I would receive 2GB more disk space, there are currently more benefits with Yahoo!.

So, let me leave you with this valuable lesson. When you purchase services over the Internet, be aware that you may not receive a refund regardless if you use them or not.

Popeye's Chicken & Rapists

This evening my Mom and I went to Popeye's Chicken & Biscuits, which just opened in our area, to pick up dinner following our visit to Best Buy. We ordered and stood to the side staring at the menu when my Mom started adding menu items up in her head. She discovered that it would be cheaper to purchase separately what we purchased as a meal.

We ordered the 8-piece mixed chicken meal, which includes one large side and four biscuits for $16.49. Looking at the cost of everything separately:

$9.99 - 8-piece mixed chicken
$3.69 - large side
$2.36 - four biscuits @ $0.59 each

The total when buying everything separately comes to $16.04. That's a $0.45 difference! So far, Popeye's Chicken & Biscuits raped us of $0.90. Call the local news and your congressman to inform them of Popeye's egregious behavior.