After a month of anticipation, the footage has been unleashed onto the international stage.
Yes, my very first food doc for Dine.TO is online and ready to be viewed.
In March 2010, I had the pleasure of meeting Master Chef Mario Vena. I took my tripod and JVC Everio and went up to Richmond Hill, Ontario to document the Owner and Operator of La Reserve restaurant.
Who is Mario Vena? An extremely personable family man with an insatiable passion for people and great food. He's been running his dream restaurant successfully for many years, and by all accounts, Mario Vena is not slowing down, not for a second!
This video gives you a glimpse of one of the best Master Chefs in Toronto!
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Rogers Communications. What a JOKE!
I bet when Ted Rogers started up his company many years ago, he envisioned what he ended up developing: A massive corporation providing every type of telecommunications service known to humankind.
Ted Rogers had the right idea. But the people running the show today, are full of shit. From top to bottom.
How can an organization be this successful with so many idiots doing nothing and with so many more idiots supervising the idiots doing nothing?
I wasted 45 minutes of my life and at the same time, used up 45 minutes of my 100 free mobile minutes to speak to 3 Rogers Cable reps.
1 was ignorant and couldn't wait for the clock to hit 5pm.
The 2nd kept talking to her computer, telling it to "behave".
The 3rd was a Manager.
I vented to her in a calm, collected voice. A rarity. I must say I'm pretty proud of my accomplishment. I was even bold enough to re-assure this Manager that I was in fact speaking in a calm fashion. After all, someone had to get re-assured today.
To be honest, that's really tough for me to do. Especially when I'm upset and fighting on principle. I'm the paying customer, who did everything right, who pays the cable bill on time each month. But Rogers failed to live up to their end of the deal, failing to live up to their commitment of delivering their product on time, every time. But venting and directing your anger to a monopoly of a company that continuously over-charges and pays little, to no respect to its customers and offers shitty customer service, won't make a lick of difference.
I wonder how Gandhi would have approached this situation? Would he have just gotten rid of his cable? Switched to YouTube full time? Would he have gotten an antenna? Would he camp out on Jarvis street (Rogers Cable HQ) every day until someone came out to see what he wanted? That's a legit question. Think about it.
Ok, here's the background.
I called Rogers 2 weeks before I was about to move. I gave them my new address. They collected the information and stored it in their database. At least, I thought they did. But, I should have known better. When I moved 3 years ago, it took Rogers 8 months to finally insert my new address into their system. The optimist in me said no, this time, Rogers can do it right. The realist in me once again came out victorious.
I was told that a smooth transition of my cable service would be imminent. I was re-assured.
In reality, Rogers lied to me.
You see, that's the thing. Rogers says one thing, does another.
Rogers employees are great Actors. Character Actors who spend 5 minutes every day before starting their shifts, psyching themselves up, focused purely on how to screw with your day, how to waste your time. Using one hand to twirl a pencil and the other to hold their Tim Horton's double-doubles, because after all, Rogers employees are a real working-man's employee, fighting for the people and assuring reliable, quality products to hard-working customers every time. What a pile of garbage!
When you talk to Rogers employees, you're often talking to an over-paid douche bag of a customer service rep who doesn't believe in customer service at all. In reality, doesn't believe in doing their jobs! Just think of it. An employee who gets full medical and dental benefits, holidays off and answers phones without giving a damn about whether you're getting the services you are paying a lot of money for. I don't imagine Rogers employee resumes often have the words, Strong work ethic, exceptional multi-tasking abilities or customer service experience on them.
But, they do. And that's what's so disconcerting. Most of them probably go home after work, kiss their kids, wives, husbands and eat dinner, watch TV (unlike some customers), look at themselves in the mirror and with absolutely no conscious at all, convince themselves that they've done a good job for their boss.
"I'm disappointed with Rogers. This is unacceptable! I was told it would be a seamless transition and it's not". I told this to the equally inept, yet seemingly compassionate Manager.
"Usually when employees don't do their jobs, much less don't do it correctly, it's customary for those employees to get fired, wouldn't you agree"?
The Manager said nothing.
"Wouldn't you be disappointed and angry if you did everything right and were re-assured that everything you properly asked for would be delivered as promised"?
Again, the Manager said nothing.
"Do you think it's fair that millions of people are looking for work and building their resumes without realizing that a job at Rogers is available and the only prerequisite needed is the ability to a have bullshit careless attitude"?
Again, nothing.
In the end, I was given 100 Bonus minutes to my mobile account and a rebate for 10 days from my next cable bill. But, no cable. I was also given a bunch of confirmation codes, blah blah blah. In the end, I have to wait until April 9 for cable. Maybe even longer. At this point I don't know.
What I do know is this: Whether you're the type to do everything last minute or one to take initiative quickly and get a job done, it doesn't matter with Rogers. Hundreds of thousands of people across Canada can relate to what I'm saying. My story is not new but it won't get old either. I'm not the only one going through this and I'm not the only one that will go through this again.
I just thought to express myself...in written form...on my blog, in hopes that you can share your experiences.
At the end of the day, it's only cable. It's not a big deal. But at the end of the day, it's also about rightfully getting what you pay for.
Ted Rogers had the right idea. But the people running the show today, are full of shit. From top to bottom.
How can an organization be this successful with so many idiots doing nothing and with so many more idiots supervising the idiots doing nothing?
I wasted 45 minutes of my life and at the same time, used up 45 minutes of my 100 free mobile minutes to speak to 3 Rogers Cable reps.
1 was ignorant and couldn't wait for the clock to hit 5pm.
The 2nd kept talking to her computer, telling it to "behave".
The 3rd was a Manager.
I vented to her in a calm, collected voice. A rarity. I must say I'm pretty proud of my accomplishment. I was even bold enough to re-assure this Manager that I was in fact speaking in a calm fashion. After all, someone had to get re-assured today.
To be honest, that's really tough for me to do. Especially when I'm upset and fighting on principle. I'm the paying customer, who did everything right, who pays the cable bill on time each month. But Rogers failed to live up to their end of the deal, failing to live up to their commitment of delivering their product on time, every time. But venting and directing your anger to a monopoly of a company that continuously over-charges and pays little, to no respect to its customers and offers shitty customer service, won't make a lick of difference.
I wonder how Gandhi would have approached this situation? Would he have just gotten rid of his cable? Switched to YouTube full time? Would he have gotten an antenna? Would he camp out on Jarvis street (Rogers Cable HQ) every day until someone came out to see what he wanted? That's a legit question. Think about it.
Ok, here's the background.
I called Rogers 2 weeks before I was about to move. I gave them my new address. They collected the information and stored it in their database. At least, I thought they did. But, I should have known better. When I moved 3 years ago, it took Rogers 8 months to finally insert my new address into their system. The optimist in me said no, this time, Rogers can do it right. The realist in me once again came out victorious.
I was told that a smooth transition of my cable service would be imminent. I was re-assured.
In reality, Rogers lied to me.
You see, that's the thing. Rogers says one thing, does another.
Rogers employees are great Actors. Character Actors who spend 5 minutes every day before starting their shifts, psyching themselves up, focused purely on how to screw with your day, how to waste your time. Using one hand to twirl a pencil and the other to hold their Tim Horton's double-doubles, because after all, Rogers employees are a real working-man's employee, fighting for the people and assuring reliable, quality products to hard-working customers every time. What a pile of garbage!
When you talk to Rogers employees, you're often talking to an over-paid douche bag of a customer service rep who doesn't believe in customer service at all. In reality, doesn't believe in doing their jobs! Just think of it. An employee who gets full medical and dental benefits, holidays off and answers phones without giving a damn about whether you're getting the services you are paying a lot of money for. I don't imagine Rogers employee resumes often have the words, Strong work ethic, exceptional multi-tasking abilities or customer service experience on them.
But, they do. And that's what's so disconcerting. Most of them probably go home after work, kiss their kids, wives, husbands and eat dinner, watch TV (unlike some customers), look at themselves in the mirror and with absolutely no conscious at all, convince themselves that they've done a good job for their boss.
"I'm disappointed with Rogers. This is unacceptable! I was told it would be a seamless transition and it's not". I told this to the equally inept, yet seemingly compassionate Manager.
"Usually when employees don't do their jobs, much less don't do it correctly, it's customary for those employees to get fired, wouldn't you agree"?
The Manager said nothing.
"Wouldn't you be disappointed and angry if you did everything right and were re-assured that everything you properly asked for would be delivered as promised"?
Again, the Manager said nothing.
"Do you think it's fair that millions of people are looking for work and building their resumes without realizing that a job at Rogers is available and the only prerequisite needed is the ability to a have bullshit careless attitude"?
Again, nothing.
In the end, I was given 100 Bonus minutes to my mobile account and a rebate for 10 days from my next cable bill. But, no cable. I was also given a bunch of confirmation codes, blah blah blah. In the end, I have to wait until April 9 for cable. Maybe even longer. At this point I don't know.
What I do know is this: Whether you're the type to do everything last minute or one to take initiative quickly and get a job done, it doesn't matter with Rogers. Hundreds of thousands of people across Canada can relate to what I'm saying. My story is not new but it won't get old either. I'm not the only one going through this and I'm not the only one that will go through this again.
I just thought to express myself...in written form...on my blog, in hopes that you can share your experiences.
At the end of the day, it's only cable. It's not a big deal. But at the end of the day, it's also about rightfully getting what you pay for.
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