My Thoughts On Different Personal Consumer Experiences
Since the search engines are so efficient these days I thought I would share some of my experiences I have had as a consumer so that others my find them useful if they search a merchant or product. Hopefully these comments will show up in a search for the Merchant
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Steve Levine Realtor RE/Max Northborough, MA
We only had one exchange with him by phone and found it to be very unpleasant and short. He advertises a special 2.5% commission rate but when my wife called him he was evasive and short. He made no effort to engage in the discussion and rushed her off the phone when she said we were looking into selling our house but are not sure. I guess he will only help the ones that come screaming at him that they want to sell. He has a good web site and writes many articles in the local newspaper but my guess is hes a slick lister that goes after all the listings but doesn't have the time to put into actually selling your home. Of course this opinion is based on one phone call but first impressions are usually very accurate. I have a feeling that you will have better representation from another Realtor that is less on fancy spin and more on personal attention. Here is his site .
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We only had one exchange with him by phone and found it to be very unpleasant and short. He advertises a special 2.5% commission rate but when my wife called him he was evasive and short. He made no effort to engage in the discussion and rushed her off the phone when she said we were looking into selling our house but are not sure. I guess he will only help the ones that come screaming at him that they want to sell. He has a good web site and writes many articles in the local newspaper but my guess is hes a slick lister that goes after all the listings but doesn't have the time to put into actually selling your home. Of course this opinion is based on one phone call but first impressions are usually very accurate. I have a feeling that you will have better representation from another Realtor that is less on fancy spin and more on personal attention. Here is his site .
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Wagner Kia of Shrewsbury, MA - I would be very careful buying a used car there. My experience had to do with a used car I was about to buy. First off, beware of the $400 paperwork fee they throw on at the last minute after you thought you had the deal worked out. Make sure they take it off. Second, they put "new" tires on all the vehicles that look cool but are (in my opinion) one of the worst tires and cheapest tires that can be bought. I negotiated to have them put better tires on the car. I tried test driving the car in a dusting of snow and they slid all over the place because they have no usable tread pattern. Lastly, when I went to take a last test drive before handing over the final check I found a problem with the manual transmission. This took some time for them to deal with but in the end the Service Manager admitted it couldn't be fixed without taking the transmission apart and they weren't going to do that. I give great credit to the service manager for being totally honest in answering my questions. I know a lot about cars so I am glad I knew the right questions to ask. The sales manager did agree to cancel the sale and give me my deposit back.
Now for the interesting part. When I went to pick up my deposit check a few days later, they had put the car back on the lot for sale with (I assume) the defective transmission and they also took the good tires off and put the other junk tires back on. I feel bad for anyone who buys that car with a "potentially" bad transmission because the problem isn't all that obvious on a simple test drive. The car was a 2007 Toyota Corolla VIN # 2T1BR32E37C810568 2/14/11
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Now for the interesting part. When I went to pick up my deposit check a few days later, they had put the car back on the lot for sale with (I assume) the defective transmission and they also took the good tires off and put the other junk tires back on. I feel bad for anyone who buys that car with a "potentially" bad transmission because the problem isn't all that obvious on a simple test drive. The car was a 2007 Toyota Corolla VIN # 2T1BR32E37C810568 2/14/11
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J&K Roofing, Northborough, MA - I have received a quote from Jim and after getting 2 others, his quote is the best both price and materials. I have decided to go with him. I will update this in a month when the job is finished. 3/19/2011. The job is completed and I have to say this has been the best all around contractor experience I have ever had. Best price and materials of any bid I have received as well as my neighbors have received from other roofers. The work was done quickly and to a very high level of quality. Jim and his entire team were professional and friendly. They respected me and my house and yard. He also was flexible and very reasonable with some extra requests I had with extra through the roof vents. As far as I am concerned he is the one to use and no others. 4/15/11
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Home Depot Roofing Service, Shrewsbury, MA - I had Home Depot come to do a quote on a new roof for my house. Although the salesman was extremely knowledgeable and personable their quote was 70% higher than the other two I got. They do use good materials and offer one of the best warranty's on paper, for a normal consumer like me I feel that the other two offered an equivalent quote. Make sure you get quotes from your local roofers as well. 3/19/2011
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Mid-Statebuilding, Shrewsbury, MA - I had Mid-State come to provide a quote on my roof replacement project. They came quickly that day and was quite knowledgeable as well as personable. This was Friday and they said they would be back on Monday with the quote that I would like very much. I was excited because they have lots of services and could also tackle painting and cement work that I need done as well. I mentioned how I work out of my house but its best after 4 PM on Monday. The Project Specialist mentioned that lunch time would be better and asked if I could take a quick break on Monday at lunch to go over the quote. Wel..Monday lunch came and went, then after 4 PM he calls and says he can bring it over on Tuesday (hmm what happened to Monday I thought?). He said he would be there Tuesday at 4 PM and that would work good because he had another meeting at 7 PM Tuesday. Also, he was going to measure all my rooms for a painting quote at the same time which I also want done. Well Tuesday 4 PM came, nothing and nothing the rest of the night. there was no word. I then had received two other quotes so I wrote him off. It was unfortunate because I needed the quote by Tuesday because one of the others had a time limit on a discount.
Then..Thursday at 4:07 PM the doorbell rings and its him apologizing for being 7 minutes late! I looked at him odd and mentioned how I was expecting him Tuesday as he said. He asked if he was too late and I said well it wasn't yet and asked him if he could show me the quote. On the way to sit down I did express to him that I was not only concerned he missed Tuesday, but I was originally looking for him to be there Monday at lunch like he said. We sat down and his quote was a little above the one I had mentally accepted from another roofer that did one of my neighbors houses. I told him no thanks for the roofing thinking he would then start measuring the paint job and talking about the other jobs but he just says sorry, gets up, and quickly leaves.
As a sales manager in previous lives for many years I am dumbfounded about this whole course of events. I may have even paid a little more for the roofing if the other jobs were all reasonable so I could have one company do everything. His lack of follow through on everything reflects on the Company and probably how they do their business.
www.mid-statebuilding.com 3/19/2011
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Then..Thursday at 4:07 PM the doorbell rings and its him apologizing for being 7 minutes late! I looked at him odd and mentioned how I was expecting him Tuesday as he said. He asked if he was too late and I said well it wasn't yet and asked him if he could show me the quote. On the way to sit down I did express to him that I was not only concerned he missed Tuesday, but I was originally looking for him to be there Monday at lunch like he said. We sat down and his quote was a little above the one I had mentally accepted from another roofer that did one of my neighbors houses. I told him no thanks for the roofing thinking he would then start measuring the paint job and talking about the other jobs but he just says sorry, gets up, and quickly leaves.
As a sales manager in previous lives for many years I am dumbfounded about this whole course of events. I may have even paid a little more for the roofing if the other jobs were all reasonable so I could have one company do everything. His lack of follow through on everything reflects on the Company and probably how they do their business.
www.mid-statebuilding.com 3/19/2011
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Countryside Auto, Holliston, MA - I cannot say enough good things about the Manager, Bill and how he runs his business. In my process of looking for a used car I had seen it all. The corner used car business is scary. I was amazed with some of the things I ran into. I will leave that discussion for another time because I must say that Bill and Countryside Auto is a class act. He is also owned by a larger new car dealer which adds to the credibility. Bill was forthright and open in all our discussions not avoiding any question I threw at him. During my test drive of the car I wanted to buy I found two things, one was potentially a big problem and the other I thought was a small problem. Bill and I agreed that if he was able to address them to my satisfaction I would buy the car. After the dealings I have had with several other corner used cars places I expected to have the problems "fixed" but thought I would have to dig hard to find out exactly what was done. When I went to finalize the purchase I was amazed at both how open and detailed Bill was about what got fixed, and how thorough the work had been done. He explained it in detail and even showed me the removed defective parts without me even asking to see them. He went above and beyond the call to fix both issues far better than what I would have expected. In the end he actually added value to the car. One other thing I liked was there were no surprises on added on fees after the fact. What you negotiate is what you end up with.
If you are looking for a used car, this should be your first and last stop.
www.countrysidepreowned.com 3/19/2011
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If you are looking for a used car, this should be your first and last stop.
www.countrysidepreowned.com 3/19/2011
If you are thinking of investing in the new Managed Funds from Dr. Thomas Carr aka Dr. Stoxx from Befriend The Trend Tarding LLC. www.befriendthetrend.com please read this first.