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Lake Worth Utilities
Waste Meter
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Total Taxpayer Dollars
Wasted:
$1,621,591 |
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PCTOOLS SCAM... the fine print
AUTO RENEWAL SCAMS... reading the fine print
Scam
PCTOOLS and other software and service companies have gone
to great lengths to make it as difficult as possible for customers to stop the
automatic renewing of their products and services. The fine print is in the
“terms of purchase” where PCTOOLS claims that by buying their product you agree
to have your product, service, or subscription automatically renewed. And of course,
you never agreed to that since the salesman never told you anything about it
and you didn't see it on any of the PCTOOL advertisements. So it's a big surprise
when you get the email notice of automatic renewal and you discover they've
rigged everything so you can't just cancel this renewal... you're going to have
to WORK HARD AT IT. They've already got your credit card number and they know
that a certain percentage of novices will probably give up and let the renewal
go through.
Looking on the email, you see no customer service phone
number so you can pick up the phone and call… there's no convenient “cancel
automatic renewal” button or link somewhere... they made sure of that... so what
do you do?
You can follow the directions in the email notice for “opting
out of auto renewal,” which say “go to my account” but the last thing you needed
when you bought the software was to set up another unnecessary account and password
to remember. After finding yourself in an infinite loop of being bounced back
and forth between two screens it becomes apparent this doesn't work either.
It’s likely this interruption in your day will cost at least
a half hour of your time as you go through the rat maze of figuring it all out and finally getting someone on the phone who speaks and understands English
to stop the runaway train. The first number google listed as PCTOOLS support
ended up with someone from "Iyogi" (tech support outsource for PCTOOLS) with a
heavy accent who wanted to backdoor into my computer. That was a totally ridiculous request... but they do that so they can terrorize you into thinking that if you don't renew, you may end up with a dead computer and none of your files. When I refused to allow
it, he didn't understand and finally got his supervisor on the phone who couldn't
even find the correct number of PCTOOLS for me to call.
This is what’s happened to many American businesses where
most everything is outsourced and greed reigns supreme. I do not recommend
this product as there are many comparable products that cost less, one for free
(CACHE CLEANER) ...some even packaged within security software that offer the
same features and performance. And most important... they won't be
automatically stabbing your credit card with renewal fees you didn't agree to
pay.
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>>> CLICK HERE to READ MORE of this ARTICLE >>>
| 3244 bytes more | comments? | Score: 0|
Posted by admin on Wednesday, August 31, 2011 @ 10:35:47 EST
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Product Reviews: Review of BlueAnt V1 and Plantronics Voyager Pro - the two most expensive blueto
Review of BlueAnt V1 and Plantronics Voyager Pro - the two most expensive bluetooth headsets
Blueant V1 $130 at Best Buy $69.99 at Compusa
Plantronics Voyager Pro $99.99 at Best Buy
The scoop on the (supposedly) two top Bluetooth headsets paired up with a Nokia N-95 shows both are poor
performers.
Both headsets had poor communication with the phone and garbled most speech
with the phone strapped to my waist. Most of the time, it was necessary to have
the phone within 18 inches of the ear piece to prevent garbling. And it had
to be oriented just right.
This poor communication, losing communication, garbling, static and other interference
that often requires ending a conversation seems common among those who have
tried blue tooth headsets for hands free cell phone operation.
It’s not that they don’t work, it’s that they don’t
work well. And the market is so flooded with an infinite variation of these
trinkets that advertisers have resorted to all kinds of hype to attract buyers.
One good example is the Plantronics Voyager Pro. The video shows a girl in a
wind tunnel with the wind blowing sideways across her face. She is speaking
beautifully clear despite the intense wind. What the video doesn’t show
is what happens if she turns slightly one way or the other. Even a slight breeze
when your faced into the wind will make enough wind interference to preclude
intelligible speech.
Voyager: We paired this up with a Nokia N95 after seeing the video. It was
big and clumsy, too much wind noise even with a slight breeze, and it didn't
communicate well with the N95. Audio quality was okay. So much for the voyager…
it went back the same day.
Blueant V1: If you’re a busy person on the phone a lot, the V1 will drive
you nuts. Things like having to recharge it once or twice a day, having to remember
commands that allow you to turn off the annoying LED every time you turn on
your headset. This LED flashes every few seconds drawing attention from everyone
who thinks you’re trying to be a kid with those flashing LED sneakers.
But even more annoying for busy people on the phone a lot… its battery
is far too weak and although they claim 5 hours of speech, it’s probably
more like 3 hours before its in trouble communicating with your phone.
And usually once or twice a day in the midst of a conversation, it will totally
freak out and becomes unusable. We had to wait 5 minutes to get it to turn off.
Then we had to reset it to get it going… embarrassing when important business
is being conducted.
We found for an average busy day it had to be recharged at least once. Despite
all the fancy battery charging options, who wants to carry around a bag full
of wires and adaptors where ever they go?
And its performance like the Voyager Pro was dismal at best although better
in the wind head on. Audio quality was okay but not up to the clarity and intelligibility
of the handset. We found that the Nokia N95 couldn’t be more than two
feet away to eliminate static and garbling. And if you carry your phone on your
waist on the opposite side of the earpiece… even that will cause garbling.
So much for the 30 feet they brag about. We found out from the manufacturer,
that 30 foot range is under optimum conditions for communication… not
necessarily clear speech.
On the good side, some of the voice commands are useful but we found it doesn't
always understand the voice commands. And occasionally in some environments,
saying the word “answer” to receive the call didn’t work and
so we lost the call.
It fits nicely and wears well although like most it blocks out a little high
frequency sound from your ear.
It easily is better bang for the buck than the Voyager Pro but don’t
get shafted at Best Buy where you pay full list price. Save yourself $60.00
and buy on line or at Compusa.
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comments? | Product Reviews | Score: 0|
Posted by admin on Wednesday, July 29, 2009 @ 07:00:05 EST
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On File: Go Daddy Web Hosting... is it what they say?
Go Daddy Web Hosting... is it as good as they say?

High site downtime, server down, slow server, 20 minute waits for tech support are serious indications
Go Daddy is not what it used to be. Having had a good experience with
Go Daddy from years ago (immediate tech support, site always up, fast working
site, I recommended Go Daddy to many friends), in March of 2007, I placed a
new site on Go Daddy and at first everything went well. But after 6 months with
a few major problems like not being able to upload/download anything to my
site for 8 hours… other more serious problems arose causing clients to call
with complaints of a slow or non working site. This is truly embarrassing for
any site owner. Go Daddy performance claims weren’t adding up.
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>>> CLICK HERE to READ MORE of this ARTICLE >>>
| 3157 bytes more | 4 comments | On File | Score: 5|
Posted by admin on Saturday, May 03, 2008 @ 09:00:18 EST
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On File: Comcast - good speed when it works, lousy service
COMCAST - lousy service
"It's way faster than DSL..." yes, there is truth in advertizing
and you pay more for that speed by the way. We purchased the ultimate
super charged premium service which costs about $73 dollars a month and Comcast
has been improving its speed. But why pay for the premium service when
someone on the $47 dollar plan is downloading faster and has the same upload
speed? But that's only part of the problem recently experienced with Comcast
performance and service.
For some reason the download speed dropped to a little above a 56k modem one
day and a speed test determined that my upload speed was faster than my download
speed. Since this was the third time this had happened, I was noticeably
irrate when they accused my system of being the problem. I was tired of
ripping it apart but when they offered to send a tech out the next day, I agreed.
The problem was not my system, not the modem, it was the Comcast circuit I was
on.
Without typing a book, it's now six days later and still nothing is fixed.
I was told that Comcast doesn't work on weekends; that they would be out Monday
(they never showed), I was told I was next in line to get service and they never
called or showed up and so if you want reliable Internet service and Comcast
has a problem with their circuits... you might be a long week without what they
guarantee... "you should always be surfing at broadband speeds."
I'm still down around 56k modem land and its been seven days.
NOTE: the actual time down with the slow speed was 10 days before Comcast fixed the problem.
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comments? | On File | Score: 0|
Posted by admin on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 @ 01:50:54 EST
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On File: Mona Vie, vertical market scam or fountain of youth?
Mona Vie - snake oil or fountain of youth?
Always keep in mind that vertical/pyramid markets are extremely lucrative business
opportunities with a serious downside... greed usually overwhelms common sense.
We decided to try out this "miracle health drink" to see if it worked
as claimed. Of course the claims are diverse and seem to depend more on
what health problems you talk about with whoever is trying to hook you into
the scheme. At $35 dollars a bottle we found little if any health improvement
after more than six months of regular use. With that kind of inflated
price tag and no health benefit, we reluctantly (we kept thinking something good would happen) decided to discontinue spending
a fortune on what we think is just another drink of some sort.
Perhaps the best way to view it locally, is to travel down to the Lantana Lutheran
church and see the half million dollar fancy bus paid for by this vertical market
scheme. Unfortunately for the more business minded folks, all the upstream profit making positions have long been filled by the "Black Diamond" group and the
individuals trying to sell it to you are just looking for you to provide downstream revenue for their
pockets.
So buyer beware... our experience though limited, is shared by many more and
by the way... if you haven't already bought your $40.00 introduction package...
we have one you can buy for half that and its unopened. We were only interested
in the health benefit of Mona Vie and never had any interest in hustling a vertical
market scheme.
Perhaps there's a reason this product never became part of health store or
super market inventory. Think about it.
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comments? | On File | Score: 0|
Posted by admin on Friday, January 25, 2008 @ 15:09:46 EST
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On File: Buyer beware - CARMAX/ARRIGO
BUYER BEWARE - CARMAX & Arrigo Dodge/Jeep Stealership

This is a two fold problem, so let's see just what happened so you won't make
the same mistake with either company. Above is the bill to replace 4 brake rotors
which were "out of spec" according to Arrigo mechanics.
The 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee (26,000 miles) was purchased from CarMax in April
for $20,000+. CARMAX advertizements say they check everything to make sure it's
to specifications... safety systems such as brakes receiving special attention.
The salesman told the customer that "the brakes are new" and even
asked for the car back at one point to "touch them up a bit." But
in fact, it was only the BRAKE PADS that were new. At first everything was fine
but after 6 months, the car began pulsating when the brakes were applied. This
was a potentially dangerous situation that reduced the effectiveness of the
brakes. The owner had purchased an extended warranty and was certain that the
problem would be fixed under warranty.
Previously, the car's engine warning light had flashed and CARMAX told the
owner that only a Jeep dealer (Arrigo) could deal with that problem. Turns out
the warning was bogus and the dealer reset the computer. So at this point, the
owner made arrangements to get the brake work done at ARRIGO... the first mistake,
as you can see by the outrageous prices charged for service. It has often been
said that new cars are not where dealers make money, it's on the service.
But if we believe ARRIGO mechanics, the real deception came from CARMAX who failed to live
up to their stated standards of thoroughly going over the car and replacing
the rotors. However, it doesn't seem normal that rotors are too thin at 36,000 miles. If they were too thin, then they must have been turned at least twice which seems unlikely. Either way the owner was at risk perhaps to save a few
bucks. CARMAX said they were not bound to provide any credit toward the brake
job, admitting that ARRIGO DODGE/JEEP prices were well beyond reasonable. And further, they said they would have done the same job for much less.
Summary
If you buy from CARMAX, beware... paying top dollar for a clean looking car
might still cost you nearly a thousand dollars 6 months down the road... extended
warranty or not... IF you take it to a dealer to have it serviced. Either way it appears that CARMAX missed something they should have known about. In this case, the safety of the vehicle may be limited to this one car... but maybe not. Regardless of circumstances, the brakes needed fixing and they shouldn't have.
And of course, unless you want to hear that ripping sound from your wallet,
don't get your car serviced at the Arrigo Stealership.
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comments? | On File | Score: 0|
Posted by admin on Friday, November 30, 2007 @ 08:21:35 EST
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