CombatCritic's

CombatCritic's

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Letter Of Complaint To Malta Public Transport - Shame On You

Malta Public Transport
Mdina Road,
Qormi, Malta
Phone: +356 2122 2000
Website: MaltaPublicTransport.com
Email: enquiries@publictransport.com.mt
Malta is a rather small island with a sizeable network of buses, but the buses rarely run on time and when they finally arrive, they are normally packed to the gills with people and with nowhere to sit, even for the disabled. There are usually three disabled seats, but they are normally occupied by young, lazy people who never offer their seat to those who may need it more than they do.

Their website and app look great on the surface, but they either do not work, are impossible to navigate, and/or have incorrect information.

When we arrived on the island, we called for a taxi from the port to our Airbnb apartment about 25 minutes (6-7 miles) away, but we were told "there are no taxis available, maybe in an hour", so we walked 30 minutes into downtown Valletta and finally found a bus. It was crammed full of people and with our two backpacks and a suitcase, were forced to stand for the hour long journey with a rude driver who flew around the very windy road, throwing us from side to side and re-injuring our already painful shoulders, three out of four with torn rotator cuffs.

I sent them the following email:
"You need to update the timetables on your website because they are wrong and do not coincide with those posted at bus stops. Your Journey Planner does not work at all, either on your website or your app, so how do you expect tourists to navigate Malta with so little and such poor information.
I am a disabled veteran and we waited for the scheduled 1638 (4:38PM) #45 (Valletta-Bugibba) bus in Mosta last night for over an hour, well past the scheduled arrival of the next #45 bus at 1708 (5:08PM). We finally took another bus to the bus terminal in Bugibba and walked 20 minutes to our apartment rather than wait for the #45 bus that might never show up.
You should be ashamed of the terrible state of your website and the schedule inconsistencies of your transportation services. As a retired US Air Force transportation officer, I would be fired immediately if such discrepancies occurred on my watch and under my command.
You can read my review of Malta Public Transport on my popular travel blog: http://www.CombatCritic.com.
Sincerely, 
CombatCritic"
We waited again to get home this evening in Mdina for well over 45 minutes for a bus that was scheduled to arrive at 1645 (4:45PM). We saw the bus arrive before its scheduled departure time across the street from the bus stop where we were waiting, but the posted departure at our stop had mysteriously changed to 1715 (5:15PM) even though the bus sat empty across the street. We finally went and asked the driver if his was the bus for Bugibba and he confirmed that it was, graciously allowing us to board even though it was at the arrival stop, not the departure stop.

Some simple fixes could improve customer service immensely. I will not detail them here, but the poorly functioning website and app would be a great place to start. There is also something known as "GPS" that could be installed on buses to give customers real time information on location and arrival times, allowing customers to do something productive while they wait rather than standing there waiting for a bus that may or may not show up.
CombatCritic Gives Malta Public Transport 1 Bomb Out Of 10 ... BOOAH! ... More Bombs Are Better!










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Title: Letter Of Complaint To Malta Public Transport

Key Words: Malta Public Transport, Malta, public, transport, transportation, schedule, disruption, bus, busses, Yelp, YouTube, CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value, Wall of Shame

Translation for Civilians: FUBAR = "F***ed Up Beyond All Repair"

"CombatCritic", "TravelValue" and "BOOAH" Are Protected Under U.S. Copyright Laws And Are Exclusive Property Of 3rd Wave Media Group, LLC and CombatCritic



Copyright 2017-2018 - 3rd Wave Media Group, LLC and CombatCritic - All Rights Reserved

Sunday, November 5, 2017

Camas, WA: Non-Discretionary "5% Surcharge For Non-Tipped Employees" Is An Outrage!

Feast At 316
316 Dallas Street
Camas, WA 98607
Phone number (360) 210-7498
Website: camasfeast316.com
Prices: $$$$

I do not usually write reviews of places I have not frequented, but I feel compelled on this occasion to do so due to this statement printed on their menus (posted online): 
"Please note that a 5% surcharge is being added to each check to ensure equal pay for non-tipped employees."
I will not be eating at Feast At 316 anytime soon because of this absurd policy. I have actually heard decent things about the food, but when you have to pay $25 for "Meatloaf" ala carte (no soup/salad) PLUS AN ADDITIONAL 5% FOR NON-TIPPED EMPLOYEES (in addition to 20% expected by the servers), you have lost my interest and custom.

Get a clue and pay your employees a fair wage as I am sure there is plenty of "fat" in the price of your $25 meatloaf, a $42.50 shot 12 year old whiskey, and other not-cheap dishes/drinks to pay your employees commensurate with their duties. Another possibility, having worked in the restaurant industry for many years, non-tipped employees could always be taken care of by servers out of their own tips. After all, with 20%+ "expected" these days for even the most mediocre service, servers are the ones who benefit from kitchen, bus and host/hostess staff's professional and efficient duty performance. Let them pay the 5% if you are too cheap to pay your employees properly. Employee pay is considered overhead and your responsibility, not the responsibility of your customers.

CombatCritic Gives Feast At 316 1 Bomb Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better!





One Bomb Equates To:

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Yelp - Elite '14/'15/'16/'17 - 650,000+ Views A Year

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Zomato - #1 Ranked "Verified" Foodie - Over  1,890,733 Review And Photo Views

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... And Don't Forget To Subscribe To TravelValue TV on YouTube

Read Chris S.'s review of Feast At 316 on Yelp

Feast at 316 Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato 

Tabelog Reviewer CombatCriticView my food journey on Zomato!

Title: Camas, WA: Non-Discretionary "5% Surcharge For Non-Tipped Employees" Is An Outrage!

Key Words: Feast At 316, feast, at, 316, restaurant, menu, Camas, surcharge, non-tipped, Vancouver, WA, Portland, Yelp, YouTube, CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value, Wall of Shame

Translation for Civilians: FUBAR = "Fucked Up Beyond All Repair"

"CombatCritic", "TravelValue" and "BOOAH" Are Protected Under U.S. Copyright Laws And Are Exclusive Property Of 3rd Wave Media Group, LLC and CombatCritic


Copyright 2018 - 3rd Wave Media Group, LLC and CombatCritic - All Rights Reserved

Thursday, November 2, 2017

Vancouver, WA: EARTH TO JORGE - MENUS HAVE PRICES ON THEM ... GET A CLUE!

 Jorge’s Margarita Factory
14415 SE Mill Plain Blvd, Suite 110B
Vancouver, WA 98684
Phone number (360) 882-8262
Website: jorges.com
Prices: $$$$

Wierd vibe. We were ignored at the entrance for over five minutes before I found someone to seat us and the decor looks more like a cheap diner than a Mexican restaurant.

The drink menu has no prices ... hey geniuses, how many times do I have to say this, MENUS ARE DESIGNED TO LET CUSTOMERS KNOW HOW MUCH STUFF COSTS! I am so sick and tired of restaurants that think they can trick people into paying $10 for a "house margarita" by not posting prices. I should not have to ask how much everything costs, so publish the damn prices for f***ks sake!

Speaking of prices, their food prices were quite a bit higher than any Mexican restaurant I have been in lately and looking at the plates of food around us, it did not look worth what they were asking. So with that being said, along with a "priceless" drink menu, we left. I will not eat at restaurants that refuse to put prices on their menu ... non-starter folks!




CombatCritic Gives Jorge's Margarita Factory 1 Bomb Out Of 10 And A Spot On My "WALL OF SHAME" ... More Bombs Are Better!








One Bomb Equates To:

Read Reviews By CombatCritic:

Yelp - Elite '14/'15/'16/'17 - 650,000+ Views A Year


Tabelog - Official Judge (Silver)

Zomato - #1 Ranked "Verified" Foodie - Over  1,890,733 Review And Photo Views

View my food journey on Zomato!


... And Don't Forget To Subscribe To TravelValue TV on YouTube
Jorge's Margarita Factory Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato


Tabelog Reviewer CombatCriticView my food journey on Zomato!

Read Chris S.'s review of Jorge's Margarita Factory on Yelp

Title: Vancouver, WA: EARTH TO JORGE - MENUS HAVE PRICES ON THEM ... GET A CLUE!

Key Words: Jorge's Margarita Factory, Jorge's, Jorge, margarita, factory, Mexican, restaurant, menu, Vancouver, WA, Portland, Yelp, YouTube, CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value, Wall of Shame

Translation for Civilians: FUBAR = "Fucked Up Beyond All Repair"

"CombatCritic", "TravelValue" and "BOOAH" Are Protected Under U.S. Copyright Laws And Are Exclusive Property Of 3rd Wave Media Group, LLC and CombatCritic


Copyright 2018 - 3rd Wave Media Group, LLC and CombatCritic - All Rights Reserved

Thursday, October 19, 2017

Travel Tech: Defective Garmin Vivoactive - Welcome To The Wall Of Shame

If you travel as much as I do and are active (walking, hiking, golfing, swimming, etc.), a good activity monitor or smart watch is indispensable. I bought one from Amazon.com a little over a year ago and am I sorry I did.
The Garmin Vivoactive ($179) worked fine for about six months, monitoring sleep and the golf function worked OK. When walking (golf) or during travel (we walk a lot), it kept track of steps and was quite useful, but I use an elliptical trainer for much of my cardio and the Vivoactive was/is totally useless unless your arms are swinging.

After 5-6 months, it quit syncing sleep on a regular basis and a month or two later the golf function stopped working altogether. For golf, it give you basic yardages (front/center/back of green) and keeps score, but that's it. It has difficulty recognizing the golf course you have just arrived at, even with GPS, so you have to remember to sync it via Bluetooth with the Garmin Connect app on your phone, a real pain in the butt.

For the past several months the golf function, one of the primary reasons I bought it, quit working altogether. It can find the course, but when you click on the course you want to play, it starts "downloading data" and "transferring data", but then goes back to the main menu. Once on the course, it sometimes would start working, but FOR THE WRONG COURSE. The course I play has a short Par 4 2nd hole, but the Vivoactive lists the 2nd hole as a Par 5 and the yardage does not work at all.

This "smart" watch is a piece of junk. I wasted $179 for a digital watch when I could have paid $30 and gotten a better Casio with more functions than this thing has now. Garmin came out with the Vivoactive HR just weeks after I bought this garbage, but did not bother telling me that I could have bought an upgraded watch with a heart rate monitor for a little more if I waited a few days. I do not know if the Vivoactive HR is any better than the Vivoactive, but it could not be any worse.

The watch stopped working altogether in July 2017, dead as a doorknob. I will never buy a Garmin product again because of their lack of customer service and the junk they sell. DO NOT BUY A GARMIN VIVOACTIVE!

CombatCritic Gives Garmin and Their Vivoactive 1 Bomb Out Of 10 And A Spot On My "WALL OF SHAME" ... More Bombs Are Better!






One Bomb Equates To:

Read Reviews By CombatCritic:

Yelp - Elite '14/'15/'16/'17 - 650,000+ Views A Year

Tabelog - Official Judge (Silver)

Zomato - #1 Ranked "Verified" Foodie - Over  1,890,733 Review And Photo Views

View my food journey on Zomato!


... And Don't Forget To Subscribe To TravelValue TV on YouTube

Tabelog Reviewer CombatCriticView my food journey on Zomato!

Title: Travel Tech: Defective Garmin Vivoactive - Welcome To The Wall Of Shame

Key Words: Garmin, Vivoactive, watch, GPS, smart watch, golf, steps, activity, monitor, active, Portland, Oregon, CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value, product, business, review, Yelp

Translation for Civilians: FUBAR = "Fucked Up Beyond Any/All Repair"


Copyright 2018 - 3rd Wave Media Group, LLC and CombatCritic - All Rights Reserved

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Canby, Oregon: Hey Douglas, Nurse This ... You Suck!

Douglas Nurseries
23524 S Mulino Road
Canby, OR 97013
Phone number: (503) 266-9419

I contacted them by email about a rather substantial order (50+ trees at $14-$20 each), but after three weeks and no reply, I decided I did not want to do business with such an unprofessional company. There are plenty of businesses that will appreciate a $1000 order.


Do not waste your time with these fools.

CombatCritic Gives Douglas Nurseries 1 Bomb Out Of 10 And A Spot On My WALL OF SHAME ... More Bombs ARe Better!









One Bomb Equates To:

Read Reviews By CombatCritic:

Yelp - Elite '14/'15/'16/'17 - 650,000+ Views A Year

Tabelog - Official Judge (Silver)

Zomato - #1 Ranked "Verified" Foodie - Over  1,890,733 Review And Photo Views

View my food journey on Zomato!


... And Don't Forget To Subscribe To TravelValue TV on YouTube

Le Bouillon Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Read Chris S.'s review of Le Bouillon on Yelp

Tabelog Reviewer CombatCriticView my food journey on Zomato!


Read Chris S.'s review of Douglas Nurseries on Yelp

Title: Canby, Oregon: Hey Douglas, Nurse This ... You Suck!

Key Words: Douglas Nurseries, Douglas, nurseries, nursery, trees, plants, shrubs, bushes, Canby Portland, OR, Yelp, YouTube, CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value, Wall of Shame

Translation for Civilians: FUBAR = "Fucked Up Beyond All Repair"

"CombatCritic", "TravelValue" and "BOOAH" Are Protected Under U.S. Copyright Laws And Are Exclusive Property Of 3rd Wave Media Group, LLC and CombatCritic

Copyright 2018 - 3rd Wave Media Group, LLC and CombatCritic - All Rights Reserved

Saturday, October 7, 2017

Omaha, Nebraska: "Le Bouillon" Translates To "Salty Food" ... BOOAH!

Le Bouillon
1017 Howard Street
Omaha, NE 68102
Old Market, Downtown
Phone number: (402) 502-6816
Prices: $$$$

Not good. How this place averages four stars with 170+ reviews on Yelp is beyond me.
As I always say before a review of a French restaurant, "I love French food", but I did not even like Le Bouillon.
We came with a party of 12 from a conference at UNO as well as 2 last minute add-ons, but staff refused to add an extra table at first, making us squeeze into four small tables pushed together with just two small baskets of bread for 14 very cramped people. They told us that they were "fully booked", but less than half the tables were occupied all evening and a glass walled room with two giant tables sat empty next to the entrance. They finally got a clue and brought an extra table jusr before the first course arrived.
The server asked immediately what we wanted to drink, but there was just one, very extensive (at least 20 pages of small print - hundreds of options), wine/drink list for 14 people on the table. There were only a couple of wine options offered by the glass starting in the $9-$10 range and most bottles were well over $100 a pop with several approaching $1000. Feeling perplexed by the poor start, we stuck with water.
The server then dropped a rather heavy butter knife on my arm as she was setting the table for the first course. Things were spiraling downhill fast. They had no moules (mussels) or escargots (snails), focusing their menu on the Raw Bar instead (no thanks - I do not eat un/undercooked animal flesh), so we passed on appetizers. 

"Where's the beef?"
Beside a couple of $9-$13 soups and salads, everything had meat/fish (my wife prefers to eat vegetarian whenever possible), so the only options to her liking were the Le Bouillon Burger ($14) and the Croques Monsieur ($16). The only things that peaked my interest were the Wagyu Hangar Steak ($26) and the Cassoulet ($21), so she went with the croques monsieur and I the cassoulet. Hers came with a bit of salad and mine with nothing, so we both, unfortunately, ordered a side of Frites (fries) with Aioli ($6).
The croques monsieur had two huge, thick slices of egg battered toast, but barely a hint of ham and cheese. It was so salty that my wife could barely finish half. My cassoulet came out with the top burnt, so I mixed it up only to find mostly white beans and a couple of small pieces of ham and bacon. There were no noticeable "garlic sausage" or "duck" as advertized on the menu and it was also very salty, so I gave up after trying to eat half of my $21 white bean casserole. The fries looked very nice, but were very thin and crispy (almost burnt), hard to eat with fork or fingers, and EXTREMELY SALTY. All other attendees had similar complaints of salty food and fries.
When they cleared the table, nobody wondered why so much food remained on all of our plates, so I mentioned to the server how salty the food was, especially the fries, so they removed them (just the fries) from the checks. At $42+ for water, half of a salty sandwich, and half a bowl of salty bean soup (minus the soup), this was one of the poorest values in recent memory.

CombatCritic Gives Le Bouillon 1 Bomb Out Of 10 And A Spot On My WALL OF SHAME ... BOOAH LE BOUILLON!







One Bomb Equates To:

Read Reviews By CombatCritic:

Yelp - Elite '14/'15/'16/'17 - 650,000+ Views A Year


Tabelog - Official Judge (Silver)

Zomato - #1 Ranked "Verified" Foodie - Over  1,890,733 Review And Photo Views

View my food journey on Zomato!


... And Don't Forget To Subscribe To TravelValue TV on YouTube

Le Bouillon Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Read Chris S.'s review of Le Bouillon on Yelp

Tabelog Reviewer CombatCriticView my food journey on Zomato!


Title: Omaha, Nebraska: "Le Bouillon" Translates To "Salty Food" ... BOOAH!

Key Words: Le Bouillon, le, bouillon, French, restaurant, Old Market, old, market, menu, Omaha, NE, Nebraska, Portland, Yelp, YouTube, CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value, Wall of Shame

Translation for Civilians: FUBAR = "Fucked Up Beyond All Repair"

"CombatCritic", "TravelValue" and "BOOAH" Are Protected Under U.S. Copyright Laws And Are Exclusive Property Of 3rd Wave Media Group, LLC and CombatCritic

Copyright 2018 - 3rd Wave Media Group, LLC and CombatCritic - All Rights Reserved