Auto warranty phone call: (786) 369-7342

I didn't answer the phone, but again, the caller ID showed up as "Warranty Alert." You know what that means: it's the same crew that calls my mobile, my work phone, and my home phone almost every day, and your phones, too.

This time it corresponds to a mobile phone number in Miami, Florida (OmniPoint Communications), but of course, it's likely spoofed.

These are the same people who are harassing millions of Americans every day and trying to swindle people out of money with a ludicrous scheme that, like the Nigerian millionaire letters, must be bringing in some money for them from somewhere. Surely there must be a way to track them down and stop them?

A quick search on the web shows that lots of people have been bothered lately by calls from this same number. On WhoCallsMe, one person even complained that when he tried to talk to an "operator" to get off the calling list (if only we could!), she blew a whistle in his ear. Just look at all the posts on this site from aggravated people who get these calls.

Interesting that we live in a country that has the means and the will to wiretap its citizens for whatever reason, but no one seems to take an interest in using technology to find phone scammers and stop them? Nor, for that matter, does our landline monopoly take an interest.

It's time to mobilize a concerted effort to get our elected officials and phone providers to put a stop to these hecklers. At the very least, take a cue from their own playbook: push the button to get a live operator, and then blow a whistle -- loud -- in his or her ear.

"Stand by Me" -- the global version

A friend of mine sent me a link to this video today, and I just had to post it. In it, you'll see an assortment of street musicians and tribal performers in various locations around the world who seem to be performing the same song together, thanks to some excellent sound and video editing. And wow, those singers are great. No autotuning for this crew.

It starts out slow and simple, and builds into something really majestic. Bet you watch this more than once....


Playing For Change | Song Around The World "Stand By Me" from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.

Home Sweet Jackhammer

I live on a cul de sac. It should be a quiet street. But since about 2002, my neighborhood has been under siege by real-estate developers and property spinners, and it hasn't stopped, not even with the credit crunch, the recession, and the housing market doom and gloom.

At any given point, there are 4 to 5 projects going on within a half block from my apartment in either direction, and as soon as one ends, another one begins. As a result, my little street is one of the noisiest little blocks in the city. There's an enormous amount of commotion every day: from jackhammering.. to huge trucks driving backwards with their beepers on...to cement mixers... and back to jackhammering again.

The projects involve tearing down cottages and building huge McMansions, or taking existing cottages and lifting them up and building another floor below them, or leaving just one wall of the original cottage and building a McMansion around it, and so on. As each property owner finishes, the building goes up for sale (often it's been turned into two flats), and then new people move in and they must decide that they don't like the granite countertops or some such thing, and they begin to tear the places up again. The blue house in these photos is a case in point-- the new owners seem to be doing a sneaky remodeling and gutting project shortly after buying a newly remodeled bungalow.

Ironically, I moved here to live in peace and quiet and away from the chaos of other neighborhoods, and somehow the people who bought homes here cannot stand the quiet, so they've launched all this chaos. I'd love to hear birds chirping some day...before they tear down the remaining trees...

Chill out mix

With all the podcasts I make myself, I never get enough music. One of my favorite mix artists is Deep Goa, so for some nice chillout time, have a listen to episode 25, from December 2008. This post is courtesy of www.mixupload.com.

Bi-Rite Foods featured in U.K. magazine

A while ago, I wrote about one of my favorite markets in San Francisco -- Bi-Rite Foods. This month, the wonderful U.K. magazine, Monocle, featured this grocery store in an article. I bought this issue of Monocle at a local magazine kiosk, but I think you have to subscribe or order a copy online to read the whole thing.

The bottom line is that some businesses are doing very well in this economy because they have what people want and need, they stay within a manageable scale, and they care enough about their customers, their quality, and their environment that this enthusiasm spills over and builds them a loyal and happy following. Isn't that how it should be?

"Warranty Alert" -- (201) 917-7310

I didn't answer the phone call when it came in, but remarkably, the caller ID on my phone actually read "Warranty Alert" and "(201) 917-7310." I do believe it was our friends from the "This is your final warning about your car warranty...." scammers. The ones who everyone in the USA gets phone calls from, but no one pursues.

The phone number, according to reverse phone lookups, corresponds to "Paetec Communications" in Cliffside, New Jersey. However, as we all know, these phone calls come from every state and from different phone numbers registered to different names.

Why no one goes after these people-who are clearly not involved in the warranty of our automobiles, but something far more nefarious-- is beyond me. But then again, guys like Bernie Madoff can steal $50 billion dollars, admit it, and not even go to jail. (If Bernie had only been growing a pot plant in his Manhattan apartment...he'd be put away already!)

And I'm just sitting here and googling that phone number into my computer, just like the rest of you. Are these people really that hard to catch?

Why this Office Max store will fail

Office Max is #3 in the world of big-box office retailers (behind Staples and Office Depot). I don't know if this economy can support three big-box chains of office stores--not when you can buy so much for less on the Internet-- but if things continue to go downhill, here's why my local Office Max could fail.

It's not the location. Although this Office Max is located in the nowheres-ville zone of a freeway overpass, its neighbors on each side of the street (Best Buy on one side and Rainbow Grocery on the other) enjoy a booming business and lots of customers all day long. No, Office Max's problems are: bad attitude, bad service, and lack of innovation.

Let's talk first about their attitude. They don't seem to have issues with the hordes of people who go to the Best Buy on one side of them, but they're really hostile to the health-food store customers from Rainbow Grocery on the other side. I realize this is because they can see the Rainbow customers parking in their lot when there's no more room in the health-food store lot or on the street. In fact, it bothers Office Max so much that they put up a big, handwritten sign in their front window (what could be more impressive than that?) that warns Rainbow customers that they'll tow them away if they park there, and they have a tow truck stationed in the lot most of the time to make sure no vegetarians go untowed from their lot.

Here's an idea: why not "welcome" the Rainbow customers by offering any Rainbow shopper a 15% discount in their store with proof-of-purchase of Rainbow groceries? Imagine that--they'd increase their walk-in customer base substantially, because this area of the city has neither pedestrian traffic nor adequate bus service. There's NO walk-in traffic. The only people walking around the area (besides the aforementioned customers getting out of their cars for the other stores) are the legions of bums who live under the overpass. So that's my first bit of advice, Office Max: drive business to your store by offering your neighboring customers a discount...d'oh!

Well, but then there's problem number 2: customer service. The store is huge, wide, and monstrously bright. The ratio of customers -- at least any time I've been there -- to Office Max employees seems to be a solid 1:1. But try to get any of them to help you, or to ring you up at one of their many empty cash registers...forget it. In fact, you can be the very next person in line and wait 10 minutes for the clerk to help you. I'm beginning to wonder if they don't have a policy that makes you wait in line for a cashier simply to make their store look busier. So my second bit of advice to Office Max is: train your employees to serve your customers in a reasonable fashion, in how to talk to your customers, and make your employees knowledgeable about your products. Right now it seems like some of the people who work there couldn't get a job anywhere else and barely made it through high school.

Problem #3 is innovation. Let's talk about customer demographics for a minute. You're in a city that has progressive politics and you're sitting next to a hugely successful, employee-run health food store that's been in business for almost 35 years. Maybe you might want to think about providing some services that might draw them in (besides the neighbor discount). What about offering services that help people recycle their old computers, monitors, office equipment, and batteries? What about selling "green" office supplies? How about working on your store's Feng Shui, so you feel drawn in by appealing window displays (instead of a crazy-looking, hostile sign) and an inviting layout? And what about the aesthetic appeal of some of your products? Is there some reason why you have to sell the ugliest possible laptop bags, storage systems, day timers, and other gear? What if you sold appealing brands and styles, instead of just sacks of black vinyl? A lot of your merchandise has a 1970s "you don't have a choice" aesthetic. So my third bit of advice, Office Max, is that you offer services and merchandise that fit your demographic area.

Best of luck to you.