Bad way to do business. It’s hilarious what people do just to get a few bucks.

Every time I try to pay my ATT bill it’s always a hassle. Their automated message systems and the people are extremely incomptennt. Here’s how my call went.

1. I get an automated message and get transfered to an operator.
2. I say my customer number to the operator #1, she says ok and puts me on hold.
3. While on hold, I get transfered back to a different automated message.
4. I manage to speak to operator #2  and tell her my customer number.
5. She can’t deal with my type of account, so she sends me to somebody who can do that.
6. Operator #3 will have to charge me a fee, if she processes my payment, which is weird because I’ve done it before with an operator for free. I tell her I’ll just use the automated message system to pay.
7. I give the automated message system my customer number and it transfers me to operator #4. She finally takes my payment without fee.

It took 18 minutes and four different operators to pay my bill.

This isn’t the first time, I’ve been juggled around the ATT support network; they’re so big that they can’t give the correct training to all their employees. ATT has at least 20 different numbers that you can call, but odds are none of them will get you to where you need to be.

Yeah.

I’m sure ya’ll have heard of Facebook, but check out studivz.net and xiaonei.com. Do you notice anything similar? Well, both sites are 100% knockoffs of Facebook. The interesting thing about both those sites is, they’re making a lot of money.

Studivz is the German equivalent of Facebook and is the 120th most visited site on the internet. Xianonei is the Chinese version and isn’t far off from Studivz, being the 370th most visited site. What’s funny is Xianonei is almost completely like Facebook; it even has the same color scheme.

I don’t know much about international law, but if either of those companies were US based, they would be cooked alive by Facebook. But since both sites are based outside of USA, I’m assuming anything goes; Xiaonei was actually purchased in 2006 for some big bucks and Facebook didn’t do anything!

Usually people build on ideas, but Studivz and Xiaonei show how it’s possible to even make money if you just totally steal an idea.

Yeah.

#1. All their cards have all the rewards and benefits that Visa and Mastercard provide, whether it’s 1% cash back or airplane mileage.

#2. If you buy something, below $300, and the merchant refuses to refund your money, Amex will pay you for it; however, you can only redeem up to $1000 a year doing this.

#3. If you buy something with a warranty Amex will match that warranty, up to a one full year.

#4. Most cards have travel insurance. In case you get sick or die, while traveling, Amex will  pay the covered person up to 1.5 million for their loss. It depends on what type of card you have. In case of “loss of  one hand and one foot” the coverage is between 50,000 to 1,500,000.

#5. When you rent a car with a qualifying Amex card, you’ll be covered under their Car Retnal Loss and Damage Insurance Plan. So you don’t need to buy insurance from the car renter!

#6. Don’t be scared to lose your bags when you travel, because Amex has Baggage Insurance. Eligible members are allowed to claim $500 for checked bags, and $1250 for carry-on baggage.

The thing you have to realize about all these benefits is that you have to use your Amex card! So you can’t rent a car with a Visa and expect Amex will pay for it.

Yeah.

Tonight, I went to Amy’s Ice Cream and wasn’t too pleased with the service. The line wasn’t long when I got there, but it took at least 15 minutes to get my ice cream. I really don’t get how tough serving ice cream and shakes can be. But apparently the three employees had a hard time.

 
I was with two other people and we were going to order together. One person served all three of us, rather than all three helping. I don’t get the logic here, but one of the employees refused to serve me because there was somebody else helping my two friends. That employee also took the time to chat with a coworker, after turning me down. My first impression of Amy’s Ice Cream is that it has a really relaxed atmosphere. But that guy really ruined it for me, and made Amy’s Ice Cream seem like a haven where slouches can work. This is a perfect example of how a successful business gets bad publicity.

 
Let’s talk about making money.

Anyways even with bad employees, Amy’s Ice Cream is totally a cash cow. Their return of investment is so high, because the majority of their costs are fixed; therefore, they have a higher operating leverage, so any increase of sales will subsequently increase their net income.

The ice cream comes in three different sizes: Tiny, Small, and Large. Don’t be fooled into thinking the sizes correlate with the price: The tiny size is the cheapest and cost around $3.50. Each topping cost almost a dollar extra. They’re definitely marking it up the price by some huge percentages.

 
Here is what I predict Amy’s Ice cream income statement to look like:

Look at the operating leverage. Any change in sales will increase income 6.2 times! I could be wrong about the variable expenses, because I assumed they used 300% markup. It possibility could be even more, because I ice cream is inexpensive to make.

 
In conclusion, Amy’s Ice cream is a big cash cow for Amy, but it could be ruined by bad employees. After all, part of Amy’s Ice Cream is based of experience of their service, why else could they charge ridiculously high markups? Do ya’ll have any stories about receiving bad service?

 
Yeah.

I was fooled into buying this book, because of it’s excellent reviews on Amazon. If you lack common sense, this book is for you: It didn’t cover anything that I wouldn’t have thought about alone. Don’t be fooled by this book’s 554 pages; the font is ridiculously big and it has over 100 pages of index and useless pictures.

 
I was surprised at when the book was written. The technology used to measure drinks is extremely outdated; they used a windows 95 machine with an old palm pda used to keep inventory. Additionally, the stock pictures used looked like they were from the early 90’s.

 
If you think this book will hold your hand through the hard things, like getting liquor license and legality, think again. The favorite phrase is in this book is “check with your local government” or “visit this website”. I bought this book to be more informed about the laws and regulations, but this book did not deliver; however it’ll tell you to search for the information yourself.

 
This book is a giant advertising scheme. It’s parent company, Atlantic Publishing, advertises their website over a dozen times in this book. Conveniently, at the end of this book, it asks if you want to buy another copy! There are also many other advertisements at the end for other books from Atlantic.

 
Overall, this book is complete garbage; I’m upset that I wasted my time and money on this book. All it does is supply the reader with common information, that you can get easily from the internet. This book has just a fancy cover and is full of advertisements. If you want to open and open a financially successful bar, tavern, and night club, this book isn’t for you.

Yeah.