Rants: Volmall.com and an idiotic sailor/student

[Poli]

Two rants for the price of one. One is my experience with volmall.com, the "official" store for utsports.com, and the other my idiotic sailor/student.

My wife placed a "huge" order (in the $2,000 range, more than we've ever spent online and by far more on UT stuff than ever before) with them near the end of October. Partly to make up for missing out on the chance to go down to Knoxville and watch a game (my wife broke her fibula and ruptured a ligament, I went home to take care of her instead) and partly for Christmas.
There are plenty of other places out there we could have ordered from, but I went with volmall because of the connection to UTsports.com and that proceeds from each purchase benefit the UT athletic department. Win-win, I thought. I get a bunch of UT gear and stuff, and I support the UT athletic department at the same time. I told my wife to order just from volmall and she did.

Fastforward to last night. I left Chicago last night for my home in Missouri where my wife lives (I am in the Navy). Waiting for me was almost everything. Ordered in October, almost everything in December. I'm a little disappointed in that. My wife's been on the phone with personnel from volmall.com nearly every day trying to find out where the remaining items are. A few items arrived yesterday before I got home.

One of the items was a Virginia Tech backpack (PING: VPI). I could have swore we ordered from volmall.com and not hokiesports.com or whatever it is. Another item is a Peyton Manning autographed football. One of 500. The display box is torn up. The item sells for three hundred dollars and the display box is tore up.

The snack bowl helmet box was literally destroyed when we received it. The box it was shipped in had other items in it as well, but the box the bowl came in along with the "helmet" were completely separated. Are you kidding me?

The personnel at volmall.com have been far from helpful. My wife talks to a new person nearly every day. Each person gives her a new story, varying from "we can't help you" to "I'll email my supervisor and the company" and "We'll call you right back" to "I'm sorry I'll take care of this" and "We don't have a callback system". We've never received a response from volmall.com Any responses we get from them is when we initiate it. We've never been contacted.

Today, my wife's tried to call three times to complain about the backpack and other items. The line has disconnected all three times while we are on hold.

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Rant #2 The Case of the Idiotic Sailor

I teach Naval Heritage at my barracks. I cover a different lesson or topic each week. Over the course of the week, I teach about 340 sailors in my barracks during four classes.

Last week was the anniversary of the attack of Pearl Harbor. As such, my lesson was about December 7th, 1941. The instructor guide, or IG, I was given had certain areas to be covered. One of which was Doris "Dorie" Miller.

The IG stated that an eyewitness account said Miller shot the .50 cal machine gun with a large confident smile. I wasn't satisfied that the IG finished there, so I asked the question,
"What was the significance of Petty officer Miller's accomplishments?" The answer I was looking for: It was the first time he shot the gun. He had never been trained on it.

The answer I got from one sailor, in front of 85 of his shipmates, "It was the closest he was going to get to shoot white people."

Are you kidding me??

He got razzed by the sailors around him, and I pointed at him and said "No!". I then explained the answer I was looking for.

After the class, I pulled the sailor into our office, where my chief found out about it. This sailor was soon charged with Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Failure to Obey. The sailor failed to obey the commanding officer's policy on inappropriate language.

He was taken to captain's mast as a result of this. I filled out a voluntary statement in regards to the incident, as did 15 of the sailors that were in the room at the time.

Shortly after his captain's mast my chief was called and told that I'd be joining the sailor at captain's mast at 430 later that day. Hmm. I wonder why. I had a couple of theories why the captain would want me there, ranging from good to bad.

When I got there, I was "briefed" that the commanding officer may "turn the heat up" on me. What the heck for? The sailor told our commanding officer I baited him into answering that way. The sailor said I asked, "Why was Miller smiling?"

So, there I am, in my dress blues with my "IG" in hand, and now I'm standing in front of the captain. He asks me what I said and to see my IG, which of course I let him have. I showed him where it said Miller smiled, and explained to him why I asked the question I did, not what the sailor said I did. The captain excused me and after I left the sailor went back in.

Obviously, I didn't get punished but just being there I felt I was. Why didn't they read my voluntary statement, or any of the voluntary statements of the students? I never read their statements, but I'd be reasonably sure their's said something similar to mine.

I was so wound up over this, even though I didn't get in trouble, that I hardly slept that night. I came back telling my chain of command they'll never get me to teach another class again.

Obviously I will, it's not like I can dictate what I will and won't do. It just ticks me off to no end that I was brought down there to get the "heat" turned on me, when I did not one thing wrong.

End of rants. Carry on.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by ardent enthusiast

Two rants for the price of one. One is my experience with volmall.com, the "official" store for utsports.com, and the other my idiotic sailor/student.

My wife placed a "huge" order (in the $2,000 range, more than we've ever spent online and by far more on UT stuff than ever before) with them near the end of October. Partly to make up for missing out on the chance to go down to Knoxville and watch a game (my wife broke her fibula and ruptured a ligament, I went home to take care of her instead) and partly for Christmas.
There are plenty of other places out there we could have ordered from, but I went with volmall because of the connection to UTsports.com and that proceeds from each purchase benefit the UT athletic department. Win-win, I thought. I get a bunch of UT gear and stuff, and I support the UT athletic department at the same time. I told my wife to order just from volmall and she did.

Fastforward to last night. I left Chicago last night for my home in Missouri where my wife lives (I am in the Navy). Waiting for me was almost everything. Ordered in October, almost everything in December. I'm a little disappointed in that. My wife's been on the phone with personnel from volmall.com nearly every day trying to find out where the remaining items are. A few items arrived yesterday before I got home.

One of the items was a Virginia Tech backpack (PING: VPI). I could have swore we ordered from volmall.com and not hokiesports.com or whatever it is. Another item is a Peyton Manning autographed football. One of 500. The display box is torn up. The item sells for three hundred dollars and the display box is tore up.

The snack bowl helmet box was literally destroyed when we received it. The box it was shipped in had other items in it as well, but the box the bowl came in along with the "helmet" were completely separated. Are you kidding me?

The personnel at volmall.com have been far from helpful. My wife talks to a new person nearly every day. Each person gives her a new story, varying from "we can't help you" to "I'll email my supervisor and the company" and "We'll call you right back" to "I'm sorry I'll take care of this" and "We don't have a callback system". We've never received a response from volmall.com Any responses we get from them is when we initiate it. We've never been contacted.

Today, my wife's tried to call three times to complain about the backpack and other items. The line has disconnected all three times while we are on hold.

-------------

Rant #2 The Case of the Idiotic Sailor

I teach Naval Heritage at my barracks. I cover a different lesson or topic each week. Over the course of the week, I teach about 340 sailors in my barracks during four classes.

Last week was the anniversary of the attack of Pearl Harbor. As such, my lesson was about December 7th, 1941. The instructor guide, or IG, I was given had certain areas to be covered. One of which was Doris "Dorie" Miller.

The IG stated that an eyewitness account said Miller shot the .50 cal machine gun with a large confident smile. I wasn't satisfied that the IG finished there, so I asked the question,
"What was the significance of Petty officer Miller's accomplishments?" The answer I was looking for: It was the first time he shot the gun. He had never been trained on it.

The answer I got from one sailor, in front of 85 of his shipmates, "It was the closest he was going to get to shoot white people."

Are you kidding me??

He got razzed by the sailors around him, and I pointed at him and said "No!". I then explained the answer I was looking for.

After the class, I pulled the sailor into our office, where my chief found out about it. This sailor was soon charged with Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Failure to Obey. The sailor failed to obey the commanding officer's policy on inappropriate language.

He was taken to captain's mast as a result of this. I filled out a voluntary statement in regards to the incident, as did 15 of the sailors that were in the room at the time.

Shortly after his captain's mast my chief was called and told that I'd be joining the sailor at captain's mast at 430 later that day. Hmm. I wonder why. I had a couple of theories why the captain would want me there, ranging from good to bad.

When I got there, I was "briefed" that the commanding officer may "turn the heat up" on me. What the heck for? The sailor told our commanding officer I baited him into answering that way. The sailor said I asked, "Why was Miller smiling?"

So, there I am, in my dress blues with my "IG" in hand, and now I'm standing in front of the captain. He asks me what I said and to see my IG, which of course I let him have. I showed him where it said Miller smiled, and explained to him why I asked the question I did, not what the sailor said I did. The captain excused me and after I left the sailor went back in.

Obviously, I didn't get punished but just being there I felt I was. Why didn't they read my voluntary statement, or any of the voluntary statements of the students? I never read their statements, but I'd be reasonably sure their's said something similar to mine.

I was so wound up over this, even though I didn't get in trouble, that I hardly slept that night. I came back telling my chain of command they'll never get me to teach another class again.

Obviously I will, it's not like I can dictate what I will and won't do. It just ticks me off to no end that I was brought down there to get the "heat" turned on me, when I did not one thing wrong.

End of rants. Carry on.

Mrs. A is a grad student teacher at UNC. It has gotten to the point now when students are accused of plagarism (sp?), the teacher needs to demonstrate that she taught the student what plagarism was and that the student understood it before any consequences can fall unto the students. Indeed, the teacher can get into trouble if it turns out that she did not teach "no cheating" well enough.

Used to be that when a student did something wrong, they were punished. Now, it seems more and more common to go after the teachers. I am all for the right to defend oneself against accusations, but I think that certain relationships (teacher/student, superior officer/enlisted man) require a level of deference and respect that has been over-eroded by our desire to protect that right of defense.

It is a subtle question, but we do no one any good when we make it easy to get away with cheating and insubordination in the name of fairness.

[VPI97]

Originally Posted by ardent enthusiast

One of the items was a Virginia Tech backpack (PING: VPI). I could have swore we ordered from volmall.com and not hokiesports.com or whatever it is.

I fail to see the problem. Who wouldn't want a VT backpack instead of a UT one?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by ardent enthusiast

End of rants. Carry on.

I think what worries me most is that the first story is actually more surprising to me than the second one.

[volfan77]

AE,
Sounds like like you got the "Big Orange Screw." Part of the UT tradition. I would contact the Athletic Dept, or even better the AD Mike Hamilton(865-974-1224 off the UTK website). I'm sure they would love to find out that you received a VT backpack ordered through their official site. I would imagine that spending $2K would get you better customer service. They must be real busy getting ready for the big bowl game this year!

[KWhit]

You spent $2000 on Tennessee Vols crap?

Where's that laughing my ass off smilie?






Go Dawgs!

[Deattribution]

Originally Posted by volfan77

AE,
They must be real busy getting ready for the big bowl game this year!

flllllusssssssshhhhhhh

[volfan77]

Originally Posted by Deattribution

flllllusssssssshhhhhhh

That was the sound I heard when UT lost to Vandy this year. :o

[Poli]

Minor update:

Most of the remaining items came in, but I never did receive the backpack of the autographed football. Over a month after we sent the damaged and wrong items back, they finally admitted receiving the items, after denying it as early as this morning.

They tried to convince my wife they'd send a football immediately, and ship a backpack out when it got in stock. We've had enough, though. We're "supposed" to get a refund. I'll be waiting for that.

Maybe if the refund goes through I'll finally get BBCF.

[Poli]

Dola:

I've also been moved to a shift at work where I'm not in contact with that student.

[Passacaglia]

Crappy story, ardent. I used to handle mail-orders when I was at Michigan -- I would have never let crap like that go down. Do you know anything about the site -- is it actually on campus? The VT backpack seems like it isn't. It seems more like it's part of a larger sports-licensing entity, rather than anything that would support the UT athletic department.

[Poli]

They're in Coppell, Texas. They are worthless.

[Poli]

Man, I'm so angry at volmall.com.

I'm tempted to create a site: www.ihatevolmall.com.

[JeeberD]

Originally Posted by ardent enthusiast

They're in Coppell, Texas. They are worthless.

I'm literally three miles from Coppell (it's where my sister and her family lives). You should have let me know and I would have gone down there and raised hell for you...

[Poli]

You can still do it if you want.

[Poli]

Final Update, finally.

Today we got the refund. It was more than we asked for (in the range of about 100 dollars more).

[Poli]

Tennessee finally got rid of the people at volmall, moving the site over to the university bookstore.

Thank you!!!

[JediKooter]

Only 4 and a half years later...