Archive for Fail
Why of why do banks in Israel charge you for depositing large amouns of cash?
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This is something that has always irked me. Banks in Israel (and in the world for that matter) charges you if you deposit a larger then normal sum. In the case of my bank it’s 10,000 NIS (about $2500.00). Sure I get 50% off of my bank fees, and sure it ends up being just a couple of bucks, but it’s the point of it that kills me. Banks thrive on money. When they take our money they are able to lend it out at higher interest rates. So one would think that the more money you put in, the happier the banks would be and they would perhaps give you a gift for depositing large amounts of money and not tax you for it! It’s not like the tellers are working harder. The money counting machines take perhaps 2-3 seconds longer max and printing out the reciept is the same amounf of effort no matter how many zeros are on it. So why charge us?
Please call me back in 5 minutes with your order, my cell phone is ringing
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Imagine you call up a restaurant and you are in the middle of giving your order and the guy taking your order tells you that you should call back in 5 minutes because his cell phone is ringing. Chutzpa you would say? Unbelievable perhaps? Perhaps, but also 100% True. This happened to a very close friend of mine and he was simply flabbergasted.
So he called back in 5 minutes, but the line was busy. It took him 20 minutes before he got a live person on the phone and by that time they told him it would take an hour and a half to get his order.
Only in Israel my friends, only in Israel.
Have you ever seen an add for something in Israel that has a .99 at the end of it? Like a pie of Pizza for "only" 49.99 NIS? Doesn't it irk you? It's not so bad when it is done in the states because at least they still deal with pennies, but come on! In Israel it's been 20 years since we used 1 Agurot pieces. When a retailer prices an item at 49.99 NIS they do it for two reasons. The first is because psychologically in our minds it makes the item seem cheaper and the second is so that they can say they are cheaper then a competitor. To me they are both insulting my intelligence.
This video below is being used to campaign for the legalization of marijuana in Israel.
Brilliant marketing? Not a chance! The assumption being made is that the reality for Holocaust survivors is so bad that it is a crime to not let them smoke pot in order to make their lives more livable. There is no doubt in my mind that whoever thought this was a good idea was smoking something…
YouTube posts advertising from Muslim Website comparing GAZA with the Holocaust
Posted by: | CommentsI was watching a video on YouTube and was shocked to see these two advertisements from an Islamic organization that is comparing what happened in GAZA (Jews defending themselves against terrorists) with the Holocaust (6 million Jews murdered because they were Jewish). I am pretty outraged and am unsure how Google allows such advertisements. Also the misleading headline in the ad on the top right. Now I know that this blog focuses on entrepreneurs and business in Israel, and I try to stay away from politics, but this is a business (online advertising ) story as much as I am outraged personally.
Now that i posted, I even see the ad on my own blog! See below:
Ok, I’m sorry for such a long and confusing Title, but I really need to express my opinion on this tissue company with the hope that the marketing company responsible for this will take the “Chadash” (New) off of the packaging. This packaging has said “New” for more than 2 years! 2 Years!! Two Years! (maybe even three) First of all the package does not say what is new. Are tissues new? No, they have been around at least since I was born which is a bit more than 25 years ago. Is the fact that they sell tissues in Israel new? Or perhaps that it is not sandpaper? No, they have had soft tissues in similar packages at least since I made aliyah about 7 years ago. So is it a new owner of the company? If so then a) who is he? b) why should I care?
I believe that the only thing that is really “New” is that they put the word “New” on the package and perhaps changed the color or design of the package itself. So if that is what’s new, then perhaps leaving the word “New” on the package for more than two years is not the best of ideas. Perhaps it is time to ask yourselves “eh… maybe it’s not so new anymore and we should take the word “New” off the packages!
But some marketer somewhere in the company probably read in some old advertisng magazine about ten years ago that when you put the word “New” on a package it will increase sales by 3%. So perhaps they are still trying to “trick” the consumer and perhaps psychologically if you have a choice of two packages of tissues you may take the one that says new because in the back of your mind without really thinking about it you may choose that one, but aren’t we just being lied to?
Wake up! It’s 2009 and consumers don’t want to be lied to anymore! Calling somethign 2 years old “new” is just insulting our intelligence!
Then again, I keep buying this brand so maybe they are on too something… 
Black Pizza, The Opposite of Purple Pizza, always tastes burnt
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Those of you who read my post on Purple Pizza, this post is about the exact opposite. Black Pizza. Black Pizza is when you do absolutely everything you can wrong to disatisfy the customer and cause him not to want to do business with you again since there are other competitors that don't screw up as badly. (Do I sound Bitter?). Truth is the mistakes just made an hour ago are not as bad as I am making them sound, but it will be a while before I purchase from them again. The truth is they only made 3 mistakes.
- I specifically asked for the special spicy sauce that my team likes so much and the specifically didn't send it.
- The bottom of one of our 2 1/2 pies was compltetely burnt to the point that one of my programmers called it Shmura Matzah and asked me to get our money back
- I ordered 2 1/2 pies! They were so cheap that they took the 1/2 pie and put the slices on top of another pie in the same box! I am not kidding. Ok, they did have the sense to put some cheap plastic spread inbetween them, but come on! They knew we were an office since I told them so. Spend the extra 4 NIS for a 3rd box since we did spend 192 NIS with you!
Ok, I'm done venting, but I just wanted to point out how they could have done something special or atleast what was expected. Instead they lost our companies business for who knows how long and they won't even know it (no care if I told them) because I'm not going to tell them because they wouldn't listen to me anyway! Ok, now I'm done venting.
Pizza Obama in Jerusalem
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So I'm driving in Jerusalem this morning on the Hebron Road when we passed a Pizza place called Pizza Obama. I had to laugh out loud and say "Come On"! Seriously, what is up with this? Now I hardly doubt that this is a Pizza Store owned by the President Elect so it must be a gimmick by the stores owner. Trying to make money on someone elses fame is not new, but to sell pizza? In a small store? In Israel? Maybe the owner feels that if he builds it Obama will come since he clearly likes Pizza (see the photo above) and he probably will be spending at least some of his time as president in Israel. Or, he is a clueless pizza owner that is trying to capatalize on the Presidents Success, or, if you want to go the benefit of the doubt road, he is an Arab owner and his last name really is Obama.
