| BUSINESS PRACTICES (The good, the bad & the ugly)! |
| BAD PRACTICES Hollywood Video Canyon Park Bothell, WA I have been a customer of Hollywood Video for perhaps 20 years. I suspect a conservative guistimate of the money I’ve spent there during that time would likely be around $1000. Admittedly, that’s not a huge amount but it’s not insignificant either, especially when you realize my video rental business has been exclusively with Hollywood Video and not shared with other vendors over the years. My use of the Canyon Park store covers only the last five or six years since we’ve lived in Bothell. I received a phone call from the Canyon Park store a couple of months ago where I was informed that they had not received a movie back I had rented about three weeks prior. I specifically remember returning that particular movie because I had to make a special trip and it was an inconvenience because of other activities going on around that time. I informed the caller that I had indeed returned the movie. The person said they could not locate it but that they would look again and he asked that I would do the same. I agreed and as a courtesy I checked to see if perhaps the movie was still sitting on top of the DVD player and that I returned an empty box by mistake. As I already knew, there were no DVD’s belonging to Hollywood Video in my possession. I did not hear anything further from them so I presumed they must have found the errant copy. A couple of months later a letter arrived in the mail from a collection agency informing me that my “bill” for $46 had been turned over to them and that they were demanding payment under threat to do all sorts of nasty things to me. Here’s my complaint… I returned the movie but I can’t prove it because once it goes down the night drop it’s no longer under my control. They say they didn’t get it and they can’t prove that either but that doesn’t matter… I was still turned over to collections. I also was not given an opportunity to pay for the missing video they can’t prove I didn’t return before they sent the bill to collections… which, for the record, I would have paid for, though you can bet I wouldn’t have been happy about it. My record with Hollywood Video over the years will show there has never been an issue with returning videos which I would think might be a clue that when I say I returned it, maybe… possibly… I was telling the truth! So, what am I going to do about it? Well, I have a bill from a collection agency demanding money. I can’t prove I returned Hollywood Video’s property any more than they can prove I didn’t, so I’m going to donate $46 dollars to their coffers. I will however, respond to what I believe is their very foolish treatment of a loyal customer and a very poor and unjust business practice… I will never use Hollywood Video again and I will tell anyone who asks me exactly why. 02-15-10 |
| GOOD PRACTICES Outback Steakhouse Canyon Park Bothell, WA I am not a regular customer of the Outback Steakhouse because it’s out of my price range. As a rule though, on those rare occasions I’ve eaten there, I’ve always experienced the best food and service I could hope for. As a matter of fact, the best steak I have ever eaten in my life was at an Outback Steakhouse in Fresno California. In my recent experience with the Canyon Park Outback, my party and I happened to arrive during a busy time with about a 40 minute wait ahead of us. Maybe 15 minutes into that wait, a waitress informed us there was a booth available in the lounge if we didn’t mind being seated there. We took her up on the offer and shaved over half hour wait time off! We placed our order, ate our appetizers and received our meals in no time. My steak unfortunately, seemed to still be alive! I don’t think even a steak ordered rare could have legally left the kitchen being that undercooked. It was literally “Cow Sushi”! I informed the waitress and within moments the manager was at our table assuring us that everything was being taken care of and even offered additional sides to make up for the mistake. And that’s the point… it was just a mistake and they are bound to happen. I wasn’t angry or causing a scene and I didn’t expect the manager to be at our table apologizing. I just wanted my steak to make the acquaintance of the grill for a few minutes! The class with which the Outback crew addressed this minor problem was stellar. So, what does this all mean? Well, the Outback Steakhouse is still too expensive for me to be a regular customer but I can guarantee I will eat there again AND… I will gladly tell everyone who asks that I’ve now experienced both the best food AND the best service ever from this fine company! 02-15-10 |
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