StuidoG $1 stamps!

Everytime I'm in Michael's or Joann's I like to dig through their bargin bins and see what kind of cute StudioG stamps they have. The other day, I started talking to a woman at Joann's while we were pawing through the box of of $1 stamps. She told me CraftWarehouse also has them. I wasn't going to go until that lady pounced on a set of spider stamps I HAD to have (and of course, that was the last one Joann's had).


So... WOW! CraftWarehouse has MORE stamps than Joann's and Michael's combined--not just in sheer number, but also in the number of designs!!! I picked up several of the Halloween acrylic and wood-black sets (including the spider set that lady at Joann's beat me to!).

I posted a comment on a forum about liking these stamps sets--because the designs are cute and the fact that they're cheap! OF COURSE... someone had to offer a negative opinion about the quality and what a waste of money they are and, get this, "they turn yellow after you use them." What the hell? Who cares what color the turn? Can you ink 'em up and stamp with 'em? You bet.

Oh, yeah... and this is my favorite: "Stampin' Up! stamps are made from the highest-quality rubber with deeply etched images. They are an investment that will last forever." Huh? Is that a joke? An INVESTMENT?????


Here's the deal: I have spent a small fortune on SU! stamps (I have two rolling carts FULL of them). I'm not sure what the average cost of a set of stamps is? $30? Anyway, the majority of what I've bought is still sitting, uncut, in their pretty little plastic boxes. And those that I HAVE cut apart and stamped with, I've only used a handful of times. So, when it comes down to it, I'd rather spend $1 on a set of stamps that, ewwwww... turn yellow after I use them a couple of times, and if I NEVER use them, then I'm only out a buck!


All that said, I found an online stamp store that's going out of business. I bought the entire "Bohemian" collection for $12! Pretty much the designs all look the same, but this is a collection that's been out since August, and nobody around here has them.

Northridge Media subscription complaint saga continues...

Okay... In a nutshell: my credit card was incorrectly charged THREE times by Northridge Media. (See my previous post for all of the details).

On 09/21/09, I called and asked to speak with a manager because I had a customer complaint. I was forwarded to Nik Bruce who listened to my problem, told me they had a computer "glitch" that caused the problem, and that he would credit my account on Thursday 09/24/09 for the $44.95 charge from May 11, and the $39.95 charge from September 12.

Well... on FRIDAY 09/25/09, the $39.95 charge was credited (NOT the day he said, but at least it got done). Still haven't heard a word about the $44.95 charge from May.

So... I called back again today, and asked for Nik Bruce... again... And once again... he didn't even apologize for what was going on.

You know, I've worked in retail, and I DON'T agree that the "customer is always right." However I DO believe in great customer service, and THEY (Northridge Media) TOTALLY SUCK! This is THEIR problem, and I have every right to be totally pissed off that they basically STOLE money from me, and I'm having to beg to get it back. In this case, the customer (me!) IS right. With that said, though, I very calmly told him I was pissed off, but I didn't yell and scream at him like I felt.

So... I tell this Nik Bruce guy that I'm STILL waiting for the $44.95 refund from May. And his response? "I didn't know we were supposed to credit your account for that charge." Which is a load of crap; he was fully aware of it when we spoke a couple of weeks ago.

He goes through this whole rigamarole of checking my account, and he lets me know the $44.95 charge in May was for a renewal charge for Simply Handmade. I'm not sure why he didn't tell me that when I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago, and that does explain why the charges are different. And I DID have a 6-month subscription for Simply Handmade, but it expired with the June/July issue (and I know that because that's the issue my baby bib was published in). So why would they charge me in May to renew a subscription that didn't end until July? And, if they charged me because of some oversight and have never bothered to credit my account as they should have then why haven't I been receiving "Simply Handmade" since they charged me for it???

Because. They. Are. Full. Of. Crap.

And, here's the real kicker. He asked me if I just wanted a credit to the same credit card I used to place the order. What an ass. He told me when I spoke with him in September that he was going to "personally make sure" that my credit card number was removed entirely from their database so that I would no longer be enrolled in their Platinum Subscriber Program. Obviously, that didn't happen, but the card expires at the end of the year so they can't use it anyway.

Shesh! Just had to get that off my chest, too!