My Black List page lists and explains when commercial businesses including medical, legal and governmental, piss me off.  I normally understand when there are problems with services or products, and if the service is great, it counteracts any product problems and vise versa.  I also understand that sometimes people have a bad day and I don't make a big deal out of problems with service when this is obvious, product problems are a different animal all together.  Read on and if you have any questions about anything written here, please send me a message and ask me about it.  Enjoy!

This page does not necessarily contain information about businesses in the town of Keller, Texas, however that is where I live and so the chance of getting bad service is good, because I shop Keller first!

Kallal Family Mediacl Group, Keller Texas - Kallal Family Medical Group, Keller Texas - Kallal Family Medical Group, Keller Texas

Kallal Family Medical Group, Keller Texas - Kallal Family Medical Group, Keller Texas - Kallal Family Medical Group, Keller Texas

          Marisa had the flu one day and I asked her to go to the Doctor to see if they could do anything, and just in case she was getting a sinus infection, she could be treated before it got worse.  Marisa is the kind of person who hates the Doctor's office and it takes an act of Congress to get her to go, well she was feeling so bad this day, she went.  When she got there she was told that she would have to pay for the visit up front, everything, not just our normal $20 office co-pay.  She explained that they already have our ins. info, that Brandon was in around September, and we have the same insurance now as we had then.  She said that according to United Health Care, she had a deductible, and that she had to cover 100% of today's visit or not be seen by the Doctor.  She showed them where our deductibles are covered 100% by my employer, all we are responsible for is the co-pay.  They said "we don't deal with secondary insurances, that's your responsibility to get a refund".  She (this is the office manager talking by this time) also said, "besides you have a $415 balance due, from last year, we haven't been paid for that.  My wife got the account information at my request and then left the Doctor's office without being seen.  Still very sick, she refused to go to another doctor.

          I called the Doctor's office again and talked to the office manager, asking some questions about the unpaid balance on Marisa's account.  She said they cannot deal with secondary insurances, I told her that when she (Marisa) was seen last year, we didn't have a secondary insurance, that all claims went to one company, and that they (Doctor Kallal's office) had successfully submitted claims before and after those dates.  I asked for the insurance forms originally submitted to the insurance, at first they were reluctant, however once they did turn them over, I found that they had filled them out wrong, they had my wife as the insured instead of me.  Of course the claims were denied.  With the help of my company, the Doctor did get paid, and I received a copy of the check for the full amount.

          I wrote the Doctor a professional letter, letting him know how disappointed I was with the way my wife was treated, and because of what?  Because he employs stupid people who can't do their job correctly, or lazy people who can't take an extra few minutes to file another claim with a secondary insurance company.  I hope none of you have to deal with a sorry son of a bitch like this guy when trying to get good medical care.  If you don't like your Doctor, for God's sake, move on, there are a lot of Doctors out there, many with more than just medical skills, some also have services specially setup for today's confusing insurance programs.  Don't be bossed around, you are the customer, demand a quality product or service; demand it!

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Isn't our Medical Insurance Situation Wonderful?

If you answered NO to the question above, click below;

          We started with AT&T back when Cingular was not yet heard of and  cell phones were very expensive, costing $30 a month for 10 minutes of prime time calling.  Marisa knew I wanted a cell phone, so for Father's Day one year, she surprised me with one.  My first phone was large.  I hung it on my hip, it was large compared to cell phones today.  From that time, Marisa used the phone and decided she needed one, then Brandon became a young man and was walking home from school in the 4th grade so he got one too.  We have been with AT&T, then Cingular, and now AT&T for about 8 years at least.  This year we found out (with the help of an ATT&T rep) that we are purchasing more minutes than we are using, and thus with their roll over minutes, we racked up over 9,000 minutes.  Marisa changed the plan to lessen the minutes to about half, we now share 700 minutes, then added 200 text messages to both hers and Brandon's phones.  During the downgrade, the representative on the phone said they would have to take away all of our roll over minutes.  Marisa threatened to move over to Verizon, and they then agreed to let us keep about half, which was ok with us, and she said she was putting in a note to explain the exchange in the future.  Then because my phone number was up for renewal, and Marisa had another 6 or 7 months on hers, I decided to let her use mine to get a new phone.  She got a Blackberry which required an Internet connection which was another $30 a month.  So we reduced our minutes which reduced our cost by about $15 a month, then we added 200 minutes on 2 phones at $5 each a month, and then added the $30 data package.  Then the unthinkable happened, Marisa checked our bill on-line and found they had taken away all of our roll over minutes.  When she called she was told that it was because we downgraded our plan, and that there was no note in the account explaining anything.

proves this location

is not worth the money!

          We went to dinner one evening, craving Olive Garden's endless soup and salad, we headed for the town of Grapevine.  It just so happened that evening Olive Garden was out of Ranch Dressing, and we don't care for the other choices, so we went across the freeway to Romano's Macaroni Grill, which we have gone to many times in California, however we hadn't gone to the Grapevine location more than a couple of time before this visit.  I have to say this visit did not get the restaurant on my blacklist, read-on.  We were there early evening, around 4:30 PM, and were seated right away.  It was Marisa, Brandon and myself.  I ordered the Pasta Milano and Marisa and Brandon had the create your own.  The first thing we noticed was the bread which was usually excellent, was hard.  We crunched through the first loaf and asked for another.  Even fresh out of the oven, it was hard.  When we received our meals, I noticed mine had very little pieces of chicken, and because it is a chicken dish, you would expect to have about 1 chicken breast, I don't think I even had 1/2 a chicken breast.  Marisa's dish didn't come with chicken so she had to pay $2 more for the chicken, her dish had less than mine.  Brandon had shrimp in his dish, I am not sure how many were in there, he didn't complain.  I sent an E-mail to the corporate office about the incident, and they sent me $25 in coupons to try it again.  Marisa and I went to lunch at the same restaurant in Grapevine on Friday March 7th, 2008.  I had the Pasta Milano again and she had the create your own with chicken.  Again the bread was hard, but this time our waiter "Carl" was very rude.  He never came back to our table after taking our order and bringing us our cokes.  Our meal was delivered by a lady, carrying the dishes in one hand instead of a tray, the dishes were slightly warm like they had been sitting for some time.  Before she delivered our meal, another lady came to our table noticing we were out of bread and asked if we wanted more bread, we said yes please.  She never returned, so when we received our meal, we asked the lady who delivered it for another loaf.  She said she would send our server.  He came to the table asking if everything was tasting good, we asked for some Romano cheese and some more bread, I mentioned we have already requested the bread twice, he turned to me and said very sternly "you never asked me for more bread!".  I was stunned to say the least, we would have asked him if we had seen him.  The bread was hard, our food was cold, Marisa's meal still had very little chicken, and the service was very poor.  The meal came to $26 so it was basically free, we left a tip of less than $2, and decided we will not be back.

Pizza Hut of Keller

Keller Parkway, Keller Texas

A few missing pepperoni, several missing customers

I should have taken pictures, next time I will, if there is a next time

          Over a year went by and we did finally go back, it's the closest one and Pizza Hut is better pizza than any others around, (there are no Round Table Pizzas here), we found a way around the issue with the pepperoni, we order a large 3 topping and order double pepperoni.  Well we have had other issues, like they ran out of thick crust once, stuff like that.  I ordered online once because we didn't have a coupon and it looked like a good deal.  This time I looked online and found the same offer I had on a coupon was a $1 more so I decided to phone it in.  The Pizza Hut here is local so they give out a local number so basically we call the store when we order by phone.  This time I got some call center, and things change so I didn't think anything of it.  I ordered a large thick crust supreme with no green peppers, Asian spicy wings, bone out.  The coupon was $15.99 + $1 for the bone out wings.  The total came to $17.31, and would be ready in about 15 minutes.  Brandon and I drove to the store, I paid for the dinner and gave her my coupon.  She stapled the coupon to their copy of my receipt and threw it in a box along side the register.  She came back, gave me a pizza box and said thank you.  I said where's my wings?  She said their not on the order.  I asked her to look at my coupon, she said I see the coupon for wings and pizza but it's not on the order, I asked for the manager.  Come to find out, the pizza was a large supreme with no green peppers and no Italian sausage.  I think the guy at the call center needs to get fired.  The manager offered to remake the pizza and wings, and we had to wait another 20 minutes, but it was good in the end.  What a f%#@ing mess!

Enterprise rent-a-car

Moritz Cadillac Dealer location, Arlington Texas

          When I took the Beamer in for servicing, the BMW dealer offered me a rental car.  I was prepared to sit and wait for the car, but he insisted, so I took my voucher over to the Enterprise office at the Cadillac dealer of the same name as the BMW dealer, and went inside where I met John.  John asked me for my proof of insurance, my driver's license and a major credit card.  Even though Moritz was paying for the car, they always ask for the credit card.  I handed him all of the required documents, then he asked my for the name of my company.  I said "I'm sure that's none of your business".  He said "yes it is".  I asked what business would it be related to and he said, "two things, one in case your company needed car rental business from us, and two, to have a second address in case we need to repo the rental car".  I said "REPO THE RENTAL CAR?"  He said "yes, it happens more than you think".  I said "not with me it doesn't, and I don't think you should assume that I am a criminal just because it happens more than I think".  Then he had me sign a lengthy contract that included a portion that said "no smoking and no pets".  I told him I don't smoke, and don't normally take my pets in the car.  When I got outside and sat in the car, it reeked of smoke so bad I couldn't stand it, and I immediately went back in and asked for another car.  Seems like they have a lot of nerve telling you that you can't smoke in a car that they couldn't tell if you did or not because someone has already.  They probably would have charged me for the cleaning.  I had to wait about 20 minutes for another car, turns out that was the only car on the lot.  I will never rent from Enterprise on my own in the future, and I may just decline the offer from the BMW dealer the next time.

I don't believe I should have been treated with such disrespect from a business who needs customers!

Or do they?

I sent a complaint to Enterprise Headquarters, I will post any response here.

Taco Bell of Southlake Texas

W. Southlake Blvd.

At the

Albertson's Shopping Plaza

          I knew it was only a matter of time until Taco Bell made it here.  I was in the Taco Bell in Southlake to get an order of take out, 3 taco salads and 2 tacos.  The clerk rang it up then looked surprised like it rang up $25 or more.  It only rang up $15.32 so I said that looks right, as the taco salads are $4.19 each, with the tacos and tax, it sounds right.  I guess he never purchased from Taco Bell before.   Anyway I gave him my ATM bank card and he swiped it, reached for the cash register receipt and handed it to me saying here's your receipt.  I looked at it as is our habit looking for mistakes when I noticed on the receipt "Cash Tendered = $20" and "Change = $4.68" however he never gave me any change.  When I complained to him that he charged my card $20 and he owed me $4.68 he said no he didn't.  I got real upset and called for a manager, she was a small Mexican lady who assured me that he only hit the 20 on the register to open the drawer, that my card was charged the correct amount of $15.32.  She finally gave me a copy of that receipt which did show the correct amount.

I have never seen that before; I wonder who keeps the books?

North Richland Hills

Tarrant County Texas

          One day I went to Wal*Mart to purchase a few items, food items, beer and a couple of things from the pharmacy area.  I hate those "Self Check" stations because I don't think the business is paying me anything to use them, so I will stick with someone ringing up my purchase who is being paid.  I put all of my items up on the belt and when the 12 pack of Corona arrived at the cashier, she put it aside.  When I got up to the counter, she said she needed to see my "Driver's License".  I said that I was flattered but she didn't need to ask me for my ID, that I am plenty old enough to purchase the beer.  She said the it is a new policy by WalMart and then pointed to a small sign posted near the belt, it stated; As of 3-1-2007, WalMart will require all persons purchasing alcohol products to show a valid ID.  Persons under the age of 21 or who do not have a valid ID will not be allowed to purchase the products, or something to that effect.  I didn't read anywhere where it said "Driver's License", however this cashier said, she needed to scan my Driver's License to prove my age and if it saves one life because someone isn't driving under the influence, then it's a good plan.  So I say, if I don't have a driver's license, you won't sell me beer?  She answered no.  So I would think that if WalMart is trying to keep people from drinking and driving, they would want to make sure I didn't have a driver's license, and not sell to me if I did.

Sounds like big business getting into my business again!

          I still shop at WalMart because I like saving money, however their beer is no cheaper than Albertson's, so I will pass on the Alcohol from now on and purchase it elsewhere, WalMart has no business scanning my Driver's License into their computers.

UPDATE

          Shortly after I posted this on my site, Wal Mart stopped asking for the Drivers License to scan.  Better times are ahead.

You are stuck here with no way to get home, we have your money, you are SOL!

          I am an understanding person, and I know the more you travel, the more chance you have in being stranded, having a delayed or cancelled flight, it's expected.  However, I would expect that an airline company in the business as long as American Airlines would have handled the situation a little more professional, and a little more customer oriented.  Our flight was scheduled on Saturday out of SMF (Sacramento International Airport) at 11:36 AM.  We were on time and we were scheduled to board at about 11 AM.  At about 11:20 they made an announcement that they needed to test some of the instruments and we would board in a moment.  At about 11:45 we figured something was definitely wrong, and around 12:00 they said more testing was needed.  At about 12:30 they announced that a part needed to be replaced, the part was available in San Francisco, 100 miles away and they were going to either drive it or fly it.

          They drove it! They drove it from SF and it took almost 3 hours, they are an airline, surly they could have found room on a flight.  About 3:30 PM they announced the part was here and it would only take a few minutes to install, earlier they said an hour of more.  We then boarded the aircraft.  Now I am the first person who would rather wait than fly in a plane with instrumentation problems, I know planes break down from time to time, and thank God they find out on the ground instead of in the air.  However, we sat on the plane for 20 minutes, and when I heard the generator shut down, I knew something was up, or not.  The pilot announced, ladies and gentlemen, I have some bad news.  The part they drove here from SF was the wrong part, (seems they would know which is the correct part) and now the crew is illegal and cannot fly.  The FAA has cancelled this flight.  We de-planed immediately.

AA was good enough to book us on a flight to Portland OR, where we caught a connecting (Redeye) flight to DFW, and we were only 12 hours later then expected

It could have been a lot worse, Get it Together AA

I will fly on American again in the future

Sounds like our Government

Has No Clue!

          I am not putting down Sacramento International Airport, Airports in general, or the Department of Homeland Security, well maybe the Department of Homeland Security.  I don't feel any safer today than I did on September 12th.  This country is so afraid of offending certain persons that they have developed a RANDOM selection process to place you into their SSS, (Super Security System, Search, Scan, I say Shit).  I don't believe we are so safe when the government continues to take great steps to protect us from people like me and my son.  I believe we will not be safe until the government pulls those people who fit the bill, and runs every one of them through the SSS.  Ok if they insist on a RANDOM selection, then so be it, however they also need to select based on looks, ethnic background, nervousness, etc.  The biggest danger against our country comes from mainly one ethnic group, everyone of them should go through the SSS!  Our experience with the SSS was better than expected, but the reason we were selected was the dumbest.  We were selected for the SSS because we purchased a ticket just a couple of hours before the flight.  Even though we didn't purchase anything, the massive computer system couldn't tell that we were booking another flight because ours was CANCELLED.  Even when I explained to the security guy that we didn't just purchase tickets, he said it doesn't matter, he also said he has flown 5 times and was picked for the SSS 4 of those times.  No he wasn't middle eastern.  He also said that if you log onto the free wireless Internet service at the airport, your ISP charges you $6.50.  I asked him how they know who my ISP is?  Still no $6.50 charge to use their free service.  I think this guy needs to go.  Another guy came up and said Brandon didn't have to be frisked and probed like I was, I thank him for that.  I am writing this at a time when the airports are at the highest security alert ever, and have banned taking liquid items on the aircraft as carry-on.  I believe they are doing what they know how to do, however it seems like as much money as we are spending, we should be able to afford better help, at least someone who isn't selected for the SSS 4 out of 5 flights!  Keep up the good work, you were able to pick me out of a crowd, I'm wondering while you were working on me, who got through?

I feel sorry for those who fly for business,

I have a close friend who flies often, I hope he doesn't have to experience the SSS very often!