Thumbnail of user stephaniew1031

Stephanie W.

4
Level 4 Contributor
Falls Church, VA

Contributor Level

Total Points
3,081

About Me

I'm a Christian, a retired Federal employee, I love movies, animals and love to cook.

Interests

Cooking, History, Theology, Recycling, and Animals

27 Reviews by Stephanie

  • Best Western

11/21/23

I've been traveling around California for the past four months staying at various Airbnb's, hotels and motels. By far the best place I've stayed at is Best Western Hotel, in this case the San Diego/Miramar location. The breakfast was more than the usual continental with lots of variety. I had an issue with my bank account experiencing fraud and had to use my sister's credit card number to make reservations online. So, when it came time to check in, they waived the required security deposit which would have needed an actual card. I kept adding days to my stay and each time they were very flexible and waived the security deposit. The property, unlike similar hotels like Days Inn, does have an elevator, instead of being made to climb stairs with luggage. Also, unlike a lot of these hotels every amenity was working, like the ice machine and washer/dryers and I also enjoyed the very hot water, versus tepid temps in the shower. I would only have one suggestion for improvement. Instead of cable T.V., Roku or similar Smart T.V.s are better since you can use the USB ports and apps like Netflix, YouTube, Prime Video, etc.

  • Proof

9/23/23

This website says you can find a notary public for free. This is false advertising. After you download your document they give you a pricing schedule that "starts at $25." When I challenged them on this they said it wasn't false advertising because they mention that you can find this service for free "at your local bank." As far as I'm concerned this is akin to the deceptive practice of "click bait." Don't fall for it and don't waste your time.

  • Therokuchannel.roku

9/21/23
• Updated review

Even though this channel is free, I don't think it's right that they employ this irritating gimmick to please their advertisers. Whether you're watching your favorite T.V. Show or a movie it will break for ads for approximately 2 minutes maybe twice or three times during the airing. That's understandable being a free service. But then, when showing the last commercial the screen freezes with that advertiser's commercial image, which lasts indefinitely. The only way to get back to the show or movie you were watching is to click out and click back in. When you do that, you get approximately 2 more minutes of commercials. Slick! Sometimes it only happens once, but there have been times that the cycle goes on for several more times before it gets back to show. One time I was watching a half-hour comedy and it cycled a total of five times (20 minutes)! I was NOT amused. If you can find the show or movie on any other channel I recommend doing that instead of watching it on The Roku Channel.

The Roku Channel
10/17/21
• Previous review

This is ALMOST one of my most favorite streaming services. Has great movies, retro T. V. shows, etc. Has the least obnoxious commericials of any of the free streaming services. However, it does NOT have close captioning! I'm not deaf, but hard of hearing and I need close captioning so I can tell what the characters are saying when they speak sotto voce. All the other services have CC. If I scroll down I see CC, but when I click it it always says "CC Off." I thought maybe it was like a toggle switch, but no matter how many times I click it it never gives me close captioning.

  • Airbnb

8/24/23

Being a superhost of one listing for 15 months with over 117 reviews, I assumed when it came time to be an Airbnb guest my experiences would be as positive as most of my guests experiences were with me. After 7 reservations, 4 were particularly good, but Bas's place in Vista, California was the worst! In his welcome message he states ".would appreciate any feedback because" I was a fellow host. So, I did and told him: 1) my first morning there, I woke up to a pithy message reminding me of the house rule about quiet time. This is because I went in the shared kitchen to get my morning iced coffee at 5:45 a.m. I assumed this was ok as he states, "Since we all share the kitchen, guests are welcome to prepare meals (between 6am-10pm) …." It didn't say we couldn't enter the kitchen at all. Later he complained, "I woke up at 5:52 am to the kitchen cabinets being slammed shut the freezer sliding and slam closed. I truly dislike having to go over incidents that makes me uncomfortable." After I explained that he was awakened a mere 8 minutes before the end of quiet time because I found a sink full of someone else's dirty dishes which I washed, dried and put away (hence the noise), to avoid the pest problem he has; there was no apology or appreciation forthcoming. 2) I wanted to take a shower but after searching the usual places, I couldn't find any towels. His other guest helped me find one small towel in the closet. Bas said he always provides two towels, but I never received another towel. 3) He also whined about accepting my booking the same day as my request. I reminded him that as Airbnb hosts we are in the service industry and our guests needs supersede our own, even if we're "uncomfortable." It comes with the job. 4) When I notified him the ceiling fan was making a loud clicking noise, he notified me of a tower fan in the next room and to retrieve it myself. 5) He then lectured me insinuating that I was inconsiderate of him and other guests. "I'm not asking for much or being unreasonable as I host 3 listings on Airbnb and been doing this for 2 years now and as a super host with over 60 reviews. And it is not easy to keep everyone comfortable unless we all observe the rules and be mindful of one another. I hope you can appreciate that Stephanie…" When I suggested he do the math: 2 years, times 3 listings and only 60 reviews meant to me that lots of guests weren't leaving any reviews, andreviews and told him I hadn't planned on doingto do so either, he seemed insulted. So, I added two things I thought were great about his listing. 6) I told Bas that I was uncomfortable with the high temperature of the house. He suggested I open the windows, which I did. For the whole week I played my radio at the same volume level. Four days into my stay, I was awakened around 3 a.m. with loud banging on my door by the Sherriff saying that the radio was too loud. Bas never mentioned that this was a problem previously. The following are additional issues I didn't discuss that day with him and also address a Request for Reimbursement I received via Airbnb from Bas. 1) The recurring guest/friend of his I mentioned previously helped me in with my bags, but I should have been suspicious of his motives. The rest of my week there, I spent trying to nicely rebuff his unwanted attentions. I'm sure he would just say he was being friendly, but twice should have been sufficient for anyone. This guy, however, was being deliberately obtuse, and I was extremely uncomfortable the whole week as a result and felt compelled to keep my door locked. I didn't feel compelled to do this, ever, at my own listing. Not wanting to create any drama I remained silent. 2) Bas waited until my last night there to notify me that I hadn't been following house rules like not using the proper color coded refrigerator shelf for my food. I had about $80 worth of food on the top shelf and instead of letting me know the previous nights that this was a problem or placing the food on the blue shelf, he threw all of it out even though that same shelf was now empty (I have a photo of this).
When I said the faded color green looked blue to me, he smiled an said I should stop raising my voice. It was then that I realized this was an infantile, passive-aggressive retaliation for my pointing out all the problems. As I previously stated, at first I hadn't planned to leave a review and suspected that others had done the same. But now that he's taken the further action to maliciously request reimbursement of $300 for leaving the room unclean and for damages, future guests need to know about him. I actually left it cleaner than I found it, and nothing was broken before I left. The table tops were disgustingly dirty, and the carpet remnant was smelly. There was nothing I could do about the latter, but I wiped clean the table tops. He offers the washer/dryer as an amenity and being a "beach bumb" I've used numerous dryers for my damp towels with no problems, but he is saying I caused damage to his dryer. I don't even know what the other items are he's talking about, the pictures don't show this clearly, but everything in the room is pretty cheap, so even if things were broken the cost probably wouldn't exceed $5. I also find it outlandish that he nitpicks about not emptying the trash. I always do this for my own guests, again part of the job. He stated that, "As per your suggestion I will not write you a review as long as you don't either." This clearly shows that he is afraid I would write a review of my horrible stay at his Airbnb as I'm doing now and was being proactively threatening to prevent my doing so. I did my best to get along and follow the many house rules. It's my opinion that these trumped up imagined offenses are to protect himself because he knows I have these things against him.

Service
Value
Quality
  • Frevee

7/14/23
• Updated review

I continue to enjoy Freevee's streaming service and a case in point is the 2018 two part series, simply called "The Temptations." This honky started listening to Motown music at the age of 13 shortly on the heels of the civil rights movement. My favorite besides Marvin Gaye and Barry White, was the Temptations. Don't tell anyone, but many an afternoon between 1971 and 1973, I spent alone in my room playing their albums and dancing to the sweet rhythms and lyrics of songs like "Get Ready, My Girl, and I Can't Get Next To You. My special favorite was Papa Was a Rollin Stone, but I didn't understand the significance of "It was the 3rd of September…" which caused some problem within the group that wasn't explained. My fickle teenaged devotion switched to the Beach Boys and then the Bee Gees, not realizing the Temptations went on until this year (2023). I was only into their music and didn't know anything about their lives until I watched this two part series. I also didn't realize that their career took off after they prayed together and continued this practice intermittently. Back then we weren't as racially divided as we are these days when critical race theory reared it's ugly head. The Temptations and the Bee Gees music bridged the racial gap at least in my day. But the tumultuous lives they lived was heartbreaking as well as inspiring, especially how they overcame their disagreements and came together for a final reunion. I cried at the end when the genuine Smokey Robinson sang the song, "Really Gonna Miss You" at Melvin "Blue" Franklins' funeral.

Freevee Streaming Service
5/26/22
• Previous review

I discovered this free streaming service by accident. I have a TCL Roku Smart T. V. and all I have to do is search for what I want, and it shows results from any streaming service showing that choice. When I was searching for one program it came up on Freevee (which I had never heard of). I found other programs that I had been wanting to watch but couldn't find for free. Now, I had another great free streaming service in my collection! I later found out Freevee belongs to Amazon. After continuous scrolling to see what else Freevee offered, I found a distressing documentary called, "Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party" by Dinesh D'Souza and Bruce Schooley. Intrigued by the title I thought, "Well, I'll watch just a little bit, but since this is an Amazon streaming service, it most likely will be left leaning." Was I in for a shock! Granted this was released in 2016, but it's astonishing how relevant it is to what's happening in America today (at this writing May of 2022). There was an especially fascinating interview with Carol M. Swain, a retired African American professor of political science and law at Vanderbilt University. In this interview she said that she had been a lifelong Democrat until she started digging into the history of the Democratic party. There are many other revealing interviews and facts, but too many to go into here. Suffice to say that everything portrayed in the documentary can be corroborated by researching historical documents, publications, and recorded interviews. Alex Shephard of The New Republic wrote, "Because he is a very dumb man, D'Souza doesn't even make a credible argument that Bill and Hillary are corrupt, even though in many ways it's low-hanging fruit. Instead, like every fringe weirdo who comes after the Clintons, he overreaches and invents an absurd conspiracy." D'Souza was a former policy analyst in the Reagan White House and served as a John M. Olin Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a Robert and Karen Rishwain Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. For a "very dumb man and fringe weirdo" D'Souza strikes me as quite a qualified individual. I'm reminded of two quotes, 1) "The truth is like a lion; you don't have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself." (Augustine of Hippo) and 2) "Most people don't really want the truth. They just want constant reassurance that what they believe in is the truth." (Unknown). On its opening weekend, the film's box office received $3.7 million and was in the top ten that weekend. It became the highest grossing documentary of 2016 and the 20th-highest domestically of all-time, grossing $13.1 million at the box office. If this is the sort of unbiased presentation Freevee has to offer, I look forward to using this service a lot! I also look forward to viewing Dinesh D'Souza's "2000 Mules," but, that is, when it's free! I would also add, though, that Freevee has an above average number of commericals, more than the other free streaming services I use.

  • Chillwell.us

6/20/23

I should have known it was too good to be true. A small portable air conditioner no taller than my cell phone advertising that it "Rapidly cools your space instantly!" and "slashs my electric bills" with "big savings." This is blatant false advertising! ChillWell also claims the unit will last 3.5 hours once charged. I thought if it won't cool the room, maybe it would be good to take to the beach. I charged the unit all night and it only lasted one hour! The website is also a joke. Every time you click for instance, "Track my Package", or "Return" you instantly get an error message. So, I sent an email message saying I wanted a full refund of $104.94 (which is their discounted price), and they notified me that "We have a 90-day return policy minus any shipping, processing, handling, and fees. Your 90 days starts from the day your product was delivered. We do not provide shipping labels, return shipping is on the customer. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause." Which means I get a refund of $80.64 for the privilege of finding out this product is a piece of trash! UPDATE: The next day (after I submitted this review, even though I have not returned the portable air conditioner, my bank showed that I did get a refund of $95.39.

  • AMC Theaters

5/30/23

Usually I like to watch movies in the comfort of my own home. But sometimes there's a new release that I can't wait to see until it's available on the streaming services, so I go to my nearby AMC Movie Theater. I usually regret it because every time I go, the theaters are so stuffy I can hardly stand it!. The hallways and the lobby have nice flowing air, but not the theaters. This is sort of like false advertising IMO. I told guest services that I would have come to see the movie "Nefarious" AT LEAST two more times, but it was so uncomfortable that I would wait until it hits the streaming services. She just shrugged and turned her back on me. Such arrogance! But this movie, "Nefarious" was worth the discomfort! Typically, the professional critics are out of touch with what most audiences enjoy, and this movie is no exception. After watching an interview on YouTube with Eric Metaxas and Steve Deace, author, and executive producer of the "Nefarious" film, I immediately went out to see it. In one word, WOW! Not only is it theologically and Biblically sound, but it's also just a darn good "nail biting" movie. And it doesn't have even one F-bomb. It perfectly and truthfully explains the origins of evil. In the interview, Steve Deace explained the horrific spiritual warfare he and the other members of the production crew went through when making and promoting the film. This emboldened them even more and the movie is incredible and a must see! IMO, you should see this movie just to show the dark side that their tactics don't work. I was slightly concerned that I might experience some spiritual warfare just for watching it, so I said a little prayer before going and nothing at all materialized.

Quality
  • Petco

5/10/23

Before I moved to where I'm living now, I always got my pet supplies at PetSmart. Anytime I had issues they were extremely helpful and responsive and gave me refunds on things whether I had a receipt or not. I have two cats and for about two years had three aquariums full of healthy tropical fish, live plants and ornaments. Then when I moved, because there wasn't a PetSmart nearby I was forced to go to Petco. I had heard many derogatory things about them but hoped for the best. No issues with any of the cat items I bought. However, I purchased one 5-gallon aquarium with several fish, shrimp, snails, live plants, and ornaments. Several times the fish died, and I had to return them for others. The plants also kept dying, despite the LED lights I was assured would keep them healthy. Four months after I bought the aquarium, it started leaking and warped the shelf it was sitting on. I made some videos to show the management and was told by the "fish expert" to bring back the whole aquarium water, fish, and all and maybe the management would give another of equal value. When I told the management that this was unacceptable, they told me that since the tank was four months old they couldn't give me a refund or replacement since it was past the 30-day guarantee. When I got upset they tried to shush me saying I needed to be more respectful of them. Petco's "expert" is an amateur and management is only interested in making a quick buck instead of giving good customer service. This review is my way of saying "Respect this Petco! Thanks for wasting hundreds of my hard-earned dollars and ruining my furniture!"

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality
  • Wayfair

4/29/23
• Updated review

Last year I gave a poor review of Wayfair and despite that, I took a chance and bought three items online. Out of the three, only one of them I was able to use. One item that didn't work properly, I was given the option of sending it back for a full refund or for a lesser refund if I didn't return it. I took the latter option. The most expensive item (over $200) was missing 7 different types of hardware, so I was unable to put the furniture together. At first, I was told I would have to contact the manufacuturer and that they would send me their email address which Wayfair DID NOT do! Then they sent an email survey asking me to review these products, and I gave them a terrible review. Long story short, after more than a month, they finally sent me a replacement, but it wasn't worth all the hassle, so next time I'm going to pay attention to my own reviews!

Wayfair Will Bug You Continually Just to Make Money!
2/1/22
• Previous review

I have an Airbnb business that I started 2-1/2 months ago and I saw that Wayfair had business prices on things I needed for my business and also for my own household. I discovered that not only most items were poor quality, but the photos were misleading. For instance, I ordered red towels and bath mats and the photo on the website showed both colors matched. However, as you can see from the photo I took, they certainly DON'T match. This isn't the only time this has happened. After my last unsatisfactory order arrived, I decided to stop shopping with them. I went to their website, turned off all my notifications and still got emails. I sent two messages to "unsubscribe" and I still got emails. I CALLED, told them to STOP sending me emails and I'm STILL getting emails! They are a nuisance, have poor quality items and I advise you NOT to shop online with Wayfair.

Products used:
I still used the product, but I'm extremely unsatisfied.

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality
  • FedEx

4/5/23

With a few exceptions, I've only used Fed-Ex for returns of online purchases. Recently, after hours of frustration trying to get a refund by returning two items that I purchased from Walmart online (the second refund I never received), I discovered that Fed-Ex is no longer guaranteeing ANY deliveries. Not only that, when you use their tracking numbers, all you get day after day, is the following message, "Unfortunately we are unable to retrieve your tracking results at this time. Please try again later." Because I had to send a package to a friend, I checked with a UPS store, and they only guarantee overnight deliveries. Then I checked with USPS, they seemed the best way to go because I got all the information I needed with their tracking number, and I could see for myself on their website that my package arrived at its destination. This time, at least, the Federal Government came through for me.

  • Walmart

4/5/23
• Updated review

After hours of frustration trying to get a refund by returning two items that I purchased recently from Walmart online, I discovered that Fed-Ex is no longer guaranteeing deliveries. Walmart did NOT notify their customers of this new policy. Because Walmart does not show who the shipper is in their product and shipping details, until after the item is purchased, I am no longer going to purchase anything from Walmart online. Just a note: USPS is the best way to go because I checked with UPS, and they only guarantee overnight deliveries.

Walmart Versus Target Online Ordering
5/2/22
• Previous review

Walmart is by far the best of the two: Their products are of better quality and at a lower price for the same product. They also have more products to choose from. Both websites have the problem of when you search for a specific item (e.g., extra crunchy peanut butter) you get other items as well (e.g. Smooth peanut butter, almond butter, etc.) My only issue with Walmart online ordering is the choice between "delivery" and "pick-up" options. A lot of times when I click "delivery" I also get "pick-up" options to choose from in that data set. But it's only after I've completed my order that I discover it's for "pick up only." I don't have a car so that's problematic for me (hence I order online). Target's website is better at this. But this leads me to another positive thing about ordering with Walmart. If I cancel an order, even though they placed a hold on my account for that amount, that amount is returned to my account that day or the day after. I even tried to cancel part of an order from a third party (which they normally aren't able to cancel) but I called Walmart and they contacted the seller and got my money refunded. This is unlike Target, which places a hold on your account and then, even if they don't have the products you ordered or you cancel items, this hold is on your account for at least 5 business days, sometimes even as long as ten. OF SPECIAL NOTE: The Walmart Foundation has pledged $10M to support local food banks, local school and senior meal programs, and organizations that provide access to food for underserved populations.

  • Libreoffice.org

12/8/22
• Updated review

I have now used all the progams in the suite and with the exception of Base (the alternative to Access) they are working really well and I have no complaints. However, Base stinks! Even with all my experience with Access and looking at all the tutorials, I have completely given up!

Excellent Alternative to Microsoft!
7/31/22
• Previous review

Those of you who follow my posts know how much I LOVE free things and this product is one of the most amazing free products I've ever seen! I'm so excited to report a free and extraordinary alternative to Microsoft I can't hardly stand it. The name of the product is LibreOffice. I needed to find an alternative to Excel and found one alternative that was Chinese (which shall remain nameless) so I didn't go that route and found LibreOffice. Wikipedia describes it thus: "LibreOffice is a free and open-source office productivity software suite, a project of The Document Foundation. It was forked in 2010 from OpenOffice.org, an open-sourced version of the earlier StarOffice." I tried to find out who owned The Document Foundation, but came up with nothing so far. It has Writer Document (MS Word), Calc Spreadsheet (MS Excel), Impress Presentation (MS PowerPoint), Draw Drawing (MS?), Math Formula (MS?), Base Database (MS Access). So far, I've just used Calc Spreadsheet extensively and have played around with the others. I'm especially looking forward to playing around with Base Database, since I was an MS Access database developer for nearly 14 years. Every feature is there as far as I can tell and some of them are even better. For instance, I've always used the thesaurus feature in MS Word, but it doesn't replace the word with the new choice, but LibreOffice does. However, the MS thesaurus is more comprehensive than LibreOffice. But, I just can't say enough good things about this program. There's only one negative I've found so far and that's their templates. They aren't as good as Microsoft, but I just transferred them from MS to LibreOffice (Shhh!). Cutting and pasting from one to the other is also done with ease. So, I'd like say to Mr. Bill Gates p-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-t!

Products used:
LibreOfice

  • VIZIO

10/4/22

I already have a Samsung and TLC Roku Smart TV, but I wanted to buy a 50 inch, so I thought I would try Vizio this time. Was I ever sorry I switched brands! Vizio is horrible! It took me forever to set it up; I tried 3 times to get it to connect to my wifi. The set up took three times also. The remote is not only slow to respond but doesn't have a fast forward or rewind button. Then, I found out it didn't have some of the apps I wanted. I tried to sign in to one of my paid apps and it didn't recognize me. When I wanted to watch a movie on one of my USB's and wanted to turn it off in the middle, it wasn't "smart" enough to resume where I left off. The sound is pretty poor also, even the surround sound feature. It does have a nice picture, though, but I definitely decided to return it for a refund and get one of the 50 inch brands I already have.

  • YouTube

9/18/22
• Updated review

In my last update I stated, "I may alter my review again, if the evidence presents itself, at a later date." Said evidence has presented itself. I've seen first hand that YouTube is taking down videos of a Christian nature that don't support the globalist agenda. First I see it and then when I want to watch it again, it's gone! Also, lots of these ministries in their videos say right up front how they have to be careful how they say things in order not to be taken down by YouTube. They have to do this in order not to activate the algorithms (yes, algorithms can be biased depending on who the programmer is) that would trigger a shutdown of their video. Some ministries will say on YouTube that since the content most likely would be taken down they redirect us to their website or to Rumble to view it. One of them had to develop their own app (Hope For Our Times) and now have videos they say are "Too Hot for YouTube." Other ministries are now starting to develop their own apps also after seeing this unfortunate trend. Two such ministries I can think of are Pastors Jack Hibbs and Andy Woods. Lots of ministries also get around the algorithm issue by using body language or mouthing a certain word, or saying it cloaked in such a way that YouTube might not pick-up on it. Another ministry just held up a sign for us to see so the algorithms couldn't be activated. One example is when they are speaking of "the jab" they don't say it, they just mimic injecting their shoulder. The time frame issue is still problematic and you can't trust when you see it says how old it is. It could be more recent than is portrayed or much, much older. I wish those producing these videos would have some sort of time stamp or say in the video when it was being filmed. Even despite these issues, YouTube is much easier to navigate than Rumble, so I'll still be a user of both platforms as well as others that foster free speech.

Products used:
Rumble

Updated Review of YouTube
4/21/22
• Previous review

After a lot a careful consideration, personal experience, and some research, I've decided that YouTube is really pretty okay to watch. A lot of the problems with the inaccurate videos are hackers who use YouTube to make money. I know I've gone back and forth on this, and I may be wrong, but YouTube doesn't seem to be suppressing any content that I can determine. They have lots of right-wing news that, if they truly were left leaning, I would think they would suppress this. However, I don't see any evidence of this. In addition to political offerings, I've enjoyed cooking videos, animal videos, Christian videos, etc. As regards to the latter, if you're looking to see videos on a certain ministry, I've found that if you see a circle labeled with the name of the ministry, this is safe to listen to. There is still the problem of the timeframe listed at the bottom of YouTube Videos, for example I just saw one that said "15 hours ago" and the person in the video said the date he was filming and it was 5 months ago. All this being said, I may alter my review again, if the evidence presents itself, at a later date.

I Take It Back! YouTube is Just as Bad as Before!
1/9/22
• Previous review

Here is yet ANOTHER example of deceptive advertising from YouTube just to get an audience. See this photo taken right from my television screen showing the Duchess of Cambridge battered and bruised. The caption reads, "Kate was hospitalized after spending New Year's Eve 'horror.' When you watch the video, there is no such report, because it's patently FALSE. YouTube should be ashamed!

Value
Quality
They SEEM to Have Improved A Bit!
10/17/21
• Previous review

I've noticed that this computerized voice is no longer being used by YouTube. Also their content doesn't SEEM to exclude right wing content. However, I am noticing that some of their titles underneath the videos are very misleading. E.g. One video underneath said something about a Christian leader was going against former President Donald Trump, however, this Christian leader most certainly DOES support the former president. Another misleading title said, "Exclusive: This actress quit the show" when acutally it was nothing of the sort. She didn't quit the show! They also show under some of the movies that it's a "full movie" when actually they are just clips of the movie. Another problem is the time frame located at the right side of the title. It is OFTEN incorrect. For instance one video said it was 10 years ago and I happen to know it was at least 30 years ago. Another one said it was 5 days ago and it was 2 months ago. YouTube does have an excellent offering of free movies, however the captioning is lousy. For instance, I was watching Shadowlands with Anthony Hopkins and in the space of about 15 minutes I saw the following, "sauce = source, fuss = pass, attic = etiquette, noisy = naughty." Also, here in Virginia we're having an off term election for Governor and YouTube only supports the democratic (left) candidate. YouTube does surveys about products and politics and when it asks me whom I'm voting for I click my Republican candidate with glee!

Three Issues With YouTube
7/18/21
• Previous review

I have three nuisances with YouTube: 1) For some reason they're using an annoying computerized voice at least on the Outlander offerings (why don't they give a "hooman" a job and let them narrarate the video?) 2) When playing a YouTube video, the video doesn't match what the computerized voice is saying, and 3) I understand YouTube is suppressing content that doesn't agree with it's leftist agenda.

Value
Quality
  • Pest-avert.yolasite

9/11/22

I live in an old building and no matter how spick and span my kitchen is, mice and roaches come in through the walls from other apartments. Since I have cats I've tried to use methods that don't use insecticides, but they haven't worked successfully. So I saw an advertisement for Ultrasonic Pest Avert (there are others with different names on the market) which stated it did not harm pets and I plugged it in. Afer weeks of use, not only do I still have mice and roaches but found out these devices can harm humans as well as pets. One website stated, "The length of exposure to ultrasonic sound waves will determine how damaging it will be. Some persons may experience migraines, nausea, disorientation, and fatigue. This could end up worsening as the sound and vibrations persist." When I purchased it, it said there was a 90-day money back guarantee, but I only got a partial refund. So far, my cats have caught and killed 13 mice, but not the roaches. Do yourself a favor, if you have mice invest in a cat or cats and you'll have better luck getting rid of mice. As for the roaches, I'm still looking for a solution.

  • Mint Mobile

7/12/22

I started using Mint Mobile prepaid service three months ago, because it cost $45 for three months. When it came time to renew it went up $15 to $60 for three months. I called and asked if they had a senior plan and they said yes for $25 per month, but I would have to pay for the whole year. I told them I would go elsewhere. I bought a Boost Mobile starter kit on sale for $6.99. I then called the Boost Mobile customer service no. And their senior plan was $25 per month also, but I only had to pay month to month. I gave them my Mint Mobile account no. And PIN (which I had previously verified with Mint on the phone), in order to port my existing phone number to Boost Mobile. I hung up with Boost Mobile and was told after I installed the SIM card from my kit that it would take 15 minutes to 2-1/2 hours to activate. After 6 hours it still didn't activate. I went to a Boost Mobile agent and told them my story. She looked it up in her computer and it said my Mint Mobile account no. Was inaccurate. She called Mint, handed me the phone and Mint tried numerous times to tempt me to keep my service with them, saying they would match what Boost was offering me. I told them they blew it and that I was switching. She said in order for her to release my account no. She would have to send me a code so I could verify it was me. I told her my phone was not working because it wasn't activated yet. She said I had to give her 10 different phone numbers I had previously used to prove it was me. I told her all I should need to give her was my PIN no. And she refused.
I went home to retrieve the Mint Mobile account no. Which I had in my password program. I wrote it down and went to the Mint Mobile website to double check the number and every piece of information on me was there EXCEPT for the account no! I returned to Boost Mobile and by that time it was too late to port my number (which I've had for years) and I had to get a new number. Do yourself a favor and avoid using Mint Mobile!

Products used:
Boost Mobile

  • Noraclark

7/1/22

I started to order about $250 worth of clothes from Nora Clark because the photos of the clothes looked so gorgeous and a lot of the Tee-shirts had Christian slogans and looked to be good quality. However, they were advertising discounts (that didn't seem to mesh with the discounts at checkout) and there was no size chart, so I decided to try to find a customer service phone number to call. I was so glad I did. Because what came up were customer reviews of this company from Trustpilot that said they were total scammers and folks were not only NOT getting what they ordered but what they did receive was horrible quality and wrong sizes. They said the company was not from the U.S. as advertised but from China (which I refuse to buy from). They said they tried to get their money back and were unable to. There was one good review, but I suspect it came from Nora Clark. So, DO NOT BUY from this company!

Products used:
None

AVG
  • AVG

7/1/22
• Updated review

I was mistaken before. AVG Technologies does have free Anti-Virus, which scans for brower threats, viruses and malware. However, when it finds "advanced issues," that's when they want you to purchase their premium package which will resolve the "advanced issues."

AVG Technologies Products are NOT Free (Despite their Advertisement to the Contrary)
6/22/22
• Previous review

AVG Technologies hooked me by saying their products were free. But then when I started the download they said I had a "free 30-day trial." I figured, what the heck, let's try them out and see if they are worth the price. At first I was very impressed with AVG Technologies, it had a great product (similar to McAfee) for less money, but then it started acting up and I got a lot of nuisance pop-ups which got on my nerves. One reason I used their 30-day trials was because they promised to notify me by email 7 days before the trial period ended. I tried three products and kept one (which I later canceled for reasons mentioned above), canceled the second and the third (VPN) I planned on canceling because my email service started providing it for free. However, I never received the 7-day notice and they charged me $59.99 without warning. When I complained they said it would take 7 to 10 business days to refund my money (when other organizations provide refunds sometimes within 2 days).

  • Dell

4/7/22

I have very much enjoyed my Dell XPS 13-7390 laptop, however, Dell Technologies does not support their products very well, even when I did have a warranty. For instance, a technician had to come to my place to replace the mother board even though I had a warranty. This cost me an arm and a leg. Now, my warranty has expired, but I called just to get technical advice regarding how to fix my USB receiver, and they refused to assist me unless I paid $99 for a one-time fix. Dell's products seem to be okay, but their support stinks!

  • Tubi TV

2/14/22
• Updated review

Tubi is even better than before, especially in the movie department. I've seen movies like West Side Story, From Here to Eternity, Remains of the Day (with Anthony Hopkins) Yentl, Sense and Sensibility (with Hugh Grant), A River Runs Through It (with Brad Pitt), One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, Marty, Dances with Wolves and 12 Angry Men just to name some. And it's all free! NOTE: These movies cycyle in for a while and then leave, so you should check the "Leaving Soon" category.

Just Discovered Tubi!
8/1/21
• Previous review

I was watching a movie about Bewitched starring Nicole Kidman and decided I wanted to watch the old T. V. series just for fun, so I plugged into Google "Where to Stream Bewitched" and it came up that I could watch it on Tubi. I already had the app on my Smart T. V. so I went to look for it. I couldn't believe my eyes, all the great movies it had! Movies I couldn't find for free on other streaming services. Of course, you have to endure the commercials, but these commericals, so far, haven't been as bothersome as the ones on Paramount Plus. And, the commercials cease when the plot gets serious. Anyway, the first movie that I saw was "Troy," which is one of my favorites. Also, I had been trying to find Chariots of Fire for free and they have that too!. They also have "nostalgic T. V." and I just couldn't believe all the wonderful old series I found. I could go on and on, but I encourge you to check it out.

Value
Quality

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