Consumer Experiences

[EDITED for clarity - re: Jeffrey Cutler and confusion of Jeff Cutler™brand]

In the past week, I have been a consumer no fewer than a dozen times amassing $2000+ in purchases and a wealth of experiences. Today, I'm going to share just three of those experiences. Two that totaled $1600 and one that cost me nothing.

First up, Sullivan Tire.

My little car was misbehaving. A little squeak in the front end, some exhaust noise, a whine in the belt area, and tires that were skating all over the road. So I reached out to Sullivan Tire via Twitter and there was a hiccup. I wrote about this on my social media blog, but won't hammer it anymore. Suffice it to say that cell phone and Internet coverage in this country is woefully inadequate for a population interested in remaining connected at all times.

So after reaching out to Sullivan Tire, I set up an appointment in minutes. The store in Nashua was able to fit me in with short notice and was confident they could fix, adjust and repair the shortcomings of my little xA. They succeeded.

What? You want more detail? OK. $1120 later (after being told it could be as much as $1300), I got a car back that runs like a top, makes no noise, feels safe, and has since transported me in relative comfort about 1000 miles.

I'm pleased and I'm telling my friends and readers. If your auto shop doesn't treat you respectfully, explain their processes to your satisfaction, and doesn't fix your car...go somewhere else. And if you have a Sullivan Tire nearby, give them a shot.

Next on the docket, Scooters Go Green.

OK, ok, ok. This post is mostly about vehicles. Two that physically transport me and one that transports my content online and over the Internet. But they're still viable businesses that interacted with me and provided a service. So, let's continue.

In the case of Scooters Go Green, I ride a scooter when I'm not in my car. My scooter was damaged by a hit and run driver a year ago and I recently received restitution from the organization that I approached for repairs. As the agreement I signed with them dictates, I can't say who they are. But common sense would say that anyone who likes to remain safe, stay away from the front of buses in the greater Boston area.

So, damaged scooter was still rideable but wonky. And the shop where I bought the scooter in RI went out of business (not fully, but they're not as accessible for repairs as they once were). When I got the check from the damagers I went to SGG and provided them a list of repairs and adjustments I wanted done.

SEAMLESS! They replaced my tires, headlight assembly, oil, filter, gear oil, air filter, spark plug, cleaned the carb, test rode it and handed it to me last night. It rides as if it were new. And the best part is the price.

When I spoke with Steve at SGG, he estimated the time it would take and I know how much some other shops charge for certain labor, so I thought I was looking at $700 or so. Not even close. The final bill was just shy of $500.

That's two wins in two tries this week. I'm smiling now just thinking about taking a ride later.

Finally, have you heard of YouTube?

You would think - correctly - that most Google properties are locked down tight and reaching a human at these entities is impossible. In most cases you're correct. But what I was trying to do was secure my brand and my name on YouTube. I have had an account for years, but was not able in 2007 when I opened my YouTube account, to get the jeffcutler username. It seemed that another person had squatted on it. That's frowned upon, but isn't exactly against all terms of service for the video sharing site.

What is against the rules is trademark infringement. As you might have seen in January, I began steps to trademark my name because I felt there was a bit of confusion in the social media sphere in Boston. A guy named Jeffrey Cutler [new] had a family tie with a non-profit in Boston and was asked to come in and speak with them. Some people on staff contacted me thinking I was going to be presenting to them and therein began the confusion. [end new] was getting training gigs with clients who may have mistaken him for me. In one instance, he went to train an organization that then called me after he was done. It seemed that they needed some more complete training.

I didn't want to be confused with a guy working for a PR firm who was blogging about sneakers "all-white kicks" as they're called. And further, I wanted to continue to build my brand across the properties most visible in the general population. YouTube fit that model.

So, after filling out a bunch of forms I got an email granting me my username. Now I have to move all my videos over (or probably just start populating the correct site with all my subsequent videos) to further my brand awareness.

YouTube wins for that one.

And there we have a happy trifecta of customer service wins. Not every day that you can say that's happened. How about you? What have you had happen lately that you want to share. Jet me an email and I'll give you access to post here on the Test Lab. It's a site all about reviews and experiences.

Thanks for reading.

Genuine Scooter Company - Buddy 125

Most of the reviews here are gadgets. You know, the kind that fit in your pocket, help you navigate the planet or allow you to play games or listen to music.

Today, I'm doing a quick review of a scooter. With the current economic situation (actually better in the United States when referring to gas prices than it has been in years), people are still flocking to scooter stores to purchase these two-wheeled conveyances.

First, some scooter basics...

Scooters aren't toys
- Flip flops and sun dresses have no place on a scooter
- The rules of the road apply
- The Buddy 125 is considered a motorcycle, so you need a real motorcycle license
- The rules of physics apply more harshly
- Other drivers don't take you seriously
- Other drivers often can't see you
- While they're good on gas, scooters might pollute more than cars percentage wise

OK, enough naysaying. Here's what I've learned in my test of the Genuine Scooter Company Buddy 125.

The Buddy is a model of scooter from Genuine Scooter Company. The firm is based in Chicago and imports all of their scooters from Taiwan. The Buddy is actually a rebadged vehicle from Taiwan company PGO. PGO has been making the BuBu for decades and it's among the best selling scooters in the world.

What, you thought that the only good scooters were Vespas? Think again.

For half the cost of a Vespa, you can get a Buddy with similar horses, better mileage and a longer warranty.

How's it ride?

It's easy to ride because of a low center of gravity. The scoot goes where you point it and has the acceleration you might only expect from Ninja motorcycles. Seriously. The Buddy can out sprint nearly any car for the first 100-200 feet.

What's this good for? It helps you with visibility because you're ahead of most traffic and you have clear sightlines ahead. It also helps you get out of trouble. If a car doesn't see you and drifts into your lane, the acceleration allows you to speed ahead so you don't get mushed.

Overall, the ride is pretty stable. Caveats include a note about riding on rough roads and at high speed.

While the scoot can go about 60MPH, it isn't designed to stay at that speed for extended periods. The tiny wheels - 10-inches - are ill-equipped for speeds much above 50 and the low center of gravity make the bike act a little like a Weeble in high winds. It tips easily to the side so riders must be able to control the scoot in all situations.

Rough roads and tiny tires don't mix. While a motorcycle might have a difficult time on pockmarked asphalt, the Buddy has a nearly impossible task ahead if the road is a minefield. With the small tires, you can feel every pebble and crack in road surfaces. Bridge creases feel like small ledges and some potholes can jar you from toes to spine. That's another reason to take it slow.

But the news isn't all gloom. Around town, the Buddy is a dream. You can park it nearly anywhere and it darts from light to light with easy. The engine isn't too loud and there's lots of storage space for your stuff.

In fact, I was at a scooter rally the other day and a guy with a Vespa was astonished at the amount of room under the seat of the Buddy 125. You can almost fit a full-face helmet there, and there's plenty of room for locks and GPS and snacks and other gear.

What's the scooting takeaway?

The Buddy 125 gets about 100 miles per gallon. It has a 1.2 gallon tank and will speed around at up to 60+MPH.

I've had mine since June of 2008 when I purchased it new for $3000 and it now has 5400 miles on it.

I would recommend the model and brand to anyone who plans to scoot alone 80% of the time. It can get cramped with two people on it, but the engine is powerful enough to speed you both around if you can fit.

It's an affordable choice for anyone looking to get into a top-end scooter.

The only two things I don't like about it are how difficult it is to get to the innards and the poor quality of the cheesy charger.

There's a socket for a lighter charger, but the first time I used it I blew the fuse.

Then, because the scoot is snapped and screwed together from about a billion plastic panels, there's no way to get to the fuse (or many interior engine parts) without taking the scoot panels off. It would be great to have a little door with access to some parts.

To jump sides, if it were easy to get to the innards I guess it would make the scooter easier to steal. So I'll live with that shortcoming.

If I gave stars, the Genuine Buddy 125 would get 4 out of 5.

I love my Genuine Buddy and plan to ride it for 20,000 miles before I start shopping for my next scooter.