Olay's original ad

An Olay advert which features Britain’s favourite old dear, Twiggy has been banned from magazine because it’s had over 700 complaints.

Advertising Standards Authority has binned the magazine advert after it received two complaints because the advert was misleading because it had been digitally retouched. MP Jo Swinson then forwarded 700 more complaints which were gathered via her anti-airbrushing web campaign.

The advert features Twiggy promoting Procter & Gamble-owned Olay Definity eye illuminator. Alongside her picture a quote reads: “Olay is my secret to brighter-looking eyes. Because younger-looking eyes never go out of fashion … reduces the look of wrinkles and dark circles for brighter, younger-looking eyes,” the ad continued.

Those who complained, according to the Guardian said that the ad could have a “negative impact on people’s perceptions of their own body image”.

MP Jo Swinson posted on her site: “I hope this decision marks the first step in really getting airbrushing in advertising under control. If advertisers think that someone as beautiful as Twiggy needs to be so heavily airbrushed, the what hope is there for the rest of us

“Experts have already proved that airbrushing contributes to a host of problems in women and young girls such as depression and eating disorders,” she adds.

The paper reported that in its ruling, the ASA said it considered the Photoshop-ing of the ad, in the eye area could give consumers a “misleading impression of the effect the product could achieve”. (Like the Dove beauty campaign I posted about!)

The ASA said denied that the ad was socially irresponsible and stated: “We concluded that, in the context of an ad that featured a mature model likely to appeal to women of an older age group, the image was unlikely to have a negative impact on perceptions of body image among the target audience and was not socially irresponsible.”

P&G argued that there would always be an obvious difference between unflattering paparazzi pictures and professional beauty photos.

Covers eyes for a reason perhaps...

The company added it was “routine practice to use post-production techniques to correct for lighting and other minor photographic deficiencies before publishing the final shots as part of an advertising campaign”.

P&G also added that the retouching around Twiggy’s eyes was inconsistent with its own policies. It had caused the company to withdraw the original advert and replace it with one without post-production work around the eyes, opting for a more natural image.

Mesothelioma is a deadly cancer that is caused by exposure to asbestos fibers, and this cancer can reduce lifespan to a matter of months after the onset of symptoms. In recent years, the number of mesothelioma cases increased dramatically to light, and in line with this, the number of requests mesothelioma has increased. Because mesothelioma claims companies have become so large, many law firms and lawyers hoursSpecialists in this area, making it easier for the sufferers from this disease, legal aid they need to get a credit mesothelioma file.

The first thing to consider in filing a mesothelioma it is necessary to act quickly. Each operates within a state statute of limitations, which means that cases of the disease for some time within which to act. These limitation shall apply to both parties and the relationship may haveMesothelioma, filing a complaint if the person is already dead. Before acting in relation to legal advice received, the better. Filing process mesothelioma as soon as possible, the difference between success and failure of compensation could be done.

Many are concerned about the cost of filing mesothelioma, but the majority of mesothelioma lawyers and law firms now operate on a contingency planBase rate. This means that customers do not have money to pay toward the front, and the lawyer takes his fee from the compensation awarded by the action of mesothelioma. If no compensation is available, then you have to pay any fee for actions legal actions should be.

A mesothelioma attorney can offer advice on the likely success of your mesothelioma claim on your individual circumstances. Although it isimpossible to predict what will be forgiven as part of the application of mesothelioma, an attorney who can exploit the experience of previous cases, to give you an idea of what you might get. Compensation due to the filing of a complaint mesothelioma is intended to cover a range of costs. Compensation is often in six figures for claimants, and this is to cover, medical expenses, pain and suffering, and also to ensure a financially secure future their families. Although the exact compensation may be granted by a different process to another, a mesothelioma lawyer as objective as possible, to receive compensation for affected customers.

Taking early action when filing a mesothelioma claim could really benefit you and your power mesothelioma lawyer to protect, collect all the items and information necessary for a case with watertight. This can make a big difference to the success of your> Mesothelioma action, and acting quickly will help ensure that your event within the limits imposed by the state requires. Although legal action can be difficult to think when you are diagnosed with cancer, such as mesothelioma is, it is important to seek legal advice as soon as possible, seek the diagnosis. To ensure that you and your loved ones as high as possible the opportunity to obtain compensation to which you are entitled to stay.

In this episode:

- Chris Brown, I offer you this holiday greeting: Bite me.
- I know what you’re thinking, “Oh great, Kay’s going to complain about Christmas now.”
- I find the Beatles inspiring, not because I like their music, because I don’t really.
- I shouldn’t swear in the Christmas cast, because I know you’ll want to listen to it every year with your family as a wonderful holiday tradition.
- Send pictures of dogs in santa hats to: kaythecomplainer@gmail.com

Link.

I really enjoy Chinese food, and I think that’s strange because I grew up in the states.  Furthermore, I couldn’t have been raised in a whiter place than Salt Lake City, UT.  The only real complaint I have is how little Chinese people eat.  Chicken feet don’t even really count as an appetizer for me, they’re really just a waste of time.  I’d probably have to eat 50 feet in comparison to like 6 buffalo wings.

Excuse the Chinese, I’m trying to blog to learn how to read and write.

我决的很起怪因为我很喜欢吃中國菜 不管 我不是真的中囯的人

此外

No complaints from Pure Med Spa!

Whether you are looking your age or trying to stave off the affects of a weekend in Cabo there is an injectible for you.  Pure Med Spa is the “number one Spa in North America” and they offer both… no complaints.

With the incredible savings on both this Christmas you won’t find a complaint from customers either.  Check your local Pure Med Spa clinic for details.

The battle between Botox and Dysport is on with both camps claiming advantages. Sally Murphy from Associated content draws the lines and does a great comparison of the products.

“Once you reach a certain age (and I’m not saying I’ve reached it yet), you become a little more concerned with the effects of aging on your looks. You might start out with anti-aging treatments you purchased from infomercials late at night when you were feeling a little, shall we say, aged. But eventually, you realize it’s going to take a little more than a magic serum to give you back your youthful looks.

Botox and Dysport are two drugs that have exciting uses for women (and men) in the fight against wrinkles. Only recently approved by the FDA, Dysport is the first competition that the wildly popular Botox, approved by the FDA in 2004, has known. Both are injected into the skin to temporarily relax facial muscles and not only smooth wrinkles, crow’s feet, and other facial lines, but actually keep them from deepening (a double whammy!) This article will help you understand the differences and similarities of the two drugs.

Botox

Botox, or Botulinum toxin type A, is made from the bacterium that causes botulism. It b

locks the nerve activity in your facial muscles, causing a temporary “freeze” of these muscles.

Botox Injection in Toronto

The effects of Botox last about four to six months; after that, you will need to return for another treatment. Side effects include bruising, bleeding, dizziness, and headaches. As mentioned earlier, Botox is a very popular way to treat wrinkles. You may have even heard of “Botox parties” where you go to someone’s house, enjoy a little wine and cheese, and slip away to have a few needles poked into your facial muscles. You go home a little younger looking and with a lighter pocketbook. (Hopefully your hostess also served good cheese, but I digress.)”

Dysport

Dysport works faster than Botox – one to two days, in some cases as quickly as 24 hours, as opposed to three to five days for Botox. Other studies have shown that injections of Dysport may last longer than Botox, up to six months or a year. Side effects include soreness or bruising around the injection sites (this is usually temporary) and headaches.

Research done on both drugs seems to indicate that they are safe, relatively painless ways to temporarily treat facial wrinkles. Regardless of which procedure you choose, these drugs should only be administered by a healthcare professional that has been trained in their use. (See the above mentioned “Botox parties”. If you attend one, please make sure a doctor is also one of the attendees; more importantly, that the doctor is the attendee wielding the hypodermic needle. Otherwise, stick to Tupperware parties.)

Serious Side Effects

Please keep in mind that despite their “cosmetic” uses, these are still drugs. Serious side effects of Botox include an irregular heartbeat, paralysis, seizures, and speech and vision changes. And the effects of Dysport, or any Botulinum toxin product, can spread from the area of injection and produce symptoms of the Botulinum toxin, including swallowing and breathing difficulties which can be life threatening. Immediate medical attention may be required in cases of respiratory, speech or swallowing difficulties.

If you are uncertain as to which drug is right for your cosmetic needs, discuss your choices with your health care provider before making any decisions. He or she will be able to answer any questions you may have. These drugs are just two options in the fight against aging, and in the end, you may decide that neither is right for you. Good luck and here’s to looking younger!

Souce: http://www.medicinenet.com/botox_treatment/artcle.htm

Would you still like to lodge a complain and ask for a token number? Think again! 

After a long conversation and a careful investigation, we finally decide to remove a short URL used on few Yahoo Group spam. Few emails quote below: (not chronological order)

Our group, in case I did not make it clear, is a recycling/re-purposing group; therefore we specifically do not allow money-making activities within the group. (That is not to say that it would be against the rules if you want to take something that is to be junked and fix it to sell.)

Our problem is that they are using your service to avoid identifying themselves. We realize that this person is a member of our group because our message archives are private. Our problem is that it is a violation of our terms of service to request payment in any form. This person is referring people to a site where they have to pay to get in. We believe that they are doing this to collect referrer fees. If we could identify the person (and Yahoo is looking into that right now), they would be banned.

Yours is the second URL shorting service this person has used. The other service disabled the link upon receiving the complaint from one of our members.

They are also using faked message headers. When the message headers have been examined, the return and senders addresses are fakes. We refer to this type of email (faked header and sending to unidentified pay site) as spam.

I thank you for looking into this for me. If you can come up with any other ideas of what we can do about this, we will be appreciative.

Pete Cahan

Moderator, OnondagaCoNYReuseIt

The spam emails look like:

Hello rosy.goat,

I have just read this post from you ([OnondagaCoRIN] wanted antennason 12/14/2009 2:06:18 PM):

‘For those who posted that you wanted an antenna for your converter box, I wanted you to know that you don’t need a digital antenna. Any good regular rabbit ears/loop combination antenna will work, and work beautifully depending on where you live. I am using one that was bought from Walmart 6 years ago, and it is not digital. rosy ‘

And I think I have what you want. I have uploaded some photos of it here: <http://freepl.us/8/VOa7D1> http://freepl.us/8/VOa7D1

As you can see it’s in slightly used condition, hence why I’m offering it. Do let me know if you’re interested! Thanks in advance,

Regards,
King.

I quote another complain email here:

Hi,

Can I just clarify the situation as a moderator and group owner of a Freegle group who’s members are being spammed by this person.

This address is NOT a member of any of the Yahoo groups they are spamming the members of .. the address is in fact a faked one made to look like it comes from a yahoo group and I would be very surprised if you haven’t had a bounce from trying to email them.

To clarify.. they are harvesting email from various Yahoo groups, either by joining with a nondescript innocent looking address or hacking an legit member then emailing anyone who posts a specific sort of post with this link.

You may not be able to do much, but please don’t assume it isn’t spam without checking the facts.

Esther
Owner and Moderator of Coventry Freegle

One More..

Hi,

Ian asked I email you as I run the Coventry Freegle group on Yahoo (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/coventryfreegle) which is being spammed by king@yahoogroups.com. More accurately whoever is behind this email is spamming my members in reply to any posts they send to the group.

I believe they are hiding on the group under an innocent looking address to harvest outgoing posts but with 13,000 members I can’t work out which address they are using to harvest and they constantly change the address they look like they are coming from when they email my members, none of the email addresses they use are members of my group but then as most of them are yahoogroups addresses I believe they are faked addresses but I am not technical enough to have been able to find out the real address behind this… They have also being hitting plenty of other groups across the Uk and possibly other places. If you want proof of that i can get other group owners to contact you.

Freegle is the same sort of thing as Freecycle if you have heard of them and this person is spamming everyone who posts wanted posts ie anyone who asks for something.

What proof do you need that they are spamming specifically please?

Esther

As a result of this kind of spam in a private small group, we will introduce a new mechanic to record the IP address for the person who creates the short URL. We believe it will help on solve this kind of matter in future.

Update: 2009-12-22

One more URL deleted, used by sample guy.

Our members on freecycle have been receiving spam replies from the user who posted this: http://yogift.us/4/nA9vc1

I would be grateful if you could take action.

Many thanks

Alastair Seagroatt
Freecycle Moderator

Date: Sun, 20 Dec 2009 12:01:42 -0500
From: lisa4@aol.com
Subject: Re: [FreecycleEastLothian] FW: Wanted: Mains AC adaptor cable for laptop…please ….Nr North Berwick

Hi john sanderson,

I just saw your message on Yahoo Groups ([FreecycleEastLothian] FW: Wanted: Mains AC adaptor cable for laptop…please ….Nr North Berwick on Sunday)

And I think I have exactly what you want. It’s in an OK condition, hence why I can offer it for free. Have uploaded some pictures here:

http://yogift.us/4/nA9vc1

I hope I can make someone happy with it! You can find my contact details on that site in order to make a pickup arrangement as well. Hope to hear from you soon!

Have a good Christmas and a nice 2010!
Lisa

.

The latest celebrity treatment that fights signs of aging by eliminating body cellulite, one of the primary causes of dimpled and sagging skin complaints, is now being offered to Pure Med Spa customers in the Greater Toronto Area. The Velashape treatment is the premier non-surgical and FDA approved medical procedure for the body reshaping market, and has become especially popular amongst American consumers. Velashape, which has previously been adopted by many top Hollywood celebrities and models as a primary solution to cellulite body shaping, is now available to Canadian customers looking to achieve fast results in a safe and proven environment.

The success of Velashape within the United States reflects the proven safety and comfort of treatment, and many customers claim the procedure feels “like a warm deep tissue massage”. The procedure is engineered to accommodate the different sensitivity levels and skin tones of all individuals within society, and through the performance of clinical testing, the FDA has found that there are no short or long term complications associated with it. Since all people within society are is suitable for Velashape treatments, it is expected that it will spread throughout the Canadian Market and internationally at a rapid rate.

Recently, the Hollywood news media show The Insider did an investigative piece on how the Velashape procedure effectively treated the cellulite concerns of a prominent actress and model: Kim Kardashian. Kim’s professional career includes acting appearances on many popular television shows (Dancing with the Stars, How I Met Your Mother), movies (Disaster Movie), as well as modeling in top fashion lifestyle magazines (Maxim, Star, FHM, Playboy). Within Hollywood, actresses and models like Kim Kardashian need to take exceptional care of their bodies, and exercise significant judgment when undertaking treatments to further improve their physique. Kim Kardashian, and many other top stars, have thus chosen the Velashape procedure to safely and effectively address their concerns in a controlled environment.

Kim Kardashian’s celebrity testimonial on the Velashape featured on The Insider can be viewed on the Pure Med Spa GTA (Greater Toronto Area) YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h31YzTZMbq8

I ordered a big dollhouse from Toys R Us online.  It arrived on my doorstep in a giant box with a huge full-color picture of the dollhouse and accessories on the side of the box.  It wasn’t shipped in a plain cardboard box, no, it had to be a box that showed the entire world what was inside.

Now, why would a toy company ship toys right before Christmas in a box like this?  The future recipients of this toy nearly saw the box and ruined their Christmas morning surprise.  It was a true Christmas miracle that they looked out the wrong window when the delivery man rang the doorbell, and another miracle entirely that they didn’t open the door and see the box.

I emailed a complaint to Toys R Us customer service.  Nowhere on the site does it state that the dollhouse would be shipped in a box with a picture of the contents on the side (I triple checked before sending the email).  The site did state that gift wrap wasn’t available (I didn’t want it gift wrapped anyway).  It also stated that the item would be shipped separately.

Now, when a customer takes the time to complain, you owe it to them, as the business, to respond in a thoughtful and considerate manner, especially when the customer points out a real error.

The customer service rep’s first instinct shouldn’t be to patronize the customer, tell the customer that the website has fine print that they obviously didn’t read (especially when that fine print doesn’t exist at all), and that you’ve exhausted everything you could possibly do for them (especially when you did nothing since that customer could tell you were reading the email for the first time while on the phone).  The rep’s sarcastic tone didn’t help either, especially with someone long schooled in the fine art of sarcasm.

I didn’t want a refund or a free toy.  I wanted the company shipping toys before Christmas to realize how stupid it is to ship a toy in a box that doesn’t hide the contents of the box from anyone who might see that box.  A simple “I apologize” would have been sufficient.  Even better would have been: “We’ll update the shipping information on the site to explain how the item is shipped.”

Instead, your botched customer service call turned my basic frustration into a personal commitment to boycott Toys R Us.

Bah Humbug, Geoffrey the Giraffe.

Here are a few (nearly) undeniable truths about customer service.

· Customers that you truly have a relationship with are more likely to give you the benefit of the doubt when something goes wrong.

· If customers feel like you listen, they’re more willing to talk.

· It’s easier to keep a customer that will provide feedback (good or bad) than one that never responds to communications.

· For most customers, what keeps them with you is not what got them for you.

· You can’t develop a relationship with a customer if you don’t know much about the customer.

· You can’t find out about customers if you don’t ask them about themselves.

· Companies which want to be great at customer service try to be fair and consistent with customers. In other words, they treat everyone special.

· It’s virtually impossible for any high-level executive to keep a customer. The employees keep the customers.

· Words set expectations, but actions deliver results.

· Don’t buy into the philosophy that “we need to treat our customers as family.” We need to show customers more appreciation than that.

· 50% of great customer service is doing what it takes to satisfy the customer. The other 50% is wanting to do it.

· If an executive doesn’t think customer service is important to the organization’s success, have him sit in a room with a competitor and a key customer and make that statement.

· You can’t control your customer’s opinion of you, but you can control the experiences they base that opinion on.

· If you decide you want to have a great day, you have a much better chance of having one.

Decide to Have a Great Week!

Interested in improving your company’s customer service? See more information at: http://www.cssamerica.com/

Dear Hershey’s,

Earlier today, some of my good friends and I were watching TV and chowing down on a bag of yer guyses amazing Mauna Loa Kisses (the ones with the macadamia nuts). I seriously love these things. Like, you have no idea. If Jesus had to suddenly morph into chocolate form, he’d be one of these, hands down. You know how when you see something sour and yer brain automatically starts making extra saliva to compensate for that sour, even before putting it in yer mouth? That’s what mine does, except for the “sour” part is replaced by an overwhelming “omg, there’s that Jesus chocolate again!” part.

Anyways, we got about halfway down the bag and I noticed I was coming across more and more ‘nutless kisses’. Once I realized what was happening, I began to slowly die a little on the  inside. Those nuts are like the ying to my yang, man. The headphones to the Ipod, water to the vitamins. Take them out of the mix and it’s like trying to draw sky without the blue crayon.

I ended up finding eleven out of the thirty kisses that we ate to be minus their nuts. I secretly fought back tears of disappointment looking at the empty blue wrappers littering the table. “Are you crying?” My friend asked me this in a wave of confusion as I stood up quickly. I managed to answer her in brief stutters and half sentences followed by a muffled, “I’ll be right back.” I immediately made a mad dash for the bathroom and haven’t come out since. I’m currently huddled in the bathtub, writing this as you read it, shaken and still in shock from my current candy condition. I ask you this now, in regards to future Mauna Loa lovers and dedicated Hershey’s fans like myself. Please don’t skimp out on the macadamians this year. They complete me.

Happy Holidays To You And Yers,

Bryanna Pavlish

After placing my order on the 7th, Camera Box have repeatedly let me down with my order.  First of all they charged me twice for the same lense to the total of £1400. Not cool. Obviously a decent company would have a means of contacting them, however after trying the engaged number for the 20th time you start to wonder whats going on. I sent an e-mail, their communication medium of choice(surprise surprise),  to attempt a point of contact. no response.

I try the phone again and it rings. BINGO!!!! I then get stuck in a queue. WHAT???? Doesnt make sense. They suggest i leave a message and they will get back to me, yeah right, I hang on tight and finally speak to someone after an hour of trying to get through. I tell him of the duplicate charge and he said he will void it and reassure me I will still get my lense before 6PM the next day. Excellent news.

I wait like a dumb arse at work, camera next to me waiting to rip the parcel from the postman’s fingers and shove that bad boy lense on the 7d and go snap some twats outside Radio 1 or something. Instead I get nothing. The next day I receive a parcel. It was the Canon lenshood I ordered from a competitor. Gutted. And wow how big is this thing. Excitement.

I call up camera box.  An hour of pressing redial until i get placed in a queue. i finally get through to a guy and ask when I will receive it and when I will get my money back for the duplicate. Apparently it takes 2-5 working day to void a transaction. I was not advised of this. Also I was told my parcel will arrive no later than Friday as there had been a problem with their system and they now had a backlog. I asked why I was not told of this when I made the order and the guy just repeated that there had been a problem and I will get it by Friday. No apology made. Still if i am definitely getting on Friday it will be OK and it is Christmas etc.

I noticed they had changed their advert to 1-2 day delivery as it is christmas. Should of done that in the first place. Then 20 minutes after my confirmation with Bobby Two Face on the phone, I get an e-mail advising me my order cannot be fulfilled and to give them a call. Are you serious. I have a job, I can;t just spend all day waiting for their phone line to stop being engaged. CRETINS.

I try  and try and get nowhere. My package does not arrive on friday. Nor has it arrived today. i send a strong e-mail to sales@camerabox.co.uk (the communication medium they prefer) telling them I want a refund and to call me back as I am sick of wasting time, money and energy (NOT)talking to them. I got no call and I called them several times but could never get through.

They have my money and I have no lens. This is not fair.

So I call my bank and with the help of Visa i am going to attempt to get my money back as they are scammers. I am not going to try to contact them again. Waste of time, waste of money. I may aswell have bought it from some dude in Hong Kong, at least I would have got it quicker.

Camerabox.co.uk is at the top of my S-H-I-T LIST.

 Marco

About an year ago I composed one of my first blog postings and asked “Will the data retention directive be fully implemented across Europe?”. The reason behind was the then pending decision of the ECJ caused by Ireland’s concern on the data retention directive’s grounds legitimacy and, the wrong way the directive was initially  implemented in Bulgaria.

Recently, I covered the startling deciosion of the Romanian Constitutional Court that rejected the data retention implementing act due to inconsistency with constitutionally guaranteed and fundamental human rights, such as the right to privacy. Seemingly, this decision will not remain a single one.

In a hearing, appointed for tomorrow, the German Constitutional Court is expected to deal with the mass-complaint filed by nearly 35 000 citizens in which they ask the Court to abrogate the provisions on data retention. I believe the whole data retention concept would then fall apart, if the German Constitutional Court decided in favour of the complainants.

Press releases in Austria which, in my view, attempt to encourage the government in its Fabian position towards data retention, even call for a final ruling by the ECJ on the overall legitimacy of the data retention concept. In such a case, the ECJ will have to scrutinise whether the data retention directive is conciliable with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union that, together with the Treaty of Lisbon,  is in force as of 1 December 2009.

Author : SANTOSO, IBNO

This study observes the politeness strategy of complaint letters which were published in Newsweek magazine. It is analyzed based on Brown and Levinson?s theory of politeness strategy by using descriptive qualitative and quantitative approach. It deals with the politeness strategy which is used in complaining and the most politeness strategy that occurs in the complaint letters. The data were taken from 20 complaint letters which were published in ?Letters?, a column for the readers to express their thought in Newsweek magazine. Based on the theory, there are four main strategy of politeness namely, bald on record, off-record, positive and negative politeness. In the letters, bald on record strategies which are used are ?sympathetic advice or warning? strategy and ?urgent imperative? strategy. Positive politeness strategies which are used are ?intensify interest to H?, ?avoid disagreement?, ?include both S and H in the activity? strategy, ?give or ask reason?, and ?assume or assert? strategy. Negative politeness strategies which are produced in the letters are ?question or hedge?, ?be pessimistic?, ?minimize imposition?, ?impersonalize S and H?, and ?state FTA as a general rule? strategy. The off-record strategy which is used in the letters is ?rhetorical question? strategy. The findings show that the complainers prefer to use positive politeness strategy in stating their complaint to Newsweek magazine. They give or ask reason to support their complaints so it is reasonable and can be accepted by their complainee (Newsweek). The findings also show that the complainers seldom use off record strategy. It means that the complainers prefer to state their complaints directly, unambiguous, and in a concise way in order to make the complainee (Newsweek) can easily understand what they complain about so they can achieve their expectation immediately.

Keyword : complaint, politeness strategy

Sumber : http://repository.petra.ac.id/2867/