Coldplay

If the picture above seems fimiliar it is because it was recently seen on Nationalpost.com.

Concert Review: Elbow and Coldplay

The pictures were taken by yours truly. The concert was amazing and Chris Martin put on a really good show. I came back with over 500 pictures and some made it to the national post!

Look for more in the future!

Untill next time...

How much do you tip the Pizza Delivery guy?

So, I was sitting at home tonight, starving, so I decided to go online and order Pizza. Yes, you can order pizza online now. Welcome to the 21st century!

So I went to Domino's website and placed my order. Paid for the pizza by a credit card.

At the end of the order I saw a small little note, "Feeling generous? You can tip at the door when you sign your credit card receipt."

Since I was already on the computer, I decided to google, "how much do you tip for pizza delivery" and came across Tipthepizzaguy.com.

The website is decidated to the very same topic. How much to tip the pizza guy! Well the handy calculator quickly told me that i needed to tip the pizza guy $3.01 based on my total order price.

....umm, I gotta go look for $3.01! Damn I paid using a Credit Card cause I didn't want to have to look for cash!

Gotta go eat now. Don't worry I will find the Pizza guy some decent change!

Untill next time...

Sloan is Canadian!?!?!

Who knew?? Yes, Emanuelle Chriqui, who we love as Sloan on Entourage is a fellow Canadian. I never bothered to look her up in IMDB but recently saw her on Jimmy Fallon. He presented her with a basket of Canadian goodies. Ketchup chippppps.....smaarrrrties!!

She was born in the Good ol' Montreal! Ahhh Montreal does really house the beauties ;) (even though she moved to Toronto at the age of 2). Went to Unionville High School. How come I never saw her around?!?!

Support the Airline Passenger Bill of Rights

New Democrat MP Jim Maloway (Elmwood-Transcona) introduced a Private Members Bill that will provide compensation to airline passengers and a bill of rights protecting travellers in Canada.

The bill includes measures on compensation for overbooked flights, unreasonable tarmac delays, cancelled flights, the concern for late and misplaced luggage, and all-inclusive pricing by airline companies in their advertising.

“The legislation is inspired by a European Union law, where over-bookings have dropped significantly,” said Maloway. “Air Canada is already operating under the European laws for their flights in Europe. Why should an Air Canada customer receive better treatment in Europe than in Canada?”

The bill of rights will ensure that passengers are kept informed of flight changes, whether they are delays or cancelations. The new rules will be posted in the airport and airlines must inform passengers of their rights and the process to file for compensation.

“The changes are not meant to punish the airlines,” said Maloway. “If the airlines follow the rules, they will not have to pay one dollar in compensation to travellers.”

Air passenger bill of rights - Summary of key provisions


The above information was obtained from Jim Maloway's website.

Please support the bill and make travelling easier for yourself!


Untill next time...

This is why you never fly Air Canada!

So this is the response I got back from Air Canada.
It's funny how there delays are OK, where as a passenger who is 1 minute late is absolutely not acceptable!
I also really liket he part where the letter justified the rude behavious of Air Canada staff by putting the blame on the "passenger".



Thank you for your e-mail. We appreciate the time you have taken to contact us.

At Air Canada, we make every effort to respect the scheduled departure time of all flights. A delay of even a few minutes can result in the loss of a takeoff position. This, in turn, can impact an entire day's operations and further inconvenience a greater number of customers.

To help us provide ontime departures, the absolute deadline for the completed process of checkin, including any checked baggage, is sixty minutes for transborder flights. Kiosks are programmed such that they will not accept passengers after the cut off. Airport agents are unable to accept late running passengers.

Although there may be times that a passenger believes that he/she could possible clear security and 'make' the flight before it departs, this is not always the end of the matter. As soon as the checkin closes at sixty minutes prior to departure, planning for the flight commences, including fueling requirements, weight and balance calculations, catering orders, etc. As such, passengers who arrive after our cutoff for whatever reason are unable to checkin for their flight.

Passengers are ultimately responsible for ensuring that they allow for sufficient time when planning their arrival at the airport. Such factors that should be considered are traffic, parking, and airport lineups.

As you did not complete the checkin process before the sixty minute cutoff requirement, our agents correctly offered the opportunity to change your flight as per the fare rules of your ticket.

We regret that you felt our agents were discourteous as we strive to offer customers professional service. Our agents are entrusted to treat passengers fairly by properly following the rules of the ticket purchased. Sometimes this can be difficult to do so when passengers continue to request exceptions be made.

Our flight records, as a matter of interest, show that Air Canada flight AC764 on June 26, 2009 departed the gate in Toronto five minutes early at 08:55. We regret the slight delay on your return flight to Toronto.

Praneet, thank you for allowing us this opportunity to comment on your feedback.

Sincerely,

Paul Griffin
Customer Relations



Wow!! Let's just say they aren't willing to admit fault, they aren't willing to refund my money and they don't care for my, or your, business.

I would end the post by saying, "Untill next time..." but I will never fly Air Canada again. So there won't be a next time...

This is why Air Canada sucks!

I recently flew with Air Canada and had a very unpleasent experience, which isn't something new for the most of us. Air Canada has built a stellar image of themselves in the Customer Service department. But it seems like they have taken things further. Now not only do they provide inadequate customer service, but they also force passengers to pay additional funds during check-in.

I'll just include the letter I wrote to there Customer Service team and next will be response that came back.


Hi,
I was scheduled to leave Toronto on the morning of June 26th, 2009, headed to Newark on the 6:30 flight with my wife and sister-in-law and had a terrible experience with Air Canada.
I arrived at the airport at approximate 5:25 and headed over to the Air Canada counter. I reached one of your automated machines and proceeded to check in but got an error. I waited a few moments for an Air Canada employee to assist me with the check-in. When she came over I explained to her the issue and she simply stated that I go ahead and check-in through an agent. So I walked to the line and was stopped by another Air Canada employee who asked me to weigh my baggage first. The time now was exactly 5:34 because the attendant mentioned that to me. We weighed our bags, which were all well within the Air Canada requirements, and proceeded down the line to an agent. We reached the agent at 5:37am according to her. She notified that we were too late to board our flight and that we would need to purchase a new ticket. She proceeded to check the prices for ticket for the next flight to Newark. She stated that the new ticket would cost us “Only an additional $235 for all the three passengers.” I told the attendant that I was not aware of any such rule and she said, “it’s been given”. That is all her answer was. “It’s been given.”
I contested and asked the attendant if there was a more reasonable solution to this. She said, no, we were late and were not going to be allowed to board the flight. She also stated that there was a huge line up for US customs and security check which we won’t be able to make it past in that much time.
At this moment, her inflexibility and attitude forced me to ask for a supervisor. This, actually, was a bigger mistake. This “manager” was rude, discourteous and impolite. He stated that, “…you are late; I can’t do anything about it. It’s Air Canada policy.” He then stated that, “I see you had a higher fare ticket so the additional charges won’t be too much. If you want, you can pay right now or go there and think about it and purchase a new ticket at the Air Canada ticket counter”, pointing into the air.
At this point the attendant checking us in was “late” for something and left us with another attendant. The new attendant was a little more courteous. She admitted that Air Canada clocks are always a bit ahead and she has to make it into work a few minutes early to punch in.

This is the 2nd time, I’m having to deal with unprofessional and discourteous Air Canada staff. This time, not only the service was poor, but we were also made to pay an additional $236.25 for being a few moments late.

So after pleading our case, then being transferred to another attendant, paying the additional charges, waiting for the attendant to process everything twice (she made a mistake the first time), then filling out our travel forums for the US, passing US customs, leaving our baggage at the belt and passing security, we made it inside to the Airplane gates at 6:05am.
The new flight was scheduled to board at 8:25 but did not being boarding till 8:36. The flight was suppose to depart at 9, but took off at 9:09. Our return flight (AC 754) had a departure time of 10:50pm PST from San Francisco but the flight did not even leave the gate till 11 and took off at 11:37. We were 10 minutes late reaching Toronto.

I just feel it is very unreasonable and unwarranted to charge a passenger additional money and deny them boarding if they are a few minutes late. We were 1 minute late to the automated machine and were at the attendant 7 minutes late. After dealing with rude customer service we still made it into the terminal 25 minutes before the flight was due to take off. I would really appreciate it if Air Canada would refund me the additional money I was forced to pay at the check-in counter. It was an unfair charge and refunding it would say a lot about Air Canada’s attempt to satisfy its customers.
If there are any further details you would like, I will be more than happy to provide them to you. Unfortunately the check-in agent did not provide me with a receipt for the additional charges otherwise I would have attached them to this email.

Regards,



Wait till you see the response...

Did you see it?!?!

So the Entourage season kicked off last night!

It was a great start! Vinny is back on top and Sloan is back in E's life.... HAWT! You have to admit, she looks amazing!

I love the reference to "Dan Tana" the trendy Italian resturant I walked into on the recommendation of the hotel I was staying at. I'm not sure why it's such a popular resturant, it wasn't even that good. All the food for some reason was missing tomatoes. Imagine speghetti without tomatoes!

Anyways, it was a good episode and I hope we get a full season this year unlike last years 12 episode shortened season. Actually season 4 also had 12 episodes only.

What did you think of it? What did you think of Vinny's driving? What did you think of Sloan's return? What did you think of Turtle and Jamie?!?!?!?!?! He's DA MAN!! You have to admit!

Untill next time...

Transformers 2 - Review

So I finally got a chance to go and see Transfomers 2.

I don't know why all the critics are dogging it?!?! It was awesome!!! I really enjoyed the movie.
The action alone was worth the $10!

Optimus Prime is a BAD ASS!!! And Bumble Bee fought like a man!!
The twins were a bit annoying, but i'm willing to overlook that.

Yes, I agree the story was a bit weak, but DAMN that action just blew me away!! I was speechless after the movie!

I give it the "2 thumbs up", "5 Stars", "100 Tomatoes", whatever you want to call it...

Let me know what you think of it.

Until next time...

Entourage - Coming up

So the new season for Entourage is going to be starting THIS SUNDAY!!
Yes, it's coming up quick! Make sure you have your front row seats clean and the popcorn ready!! It'll be a fun season!

Until next time...