I usually do not rant about anything to the public, lol.. but today I am kinda mad. When the boys were born I had a friend buy us < < < this beautiful crib.
I noticed sometime last week that one of the slats in the front (in the middle of the crib) is almost broken into two pieces. . . It is broken from the inside of the crib, which tells me that umm.. a baby broke it? Seriously.. do they make these things so cheaply that a baby can break a slat into two pieces? What a joke. So I was just thinking that I wasnt sure what to do about it. In talking to my sister she suggested that I should call the number of the maker on the crib. In this case the crib was made by "Simplicity for Children". I called the number gave them the serial number and model number and she said "I am sorry Mam, the maker of your crib has gone out of business". What!? Seriously? Yeah, the conversation went on, she tells me they are a different company who bought the desks, the office furnature, the filing cabinets, etc, and apparently the phone number... but they didnt buy any of their supplies for crib making to be able to supply me with a slat for the $300 crib that is broken and could cause the death of a child. what a crock! So I started to research on Google.. this company.. SFCA that purchased them are a total bunch of meanies from what I read on Google. They wont help anyone who purchased the Simplicity cribs. .. .. So my thoughts are why in the world keep the phone number for them if you aren't going to do anything but tick off the customers?
Here is a nice little article written by Stephanie Fierman:
"More than 25 years ago, Tylenol changed the "crisis management" business forever by taking decisive action to compromise profitability based on something that was not its fault.
In the fall of 1982, seven people in Chicago died after taking Extra Strength Tylenol capsules laced with potassium cyanide. A 12-year old girl was reportedly the first to die. Panic ensued. Police cars roved the streets in and around the Chicago area blasting warnings from PA systems. When it was determined that the poisoned bottles had come from different factories, the possibility that Johnson & Johnson (Tylenol's ultimate parent) was somehow to blame was decisively ruled out. Officials came to believe that one or multiple criminals had instead removed bottles from stores, tampered with the contents and then surreptitiously returned the bottles to store shelves.
And yet, responsibility never entered into the decision-making process underway at J&J: only public safety did. The company stopped all Tylenol production and promotion. It issued a national recall not after the episode was over, but while it was still very much underway. The bottles returned to J&J as a result of the recall had a retail value of more than $100 million. I shouldn't say that J&J stopped all Tylenol promotion: it paid for and issued new national advertising instructing individuals to avoid taking any products that contained Tylenol, and offering to reimburse anyone who sent in an existing bottle of Tylenol capsules.
Once both the crisis and J&J's action plan were in full force, Tylenol's market share dropped like a rock from 35% to 8%. To be expected. What was not expected was that share rebounded in less than one year: a return widely credited to J&J's immediate and decisive action to sacrifice its own well being for the health of - really - the entire country. Since then, J&J's response is widely considered to be the gold standard in crisis management. Act now. Ask later.
I cannot overemphasize how I feel today about J&J's behavior that long-ago autumn when I was still a kid. It made an impression that has lasted my entire career: one that influences how I measure companies and my own conduct as a business executive to this very day.
So when I see a company disregard such a lesson for no other reason than financial gain, I am not just nonplussed - I'm disgusted.
SFCA Inc. purchased the assets of Simplicity Inc., a baby bassinet manufacturer, earlier this year after Simplicity went out of business. SFCA is an affiliate of the private equity firm, Blackstreet Capital. Two weeks ago, fifteen retailers - including Target, Wal-Mart, Toys R Us, Amazon and Kmart - halted the sale of certain Simplicity bassinets that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said could be hazardous to babies after two baby girls died (from strangulation in their bassinets). The Wall Street Journal reported that Toys R Us were selling eight of the 66 models affected by the warning; the chain pulled the products anyway. And all the retailers affected agreed to permit consumers to return the bassinets for a refund or store credit, regardless of how long ago the product had been purchased. These retailers heeded the lessons learned from the shining example set by Johnson & Johnson. Act now.
SFCA, on the other hand, is doing nothing, holding fast to its claim that it bears no legal responsibility for the hazardous bassinets. The USCPC couldn't even issue a product recall, because SFCA would not cooperate. Rick Locker, a lawyer representing SFCA has declared the company unwilling to recall "a product that it did not make and sell." The blog Daddy Types reports that - while SFCA may have hired Locker to assist with this matter - Locker is also paid as counsel for the Juvenile Product Manufacturers Association: the lobbying organization that helps protect the makers of children's products.
Ironically, the JPMA's website is currently heralding September as "Baby Safety Month." In July, the association tooted its own horn for "reaffirm[ing] its commitment of safety." The communications contact on the July press release isn't someone at a real PR or crisis management firm: it's a woman at Association Headquarters, Inc., an organization whose lone means of support is selling services to organizations such as... JPMA. You can't make this stuff up.
Henceforth, SFCA has taken a "Who, me?" approach to its products killing children. The company claims that it might go out of business if it took all the offending bassinets back. I find this particularly ironic and outdated in our Web 2.o world. If SFCA came out on the Web and announced a recall (even though they were not legally responsible), the company's future would be far more secure. The company would be a hero. Parents would rave and remember the company when they went shopping the next time. They would tell one another, at a time in history when spreading the word is easier than ever. Their marketing folks would get college and business school cases written.
Isn't this exactly what Tylenol did and exactly what happened as a result (in a decidedly Web 0.0 world)? But then again, it's not hard to imagine those meetings in 1982 where well-meaning lawyers warned that a recall could take down the company and J&J's top management said, So be it. We're not going to stand by and let people die. Short-sighted greed and bad lawyering are in full control at SFCA. The drawbridge is up. SFCA is not legally required to take back the affected bassinets, there are no mandatory standards for safety in the category and the USCPSC cannot bring legal charges against SFCA.
No matter. There is a higher standard for working and living on this planet that J&J set and by which all corporations should live. As an aside, I'll say once again that it's just good business: (a) the positive halo effect for J&J post-crisis was and still is phenomenal, and (b) not doing the right thing will get you in the end. You can expect boycotts and bad press at minimum: perhaps a crazed parent manufacturing a terrible happening to take you down if you're really unlucky. Permanently disastrous online search results. But aside from it being good business, it's about acting human, like someone whose own child or grandchild was killed by your product.
There is no exception - and if there is, I haven't heard about it and SFCA most definitely does not qualify. This is capitalism run right into the ground, taking humanity and business ethics down with it."
So.. my thoughts to anyone who may be buying a crib.. do your company research and make sure you chose a crib maker who doesnt have a ton of crib recalls that eventually will put them out of business because then you will be up a creek with out a paddle like me.
{ getting off soap box now }
Yummies!
and More Yummies
Who Are These Crazies?
Guess We Carved a Little Too Early! ..lol
We had a great time carving our pumpkins tonight. We didnt have a pumpkin carving kit, so we had to use good old fashioned knives. Scary stuff.. lol. We let Ian and Jade use knives. Both ended up with small battle wounds - and they are both ok. From right to left jades ghost, Ians dripping face, dads bat (which looks like a spider) and moms witch. I love witches. 
How Can you tell this sweet little face no-no..?
As for little Mr. Andrew. He is doing so good. This week he has really picked up on the babbling. He was laying with Adam in bed one night watching the news just "dadadada-ing" away about whatever in the sweetest softest little voice. He was introduced to the gate this week. His most favorite two things in the world are these: 1. Bee-lining it for the bathroom as soon as the door is left open and 2. Bee-lining it to Moms scrapbooking embellishment box. I can't keep him out of those two things. He seems to love the gate.. LOL! 
Ian doing good also. He seems to really be enjoying playing football. His team is doing awesome. They seem to win most every game that they play. Last week the score was like 42 to 27. They are going to a pre-championship game next weekend, and if they win that one, there is just one more to play to win the huge trophy. Go Bombers!
Sweet Little Jadey is doing really well in school, and she is such a great helper with the little boys. She is doing winter swimming with Dad and really seems to be enjoyingit. I hope she will go far with it. What a great way for kids to excersize. She is so looking forward to halloween. She is going to be a wizard.
