Consumer email

To: Madwand@madwand.org
Subject: First Union Banks and Sleepy's "The Mattress Professionals"
From: Joel Voos <joelvoos@yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, 1 Dec 2003 05:03:22 -0800 (PST)

Dear Madwand,

First of all, I would like to tell that I deeply respect you, and your website. I think that your helping innocent consumers from losers like Priceline and Motel 6.

Recently, I have seen Sleepy's on the News and I was reminded about this while looking at The "S" section in the Complaint Station's website (Which is very helpful also!!). They show up really late, with your purchase(s), they are in bad shape. Sleepy's has proved to be a whole bunch of losers, and have total disregard for their customers.

Also First Union Banks has proven that they have crappy service and screwed up customer care also. I forget where I read this but when people would have a problem if they weren't wealthy they could just forget service all together.

I only wish that all businesses could have the customer care that Chili's Restaurants have. They are always so nice and if you do have a complaint, (which I never did), they contact you and it actually is settled ASAP!! I know this because someone that I know had a problem with the bathroom being dirty when she got the manager he handed her a $5.00 gift certificate and got the cleaning dude out there right away.

THANK YOU SO VERY VERY VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME!!! HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND PLEASE KEEP UP THE FANTASTIC GREAT WORK!!

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To: Greg1 <gpakis@gte.net>
Subject: Re: Motel 6
From: MADwand@MADwand.org
Date: Fri, 20 Aug 2004 18:30:12 -0500

>Motel 6 doesn't stink.

Many people, as evidenced by the very few who manage to find my site and report, would disagree with you.

>I've stayed in many of them in many states for
>many years and I can say that the hotel chain offers a great value.
>It's saved me a lot of money and given me more reasons for overnight
>travel.

You have been lucky.

>You're slandering them really doesn't serve any purpose.

Reporting factual data is not slander. If it were, they would have busted me long ago. And the term you are trying to use is libel. Slander is oral, not written.

>If you
>want more in an overnight stay, then pay more money - it's very simple.

It's also simple to force retailers to give me what I paid for. The disgusting conditions related in my site's stories are clearly unacceptable for a national chain and the prices they charge, this is not supposed to be a "rent by the half hour" place.

>It's easy to be a complainer -

Which is exactly what you are doing.

>many Americans are and they don't realize
>how good life is here vs about 80% of the rest of the world.

I would expect the conditions related in my site in third world countries, not in the US.

>I suggest you remove your message and quit slandering a company that
>provides a decent product.

Why would anyone accept "decent" when they should be given better? Thanks for contributing to my site.

To: Greg1 <gpakis@gte.net>
Subject: Re: Motel 6
From: MADwand@MADwand.org
Date: Fri, 20 Aug 2004 19:45:50 -0500

>1. Your site can easily be found since it comes up under the official site, so it's
>not hard to find. Many wouldn't agree - especially the ones who haven't had the
>problems you have had, which, of course, is the majority, by far. If it weren't, the
>company wouldn't still be solvent.

Not sure where on their site you think you found a link to mine, but as far as I know, they do not have one, especially in light of the fact that it would not be in their interest to show negative opinions of their company. In your effort to be argumentative, you have missed the point that of the many people who are dissatisfied, very few make it to my site and actually complain to me. There are far more who are dissatisfied than I represent, as I am sure there are far more who are satisfied as well. I never tried to make the point that everyone is unhappy with them.

>2. Lucky - When satisfaction is granted every time, it's not luck. Las Vegas
>wouldn't exist if it were.

You obviously have low standards if you think that the nasty conditions I have described are satisfactory.

>3. Factual data should be comprehensive and presented in proportion. Your's isn't.
>That is, bad conditions experienced over a larger # of trials should be what's
>presented.

Perhaps, if I were performing a study that would be so. I am not. I am merely presenting facts on their own merit. I present all trials that are submitted. It makes my evidence no less factual.

>4. I've never encounted a room in such condition in 80-100 stays. One time last
>year, I walked into a room around 3:00pm that was incomplete, but I told the maid
>who was very freindly and she finished the job.

As I stated and many others did, we all asked for help at the time and were given nothing.

>No problem and no crybabies. Use
>your statistics to figure out the efficiency rate, based on my experience.

Your experience is irrelevant to the experiences of the people who had bad experiences. The fact that they had them speaks for itself.

>5. I'm complaining against the ramblings of a true compainer. Technically, yes, I
>am, but we must allow for semantic variation with the designation.

I have never denied being a complainer. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. I do, in fact enjoy complaining about sloppy service, which is why I have the site. I also give credit when it is due as the many other stories on my site show.

>6. You obviously have not travelled much internationally. Maybe you should use a
>campground analogy to try to push your point.

I do not see how that relates. My point was that a third world hotel would be expected to be as nasty as the Motel 6 stories relate. You also would pay a lot less.

>7. Decent is ok with me - if you want excellence, pay 2,3 or 4 times more next time
>and stay at a Hilton, Marriott, etc. You may find a few flaws there too, like I have
>while traveling on business. I accepted the flaws like a man and moved on. This
>means you'll get burned a lot more financially, which is or should be, a factor in
>the analysis.

They are not the cheapest in the industry, but just because you pay for a budget room, is no excuse for their behavior.

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This one's kind of neutral, but similar to the next one

Subject: Motel 6
Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2002
Texvanzura@aol.com wrote:
I found your bad experiences with Motel 6 back in 1997 quite believable.

I began staying at Motel 6 back in the early 70's because I knew what I would be getting and at a economical price. In the mid-90's I began to notice the quality of the rooms and service began to go down hill.

Then in the late 90"s I noticed more and more Motel 6's being remodeled, etc. and the service improvings back to where it was in the 70's.

I have worked in Motels since the early 90's as night auditor, front desk manager and eventually manager at a Best Western and a independent owned motel in South Lake Tahoe. Never have I worked for a Motel 6.

Complaining about a motel room is very easy to do, especially for those who expect it to be "just like home". I have seen guest truly believe for one nights room rate it entitles them to raise hell enough to leave the young female desk clerk in tears

For every complaint you have received I could probably trade you a true story on how a guest has made a ass of themselves. Then there are the guest's who will take into consideration the business they own or work for, serving the public, many times will rub their customers the wrong way or have a customer they can't please with ice water in Hell.

While managing the two motels within a week, I have had guest complain about the bed being "too soft", "too hard", "lumpy" and sometimes "greatest bed I have ever slept in". With each guest having stayed and slept in the same bed. Explain that one and you will have every right to continue to complain about Motel 6 five years later.

It reminds me of the first McDonald's I ever went into in 1957, two days after they had opened their first one in Austin, Texas. Within 2 hours of eating their hamburger, I got sick. Swore up and down never go back into "one of those places" again. Maybe it took longer than 5 years, I don't remember exactly how long, but I did give them another chance. Low and behold, that 10 billion or how many billion it is now, I have contributed to that number.

Wouldn't this world be so much greater if compliments came as easily as complaints? For those making complaints to realize they did not walk across water to deliver the complaint. Although many feel they can walk across water.

Oh, by the way, I noticed you did not reveal the name or type of business you are in to make it possible for anyone to grade your or companies level of service, quality of product or whatever.

I wonder, do you only print complaint letters received or do you post all letters received, such as this? I believe that answer would tell what type of person you are. I will follow up to see if this letter is posted and then I will at least know.

Subject: Motel 6
Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2001
From: MADwand@MADwand.org
To: Texvanzura@aol.com
In my case, compliments do come as easy as complaints. When a company goes above and beyond what I expect, I let them know it. As for my business, I am a police officer, which means I am in the service industry as well. I must constantly make decisions that will impact the way people feel about my department, and which for me can have grave implications. Prior to this I worked for my states's self-funded insurance company as a claims adjuster, and later as a claims service representative for them. I also have been a customer for 25 years, which I believe gives me the experience to determine if a company has done the right thing by me.

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A lady disagrees with my motel 6 story

Subject: some thoughts on your website and a question
Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2001
Helen hfarran@pdq.net wrote:
I also have to say that I didn't find the conditions you described at Motel 6 all that surprising. Do you really expect to get a nice clean room for $36? To me that amount seems incredibly low. I know that you and others are complaining because the advertising campaign states that major improvements have been made and based on your experience that has not been the case, but I guess it is really a pretty subjective argument. My family recently stayed at the Omni in Houston at $140 a night and it was exquisite. I thought it was ridiculous that a peanut butter and jelly sandwich from room service costs $8.50 and a small dinner salad was priced at $13.00, but I can assure you that the air conditioning was perfect, the TV was state of the art, and it was perfectly quiet plus they have a beautiful indoor pool. My point is that you get what you pay for and I think your expectations of Motel 6 are a bit unrealistic. When you pay less than $50.00 for a room you are taking your chances. I'd guess you have about a 50/50 chance of ending up in a place that is clean and quiet.

Subject: Re: some thoughts on your website and a question
Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2001
From: MADwand@MADwand.org
To: Helen hfarran@pdq.net
Yes I did. If a national chain can't live up to their advertising, then they shouldn't be doing it. $36 is not that cheap. You must consider the geographical location as well as the hotel name. Most things in La. are cheaper than in the rest of the country. I have stayed in $50 hotels in the south that seemed like a resort compared to the Motel 6s I have been in. For $140 it better be exquisite. That's not a valid comparison. Normal people don't pay that much for 8 hours in a room. It's people like you who make it a 50/50 chance of ending up in a place that is clean and quiet because you assume that you have to pay exorbitant prices to get it. That is wrong. I have also stayed in $15 rooms that were in better condition than Motel 6. If more people would complain when they are treated like crap and hold management to a higher standard, you wouldn't find these problems as often. The fact that these places don't beg my forgiveness when I first contact them tells me that I am going to have trouble with them. They have no clue what customer service means. Did you read my kudos pages? They aren't much, but they are examples of how a company is supposed to act when I have a problem.

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Must be another Sears "employee" (notice the irony in the last sentence of his ranting)

To: madwand@madwand.org
Subject:
From: Richard Munster chillinvillian@msn.com
Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2002

I saw your Sears Complaints site...What a crock of junk, I'm sorry but is that what you live for? I must say I find your apathy rather pathetic. I don't represent Sears, nor do I work there, I was looking for a Sears application site, and happend to find your purely ridiculous site. I do have an idea for you though. Go step out side and take a deep breath of fresh air. It might do you some good. A person who can build a web page full of garbage itself surely needs to go take a nice drive in the country, maybe to awaken their senses.

I actually hope this doesn't offend you, but when I saw the sight, all of the sudden I had this disgusting realization that society in general is crumbling when there are people who have time on there hands for this kind of thing.

At least you helped me decide that I really don't need the internet. 90% of the stuff I see here is garbage. Just like the garbage you contributed.Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com

To: Richard Munster chillinvillian@msn.com
Subject: Re: mail from a crackpot
From: MADwand@MADwand.org
Date: Thu, 11 Jul 2002

Perhaps you need a dictionary. You might want to look up the word "apathy" before you use it incorrectly again. A person who builds a website dedicated to poor business practices can hardly be called apathetic; quite the opposite.

You are a liar. No one in their right mind could hope to write such inflammatory statements without being offensive. As for the time it takes to author webpages, with the proper software, it takes me about 5 minutes to throw up a page for any given topic. No societies have crumbled while I was out.

Then why are you advertising for it? Seems kind of hypocritical. As with anything, you are free to leave at any time. But here's your moment of fame you obviously wanted: http://www.madwand.org/mailbag.htm

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Here's mail from a guy claiming to be a Customer Service Team Manager at the Sears service numbers

Subject: Sears Part
Sears Home-Central searshomecentral@hotmail.com wrote:
It's only a $20 part for goodness sake. Sears parts are warrantied for 90 days. It lasted much longer than that. Get over it. Sears doesn't manufature the parts themselves. They usually get it from the manufaturer, Whirlpool in your case, so your complaint should really be with Whirlpool. If you're not happy with the product or the price, buy the part from someone else. Stop complaining.

Subject: Re: Sears Part
From: MADwand@MADwand.org
It's a $32 part. it goes up every 6 months. it only lasts 6 months. you have to replace it every 6 months. there's nothing to get over, that's crap. there is no one else to buy the part from that I know of, if there were, I would have.

The fact that you see nothing wrong with a 90 day warranty part having only a 6 month life span is ridiculous. that means the part should only last twice as long as the warranty in your book. so if you bought a car and it had a 3/36 warranty, you'd be happy to drive it to the dump at 6 years. after all, it's only $25,000, get over it, huh? nice logic.

Too bad you're not really affiliated with Sears as your email implies.

Subject: Re: Sears Part
Sears Home-Central searshomecentral@hotmail.com wrote:
I'm not sure where in my e-mail it implies that I'm not with Sears. I am a Customer Service Team Manager at the 1-800-4-MY-HOME & 1-800-4-REPAIR number. What I don't understand is why after that part has broken several times you still went back and ordered that part again from Sears?

Here are some places to buy that part, unfortunately they probably get the part from the same place and the part probably has the same warranty with all these places as Sears does. The is the official e-mail & phone & from Whirlpool concerning parts: netaccessories@email.whirlpool.com 1-888-222-8608. Here are other places to order the part from: http://www.repairclinic.comhttp://www.whirlpoolparts.com/http://www.wards.com/ P.S. This is what Wards has written concerning THEIR warranty: Guaranteed parts warranty for 90 days against defects in material and workmanship.

Subject: Re: Sears Part
Date: Thu, 21 Dec 2000
From: MADwand@MADwand.org
To: Sears Home-Central searshomecentral@hotmail.com
References: <OE65PUn2v7VgpceFlX7000029a0@hotmail.com>
You don't appear to be with Sears because of the hotmail account you are using. What kind of a Team Manager uses a free email account? Sears already has a registered domain, why wouldn't they use that for legitimate email? More evidence of unprofessionalism...

Ahh yes, now you read the part where I explained why I don't buy the part somewhere else, because I said I didn't know anywhere else.
I did call the number below and found that the parts cost a couple of dollars more, but have a 1 year warranty from Whirlpool. I also complained to their customer service about the bad quality and they said they would document it to their engineering department. I'm sure that will help.

Why are you hung up on that 90 day warranty thing? So you would be happy paying $25,000 for a car you know will DIE shortly after the end of the 3 year warranty. You would enjoy paying $25,000 every 3 years for a new car (and having no trade when you are done because the car has become worthless). You are indeed a strange bird. No one I know would tolerate that from a company. A consumer should have confidence in the fact that a part he buys will last a good deal longer than the replacement warranty. Your 90 warranty is only to protect me from obvious defects that would occur shortly after I start using it. This doesn't help with parts that are made of crap and will fail shortly after warranty. The customer gets screwed and Sears is proud of that, else they wouldn't sell it.

And as I said on my website, I wasn't going to buy that part again, I was going to epoxy the broken one to the door of my freezer as I cannot afford to pay $32 every 6 months for that part. It was going to look like crap and defeat the point of the removeable handles, but unlike you, I need the money to put food into the freezer.

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Here's a whole other page from this moron if you'd like to keep reading how Sears' Customer Service treats people

A confused defender who never responded to my challenge

Subject: The following companies have terrible customer support
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001
thebigcheese@juno.com wrote:
You misspelled 'terrible', but that's neither here nor there. Just wanted to say that I've read your page pertaining to cyberrebate and as unbelievable as it may seem, you whine more than my kids! Your correspondence with cyberrebate was rude and antagonistic from the start.

I'm surprised that they were as polite to you as they were :) I've been shopping with them for nearly a year, have received over $5,000 from them, and have had no unresolved problems and no late rebate checks. It's too bad you had a bad experience, but suck it up... and quit your whining :)

Subject: Re: The following companies have terrible customer support
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 20:53:17 -0600
From: MADwand@MADwand.org
To: thebigcheese@juno.com
Please quote ONE rude or antagonistic item from my email of Tue, 14 Dec 1999 to Cyberrebate.com, which was the start of my conversation you read with them. You cannot as I was most polite. As in all my messages to them I was firm, yet polite, as well as factual. I do not allow jerks such as those to treat me like that, much less a troll like yourself. I spoke to them in a manner that a customer should talk to a customer service person.

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A lady dismayed by my welfare story

Subject: Re: some thoughts on your website and a question
Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2001
From: Helen hfarran@pdq.net>
To: MADwand@MADwand.org
Helen wrote:
I was a bit dismayed by your description of the "welfare whore" and your referral to her as a "nasty pig." While it may be hypocritical of her to > receive welfare and at the same time engage in gambling, is it really necessary to call her names? I agree that it was ridiculous for her to suggest that you bring her the wallet, but I don't think it does any good to resort to name-calling.

On a more positive note, I have to say that I really enjoyed your "unrelated stuff". The sentimental stories you share are very >touching harsh words and butterfly kisses) which is why I think I found your description of the "welfare whore" to be unduly harsh. If you can share such warm and uplifting anecdotes, it seems contradictory to also include such derogatory criticism of a person you don't know (even if you disapprove of her lifestyle). And finally, aside from my interest in your website and the opinions I've shared in this email, my real purpose for writing is to ask about the "Laws of Forbidden Places." Can you please tell me where these come from, who the author or source is? Did you write them yourself? I was literally laughing out loud as I read them and wanted to share them with some of my students. I'd really appreciate a reference source if you have it, or your permission to pass them on if they are yours.

Subject: Re: some thoughts on your website and a question
Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2001
From: MADwand@MADwand.org
To: Helen hfarran@pdq.net>
Why is it name calling? I used very descriptive terms to describe her. She is, by description, a welfare whore. She is, by her picture (which I blurred out for HER benefit), a nasty pig. I realized some people may be offended by my choice of words in that page, but that is the problem with this country today, you can't say what you think any more without offending someone's PC sensitivities. I don't care. My point in that article was to show what's wrong with the majority of people in this country. A bunch of fat, nasty, slobs lying around with their hands out.

I found those [anecdotes] as I presented them, I have no idea who wrote them. Millions of our nation's sensitive men's attitudes changed dramatically when they were sent to foreign soil to defend other nations. You don't win wars by being sensitive. If you think we are not at war with corporate America, you are sadly mistaken. There is no longer any such thing as consumer trust. You can no longer expect to pay what something is worth. You can no longer expect to get treated with respect by those employed by major companies in America. If you do, it is an exception now rather than the rule. I placed those anecdotes there to show there is still some good in the world, but you have to really hunt it down. Since I didn't write them, I guess it isn't my place to say that you can use them. It's up to you. Glad you liked them.

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A guy asking me for help with 123itsallfree

Subject: Re: 123itsallfree.com
Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2001 19:21:22 -0700 (PDT)
From: T Fox vikesfox@xxxxxx.com
To: MADwand@MADwand.org

I ordered from them back in january. I called my credit card company to make sure I would be covered if things went wrong before I placed the order. Well now Chase says that the customer service rep I talked to didn't know what they are talking about and I am liable. 123itsallfree.com used to be located in Utah. They just recently moved to canada (harder to sue?). I have bad mouthed them on every site I can think of. If you do get to thier fraud watch page, thats's me they are refering to. I protested the charge when the rebate never came and now they have my name and address on thier site as a fraud. Well they have my $5496 and I'm stuck. If you want I can forward some emails from them to me.

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Disregard for Distributors

Subject: More Crafthouse International
Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2002
From: doggydan doggydan@epix.net

I like your site. Consumers are not the only ones being done dirt by Crafthouse International. We put their products on our web store with their agreement they would send fliers, or at least pictures, of their products to promote sales. They have sent nothing, and have responded to phone calls humoring us with agreements to send pictures of products or fliers, then we do not receive anything. As a result, we have over 30 of their products listed -- and are so unsure as to their reliability as to meeting orders in a timely manner -- well, we are preparing to drop them as vendors, and go through a lot of trouble removing their products from our web store and replacing them with new vendors who are reliable and want to sell their products.
doggydan@zurlinfo.net

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