An Idea Is Bulletproof

As part of my resolutions for 2011 I'm continuing tracking the cultural things, and some random things, from the year. 2010's list can be found here: tracking post for 2010.


Random things to keep track of during 2011...

( Theatre, Concerts and Other Events )

( Movies )

( Canadian Cultural Content )

( Random Dates to Remember )

I've left this post open instead of friendslocking it so if you know anyone who is looking at ordering from Geeky Clean please feel free to direct them here and also to their Facebook page where negative reviews have started to go up as well. Buyer beware with this company.

I have done the impossible, I'm even less impressed with Geeky Clean than I was a couple of weeks ago.

The backstory to this is I made an order from them on Oct. 13th (exactly ten weeks ago.) Their site says 4-6 weeks for international delivery. That's pretty standard. But I got no confirmation of shipping or any notice at all from them after 4 weeks and so around the 5 week mark I started trying to reach them through their website to see what was going on with my order.

I recieved no reply to either of the two messages I sent into them about a week apart.

Then a friend who has used them for wholesale orders for her own business gave me the wholesale contact email to see if I'd get a response from there. I did. They had 500 emails backlogged (from what I was seeing online by then I bet most of them were concerns like mine - ordered in October and by December had no soap and emails were going unanswered) and the guy reminded me that they were a small company (husband and wife) and so things were very busy for them.

I understand that. But they're not so busy that his wife can't post on Twitter multiple times a day but somehow manage to leave out an update about them having a backlog of orders. They've also updated their site a few times, added new soaps and updated their Facebook, all without addressing the fact they had orders from October, both domestic and international, that were not being shipped due to difficulties on their end... but they were still taking new orders.

In fact they did a Black Friday special with fast delivery promised (I believe it was in time for Christmas but I didn't note it) and recently had a "order by Dec. 14th and have your order by Christmas" shipping promise on their site.

Really? Because I ordered 2 months earlier and I am not getting my soap by Christmas so how is that even possible?

Not only that but the response I got said that international orders were going out on Friday December 10th. I figured okay, I would not do a chargeback, they could still make it in time for holidays and this company seems to be trying to make things work so I'll be upset but wait for the soap to arrive.

My order just shipped, Dec. 22nd, with no word from them about the additional 12 day delay but now it certainly won't be here for Christmas and I've been left with a few days to scramble and find a way to replace the gifts until they arrive in January.

I sent them an email letting them know that it wasn't their products that have made me decide I would not be ordering from them ever again but it was their lack of customer service. I also said I'd be passing on this information to people who I knew so heads up - currently I'd recommend finding another place to order soaps from until they get themselves sorted out.

I think they're nice people with good intentions but they're in over their heads and until they learn to actaully communicate with their customers about actual shipping times and the delays that are happening then they're not worth ordering from.

They also made no effort to actually deal with the issue - I ordered many soaps, if it was just a few that were out of stock they could have emailed me to ask if I wanted it shipped in seperate packages (actually the shipping notice I recieved today said it might be in seperate boxes anyway so why they couldn't have sent some things earlier is a mystery to me. Unless they had none of what I ordered when their site said that it was all in stock.) They also could have emailed to say the order was going to be delayed to see if I still wanted it knowing it wouldn't arrive in time for the holidays. There was no offer of a refund, no offer of throwing in anything extra to make up for the lengthy delay, no offer of shipping it express to ensure that it arrives as soon as possible. Nothing to even indicate that they understood that they hadn't lived up to their end of the purchasing agreement.

I think it's entirely unreasonable for me to order a product that's listed as being in stock in Mid-October and for it to not even be shipped until 3 days before Christmas. Also I should note that this cost me $50 in shipping fees, so it's not as though I've paid $10 and am expecting a rush order.

**ETA** They also deleted the comments on their Facebook page about late orders. That makes me have less faith in them actually addressing the issue at all.

**ETA 2** Last night the reviews tab came off of their Facebook page. Not great. I understand it's tough to see people who are unhappy with the product and who are talking about wanting their money back but hiding the issue just means the next batch of customers go in unwarned without having a chance to see the feedback.

**ETA 3** I was contacted by Jess privately and she's asked that I keep the communication private. But I will say that she's trying to deal with the issue that I had which is a good thing to see.

Continuing the list of the books I've read this year...

You can see part one of 2010 (books 1-84) here: part one

My older posts are here, 2009: part one and part two
and 2008: part one and part two

( read read read read... )

It's about that time again, I've gone through my friendslist and think it's time for a cut. I'm just cutting people who don't comment on my posts and/or who don't really update their own LJ. I don't like being lurked online.

So if you think that's you and want to stick around drop me a comment, they're all screened.

One last tracking post to start things off this year. I want to keep track of some of the other fun stuff I do throughout the year and have it just noted in all one place. Here's that post :)


( Places I've been... )

( Movies I've seen... )


( Concerts I've attended... )


( Theatrical things... )

The list from 2008 can be found split between two posts here and here.

Onwards to 2009!

( I've read... )

*sigh* You know what sound I don't want to wake up to on Polaris morning? Animal cruelty. A family down the street from me recently got a puppy. She's a high energy little terrier and is so adorable. She reminds me of my first dog so I understand that they're going to go through some stress with her in the early years. But some things are not okay. Example: the dog was left outside alone all night last night. It was a night full of fucking thunderstorms and the poor baby has been out there crying and yipping for hours. I've been up since 5 because of her. I went out just after 7 to see what house it was coming from and they were up and standing at the back door saying "shhhhh" to the dog. Fuck no. So I went to the front of the door and rang the bell. They turned off all of the lights and pretended to be not at home/sleeping. So I came back and called the Humain Society. The operator was really nice but said unless I had seen that they left no water out for the dog they couldn't really do anything but she did give me the number to call for noise complaints because she said that they would actually be able to send someone out to investigate where as they legally can't without someone having seen that the dog had no water and the backyard is fenced in, I can't see much in there.

The dog is still out there, the poor thing just sounds so dejected. I hate people sometimes. If you adopt a pet you are responsible for its well being. I'm not one of those who says your animal is your baby and should be treated like a human baby but I think that when it is pouring rain the dog should be inside. Plus they're pack animals, being locked out overnight is not in their best interest. It's a small dog, like Toto sized, it's not like it's too big to be in the house.

Sadly I can't make my noise complaint now because I'm leaving the house soonish and can't guarantee I'll be here to follow up and my parents both are of the mindset that they should leave people alone. I'm good with that to a degree but when it comes to people mistreating their animals I am not okay with that at all. The poor thing is doing as best as it can to speak for itself and they're ignoring him. I went back again to the house, could hear them talking inside, and still no one answers the door. They will be getting a piece of my mind when I see them next.

*warning* this entry is all about my pie baking experiment. Probably boring for most people. Short story - pie worked out in the end. There's a link to photos at the end of this album :)

Well with the weather sucking today I still decided I was heading over to my parent's house to borrow their kitchen and try out one of the shiny pie recipes from the Waitress DVD (thanks again shangri__la!). I woke up early enough that I almost made it to the grocery store in my parent's neighbourhood before the snow got really heavy. I picked up all kinds of ingredients for pie making and then trekked to my parent's house to get some baking done. I decided to make the "I can't have no affair because it's wrong and I don't want Earl to kill me pie." AKA Vanilla Custard Meringue Pie. My mom had a minor freak out because she declared I'd chosen a way harder one to make than a fruit pie but she was helpful in that she found her Joy of Cooking cookbook was was SUPER useful. The recipes that come with Waitress are good if one knows how to make pies but as I was making the pie I quickly found that they'd left a lot of steps off. Ergo they're fabulous for ideas and because they're cute and I adore them. But it's very good to have a backup for clear instructions and accurate proportions.

This one was a nice and easy graham cracker crust so I made that from scratch too. Very tasty. That was the easy part with the exception that my recipe was proabably about double the size needed. I froze the rest for another time though. Then I made the custard part and made the fun discovery that you should put the pie crust into the oven and just slide the shelf out to pour the filling in as opposed to what I did which was pour the filling in and then try to get the pie into the over. Sooo much spilling!

Then while that was baking I made the meringue which is what my mom said was the hardest part but I found it okay except for when I thought I was supposed to turn the mixer up to the fastest speed for "egg whites" which probably would have been okay if I was using a bigger bowl but I was not so meringue was flung out all over everything. Oops. I was very glad my parents had gone out because the counter looked like a mini disaster area. Still the end product (the rest of it that stayed in the bowl) was just fine.

In the end the whole thing came together pretty well with just a few messes along the way. I have a facebook album up with pictures from my afternoon of baking here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026479&l=88ba5&id=158901505 It should be viewable to everyone but if anyone wants me to upload pictures directly to this entry let me know :)

Cam and I took in the Dresden Dolls show last night. It was my frist concert of 2008 and it was a great way to start my musical year! I knew I had loved seeing them live the last time we went but I had forgotten some of how awesome they were. There was less circus in the opening acts this time, although we still did have a acrobatic hoop guy doing his thing when we got in. There were two opening bands. Friendly Rich and the Lollypop People who were really neat but only got to play a few songs (time contraints at the Phoenix because they turn into a nightclub later) and then Die Mannequin who were so full of energy and fun. Not really my style of music but enjoyable nonetheless because they put on a great performance.

The Dresden Dolls were amazing. Last time I saw them I really didn't know who they were. I actually had just agreed to go because I think A. I'd seen their lyrics used on a lot of Buffy icons so that indicated to me I might like them and B. I'm pretty sure Cam gave me a free ticket that time lol. This time I knew most of their songs and could sing along and loved the whole thing. A few girls shoved their way up to the front and tried to cut infront of me (which didn't happen) then infront of this girl who was shorter than me by a good 6 inches! Seriously there's no need to stand infront of someone like that, you can see over her just fine. I'm sad that I've grown older and don't feel right doing what I used to do at shows and take people out at the knees for that ;)

A few song highlights for me were 'Half Jack' and 'Gravity' which are two of my favourites. I think that tonight I heard every song that I would have wanted to hear again live which was unexpectedly amazing. They also covered Mein Herr from Cabaret which I videoed, haven't looked at it yet to see if it is watchable. I'm sure it's going to be shakey though. However for your enjoyment I have some photos posted here: http://laurentian.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023747&l=f8ca6&id=158901505

The show was great, such great energy for the entire time. Cam caught me some flowers from Amanda's piano and I bought a cd and had it signed by both Amanda and Brian :) It was a fantastic night. I want to see them again now!

I used my concert high energy to finish cleaning the apartment, doing dishes and such as my roommates should be getting home today and woke up singing 'Bad Habit' by the Dolls :)

Perhaps I shouldn't watch Xfiles before bed. I had weird dreams for the last part of the night last night. Part of it was set up like a Malcolm in the Middle episode, it wasn't a plot that's been used on the show but it was the same characters and the same type of situations, so apparently my brain is making up random TV. Then I was dreaming that I was looking for a book I'd read when I was little and I was sure it had to be at my parent's house stored somewhere. My Mom pulled a huge box of books out of her closet for me but it was more recent books, nothing from when I was a kid. Randomly I apparently had 2 extra sets of Firefly still unopened. One of them was signed on the plastic wrap by Henry Winkler. WTF?! Sadly I never found the book. I remember the plot being something about a little boy who was bedridden, probably set in the 1930s-50s soemwhere. He had the ability to bring his toys to life by touching them and had brought some little green animal figurine to life. I don't remember what animal it was. While that plot is similar to many books I've read I'm sure it's not actually a book.

Weird.

In other news when I was looking up the Alyss books by Frank Beddor that I talked about in my last entry I found that it wasn't just 1 sequel that had been written but 2 more books in the same series on top of that! I am so going to have fun reading those :)