Thursday, December 27, 2007

Good Fortune?

Good Fortune?

See ... taking the break from this blog that I took for a couple months caused me some problems upon dusting off the cobwebs ...

I have a number of blog entries to finish, some of which might actually have been timely at some point. Most of them are okay to spread out over time like this, but a couple of things have been lost to the mists.

For instance, I received a fortune from a fortune cookie on July 25th that informed me that in 3 months time I was to save the date for something special to happen. I saved that fortune and was going to scan it in and post it on October 25th to see if there was anything noteworthy to report. Didn't happen.

Then the other day I grabbed said fortune and went to scan it and somehow lost it in transit and so I do not have it to scan in any more. Lame. Had I simply scanned it at the time, this would not have happened. I cannot recall previously scanning it.

So, the report of October 25th is that nothing noteworthy occurred and I have no visual aid that would be relevant to this posting.

My bad.

I am being a good Democrat by writing this ...

I am being a good Democrat by writing this ...

Make them all go away ...

It would be worth a single term of a Romney or a McCain if it meant a new slate of candidates for 2012.

Saturday, December 22, 2007

This might explain her shaking legs ...




From page 14 of Seattle Weekly December 19-25, 2007 ....

I am not defending dirty players ...


I am not defending dirty players ...

... but The Mitchell Report is crap ...

Bud Selig needs to resign. It happened on his watch. And, when they finally start making SOME measure of progress he lets a report go public that only has the testimony of former employees and no actual evidence. Nothing can be proved. Nothing can be disproved. The players are never going to cooperate with owners ever again after this ... and shouldn't ... at least as long as Bud Selig is in charge.

You cancelled the World Series. You stopped an All-Star Game as a tie. You let the steroids into baseball when the game suffered due to the strike and needed a boost. Then, when everything became obvious and politically difficult, you acted all indignant. You are a bafoon and need to go for the betterment of the game.

Bud Selig must resign.

Rejoice!


Rejoice!

Seattle is getting an MLS team in 2009!!!!

Me and my new best friend Drew Carey at the George & Dragon Pub in Seattle's Fremont on Veterans' Day 2007 ...

Thursday, December 20, 2007

US Bank Sucks ...

US Bank Sucks ...

A $100 check is written on a bank account. The person who receives the check goes to the bank it was written on and finds out that for the first time ever the bank is going to charge to have the check cashed. So, the $100 check is actually a $95 check. The person with the check used to be in banking and knows that directly cashing a check is simple, safe, and with ID a very simple transaction. The bank is now double dipping, charging on both ends, despite the fact that the industry standard has always been different. The teller has to apologize for their corporation because they are clearly embarrassed to have to charge to do the transaction. The company receives a comment and tries to convince the person with the check that the company actually considers its policies to be some sort of five star customer service. The person with the check has a hard time not laughing while reading the response from the company, but will never do business with them ever again.

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Comment or Question

My mother has been a long time customer of your bank and previous incarnations which merged to form US Bank. She is a senior and has limited mobility due to near blindness. She wanted to pay me $100 without having to run out of the house in the dark so she wrote me a check. She has done this numerous times over the years for me running her errands and the like. Today I go to cash the check as I have done for years and am now informed that there is a $5 fee, since I do not have an account. All the teller must do is clear the check, perhaps the single simplest transaction they will perform that day.

Were I to open an account the fee would go away. Nice. However, if there are fees of this kind associated with US Bank accounts, it is not possible that I would ever want to bank with your company. Were I to bank with you and write my nieces or nephews checks, they would be charged this utterly ridiculous and unjustifiable fee.

There is no chance of me ever banking with you now. I have encouraged my mother to take her banking elsewhere and she is considering doing so.

It is clear that customer service is simply not something US Bank is concerned with. What is clear is that US Bank is trying to end the era of paper checks and discourage teller based banking by making it as inconvenient and costly as possible.

Bad word of mouth generated by customers such as my mother will hopefully cost US Bank far more in the long run than the accumulated $5 fees will be able to offset. I am certain this will be a topic of conversation amongst her circle of friends as she was severely upset upon receiving my call about the fee.

There simply comes a point where corporate policy makes it impossible to view a company in a favorable light. It is clear that US Bank is on the wrong track and I will be passing along my story to everyone I know.

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The next day a convenient response is in the email folder ...

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Dear (Deleted),

Thank you for using U.S. Bank® email.

I apologize for any disagreement with U.S. Bank®'s Service Fees.

Please note that at the branch's discretion, a $5.00 fee may be charged to provide a check cashing service to a non-U.S.
Bank® customer. This fee may of course be avoided when the Payee cashes or deposits their check with their own
Financial Institution, or by establishing a U.S. Bank® account. Please understand that the cashing of a check for a non-
U.S. Bank® customer is a service being provided, and as such, has a fee.

I am truly sorry to hear that this fee has resulted in your decision not to do business with U.S. Bank®. We value our customers
and hope that you will reconsider this decision, however, we also respect your right to choose your bank.

Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions or concerns.

Have a Great Weekend!

Sincerely,

(Name Deleted)
Email Operations
U.S. Bank 24-Hour Banking and Financial Sales

If you need further assistance, please feel free to call (DELETED) or go to (deleted) and select the 'Contact Us' link.


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Don't do business with US Bank.

Check cashing fees are a reasonable fee under many circumstances, this is not one of those circumstances.

Tens

Tens

Pele and Diego Maradona both wore #10
Both quarterbacks in the 2007 Apple Cup wore #10
Bo Derek was a 10.
Pearl Jam has a record titled "Ten"


And now Jefferson has completed Marathon #10 ...