Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Reverse Auctions or Sweepstakes? Both [maybe]

Bid4Prizes.com is a unique twist to both the standard sweepstakes and the standard online auctions.

At a regular auction site, like eBay, you increase your bids to try to win. If you do win you have to pay the winning bid and shipping costs to get your goods. At Bid4Prizes.com it is the exact opposite. Instead of bidding higher you actually bid lower to win [yes, this is a game or so their site says]. Your low bid gets you the prize. Since it is more a sweepstakes than an auction you do not pay your low bid just the shipping costs and taxes.

If Bid4Prizes.com is for real this could be great fun. They appear to have some kick ass prizes to boot. But since we cannot verify the validity of their claims we recommend you do some research before you send them any money for prizes won. The whole thing could just be a new take on the YOU HAVE WON emails we all keep getting and most of us know are fakes.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Donate That Junker

Got a car you can't trade in on a new one? Has it been sitting in your yard so long the weeds now cover the for sale sign? Can't even give it away, huh? Well actually, you can simply donate your old car to a charity.

You might want to check out DonateCar.tv [Not sure why it is a .tv instead of .org since they are an organization and not a tv show. Isn't the internet fun?] By donating that old car you can help needy children get the things they need -- food, clothes, education. The little things that make life worth living. They need your help. And what is that rust bucket doing for you other than making it hard to mow your lawn?

So if you were thinking of recycling the car [you know calling a junk yard to haul it off], think twice. Most of these places charge you to take it away and then make more money off selling the parts. DonateCar.tv sells the parts to raise money for charity and they don't charge you to take away your car if the accept the vehicle for donation.

DonateCar.tv is a 501 (c)(3) charity so ask for a receipt for your taxes. Does the junk man do that for you? Nah, he's in it for himself. DonateCar.tv is in it for kids. So isn't it time to get that old car out of the drive and make your neighbors happy?

Friday, April 20, 2007

Subscription Nightmare

I just picked up my subscription from my local comic shop,Humungo Comics in Pottstown, PA and the order was wrong once again.

I cannot seem to get the items I have ordered from these people. And this has been going on from day one of my setting up this account.

First time was a book a had subscribed to just wasn't picked for the order. I had to walk over and pull the book off the shelf myself. This was for the book Vampire Bite Club, I was told they entered it into my subscription wrong and would fix it. Thank god the book ended and I did not need any more issues.

Then my subscription to DC's 52 stopped around issue 30. Again I was told it was a computer glitch. Well they must not have fixed the gitch because they completely missed week 35. And when I picked up a few weeks later the book was no longer available and I had to buy it from another source [paying more plus shiping].

I added the Anita Blake comic series to my subscription after buying the first issue. But for some reason the system would not enter the information. Finally, they got it into the computer by fudging the name [but I thought from earlier problems they had to have the name exactly as the distributor or they had problems with the books not being pulled [keep your fingers crossed this hasn't screwed up again since this].

Then I added the new Star Trek comics to my subscription. I did this WELL in advance of the first issue being released. Well their computer won't let them enter books into the subscriptions until after they come in. So again this was not pulled for me. I had to buy it else where. Plus I ordered two copies one of each cover. Issue three they only pulled one for me.

The highly anticipated return of Buffy to comics was advertised months in advance so I ordered two copies of each issue to be added to my order. I was told they would be added and they were definitely on order for me. Well, guess what? When I picked up my order no Buffy books at all! And this first printing sold out and could not be found anywhere!!! Boy was I pissed. So I sent them on a mission to get these for me and get me the first printing because that is what I ordered months before. Well they were only able to get me one first printing and one second printing. Okay my frined and I can live with that, but where was the second copy of issue 2? They only pulled one for me!

So with all these problems over the course of several months one would think they flag my account and pay closer attention to it. One would think.

I will keep you posted as to whether or not I stay with them. As well as if they are able to get me other items I have pre-ordered, like the upcoming DC 52 figures and the Star Klingon comics. They better not screw me over again!

Monday, April 09, 2007

When Will the Plumber Crack Fashion Go Out Of Fashion?

I am so sick and tired of seeing ass cracks! When will these horrible hip hugging pants go out of fashion?

Enough is enough already. No one wants to see your crack, even if you are a skinny little thing we still don't want to see it. It is not sexy people!

Online Dating Sucks, But It Doesn't Have to Empty Your Wallet

Looking for a special someone only to be stung over and over again? And to add to the pain the charge you for the pleasure of having your hopes dashed. Not all online dating services have to cost you an arm and a leg. JustSayHi.com is a free dating service.

Yes, I said free. Can you believe it? There really is a free online dating site. Now all you have to do is sign up, make a post and start weeding out the losers.

So buyer beware, as I am sure you get what you pay for, but at least you won’t hurt your wallet as well as your heart.

So if Dateline hasn’t scared you off meeting folks through the internet yet, check out JustSayHi.com.

Saturday, April 07, 2007

Every One Needs Insurance...Especially Idiots!

Okay here is the story thus far…we had a really, really bad snow storm a few months back and our car was stuck in the front of the house after being plowed in by the city. The snow quickly froze and became ice. Which in turn cause the car to get stuck. Good thing to because the idiots in my neighborhood do not know how to shovel their own spots and stay in them. So the good thing was we did not need to move the car so we did not.

Problem came when we finally had a chance to move the car and someone stole the spot! We had to park in the back behind the garage. Thought we were being slick, but no, nature had other plans for us. Everything that was on the roof of the garage slid off and landed on the roof of the car! Thank god for insurance! But which insurance was going to cover this? Car insurance or homeowners insurance? We did not know so we called both. Turns out the car insurance covered it. Good thing too as it cost almost $2500 to fix it.

So learn from our stupidity and don’t park under a sloping room if it is covered in snow and ice. But most importantly get yourself some insurance. If you don’t have any or are looking for a new provider head to the Insurance Portal Online for info and a quote on Auto Insurance, Homeowners [and renters] Insurance and even Life Insurance. There will be a time when you need it, believe me, even if you aren't an idiot.

Monday, April 02, 2007

Savage Car Dealerships Suck

Don't take you car into one of these dealerships to have any work done. They will charge you an arm and a leg to do it and not figure everything into the estimate to begin with then turn around and charge you more!

We took our car in to have the roof replaced because of damage [see post on insurance]. And were quoted with one price. They forgot they needed to take the window out and put it back. So the called to tell us the rubber strip around the back window would be an additional $300.

So at that time we asked for the toal price and we quoted 2002 and change. When we get there to pick up the car with the check filled out with the information the employee gave us we were shocked to hear a price $125 more than what we were given only two days before!

Well, I do believe people are allowed to make mistakes but when they are this big and we were already given a total price that is what we should have to pay. The mistake should be on the companies heads not ours.