During the time I’ve worked in customer service for over 20 years, having my own company for over 15 years, and dealing with other companies during the time I’ve  been in business, I have learned a thing or two when it comes to…customer service. I have learned how to continuously give GREAT customer service. Of course, it didn’t start out that way. As with everything else in life, there was a learning curve. However, once you do something consistently, you learn what do to and what NOT to do. A lot of this also comes from common sense.

If you’re playing baseball, playing the batter, you hold the bat in your hands upwards so you are able to smack the ball out of the park when it’s coming towards you in the air, usually over 80MPH (for professional pitchers). You don’t hold the bat down to the ground, near your feet. That’s just silly! However, if you were playing golf, you would hold the golf club on the ground, getting ready to swing at the ball…on the ground. You don’t really have to know the “rules of the game” to be able to hit the ball. If someone comes up to you, hands you a bat or club, and says, “Hey you, take this thing and hit the ball!” If it’s at a park and you were handed a bat, eventually, you’ll see the ball coming towards you, giving you the involuntary instinct (common sense) to hold that bat up and take a swing at that bitch! Sure, you may miss, once, twice, or a few times. But, eventually, after some practice, you’ll eventually hit it.

If you’re on a golf course and someone comes up to you, hands you a club, and says, “Hey, you, take this thing and hit the ball!” The ball, this time, will be on the ground, held up (usually) by a tee. Since it’s on the ground, you would be holding the club towards…the ground. Just like in baseball, it may take you a few swings to eventually hit the ball but, eventually, you will hit it! That’s where experience comes into play. If you combine your common sense with your experience you’ve learned from doing something consistently, you will get a positive outcome. Obviously, this doesn’t apply to everything. Some things, we are just not good at, no matter how many times we practice. Some people are better at baseball than golf and that’s OK. Heck, some people (such as myself) don’t even like sports and that’s OK too! I’m all for putting your mind to it and, if you keep at it, you will eventually get it. However, if I keep swinging at the golf ball and it keeps going in the sand or pond, common sense tells, this game isn’t for me. So, I throw all of my clubs in the pond and…walk away. If I keep swinging at the baseball, only to continuously get fouls or strikes, no matter how many damn times I swing the bat, common sense tells me, this game isn’t for me. So, I take the bat and throw it across the field, accidentally hitting the pitcher in the face.

When it comes to owning a business, customer service is one of the games we must play. You are either good at it or bad at it. If you are not good at it, then, you can (if the funds allow it) hire someone who is. However, if you continue to be bad at it, you will lose customers and, eventually, put yourself out of business. But, don’t tale my word for it! My recent experience will prove this fact!

For well over 15 years, since I have opened my business, I was going to Inkhead Graphics, located in Port. St. Lucie, Florida. I knew what I wanted and they did it for me. From business cards, shirts, to brochures, and vinyl on my car.

Not too shabby, right? The last picture of the small dragon on the side was from a few months ago, which was where everything took place. Let’s get into what happened this year now, shall we?

I was nearing the end of my business cards, the small dragons on my car had faded, and I was interested in having Inkhead take on a few more tasks. Below are the emails sent between Alan and I, as well as what had been going on this year. Look at the dates as they are important with this case. The outcome will be at the bottom.

Dated: 3/1/2019

Good afternoon, Alan.

It’s been a while. I hope things are well with you, your family, and your business. 

Firstly, I attached an updated business card for you to print out for me. Same as last time 1000, glossy single-sided. 

Second, I’d like 2 new baby dragons printed and put on where the other ones are on my car. Unfortunately, a year later…they faded already. Fade-resistant vinyl would be nice but…. I’m not sure if that exists for one color gold vinyl. Which, leads to my third thing…

I was contemplating about this in the past and I think I may have mentioned it to you before regarding a back window wrap. I’m having my friend in NY design the wrap but, in regards to the above, will that wrap be fade-resistant? I intend to have a couple police badges on it and a blue line going across a Support LE flag which matches the flag on my updated card. I believe you use 3M for your wraps and such and I found this on a site from a random Google search regarding the wrap fading:

“No. Pure Autographics uses the highest quality 3M ControlTac wrap material, protecting against UV rays, high temperatures and even acid dew. Many of our vehicle wraps look as good in their 5th year as they did on their first day.” 

Is yours similar to the above?

Lastly, I purchased a wrap for my rear trunk area (in between the taillights) and I would like you to install that for me as well. If you’d like a heads up on what that is, the install video is here: (link removed)

Well, one more thing… if you may interested in taking this on: I was about to order another decal from that site but, for whatever reason, the person I was emailing back and forth went ghost so…instead of figuring out what the heck their deal was, I figured I’d run this by you since you’ll be pretty much wrapping my back window and have done a lot of stuff on my car already. I’d like this created for the rear side windows:

(link removed)

I attached the flag I’d like on both windows with a blue line as you see in the other pic and with an overlay of my Dragon logo as seen in the other pic with the “M” Mopar logo. Everything in matte black.

Other than that, I think that’s it. If you can send me a rough estimate as far as the price of the window wrap w/ install, rear side wrap design, price, w/install, and the other stuff, I’d appreciate it. I’ll pay for everything in full so, if you want, we can make an appointment for me to show up and you can install the rear trunk wrap I have and put on new baby Dragons then just invoice me for that and the rest for me to pay that day and I’ll come back when the other things are printed and ready to go! 😎

Thanks and have a great weekend,

Justin Rocque
Dragon Technology Services, LLC
(772) 985-9905
Website

Dated 3/7/2019

Alan’s response…. 6 days later:

On 3/7/2019 3:14:30 PM, “Sales Dept.” wrote:

Justin,

   Things are good, and hopefully for you as well!  I will get you pricing for these requests. The perforated window material is different than our wrap material. We do use 3M for our vehicle wraps, but the perforated material does not get laminated the same way so it only lasts about 1 year before it starts to fade. We can order from a Company that laminates it but it doubles the cost. I can price you both ways.

 As for the baby dragons fading, any vinyl with metallic in it does not last very long outdoors. You can see this happen all the time on newer sports cars with stripe kits. After 1-2 years they usually need to be replaced, or loose their sparkle and flatten out. I can get “better” vinyl, but the cost does not warrant maybe getting 2 years instead of 1.If you keep it waxed that can help a little.

  I saw the pic of the side window graphic so let me clarify. Are you looking for that flag design in mat black, with a blue stripe and a dragon in gold in the center? Please advise so we are on the same page.

I will be in touch with numbers soon. Nice hearing from you again.

Thank You, Alan

Dated 3/8/2019

My response, later that night:

Hi Alan,

I’m glad things are good with you. Things are good with me as well. If you can give me the price for both, that will be great. I intend to keep this car for as long as I can, well over 5 years, and I know these window wraps are a bit up there in price so if I can get it where it is less resistant to fading, therefore lasting longer, since my car is outside 24/7, that will be great. I attached the finished design for the back window. The stretched one is the preferred layout I’d like but I have a non-stretched one as well because I’m not sure how you go about using the image for a back window. I’m not too concerned about the flag itself but you can see the multiple colors in the patches on the bottom. I had two NYPD decals on the corners of the back window and…a year later, the color was gone, with nothing but ghost white decals left.

I understand what you mean about the baby dragons. One side is dull and dark more than the other side because of the direction my car is parked in the driveway in the mornings. I like how the gold looks though, it makes the car really pop nicely from the side. In the future, maybe I’ll get those painted on but… even paint fades over time. It’s the one (of many) curses of the sun. Ha!

As for the window graphic, I’d like to get the whole thing matte black with the blue line in, well, blue. Pretty much like how that “M” for Mopar looks but with the regular non-distressed flag. The main reason is because I already have the gold baby dragons on the sides and…. with the rear side window vinyl being in all matte black, it won’t fade so once it’s set… it should be looking good for longer. 

I attached my updated business card. I’m down to literally 2 cards so if you can put that order in so I have a box next week, I’d appreciate it. I’ll come by to pay you in full for that tomorrow (Friday). I was trying to hold off until everything else was done but, it ended up being a tad longer than expected because of the design of the flag. We are already in March…..the time surely flies when having fun or, in this case, working 6 days a week.

As always, thanks for your honest feedback and I’m looking forward to getting things started. 

Justin Rocque
Dragon Technology Services, LLC
(772) 985-9905
Website

I showed up the next day, Friday, as stated in the email above. While I was there, the guy at the front desk showed me a nice type of card stock they offer. It was a matte/suede finish card. It looked sweet and felt nice in the hand so, for $20 more, I agreed to that stock. After looking at a print out of the proof of what the card would look like when printed,  I paid in full for the cards I ordered. So far, so good. I was excited to get my new cards with new card stock!

Dated 3/19/2019

Here is an email I sent on the night I received the cards:

Hi Alan,

It was a pleasure seeing you and your crew working hard today. I was glad my cards were ready and I was able to swing by to pick them up. However, after looking at a few cards in the box, then comparing it to the previous ones you had done, and the PDF I sent to use for the card print out, something went a little sideways during this process. I attached 3 things, one being the original PDF or the card design. I approved this with Josh after he corrected the multi black issues….he clicked somewhere in Photoshop and, kept the blackest black for me. Everything looked good on screen then he printed it out and, after reviewing it again, I approved it. 

Scanned.pdf shows the previous card you did for me in the past with the current ones… 2 different cards of the current card. As you can see, the 2nd card has an orange color with the dragon logo versus the color, a more yellow/gold the previous card and PDF has. Also, you will see the “thin blue line” in the flag is more of a purple than the bright blue it is in the PDF.

The 3rd card down below looks more like the 1st, previous card, you did, although the dragon still has a bit of that orange “tint” but not as bad as the middle card. Also, the line in the flag is actually…blue.

I also attached a jpg of how they all looked when taken with my phone’s camera.

After looking at a few more in the box and noticing the appearance of the cards in the box, on their edge, it looks like there are half a bit more of the way they should be (3rd card) and the other half….darker with the orange and purple hue. Maybe they did two separate runs of the card, in 2 500 bursts, but I find it unusual how one can order set of 1000, only to have….two different looking sets of 500 each, which don’t even match the original PDF or previous cards I had. I’m aware with the glossy, the colors will be a bit brighter than this more “matte” suede-like finish but…. the orange and purple in half of the set is what I don’t understand. 

What do you think?

Have a great day,

Justin Rocque
Dragon Technology Services, LLC
(772) 985-9905
Website

The cards in question:

The top was the original glossy I used to have done with no problems. The two below were in the box of the fancy new matte cards. Quite a difference, no? Going from a gold/yellow to a more orange/tangerine.

Here was Alan’s response sent the same day:

Hey Justin,

 Great to see you as well. We send our cards to a gang run printer so they bulk your job on a sheet with other jobs. So picture your card on a sheet of paper with different cards or images all around it. Maybe they had 2 images of your card, and the one that pulled more red could of had a print with a heavy red content next to it. We can order the same file 5 times and it will look slightly different every time. The only way around this is to go to a local print shop where they run your card by itself on a digital printer. The paper stock will be inferior, but that is a trade off some people don’t mind.

   We can ask for a call ticket and have your cards reran but we will need your cards back to show them the color shift you are speaking of. I did notice the shift in your logo but thought it looked cool, and it was towards the golden red side. I did not look through the entire box, but my thought is there was a graphic with heavy magenta near that logo that shifted. I did not think it warranted contacting the vendor , but these are your cards and your image so this is your call. We also did not prepare the file so I had no idea if that was done on purpose by your designer. I’m sure we can get them reprinted without an issue from the vendor.  If you want a re-run just bring us the old cards, and keep a hand full to get you by. Just keep in mind next time there could be an image heavy on the blue side next to yours so there really is no guarantee of the outcome.

Thank You, Alan

He explained everything well and said he can get them reprinted without an issue from the vendor. Sounds great!

Just so there were NO issues again (even though this is the FIRST this issue had occurred), I had my friend redo the business card image:

The colors were now a bit more…flat.

Here was my response to Alan:

Hi Alan,

I understand the process. Josh told me when I inquired about why you didn’t do the printing in-house; too expensive and too large of an equipment. He explained how it would be done but didn’t mention the colors may not be exact. Like I said, I never experienced this situation before with the other cards you printed for me. I guess it’s a first time for everything. LOL! I don’t blame anyone in your shop. Obviously, you have no control over this. I’d just maybe add a small disclaimer for the future: “Note: Due to the nature our business cards are printed, the colors may not be 100% but you will still receive the highest quality stock, guaranteed!” 😎 I’m sure if someone wanted blue Smurfs on their cards  but they came out purple, that would be a serious problem. =-O

We can ask for a call ticket and have your cards reran but we will need your cards back to show them the color shift you are speaking of. I did notice the shift in your logo but thought it looked cool, and it was towards the golden red side. I did not look through the entire box, but my thought is there was a graphic with heavy magenta near that logo that shifted. I did not think it warranted contacting the vendor , but these are your cards and your image so this is your call. We also did not prepare the file so I had no idea if that was done on purpose by your designer. I’m sure we can get them reprinted without an issue from the vendor.  If you want a re-run just bring us the old cards, and keep a hand full to get you by. Just keep in mind next time there could be an image heavy on the blue side next to yours so there really is no guarantee of the outcome.

I don’t think they look bad but the blood orange of the logo kinda throws everything off for me since it has a gold/yellowish tone everywhere else like the website, invoices, baby dragons on my car, and the brass on my belt buckle, to name a few. *THUMBS_UP* I’m all for having everything simple. If I hand this out to customers, some will start with the “Nice new cards but…what’s up with this orange dragon? Is orange your new black now?” LOL… I can hear it now!

I attached a revised PDF of the card. Andrew redid it and updated the colors. I’ll bring the cards I have back to you tomorrow afternoon if we can send this revised PDF out to them so they can rerun it with this one, I’d appreciate it! If the 2nd batch isn’t 100%, I’ll accept them. I’m sure they may come out better than these.

Also, there is a bit of a back story as to why I chose the gold color… you will note this more in the “About” part of my site. 😎

I’m still waiting patiently for your estimate on the other stuff. I can’t believe March is more than half way over already…no rush though. I know you’re backlogged too. I have customers lined up for the rest of the week already.

As always, thanks for all your help!

Justin Rocque
Dragon Technology Services, LLC
(772) 985-9905
Website

The color I was referring to was based on the “Knight” insignia from the show, Knight Rider. I have “hinted” upon this show in my “About” page https://www.dragontechnologyservices.com/about/

Everything sounded all fine and dandy until… I received a phone call saying the vendor WILL NOT redo the cards for free because the color was within their 10% margin or error. However, they did agree to rerun them again at cost, which was about $20 or so less than the marked-up price. Because I wanted the color to be exactly the way I wanted it, I agreed to have them redone at cost. So, there goes another 1000 cards for $ extra money I feel I shouldn’t have spent. Why? Because, at NO time during the talk and proof-signing of thees fancy new cards were I told the color may shift and/or be slightly off. I don’t have any graphics printing experience so I was expecting the outcome to be how it was in the past. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case this time. A “disclaimer” would have been nice as a fore-warning but, alas, there was none. On a good note, the second batch of 1000 cards came out the way they were supposed to…with no color issues! Was this good customer service?

Let’s fast forward to 4/3/2019 now:

My email to Alan:

Dated 4/3/2019:

Hi Alan,

I received your texts about the estimate you were working on for me and I believe you said you sent it via email but I haven’t received anything from you yet. If it’s not finished, no problem. I’m just making sure you didn’t send it to my old email address.

Thanks,

Justin Rocque
Dragon Technology Services, LLC
(772) 985-9905
Website

Note that date, 4/3/2019, which is now a little over a month and so far, the services rendered to me were the business cards. It took over a month to finally receive…an estimate for services I asked for on…3/1/2019! Was this good customer service? I understand some businesses get pretty busy but…taking a month to write up an estimate? Come on now…

Alan’s response:

On 4/3/2019 5:40:59 PM, “Sales Dept.” wrote:

Justin,

 My apologies..I saw the text and forgot to check when I got here. I did have your old email address..

Please review your quote. In order to get your job started we require a 50% Deposit on the total job. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to give us a call.
Thank you for your interest in our services.

Thank You, Alan

OK, mistakes happen…sending it to the old email address. However, my business name has been changed for over 7 years now and, during this time, I have been going to Inkhead for my business cards and vinyl on my car as well as sending and replying to Alan using my current email address but, alright…send the estimate on to my OLD email address which is no longer active.

My response on the same day:

Hi Alan,

Thanks. Looks good. One question though, you said you’ll give me two prices for the rear window wrap, the one you normally use and the other wrap which has less resistance to fading. I think you said it’s about 2x the price, so will that be $340 for that wrap with install?

Thanks,

Justin Rocque
Dragon Technology Services, LLC
(772) 985-9905
Website

I waited and waited and waited some more… 5 days, a week later to be exact until I sent him another email:

Dated 4/8/2019:

Hi Alan,

I sent you a response last week but maybe it went in your junk folder again for some reason. If you answer the question below, I’d appreciate it. If you want, we can set a day and time for you to install what I have for the trunk area and to put the new baby dragons on the sides and I’ll pay you in a full lump some for you to get the other things started then I’ll come back for the install of the windshield wrap and the small side window vinyl.

Let me know if that’s good with you,

Justin Rocque
Dragon Technology Services, LLC
(772) 985-9905
Website

I waited a bit more then, on 4/17/2019, I received his response!

Dated 4/17/2019

On 4/17/2019 8:49:14 AM, “Sales Dept.”  wrote:

Justin,

 Here is the adjusted invoice. The lamination on the rear window wrap is $149. One thing to note..When we install the rear window with the lamination, it will appear foggy and have squeegee streaks in it until it dries out so I don’t want you to be alarmed. I always think they look horrible until they dry out which takes a few days.

Please review your quote. In order to get your job started we require a 50% Deposit on the total job. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to give us a call. Thank you for your interest in our services.

Thank You, Alan

I, of course, responded back…on the same day:

Hi Alan,

I understand. It’s a thicker vinyl so it will take a while for the water to dry out and for all the bubbles to melt with the sun. 🙂

Sounds good. How about I come by and pay you in full and you install the baby Dragons and the vinyl I have for the trunk then you can start working on the side window and the rear window wrap? What day can you squeeze me in for the small stuff?

Thanks,

Justin Rocque
Dragon Technology Services, LLC
(772) 985-9905
Website

Things were finally progressing but, were they really? Were they progressing at all? Well, let’s fast forward to a month later when I had to send Alan a “Follow-up” email… a month later!

Dated 5/15/2019

God afternoon Alan,

I just wanted to follow-up with you because it’s been about a month since I replied to your message but haven’t received a response from you in terms of an appointment. If it’s been another busy month for you, that’s great. I understand, but if you don’t reply with any confirmation, let alone an approx. install date, that’s just leaving business (which is money) on the table… 

If you don’t want to partake in this project for whatever reason, that’s OK too but I figured it’s something you won’t mind doing versus a lot of t-shirts and the full-vinyl wraps, which is a more tedious and complex job. I came to you because you’re the Grand Master of Graphics and Vinyl like I’m the Grand Master Dragon of Tech. 

Justin Rocque
Dragon Technology Services, LLC
(772) 985-9905
Website

Funny how I just noticed I said, “God afternoon..” Ah well…

His response, believe it or not, on the same day!

Justin,

   My bad! I thought I replied to this already.  We can get you on the schedule for Tuesday the 21st if that is good with you. Confirming, this will be for the baby dragons and install of the vinyl you have for the back.

Thank You, Alan

Here we go, some progress. Finally, a day to install the baby dragons and the vinyl I have for the back. Yay!

I responded later that afternoon:

Tuesday the 21st will be good. What time? 10am or earlier?  

Justin Rocque
Dragon Technology Services, LLC
(772) 985-9905
Website

Did he reply with a time? Nah, that would be too easy! 5 days later.. I had to send a follow-up message for a time..

Dated 5/20/2019

Hi Alan,

I haven’t received a confirmation from you about Tuesday as far as the time goes… for the baby dragons and the vinyl I have for the back… unless that spot has already been filled…

Justin Rocque
Dragon Technology Services, LLC
(772) 985-9905
Website

Are we starting to see a pattern here?  Alan sure must be a busy man. You’d think with the 5+ employees he has in his shop, he’d be able to find some time to himself to respond to emails so he is able to make appointments to get people in, people taken care of, and get paid for services rendered. Here we are now, close to the end of May and so far, I have two sets of business cards and an estimate for things I wanted done since the 1st of March.

Oh look… a response that morning!

Justin,

 Between 9:30 and 10 will be good.

Thank You, Alan

I arrived that Tuesday, getting the baby dragons installed and the center taillight piece installed. Not too shabby:

So, there go. Now, I had some stuff installed on the car, the small dragons and the center wrap in between the taillights. I then put 50% down for the rest of the stuff I wanted to have done to the car that Tuesday. Finally, the wheels were in motion…even though it took about 3 months, which is 90 days if you’re counting.

On 5/30/19, I have received a call from Loretta, the one who was working on the other graphics I wanted put on the car. The result of that? Well, how about I just show you the email I sent to Alan, dated on…wait for it… 6/28!

Dated 6/28/2019 

Titled: The Neglected Dragon

Hi Alan,

It’s been a little over a month now since I was in your shop, having the baby dragons installed and the custom wrap for the center area between the taillights. 

On 5/30, Loretta actually gave me a call (9 days after being in your shop. Not bad!) stating she sent out an email proof of the rear window wrap that past Thursday. Unfortunately, I hadn’t received an email from her. She said she’ll send it again… so I waited…30 minutes later..no email! I called back…. she said she’ll send it again and to check the lovely SPAM folder (as if a man who owns a “tech” company doesn’t know anything about spam folders?!). So, I got off the phone with her and…waited..another 30 minutes. I called back again and asked her what the email address was she was sending it to. Sure enough, it was being sent to the incorrect email address! I gave her the correct email address over the phone and…. waited… and waited some more and… I was done waiting so I sent the email forwarded below the end of this email. 

As for the proof, I’m not really sure what kind of “proof” she did because the graphic has already been done and I sent you the original format so you can move the badges on the bottom so it’s in the correct spot for printing which, according to what you said on the 21st of May, you’d do a rough dry run print to see where the badges need to be placed before printout. Besides adding a “black line” on the bottom, I’m not really sure what else would need to be done.. Did Loretta redo the graphic into a rear window shape to match the rear window? Since I still haven’t received her email or even another phone call to get any updates…. I don’t know….

Also, why just send me a proof of the rear window graphic when I had requested a more “custom” graphic for the small side windows? You’d think, I’d get a proof of everything requested so we can get on with the estimate (including the reflective blue line I requested as well) then an install date. But…here we are..a month later where I am playing the waiting game again, requiring me to email to get some insight as to what the issue is now, besides being busy with other jobs. 

I paid $275 out of a near-complete invoice of $513 and here I sit, a month later…. with no proofs, no final estimate, no date for install….no nothing…. Seriously??

On another note, as if that wasn’t enough…. I’m going to need everything redone on the car again because….. I decided to trade the ’17 I had in for a ’19. Had the vinyl on the ’17 been completed before this month was about over, I may not have traded it because of the cost involved with doing everything all over again. But, since the rear window wrap, as well as small side window wraps, wasn’t even proofed yet, which would have been the FINAL costly parts of the vinyl on the car, I decided to trade the car in for other reasons I won’t get into here. 

So, here we are…a month after having the baby dragons and custom wrap put on the ’17 Challenger. Here we are, a month later with no updates or anything as to what else I wanted done to the car. A month later, where I paid 1/2 of the near-complete invoice for work I wanted done… with no proof of anything done. 

The 4th of July is just around the corner. It would have been pretty sweet to have those flags on my windows by then. But, alas, I have nothing. 

With all the waiting I’ve been doing within this year (and last year when I started to email about the rear window wrap) with your company, I’m at the point now where why should I even bother now?

Your company has been my company of choice for business cards and vinyl for over 15 years. I seriously don’t know what’s been going on lately. A customer, especially one who goes that far back, shouldn’t have to remind a business multiple times for work requested, especially when there’s a chunk of deposit up front.

The disgraced Dragon will (again) patiently await your reply,

Justin Rocque
Dragon Technology Services, LLC
(772) 985-9905
Website

So, here we are, the end of June and, the services I requested on, wait for it… March 1st has NOT been completed. Seriously, what.. the.. fuck!? Where has the customer service gone since I have been using Inkhead for over 15 years? Where has it gone in 2019? It looks like it has gone to shit, if you ask me!

The above message was sent at 2:47AM. A phone call at around 10AM was received from Alan with an apology, followed by an email. I was ready to call back but Loretta called back to apologize as well, saying it was her bad and she dropped the ball. Shortly after, she sent an email:

On 6/28/2019 11:20:59 AM, “Art Dept.”  wrote:

Justin,

My extreme apologies! I got caught up in other work and although Alan asked me about you I neglected to follow through. I allowed my personal problems to affect my work & that is inexcusable.

You are now my priority!

A proof is needed to show you how the art falls on the rear window.
Due to the extreme angles of the cars design the flag image will be distorted.
Please, once again accept my apology.

Loretta

Please review over the attached proof of your layout(s).  Please review carefully for any mistakes in spelling, grammar, numbers, information, desired look and feel, etc. If any revisions are required, please respond to this email with them. If no further revisions are necessary with the artwork, then please respond with an OK TO PRINT. Thank you very much!

Now, I have become the focus of her attention that day. For a few hours, the day consisted of repeated calls and, after her FINALLY getting my email address right, emails back and forth:

My response to the above email:

Morning Loretta,

Your extreme apologies are accepted. 🙂

I attached a revised image of what you sent with arrows. I would like both dragons on the small back windows to be facing the front of the car like it is in the “dragon direction” image attached. I attached badges1 and badges2 so you see how I want those to me more closer to the edges on the rear window. I know it’s hard to do that during editing but I’d sort of like the NYPD, followed by the PSLPD ones next to that to follow the curve around the window. So. the NYPD will be more to the edges and the PSLPD will be close to the spot the NYPD ones are in now. The Dragon to remain centered. Also, if you can bring them all down another .5″ that would be good. I know that may probably be adjusted more during the initial install though.

Thanks,

Justin Rocque
Dragon Technology Services, LLC
(772) 985-9905
Website

For whatever reason, she could not see the images I attached. You’d think someone working in the “graphics department” of a “graphics company” would know how to open/view jpg files which are standard image files which can be viewed on cell phones and computers dated back to over 25 years ago! But, alas, it couldn’t be done..

Hi Loretta,

It may be because you’re using a Mac and for whatever reason, the images aren’t showing correctly. I attached a PDF of some examples just in case for you.

Justin Rocque
Dragon Technology Services, LLC
(772) 985-9905
Website

A proof was sent so I marked what I wanted changed and, eventually, said it was “OK” to print.

My final message for the proof:

Hi Loretta,

One thing I just noticed I’m sure Alan can address when he does the vinyl cut for the small rear windows is the text in the dragon logo in the rear side windows. I would like that to be clean with no text. The one in the back window is OK. Other than that….

OK TO PRINT.

Thanks,

Justin Rocque
Dragon Technology Services, LLC
(772) 985-9905
Website

This was all on 6/28. Finally, thinks are coming together again..back in motion. Maybe I’ll have everything all done within the next few weeks and I can put this (what I thought would be simple) task to rest and I won’t have to sit around and wonder, wonder when my car will be finished.

So, days go by, yet again. Here I am again, playing the waiting game.

On July 18th, I receive an email! This is what, over who weeks after the proof was “OKed” to print…?

Dated 7/18/2019

Hi Justin,

 We have your side windows ready for install and the rear window test file is ready as well. Do you have any availability early next week? Let us know please and we will speak tomorrow.

Thank You, Alan

Here we are now, over 5 months later and what the things I wanted done to my car (which is now a NEW car) are not complete…. over 5 months later!

Here was my response to the message above:

Dated 7/19/2019

Hey Alan,

Early next week any day except Tuesday morning will be good. If you want to do Monday morning or Tuesday late morning/early afternoon, that will be OK.  One thing though… you haven’t sent me a final estimate of the remaining items such as the cost of the reflective blue vinyl and the price of the glossy rear window wrap. Since I’ll be needing everything done again, the 2 baby dragons as well. Also, if possible, can you create that taillight center 3-piece with the flag and dragon in the center? I contacted Luxe for another print but have received no response and they are no longer doing anymore custom jobs. If I remember correctly, it was a matte black vinyl piece applied first, then the flag cutout, followed by the dragon applied in the center. It had a 3D affect. Lastly, which is probably the simplest of all, is a taillight wrap I have to install. It’s not pre-cut but the vinyl cut is big enough to cover more than both taillights. I also have vinyl pre-cut for the side marker lights. 

So…

• • • Baby Dragons
    • Rear glossy window wrap w/ reflective blue
    • rear side window wrap with reflective blue line.
    • taillight and side marker light vinyl install
    • *Center taillight area flag with dragon recreate and install. I don’t know much about Adobe Photoshop but there may be a tool in there to remove the watermark from that image I attached. If so, that will save everyone some time and me…some money. 

I’m estimating that may be another… $600 or so. LOL! No big deal as long as your credit card machine works.

* I was just curious and did a quick check and found some quick tips on removing watermarks: https://filmora.wondershare.com/video-editing-tips/remove-watermarks-from-image.html I tested this one and it seemed to work alright but I’m not so great with the mouse to cover the watermark area with the marker. https://photo.wondershare.com/photo-eraser.html. That’s something I’m sure Loretta can do much better with her drawing tablet but… she has a Mac so… 

Thanks and I’ll talk to you tomorrow (Friday). 

Justin Rocque

Dragon Technology Services, LLC

(772) 985-9905

Website

You can see in the email above, he had not sent me a revised estimate, considering, I got a new car. I also had another request to recreate the taillight center piece. That, I figured, wouldn’t be too big of a task to complete.

So, that was on 7/19. I gave him a bit of a detailed and bulleted list stating what needed to be done. Surely, it wouldn’t be that long to get a response from him to get the ball rolling again…on my new car which, of course, had nothing on it at the time. A day or two? Nah! How about…. 7 days! That’s right, 7 damn days!

Dated 7/26/2019

Alan emailed:

Justin,

 I’m printing this now and going through it. I will be in touch shortly.

Thank You, Alan

Shortly. OK. No problem. I waited 7 days already, what’s another hour or two because, you’d think that’s what “shortly” would mean, hours, not days or weeks.

Dated 7/27/2019

I replied to the email above:

Alrighty. I thought shortly would have been sometime later in the day after sending that email. I guess you meant sometime next week. Ah well, it’s already been a few months…another week or two shouldn’t hurt. :-

Have a good weekend,

Justin Rocque
Dragon Technology Services, LLC
(772) 985-9905
Website

The weekend came and went but I did receive this on the Monday after:

Dated 7/29/2019

On 7/29/2019 2:36:04 PM, “Sales Dept.” wrote:

Justin,

  I added in for the requested changes. We can order the reflective and recreate your back light 3 piece insert.

Please take a moment to review your order and if you have any questions don’t hesitate to give us a call. Thank you for your business.
Thank You, Alan

My response:

OK, sounds good. Looks like I was right around the ballpark with the price. What day may we be looking at for the install?

Justin Rocque
Dragon Technology Services, LLC
(772) 985-9905
Website

On 7/30/2019, I went to the shop and one of his employees installed the rear side vinyl, side marker vinyl I provided, and the taillight vinyl wrap I provided.

Not bad, right? 3 hours later, the rear side windows were complete, some side markers, and the taillights. No little dragons. They had to hold off until next time which would be the center wrap and the final..rear window wrap. OK, whatever. I was just glad to get done what was able to be done. Everything is good so far, no?

Well, that’s what I thought until about 2 days later…when this happened…

That’s right, the vinyl wrap shrunk where it was heat-gunned and peeled off the corners. With a $100 install charge, this is unacceptable!

I figured I’d just sit back, relax, and cool off before sending him a rather heated message. Surely, he would be sending me a message soon for the final things to be done so I figured I’d reply after that…. So, I waited.. and waited..

On 8/12/19, a few days shy of 2 weeks, I received this email:

Justin,

 Hello, I hope you are well. I ordered more reflective for your rear stripe and we will be working on the artwork for the rear center insert this week.

Thank You, Alan

Well, that was my cue!

Dated 8/13/2019

Hi Alan,

I’m doing alright. I hope you’re well as well. Thanks for the update. I have an update for you as also. Unfortunately, it’s not a positive one. I took the liberty of waiting until I heard from you again before sending out a rather heated message merely a few days after I was in your shop. Three days after the taillight wrap was installed, the areas where it was heat-gunned to fit, peeled, leaving a sloppy job. For the $100 I was charged for the install and the hour or so it took to have that done, that didn’t make me a happy Dragon. 

With all the vehicle wraps you’ve done, you  may have forgotten the other taillights you wrapped for me in the past. I attached a picture of the Charger’s taillights and the Grand Am’s. No issues with them. You can also notice how the vinyl went around the curves of the lights, not applied just to the outer areas of the lights such as with the Challenger.

Here is a video from Luxe doing an install of the taillight wrap:

If YOU (meaning, you, Alan, not one of your employees) can apply the NEW wrap I purchased just like in the video so I don’t have this problem again in the future, that will be great. 

I have also attached a copy of the emailed purchase invoice for the wrap kit, totaling $57.04. Because the wrap kit I purchased peeled less than 5 days after the install, due to improper installation, I would like you to deduct this $57 from my remaining balance of $345.20. What will make it worth your while is, since I have no use for the remainder of the tint from the previous install and, now secondary install, I will give you the leftover honeycomb tint which should be plenty enough to wrap your daughter’s car’s taillights. 

Other than that, the side window flags with the baby dragons and blue stripes came out pretty good. I can nitpick on that a bit because they were cut a tad too large and had to be angled slightly but, I’ve been getting some positive feedback so I’ll keep it positive. 😉

It’s been raining every day for a while now so I haven’t really been to any car shows yet, with the exception of one in Tequesta last week where only the president and VP of the car group showed because… the rain continued from Stuart to..Jupiter.

I’m not sure if you want to wait for the rear center to be done or if you want to squeeze me in again sooner for the taillight wrap again with baby dragons cut and installed or you can do the rear center when the final rear window wrap is ready.

My availability (so far) is open the rest of this week in the AM.

Have a good day,

Justin Rocque
Dragon Technology Services, LLC
(772) 985-9905
Website

Remember, that email was on 8/13/19. It is now 9/12/19, ONE MONTH after sending that message. Did I receive anymore emails since then? NO! Maybe I received a phone call? HELL NO! NOTHING! One month later and, not only are the services I requested over 6 months ago (yes, that’s a half a year ago!), but a shoddy job was done of which I explained in the email above with pictures attached. Yet, here we are..one more later and..nothing!

Now, going back to customer service, would you say this was bad customer service? Bad doesn’t even come close! I’d say this was the worse of the worse! Common sense? There was none! I’ve never run a graphics shop before but, it’s not much different than any other business. If you have a big job to do, a job requiring some designs and such to be done, you follow-up with the customer within a few days, not WEEKS or MONTHS. I understand sometimes there are busy days and some people have bad days but.. when the CUSTOMER has to send  FOLLOW-UP email, only to hear about a “personal excuse” as why the customer was neglected and ignored, that become a HUGE problem for the company. A CUSTOMER should NOT have to follow-up with pending services. That’s the job of the business to keep them updated as to what’s been going on, within a few days at most..not a few WEEKS!

It’s now over a month later. I drive past the building. It’s still active. Yet, no phone calls, no nothing about the final 3 things, one of which was the main thing I wanted over..8 months ago! 8 MONTHS! Not 8 days or 8 weeks, 8 months! Are you serious, Inkhead?

Well, you know what, I’m done with your bullshit. I don’t know what happened to your company this year but it went way down. A customer gives you a 50% deposit for work to be completed and this is how they are treated now? Half-ass work and no more follow-ups as to the other work they PAID to have FINISHED!!

OK, you can keep whatever is left of that deposit. It’s not worth my time nor would I step back in your shop requesting the rest of my deposit back because the excuse will probably be similar like the business cards. “Oh, I’m sorry, no refunds on the deposit. A lot of that went to labor and Loretta for doing her job.” Yeah, good job, Loretta! I wonder how that center taillight wrap is going. What’s that? It’s not done yet? Come across some “personal problems” again?

Since I didn’t nor WANTED to even bother with Dinkhead, I decided to find another place, a more reputable place to get the job done.

With the help of my good friend and business acquaintance, who has her own company (Clear SEM Solutions), located on the “Services” section of my site, Jennifer sent me to Design A Sign.

On Monday, 8/26/19, I went to Design A Sign, which is located in Port St Lucie off Lennard Rd. and told Krissy what I waned done. I told her I wanted a rear window wrap, the taillight vinyl installed, and a design for the center taillight section. She looked over my paperwork, the flash drive with the content needed to do the job, and the vinyl wrap. She then went outside and took measurements of my car so she had that for the designs. We went back inside and, after talking a bit more, Krissy said she’ll have an estimate for me….tomorrow, not in a year (which was sarcasm based on how long I was waiting for Inkhead to get things done!). I said, “great!” and was on my way!

The next day, I received an email…

Dated 8/26/2019

From: Krissy Louderback
Sent: Monday, August 26, 2019 7:15 PM
To:justin@
Subject: View thru and graphics

Hi Justin

Attached is a proof for you.

1.) Laminated view thru with reflective blue overlay

2.) Apply supplied vinyl to tail lights

3.) Graphics between headlights

Cost for everything, installed will be $410.00 plus tax.

Thank You,

Krissy Louderback

Look at that, I already got a proof! The next day! A woman of her word! Wait, what’s that down there? Well, shit, that’s also an ESTIMATE! All in one nicely-written email! Now, if that’s not GREAT customer service right there, heck I don’t know what is!

Excitely, I responded:

From: Justin Rocque <Justin@
Sent: Tuesday, August 27, 2019 10:43 AM
To: Krissy Louderback <Krissy@
Subject: Re: FW: View thru and graphics

Hi Krissy,

Thanks for the quick proof and total!

The flag looks great on the car. However, can you place the police badges a bit closer to the edge of the window like I have shown in the attached pictures? I know you may have to lower them a bit which is OK. I want them to be a bit more “discreet” and not stand out so much in the back. The dragon badge/shield looks good where it is.

The center taillight area (I believe you meant to type 😉 ) looks a bit too squiggly (for lack of a better word). Can you make the lines droop down a bit less? Also, the dragon logo is covered. I take it that won’t be the case when the graphic is applied though. 

If you can make to where it’s a little more similar to this one, that will be cool:

https://www.123rf.com/photo_78436131_stock-vector-flag-of-usa-on-transparent-background.html

I know it has to be stretched a tad so… I just stretched it a little. Ha!

That’s about it. I’m not going to be that picky so if you can’t get the flag to be less curvy and I’m not expecting you to get the badges perfectly close to the edges of the window so whatever you can do will be fine.

If you need half of the payment up front before the vinyl is created and cut, feel free to let me know.

Thanks,

Justin Rocque

Dragon Technology Services, LLC

(772) 985-9905

Website

She then replied with another proof of what I liked:

Here you go.

The best thing to get those badges exactly where you want them is to do an overlay like we are doing on the blue stripe. This way they can go on after the view thru and be positioned tight into the corners.

Between the headlights isn’t proofing like it should, but I do understand the concert that you want.

I will need a 50% deposit to get started.

Oh – and I forgot to give you your memory stick ☹

Then I responded with:

Thanks. Sure, that sounds good if you think that will be easier. The flag between the, ehem, taillights looks much better. Will the overlays be laminated as well? I’m asking because the pictures of the NYPD badges I showed you…faded to white after 1 year. I know it’s because of the lovely Florida sun and my car is outside 24/7 but you’d think after so many years, they would have fade-resistant vinyl/decals these days, or at least more prone to fading as quickly. 

No big deal with the memory stick… I’m an owner of an IT company so I have 20 of those laying around. 😉

Whenever you’d like that deposit to get started, you can let me know when you’d like me come by again. Will you be able to fit my car in the second week of September or so? 

I added a text file on the stick with some links for reference in case you wanted a rough idea as to how the install is on the taillight wrap and how the 3D/3-layer center taillight wrap looks when applied. You may not need the videos but, justin case..

Thanks again,

Justin Rocque

Dragon Technology Services, LLC

(772) 985-9905

Website

Final reply:

Yes, the badge overlays will also be laminated.

If you want the second week in September I can do Monday the 9th.

Stop by any time. I am ready when you are.

There you go, with very little communication, what I wanted was done within a few days. with estimate…not weeks..not months, days!

A couple weeks later, on the 9th, I arrived to get everything taken care of. As she was working on the taillights, she said the vinyl was pretty thick and understands why it did what it did the last time so she suggested putting some clear tape around it. I agreed so she did that. For the center taillight area, she said it may look better with the glossy dragon in the center because the matte one doesn’t stand out that much and is hard to see. “Sounds good,” I said!

At about two hours later, everything was complete and, I gotta say, I can’t be anymore impressed with the quick email with the proof and estimate, quick responses with recommendations, and quality of work, as give me updates and suggestions along the way instead of just doing whatever and.. not letting me know what was going on. That is not only good, that’s GREAT customer service right there!!

Design A Sign is now my go to for my future graphics and vinyl needs. As for Inkhead, well, they should rebrand their name to Dinkhead because how it’s been these days.

What’s a “dink” you  may ask?

The Urban Dictionary defines it as..

a New England term referring to someone being an ass-hole or an idiot.
Guy 1, “What is photosynthesis?”
Guy 2, “Don’t be such a dink, its how plants make energy”

For all of your graphics needs when it comes to car wraps and signs, go to Design A Sign.  Tell them the Dragon sent you!

Oh, the finished product?

Here you go…

No peeling, everything is on and I’m 100% sure will stay on for many years! Now, that, my friends, is great work right there!!

Design A Sign, they not only got everything I wanted done in little time with superb customer service, they are sublime!

There we have it, a lengthy blog but a good one….how customer service SHOULD be!

I hope everyone has learned something from this. I know I have! I should stop with cutting people too much slack, too much to the point where I trip on it and fall on my face..what a disgrace!

There are great people and companies out there, it’s just a matter of the forces that be steering you in the right direction so you you get acquainted with these people and companies.

Update: This has been written and published yesterday. I had to go back in and revamp it because of coding issues. That has just completed. However, I received a phone call this afternoon as well as an email. Who could that phone call and email be from? Hmmm…. I’ll give you a minute to think for  a bit. Ready? Well, how about I just show you the email?

Dated 9/13/19, here is the email:

Justin;

Please respond to this email with your revisions or approval.
Follow up with a phone call to tell us you sent it back.  Thank You

Please review over the attached proof of your layout(s).  Please review carefully for any mistakes in spelling, grammar, numbers, information, desired look and feel, etc. If any revisions are required, please respond to this email with them. If no further revisions are necessary with the artwork, then please respond with an OK TO PRINT. Thank you very much!

Loretta

Scroll up a bit. You will notice 9/13/19 is EXACTLY one month from the last email I had sent to Mr. Inkhead…one month. Yet, does this email mention anything about that email and what happened to the vinyl wraps on the taillights? NO! It’s just lovely Loretta sending me an email to OK another proof… the proof of the “center taillight piece,” of which, as you can see above, took Design A Sign LESS than a week to do..heck… it took ONE DAY for them to do it. But, here is Loretta.. how many months now to send this proof? It’s just not worth calculating anymore. The only response Loretta will receive, unfortunely, will be a link to this blog post. Maybe it will teach all of them a lesson for the future, maybe not. At this point, I don’t really know and I don’t really care. I’m done WASTING MY TIME!

My blog posts are to inform and educate. Hopefully, after reading this, someone out there learned something. Heck, I know I did as I was typing everything and gathering all of my, ehem, evidence in this matter. I’m all for giving people the benefit of a doubt and second chances but, I know I let it slide too far. It’s a shock and a disgrace to the company and their “former” customer to witness such a thing.

Over 6 months later, 6 MONTHS and the services I requested from Dinkhead are yet to be completed! That’s just awful!

If you keep STEPPING on the Dragon’s tail, you’re going to get burned. Sadly, this tail has been stepped on one too many times by one company this year. NEVER AGAIN! I don’t know how other customers are treated but I’m sure I’m not the only one. The behind-the-scenes look at this company, who has been around for well over 15 years, has been exposed.

After having Uverse in my house for over four years, I was at a standstill this week and had to resort to emergency action because Uverse did not resolve my issue in a timely enough fashion.

There was a pretty bad thunderstorm this past Monday causing a “big bang” and lightening struck the house, causing the power to go out for a while. After the power went back on, the Uversse service was still down. The Uverse service consists of Phone, Internet, and TV. Everything is provided through one main Uverse box which the phone and TV wires are routed to throughout the house. If that box craps out, so does ALL of the services.

The box was on and flashing but the “service” and “broadband” lights were red. They needed to be green for everything to work. After doing my own troubleshooting which involved unplugging the power from the box, plugging it back in, resetting the box, reseating cables and such, it still failed to connect. I texted my neighbor who is also one of my customers down the street and hers was working fine. Now I had a feeling it wasn’t an outage but an issue with the box. Time for the dreaded call to tech support who always tells the person to do what they already did 10 times.

I called tech support and told them what was going on. Of course, they apologized and were very sorry to hear about my troubles. Rasheem (or whatever his name was) then asked me what lights were on the box and which ones were red. I told him. He then asked when it happened and what was not working. After that, the typical mantra started which was to unplug it, plug it back in, wait, unplug this cable, wait, check the phone, unplug this cable, wait, hit the reset button, wait… Well, I checked the lines, Justin, and they are all fine but your modem is not receiving the signal. It looks like your modem is bad. No, ya think?! We have to ship out a new box which will take 2-3 days.

I asked Rasheem if I can just pick one up at the ATT store but he said I couldn’t so I had to now wait up to 3 days with no internet, tv, or phone. That’s not cool at all, considering I run my computer business in the house and had a desktop I was working on to bring back Tuesday. I also have someone in the house who watches TV 17 hours a day and needs the phone. Why he didn’t offer to send a tech out and hand me another modem the next day is beyond me. I guess they didn’t want to pay the tech for that superb service.

That night, I decided to contact a friend I know who I knew from working at Best Buy who now works for Uverse and told him about the situation. He said for me to meet him in the morning and pick up a box from his work truck. So, I did just that and gave him the dead box. Was that so hard, Uverse? The man was six minutes from my location. Why could he not stop by my house when he was done to drop off the box? Sometimes I don’t understand and never will…

I went home to plug in the box and, sure enough, the internet and TV was up and running again but… not the phone. I was able to get the PC finished to bring back Wednesday but there was no phone. I called Uverse again and told them what I did and again, unplug this, stick this here, stand on your head and count to ten while having your other hand touch the modem so the energy channels through it and, through the powers that be, everything will work again. Still, nothing. No phone. After all that dancing around, he said I needed to wait for the other one to show up through UPS. So, now there is internet and tv but… no phone still until the other one ships.

That Tuesday, I couldn’t wait anymore and wasn’t pleased with the way Uverse decided to do things which was to SHIP the box versus the quicker route of having a tech drive over with boxes already in his truck and… hand one to me. Do the people at Uverse not realize the importance of having those needed services in a house these days? People run businesses in their houses which requires internet service. People live in houses who don’t own cell phones and need working phones for emergencies. Lastly, some people are at home most of the time in their lives and spend it watching TV. Cut those three things out for more than a day and there will be financial and emotional problems. Think about it. All hell will break loose and, well, it did break loose!

So, I had to resort to other measures I didn’t want to resort to… I had to switch to Comcast. After all, what other choices are there in Florida? ATT Uverse, Comcast, Dish, and Direct… oh no.. wait.. ATT owns Direct TV now! Dish for internet? Ha, I don’t think so! Do they have phone? I don’t think so either.

I took a gander at Comcast’s site and saw some packages. There was a “triple play” which is TV, Internet, and Phone for $89 a month for 12 months. There was a “double play” for $89 a month for 24 months which was TV and Internet but no phone. I decided the second one was a better choice because I’ll just use Magic Jack of which I have already been using for over five years as a fax number and until my customers got my new number.

I spoke to someone in the chat room and told them what I was planning on doing. After some chat, I just had to fill the stuff out myself and set a time and day for them to show up to install it. Of course, there was a $39.95 fee for the set up which I thought was silly because if a company wants you to have their service you agree to have and pay for…. they should not charge a fee for the basic installation which is needed to get the service working in the house…

In any event, I set a time and day for Wednesday evening between 5PM-7PM, which was the day after I signed up for Comcast on their site which was being accessed using the modem I got from my friend, NOT the one Uverse shipped because…. I was still waiting for that one!

I went to Best Buy to buy my own modem and a cordless phone set so I don’t have to pay “lease fees” and so the Magic Jack service can be used throughout the house, not just close to where the cable modem will be.

There was a knock at the door at around 6PM so I answered it. It was a man with a red shirt and khaki pants. I said, “Hey, how’s it going?” He said, “Hi.” He didn’t say his name or what the heck he was doing at my door. I knew it was a Comcast contractor so I let him in because I just wanted to get this shit done and not start any nonsense when it came to “proper etiquette” at a customer’s door.

I gave Mr. Comcast Contractor the run down as far as what was going on and he got to work. After going inside, outside, inside, outside, then inside the final time, everything was all set. He showed me how to use the Comcast TV box. I then said, “this can record too, right?” He said, “record? No, not this one. That wasn’t part of your promotion and I don’t want to give you one of those and mess up your promotion.” I was like, “OK, don’t worry about it.”

Then he left and the bitching in the house ensued because the person who lives in the house with me can’t record their TV shows. Oh no!! The world is over now. Time to sell the house and live on a boat. As if that wasn’t enough, this person was also upset because they couldn’t use the “regular” phone instead of the cordless ones they always refused to use to this day. Again, the world is over now. Time to pack up and ship out! We are done here…

After the volcano of yelling, bitching, complaining, and slamming doors erupted, I told everyone to calm down and I will get the DVR box tomorrow. As far as the phone goes, they just needed to deal with change and use a cordless phone because there is no more landline in the house and hasn’t been since before Uverse.

Now,  because this, as always, has become a long blog post than expected… I will turn this into a two part series so it will be easier to digest and so you have something to look forward to later tonight or tomorrow!

Until then… stay tuned for part 2 of the Uverse Vs Comcast debate!

Because of the recent and continued phone scams I have heard of some of my customers receiving after the fact and after, most importantly, the damage has already been done (in excess of over $1000 for one, and another having his PC locked out by a Windows login password the “tech guy” enabled while he had gained remote access to the PC), I must post this again, which was previously from my former blog of Dragon PC Training. I figured this would be the best one to start off with until I get more up soon in regards to other issues I have been facing with my customers who didn’t want to take the Dragon’s advice and ended up getting burned because of it in the near future. The Dragon is here to help you, not take your money and run like the lovely “tech support” people below do and local tech support my customer’s told me horror stories about.


For a few years now, there have been these odd calls going out to people’s houses who claim they are from “Windows” or some other Microsoft-sounding name. They state your computer has been sending out some strange crap and they want you to go on your computer and type in a few commands and tell you about the “bad files” located on the computer. After they do that, they will have you do other stuff and then remotely log into your PC and tell you how bad it is and then tell you it will be $200 or so to repair such things.

Here is some info about this straight from Microsoft’s own website:

Avoid tech support phone scams

Cybercriminals don’t just send fraudulent email messages and set up fake websites. They might also call you on the telephone and claim to be from Microsoft. They might offer to help solve your computer problems or sell you a software license. Once they have access to your computer, they can do the following:

• Trick you into installing malicious software that could capture sensitive data, such as online banking user names and passwords. They might also then charge you to remove this software.
• Take control of your computer remotely and adjust settings to leave your computer vulnerable.
• Request credit card information so they can bill you for phony services.
• Direct you to fraudulent websites and ask you to enter credit card and other personal or financial information there.

Neither Microsoft nor our partners make unsolicited phone calls (also known as cold calls) to charge you for computer security or software fixes.

Telephone tech support scams: What you need to know

Cybercriminals often use publicly available phone directories so they might know your name and other personal information when they call you. They might even guess what operating system you’re using.

Once they’ve gained your trust, they might ask for your user name and password or ask you to go to a website to install software that will let them access your computer to fix it. Once you do this, your computer and your personal information is vulnerable.

Do not trust unsolicited calls. Do not provide any personal information.

Here are some of the organizations that cybercriminals claim to be from:

• Windows Helpdesk
• Windows Service Center
• Microsoft Tech Support
• Microsoft Support
• Windows Technical Department Support Group
• Microsoft Research and Development Team (Microsoft R & D Team)

Report phone scams

Learn about how to report phone fraud in the United States. Outside of the US, contact your local authorities.

How to protect yourself from telephone tech support scams

If someone claiming to be from Microsoft tech support calls you:

• Do not purchase any software or services.
• Ask if there is a fee or subscription associated with the “service.” If there is, hang up.
• Never give control of your computer to a third party unless you can confirm that it is a legitimate representative of a computer support team with whom you are already a customer.
• Take the caller’s information down and immediately report it to your local authorities.
• Never provide your credit card or financial information to someone claiming to be from Microsoft tech support.

What to do if you already gave information to a tech support person

If you think you might have downloaded malware from a phone tech support scam website or allowed a cybercriminal to access your computer, take these steps:

• Change your computer’s password, change the password on your main email account, and change the password for any financial accounts, especially your bank and credit card.
• Scan your computer with the Microsoft Safety Scanner to find out if you have malware installed on your computer.
• Install Microsoft Security Essentials. (Microsoft Security Essentials is a free program. If someone calls you to install this product and then charge you for it, this is also a scam.)

Will Microsoft ever call me?

There are some cases where Microsoft will work with your Internet service provider and call you to fix a malware-infected computer—such as during the recent cleanup effort begun in our botnet takedown actions. These calls will be made by someone with whom you can verify you already are a customer. You will never receive a legitimate call from Microsoft or our partners to charge you for computer fixes.

You can also read a Snopes.com article about it as well located at: http://www.snopes.com/fraud/telephone/microsoft.asp

I always wanted to get a call from them but since I only use a cell phone, I am not able to have that luxury ……until today! I was at a customer’s house who had received this call a few times already in the past. While I was at their house today training them on their PC, the same “tech person” called again. She knew this because she recognized the number. I told her to answer it and then give the phone to me. After she passed the phone over to me, I told her I was her husband and she had to use the restroom. Here is the rest of the call in its entirety sans customer’s name and number:

This conversation is no longer available for listening. I’ll see if I can find it again soon.

Notice in the call, I said something to the affect of “there is bad stuff on the computer?” The “tech person” said no yet says he wants me to turn on the PC so he can show me where the bad elements are. Odd, I thought he said there was no bad things on the computer? They are also from “Microtech” based in Clearwater FL but the main headquarters are in Texas. Interesting. If you ever get one of these calls, just tell them to go “F” themselves and hang up, or, at least, just hang up the phone. Reporting them will do nothing and staying on the phone with them is just a waste of time.So, remember this people. DON’T BE A VICTIM!! HANG UP THE PHONE!

Why am I warning all of you? Simply because…. I have a few customer who were TOO CLOSE to being victims until they hung up the phone and told me what happened! Since then, they haven’t had any more problems.This is a special report from the one and only… Dragon!

Have a great day and safe computing!