Straight Up Awesome Company

11 04 2008

OK. I’m going to make a confession… and this may actually shock some of my closest friends. I have TERRIBLE hair. This is not a case of the grass is always greener, as in, “I wish my thin hair was thicker” or “I wish I was a blond instead of a brunette.” I have TERRIBLE hair. It’s more frizzy than curly… coarse like barbed wire….. and unruly and big. I’d show you a picture, but… I did something to fix it and change my life. BUT… that life change has come to an end…. Allow me to explain.

In a previous post I mentioned that I live in Israel now. But, I made that move from Portland, Maine. About 5 years ago I read about a hair process called “Japanese Hair Straightening.” The short description is that it’s a permanent hair straightening process that leaves the hair shiny, silky, smooth and straight, but with body. Basically, as an ex-boyfriend said the first time I did it, it’s 10 years of therapy wrapped into a hair-do.

I know, I said it was permanent but then said “the first time” I did it. That’s because when your roots grow in, they grow in like your old hair. It’s the processed hair that always remains straight, shiny and beautiful (I’m talking wash and go people!).

Anyway, when I first did it, about 5 years ago, it wasn’t a popular hair treatment and I used to travel to New York City from Portland, Maine every 4-6 months to get my roots done. In between touch-ups I would use a flat iron to tame my roots.

Now, fast forward to my current situation. I’m in Israel and yes, they have the Japanese Straightening here, but I am terrified of trusting my locks to some random hair dresser. Remember, I used to go from po-dunk Maine to glitzy Manhattan to get this done. So, it’s been nearly a year since I’ve had my “therapy.” Therefore, I have made the very, very difficult and sad decision to go back to my natural hair….. But all hope is not lost. Which brings me to the true reason I’ve decided to post this.

Remember I said I used a straightening iron to handle my roots in between processes. Well, I have my momma to thank for the AMAZING Sedu Ceramic Tourmaline flat iron she bought for me. It was a gift from mother to daughter to help me stay beautiful.

But wait, that’s not even the point.

She lives in Florida and at the time, I lived in Maine. Smart lady that she is, she ordered the flat iron from an online store called Folica.com. Fine, good, dandy. I’ve got an awesome flat iron and life was great.

Fast forward. I move to Israel. The unruly, frizzy hair begins to sprout from my scalp and I use the Sedu iron like a champ! But, here’s where our story takes a sad, sad turn. The flat iron broke! AHHHH! I’m in Israel, with terrible hair and NO FLAT IRON!!! AHHH…

So, what’s a girl to do? She calls Folica.com and tells them what happened. They say the Flat iron is under warranty so send it back, with a check for return shipping (I think it was $9.95) and once they receive it they’ll ship a new one out.

Ecstatic, I went to the airport and found someone who was going to America and asked them to help me out. OK. Not really… I asked someone I know and they hooked me up (THANKS JON!).

Unfortunately, our story doesn’t end there and it doesn’t begin to explain why I think Folica.com is the MOST AWESOME company!!

So, Jon (my flat iron helper) comes back from the U.S. with my new flat iron, but alas! It doesn’t work. Just when my hair is really at it’s worst. Not only do I have terrible hair, but it’s in that terrible growing out stage… frizzy, curly roots and straight and shiny everywhere else. So, so, so sad….. I’m forced to buy a junky, version here and just make do until Jon goes back to the states.

That was in November. Just last week (first week of April) Jon goes back and takes my flat iron with him once again. Again, I call Folica.com. I tell them the flat iron never worked and I explain why it took me so long to return it.

NOW PAY ATTENTION. HERE’S WHY FOLICA.COM IS AWESOME.

The woman I spoke with was sweet and kind and helpful. She apologized for the situation and asked if I wanted a refund. I said “NO WAY!” despite a little bump in the road, the Sedu Iron is the best EVER! I wanted a new one. So get this (and any other companies out there should take note of this incredible customer service)

1. She shipped a new Sedu Flat Iron out right away.

2. She enclosed a UPS shipping label with it so I wouldn’t pay to ship the broken one back

3. DID YOU CATCH THAT?! They sent me a new one (on their dime) BEFORE they received the *old* one AND they are paying for shipping on that side too.

NOW THAT’S A STRAIGHT UP AWESOME COMPANY.

So thank you Sedu and Folica.com for making me nothing short of a hair model and Jon for being my errand boy.

Oh, and please note, despite the fact that the Sedu Iron was broken, I still HIGHLY recommend it. Sometimes things happen, you know? Besides, if you have a company like Folica.com working for you, you can afford to try things out.

Of course, that’s just One Girl’s Opinion.





Is there anybody out there?

9 04 2008

Ok, not the most clever or original post title, but hey, it’s a start.

So, here I am at WordPress… trying out the whole blogging thing.  This is actually my second attempt.  My first attempt was over at Blogspot and my last post was a couple of years ago.  Just checked it out and not only is it still there, but it’s pretty freakin’ hilarious too…. of course, as with anything you read here, that’s just one girl’s opinion.

Now of course, you must be dying to know why I would start all over here at WordPress when I have a blog over at Blogspot.  The reason began with a little geographical problem.

I know, I know the internet defies the idea of boundaries and borders.  But listen up, there is still that pesky language issue or at least I thought there was a language issue….

I recently moved to Israel (yes, that Israel and no, there aren’t bombs exploding and terrorists on every corner… today at least).  So, I’m obviously logging onto the “internets” via an Israeli ISP and when I logged onto Blogspot I discovered that all the menus are in Hebrew!  What the??!

OK.  Yes.  I live here.  And yes, I kinda speak Hebrew but words like archive, profile and upload are not in my everyday vocabulary.  So I started looking for a new blog site (hello WordPress!) while I put in a call to an IT buddy to see if there was a way to switch the language back on Blogspot. 

Turns out there is, so language isn’t exactly the reason I made the jump.

Once I figured out how to change my Blogspot dashboard back to English, Google (the new Blogspot owners) made me sign in with a Google account instead of my old Blogspot username and password.  Of course, I complied, but then!  They tried to make me create a new blog and duh!  my blog name was already taken.

I’m sure there’s some way for me to figure out how to get back into my own blog with my Google user account, but darn it, I want to start a blog today and don’t have the patience to figure it out.

So, hello WordPress.  Thanks for having me.  In English.  With my preferred blog title.