Category Archives: Internet

Complaints, Internet, Michael Jackson, Rants

Michael Jackson dolls damaged in transit

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Well this is a turn up for the books – I have a complaint about the delivery of some items and it doesn’t involve Home Delivery Network… will wonders never cease? This delivery was in fact down to Royal Mail, but alas they’re not actually to blame either. No, the fault lies with Play.com and the amateurish way in which they’ve packaged two ‘collectible’ (as it says on their website) Michael Jackson dolls.

The dolls, one with the Thriller outfit and one with the Billie Jean outfit, have just been released as a more affordable alternative to the £250 Sideshow Collectibles figures. Even so, they’re still £30 each (so £60 on two dolls is a sizable chunk).

You would expect something branded as a collectible, and coming in a presentation box, would be dispatched in a carefully packaged box, filled with either bubble wrap or polystyrene chips – however you would be wrong. Instead Play.com decided that these dolls would be perfectly fine sent through the post wrapped in nothing more than a plastic postage bag. No protection, no padding, nothing.

I missed the delivery on Monday so collected them from the Post Office today, only to find they were somewhat worse for ware. The Thriller doll in particular had been crushed on the bottom section, and isn’t exactly in the condition I would describe as collectible. The Billie Jean was slightly better, but both have damage to the tops of the boxes as well.

Now I have complained to Play.com and I’m awaiting their response – so I’ll update with their comments here. I am hoping however that they’ll admit some sort of mistake in the way they’ve posted these as you cannot expect to sell collectible figures and post them in plastic bags. You wouldn’t accept that from an eBay seller, never mind a retail website with almost a decade’s worth of experience in selling online.

Complaints, Internet, Rants

MiaMindMusic.com and Grouply.com spam email annoys thousands

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We all receive spam emails from time to time, some more than most. I personally receive hundreds each day – most are caught by spam filters but many make it through. It’s an occupational hazard of having so many different domains.

However, one thing you can usually rely on is that when you receive a spam email offering some shoddy product or service, you won’t normally receive it again that day… and you certainly won’t receive any other emails from people who also received that spam.

Not so with an email that was sent yesterday on behalf of the website www.miamindmusic.com through the spam site grouplygroups.com though. I not only received the following spam email from them, but I have also received hundreds of follow up emails from people asking to be removed from the mailing list.

Have a read of the spam from this law breaking company:

From: em-8587008@grouply.com [mailto:em-8587008@grouply.com]
Sent: Thursday, November 04, 2010 11:25 AM
To: superstars@grouplygroups.com
Subject: [superstars] You’ve pressed your record – now what? MIA MIND MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT PROMOTION

You’ve pressed your record – now what? MIA MIND MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT PROMOTION

You’ve pressed your record – now what?

MIA MIND MUSIC

ENTERTAINMENT PROMOTION & MARKETING

  • RADIO PROMOTION
  • PRESS COVERAGE
  • RECORD DISTRIBUTION
  • INTERNET SERVICES
  • ADVERTISING

(212) 564-4611
MiMiMus@aol.com
www.MiaMindMusic.com

FREE consultation!
Mia Mind Music – we’re keeping you buzzed!

Reply via web | Reply to sender | To reply to group use “Reply to all”
View full conversation (9 messages) | Start new conversation

View member profiles | Visit group
Want to stop these emails? Unsubscribe Create your own group!

As you can see, pretty useless as an email and irrelevant to me, and most recipients no doubt. What’s worse is the fact that it was sent to an email address that I do not use, and have never used, for a domain that is completely irrelevant to the subject of the email – so I clearly never signed up or joined any group.

The real comedy, or tradegy – depending on your take, comes from the many, many emails I have since received from people wanting to be removed from the list. You see, whenever someone replies to the spam, their email is also sent to every single person on the list, generating a whole swathe of self replicating spam.

Here are some of the more printable responses to the spam from GrouplyGroups.com and Mia Mind Music:

What IS THIS… ? Stop sending please. What is this spam?

Pretty annoyed there, then there’s the short and sweet:

Remove me now!!!!!!!!

One person has even been really aggressive and to the point, but still without swearing:

Do you really think that loading my inbox up with the same whack ass email is going to bring you any business? How is it that you claim you are a good marketing company but don’t know being a nuisance is a turn off?

Someone else even tried politeness – but as you’ll see later this was a waste of time as well.

To whom it may concern,
Why am I receiving not only your promotional advertisement but requests from strangers to delete them from a mailing list that I have no knowledge of.

Finally I really feel for this guy because I have seen his previous two requests to be removed also come through.

Please RESPECT my 3rd request and take me off your email list

Now, while I have seen his two previous emails, and the hundreds of others, it seems that the imbeciles at GrouplyGroups.com haven’t seen them – if this email from Jackie Wright, who also replied to every single person on the list when she intended to just reply to the poor chap who’d asked three times to be removed, is anything to go by:

From: Jackie WRIGHT
superstars@grouplygroups.com

SIR, AT THE BOTTOM OF THE EMAIL YOU CAN OPT OUT. THERE IS A LINK THAT WILL MARK YOU MARK AS DO NOT MAIL. THIS IS THE FIRST REQUEST I HAVE SEEN…..IT WILL BE A FEW DAYS BEFORE I WILL BE GOING OVER THE DATABASE…SO QUICKEST WAY IS TO OPT OUT YOURSELF…VIA PHONE…JACKIE

Email marketing has, over the years, managed to clean up its act from the shady beginnings it once had. Many professional and respected companies use email marketing to offer new products and services to their clients, but only AFTER they have opted in – this company has not done that. They have ignored laws against sending spam emails and have repeatedly bombarded unsuspecting, and unwilling people with spam – hundreds of times a day.

If you want your company’s reputation shot down like Mia Mind Music then, by all means, use GrouplyGroups.com as well. Otherwise, use a reputable Internet marketing agency – one that doesn’t use spam and black hat tactics.

CSA, Internet

CSA staff sacked for downloading porn

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If you’ve ever wondered why you can’t get through to the Child Support Agency when you phone up, or why their computer systems continually crash and lose your information, it’s because their staff have been accesses pornography at work. A recent news story from The Guardian revealed that four staff members at the Child Support Agency have recently been sacked for, among other things, looking at pornography when they should have been doing their jobs.

The imbecilic former staff members of the CSA were also wasting tax payers’ money by doing their shopping online with their computers in work time, and downloading files.

In addition to the sackings, another three staff members of the CSA (now known as the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission – CMEC) were also disciplined for their abuse of the computers.

The frightening thing is that none of this information would have come to light had it not been for a Freedom of Information request – which any person is able to make at any time. The FOI was made by the Internet security company Proofpoint. Their CEO, Gary Steele, commented:

“The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission deals with extremely sensitive issues and data about family issues, and it is worrying that staff have been able to access unauthorised sites.

“Apart from the fact they should be doing their work and not logging on to completely inappropriate sites, these employees are risking the integrity of their office computer network.”

CMEC responded to the FOI request by stating:

“Commissions’ employees are regularly reminded of the rules regarding access to the internet sites.

“Every time an individual logs on to their computer system, he or she is prompted to read and accept the terms of the commission’s electronic media policy.”

A spokesperson for CMEC tried to play down the incident, claiming that few disciplinary measures are taken.

“We employ almost 9,000 people, and the disciplinary record speaks for itself.”

Of course, without the FOI from Proofpoint, we wouldn’t have known about this one, so we don’t know how many other incidents there are of the CSA’s staff downloading porn and abusing the computer systems.

Only recently, one CSA employee from their Belfast offices, Jamie Smith, made comments to fathers on a Facebook page that he would happily pay them all to kill themselves. We have learned since then that Jamie Smith has been dealt with internally, but the CSA would not comment as to what punishment had befallen him.

The CSA is to be axed next year amid the new coalition government’s many spending cuts.

Internet, Rants

Another reviews website is threatened with legal action

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As someone who gauges the quality of a blog post by the number of comments it receives, the number of irate complaints and emails it is responsible for and, when it’s really successful, the number of phone calls and solicitors letters it precedes, it’s with a warm heart that I pay tribute to TripAdvisor.

The hotel and guest house reviews website has, for many years, given power back to the people with regards to complaining about poor service, shoddy accommodation and generally woeful holiday experiences. Now, rather than do something about their service, the hotels that came in for a bashing are instead ‘threatening’ legal action against the website for defamation of character.

It has been my experience on many, many occasions that those who ‘threaten’ legal action, don’t. Just the same as those who threaten to punch you in the face don’t. When a smack, or legal action, is forthcoming it just happens – without the hissy fit threats beforehand.

However, even if in this case the companies involved do make good on their threats I wouldn’t worry if I were in TripAdvisor’s shoes, or rather server space, as any successful case against them would open the door for every reviews website to be sued – and there are millions, including the very successful (and my personal favourites) blagger.com and ciao.co.uk – the latter owned by Microsoft – so TripAdvisor is in good company and won’t have anything to worry about.

If your hotel’s shit, do something about it – don’t complain when someone spreads the word.

Internet, Movies

Lord of the Rings Blu-Ray giveaway!

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One of the websites I work on, WhatDVD.Net, has given away some great DVDs and Blu-Rays over the years – but this latest competition (launched today) has what must be the best prize ever offered by the website. The latest prize on offer over at WhatDVD.Net is for all three Lord of the Rings films on Blu-Ray (released next Tuesday in the USA) as well as a bag of LOTR goodies.

Lord of the Rings prizesThe bag of preciousss goodies contains seven bookmarks, each with different characters from the three films, a LOTR scented candle, a New Zealand Jade necklace, a Return of the King pendant and a pack of LOTR playing cards.

There’s also a final mystery prize being shipped over from Warner Brothers now, and it will be added to the prize pot next week.

If all of this sounds right up your street, check out the competition and enter now.

CSA, Internet, Podcasts, SEO

CSAhell.com on local radio

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Last week I appeared on local radio here in the North West talking about the website CSAhell.com, and how it has helped people dealing with the Child Support Agency. I was approached for the radio talk show because the researchers found the website in Google when they searched for phrases such as ‘CSA Advice’, ‘CSA Mistakes’ and even ‘Child Support Agency’ – proving how SEO can not only benefit your website’s rankings and traffic, but how it can also lead to offsite promotion such as local radio.

I recorded the segment and have uploaded it as a podcast, but must apologise in advance for the poor sound quality and additional commentary because the program I used to record it also recorded ambient sound from within the room.

Very useful!

Anyhow, have a listen and do let me know what you think.

Darren Jamieson on Radio City - CSAhell.com [ 12:40 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2674)
Internet, SEO

My top 20 referring keywords for June

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I was just checking my website’s stats for June and it occurred to me how little of my traffic is actually to do with Internet marketing or SEO. I guess it should come as no surprise, considering the nature of much of my blog posts, but my stats do seem to be filled with people searching for companies such Home Delivery Network, Carphone Warehouse and Computeach.

Even Kitchens Direct gets a few mentions, and I’ve never even used them!

I wonder how long it will be before Halfords starts to show in this top twenty list… I’ve also included the visitor numbers for June for each search term too, so you can see the level of traffic for these particular searches.

  1. hdnl (523)
  2. home delivery network (319)
  3. hdnl complaints (222)
  4. yousendit.com free trial (211)
  5. home delivery network complaints (187)
  6. you send it free trial (103)
  7. csa complaints (65)
  8. computeach reviews (55)
  9. carphone warehouse complaints (52)
  10. mr daz (43)
  11. yodel hdnl (39)
  12. flakelet (28)
  13. hdnl yodel (25)
  14. hdnl tracking (25)
  15. homedeliverynetwork (23)
  16. kitchens direct reviews (22)
  17. kitchens direct watchdog (22)
  18. tesco is shit (20)
  19. the parcel data has been received (18)
  20. yodel delivery (17)
Complaints, Internet, Rants

Halfords complaints continue

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My dispute with Halfords looks set to run and run, as my previous complaint against Halfords, dated July 7th, has only just been responded to. Last week I took the day off to wait for delivery of a CD player for the car, only for it to fail to turn up. I complained to Halfords with this email, and in the meantime the item did arrive (on July 8th, when I was in London for the A-Team screening) so I missed delivery.

Anyhow, the item has now been collected and installed in the car, despite my having to pay another £4.99 for a connector that I wasn’t informed about when I ordered the item from Halfords website.

I awaited their response from my last complaint before replying again, and it has just arrived. Here is what they said, count the excuses:

From: David Willis [mailto:David.Willis@halfords.co.uk] On Behalf Of Customer Services
Sent: 13 July 2010 16:05
To: Darren Jamieson
Subject: Re: FW: halfords.com – Order Received (ref ********)

Dear Darren Jamieson,

Thank you for your email. Please accept my apologies for the delay in our response, this has been due to an unusually high volume of written correspondence in recent weeks.

I am sorry to read that you have experienced issues with your online order. We regret to inform you that Halfords are undergoing a major warehouse relocation, consolidating 3 warehouses into 1. At this present time stock is being transferred from its original location to the new Distribution Centre and is being booked into to the correct location of picking and despatch. I apologise that due to this relocation your items were delayed within our system and we were unable to meet the advised delivery schedule.

This issue has been rectified and from your order information and DHL tracking information all items have now been delivered to your address.
As previously advised, Halfords have removed all delivery charges in relation to your order due to the inconvenience caused during your online transaction with Halfords. I can also confirm that the 5% discount was also honoured and actioned as per your correspondence with Customer Services. I will however escalate the order details to the correct team member to investigate why a call back was not given by the advisor in the time scale provided to advise you that this had indeed been actioned. The outcome of this action will be dealt with internally.

I would like to assure you that it is never our intention to cause distress or inconvenience to any of our customers and although mistakes do happen, we recognise that it is how they are dealt with which is important. I thank you for your patience in relation to this matter.

In reference to your compensation request, Halfords only compensate for actual losses and cannot consider your request for compensation reference a late delivery. As a company, we feel that it more productive and beneficial to address the issue and deal with the matter internally.

I appreciate this may not be the outcome you were expecting, however, please be assured that this matter has received my full attention and consideration. . It is only through feedback from our customers that we are able to identify areas where we are falling short of our customers’ expectations and can redress them.

Please accept my sincere apologies once again.

Yours sincerely

David Willis
Customer Contact Centre Supervisor
Halfords Ltd

Customer Services: 0845 057 9000
Web: www.halfords.com
Halfords Limited, Washford West, Redditch, Worcestershire. B98 0DE

Naturally, the fact they are moving warehouses doesn’t really concern me. It doesn’t explain why they failed to call me back or even notify me of the delay to delivery so I could cancel my day off, and it doesn’t explain why I had to pay more money again when I had the item installed at Halfords in Cheadle. So, here is my repost again.

Hi David

Thanks for your email, although again it was almost a week before I received a reply.

The items not arriving on the date I had specified was indeed inconvenient as I had taken a day off to wait in for them, and the day that they did arrive (July 8th) I was in London all day – hence why I selected July 7th for a delivery date. I was not advised that the delivery date would change (otherwise I could have cancelled my day off), and it seems a strange coincidence that the items were shipped hours after I emailed to complain. Perhaps the order was forgotten, or lost, until I reminded you?

However, they have arrived now and I have finally had the item installed at Halfords in Cheadle, Manchester. The staff were very helpful, and indeed quick at installing the item.

On the downside, I had to pay another £4.99 for a connector plug which I was not advised about when I placed the order on your website, despite running the ‘will this work with my car’ check. The fitter in the store mentioned that many customers are angry about this when they go in for fitting because the website never tells them about this connector, or even warns them that it may be necessary.

Perhaps your website should be updated to show this as you’re clearly angering a great many people by trapping them into another £5 purchase at the point of install after they have ordered from your website?

I’m sorry to hear that Halfords has suffered problems with moving its warehouse, but fail to see how that should affect customer orders, delivery dates or the inability to return phone calls. This seems to be nothing more than an excuse on your part.

I should also point out that the 5% reduction and the ‘free delivery’ were not added ‘due to the inconvenience caused’ as you put it. I originally had the 5% discount, plus the free delivery, when I placed the order several weeks ago on 22nd June, and have a text message confirmation to prove this (two messages actually). The failure of your website to process the order meant I was forced to try again, and again, and again, receiving a variety of unhelpful error messages before phoning up to place the order – where the original order price was finally honoured.

So, as you can see I haven’t received anything for my ‘inconvenience’, and have indeed had to pay more again due to the non disclosure of the website with regards to parts required. Perhaps you could look at this again… I’ll await your response.

Let’s see what they say next time.