Once again Verizon Wireless proves it has the worst customer service, doesn’t stand behind the products it sells, and will try to squeeze out every nickel and dime it can from your pockets.

Sadly, most companies today are like that or try to be. And with the government out of the consumer advocate business (didn’t there used to be laws and regulations against this type of behavior?) it’s easier for them to hit their mark.

My son’s cellphone stopped recharging so we took it back to the Verizon store and they told us it was no longer under warranty: that the one year warranty had expired just two days before we came in.

However, a little research on the web revealed that these Nokia phones have a history of problems with the recharging outlet falling out of them. In fact I showed the manager at the Verizon store in Everett a printout with dozens of people complaining about the same problem. And then asked her, shouldn’t this be covered even after the warranty since it’s a manufacturer’s defect?

I also pointed out that I pay every month for that phone because I’m stuck in a two year contract that will cost me money if I try to cancel it.

Her company line was “it’s not a known defect with Verizon.” She refused to fix the phone or replace it and she suggested we buy another phone. I asked for the telephone number of the district manager and she told me she couldn’t give that out. “Couldn’t give it out??” Geesh, that’s really caring about your customers, isn’t it?

It was only after I persisted that she offered to activate an old phone that we had at no charge. So we did that. But I’m still planning on tracking down the district manager. I’ll let you know how I make out.

Meanwhile, I’d like to hear from people who have cellphone service with other companies: AT&T and Sprint, specifically. I’d like to know how your service is? Do you get a lot of dropped calls? How often are you trying to make a call and then find you have no service? I’d also be interested in hearing from people who have cellphone service without a contract.

One thing Verizon does right is have good service coverage. I have a hunch that it’s better than most (they say it is) and that this was their strategy all along: build out the best coverage area than anybody and then screw the customer every which way you can.

I bought the Kodak ESP-5 printer, copier, scanner for about $150.00 at Best Buy.

This post is long overdue.

I bought a new printer last summer and decided to purchase the Kodak ESP-5 because the print cartridges are much cheaper than other brands: just $10 for B&W; and $15 for color.

Although the cartridges don’t last as long as I’d like and the printing, copying, and scanning functions work pretty well, what amazes me is the Kodak online help center. They’ve figured out how to give good customer service and at the same time, save themselves some money.

One of the problems with the machine is the paper feeder: it’s too tight and sometimes it’s difficult to get the paper lined up just right. When the machine stopped printing correctly I went to the online support page and started the troubleshooting program, which asked me a series of questions. The last question it asked me was did I have a recent paper-jam. I answered “yes,” and it told me that I most likely damaged the printer-head when I pulled the paper out. It then said it would send me out a new printer head at no charge.

It didn’t need to ask me for my address, as it had it already. And that’s another thing I like about the online support center: there is no login/password. It recognizes my name from when I initially registered the device online.

Within a few days the printer-head was delivered with a URL to the section of the help desk that would tell me how to install it. There, a FLASH presentation walked me through the steps of installing it and I was up and running and printing again.

Today, I was on the help desk site trying to find out if I could print wirelessly from my Macbook Pro. I couldn’t find the information easily, so I clicked on a button that would allow me to chat with a customer service rep. In less than a minute I had my answer: “Unfortunately, no. Although some of Kodak’s printers can do this, the ESP-5 is not compatible with wireless printing.” I’ll have to connect it to the printer using a USB cable.

Although I didn’t like the answer, I appreciated the quick, efficient response from Kodak. I just wish I had done a little more homework before buying this model.

How many times can you watch those annoying Verizon TV commercials featuring straight-laced, creepy, Fios guy and grubby, bearded, overweight, cable guy before going Amish and tossing your TV, phone, and computer at the nearest power plant?

Sometimes, they play back to back on the same channel. And it’s hard to escape: you click over to another channel to avoid seeing it and wham! — there they are again. Or if not them, then it’s Verizon’s phone service commercial with an exploding pinata or spilled ice-cream toppings where the soda jerk says nonsensically, “Do you want whipped cream?”

“No, I don’t want whipped cream. I want to be able to watch TV without seeing the same lame commercials from Verizon over and over again,” which might be difficult considering Verizon had a $3 billion-plus marketing budget last year.

But all of this cash isn’t spent on TV advertising. Some of it is spent on sending out junk mail and on harassing Verizon customers with sales calls (a loophole in the “Do Not Call” anti-sales call law allows companies to contact its customers with sales suggestions). And that’s where I can fight back.

I called the company Tuesday to see if I could be taken off their sales lists and they promised they would do this. Here’s the number: 1-800-735-7744. If you’re being bothered, call them and tell them to take you off all of their lists.

But beware. This morning I got another one of those annoying automated sales calls from Verizon so I called them and asked again about being taken off their lists. They told me this can take up to three weeks.

How convenient — for them. I think even fat cable guy can move quicker than that.

The Apple rebate process was relatively painless.

If you’re like me, you hate rebates. They often require that you follow a set of instructions more complicated than the 2009 economic stimulus package. And if you don’t cut out the right number from the cardboard box and match it up with the mile-long sales/rebate receipt and mail it to the correct address with the rebate form filled out perfectly, you don’t get your money back.

That’s why I was pleasantly surprised by the current rebate offer being made by Apple. If you’re a student or a teacher you can get a free iPod Touch when you buy a Mac. Of course, you have to pay for the iPod Touch up front and then submit a rebate for the full cost of the device. But Apple allows you to file for the rebate online with just a minimum of information.

My wife, who teaches second grade, recently did this. And within four weeks, a check for the full amount showed up in our mailbox.

Verizon replaced its rebate checks with Visa debit cards. Why?

This was much different than my experience with Verizon. First of all, I had to sign up for another two-year contract to be eligible for a partial rebate on a new phone. I then had to cut the code from the cardboard box and mail it in along with the sales/rebate slip and the rebate form. I did all of this back in March or April (It’s been so long I forget the actual date).

Still, no payment showed up in my mailbox. So I called Verizon this week and was told they mailed me a Visa debit card back in May. I never received this and so after playing a round of telephone voice-mail for about 45 minutes, I managed to talk to the right person who said they would issue a new debit card and send it out within a couple of weeks.

I never mentioned my surprise that the rebate was going to be paid with a debit card instead of a check from Verizon. I honestly don’t remember that being advertised or being told this by the salesperson when I bought the new phone. So I walked into my local Verizon store this morning to check on this. There in tiny little letters on the marketing card displayed with the phone it mentions that the rebate will consist of a debit card.

A little research online revealed that Verizon began replacing its rebate checks with Visa debit cards last year: a move that may bolster the company’s bottom line by shortchanging its customers.

Rebates are the perfect bait and switch game played by greedy companies. They know rebates encourage sales emotionally at the store. And they also know that once customers get home with their new toy, they often put aside their rebate instructions and never get around to applying for the rebate.

I’ve also read that some companies routinely lose piles of rebate applications because they know consumers won’t bother following up. I’m not saying that’s what Verizon did.

What I am saying is Apple treats its customers with some respect. And if Verizon wants to keep its customers, it may want to do the same.

This old mountain bike served me well for many years.

The economy might be bad for most businesses, but I think bike shops are booming.

My mountain bike broke last week. The gears wouldn’t catch and the front tire went flat so last Tuesday I tried to get it fixed. I told them I needed it back by Sunday because that was the annual “Bike to the Sea” ride from Malden to Nahant.

How Much Is This Going to Cost?

The guy at JRA Cycles in Medford, Mass. told me they couldn’t fix it by Sunday and that about 30 other people were ahead of me. “What if I give you an extra 10 bucks?” I asked. He replied, “It would have to be more like $50.” I told him for that kind of money I could buy another bike. He agreed and then suggested I try City Cycle in Stoneham.

The guy there told me it might be possible that I’d get it back by Sunday, but he couldn’t guarantee it. He suggested trying the Cycle Loft in Burlington. The woman behind the counter was the first person to take a good look at the bike. “You plan on riding 18 miles on this?” she asked. “When was the last time you had it tuned up?”

I told her never: I had never, in the more than 20 years I had owned the bike, had it tuned up. She wasn’t surprised but then asked, “Have you been riding this, lately?” And she was surprised at my answer: “Yes, almost every day for the past three months.”

She shook her head, mumbled something about me lucky to be alive, and then went through several calculations and options for getting it up to safety standards. The bottom line: about $180. And yes, they could do the work by Sunday.

I thanked her for her time but told her for that kind of money I’d buy another bike. But not there. The bikes there — and at most bike shops — start at about $400 and go all the way up to three- or four-thousand dollars. After doing a quick search on Craigslist with no good results, I decided I’d try Wal-Mart and Target.

The Schwinn Jaguar has retro styling and a smooth ride.

I ended up with a Schwinn Jaguar from Target for $150. It’s a retro cruiser and so far I love it. The problem with buying a bike from a department store is that they are usually not assembled very well. The bikes at Wal-Mart were put together really poorly, but the ones at Target weren’t too bad.

• Tip: Look over the bikes very carefully and ride them in the store. I looked at three Schwinn Jaguars at Target and I asked the clerk there to take one of them down from the top rack — a task requiring a special fork-lift machine. But the clerk didn’t seem to mind.

The first one had a rear brake that stuck. The second one had a front brake that stuck. Sticking brakes are not a major problem, but I didn’t want to take the time to fiddle with it if I didn’t have to. The third one seemed to have everything in the right working order, except the handlebars were a little loose and the seat was too high.

I was able to borrow a wrench from the shelves at Target to fix the seat. That allowed me to take a spin in the store to see if everything else was working well. And then when I got home, I spent $1 on an allen wrench to tighten the handlebars.

If I had bought a bike at a bike shop, everything would have been put together correctly and custom-fitted to me, but bikes there cost at least twice as much. Some say the Schwinns they sell at bike shops are superior to the ones they sell at department stores: that the ones they sell at department stores will wear out quicker, but I’m not so sure.

The mountain bike I enjoyed for more than 20 years — without a single tune up — was purchased for $80 at Caldor. It even survived the department store.

(Photos by Mark Micheli)

This umbrella has a pulley system to easily open it up. (Photo by Mark Micheli)

The price of patio umbrellas are all over the map. But usually a good-quality market umbrella sells for more than $100 and as high as $400. That’s why I was thrilled to find this bargain at Lowe’s.

This 9-foot umbrella usually sells for near $100. But Lowe’s had it on sale for $79.00 and dropped the price to just $58.00. I then used a $10 store coupon I received in a Sunday newspaper and purchased it for $48.00.

I just checked the Lowe’s website and found the umbrellas are still selling for $58.00, but inventories are low, so you might have to shop around to find a store that still has one in the color you want.

Other recent bargains

The $3,500 patio table for only $350

A Good (and cheap) Summer Wine