ODDS & ENDS: H.E.B. CUSTOMER DISSERVICE, PORT OF BROWNSVILLE UNCOLLECTED DEBT, B.A.M. LINK, SPEED READING

H.E.B's Ad Failure

Our local H.E.B. Stores continue to be clueless with respect to honoring advertised specials.  In previous articles we've documented numerous examples of Brownsville H.E.B. Stores knowingly and dishonestly selling merchandise at regular price until customers complained. Most of these instances have occurred in the meat market, where the market manager has an incentive to maintain his gross profit.

This morning we ventured in to the H.E.B. on Paredes Line Boulevard.  The first item on our shopping list, an advertised "Feature" in H.E.B.'s weekly ad was a 6 oz. package of blueberries for $1.99.  We found blueberries, but not in that size package, certainly not that price.

We approached the produce manager, waiting while he finished his cell phone call.

"Do you have the blueberries you advertised in your weekly ad? " we asked.

"No, those didn't come in," was the response.

"So you haven't had any this week?  The ad broke on Wednesday.  Are you substituting another item?"

"No, we're not," the manager stated, not looking up from his scanner.  "We've had a tough time with berries."

In nearly every other marketing area in the United States, an out of stock featured ad item is handled with either a rain check, that is a certificate allowing the customer to buy the item at a later date at the advertised price or another item or brand is substituted for the advertised item.  Along with either remedy, a sign is posted at the point of sale apologizing for the inconvenience of not being able to back up the ad and giving the reason.  Time and again Brownsville's H.E.B. Store managers have not demonstrated the skill set and customer service skills to handle these situations appropriately.

Port of Brownsville Board Meeting

While channel surfing we caught a brief portion of the Port of Brownsville board meeting.  

Port Director Eduardo Campirano casually mentioned that the Port of Brownsville had a considerable amount of uncollected debt, some of it months, even years old.  His suggestion was to consider "writing much of this off," considering that the port did not have a "collection agency."

Board member John Reed seemed horrified:  "This is taxpayer money," he stated.  "We have to make an effort to collect it."

Board Chairman Ralph Cowen joined in:  "We need to given this information, probably monthly so we can act on this.  At the very least, we can turn over these bills to our lawyer to write demand letters.  If any of these companies want to do business with us in the future, they need to pay their debt."

It was noted that Brownsville Machine Shop, for example owed the Port of Brownsville money dating from October 2011, over four years overdue.

When I mentioned this conversation to a cynical friend of mine, he laughed.  "They all(the port commissioners) know about the past due, uncollected debt. They are just setting things up to hire a firm like Linebarger to collect the debt so money can be funneled to that law firm for their campaigns."

Who knows?

The Shut Down B.A.M. Music Event

Brownsville Artists & Musicians, the art gallery/music room where a punk rock event was interrupted Tuesday at 11:30 PM by Assistant Fire Marshal Raymond Harris, is forging ahead with a compliance campaign designed to meet city guidelines for a live music venue.  A link on the B.A.M. Facebook page directs one to a donation page which currently shows $1,215 raised in just a few hours toward a goal of $3,000: gofundme.com/u6s8fk  

For the record, Assistant Fire Marshal Harris did communicate with me Wednesday, offering to meet for a full explanation of the action he took.  I mentioned that B.A.M. managers had been "forthcoming."

How likely would it be that a typical citizen could get action at 11:30 PM from an Assistant Fire Marshall?  Whoever made the complaint against the B.A.M. event obviously has close city connections.

Speed Reading in Kindergarten

Included in the "WORK" section of my grandson's classroom folder was an exercise to test the speed of his reading a selection. The instructions were that the reading be "timed."

My son knows I go over the homework each morning before school, so I got a text:  "I noticed that speed reading is included in Jack's home work.  I prefer that you don't do this.  Kids are taught that the faster they read, the better.  I don't agree.  I want Jack to learn to read with emphasis, modulation, to articulate the words. I don't want him to be worried about how fast he reads."

"OK," I responded.  "I didn't actually understand the assignment anyway."