USA Scholarship... the scam continues into college

As a follow up to a 2009 post The National Youth Leadership Forum marketing scam, my daughter was recently the recipient of a mailing scam from USA Scholarship Program for Engineering Students offering the possibility of a scholarship up to $7,500. Ofcourse, there is a $29 processing fee. They probably bought the mailing list from an unscrupulous college bound student list seller, maybe the same one that NYLF used - which allows student names to be bought off of SAT applications. Stay away from these people- 39 complaints with BBB in last 3 years. And this scam has been going for longer than that. Simply google the Scholarship director, Ike Onwo and you will find numerous references, dating as far back as 2006.

Aphorism of the Day

"Nothing good ever came out of ripping a drinking hole in the lid of your coffee"

-JR

New Jimmy Raney video

from 1987 on "Autumn Leaves". check out the master!
Jimmy Raney plays Autumn Leaves

Women's Razors

I try to get the best mid-level razors I can buy and not re-use them more than let's say 7-10x (although I don't count frankly. I just stop when it stops removing hairs and hurting more). The shaves I get are ok not great and obviously get worse on re-use. The premium razors, Mach III, and other blade cartridge replacement types (you know the ones on TV commercials - aerodynamically designed and spawned from the sweat and toil of our greatest, sternest engineering minds under the hottest lamps) are much better, but just a bit too expensive on a continuing basis to warrant the cost. On the other hand, buying Good News razors or worse BIC disposable razors on the cheap...well you might as well take a butter knife to your face.

I sometimes run out of razors and am stuck with few options in the morning. So recently I crossed over the gender dividing line in the bathroom (you know- the one with the loofah, pumice rock and more expensive shampoos and conditioners?)and tried a pink and white deal on my rather tough beard. As it turned out, it was one of the best shaves I ever got. It was a Venus razor. I suddenly felt a communion and common bond of intimacy with Jennifer Lopez. Her legs to my face. Generally, the way the razor drags against the face just feels tighter and more effective. I don't have to retread over the same spot.

I suddenly mused, what exactly constitutes a woman's razor? The angle? Blade sharpness? Or do they just fashion George's razor in girly colors and call it a Jane? Maybe a product specialist could tell me. But given that the shave is seemingly superior and cheaper - if there is a difference - why bother? Or is this simply marketing, where cheaper men's razors are intentionally designed like crap so men feel the need to save themselves by buying these expensive razors that require scientific video commercials zooming in on the single beard hair?

Makes you go hmmm...
Not exactly the stuff of conspiracy theory novels but interesting nonetheless. What do you think?

Follow up: DH gate resolved

Well I guess there are some decent people out there. The DHGate rep, Blunyi wrote me back apologized and they refunded my money. Was expecting more of a fight

I suppose now I have to deal with the real crooks, HP who sold me a motherboard that crapped out in 13months and want 3x the money I almost lost at DHgate.

Onward and upward and all that stuff...

DHGate: Worst Online seller

I made the mistake of buying on the cheap (a motherboard for HP Slimline) from this online buying site from China. Avoid them like the plague.

These people have no customer service standards, irresponsible sellers, and zero oversight. Their CEO, Diane Wang must be asleep at the wheel because the Internet is just littered with complaints on forums and entries of the company into fraud complaint sites. My fault for not seeing that though. Oh well. I was too willing to take a risk and got scammed.

I bought a defective item, the seller reluctantly promised to replace. When I returned via a method that wasn't the standard courier with tracking (i.e. UPS, Fedex, etc)he had an out because I couldn't prove without a signature. Even though I showed USPS delivery to China plus customs stamp. He stopped responding to emails completely after doing so regularly and also chats (where originally I had snagged his attention to give me a return address).

Other stuff. Their system disables complaint recourse after a certain period. Which is ridiculous being the international seller they are - knowing full well that many sellers use the cheapest slowest methods available.

Customer service has no 48 hr standard. They took a week to respond and it was a boilerplate response at that. They claimed they would follow up. They didn't after several requests and week-late continued boilerplate responses. There was some dispute dept that I sent my evidence to. They responded after 3 weeks about being so sorry about my experience and saying they would investigate. They intitiated I believe after I threatened to write to the president. Then did no follow up with me. That was a month ago. It's just astounding. What can you say when you've been had. Shame on them, but shame on me for ignoring the red flags. And my case is minor compared to others.

Anybody having a direct contact email or address for CEO Wang let me know. May work up the energy for one of my "letters to the president". I have had some success in the past with some major corporate entities. Shaming them into paying attention. We'll see.

Loss of Innocence (Inner Sense?)

when in a man's life

is innocence lost

expecting everything

and fearing nothing

the touch of a hand

making him drunk

making him blind

to all else

but the woman

who is the sole planet

in his universe



Copyright © Jon Raney, 2011