Lastminute

Good deals, good service

I've gotten some good deals and service from this site. I don't use it too often, but I plan on using it more in the future for those last minute travel adventures!

Zappos

Zappos ROCKS!

I think Zappos is Awesome. The shoe suggestions are pretty accurate, fair prices, speedy delivery, and they can tell me upfront if they don't have my size. This is pretty important for me because I wear an unusual size.

I was all prepared to give out five stars, but I had to ding them for that whole email/password theft thing. I had to change all of my passwords on my gmail and financial accounts because of this mess. Thank GOD I didn't put my credit card information in their system. Anyway Zappos needs to do better than this.

Paypal

Paypal froze my damned money

Okay, I take partial responsibility for this one. I was moving money from Euros to Krona and they froze my money due to "suspicious activities". My activities probably did look somewhat suspicious due to a sequence of events leading up to the transfer of funds.

I managed to get it unfrozen, but not without a whole lot of paper work and run around. Paypal wanted to charge 7% of the sum to transfer the fees PLUS a really awful currency exchange rate. I would have lost hundreds of Euros in fees if the transaction went though!

Bottom line, don't use PayPal for currency transfers. They charge outrageous fees and have lousy exchange rates.

Deutsche Bahn

Its good - compared to the US train system which is nada

I lived in Germany for over a year and took many trains during that time on the Deutsche Bahn service. I will say that the German train system is on time. I mean nearly always. Compared to the American - "It arrives when it gets there" mentality for public transportation, that's pretty good.

Its also relatively clean and safe. I've never been harassed (other than by those pesky ticket takers) and I feel safe traveling the German rail lines traveling alone.

The Germans need to quit kvetching - they don't know how good they have it. Yes, sometimes the train can be a little late and customer service can be slow and surly, but all in all its a pretty good train system.

Apple

Bad Apple karma

I don't know if I cheesed off Steve Jobs in a former life or something, but I have received the worst customer service from Apple.

I want to like Apple. I really do. I even considered getting a Mac Book to replace my aging PC. But I can't bring myself to overlook the crappy customer service I have received from Apple.

Case in point - I had a first generation IPod. I received an email that there was a defect in the battery and that Apple was replacing all first generation IPods. I found my IPod and contacted Apple. They said that they were sending me a box and I simply ship it back to Apple and I'd get a replacement within a few weeks.

During that time, I had a few additional questions. Contacting Apple via phone was a nightmare and I spent a long time trying to get the right person. When I finally did get someone, they said that I had been included in the replacement program in error and that I should toss out the replacement box and NOT send my IPod in.

WTF?!?

I had wasted time and energy on this mess and all they could say was that this was a mistake on Apple's part?!? They were apologetic, but they were somewhat snarky about the whole matter. They agreed to allow me to talk to a manager for further explanation. Then they put me on hold. At the five minute on hold mark, I said, "you know, life is short. I've wasted enough of my life on this mess" and hung up.

I tossed out the box. Despite the glowing customer service my friends have gotten from Apple, I don't really have much good to say about my experiences with them. I must admit that Apple has great design and everyone raves about the Mac, but Apple won't be getting my hard earned dollars. They had a chance to make a customer for life and they blew it.

Irma

Good Products, high prices

I really want to give Irma five stars, I really do. They are usually clean and well lit and the staff is usually very friendly. They have a great selection of affordable wines in Denmark and regularly run specials on their wine selections.

The only Irma draw back is that they are a little more expensive than other Grocery stores in Denmark. But if you don't mind putting out a little more, Irma is worth the visit.

Henrik Jeppsson found this review useful

Dongenergy

Had billing problems with Dong

I rented an apartment for six months in Copenhagen. During that time I was responsible for paying the energy bill for the apartment.

Dong sends a bill every three months. I paid two energy bills and an 'overage' charge of 318 DKK. I thought that the account was paid in full and I was done.

A week later, I received yet another bill from Dong. They were trying to charge me for an additional three months of service after I moved out!

I called an got no resolution from telephone customer service (I admit - I don't speak Danish well, they could not resolve this in English) so I paid a visit to the Dong headquarters in Gentoff Denmark (wayyyyyy outside of Copenhagen). They insisted that I owed the sum even though their records showed that this new bill was for a period of time I did not reside in the apartment!

There has been no resolution with Dong and they refuse to admit that the bill was an error. I am not at all happy with this.

Ebags

Its the ONLY place I'll buy my luggage

Ebags is awesome - my stuff arrives on time and as promised. They also have some kick-butt coupons that come out every now and again. Thank you e-bags for raising the bar for the online bag industry!

Dell

A class act

Dell never fails to satisfy. My last three computers have all been Dells and they always arrive on time and in excellent shape. I get a lot of wear out of my Dells and I keep them many years. As long as I continue to buy PCs, I'll buy Dell.

Vodafone

Vodafone Sucks

Okay, when I moved to Germany I got a two year contract with Vodafone. They told me that if I left Germany permanently, I could cancel out the contract with no fees and no problem.

A year later, I had to relocate to Denmark. I showed all of the paperwork that I was leaving Germany and Vodafone refused to allow me to cancel the contract! Their excuse was that I could still use the phone in Denmark (at 1.99 Euro a minute) so they couldn't cancel the contract. Then they came back and asked for 150 Euro to cancel the contract permanently!

What a terrible thing for Vodafone to do to expats!

Delta

Meh..

Along with all of the other American flight carriers, Delta has gone to hell in a hand-basket in the past decade. I purchased an International ticket on Delta in April leaving in December.

They changed my flight details at least four times between April and December. Now I was flying through a different city and arriving at a different time. I said, "hey, if Delta can change my ticket without cost, so can I." I called Delta and had them change the details of my ticket - without the usual $250 charge.

Also, when I bought my ticket, they swore up and down there would be no international transaction fee. Guess what - I was hit with a $35 international transaction/currency exchange fee! I called Delta and received a $50 credit towards my next flight with them.