Excellent Customer Service

Many people are quick to complain about a company that has wronged them, but it's very rare we hear of companies that provided excellent customer service. I had a very positive experience recently and sharing it as much as I can. I am hoping my story gets shared enough that people will take the time to acknowledge those stores that really care about their customers.

In December 2011, I purchased 2 hockey jerseys - one for myself and one for my husband. I only wore mine to the few games we went to and followed the washing instructions per the label. About 3 months after I purchased it and several washes later, one of the numbers on the back of the jersey had tears in it. I couldn't figure out for the life of me how this happened because the jersey is turned inside out and is hung up to dry. I was upset that my pricey article of clothing was now ruined. Thinking it was a lost cause since I didn't have the receipt to prove anything, I just hung it up in my closet. (It was the end of the season anyway).

Fast forward to this hockey season, which didn't start until a few weeks ago. We went to the game on Saturday so I pulled my jersey out of my closet. I completely forgot about the tears in it. I really didn't want to spend more money on another one because it really wasn't my fault this happened. I decided to contact Reebok (the manufacturer) to see how I can go about getting it inspected since it was clearly a defect. I sent off an email and listed all the details and included the chronicle of events since I purchased it. I was dismissed with a generic email stating that since I was passed the one year warranty, they couldn't help me. I followed up with a phone call not mentioning when I purchased it and was told I needed to provide photos, the receipt (or credit card statement) and they would evaluate it. But I knew because my CC statement shows December 2011 they were not going to help me. (Way to stand behind your product!)

I posted my disappointment on Facebook and a friend sent me a private message asking where I bought it. I told her I got it at Modells and she suggested I email the CEO because he is known for his excellent service. Later that night I googled him and saw he was recently on the show Undercover Boss. I immediately thought great, I'll email him and it will never get through. I found his email easily enough and sent off a respectful and honest note letting him know I've been a very satisfied customer for years and I have an issue with a jersey. This morning I woke up to a reply from him! He said he was sorry there was an issue with the product and asked someone within his team to help me out (I'm guessing she is the head of customer service). She called me today and located a new jersey at a location close to my office. I just picked up and have a brand new jersey. I am thrilled.

Modells really went above and beyond for me and I will continue to be a patron of their store. I can't express my gratitude enough to them. So, if you are looking for sporting goods, definitely check out Modells. They have great prices, products, and excellent customer service. You won't be sorry you shopped there.

Extreme Couponing

I know I normally don't do 2 posts in a day, but I didn't have the time yesterday to do this one, so I'll write about it now.

I normally do my food shopping following church service on Sundays. I head over to ShopRite in Uniondale with my list on the app my iphone and my coupons (both ecoupons and hard copies). Last week I saved over $20 with my coupons, but I also had a $10 off your order in baby bucks since I spent over $100 in baby items previously. However, this week I did phenomenally. I have to say in NYC/Long Island, it is very difficult to do any kind of extreme couponing simply because there are rarely any coupons (if any) on fresh produce and meats/seafood. This is where the bulk of my money is spent. My husbands thinks it's funny when I get excited I only spent pennies on certain items, but this is how well I did. Before my coupons were scanned, the total was almost $93. After coupons it was $76. Now, the ShopRite I go to doubles coupons up to and including .99. However if it says "Do Not Double" they won't double and you must get what the coupon states. I mean, I think that's only fair. A lot of the extreme couponers you see on television are able to coupon the way they do because their stores are much more lenient with coupons.

My awesome deals this week:

Barilla Pasta - on sale for .88 a box (not all varieties, but it did include whole grain). I had a coupon for $1 off 2 boxes of whole grain, veggie, or fiber plus. I bought 4 boxes of whole grain which came to a total of .38 a box for me.

General Mills cereal - $1.99 for specific varieties. I picked up the new Cheerios Honey Crunch and Fiber One Honey Almond Clusters or something like that. I had .75 off any Fiber One cereal coupon and .75 off the new Cheerios Honey Crunch coupon. Both coupons doubled. I paid .49 per box of cereal.

Wishbone Salad Dressing - $1.99 per bottle. I had a coupon for .65 off 2 bottles. My coupon doubled so I paid $2.68 for 2 bottles.

Frank's Red Hot Buffalo Sauce - $1.88 per bottle. My coupon was .65 off one bottle. This doubled and I paid .58 for one bottle

Coffeemate Coffee Creamer - The deal was 3 for $5. I used 2 coupons. I had one coupon for $1.10 off of 2 bottles and another that was .55 off of one. The .55 one double making it $2.20 off the 3 bottles. I paid $2.80 for the 3 bottles.

Bailey's Coffee Creamer - $1.49 a bottle. My coupon was $1 off. I paid .49 for the bottle.

Daisy Cottage Cheese - $1.99 for a tub. My coupons were .45 off 1 tub. The coupons doubled and paid $1.09 per tub.

I had other coupons for other things, but these were by far the best deals I got. I already have $1.50 off my produce purchase. I'm looking forward to see what next week's deals will be!

Friend Makin' Monday

Now it’s that time…If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section here at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

Getting To Know Each Other

1. What is your favorite color? Blue, it's such a happy color!
2. Share one or more of your talents. I'm a good cook and I'm great at party planning!
3. If you were spending the day getting to know someone new, where would you want to go?  I'm always partial to a restaurant on the water or a bar on the beach.
4. What is your favorite meal?  Spaghetti
5. Do you prefer to text or talk?  Texting
6. Share something about yourself that might surprise someone that you’re getting to know.  I am a stickler for spelling and being on time.
7. Do you color your hair? Yes
8. Do you wear glasses or contacts?  Not anymore. I had Lasik done in April 2011
9. What is your favorite breakfast food?  Well it's winter so that means I eat apples & cinnamon low sugar oatmeal...
10. Would your friends say that you’re sarcastic?  Not really, although sometimes I am but they seem to get that I am :-/
11. Do you prefer salty or sweet?  Salty
12. What is the first thing you notice about the opposite sex?  Posture
13. What is the last movie you watched?  Ugh....
14. Are you religious? I don't think this is quite the right type of phrase to use in this context. I think the more appropriate question is do you follow a faith? So to answer that, yes I do. I am a Christian and speak to God regularly.
15. Are you a neat freak, a slob, or somewhere in between? Neat. I absolutely hate clutter!
16. Share something from your bucket list that you hope to do someday.  See and walk on the Great Wall of China
17. Are you a risk taker, or do you prefer to play it safe?  Most of the time I play it safe, especially if it is anything financial.
18. Have you ever worn braces?  Nope, I lucked out and had enough space in my mouth for my teeth to grow in straight on their own.
19. Would you rather spend an evening at a theater or at a club?  Theater
20. If you could have three wishes, what would one of them be?  To be healthy and fit, to have no more debt, and to have healthy parents.

20 Questions

Ever have this toy? It's basically a device that can figure out what you're thinking based on asking you no more than 20 questions. I found an online version so I gave it a whirl. It asked for my age, gender and location (US) so I plugged that all in. I was thinking "pig" and it took 18 questions to guess it right. Start at number one at the bottom.

Q18. I am guessing that it is a potbellied pig (pet)?Right, Wrong, Close

---

17.		Can it make a sound? Yes.
16.		Can you order it at a restaurant? Yes.
15.		Is it a small mammal? No.
14.		Can you eat it? Yes.
13.		Is it brown? Sometimes.
12.		Is it tall? No.
11.		Is it commonly used? Sometimes.
10.		Does it roll? Yes.
9.		Is it yellow? No.
8.		Is it a specific color? Sometimes.
7.		Do you put your name on it? No.
6.		Is it made from cellulose? No.
5.		Does it like to run? Sometimes.
4.		Is it dangerous? No.
		Does it like to clean itself? Unknown.
3.		Is it white? No.
2.		Is it heavy? Yes.
1.		It is classified as Animal.

Homemade Baby Food!

As I have mentioned before I am really trying to cut back on what we spend on groceries. Now that Abby is starting to eat foods, we now have to start buying baby food, which is expensive! Have you seen the price of those little jars? Some of my friends made their own baby food and said it was super easy and so economical. I figured I would give it a whirl. I steamed an apple, pear, butternut squash, sweet potato, and carrots (all separately) and puréed each one. I also did avocado, but that did not need steaming. I portioned them into ice cube trays. When they were frozen I placed each cube into ziplock bags and have them stored in the freezer. Each cube is one serving. We are stocked for a few weeks and it only cost a few bucks!

Saving Money

I feel as though losing weight and saving money are the top two resolutions people make every year. I mean, why not? There are only few and far between that don't need to save money or lose weight. It's only been a few weeks since the New Year began and I like to think I'm not spending my money frivolously, or like I was before. I'm doing a much better job of bringing lunch to work, lunch I actually look forward to. Instead of going out during lunch to shop, I've been enjoying it with the company of some of my colleagues in our large conference room watching The Chew.

Another way I'm saving money is by following this weekly money challenge. You start on the first Sunday of the year and add $1 to the envelope (or piggy bank). Each week you add a dollar more to the amount than the previous week.

So this Sunday I have to put in $3. At the end of the year you end up saving $1,378. A nice chunk of change! No clue what I'm going to do with it. Possibly pay off some my CC debt or put it towards some new clothes or put it in Abby's account. I'll make that decision then. There's still time to start this if you want. You only should have $3 away now, not too difficult!

Meal Planning

Following the New Year, a friend of mine had posted a link on Facebook with several meal planning guides to choose from to help plan your meals and grocery list for the week. You can find them here. I originally printed out one and made a few copies, but never filled it out. As you may remember one of my resolutions was to plan meals and do make ahead meals, which I have done.

Just the other day another friend posted a picture of her meal plan for the week and I realized I really needed to get with it. One of the things I noticed I do is spend way too much in the grocery store. (Another resolution is to save money.) It's just two of us. If you looked in our pantry and freezer, you'd think we're feeding a family of four or five. There is no reason for me to spend $100 or more every week. Yes, some trips will be more costly because meats & seafood are on sale and I buy to stock up, but I really should only be buying perishables - produce and milk - weekly.

Anyways, I went back to the link and printed out a few copies of a planner and started planning it out. I originally started planning next week since I already made my meals for this week. After writing it out I saw I didn't need to buy anything except shrimp, avocado, and pesto. (I might actually skip the avocado.) So in addition to the limited produce, milk and yogurt I'll be buying Sunday, I should be spending no more than another $20 for shrimp and pesto. That sounds so much better. I then decided to write out the meals for this week as well. Now, I'm not trying to figure out what to make with stuff this week. It's nice to see it on paper.

I'm definitely going to be keeping this up. I know it will help save so much money in the long run and that is my ultimate goal with this menu planner. I'm good at preparing foods on Sunday for the week, but this will help me not overspend on food that sometimes gets thrown out. Now, I just need to stick with it. Doesn't seem too hard! The recipes I keep on my Pinterest food board are very helpful too!