Took me a few days, but I finally posted some shots from the party. I arrived around 10:30, just before Nic Armstrong and the Thieves began their set, things were running late because of a faulty mixing board. In keeping with Murphy’s Law, the keg cooler had also died that afternoon, meaning that they had to pack the thing with ice for the whole night or lose all of the kegs. There wasn’t anywhere to get a new compressor at 4pm on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I’m guessing they’ve gotten it repaired by now as the ice was causing a swamp behind the bar.
I missed Nic Armstrong at ACL, but they were quite good, definitely working the British angle. I didn’t get close enough to get any good shots because it was already so crowded on the patio by the time I walked back there. The whole place was packed for most of the night. I saw quite a few people there: Wiley, Johnny V. from Pink Swords, several members of Ugly Beats, to name a few. I hung out at the bar until Sons of Hercules started and then headed back to get some shots for the web site. I think I got some pretty good ones. They had a good sound considering they were out on the patio and crammed into a corner. I think Dale was a little distracted by the go-go dancers.
I’ve known Casino for roughly 15 years. We were record store clerks together at the old Sound Warehouse at Burnet and 49th. I met up with him and several others in Buffalo in 1993 for a Jacklords reunion, which is when he started talking to Mark, who already owned several bars there, about partnering to open a place on Sixth Street. Who would’ve thought that one year later, it’d be open and twelve years later it’d be going strong?
Congratulations to Casino and his crew, some of whom have been with the bar since the beginning (well, Gargoyle, anyway).
And it’s not from early holiday pigging out…
Metroblogging just added Vancouver and Islamabad to our little global family. Go check them out and say hello.
It happens the same night every year. The Casino El Camino 11th Anniversary Party is tomorrow night with Nic Armstrong and the Thieves at 10 and Sons of Hercules at 11. DJ Hucklebuck will be presiding over the affair the rest of the time and there’s word that there’ll be go-go dancers.
Here’s your chance to kick off the holiday in a (relatively) smoke free environment. You asked for it! You’d better enjoy it! I’ll be there with a camera to record the debauchery.
Riffing off of Charlie’s last post, does anyone else notice changes in traffic around here that seem to be seasonal?
My commute home always seems to get worse in the winter, specifically right after we turn the clocks back. Is this because people have a harder time driving in the dark? Tonight was frickin’ horrible. I-35 southbound is consistently backed up onto 183 eastbound now and tonight, even 183 was a parking lot at the same point. There was also an accident on Ben White, so my trick of going down the service road to Airport and then going Montopolis to Riverside to Pleasant Valley to Oltorf wasn’t as effective as usual.
Traffic is definitely lighter in the summer, mostly due to the absence of UT-related traffic, I assume. It used to be even more pronounced when I moved here in the late ’80s. I’ve also noticed that the traffic gets progressively worse as the week goes on in the summer. On Mondays, I can frequently zoom down I-35 without much of a slowdown, but by Friday, it’s stop and go most of the way. None of the days during the summer can touch what I’ve been going through for the last couple of weeks. Perhaps I can telecommute a few days a week? Please?
MC Host, my current web hosting company, has the worst customer service on the planet. I’ve had multiple problems with them over the past couple of years and my irritation with them has just about pushed me past the pain of moving 5-10 sites to another host. I’ve been having billing problems with them on and off for the past couple of years and the most recent problem has dragged on now for three months.
But don’t take my word for it, here’s the exchange I’ve been having with them for the last 6 months courtesy of their own “support” desk. I’d read it again, but I’ll start crying. The only edits are to remove transaction numbers, credit card numbers or other sensitive info. Enjoy.
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| Mon Jun 6 2005 09:52AM by xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.rr.com |
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IP: 216.201.187.82
I’ve been billed 3 times since 4/2/2005. There should only be 1 charge Here’s the charges: 05/25/2005 05/26/2005 Sale MCHOST (Services and Merchandise) $35.00 05/11/2005 05/12/2005 Sale MCHOST (Services and Merchandise) $35.00 04/29/2005 05/01/2005 Sale MCHOST (Services and Merchandise) $35.00 Please credit back two of the charges. There should only be one charge 04/02/2005 04/05/2005 Sale MCHOST (Services and Merchandise) $35.00 03/10/2005 03/11/2005 Sale MCHOST (Services and Merchandise) $35.00 This is the third time in the past two years that MC Host charged me an
===[ Support Category]=== |
| Mon Jun 6 2005 12:23PM by support@mchost.com |
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Tim,
are all these charges on the same credit card? If yes, please let us Best Regards,
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| Mon Jun 6 2005 01:52PM by xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.rr.com |
| Yes, all of these are on the same credit card. The first four digits are xxxx and the last four digits are xxxx. |
| Tue Jun 7 2005 11:05AM by support@mchost.com |
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Assigning ticket to billing department for update.
Best Regards, |
| Fri Jun 10 2005 04:46AM by support@mchost.com |
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We’ve looked up the transactions for you and refunded the two charges below:
25/05/05 09:09AM Our sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused, we’ll ensure that this doesn’t happen again. Best Regards, (Note: To update this ticket, please log into your Account Manager). |
| Thu Jun 23 2005 01:35PM by xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.rr.com |
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Thank you for refunding the extra charges, but it appears that I’m still being double-charged each month.
For June, there are now two charges: 06/05/2005 06/07/2005 Sale MCHOST (Services and Merchandise) $35.00 06/21/2005 06/22/2005 Sale MCHOST (Services and Merchandise) $35.00 So, not only do you need to credit back one of the charges for June, Whatever is going wrong appears to have started in April, happened Please let me know the status of the credit and that you’ve fixed it so that this will not happen again. Thanks. |
| Fri Jun 24 2005 01:57AM by support@mchost.com |
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Just to keep you updated, the ticket is assigned to our billing department who will take care of this in the morning when they’re in. They will then look up the transactions for you and refund any incorrect charges to resolve the issue to your satisfaction. Our apologies for the inconvenience caused and we appreciate your patience. Best Regards, |
| Fri Jul 1 2005 10:34AM by support@mchost.com |
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We have refunded this for you, please see our merchant refund confirmation attached below for your bank:
Transaction Type: Refund Response Code: 027 ISO Code: 01 Best Regards,
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| Fri Aug 26 2005 11:23AM by xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.rr.com |
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Sigh.
Here we go again. It looks like we made it through July with only one Here are the charges: 08/02/2005 08/03/2005 Sale MCHOST (Services and Merchandise) $35.00 08/22/2005 08/23/2005 Sale MCHOST (Services and Merchandise) $35.00 I don’t think it’s too much to ask to get you to fix this. I’d like and I think I deserve an explanation. Do you not have any control over how your billing is conducted. Why I’ve got several sites hosted with you and have been a loyal customer Please credit my card back a single month and provide an explanation as Thanks, Tim
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| Sat Aug 27 2005 12:55PM by support@mchost.com |
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The ticket is assigned to our billing department and they will get back to you as soon as possible. Please be aware that billing is only open 9AM to 5PM Monday through Friday. Best Regards, MCHost Customer Service |
| Tue Aug 30 2005 01:13PM by support@mchost.com |
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It appears the incorrect transactions have been refunded by billing already. We’ll leave the ticket open for a follow-up including refund codes for your card institution. Best Regards, MCHost Customer Service |
| Mon Sep 5 2005 12:15PM by xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.rr.com |
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No, it has not been refunded.
My credit card still shows the two charges in August and I’ve already Once again, I’ve been charged twice in August: 08/02/2005 08/03/2005 Sale MCHOST (Services and Merchandise) $35.00 08/22/2005 08/23/2005 Sale MCHOST (Services and Merchandise) $35.00 One of those should be refunded and it has not been refunded yet. I’ve now already been charged for September according to my credit card statement: 09/01/2005 09/02/2005 Sale MCHOST (Services and Merchandise) $35.00 If you don’t fix this billing problem before Sept. 22nd, you’ll be refunding another service fee. Also, the last response was unsatisfactory. I want an explanation as to
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| Wed Sep 7 2005 01:29PM by support@mchost.com |
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It does appear they were already refunded, however they make take up to 7-10 days to show up on your card statements. We’ll leave the ticket open for our billing department. Best Regards, |
| Tue Sep 13 2005 10:08AM by xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.rr.com |
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Today, Sept. 13, is 10 business days since the response on Aug. 30 that this extra charge had been refunded and I still do not see anything on my credit card account indicating a refund. It’s possible that the refund will show up today, but I’m understandably skeptical. The last refund posted to the account is the one mentioned in this thread by the billing department on July 1. I also still do not have any assurances from anyone at MC Host that I
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| Mon Sep 19 2005 10:18PM by support@mchost.com |
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Tim,
we haven’t heard back from you regarding this, can you please confirm if the refund has posted already? Best Regards, |
| Tue Sep 20 2005 03:17PM by xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.rr.com |
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No. it hasn’t posted. I just checked. I’ve still got two charges for August. So far, I’ve only got one for September, but I wouldn’t be shocked if another one appears before the end of the week. You can be assured that you’ll hear from me if it does. I’d also like to point out that, even though you’re responding, you’ve
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| Tue Sep 20 2005 07:52PM by support@mchost.com |
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The ticket is assigned to our billing department and they will get back to you as soon as possible. Please be aware that billing is only open 9AM to 5PM Monday through Friday. Best Regards, |
| Mon Sep 26 2005 11:20AM by xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.rr.com |
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It’s been almost a week now. I still don’t see a refund for that one extra month, although thankfully I haven’t yet seen a second charge this month. What’s the status on this?
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| Mon Sep 26 2005 01:36PM by support@mchost.com |
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We have just confirmed with our merchant bank, the refund has indeed been sent out and deducted from our bank account and it should post to yours within 7-10 business days of the above refund date. Best Regards, |
| Fri Oct 14 2005 09:45AM by xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.rr.com |
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Ok. It’s now October 14th. Even if you meant 7-10 business days from your last repy, September 26th, I should’ve seen this refund by now. It should’ve appeared by Monday at the latest and it’s now Friday. I still do not see it. |
| Sat Oct 15 2005 12:50PM by support@mchost.com |
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Tim,
regarding the refund that was previously refunded to you, how long did that take to post to your account? Best Regards, |
| Sat Oct 15 2005 03:04PM by xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.rr.com |
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They showed up on my account the day that they were posted here. So, the two refunds on 6/10 that you mention in this support ticket show posted on 6/10. The single refund you mention on 7/1 was posted to my account on 7/1. I still do not see the refund for the last double-charge in August. This is the only time you haven’t posted the transaction information
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| Tue Oct 25 2005 06:25AM by support@mchost.com |
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Tim,
the refunds do indeed show as issued on our end and have been deducted Best Regards,
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| Tue Oct 25 2005 08:10PM by xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.rr.com |
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Ok. Let’s be sure we’re all talking about the same thing here.
Here’s the history according to my bank records and the past history of this thread. I was double-charged in April and May. 05/25/2005 05/26/2005 Sale MCHOST (Services and Merchandise) $35.00 05/11/2005 05/12/2005 Sale MCHOST (Services and Merchandise) $35.00 04/29/2005 05/01/2005 Sale MCHOST (Services and Merchandise) $35.00 04/02/2005 04/05/2005 Sale MCHOST (Services and Merchandise) $35.00 You credited back one charge each in April in May and responded on 6/10 that you had done so. Here they are on my statement: 06/10 MCHOST KELOWNA BC -35.00 At this point we’re ok. All has been refunded. But then I was double-charged in June and notified you on 6/23. 06/05/2005 06/07/2005 Sale MCHOST (Services and Merchandise) $35.00 06/21/2005 06/22/2005 Sale MCHOST (Services and Merchandise) $35.00 You replied on 7/01 that the extra charge in June had been refunded and it appeared on my statement. 07/01 MCHOST KELOWNA BC -35.00 Now, at this point again, the account is in balance and we’re square. I notified you on August 26th that I had yet again been double-charged in August. 08/02/2005 08/03/2005 Sale MCHOST (Services and Merchandise) $35.00 08/22/2005 08/23/2005 Sale MCHOST (Services and Merchandise) $35.00 Someone responded 4 days later saying that the charge appeared to Since the refunds have worked without too much trouble in the past, I’m left to believe that: 1) you’re confused and referring to the old refunds that occurred prior to August. 2) you’re looking at a refund sometime in August in your records, but your merchant account never refunded the money All I know is that I do not have the money. I have no reason to Do you have refunds dated other than 6/10 and 7/1 in the last 6 months? If you’re looking at a refund from August or September, kindly send me I really think I deserve some compensation after this ordeal. How about |
| Thu Nov 3 2005 01:21PM by support@mchost.com |
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The ticket is assigned to our billing department and they will get back to you as soon as possible. Please be aware that billing is only open 9AM to 5PM Monday through Friday. Best Regards, MCHost Customer Service |
| Mon Nov 14 2005 01:46PM by xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.rr.com |
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Three weeks now since the last correspondence from the billing department and I responded the same day. Nothing.
What horrible service. And the status of this ticket is marked as |
| Tue Nov 15 2005 11:32AM by support@mchost.com |
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Tim,
our apologies, there are too many different responses/transaction dates Best Regards, MCHost Customer Service |
| Tue Nov 15 2005 08:49PM by xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.rr.com |
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*Smacks forehead in disbelief*
I’ll repost part of what I posted on Oct 25th: I notified you on August 26th that I had been double-charged in August. Here are the two charges according to my credit card company: 08/02/2005 08/03/2005 Sale MCHOST (Services and Merchandise) $35.00 08/22/2005 08/23/2005 Sale MCHOST (Services and Merchandise) $35.00 Someone responded 4 days later (Aug. 30th) saying that the charge We’ve now had at least 5 exchanges, each with someone assuring me that All I know is that I do not have the money. I have no reason to Do you have refunds to my account dated other than 6/10 and 7/1 in the
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| Mon Nov 21 2005 10:27AM by support@mchost.com |
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We show a total of 4 refunds having been issued to your card, how many of these did you receive?
Best Regards, |
| Mon Nov 21 2005 08:42PM by xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.rr.com |
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My reply on October 25th gave you the transaction information from my credit card. Here it is again.
I only show three credits over the last 6 months: 06/10 MCHOST KELOWNA BC -35.00 If the fourth refund you’re referring to is after August 22nd of this |
Just saw this on BoingBoing, Link Wray passed away over the weekend. I was first introduced to him in college when I was working at Sound Warehouse and many of his songs have shown up in films over the past 20 years. “Rumble” is featured during the “uncomfortable silence” scene in Pulp Fiction. Don’t know how true it all is, but this site details the legendary way that Wray got a distorted tone way back in 1958. How’s that for DIY?
I’ve got two data points from the past couple of weeks that prove that Amazon has kick ass customer service.
First, I ordered a DVD and had it delivered to work. I obsessively check tracking information and, on the day that it was supposedly delivered, I found nothing. I waited a day, checked with all the co-workers. Nothing. So, I e-mailed Amazon. They immediately sent out a new one, no questions asked, and I had it two days later. The first one never turned up.
The second bit of evidence is their response to the now infamous Sony rootkit debacle (Mom, if you bought the new Neil Diamond, it’s affected by this. Don’t put it in the computer). They e-mailed all of their customers who purchased one of the CDs unsolicited and offered to refund the purchase if the CD is returned, opened or not. You do have to pay to ship it back to them, which kind of sucks, but at least they’re cool with refunding the purchase.
Stepan informs me that the title of one of my past posts has broken my RSS feed. My apologies to my vast RSS subscription base. I’ll dig in there and fix it this weekend or see if phpNuke fixed it already and I’m just behind on updates.
The family and I attended last year’s annual Empty Bowl Project. It was a lot of fun. We’ve managed not to break the two bowls that we bought last year.
There was a considerable line, so be prepared to wait a bit to pick out your bowl. It did move pretty quickly though and the live music out front helps to distract from the wait. They let people into the Clayways building on Burnet in groups. They’ve got tables with all of the bowls laid out for you to choose and then pay. I think they allowed credit cards, but it may have been cash only. I can’t remember. You’re then funneled to another room where you choose your soup and you’re then herded out to the back yard area where you can sit and eat. The bowls available for silent auction are also laid out for viewing and bidding.
This year’s is Sunday from 11am-3pm. The proceeds from the bowls go to Capital Area Food Bank. I wonder if any of the soups featured in this week’s XLEnt will be available? Several of the same restaurants are mentioned.
