Verizon Never Fails to Amaze

Yes with their poor customer service. Since the company is so silo-ed, I keep getting transferred between departments to resolve issues.

Where has the service gone?

Considering that the United States is supposed to be known as a service country, it has some of the worst customer service when it comes to telecommunications companies. Granted, when I was in China, the customer service was not great either with China Telecom. Maybe telecommunicaton companies all over the world have horrible service since they know users only have a couple of choices. Its more of choosing the less of all evils I suppose.

I purchased a Verizon cellphone that was to be of global use. When I received it, I popped in my China Mobile simcard and the phone kept complaining. I called Verizon and the customer service representative said that in order for the feature to work, it would need to be active with Verizon for 60 days. I told them, where in the world did it say this on the website. She said in a condescending tone that if I called an agent, she would have told you. I replied, "that is a very specific question to ask and I doubt that an agent would readily even know that or even provide me with that information without asking." She basically said there is nothing she could do even when I asked to be transferred to her supervisor.

Essentially, a rule is a rule. It really didn't matter that we've been using Verizon at home for the past 10 years (more on this story later). In response, I said, well I'm going to return the phone then since I have 30 days. Her attitude was of indifference and she said, you can send it back in the box you received it in. I sent an email to them hoping that they would change their stance and unlock it for me but I got the same response. I even got a nice voice message from a representative saying that its written in the customer agreement. However, I looked and it is of course ambiguous language that basically allows them to do whatever they want. Fine print: we reserve the right to do what we want.

Fast forward to the day I am going to cancel the phone and the customer service representative says she is surprised because we could have asked the credit department to unlock the phone for you after doing a credit check. I already had enough of their shannanigans so I just cancelled the phone on the spot and mailed the phone back. A couple of days later, the loyalty department calls me to ask why I cancelled. Of course she is deeply sorry and that is probably embedded into their scripts on every other line. But she did offer free or discounted phones and I replied, isn't that what you can find on the website? Sensing that I was not too happy, I think she pulled out her final card and said we can also give you three months of service free.

Of course I couldn't make the decision right there on the spot, but its nice to know I can get three free months of service from Verizon now. This all could have been avoided if they just simply treated me nicely on customer service and unlocked my phone. Honestly, I do not understand the issue since I was already going to pay for Verizon service. Now they may either be out $300 due to free service or potentially 24 months of service that I could have been paying for.

It seems that the departments at Verizon are silo-ed and just work as different companies. This is not a surprise to me as I've gone to many different companies to see their operations and it really amazes me that many are still in business. For instance, the company will pay several millions of dollars and then find that a department pays a good chunk of change to undo what was originally done. Sprint Evo 4g

Going back in time

One of the great things about the US is that we can do a lot of things extremely quickly due to the web and phone. If I wanted to cancel a bank account or stop my CD from rolling over again, I could do that from the phone or the web. When I was in China, some of the things that were required did not make sense.

For instance, I had to cancel internet services on behalf of my girlfriend. The telecommunications company does not allow you to cancel by phone or web so it must be done in person. In order to cancel the service, you need to bring your identification card. However, if you are canceling on behalf of someone, you need to bring their identification plus yours. For me that would mean, bringing my passport. I assume that they are afraid that someone would want to cancel internet on behalf of someone else for a malicious reason. I do not know why someone want to or would have the time to do that considering that some of the lines take a couple of hours (everything is paper so it takes forever). Anyway, I only had her ID and not mine. The customer service representative would not let me cancel the internet service without my passport. I showed her all the other ID that I had but since they did not recognize things like my drivers license, etc it did not matter. They said there was nothing she could do without an ID.

I turned around and asked the person behind me in line if I could use her ID. She handed it over to me and voila, internet cancelled. Such pain!! Experiences like that just make you appreciate how easy it is to take care of things in the United States.

Banks attempting to force Greece to default

Bets by some of the same banks that helped Greece shroud its mounting debts may actually now be pushing the nation closer to the brink of financial ruin.

Echoing the kind of trades that nearly toppled the American International Group, the increasingly popular insurance against the risk of a Greek default is making it harder for Athens to raise the money it needs to pay its bills, according to traders and money managers.These contracts, known as credit-default swaps, effectively let banks and hedge funds wager on the financial equivalent of a four-alarm fire: a default by a company or, in the case of Greece, an entire country. If Greece reneges on its debts, traders who own these swaps stand to profit.

As Greece’s financial condition has worsened, undermining the euro, the role of Goldman Sachs and other major banks in masking the true extent of the country’s problems has drawn criticism from European leaders. But even before that issue became apparent, a little-known company backed by Goldman, JP Morgan Chase

and about a dozen other banks had created an index that enabled market players to bet on whether Greece and other European nations would go bust. 

Its things like this that give bankers a bad reputation. It seems that they are attempting to force an entire country to go bankrupt in order to profit. With the global economy still struggling to recover, a country that defaults would delay any global recovery. It seems that the bankers are only looking out for themselves and trying to put bonuses into their pockets again. This time, at the expense of another country. 

I do not know what happened with the bailout since it seemed that 2 weeks ago, Germany agreed to help with. It seems that it is under question again.

Iphone apps removed from the Apple Apps store

In continuation of my last point, Apple has started banning many applications, like the Wobble Iboob, for its iPhone that feature sexually suggestive material, including photos of women in bikinis and lingerie, a move that came as an abrupt surprise to developers who had been profiting from such programs. Guess it just goes to show that when you piggyback off another platform to make money, you are at the mercy of their policies. It can be a good way to make money but one never knows when a policy could change that good flow of income. Facebook application creators often face this as Facebook is constantly changing their layout.

Welcome to fascism

Mussolini  said that fascism was "rule by corporations". It seems that the United States is headed towards that direction as well. The Supreme Court struck down some key provisions of landmark campaign finance legislation in a move experts agree paves the way for more corporate money to enter the political system.

In a 5-4 decision in Citizens United v. FEC, the Court's majority threw out sections of the legislation that bans corporations and labor unions from funding some political advertisements. Corporations and unions may fund those communications out of their general treasuries, overturning earlier rulings that had divided individual and corporate expenditures into different categories. The politicians are already basically making decisions on behalf of these huge corporations who give them huge donations and now they are not limiting the amounts that can be contributed. With that it seems like our country will be run with the interests of the corporations. and possibly a country heading towards fascism.

Shown in the right we have some "warning signs". Notice how we already have some of the "early warning signs of fascism". Corporate power is protected and obsession with national security. The citizens of the United States need to take back the government and make our opinions heard to our congressmen so they are acting for the people instead of allowing corporations to run the country.

China the place to go for opportunity?

Jim Rogers recently said, “In 1807, if you were smart you went to Paris. In 1907, if you were smart, you went to New York. And, in 2007, if you were smart you went to China.”

It used to be that the US was called the land of opportunity. However, with the US in such a huge deficit and still trying to recover after the financial wreck arrived, opportunities may be in China. However, I think before that happens, the income of the Chinese people needs to increase either through an increase in the valuation of the RMB or the actual salaries that they receive.

I only say that because many people from China still try to come to the United States in their hopes of striking it big. These people are able to live off a meager salary in the States and still have money leftover to send back to China. Many people here would think $200 USD to $300 USD is a drop in the bucket but in China that would be about 1400 to 2000 RMB which could be used to fully sustain an entire family in the 2nd tier cities of China. Also, the living standards are much higher in the United States since the laws to protect against dumping and ruining the air quality is much more stringent here which may be the reason why many Chinese citizens still want to migrate to the States.

I doubt that salaries in China would increase quickly enough since many companies would be unwilling to raise the salaries. This would affect the bottom lines of the companies. However, salaries in 1st tier cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou) will probably see increases in salaries more quickly as living standards are much high compared. Other cities would most likely have to wait much longer to see increases in salaries.

The Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington has estimated that the yuan is undervalued by about 30 percent against all world currencies and about 40 percent against the dollar. I'm not sure when that would occur though since the Chinese government is trying to hold the existing exchange rates in order to A) allow China to have a price advantage in the manufacturing area B) recoup the loan that it provided to the US. It seems that if the Chinese government allowed the RMB to attain a value based on the predicted market rates of the Peterson Institute, China would lose the pricing advantage and it would lose a lot of money due to the money it lent to the United States. In doing so, this would cause internal issues for the billions of people in its country as many manufacturing plants would probably close causing hundreds of riots. Riots have already occurred due to the global recession which closed many plants in 2009.

Euro in trouble?

There have been rumors that the Euro was going to take over the US Dollar as the global currency. However, with the entire issues that Greece is going through, I'm not sure if it can be dependable as a global currency. I think this squashes any ideas of people wanting one world currency or even seeing an Asia currency.

Even though the euro is wondrously convenient for travelers and international businesses, there's one catch: Fiscal discipline is up to each participating country, and Greece has not been disciplined. It is running a deficit of nearly 13 percent of total output, more than four times the nominal limit for countries using the euro. Its national debt is almost double the permitted limit. With its credit rating sharply downgraded, Greece must pay a stiff premium to finance that deficit. Since the Euro is shared across countries, Greece does not have the control to print more currency as it wishes, which is what other countries such as what occurs in the U.S. and China. Also other countries such as Germany seem to be ignoring Greece and acting as if it is not their problem.

If there is one world currency or an Asian currency, we would most likely have many issues similar to what is mentioned. From a world economic standpoint, I hope that this all gets resolved since another economic fiasco would cause a huge effect on the world economy.

Banks and their responsibilities

Obama indicated that there should be a tax on the banks that benefited from the TARP program after the whole public outcry when it was announced that the employees would be receiving huge bonuses. This might not be a popular post for bankers since a lot of them have indicated that the help was paid back with interest and that they did not need the money in the first place. However, the country could not afford another collapse of another financial institution, especially after the falls of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers.

Obama in providing this TARP bailout (with minimal interest) to the banks was an attempt to trigger the U.S. economy. He was hoping for the banks to provide loans to smaller businesses and resuscitate the job market, creating a trickle down effect. In turn though, the banks took this money and loaned it to other big businesses who then repaid off their other loans which were at higher interest rate and gave it right back to the banks. The banks earned the difference in interest and not wanting to be restrained by the terms from TARP, paid it back to the government. Consequently, they earned the differences in the interest rates and it was a win-win situation for the banks and the big businesses who are able to show off their pretty financial statements now.

Who are the losers? Everyone else and small businesses who are unable to get any financing. What Obama said during the State of the Union address has some reasoning though and was very direct. Banks should help out the country if they are able to offer big bonuses. Let's hope that the banks do not get creative and start transferring their profits to other countries with lower tax rates in order to make their financial statements prettier. Some may say this looks like communism in the making but maybe in this economic recession, we all need to band together to help each other and improve the state of the country.

Smaller Appetite, Larger Portions

Since I've come back to the States, I feel my eating appetite has shrunk. I guess I am just used to the food portions in Asia now or the food is just better there. It could be a mix of both I suppose. Restaurant portions are huge in the States compared to Asia, mostly due to the cost of labor and the price of food.

In Asia, food is cheap but so is labor. As a result and incomes are generally lower, so prices are kept lower. In the States, food is cheap but labor is expensive. As a result, restaurant owners in a strategy to get more revenue charge a higher price for the dish but give a generous serving of food to give the illusion to the customer that they are getting a good deal. This could be contributing to the number of heavy set Americans that are around. That and the combination that many suburbs are tied to the car culture and have to drive around everywhere. Even if they decided to walk, the communities are not too friendly to pedestrians since sidewalks do not exist.

Infomercials

Usually when I am jetlagged in the States, I wake up at odd hours and once in a while I will flip on the tv and watch those infomercials. I don't know if anyone has ever bought something from them but most of them are scams. They all usually follow this type of format:

1. Creating a problem that you never knew existed - i.e. Don't you hate it when you're cold and pull a blanket over yourself but wish you still had use of your hands?
   
2. Showing you the product and having it solve your problems
3. Then they offer the product for only a couple of easy payments of a low amount. Along with this they try to convince you to purchase and call them immediately by throwing in something free for the same amount - i.e. 3 easy payments of $19.95 and if you call now, we will also give you xyz for free.
   

Apparently, this format triggers something in your head called dopamine and causes people to buy on impulse. This dopamine usually goes away after 6-7 minutes so wait before buying on impulse. Also, most of these products do not really work too well so do your research before buying.

I especially like this product on the left, the Snookie. It comes with a free bottle of vodka. So you can snuggle up in your blanket and still be an alcoholic without exposing your arms to the cold winter air. Drink straight out of the bottle!

Google Pulling Out of China?

I realized that so far my posts seem to be anti-america so I wanted to write a post to indicate that its not all bad in the U.S. of A. There are great things such as freedom of speech which still is an issue in certain countries such as China. Upon coming across this article in the NY Times, Google’s Threat Echoed Everywhere, Except China, I applaud that Google is trying to follow the scope of its mission statement: to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.

Google was heavily criticized for appeasing the Chinese government's demands to filter out any news that may be seen as making China look bad (since the Chinese are very adamant on not losing face) or possibly instigating any revolution. After Google endured a cyber attack in which originated in China and believes that the purpose of the attack was aimed at certain Chinese human rights activists, Google claimed that it may leave China. This includes the Chinese search engine as well. In fact, the news of a potential exit was also hidden to the Chinese people. Hopefully with such a stand in free speech and with no censorship, this will open the eyes of the Chinese government when it loses a huge multinational company and along with that the jobs that many local Chinese citizens benefited from.

Hopefully I will be able to return to China after writing this post. Good thing I am back in the United States now.

Bank CEOs: Sorry for risky behavior, bad decisions

I love how the bank executives on Wall Street are claiming that regret their risky actions and bad decisions that put this country in the bad situation it is in but still defend that they should get their bonuses. It seems like just empty words to me. It is similar to when Bernard Madoff was sent to jail after tricking people out of billions of dollars but stated, "I cannot adequately express how sorry I am, I am here today to accept responsibility for my crimes." I bet he wasn't sorry when he was collecting all that money. I guess these people are only sorry after they get caught and causing the millions of other people much hardship.

Taken from Yahoo News - Sorry for risky behavior

Wall Street executives said Wednesday they underestimated the severity of the 2008 financial crisis and apologized for risky behavior and poor decisions. They also defended their bonus and compensation practices to a skeptical commission investigating what caused the collapse.

Maybe if they were really sorry, they'd give the bonuses to the government as a way of saying thanks for not going out of business like Lehman Brothers.

Too Fat to Fly

On my flight back to Shanghai to the U.S. , there was an old (it was American Airlines) and "wide" flight attendant. Since she was "wide", she was unable to walk down the aisle of the aircraft without knocking into some of the people who had aisle seats. My attempts to get any kind of rest during the trip was interrupted numerous times from getting hit in the head with a part of her belly.

Normally, I do concur with most of the laws set by the United States to protect workers to prevent workers from being discriminated against during the hiring process. However, when it comes to the hiring of flight attendants, I think the rules should be amended. Since I have been living in Asia for some time, I have seen the flight attendants there. Model-like and thin. It may sound superficial but there is some customer experience that should be taken into account. In addition, I think the airlines should be able to fight some of these laws with the following arguments in hiring the fat flight attendants:

• Customer Experience: Obese flight attendants ruin the customer experience and may affect their business.
• Economics and Being Environmental: Overweight flight attendants add additional weight to the aircraft and as a result burn more fuel. I am sure it could be calculated that with the number of miles that these flight attendants fly every year, the amount of fuel that could be saved with a flight attendant of average size.
• Safety: A fat flight attendant may not be able to exit the aircraft in a timely manner during emergencies or be even pass the physical fitness requirements in such an event.

I hope in the future, we finally start seeing thinner flight attendants. As a bonus, it would be great if they were hot ones too. Just for the passenger experience. Who wouldn't fly an Asian airline over an American airline if possible.