Category Archives: Scams

Why “Goodwill Industries” proves they are not good nor have a true will. Read on!

Let me tell you a story that about the stupidity, rudeness and blatant unprofessionalism that Goodwill Enterprises has demonstrated. You will then understand why “Good” is a misnomer. and “will” actually means “indifference”.

I sell on eBay. I have sold, quite successfully, for the past 24 years. I also write books. In-between books and yearning for a good story, I answered a Goodwill ad for a position as an “e-commercer” in their North Versailles, Pennsylvania. I figured that if my eBay store makes me oodles of money, I could help Goodwill make money.

Take note: This was in June.

Right.

On a Friday afternoon, a “man” left a message on my voice machine, asking me in I was “still interested” in the position. I returned his call . . . when his phone answered, he did not identify himself nor state the business.

Weird.

No return call.

Weird. I call several more times, and I kept getting the clandestine message.

What’s a well-known author to do?

I sent an email to David Tobiczyk, who identifies himself as “Vice President, Marketing and Development at Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania”.

This was the email:

As a press member (Google my name if you don’t believe me), I am hoping you give me an honest answer to a perplexing dilemma.
I applied for a part-time e-Commerce position in North Versailles. My cover letter stated that I am quite successful with my eBay shop (I make at least $1,000 a month). I received a phone call from a nameless man. He left a message on my machine asking if I was “still interested” in the job.
This was on a Friday, late afternoon. I called back, and a machine answered, giving no name or company name. I left a message stating that I was still interested in the position.
I call again the next day. Same thing.
I called on Monday. Same thing. This time I said “the position is obviously filled, and if it opens, please have the courtesy to call me.” I mentioned my skills and success with eBay.
Today, I spoke to someone who no longer shops at this store because of its “filth” and “employee rudeness.”
I do not want the job, but I deserve transparency: Was this a legitimate call? Why was the person who called so rude and unprofessional by not returning my calls, even if it was to say, “We found someone.”
I am sure you are aware that the reviews of the store are pretty negative.

Days passed, and he never answered the email. Seems rudeness runs rampant. I sent him a second email.

Instead of answering my email, he forward my email to Keith Magill, the nameless “man” who initially called me. The one with the cryptic message who refuses to return calls.

That email read:

I wanted to reach out to apologize for any breakdown in communication that has occurred. Unfortunately, I did not receive your return calls or voicemail after my call to you on July 19th. The e-commerce associate position is still open and I would gladly schedule an interview with you if you are still interested.
Thank you,
Keith Magill, E-commerce Manager

Yep. I contacted him by phone and email . . . days later he answered an email. We set up an interview.

He was maybe 16 years ago, and offered me a “tour” of the place. He was accompanied by a woman who seemed much more interested in the mucus-encrusted on her nose ring than answering questions.

This “interview” and “tour” tour lasted as long as a hand shake. Magill told me he would “get back” to me.

There was enough material for a story.

I didn’t want the position, especially because of the stupidity, rudeness and blatant unprofessionalism. And I don’t know if I can handle mucus-encrusted nose rings.

But today, November 25, I received this grammatically incorrect email:

6/24/2019
Alan
Thank you for your interest in the E Commerce Sales Associate (Part Time) North Versailles, PA. position with Goodwill.  However, I am sorry to inform you that the job posting is now closed.

Note the last email was sent five months after the ”
interview” and “tour”.

Told you: Stupidity, rudeness and blatant unprofessionalism.

Wanna work at MedExpress? Consider, instead, playing in a dog house. Read on!

Hmmm, looks empty to me. Where are the dogs?

Jacque DeRubbo loves Maverick, her German Shepherd, almost as much as her husband hates the dog.
In fact her husband hates all dogs.
Jaclyn likes to dress Maverick in caps and sunglasses and other assorted clothing and accessories. And she’s thinking of dressing him (the dog, not the hubby)  as James Garner (as Bret Maverick) for Halloween.
How do I know such frivolous fodder?
Jaclyn claims she is the “Manager” of the MedExpress on Mossside Blvd. in Monroeville, PA. MedExpress is one of those drop-in medical centers that you rush into if you (a) have no money; (b) have no insurance: (c) like waiting in an airport-like lounge  for a few hours.
Jaclyn claims she also “oversees” another such “urgent care” joint in Monroeville, as well as one in Murraysville (PA).
How she ever gets “work” done is something I have wondered about for the last couple of weeks.
Let me explain.
Knowing I was in-between books, I was contacted by MedExpress to gauge my interest in working part-time . . . their “part-time” consists of a 12-hour days.
This nightmare began with an email from “Rebecca Burroughs”, who claimed to be a  MedExpress “Recruitment Coordinator”. She called me, “interviewed me” and asked me if I wanted an in-person interview with “Melissa”.
Oops! An email later, she said she “misspoke” and that Melissa was actually Jaclyn. “Please let me know if you have any questions”, she cooed in an email. “We look forward to your interview!”
And so I went to meet Jaclyn/Melissa.
She was late for the interview; she arrived with a woman named Terri, who she had hired to be the manager of the Butler (PA) joint.
Terri is also a dog lover.
Stay with me.
The interview lasted 2 hours and 18 minutes . . . and at least 120 minutes of the “professional” interview was devoted to dog drama. Jaclyn/Melissa and Terri pulled out their cell phones to show off pooch photos. Over and over and over again.
Was I on Candid Camera?
These broads were too young to know Candid Camera. No?
But Jaclyn/Melissa remembered the day she had to reprimanded a doctor when he didn’t wear navy blue scrubs (“And they have to be navy blue!”).
And she knew remembered the day she reprimanded a front office associate about “talking too much to customers”. I’d thought she’d use the word “clients”, but I was barking up the wrong tree.
I felt like I was watching a Fellini flick. Or starring in a Marx. Bros. comedy, with me as Harpo, the silent one.
This is how professional interviews are held?
I didn’t get the job.
I didn’t want it.
Yet I knew I had a tale to tell when I left the doghouse diatribe.
What surprised me even  more was that MedExpress didn’t spend even a medicated minute to tell me, “Thanks, but no thanks”.
I emailed corporate media relations, asking for the reason for such unprofessionalism.
No one ever got back to me.
I mailed Rebecca and asked why all that time wasted.
Her last email: “I am sorry to hear of your displeasure.  While the recruitment process can seem lengthy at times, it is never a waste of our time to thoroughly screen and interview qualified candidates.  So it is disappointing to hear you feel it was a waste of your time.  I will speak with my team on how we can improve our process”.
Perhaps I should have sat, rolled over and licked their faces?
Or kissed their asses?

 

Never use Shutterfly. They are a scam. A true story.

Christmas 2017.

A pathological liar, racist, misogynist, homophobe and xenophobe “heads” the country.

Shutterfly heads the scam process.

Let me explain.
On November 25, I ordered a personalized photo pillow as a gift.
It never arrived.
I complained to Shutterfly, spoke to an outsourced (!)  woman in some foreign country who could barely speak English. She had another sent.
It never arrived.
A third one was sent. It never arrived.
They never arrived to the legitimate Boston PO Box to which they were addressed; they were delivered to Tempe, Arizona.

Here is the tracking information for one pillow:

Delivered

  • TEMPE, AZ
    DEC 14

    OUT FOR DELIVERY TODAY
    TEMPE, AZ
    DEC 12

  •  

    PROCESSING FOR DELIVERY
    Tempe, AZ
    DEC 12

I learned that UPS is not legally allowed to deliver to the USPS (a post office), yet Shutterfly refuses to acknowledge they did something wrong.
Shutterfly bookmaking
The Tempe, AZ scam room.
As a noted journalist since 1979, I contacted Nicole Steir, who is listed as the “media representative.” Emails were sent to  and [email protected]. Her photo is below, stolen from Linked IN. (That site descibes her as “Director, Public Relations & Corporate Communications/Shutterfly Inc./ – Present (3 years)”
She refused to return my calls and refused to answer my emails. Instead, she had someone named Levy Hamilton call me from South Carolina. He refused to leave a message on my machine. 
Nicole (Bender) Stier

Even a cursory web search  will lead you to the ONE STAR reviews Shutterfly has received. [Read them here: resellerratings.com/store/Shutterfly]

As a way to doing damage control, CEO Christopher North has been heading south . . . he has Shutterfly “Donating” and “giving away” $10,000 checks to various guests on Ellen DeGeneres’ show. Anything to make Shutterfly look good.

 

Their website claims their mission is “Make the world a better place by helping people share life’s joy.”

Bullshit! That’s why we refer to them as Shitterfly, away.