VW Golf Possibly the best car I have ever had.
Problem I have with them are the VW agents that service the vehicle.
Specially the one agent I have been loyal too since 2006 when I bought my Golf from them.
Barlow World Mentone.
Apologies for the international readers, this is a local Melbourne Story. As I take pride in my car I have it service on time and every time by the agent. To ensure it get the best treatment.
They had a change of management in the service department. And as with any new management, especially bad management people leave. Nick use to be my Go To guy at Barlow World, he did everything for me. Discounts on every service, free light bulb replacements etc… (The VW Golf 5 got an issue with tail lights going)
With Nick gone so did my discounts, however even though I appreciated the discount, the service is gone too. They employed someone to deal with clients, not very friendly and have no idea to manage an upset client.
The thing that got me sour was that they completely overcharged me for my last service and then had the audacity to tell me I have to pay $1000.00 to replace my breaks. ($950, and this does include the disks). Which is definitely above market rates. With the brakes it would of pushed my service to over $1500.00. The best thing is this would be my 3rd service with them which is above $1500.00! Every time they have something extra to do on the car.
I called other agents to confirm the costs of a standard service, and on par it was +/- $100 cheaper than these guys. And 300% more help full.
To make things right and let them know this was my experience, I called them.
Asking for the Service Manager I was place on hold for at least 120 sec, then finally went back to reception and asked for just the Service department. Then I spoke to the Service Booking team, the person immediately noticed that I am not happy and said hang on for the Service Manager. Before I can tell he that he is not there, the put me through to some voicemail system.
I have decided I will now tell everyone I know to NEVER EVER use these guys. I will not service my car there ever again.
Image courtesy of the Barloworld website.
Loco in Glenhuntley Road, Elsternwick. Not everyone can make a good looking coffee. These guys do it during their morning rush. Tastes as good as it looks.
Short moan about our flights on the trip mentioned in the previous post, I had to fly Virgin as I left the booking till late and the other options were overpriced. Have to commend Virgin on the option of paying extra to confirm your seat in the emergency exit rows. Being over 6 feet this helps. My wife and I checked in and took our seats, as we have flown a few times before this we were expecting the Emergency Exit row speech, you have to be healthy and able to assist during an emergency. We obviously agree, or else we have to move. After hearing the same speech from each of the crew members, we were asked to place even our jumpers in the overhead storage?!?! You are allowed to read the hard cover copy of War & Peace but not keep a jumper on your lap? Not a bad flight except for the guy next to me removing his shoes and nearly killing 70% of all crew and passengers… When we had to get ready for the landing, we were allowed our Jumpers, handbag and o yes Noise Canceling headphones (Switched On). On the way back we experienced the same inconsistency from the wonderful Virgin Crew (And they are all young enough to be virgins), we were not allowed the Noise Canceling headphones on take off but we could have a hand bag and jumpers on our laps. On Landing the headphones had to come off… Everyone knows the aviation rules are not really that well thought out, they exist to manage the “crowd” in the event something goes wrong. Virgin, wanting to be the preferred airline needs to either be more relaxed or be more consistent the enforcement of their rules. Note: I do not have anything against the Virgin Brand, I actually like the company and everything it’s been doing. Just the wrong flight at the wrong time…
I had to fly to the Sunshine Coast in Queensland Australia to help a client with some computer stuff. We were in luck, at the same time we managed to book our flights another friend also living there wanted someone to house sit for them. We could not say no, free accommodation. The only problem was that we had to be out of their house two nights before we fly back, so we booked in at the Tanglewood Gardens Rain forest Retreat.
Three days before I filled out a booking request form on their website to confirm that they have a vacancy in one of the Garden Units. I only received a phone call hours before we had to check in. In the meantime we were asked to stay another night at our friends place, so we only needed one night of accommodation before we had to come back to Melbourne. I politely acknowledged that I have sent the request and I needed to know earlier if they had a vacancy and if we can stay the following night. She agreed and we were booked.
Running into some problems we only arrived late that evening to check in. I called in advance to let them know, they had no problem with the late check in. When we got to our room you could smell the room deodorizer from the little dam about 30 meters away. First I thought it was just sprayed before we got there. It was one of those electrical ones, imidiatly turned it of. The smell hanged in the air for another hour or more. Soon after we got out suitcases in the room my wife found something wet on her arm. After closer investigation and with shock we discovered it was a leech sucking away … we pulled it of and got it outside.
By now our mood was not as happy as before, we then realized that the deodorizer was installed to hide the smell of the mold. There were dead bugs everywhere, while my wife took a shower I had to clear off the bed so we can get in it without eating bugs during our sleep. Dust everywhere, the room was clearly not prepared for us except for the reloading of the deodorizer.
I know the whole experiance was mostly my own fault, we should of left.
They were not all bad, the husband and wife treated us well. They were civil and offered us fresh milk for the room as we got in late. We got the room below the advetised price. At one stage I told my wife it’s like going on holiday with my gandparents, the styling was so 70’s. It must of been a great place back then, 5 star for sure.
Quick Post: I went into T2 a local tea shop in Chadstone Shopping Mall. I am experimenting with different tea’s. Tea is the new coffee when it comes to the twitterati. So we don’t have a decent teapot, and I have spent good money on pots and they all perform pretty average. Some drip, others strain only when the pot is filled to the brim with hot water. I decided to spend a little more and buy something worth while, and who better to ask than “THE” tea store in Australia. Well the response was shocking, not really, people employ people that only think of their paycheck and not the interests of the owner or the store. It was just a bland response of: “All teapots are the same” I tried to reprhase my question with some problems I have had in the past, barely a “Uhmm…” out of my mouth, “NO, All pots will make tea!” I politely thanked her and walked out with my money in my pocket to spend elsewhere. Thanks T2.
Not much to say over the past few weeks, I guess service is at a bearable standard. I was real sick during this time, I tried to pin it to a food poisoning incident but couldn’t.
I did buy a new gadget, overhead High Definition Projector (Mitsubishi HC5500), this is after years of looking into “it”.
Very happy with the product however the guys I bought it from could have showed better understanding to the fact that people will always purchase the cheapest out there.
I shopped around and found that I paid just over $200 more that the cheapest retailer in Australia. So mentioning this to them they said “Well, that’s the best we can do”. I accepted as the other unit would have been shipped and the instant satisfaction of getting it now was worth the extra dollars.
Only after I paid they guy went off, well you really got a good deal here. There is now way I would of given you such I discount. I confronted him with the fact that they are not that well priced compared to other in this market, which he just ignored and said, “still would not do it”. I got my projector and left.
Part two, I accepted the projector rip off and gave them the benefit of the doubt and went back to talk cables and screens. A really well informed guy helped me out, even offered to come over to my place assist with the install. He gave me some good tips which will save me money. I needed a 15m + HDMI cable to connect the projector to my PlayStation3, as this cable will set me back $300+ I decided to go for a HDMI over RJ45 (Network Cable Extension) system. This was quoted at $349, I decided to go for it. Long story short, the RJ45 adapters did not work on Full HD 1080p.
I returned to the store three days later, ready to launch a full scale attack on the person that will be assisting me, well to my surprise and compliments to the store without any argument they refunded me.
They are not well priced but remember, you get what you pay for.
Check them out, “The Big Picture People”
This was sent to me by friend, he recieved it by email. I feel this is a very good post for those struggling to make a choice on a BlueRay (BD) Player.
It’s a known fact that the Sony Playstation 3 is the best value for money when it comes to BD players. It supports the latest version of the BD Software Version 2.0 and software upgrades are regular. Then not to mention everything else it can do. Besides this there are still people(you know who you are 
), that think getting a stand-alone player will suffice. This is what level of quality to expect:
This both an accounting of experience and a warning away from a vendor.
I recently purchased 2 Samsung Blu-Ray DVD players: a BD-P2500, and a
BD-P1500. Both have Internet connections for firmware updates and Blu- Ray
Live. The BD-P2500 also supports live streaming of Netflix content.
A couple of days after Christmas, the 2500 froze up. I could not get it to
respond to anything, including the factory reset code. I contacted Samsung
and was given information to send the player in for service. They’ve had it
for nearly 2 weeks with a status of “waiting for parts.” It has now been
broken longer than it was working.
The 1500 came up with a message on Thursday that a firmware update was
available. So, I initiated the download. It went without error, according
to the display. After completion, it too was dead in the water — no
response to anything. So, I called Samsung again. The problem was
escalated in customer service. This is what I got told:
1) There was a bad update put on the servers, and many players that got the
download have frozen up.
2) They do not have a fix for it at the current time and do not know when
one will be available.
3) I should check their WWW site once a week to see when an update is
available. ”It should almost certainly be within a month.”
4) Even though it is their fault for putting up a bad firmware update, if I
am required to send in the player, it is out of warranty for service so
it is my own expense.
I wonder how many other people around the world are stuck with
non-functional players and a vague answer about the fix? And the best they
can do is have me check the WWW site once a week to see when they are ready
for me to pay to install a fix to a problem they caused in the first place.
What crock!
Needless to say, I will probably not buy another Samsung product. You might
want to consider this as a big red flag in your own purchasing decisions –
the risk of bad updates and really bad customer service.
About a year or so ago I was looking to buy the Apple iPod HiFi only to find that Apple stopped making them in 2007. I looked all over to see if someone in a small town will still have old stock sitting on a shelf, with no luck. Ever so often I will check on ebay, most of them for sale in the US and selling for more than what they sold for new. So this weekend I visited a friend at a Mall about 40min drive, after we had coffee I walked through the tech section of the resident department store. There it was, the last one, Apple iPod HiFi. Asked the attendant do they have more, obviously not, she said its an ex demo model. I’ll have to take it as is, no box, accessories or remote control. It too sustained some damage with all the store patron’s using it, there are two plastic pins on the adapter that goes into the iPod. The one pin is gone. They wanted $250 for it, I tried getting a better deal as it clearly shows the damage. She said she will have to ask he manager who said they have to test it first and then we can talk price. So I left waiting for them to give me a call.
They never called as expected so I called them, they guy said “yeah it works”, so in my car on my way to pick it up. Got there, this guy found the box, dock adapters and the remote. So I asked about the price, explaining that I will have to pay to get the damage repaired. Again the manager will need to approve any discounts and she is not in until later that week. I decided to take it for $250 as the trouble to getting to the same mall will be a pain and definitely worth more than the extra +/- $20 off. After removing about 10 Security Stickers he rang it up for $235.17! Got it home, cleaned it up and works a treat!
So as a Apple fan I would like my Apple products to be pristine and completely problem free. I need to get that broken pin fixed. I called my Apple dealer they looked on the parts price-list and the complete unit is seen as a part. So I cannot replace just that component. And that will set me back $350… So for now I will just keep it as is… works perfectly fine with my 4th Generation iPod.
Link to the Official Apple Site: Click Here
I received this in an email from a friend, he suggested I post this on ” The World Should Know”. As I am not the author of this story please comment to the author and not myself. I understand that Africa is a tough country, however I do feel you always have a choice. The author makes the statement: “There is no ways we can leave here so that is not an option” . So many of the Zimbabweans already left and fled across the borders to neighboring states, why is this so hard for them? There are more questions that come to mind, for now I will only share his thoughts.
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Letter from Zimbabwe sent in by John Winter I reckon that these are the last days of TKM and ZPF. The darkest hour is always before dawn. We are all terrified at what they are going to destroy next……..I mean they are actually ploughing down brick and mortar houses and one family with twin boys of 10 had no chance of salvaging anything when 100 riot police came in with AK47’s and bulldozers and demolished their beautiful house – 5 bedrooms and pine ceilings – because it was ‘too close to the airport’, so we are feeling extremely insecure right now.
You know – I am aware that this does not help you sleep at night, but if you do not know – how can you help? Even if you put us in your own mental ring of light and send your guardian angels to be with us – that is a help -but I feel so cut off from you all knowing I cannot tell you what’s going on here simply because you will feel uncomfortable. There is no ways we can leave here so that is not an option. I ask that you all pray for us in the way that you know how, and let me know that you are thinking of us and sending out positive vibes… that’s all. You can’t just be in denial and pretend/believe it’s not going on. To be frank with you, it’s genocide in the making and if you do not believe me, read the Genocide Report by Amnesty International which says we are – IN level 7 – (level 8 is after it’s happened and everyone is in denial).
If you don’t want me to tell you these things-how bad it is-then it means you have not dealt with your own fear, but it does not help me to think you are turning your back on our situation. We need you, please, to get the news OUT that we are all in a fearfully dangerous situation here. Too many people turn their backs and say – oh well, that’s what happens in Africa This Government has GONE MAD and you need to help us publicize our plight—or how can we be rescued? It’s a reality! The petrol queues are a reality, the pall of smoke all around our city is a reality, the thousands of homeless people sleeping outside in 0 Celsius with no food, water, shelter and bedding are a reality. Today a family approached me, brother of the gardener’s wife with two small children. Their home was trashed and they will have to sleep outside. We already support 8 adult people and a child on this property, and electricity is going up next month by 250% as is water.
How can I take on another family of 4 —–and yet how can I turn them away to sleep out in the open? I am not asking you for money or a ticket out of here – I am asking you to FACE the fact that we are in deep and terrible danger and want you please to pass on our news and pictures. So PLEASE don’t just press the delete button! Help best in the way that you know how. Do face the reality of what is going on here and help us SEND OUT THE WORD.. The more people who know about it, the more chance we have of the United Nations coming to our aid. Please don’t ignore or deny what’s happening. Some would like to be protected from the truth BUT then, if we are eliminated, how would you feel? ‘If only we knew how bad it really was we could have helped in some way’. [I know we chose to stay here and that some feel we deserve what’s coming to us] For now,— we ourselves have food, shelter, a little fuel and a bit of money for the next meal – but what is going to happen next? Will they start on our houses? All property is going to belong to the State now. I want to send out my Title Deeds to one of you because if they get a hold of those, I can’t fight for my rights. Censorship!—-We no longer have SW radio [which told us everything that was happening] because the Government jammed it out of existence – we don’t have any reporters, and no one is allowed to photograph. If we had reporters here, they would have an absolute field day. Even the pro-Government Herald has written that people are shocked, stunned, bewildered and blown mindless by the wanton destruction of many folks homes, which are supposed to be ‘illegal’ but for which a huge percentage actually do have licenses. Please! – do have some compassion and HELP by sending out the articles and personal reports so that something can/may be done. ‘I am one. I cannot do everything, —but I can do something.. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do. What I can do, I should do. And what I should do, by the grace of God, I will do.’
Edward Everett Hale Please send this on to everyone in your address book. We send jokes out without blinking an eyelid. We don’t get told this on the news in South Africa , we only get told what they want us to hear. We all have a chance to do something, even though the something is by pressing forward to as many people as possible. Let’s stop talking and let’s start doing! There is power in prayer, there is also power in more people knowing about this than you in my address book. This is going to America , Dubai , Australia , France , South Africans all over South Africa , the UK . By forwarding this to all in my address book I have done something. The world needs to know what is going on.
I started a new diet about two years ago, trying to eat organic foods with no preservitives most of the time. Its not easy, today for the first time in a long time I ventured towards the vending machine on our floor to grab a packet of chips (crisps whichever your preference). The results not to pleasing, the machines are starting to fight back! Or you could look at it this way, its the machines way of helping me eat healthy!
I called the service number on the machine and they person on the other end offered to send me a cheque for $1.70!
Another good story, I guess it’s to do with the season! About 4 Months ago I was given a Nixon watch as a gift. I know Nixon to be a watch company that started in 1997 to manufacture a line of Skate, Surf & Snow (SSS) watches. The watch is built solid and the model is: The Venture (See Link). Not many bells & whistles the only extra feature is the backlight which is activated by a button, in my opinion does not stay on long enough after the button is released. You need to be a quick time reader or hold the button.
Well what happened was the watch was the last one on the shelf, with this “privilege” of getting the last one available the giver and I had to accept minor flaws. There were some scuff marks on the base plate and you could see some wear on the wrist strap and clip from demonstrating the watch to potential buyers. It comes with a five year warranty and two year free battery replacement service. This provided some level of comfort.
However it started losing time and the date stopped changing. I contacted Nixon and they requested I send it to their local service department which is 3000km+ away from here. Procrastinating a while I manage to send it off in November. The downside is that they unfortunately did not notify me that they received the watch; only after I sent them an email it was confirmed. The person that communicated with me over email was extremely professional and quick to reply.
Some time passed and I had to remind them they owed me a watch, again a quick reply apologizing and confirmed the watch was mailed. For some reason the watch never arrived, soon after sending and email to them they sent back a short message – “Apologies for the inconvenience a brand new watch has been shipped and will reach you within a day. “
I received my new Nixon watch as promised and looks better than the old one… scuff free and pristine! I can recommend their products; the quality and workmanship that is backed by the 5 year warranty should say it all.
