1TO10REVIEWS

I give it a 1

That’s right, a 1.

My Review: 10

 

This is an unusual blog post. Though I don’t normally use 1to10 for strictly personal posts (in terms of my daily life and routine) I am making an exception. Because I can. So a couple of posts here and there will basically be copy&pastes from mass emails to friends and family / journal entries from my time in New Zealand.

 

So, enjoy…

 

 

UPDATE:

I changed my mind.  Instead of the above, I will do mini-posts on the things I experience and observe while I’m here.  That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

 

 

 

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Hi Everyone,

Sorry for the mass email, but internet access in New Zealand is sort of sucky. It’s pretty much the only thing that sucks, so I’m not complaining, but it is hard to get any high-speed access. So I need to write as few emails as possible, and I can’t do a lot of picture sharing.

Allison and I got into Auckland around 5:00 AM on Thursday (NZ time.) We caught a 10AM flight to Queenstown, and started being official tourists around noon. We spent the day finding our hotel, and then walking into downtown Queenstown. The view from our room is incredible - Lake Wakatipu sits right in front of our window. It’s a huge lake surrounded by mountains in Central Otagou, the region where the Queenstown is set. We spent the afternoon wandering around, eating gigantic hamburgers at a place called Fergburger, drinking beer, and generally gawking at everything we saw. We brought some groceries and things back to our room on Thursday evening, along with a bottle of local wine, and then ended up passing out around 7:00 PM. I know, we’re weenies.

UPDATED

MY MINI REVIEW: 8

HE HOTEL WE BOOKED IS CALLED THE COLONIAL VILLAGE, AND IT IS AWESOME.  THE VIEW IS INCREDIBLE, AND THE OWNERS ARE SUPER NICE.  THE FIRST FEW NIGHTS WE WERE IN A BUDGET ROOM, BUT AFTER OUR TRAMP WE UPGRADED TO  A LUXURY APARTMENT, AND IT RULES.

 

 

THE PARKING LOT AND SIGN

 

 

 

 

THE VIEW FROM OUR BALCONY IN THE APARTMENT

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On Friday we got up around 6 AM, and wandered into town to have breakfast. After eating, we headed to a storefront right in downtown Queenstown on Shotover Street. The particular store front rents motorcycles, so Allison and I took a Harley Ultra-Glide and hired it for a half-day. We took the bike out and went wine tasting at a bunch of local wineries; Queenstown is known for their Pinot Noir. That was amazing and a lot of fun. We hit a couple of wineries for tours and tastings, then had lunch. In the afternoon after we brought the bike back, we did a little shopping for our first tramp which starts tomorrow. We had a big dinner at a restaurant called the Lonestar, drank some local beer and played pool in a pool-hall, and then hit the sack.

 

 

UPDATED

 

MY MINI REVIEW: 9

 

RENTING A HARLEY IN NEW ZEALAND WAS THE BEST THING WE COULD HAVE DONE.  BEAUTIFUL WEATHER, AND A GORGEOUS BRAND NEW ELECTRA GLIDE ULTRA.  THE BIKE WAS PERFECT,THE ROADS WERE WINDY AND FUN, AND THE WINERIES WERE PLENTIFUL ALONG THE WAY.  RIDING ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE ROAD IS A LITTLE DIFFERENT, BUT YOU GET USED TO IT FAST.  WE TOOK ROUTE 6 OUT OF QUEENSTOWN, THROUGH FRANKTON, AND ON INTO WINE COUNTRY IN THE CENTRAL OTAGO VALLEY.

 

 

COULDN’T HAVE BEEN BETTER.  THE FOLKS AT HARLEY TOURS ON SHOTOVER STREET IN DOWNTOWN QUEENSTOWN WERE FANTASTIC, ESPECIALLY JO, THE GAL WHO HELPED US OUT.

 

A DEFINITE 10.

 

ME AND THE WIFE

 

 

LOVING THE BIKE

 

 

 

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Today is Saturday, we have been touring around the city some more, doing some shopping and eating. We are sitting in a cafe right now - the only one with free Wi-Fi. Sadly, the connection is very slow. We will do some last minute food shopping, maybe do a hike or a walk somewhere, and then 8AM tomorrow we catch a bus to the Routeburn Track for our first backpack (tramp.)

So far we are having an amazing time. We’re taking lots of pictures, and if we ever get to a solid internet connection we’ll send some out. Otherwise we’ll share a bunch when we’re back in the states.

Love to you all.

David (and his wife Allison.)

My Review: 1

I am incredibly disappointed. I have a bone to pick and a forum from which to descry the ineptitude and irresponsibility which is www.myshoestore.com. To put it another way, they suck as badly as it is possible for an E-tail shoe store to suck. Al Bundy would be an improvement to their sales team.

My fiancee (soon to be wife) needed a pair of hiking boots for our honeymoon in New Zealand. We looked the old fashioned way, and 3 different brick and mortar shoe stores were unable to provide the right boot for her size 5 1/2 foot. So we went online, and found the right pair of boots, “available” in the right size, for a good price. And with free shipping! El yay.

So I placed the order, received an on-screen confirmation with the promise of an email confirmation to come. No email came. I check my spam folder, and still no email. My credit card was charged - a total of $158.99. I waited three days, and when I still had received no word I called the customer service line. I was told that the order had been placed and received, and that it normally takes 10 days to fill an order and ship it out. The customer service rep said that my email had most likely been placed in spam by accident. She promised to re-send the email, and suggested that I check my spam folder. Great.

So, I kept an eye on my inbox for the rest of the day. No email. I checked my spam folder repeatedly. No email.

Oh well, they said it would take a little while for the shoes to arrive. So I waited. I waited for 12 days. No email. No tracking number. Nothing. So I called again.

I spoke with a woman who informed me that the shoes I had ordered were out of stock. At this point I have paid $160 for boots. I’ve waited more than 3 weeks. My honeymoon is now less than 2 weeks away. I’ve received no emails from the company. I was told, in person over the phone, that my shoes were on their way. They have my money. I have no shoes.

Enough I told her. Forget it, please refund my money. And that is when I learned that it takes 30 days to process a refund. A refund for an item I never received, an item that is not available. So I ask for a supervisor. A supervisor was unavailable, so I asked for a call-back. Guess what happened.

I hate myshoestore.com. They are evil, smelly, and despicable. They deserve less than a 1 rating, but this blog is called 1to10reviews so I cannot give them a lower mark. It just wouldn’t make sense.

So I am making it my mission to join every review website and rating website I can find to give them a poor ranking. The have created an enemy in me, and I will shout from every rooftop available to me that they have terrible customer service, lousy communication, they steal money without providing goods or services, and they should be run out of business as quickly as possible.

Here is my review from RateItAll.com:

Here is my submission to the Better Business Bureau:

I’ve threatened to submit companies to the BBB, but this is the first time I actually did it. It feels good. I am still looking for more review sites. If anyone knows of any good ones, please leave a comment and let me know.

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UPDATE:

According to the most recent comment, MyShoeStore.com seems to be out of business.  When I visit the webpage it seems to be down.  I’d like to think that I had a little something to do with it. 
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FURTHER UPDATE 7/7/08:

It’s official.  Their site has a goodbye and goodnight message posted up.  Here is a screenshot:

I don’t know if I really had anything to do with it, but I sure feel vindicated.