Here's why you don't want to own stock in Charter Communicatios CHTR

I just spent all of 45 minutes on the phone with my current cable/internet service provider, Charter Communications.  I am pissed to say the least and shall be taking my business to another service provider.    My current rate period expires next week and the bill I just received for the month upcoming is for the new rate they will charge me which is almost $40 month higher than what they offer as a rate to new customers.  That is almost $500 year difference, and in this economy, $500 is a big chunk o change.  The customer service rep and the customer retention rep that I spoke to both claimed it is now Charters policy to never ever give a promotional rate to existing customers again.....they will only be given to new customers from here on out.

Never mind that I have been a loyal customer for over 25 years,  apparently that doesn't count for anything anymore.   Nope, instead they prefer to "take their chances on" new customers and give them a discount for being, well, "new"!  In my business, it is my long time customers that get price breaks as a token of my appreciation, not the new ones.  Customer Rewards, ya know.  Geesh what are they thinking!  If you have a great product, a product that is better than anyone elses, you don't have to lure new business in, it will flock to you organically.  However if your product is just like that of your competitors than your focus should be on customer retention.... if I can buy a vanilla cone at 2 different ice cream shops, but one shop will give me a free one after I buy 12 or a discount for being a repeat customer, well, I am going to patronize the one that gives me rewards for buying their product.

Unlike many other customers, Charter has never had to spend one red cent on me in regards to accounts receivables....never had to sic a collection agency on me, nor even have to send out a payment reminder...I have given them my hard earned money every month as fast as I got the bill.  Maybe they should consider evaluating a customers time in service and payment history before they so hastily decide we don't deserve a special rate.   So, in stating my longevity as a loyal customer to the Customer Retention Specialist., I felt compelled to remind them, that once other existing customers become upset at this complete disregard and unappreciative attitude then they too will leave.

At some point the customer base may consist of more NEW (promotional rate) customers than us old, existing customers which will of course ultimately result in the loss in customer base and accordingly overall revenues. I know of 3 people who have ditched Charter for another service within the past month, and I don't get out much to hear these things so in my little circle that is a big number. 

And that my friend should give you pause to stop and think about this before you subscribe to or buy stock in Charter.  Reduced earnings and poor customer retention outlook never loosk good at earnings report time.

Maybe it's time for Charter to re-think their policies.  I am sad to see it has come to this because I found their product to work well, but I guess changing my email address and business cards is far less expensive than the increased pricing.

Could fixing the American economy be as easy as just 5 steps

I have a hard time wrapping my head around why the leaders of our country can't seem to come to a solution to fix our economy that doesn't involve bailouts and taxpayers shouldering a burden that is a result of their inability to run the country within a budget that is consistant with the way the rest of us have to live. Frugally.

I'm just your run of the mill lower end middle class citizen, so maybe my ideas don't live up to the extravagant bail out ideas or the "creation of jobs" that revolve around building infrastructure.....jobs that only benefit those qualified, and only for the short term. That just doesn't seem like a solution that is going to benefit enough people in this country for the long run and the cost of it sounds out of balance with any benefit it might create.

So here's the 5 steps I propose:

1) No more special interest group payments anywhere. Plain and simple. If we can't afford a yacht, we just don't buy one. (figure of speech)

2) Elected officials don't get lifelong after career benefits that are any more than the general population gets. In other words, setup a darn 401K, and save your money like we have to. Live like we do so that the bills you want to pass affect you as well as me.

3) Set up a US business to business website - a way for American businesses to denote their products as well as their needs so we can get these companies hooked up to buy from each other. Now give those same American businesses that exclusively buy components, supplies and equipment from other American businesses a tax credit for supporting their fellow businesses. That is a tax credit worth giving.

What if those businesses can't find certain widgets or needs that they have always sourced from overseas.........

4) That's where the government can help new businesses get setup to supply that need with low cost or no interest loans, with of course, the stipulation that the loan proceeds must be related to the purchase of again, American made products to setup that business.

But it's cheaper to get it from a foreign country.....

5) Time to assess customs and duty charges so that there in not a financial advantage to buying foreign products.

It's all about the government not spending money foolishly and keeping the jobs here and that starts with buying from here.
So simple!

pit fired pots without digging up the yard - making pottery in my new campfire pit

These pictures are from a previous attempt at firing a little bowl in my fire pit purchased at Menards for having backyard campfires.
By using some organic fuels, coloring agents next to the pot and then wrapping in newspaper and tin foil, and finally allowing it to burn in the fire for several hours, I can make our evening outdoor fires have a little of the anticipation a child feels at christmas.

Trying to be humble, but pretty darn excited!

Yesterday, after many months of anticipation, I was greeted with a package on my doorstep from DRG Network. Alas, my yarn bowl was back home, and accompanying it on its journey were 2 hard copies of the current issue of Creative Knitting Magazine. Wow, the cover shot is of a finished top to die for. Wish I had the time to really delve into knitting when I see some of these creations. If you're a knitter, this would be a fabulous magazine to subscribe to - and either the online version or the snail mail version are available. Perusing through, I find an overhead shot of one of my yarn bowls on page 11 "Knitting with a conscious" article - with a great writeup on eco friendly green yarns. The article continues and there on page 90 in all her glory a full shot of my bowl. The yarns they chose to feature in the bowl couldn't have been more perfect. I am normally a very humble person, but I can't help but be terribly excited about this - thank you Creative Knitting!
Visit Creative Knitting

Hey, I think there's a skunk in my Bearpaw Tama boots - product review

Imagine if you will, that for Christmas you were given a brand new dressy winter jacket, with a fur trimmed hood. It's lovely and now your ancient winter boots, that are cracking and leaking around the soles look very out of place. Well, that is just where my story starts.

After many hours of shopping locally, I was unable to find the perfect boots to both match my style and taste and my new jacket. I wanted comfort and good quality too, because I wouldn't be buying another pair of boots after this purchase until they were worn out. After many additional hours of research and looking online I decided on the black Tama style boots by BearPaw.

I ordered them online on January 5, 2011 and received them on January 12th. They're lovely boots, I couldn't wait till I had the chance to wear them. I took them out of the box quick tried them on for size, at that time I noticed what I thought was a strange rancid rubbery smell. Figured it was the new soles and didn't ponder it further, put them back in the box to take up to my room. A few days later I decided to wear my new boots, so I took them out of the box and removed the plastic sleeves that the boots were packaged in, and the odor hit me again only this time I realized it was skunk! I so desparately wanted to wear the boots. "Maybe they would air out after a day of wear". I shouldn't have worn them to work, it might just be the most embarrassing day of my life. As my co-workers repeatedly commented on smelling skunk, I just wanted to go hide somewhere out of everyones olfactory zone.
by the way - regarding sizing - I wear a size 7 to 7 1/2 shoe, and have a somewhat narrow foot, so per all comments and suggestions I ordered an 8 and they are slightly big, plenty wide, but I would be afraid to order small since it's better to have a little extra room than not enough).

Long story short, after a little over a week of trying to get some resolution on the problem it has now come down to me having to spend MY money to return them to the company at which time they would have to send me a completely different style (although they offered more than one option), none of which was really truly what I wanted. I am having a difficult time justifying paying to return a product that never should have been sent to me in the first place only to receive in return, a pair of boots that I never would have originally purchased.

So one month and almost $100 later I still don't have any boots to wear, and needless to say I am pretty much one very unhappy customer. Oh, and fyi this was a "batch wide" problem from what the person I spoke with indicated and that the retailer I bought them from did not have any replacements in stock for me. When I asked to be able to contact the manufacturer I discovered that the boots are actually made in China (my bad for some reason thinking these were made in the US where the quality control would be better). Maybe a stowaway skunk in a some Chinese factory is to blame for the free smells you get with the boot. At any rate, I have found other online reviews indicating the same problem with the same boot, so it's not just me.

Have you too experienced this - please post in the comments, and as for anyone else considering ordering, be sure to get confirmation from the seller that they have opened the plastic packaging sleeves and done a sniff test first. My recommendation would be to only buy them in person, so you can view the product carefully and sniff it too!

Update (2/10/11): I am happy to report that I have received a pair of replacement boots, sans odor! Yeah! I have another month, maybe, of winter weather left in which to wear them. Thank you to those who helped me.

There's hard Chunks in my Coyote Shino Glaze - Oh My

Just thought I would take a minute to post this for anyone out there who is perplexed about finding hard little chunks that won't dissolve back into their shino glaze, which has just happened during the past few months. I keep my glazes in the basement. A dungeon of sorts, since it is a very old house, which is not heated by ducts. It's winter and sometimes drops into the 50's temperature wise, which I found out, is why my Coyote shino glazes were getting gritty/chunky. I didn't realize that just being cold would cause this, but it does. One of the ingredients in it doesn't tolerate cold temps well (neither do I for that matter).

So I posted my problem to my friends on the Etsy Mud Team after I had already glazed a bunch of mugs with it, chunks and all, thinking they would just melt down during the glaze firing. On the good advice of some of the members, I found out you need to immerse your glaze container in a bucket of nice hot water to warm up the glaze until you can get the chunks to dissolve. I tried it and it worked perfectly!

But in the meantime the already glazed pieces went on to be fired. The result was a somewhat mottled spotty effect, which worked fine over the black glaze that I had layered the shino on top of. Above is a picture of one of those glazed pieces heating up in the kiln at the early stages of a glaze fire.........every little hardened speck erupted in the glaze. It almost looks like gorilla glue oozing out all over the mug doesn't it? I found it so interesting I couldn't resist sharing.

My Review of Free Freight Pottery Supply

I just have to give a shout out to Alex and the others at Free Freight Pottery Supply for their really awesomely helpful and friendly customer service. I originally purchased some Coyote glazes from them last year for the purpose of making some food safe utilitarian wares. Occassionally it is fun to divert from art pottery and turn to things that are useful too. Making my own glazes, I was unable to achieve some of the colors or finishes I desired, and still have them be food safe. Thus the veer towards commercial glazes for mugs and such. Then I discovered they are also just what I needed for some of my new decorative pieces too. I have ordered 3 or 4 times now.

On Thursday night, I placed an order for glaze that I was low on and a few new ones to try....I have ideas you know, lots and lots of ideas.......
anyway, late Friday afternoon as I was working on some urchins and thinking about some new color combinations I want to try on them when I get my order from Free Freight Pottery Supply, when I noticed a crab claw that I had forgotten about, which I was saving for "inspiration" - (I think they are intriguing and lovely). It dawned on me I would need some orange if I wanted to try to mock the colors in a crab claw and so I quick gave a call to FFPS. I asked if they already had my order packed and ready to go/or shipped, and found out that yes, it had just finished being packed up. I told Alex I wanted to add a glaze to it, but that's okay, I could get it next time I ordered. But instead he said 4 magic words.... "we aim to please" and then went ahead and added the glaze to my package.

I can't say how much I appreciated it, here it was after 4pm on a Friday afternoon, and I am sure the last thing they wanted to do was open up a box they had just finished packing, to make a last minute addition to it. But, they did and that is the true meaning of great customer service! I think any other company would have just told me that they were sorry the order was already "processed". Oh, and did I mention how quickly my orders always arrive! I have waited upwards of 2 weeks when ordering from other companies, but have always had my orders from FFPS arrive within 3-5 business days.

I give them a big thumbs up and know I will be ordering many more times from them!
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