In my first transaction with Wicked Lasers (aka Energy Technology Development Limited), I bought a new product of theirs. They extracted the funds from my credit card immediately, contrary to the ethical and typical practice of taking the funds only upon shipment of the product(s). They then went incommunicado for weeks, even ignoring requests for information. They proceeded to provide one excuse after another for why they hadn't shipped the product, worded to suggest this was common to all customers of this particular product, but I have no good way of verifying that. » read more »

BrightGuy sells flashlights, but this is really an understatement. Of specific interest to me, BrightGuy sells Streamlight products at great prices. Better still, BrightGuy's service has been wonderful. » read more »

Oasis Window Tinting, in Lawrenceville, is a wonderfully professional and high-quality business. They'll tint your automobile's windows in short order (often less than an hour)—by appointment only—but they also do residential and commercial tinting. Their work is superb, and they stand behind it. They've been in business for over 25 years, a good sign and a rarity in the tinting business. They're knowledgeable, and they take the time to make sure you are, too, before you purchase. Their prices are very competitive, but their quality is top-notch. » read more »

CARiD.com sells floor mats supposedly specific to vehicular make, model, and interior color. However, these floor mats not only do not match as advertised (e.g., wrong color, wrong fit)—can you say fraud?—they cannot be returned when the fraud is discovered. Because they're the wrong fit, they also pose a potentially lethal hazard, specifically the potential to slip up under the pedals, inhibiting braking. The business erroneously calls these "custom", when they're not customized at all*, and so will not take them back. » read more »

Apologia's science curriculum, mostly friendly to creationism, still promulgates some leftist myths. For example, their physical science book teaches about the Greenhouse Effect and Anthropogenic Global Warming, both of which have been roundly disproved. While Wile's texts are generally founded on young-earth creationism, he sometimes uses ages that are much longer than the earth's approximately 6000 years (e.g., 10,000 years). Overall, Apologia is a good curriculum, but it must still be taken with a grain of salt.

I recently purchased some items from flagandbanner.com. They have a nice selection of Gadsden items. Right after ordering, I wanted to amend the order, removing an item from the list and emailed customer service saying so. No reply. The shipping notice came a day later and the item was still on the list. I emailed again, noting my disappointment and that we'll be returning the item as soon as it arrives. Again, no reply. » read more »

We ordered a camera case from Case Logic's online store. We have been pleased with their products, but this is the first time we used their e-store. They sent the wrong product. Wrong color, wrong part number, wrong size. We complained, and, to their credit, they sent a replacement at their expense and they paid for return shipping for the wrong case, all of which is a minimally expected response to such an error. When the replacement arrived, it was the same incorrect case they sent in the first place! We returned both and called it quits. » read more »

Our trash company, Robertson Sanitation, sold out a few months ago to a larger company, Republic Services. Since then, they have increased our bill without cause, billed us repeatedly and fraudulently (i.e., several times for the same period), failed to honor their agreed upon price (the previous price we were paying, to which they eventually agreed to meet), and then failed numerous promises to pick up their bin.

While Robertson was great before the sale, we cannot warn consumers enough about the gross incompetence at Republic Services.

Comcast Corp.'s chief operating officer, Steve Burke, issued a warning to those content providers who sit by idly and complain about online viewing without doing something to change the TV business model. "An entire generation is growing up, if we don't figure out how to change that behavior so it respects copyright and subscription revenue on the part of distributors, we're going to wake up and see cord cutting." » read more »

I don't know why, but DHL insists upon using the USPS to do their job. Any delivery sent via DHL will take twice as long (or longer), because they only deliver it to [seemingly] the nearest USPS and let the government lose—er, attempt to deliver—the packages. I recommend avoiding DHL and those who insist upon using them.