Three years in the making

This blog is not about getting bargains, or where to save 25 cents on Ritz crackers. It's about the decision making behind purchases I make and careful spending. This one took three years.

I finally got an iPhone.

Usually, I am an early adopter. But the data plan expenses have kept me at bay.

However, it was getting increasingly more frustrating not to have a smart phone.

I rely on my GPS, which has broken twice. Now, I can use my iPhone.

I rely on the internet, which I can now access anytime, anywhere.

And I can now rely on Siri, too.

The expenses double, since my daughter was due for a phone upgrade, too.

So it took a lot of thinking through over many years. A.) I don't like paying for a home phone and a cell phone, too. B.) I don't like paying for texting. C.) I don't like paying for home internet and a data plan, too.

Yet that is now what I am doing.

Why?

With wifi available in most places, I could chose the lowest data plan, increasing my monthly expenses by $20. (Plus all those taxes and fees, which increases it ever more. That stuff makes me mad.)

I had already upgraded to an unlimited texting plan, thanks to AT&T alerting me that my daughter was sending so many texts at 20 cents each, I might as well get the text plan for $30 more a month.

And I found a factory refurbished iPhone 5 32 gig on the AT&T website for $249. Since I had to get two, I saved $100.

And AT&T was actually helpful in helping me make this decision. I talked over the various pitfalls of having a teenager on the plan, and how to avoid overage charges. I placed a block on the plan, costing an extra $5 per month.

I should probably have done more research and checked out Verizon. But I had had enough of the VERY loud text alert on that PanTech phone, which is not adjustable. And I realized I do way more on my phone than use it for conversations. I was dying to upgrade!

If you watch the show 24, which my daughter has been watching so I having been catching glimpses of, in the second or third season, Jack Bauer actually says, "Send that information to my Palm Pilot." That show started in 2001 and it's now just 2013. (!) My old phone felt even less functional than a Palm Pilot.

I have no cognitive dissonance on this purchase. Couldn't be happier.

The evolution of my phone in just three years.

Ron gone

News this week that Ron Johnson has been ousted from jcp.

Lots of speculation about what is being dubbed an epic fail.

But has anyone else really tried? Just sayin'.

Loyalty programs. Choose wisely.

Loyalty programs such as Sky Miles can become addicting, a game to see how many points you can rack up. I admit, I am as addicted to Sky Miles as anyone else.

But what about other loyalty programs? 

I've joined the Rainforest Cafe's club, Sally Beauty Mart's club, the Vitamin Shoppe's club (though the Vitamin Shoppe is now on the boycott list) and others that have no real value to them.

Plus, you really have to work it. I don't want to put a whole lot of effort into my continuing to shop somewhere. Why should I have to work harder as a loyal consumer?

Two loyalty programs I work:

Target Rewards, wherein I get a 5% off voucher for ever 10 prescriptions filled. Being the Mom of a family of lemons, these coupons come frequently. I can use it with my Target credit or debit card for an additional 5%. This comes in handy for big purchases like iPads or big grocery runs or the never ending supply of jeans my teenager seems to need.

Aveda Pure Privilege. I can redeem points for products purchased for $75 vouchers on a service such as a haircut or color. This one takes monitoring on my part, and is not nearly as easy as Target's. But for $75, I am willing to put in the time.

Loyalty programs should have value and work easily. Unfortunately, few do.

Not a simple loyalty program, but one worth the work.

Why I will never join Costco or Sam's Club

I don't believe I should have to pay to shop somewhere. Period.

Solr books

I admire companies that strive for excellent customer service. I worked at Dayton's in college and learned good customer service there. Verona, the Boss at the time, didn't like that I hid cherry sours by the cash register and popped one in my mouth now and again when no one was around. But my customer service scores were high, so after a while, instead of telling me to knock it off again and again, the cherry sours simply disappeared. Dang.

So, when Solr books wrote me an e-mail asking me to take down negative feedback about a geometry book I had purchased amazon.com, I wanted to.

They told me how the customer was everything, how they continually strive for customer service, etc. But striving for good customer service and actually delivering it are two different things.

The book wasn't what was described - it was only the first 1/4th of the book. It took weeks to get an e-mail answered. It took longer to get the item returned. I had to ask four times that shipping be refunded both ways. And this is good service? I am supposed to say, "Well, OK, you tried." when in fact, they don't seem to have tried at all, just given it a lot of lip service after the fact.

So, I didn't take the feedback down. I did, however, pay a compliment to another business who was, in fact, delivering good service, which was Macy's. Without question, they took items back I had been meaning to return for months. I believe in Karma, even in retail.

Only 112 of the over 400 pages was in the book!

A bit about Canon

I am thinking of getting a wireless printer. It's Cyber Monday and Wal-Mart has a Canon for $49 with a $10 gift card. But that would require two things that I am against: Wal-Mart, and then having to shop at Wal-Mart again.

When I do get a printer, it will be a Canon. I currently have two Canon cameras and a Canon Pixma printer. I am loyal to Canon because, back in the day I owned a camcorder (remember those?), it broke. I sent it back to Canon and they have a 1x fix it free policy. They fixed it and sent it back to me.

I tried the same thing with two (pre Canon cameras) Fuji cameras. They were my first forays into the digital world. I asked them why both cameras were broken, and did they stand behind them? Fuji wouldn't help in any way. So, they're on my list of companies I won't do business with.

In a blog posting in the Harvard Business Review, Rosabeth Moss Kanter talks about how too many companies are looking at short-term profits, not long-term success. She's right! Those companies that pretend to provide good customer service, but don't, are forever on my grudge list.

Here is the posting, which is especially interesting given the recent demise of Twinkies. Five Self-Defeating Behaviors that Ruin Companies and Careers.

And for eye candy, a picture I took with my Canon point and shoot:

Taken with my Canon point and shoot. Canon is a brand I am loyal to.

First date

A store I had never walked into before is jcpenney. But its CEO, Ron Johnson, came to deliver a great keynote address to the Citizen's League of MN. I had worked with Ron at Target, where he rolled out the Michael Graves line. He then joined Apple and rolled out the Apple stores. (Remember life before iPods? Before Apple stores? No? Best not to.)

Now, he's taken on jcpenney and has already upped the ante. The Liz Claiborne shop is great. The jcp brand seems solid, somewhat like the Gap - clothes that will last 20 years. That's the kind of purchase I am looking to make. I gave away clothes about four years ago simply because I had had them for 15 years. I'll never make that mistake again. Their style and structure was timeless and I miss them.

In preparation for Ron's keynote, I felt I needed to visit a store.

Why hadn't I gone to jcp sooner? Well, the foreboding entrance. It seems I will be swallowed up into a cave. (I am married to an Architect, whose running commentary about the sorry state of design has become embedded in my psyche. Even my teenage daughter casts off the "That's bad design" aspersion to everything from building facades to can openers. A future Jony Ive?)

To get around the icky entrance, I entered through the mall entrance.

What hit me was that jcp is transforming from the inside out. It wasn't perfect, yet, inside, but I can see where it's going.

I love that the price is the price. No 99 cents at the end. I love that each time I turned a tag over to look at the price, it was more fair than I had expected. Most of the fabrics were not made of modal or ramie or acrylic, crappy fabric that is sewn into shoddy products. A recent Macy's internet purchase of a sweater described as 100% cotton came and was 100% acrylic. I will be returning that item, 100% sure of that.

So, I ended up with four shirts. In the hour and a half I spent there, I had covered only the second floor. Time for a second date soon.

jcp will continue its metamorphosis because Ron not only an innovator, he has patience. What a smart, kind and highly creative person to have as CEO.