Local Business Reinvents Itself July 30, 2009

After running errands today in the Ward area, I stopped to pick up lunch at Haili’s Backyard Luau lunch wagon.  Haili’s is a favorite of locals with their ono Hawaiian plates and catering.  Haili’s recently lost the lease to their space in the Ward Farmer’s Market but instead of closing shop, they embarked on a mini-reinvention of their family business.

The lunch wagon, vibrantly decorated in a tropical theme, is located “under the Hala tree” in the parking lot across form Ward Theaters.  They continue to offer their standard plates but have added some additional menu items including wraps and salads. And yes, they still do catering.

I was ono for laulau so I opted for their chicken laulau plate.  It comes with laulau (perfectly sized), lomi salmon, poke, haupia and poi or rice (I chose poi, of course).  All for $8.50.  Quite a deal considering how much food they give.  Trust me, I immediately fell into a food coma after inhaling my lunch!  As a bonus, I received a bag of their shrimp chips to sample.  The catch?  I have to give them feedback on the chips.  Can do!  I love free food samples!

My chicken laulau plate. Delicious!

I’m thrilled to see Haili’s using social media to get the word out about their new lunch wagon.  Not to mention all the great publicity they received recently.  With assistance from branding guru Brooke Gramann, Haili’s is now on Twitter (@HailisLuau) and they have a snazzy new website:  www.mybackyardluau.ning.com.   Haili’s also plans to make the most of their outdoor digs by instituting “backyard jams” on the weekends featuring local musicians and hula halau.  What a great way to stay in touch with long-time customers while building a new customer base.

So the next time you’re ono for Hawaiian food, pay a visit to Haili’s Backyard Luau “under the Hala tree” across Ward Theaters.  You won’t be disappointed!

Haili’s Hawaiian Food
808-728-8079
Hours of Operation:
Monday/Wednesday/Thursday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Five bars, maybe. Five stars for service? Hardly! July 22, 2009

As some of you know, AT&T had a major wireless network outage in Hawaii that started yesterday morning and lasted until mid-morning today.  It was kind of weird because some AT&T customers had service, others had intermittent service and some had no service whatsoever.  It seem to really affect iPhone customers the most.

A lot of iPhone users are on Twitter and Facebook and boy, was there a lot of complaining going on in the past 24 hours.  My PR diva friend Melissa (@melissa808) had several shouting matches with AT&T customer service representatives before finally taking her case to the airwaves.  She was featured tonight in a news story on KITV.  End result, she got a $17 credit.  She seemed happy until we found out that another one of our friends got $70 for two phones with hardly a nasty word exchanged!  I can’t repeat what Melissa said to me…it’s not suitable for blogging!

I did not ask for a credit as I seemed to have service for the most part.  I am however, royally pissed at AT&T because of their stupid, stupid policies about upgrading to the iPhone.  Matt wants to get an iPhone and now that the “old” iPhone 3G is only $99, I agreed to buy him one.  Let me summarize my beef with AT&T.

AT&T Hawaii tells me that Matt can upgrade to any phone right now except the iPhone.  He qualifies for the $99 price on October 2.  So I complain further to national customer service and they tell me the same thing.  Not one to give up, I call customer service two weeks later and am told that “as a valued customer, you can upgrade your son to the iPhone for $99.”  Happiness!

Well Matt took forever and a day to find time to go to the Apple store to get his phone.  We go there last night and find out that he doesn’t qualify after all.  We hoof it to the AT&T kiosk and are told the same thing.  I come home, mad as hell, and get into a pissing match with the idiot from customer service who tells me that the previous representative I spoke to gave me the wrong information!  He then proceeds to tell me that we could, of course, upgrade right now to the old 3G for $299 (8 gig).  Uh, excuse me but I bought my 3G (8 gig) in March of this year and paid $199.  And you want me to pay $100 more for the exact same phone?  I don’t think so!  For another $100, Matt can get the new 3GS phone!

I know the only recourse I have is to pay $299 for the old iPhone (or $399 for the new one) but I’m not going to do it. It’s just wrong, plain and simple.  Instead of rewarding me for being a loyal customer, they are punishing me by asking me to pay more money for an old device.  Geez, in these tough economic times where people are questioning every expense, you’d think AT&T would try harder to keep their customers happy.  Here I am, willing to “re-up” for another two year contract and pay an additional $30 per month for the data plan and they give me a hard time about the iPhone price.

And it gets worse.  Matt’s phone is pretty much on its last legs and the warranty expires at the end of July.  I asked what would happen if the phone crapped out before October 2.  The customer service guy said that we can purchase a replacement phone but that would extend his contract renewal date by another 11 months!  So instead of being able to purchase the old iPhone at $99 on October 2, he would have to wait until September 2010 to buy the iPhone.  Unless of course, I cough up the $299 right now to buy him an old iPhone.

Are you confused?  Yeah, me too and I’m really, really angry with this company.  I hope that irate customers in Hawaii and around the world tell AT&T how they really feel, and cc Apple while you’re at it.  Maybe if there’s a worldwide wave of anger directed at AT&T, we’ll see improvement in their overall service and perhaps some logic in their sales strategy.

Not holding my breath though.  So son, you’ll need to be gentle with your existing phone until October 2.  Mom is not buying you an iPhone for $299 when your college tuition is due in three weeks!

What the heck is going on? July 7, 2009

What a crazy couple of weeks!  First we hear of Ed McMahon passing.  Then Farrah Fawcett, the Hollywood starlet that inspired young girls everywhere to “feather” their bangs.  And then Michael Jackson.  While I wouldn’t call myself a fan of Ed or Farrah, I did grow up watching both of them on TV and what teenage girl didn’t dream of becoming a Charlie’s angel or emulating her famous hairstyle?   I admire Farrah for her courageous battle with a rare cancer.  She handled it with grace and dignity.

But when it comes to Michael Jackson, it’s a completely different story.  I have been a big fan of MJ’s music since he was a little kid with the Jackson Five.  He was such a talented man, despite his overall weirdness in recent years.  His music transcends all generations and no one can top the caliber of his music videos such as “Beat It,” “Billie Jean,” and of course, “Thriller.”  I think Michael Jackson is to my generation what Elvis was to my parents’ generation.

The media coverage of MJ has been unbelievable at times.  A little much in my book but I can understand the fascination, especially in recent years with his legal troubles.  I admit I was creeped out by his affinity for little boys but I always took the media coverage with a grain of salt.  Was he guilty of child molestation?  I don’t know and I doubt that we’ll ever know the truth.

That said, I’m feeling a bit sad that one of my all-time favorite musicians has passed away.  Today’s so-called musicians should take a lesson from MJ.  Yeah he was weird and creepy but you gotta admit, the man had talent and showmanship and most of all, compassion.  Something that I find lacking in a lot of today’s entertainers.

As for his televised memorial service, I was impressed.  It was tastefully done and truly celebrated his life as a musician and humanitarian.  Today’s memorial reminded me that despite the chaos in his life, he was just a man.  A man who truly loved his kids, his family and his fans.  May he rest in peace.