Vonage - The Nightmare

We signed up for Vonage about a year ago and have regretted it ever since! We originally signed up for it specifically for the fax service and the long distance (both of which didn't work very well at all). We tried to cancel the service one month into the service but we would have to pay a early termination fee of $150 so it was actually cheaper just to keep it for a while. We decided to keep it after that because occasionally the phone worked and it saved my wife from going over her minutes on her cell phone. Still the service was poor at best.

Well we finally decided to get rid of it once and for all last month! So my wife called the number to cancel it and was connected to several people who barely spoke English in India (apparently Vonage outsources the customer service outside of the U.S. which is another reason to not use them), upon telling these people that she wanted to cancel the service she was put on hold for 35 to 45 minutes. Now keep in mind this scenario happened several times! Obviously Vonage does this for a reason. The harder that they make it for you to cancel the service then the longer you have the service and the more money Vonage makes! Well after several attempts and much wasted time she was finally able to cancel the service or at least she thought so!

Now this whole experience happened about a month ago. Well today she received an email from Vonage saying that there was an error with our account. So again she called Vonage to tell them that we shouldn't even have an account because it was cancelled last month and again she was connected to various people in India, put on hold for 45 minutes and passed around. Upon asking why the service wasn't cancelled she was told that we had a late payment fee that was never paid. She explained to them that that was impossible being that the account was set up on automatic withdrawal from our checking account. Again she was put on hold!

She was getting pretty frustrated after being on hold for about 45 minutes with someone who barely spoke English in India. Seeing her frustration I decided to take bold action and suggest to her that she hang up the line and call back but this time get connected with the sales department at Vonage. Of course she got right through to a Sales Associate! She lit into them and demanded that the service be cancelled (hey, you don't mess with a woman who is 7 months pregnant). A couple of phone transfers later and they told her that the service was cancelled!!

What a complete nightmare! The funny thing is that my next door neighbor had the same problem trying to cancel her Vonage service. Never, ever get Vonage!!! There has to be better VOIPs out there!! Vonage flat out stinks!

I'd bet that our's and our neighbor's experiences are not isolated! I'll bet that this happens to thousands of people with Vonage. Someone needs to look into their practices as far as people trying to cancel the service. I'll bet that Vonage make millions of dollars by making it as difficult as possible to cancel the service!! It's a scam!! There needs to be some law or protection for the consumer!!

Carrabba's Italian Grill in Orem - Chicken Marsala

Tonight we went out to eat again at Carrabba's in Orem. I was a little bit disappointed with their Chicken Marsala tonight. I've ordered it before and it's been great, but tonight I wasn't too happy with it. The Chicken itself was good but the problem was that they didn't put enough mushrooms and sauce on it! I guess I should have asked for more sauce but I wasn't in the mood to wait any longer. Carrabba's also needs to spice up their presentation on the Chicken Marsala dish.

I also ordered Carrabba's Garlic Mashed Potatoes with the chicken and they were good. I also got Carrabba's Caesar Salad with it....it was good!

My wife got Carrabba's Mezzaluna which is a ravioli with chicken, ricotta cheese and spinach in it and she loved it.

I'll still frequent Carrabba's but I'll make sure that I either order something different or ask for lots of mushrooms and sauce on the Chicken Marsala!

Cobblestone Pizzeria and Cafe's California Pizza Rocks!!

I want to give a quick "shout out" to Cobblestone Pizzeria and Cafe in American Fork!! If you want a unique Pizza then you need to try Cobblestone Pizzeria and Cafe's California Pizza. Actually the name might be the "California Club Pizza", but whatever it's called you need to get on over to Cobblestone Pizzeria and Cafe and eat one!!!

Cobblestone Pizzeria and Cafe's California Pizza has fresh tomatoes, avocados, spinach and onions on it! But what makes it unique is what lies beneath the layer of cheese! Beneath the cheese lies a special sauce with ground bacon that blends all of the flavors of the Pizza together beautifully!!


Cobblestone Pizzeria and Cafe is located in American Fork, Utah at 632 West Main Street just south of the Old Navy and Famous Footwear. Their phone # is (801) 756-2800 just in case you want to order "The California" take out!!

Mimi's Cafe in Orem

This morning my wife and I went to Mimi's Cafe in Orem for breakfast! She went there a few months back with her friends and loved their French Toast!

I'd been to Mimi's Cafe before....actually several times but never for breakfast. I've always been fairly impressed with Mimi's Cafe because the food is good, the price is reasonable and you can count on it being consistent whether you eat at the Mimi's Cafe in Orem, Utah or at the Mimi's Cafe in San Diego, California!

Well this morning my wife ordered the Pain Perdu Breakfast which was Petite French Toast stuffed with cream cheese and orange marmalade. Served with two eggs, bacon or sausage, red skin potatoes and fresh squeezed juice.

I got the Three Berry Stuffed French Toast Breakfast French Toast stuffed with cream cheese and orange marmalade, topped with blueberries, fresh strawberries and raspberry puree. It also came with two eggs, bacon or sausage and fresh squeezed juice.

Check out what they look like right here http://www.mimiscafe.com/menu.aspx?ID=23

Now if you're not hungry after looking at that then something is wrong with you!

Both breakfasts were fantastic! I ate mine and half of my wife's. The French Toast was great and the Red Skin Potatoes were perfect! My only regret was not ordering a second order of the French Toast.

Mimi's is a great choice for breakfast!!

Zupas

If you want to try a great soup, salad and sandwich place then try Zupas. Zupas has three locations, Provo, Draper and South Jordan. I've been to the Provo and Draper locations. Their website is http://www.zupas.com/

I've had their Thai Lobster Soup, the Chicken Enchilada Soup and the Hawaiian Barbeque Sandwich and they were all pretty tasty. My wife got salads both times that we went there (you design your own salad). The salad and all of the toppings were fresh and tasted great!!

The first time I went there I got a piece of cheesecake as well and wasn't that impressed. However aside from that the food was very good!

The price is reasonable and the food is good so all in all I would recommend trying Zupas!

Rule #1 Rules!

A couple of weeks ago I finished Rule #1: The Simple Strategy for Successful Investing in Only 15 Minutes a Week! by Phil Town. This book is awesome! In fact it is so good that I am reading it again and will publish more posts about the book in order to explain it in more detail.

Phil Town teaches you how to invest in quality companies for 50 cents on the dollar and at the very least make a 15% return on your money. He has successfully used his strategies to become a multi-millionaire. The best part of the book is that it is relatively simple once you understand the principles and strategies. What amazed me was how much I learned about what makes a business a solid investment!!

Anyway after reading Rule #1: The Simple Strategy for Successful Investing in Only 15 Minutes a Week! I have begun to research a few business that I might want to invest in in the future. The first company that I am researching is Steve Madden, Ltd. It's ticker symbol is SHOO and it is currently trading at $19.52 per share. If I did my calculations right then it should be a good buy once it gets down to about $14.00 per share.

Anyway as I reread Rule #1: The Simple Strategy for Successful Investing in Only 15 Minutes a Week! by Phil Town I'll explain a little more in detail about the book. I'm also going to create my own "watch list" of businesses that I think are solid investments as well as the price to buy those businesses (stocks)!

LEGOS - The Greatest Invention Known to Man

I think that Legos have got to be the greatest invention ever! For Christmas we bought my son some different sets of Legos. He has a real knack for building things. We got him the Ferrari set, the 3 in 1 set (you can either build the F-16 fighter jet, the helicopter or the hovercraft), one of the Mars mission sets and one other that I can't remember and am to lazy to go upstairs and see what the name of it is.

Anyway, these are fairly complex vehicles to build so I decided to help my son. Boy am I glad that I did. Together we built the Ferrari F430 which took us about 3 to 4 hours and we had a blast. The next day we built the F-16 fighter jet. I think that I'm becoming addicted to Legos. In fact I just might go buy me my own Ferrari F430 set and go from there.

If you want to do something fun go buy some Legos. You'll have a ball!!

Chez Betty - Overpriced and Overrated

Last night for New Year's Eve my wife and I went to Chez Betty's in Park City. Chez Betty's came recommended to us by a relative of mine. Chez Betty's is a French-American Fine Dining establishment at the base of main street in Park City. Chez Betty's is on the pricey side so I expected the food to be awesome! Boy was I disappointed!

The ambience wasn't as great as I expected. They basically squished a ton of tables in a very small room with nice tablecloths and tableware and called it a restaurant. I didn't feel very comfortable having a nice conversation with my wife because the people who were next to us were only about 3 feet away...you could literally hear their whole conversation!

We started off with the Crab Stuffed Portabello Mushroom as an appetizer. To me it tasted like someone took Tuna Fish and slapped it on a Portabello.

Next we split a salad. We had the Warm Spinach Salad. My wife loved it and I thought it was just so so. The salad itself was all spinach with some bacon, feta cheese, croutons and I think a balsamic vinegar dressing served warm. Looking back I don't think that the pepper shaker/grinder was working as the waiter tried to put pepper on our salads. All in all the salad was maybe a 5 out of 10 in my book.

I ordered the Grille Beef Tenderloin on a Crispy Potato Pancake and it was lackluster. Not a whole lot of flavor. My wife ordered the Frenched Chicken Breast. It was so so. Both entrees were about a 5 out of 10.

I wanted to try the dessert to see if it would make up for the lackluster food but again I was highly disappointed. I ordered the Apple Bread Pudding and I will guarantee you that I can make a better bread pudding than Chez Betty's. My wife had a Chocolate Mousse with Chocolate Cake and after tasting her dessert I was still stifled why people raved about Chez Betty's.

My brother recommended the restaurant to us probably a couple of years ago. Maybe we should have eaten at Chez Betty's 2 years ago...maybe the food was better back then. Not!!Check out some other reviews here: http://utah.citysearch.com/review/10358460. Even though the reviews were written a couple of years ago I think these people are nuts! They probably had a lot of alcohol with their food.

I will never go back to Chez Betty's and do yourselves a favor, don't waste your time nor money at Chez Betty's. It seems to me that Chez Betty's is a true reflection of Park City. Overpriced and Overrated!!!

On a funny note my wife overheard the waiter at another table explaining why the Duck dish at Chez Betty's was so special. Apparently the duck that Chez Betty serves flies away during the summer and returns in the winter thus making it a better tasting duck. If anyone can explain that one to me please do so that I can understand how that makes a duck taste better.