How to Get a Discounted Product By Cancelling!

I learned something today! On a regular basis, I receive at least 50-100 emails from different sources. Most I can weed out as advertisements and offers that I don't want. The others are selected items I follow because they pertain to my business.

Lately ... as most of you know, I have really been focusing on my website www.TheStorageChef.com where I have Food Storage ideas, Action Plans for Emergencies and also my 72hr Kit guide.

So today, I get an add from the Space Bag people ... you know the storage bags where you vacuum out the air and have a secure waterproof container for your items. The offer was not only for the standard $19.95 for an order AND a second ... but 3 orders for the $19.95.


I'm thinking, well, I was going to get some anyway for my personal 72hr kit for the clothing to make more room. I do try to catch all the fine print and I know that they are making money by upgrading when they talk to you. I decided to order online so I wouldn't have to actually battle the phone operator for the order.

I dutifully declined the three attempts to upgrade and enter my credit card info ... then comes the kicker! I knew it was coming, but I didn't expect it to be shipping that cost as much as the product! I'm talking a full $19+ ... making my order double what I wanted to pay!

I was already past the point of no return ... they had already gotten my number. BUT to their credit, they did allow me to print the page with a customer service number for changes, cancellations, or just questions. I did have to wait for 30 minutes for the paperwork to process ...

I called an hour later to cancel and never even talked to a real person. The automated call was channeled through a process that kept offering me a discount of some sort ... first an upgrade to faster delivery, second a 20% discount on the product (a whopping $4), and I kept pressing "0" for decline ... finally the last offer was to remove all shipping costs and refund it back to my card. Well ... that was what I wanted in the first place.

So the moral of the story is to stick to it, decide what you're willing to pay. It is better for them to sell the product and eat the shipping. The end result is ... I get my 3x the order for $20 and no shipping. I don't have to go find the product at the store ... even though I know it's there.

I wonder how much extra we spend when we could have had it at a lower price?

Warmest Regards,


Chef Tom Heintz

Boy Scout Camp - Waterworld Experience

I am amazed at how fast time flies! It has already been 2 weeks since my adventure with the Boy Scouts. We visited Lake Ozette on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State. What a fabulous place!!!

My first time at this location, I was asked to come along and do the cooking for the 24 people that were attending. This was to be a boating activity that would be from Monday through Saturday and our camp site was in Ericsons Bay ... beautiful warm watered spot with a view to rival any park I've ever been to. The camp was only accessible via boat ... and we were more than prepared for that!

With 6 small kayaks, 2 snark sized sailboats, a aluminum skiff with outboard motor, a larger sailboat with cabin, a outboard ski boat and to top it all off, a jet boat with a 454 inboard. It actually looked like an invasion from sea as we finally got everyone to the shores ... about 3 miles from the boat ramp and ranger station.

We did have an outhouse to work with ... something we hadn't planned on, but were grateful for. No tables, but that didn't matter either since I have pretty much a complete kitchen setup and one of the other leaders brought 2 tables for our use.

 

Since we were water bound, everything had to be ferried to the location ... so I needed to go light and only took what was necessary. AND because there is always a threat of bears, the food had to be strung up in buckets at night ... so we made runs from the ranger station where we had a trailer of food (with a freezer) to hold our fare.

So a morning trip needed to take place to procure all the food for the day ... plus the reassembly of the food stores from the bear buckets and the extra that we stored on boats anchored in the bay. As it turned out ... we probably wouldn't have needed to do anything with the food when it came to animals ... with that many boys running around ... and that many men snoring at night, there were no signs of critters even in the area! With the exception of a squirrel who obviously hadn't had any human contact for a while and chattered at us from the nearby trees.

We had a grand time ... I stayed pretty much on shore and feed the mosquitoes quite liberally ... along with the others. I finally resorted to funneling smoke from a smoldering fire through my cooking canopies to reduce the incessant critters. Many of the boys looked as if they had contracted small pox ... but with cans of bug repellent, we did the best we could.

Once again, no one lost weight ... and all had a great time.

Warmest Regards,
Chef Tom Heintz

Girls Camp 2011

 

What a great opportunity I had this past couple weeks! I was invited to cook for a great group of girls ages 12-18 at a local State Park. The group is the LDS Port Angeles Stake (Mormons) and their camp was 4 days long. They created the menu, bought the food and delivered it ... all I had to do was provide the crew and do the cooking! 

I almost felt like it was cheating ... but when you're doing it on a volunteer basis, I just smiled and did my job.

My partners were Dan Ramberg and Debbie Gilliam and we cooked up a storm. Everything from Steaks on night one to deep fried turkeys on another. We even had funnel cakes and cotton candy from a professional event vendor! The amazing thing about it is the help I received from girls and staff alike.

Every year they do this and I've been a part of it for quite a while ... they have their spiritual aspects and personal bonding with each other. I think I realized that I had perhaps overdone it when I was FORCED to drink one too many rootbeer floats! Even I had to admit I'd had enough food!

We fed about 80 girls and 20 staff, 3 meals a day. One of the comments that I repeatedly heard at the end of the week was "I thought you were supposed to lose weight at camp ... not gain 5 pounds!". I take that as a compliment to the cooks!

Great weather also improved the attitudes with a rain free week ... finally the start of Summer in the Pacific Northwest! Temps were up in the 70's ... which is low compared to the rest of the country. We also enjoyed the beautiful Fort Townsend State Park just outside of Port Townsend, Washington.

Warmest regards,

Chef Tom Heintz