Snugg iPad 3 Case Cover and Flip Stand: A REVIEW

I was delighted when recently asked to review a product from TheSnugg.com's amazing range of top quality, stylish cases.

My 13 year old son was especially delighted when the product chosen was the Snugg iPad 3 Case Cover and Flip Stand, in Electric Blue PU Leather no less, and was very excited when it arrived in the post:

While I was waiting for the case to arrive I had a nice browse through their website and did a bit of research. It seems that the Snugg brand was born in 2010 with their very first iPad case. One of their directors couldn't find a suitable case for his brand new iPad you see, so they had a brainstorming discussion, over a few drinks apparantly - the only way to brainstorm I believe - and they decided to make their very own iPad case. Already I was impressed!

TheSnugg.com's aim is to bring quality products, whether its their products or others, to market. They believe that all the products they stock on their site to be great products in function and in quality. They now stock a wide range of all kinds of different Snugg products (and other people's) and are expanding all the time.

They have what's known as The Snugg Promise which promises a 'Snugg fit' among other things and confirms that 'all cases have been custom made for each of the devices they cover.'

They even promise a Lifetime Guarantee on all of their cases. Don't forget to register your product though!

So, what did my very discerning Teen Boy think of his new iPad 3 case then?

It certainly was a very snug fit as you can see......

'I think the material is very good and I like how the case is designed,' Teen Boy tells me. 

I particularly like that when you close the cover it 'locks' the iPad. That's really smart as there's no need to press any buttons.

I really like the elasticated hand strap at the back too. I like how it's designed, it's very compact.

I also like their clever design for the stand.

I like that I can access all buttons with ease and charge the battery at the same time.

I also really like the pen-holder, it's a very clever way to store your pen so you don't lose it.

I asked him was there anything he didn't like about it: There's nothing wrong with this case' he said, 'but I have a suggestion'.

'Really, what would that be then?' I asked.

Well, it should come with a pen too. Like extra, if you wanted one.'

'So, like a purchasable, optional accessory? With TheSnugg.com logo on it perhaps?

'Exactly' replied my very entrepreneurial Teen Boy! *

Now, there's an idea for their marketing team. We'd be most happy to try them out for them if they ever go with the idea!

My boy is very lucky that I'm only now discovering that they also do a cover for the Amazon Kindle else that may have been the product chosen for this review! I'm so impressed with the iPad cover that I want one of these too!

TheSnugg.com do lots of different cases to help keep your devices in pristine condition. They are the biggest sellers in the USA and are also Amazon best sellers in the USA, UK, Germany and Japan!
.
You can check out their UK website here and their USA website here.


Enjoy!


xx



* Since publishing this post TheSnugg.com advised me that they have a 2 in 1 stylus pen available! It didn't show up on my search on the site for some reason. Check it out here.

Good Customer Service Stories: Battle of the Bags and more...

Times are tough, austere even, and retail spend is down.

When people do spend, especially when they invest in good quality goods, they expect good quality customer service to match. The days of putting up with shoddy workmanship, or prematurely malfunctioning products and simply consigning them to the scrap heap, buying shiny new replacements without skipping a heart beat, are long gone.

Having been raised in an era of appreciating what you have I've never believed in just putting up with faulty goods. Although of late I have dilly dallied a tad on a couple of problematic items. I didn't have receipts you see.

Not that that really matters when it comes to faulty goods, per the National Consumers Association of Ireland. They're entitled to request proof of purchase but it doesn't have to be a shop receipt. I think it was the thought of having to psyche myself up for possible confrontation with regards to what constitutes faulty goods that had me sitting back on my very comfortable laurels.

So, eventually I decided to haul myself off said comfortable 'seat', and start by returning the Ramshackle Rucksack, which was purchased last December as part of a very good Rock N River deal, back to whence it came. 

Sure whats the worse they could say to me - take a hike?

Given that the straps came off the bag on a 50 yard walk from car to school hall it's lucky it never actually took an actual hike! A point I was all too ready to drill home.

Turns out there was no need. There was a stitching fault on these rucksacks you see, resulting in a product recall. Something I wouldn't have known had I not called in, receiving a properly stitched replacement for my troubles.

This buoyed up my confidence no end so next up was the curious case of the Snaggy School Bag.

Last August I invested €45 in a good quality Portland 4 Tec school bag for my Teen Boy's commencement in secondary school. A bag with many pockets, strong straps and a padded back to protect the back of my pride and joy, that would surely last him a few years?

It barely lasted two months before the zipper on the main pocket got all snaggy and the teeth all twisty. Although we fixed the zipper many times it got increasingly more snaggy and twisty, eventually culminating in the zip falling off entirely, rendering the bag completely useless. And all within a mere seven months! Really not acceptable. Especially so when informed that JanSport bags have a thirty year guarantee. Thirty years! You can't beat that.

Unsure of warranty and being unable to find the receipt I was reluctant to bring it back at first. Perhaps there's a fault with these bags too, I thought to myself as I cheekily strode into the shop, trailing Snaggy School Bag behind me. Now, this one I was really winging so I was all sweetness and light! I wouldn't have taken no for an answer and would have, nicely, pushed for a contact email for the manufacturer if necessary. Surprisingly there was no fuss, no protracted arguments just my contact details entered into a book noting me for a replacement bag of equal value, when the new stock came in! A JanSport bag, no less!

I'm on a roll here, I thought. Now to finally bite the bullet and get my totally-out-of-warranty no-chance-of-replacement, non-working camera sorted out. It was barely out of warranty when I first brought it back only to be told it needed a new battery. I didn't buy a new battery. I brooded over it for a few months instead, really not happy with the outcome. So in I went again, nicely asking for them to check it out one more time. The real problem was identified and resolved to my total satisfaction, making me, yet again, a very satisfied customer.

The final good customer service story involves my recent trip to our local library. The staff there always very kindly remind this addled Dizzy Jazzy when I attempt to borrow a book that I've already read! This time I attempted to borrow one I'd read only six weeks ago! Oops. And sparked off a conversation about my favoured genre - psychological thrillers- which resulted with the very kind library assistant writing out some Scandinavian suggestions for me. This was not only good customer service but good public service too!

Times are tough and not all prices are falling. We shouldn't just put up with goods and services that we're not happy with. A good business will keep their customers happy, thereby encouraging them to come back for more when they can afford to do so.

Those companies deserve some appreciation too, so - kudos to the following:

The Scout Shop Ireland (Bray),

Michael Doherty School Supplies (Bray) ,

Fujifilm Photo Shop (Shankill)

Dun laoghaire Rathdown libraries.


Well done, you've made this customer very happy. I'll be back....


xx

Desperately Seeking Everything and Invoking Sod's Law

If you've been reading my blog a while you'll know that I'm a Dizzy Jazzy, who distractedly loses things like musical tickets and keys, private documents etc with alarming regularity.

I 'always forget to bring things' on trips too, as Teen Boy points out, also with alarming regularity. I'll never forget this embarrassing day last summer when I ran out of diesel, miles from home and had no money!

But as I always say 'if I didn't have to remember everyone else's stuff then I'd have less to forget.'  I would also warn people - you know who you are - if you see me working, like ironing or cooking, never give me important stuff.  Ever. You see I'm never just ironing or cooking. I'm usually doing both whilst also planning what I have to do next in my head. I will not remember what I've done with what you've given me. 

This week I have managed to mislay a few items and I have no-one to blame but myself.

I mislaid my house keys yet again and a potato grow-bag, of all things, that was from a pack of two. The former is a normal occurrence, I have my Mia Tui bags to keep me organised when out and about but as yet my home, like my brain, has yet to be Mia Tui-ed. The keys turned up a day later as they usually do as did the grow-bag, which had seemingly vanished into thin air mere moments after being opened.

But the one thing that hasn't turned up yet, after 5 days of searching, are my reading glasses! Honestly, I had them one minute and  then pooft, between the dining table downstairs and the bathroom upstairs, they disappeared - into the magic black hole where all my lost things are secreted away on me I reckon. I'm convinced this place exists somewhere in my house. No doubt it contains sets of keys, odd socks, odd earrings, maybe some money, show tickets etc and things I've even forgotten that I've lost!

One day I'll find this secret place.

But first I have to find my glasses.

I've desperately sought them here, I've desperately sought them there, I've desperately sought them

Every.

Bloody.

Where.

They are simply not to be found - anywhere!

I've searched under, behind and within all sofas and chairs and in all drawers, boxes and discarded bags.

I've looked in all pockets of all garments, hand-bags and car seats.

I've examined all presses and cabinets.

I've rummaged through the Green and Purple wheelie bins and the kitchen and bathroom bins.

And also, in complete desperation, I checked the fridge, the microwave, the oven and the hot press!

There is nowhere left for me to search.

Well, except the un-findable place where they are, obviously.

The infamous black hole? Or perhaps we have our very own naughty magpie? Of the feline variety?

                                                                    Moi? Never...

I even prayed to Saints Anthony and Jude, promising all sorts that I have no chance of following through on. But even they didn't listen to me. I'm a complete lost cause and hopeless case, it would seem.

I then decided to invoke Sod's Law by buying a replacement pair, but that hasn't worked as of yet. It seems that Sod's Law comes at a price and will not be bought by a pair of cheap, over-the-counter pharmacy glasses.

I bet that the great and powerful Sod himself is up there, crossing his arms, tut-tutting at me and saying in a tantalising, annoying voice: 'You should have gone (back) to Specsavers'!

So, I am at a complete loss and don't know where to find them. I'm hoping if I leave them alone, they'll come home, wagging ...to find me!

In the meantime though, have you any suggestions?

What's the weirdest place that you found something you've misplaced?


xx




PS If you notice anything strange when commenting on my blog, like strange pop-ups etc, could you please let me know? Thank you :-)

Full Circle

..

Once upon a time there was s special little boy who went to a lovely little school.

His mum worried about him but he was well cared for in his little school  He received great instruction there and was introduced to lots of different activities. One of which was being brought on weekly swimming sessions, to a lovely little pool.

His mum used to go too, to help out with her boy and his classmates in this lovely little pool and to help him shower and change afterwards. His mum remembers these trips vividly and with fondness.

In time the little boy grew up and went to a bigger school, where he was also well cared for, educated and introduced to even more new activities. The clever little boy worked hard and thrived.

He still loved to go swimming and went to many different lessons and over time became quite a good little swimmer.

And then one day, suddenly while no-one was looking, the little boy became a teenager. Over night. Flick of a switch and there he was, all grown up. Almost.

He moved to an even bigger, more grown up school where he's been introduced to a multitude of interesting,  academic subjects and even more activities.

One of these activities is swimming and requires the now-teenage boy to walk from the school with his classmates, unsupervised, to a certain lovely little swimming pool.....

It was a happy and proud mum who patiently waited afterwards in the afternoon sunshine, nonchalantly reading her book, while her son finished off showering and dressing.

The teenage boy had fun but doesn't remember being here before and his mum is kind of happy about that.

She has a smile on her face, that widens the more she thinks about the journey they've travelled so far. In her head she silently pats both herself and her child on the back thinking 'job well done' and feels rather astonished at how things on this section of the journey seem to have come full circle.

They drive home in companionable silence and while the teenage boy gets on with doing his homework, his mum relaxes for a while and reads some more of her book.

The End

(For now)

xx

Jazzy The Hooker....... Finally

I've wanted to be one for a very long time, ever since I was a child in fact.

I even had some instruction on it  in school, a kind of a taster to introduce us to this age-old craft. I didn't take to it then although I did take to another related discipline. In fact I became quite proficient at that. Mostly thanks to my mother who was very good at it herself.

I was particularly smitten when my Godmother presented me with an item of clothing when I was a child, that really had me hooked - if you'll. pardon the pun. I really looked the part in that dress.....

Over time I've forgotten about this ambition of mine, until late last year when I started paying for some weekly instructions. I've really taken to it this time around, perhaps because I am more mature now? I even spend some Saturday night's doing it at home. Mr Jazzy and Teen Boy don't object, I just take myself into the sitting room to indulge in my new found passion, leaving them in peace.

I really wanted to do it when I was pregnant too but.....












Oh..... wait a minute..... when I said 'Hooker' ..... you didn't think...... Oh no, no, no. no.... I'm not talking about that age old craft! No, not at all. I mean the other age old craft - the craft of crochet, people: crochet!! What are ye like?!










See, I really wanted to crochet a christening blanket when I was pregnant on Teen Boy, there were so many impressive patterns for crocheting. I eventually found a suitable knitting pattern and made this intricate blanket instead:

But I never gave up on my ambition of being a Hooker and now, thanks to the weekly publication: The Art of Crochet I have become quite a proficient Hooker! I still love to knit but am really enjoying crochet too.

It is a great way to learn as each week you crochet a square, learning different stitches as you go, that will eventually become a blanket. At €4.95 per issue it will arguably be the most expensive blanket ever! I've completed 30 squares to date as you can see from this:

I also had to learn to embroider, something I hate

and am not very good at so don't look too closely!

You also get an interesting pattern or 2 every week. A measure of how well you're learning how to crochet, or to knit, is how you can break away from basic instructions and follow a pattern. By week 3, thanks to my knitting experience, I was able to make these:

And here's what I'm working on now:

I'm doing well but week 32 has me totally stumped. The people at Hachette Partworks aren't being very helpful so I now call on all  you more professional Hookers out there to help me decipher! It simply doesn't make sense to me. Can you figure this out?

                                  It's step 4 to 5 that's the problem. I don't think they explain it properly. 
                                                  Trying to create this 'Mock Cable Square':

Meanwhile I'll carry on, the weekly patterns have given me lots of ideas for various projects which will keep me very busy and out of trouble. While hands that do crochet can still sip wine, they are less likely to dip into the crisp packet ;-)

I'll leave you now, a very versatile Jazzy - who went  from being a Hoofer to a Hooker, in 3 easy steps!



xx

#SilentSunday

                                                     

xx

NO to Croke Park 2 and NO to Austerity..... For ALL?

I was full of admiration and respect this week for those Public Servants who had the courage of their convictions to vote a resounding NO to the proposals put forward in the Croke Park 2 (CP 2) agreement, which would have seen their pay cut yet again. They also said NO to the bullying tactics used by this Government desperate to secure agreement.

I also respect those who voted 'yes'. I am in no doubt that most of them did so feeling that it was the only way to avoid an even worse fate and for fear of loss of earnings they cannot afford, due to any resulting strike action.

This 'no' result is important and is a potentially huge opportunity for all workers and everyone affected by austerity and cut-backs in this country.

I feel that Public Servants have been treated appallingly by both recent Irish Governments. The previous Fianna Fail led coalition reneged on an existing pay agreement prior to legislating for and forcing a huge pension levy on us in  2009 and then coming back for more pay cuts in 2010. The current Fianna Gael/Labour Government have also reneged on an existing agreement, Croke Park 1, which had achieved huge savings and still had 14 months to run. We know more savings can be made, talk to and involve the staff - they'll have solutions. Despite promises to the contrary and stating that they always stick to their deals, they recently forced agreement from Trade Unions to recommend more pay cuts via the CP 2 agreement to it's members. Who could ever trust them again when as recently as September 2011 Minister Howlin et al promised he wouldn't ask for more pay cuts?

Public Sector workers know they have to contribute but feel they've already paid their fair share. They face constant anti-Public Sector sentiments from the general public. It's now time to stop being an easy target and to make a stand against the also constant austerity measures. We know that a lot (but not all) Private Sector workers have made huge sacrifices and have been treated poorly too. There is now a huge number of workers across BOTH sectors who have been massively affected by austerity, haven't we ALL had enough?

Both recent Governments have engaged in divide and conquer tactics, not only between the Public and Private Sector but also within the very diverse Public Sector. It serves them well. God forbid that we could all find a common platform and stand together to protest against the constant austere cuts being levied on us all, which only result in less spending in the domestic economy and loss of even more private sector jobs. It is estimated that the pay cuts in CP2 would have meant a loss of 3000 such jobs. 

So what happens next?

The Government insist that the savings of €300 million included in the budget must come from pay roll. Why?
Instead of Minister Howlin bullying Public Servants into pay cuts they simply cannot afford, Labour should have stood up to Fianna Gael's bullying at budget time, when they threatened to impose a 3% Social Welfare cut if Labour insisted on a 3% wealth tax.

Ironically it is estimated that the proposed wealth Tax would have brought in about €305 million.

Why should low-mid income Public Sector workers pay to protect the rich? Indeed why should ANY such worker pay?

In 2009 I wrote a blog post on the MacCarthy Report (attempting to dispel some PS myths!) and followed it with my A Nation Dividing post. I totally stand over the content in these posts. In both I touch on the massive cost to the exchequer in the Black Market Economy, estimated in 2009 to be costing €461 million per week.There will be yield in most audits these days so we need to resource Revenue, as we did in the 1990's, and let them tackle tax avoidance. I also wrote about the difficulty in accepting a job when social welfare entitlements are compared to diminishing wages and the costs incurred in going to work. I still believe this and felt vindicated by a brief comment made by an employer on last Tuesday's Prime Time programme on RTE.

So, what are the Government going to do now the ball is now in their court? Part of their bullying tactics was to threaten to legislate for an across the board 7% pay cut, which would mostly affect low-mid income earners. Will they have the neck to do that? Or will they revert to the usual divide and conquer tactics and try to tweak the untweakable to bag a majority 'Yes' vote in round 2?

While I fear the latter part of me really wants them to try force the 7% cut, so sparking a massive response.

Just think about it.

A substantial number of workers, almost 300,000 people, have stood up to this Government and said NO - we've had enough and we cannot  take any more.

If we're very clever and stop comparing the incomparable shades of green on the other side of the fence,this could be the start of something good for everyone.

Look, there's been lots of protests here and there against cuts, particularly with regard to Property Tax. None are having effect. None.

How about we knock down those damn fences and join forces? Who cares who precipitates the mass revolt and gives the ordinary person a louder voice? It has to start with one very large group so why not Public Servants.

How powerful would that be?

I guess we'll never know.

Pity....


xx




PS: I know this won't be well received by some and no doubt I will  receive a right bashing myself! But you know what, that's fine. I wrote it with best intentions at heart trying to find an inclusive way forward.  We're all entitled to our opinions. I will respect yours but please understand and don't be offended  if I don't respond. I really feel so sickened by the level of constant anti- Public Servant sentiments that I made a decision sometime ago not to engage or respond. I hope you understand.x