I felt like writing a quick review on a few things/experiences in 2009. Just a random blog post to cover some random items.
James Cameron’s Avatar:
First off is my review on the new movie Avatar. I walked into this movie as a skeptic since my take on the story simply from the trailers wasn’t that great. I expected a typical Disney-like storyline about saving the forest vs relying on industrialization. However, listening to some good friends an acquaintances whose opinions I trust, I had gotten the idea that the movie actually had hope. I was told it had amazing graphics, a wonderful story and 3d effects that will blow your mind. So…I went and saw the movie to see if the information was true, and was amazed. I thought Star Trek was the movie of the year but this one really took the cake. Now I don’t know which movie is better than the other. If this didn’t beat Star Trek, then it stands on the same level as (it). So, go out and watch it! There is a 99% chance (in my opinion) that you won’t like it…you’ll love it.
As for Star Trek:
Personally, I am not a “trekie”, however I am a general fan of the franchise as anyone else and I have a lot of respect for a “awesome movie” and this movie really hits that category well. I also saw this movie as a skeptic expecting it to be like any other Star Trek movie but I was proven wrong. Star Trek was theatrically amazing and changed my view on the franchise. If the future movies/shows were as good as this movie, then count me in. I would no longer be a “general fan”. If you haven’t seen it yet, go out an buy the DVD. In fact, if you have a player that supports it, you would be a fool not to buy it in BluRay.
Finally HSBC Bank:
HSBC Bank (also known as “Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited”) is a bank that also supplies Department Cards for major retail chains (i.e., Best Buy, CompUSA, etc). My review on this company is not a good one. Unlike the above two movies, this category receives a big zero for a rating. I personally have been a customer of this bank for a very long time, but no longer. In my experience, this has to be the worst bank I have ever dealt with. In the beginning it was very difficult to speak to a human, and now the phone numbers (at least the ones associated to my accounts) were fully automatic. It didn’t offer an option to speak to a human, and there are no hidden commands to sneak your way to one by mashing buttons. In fact, between the numbers and the website, it refuses to allow you to “speak” with anyone.
They do however allow you to send an email to their support. The catch to this though, is they limit you to a short amount of words to convey your problem. To add to that, their responses are strictly to the script and do not allow you to reply to their email. Since they don’t allow you to reply to the email or on the web, there is no way to references a previous message. So each time you send a new email from their site, not only are you limited on words but they will not review past messages and the response you get won’t help you in any way. Even if the email is to point that out. I tried, and they responded with a “how to” tip that had nothing to do with anything (how to access your account and view your balance information).
I even told them I would share my review of their bank with a lot of people, and their response once again had nothing to do with the message I sent. They never assisted me with any of the problems I had been experiencing, so I am doing just as I said.
I then started hearing from friends, acquaintances and other online reviews that I was not the only one that held this opinion. In one way it was comforting to know that I wasn’t the only one experiencing this, but it was also discomforting that there were so many people this bank was wronging.
Stay away from HSBC Bank. If you want to sign up for a credit card for your favorite store, as first to see/know what bank backs them up. If its not HSBC, then give it a try but if it is…”just say no”. It isn’t worth the hassle if you come across any problems with the bank. They make it impossible to talk to anyone, they charge outrageous fees that they will not reverse (even for situations caused by them) and their email communication is far from helpful. This is coming from a credit holders with excellent history, a grand credit score and 0 debt.
This ends my random post of reviews for year-end of 2009! Happy Holidays to all and I hope the new years proves great for everybody 🙂
This was worth making a post over since there are a lot of geeks out there that are amped over the upcoming holidays and why not get them something fun. I ran across this Star Trek Starfleet Ice Cube Tray that allows you to make custom shaped Star Trek Starfleet logo ice cubes…perfect! I instantly ran the idea by a few people and they loved it as well. A lot of geeks would kill to get their hands on this just because it…well…rates high on the geek scale.
You could also try the Star Wars Han Solo Ice Cube Tray for those Star Wars fans out there. It’s another great idea although I think the Star Trek cubes will be more universally applicable where it sounds like these Han Solo cubes would be oddly shaped and large. Then again…it’s all about the geek’s interests. So who knows. Both are worth pointing out and making a quick post about 🙂
