I hate these bastards. I had to publish my fictitious business name (which is a pain in the ass…read moreenough as it is) and these schmucks wanted to charge me sixty bucks to do it. Furthermore, their process for submitting your information is complicated, involving snail mail and fax machines. Plus I had to navigate their phone tree multiple times AND they were rude when I finally got to talk to a human. They also tried to convince me that there was no way to pay LESS than sixty bucks for this service, as they have a monopoly on the newspapers in the bay area and therefore charge sixty bucks for every newspaper you might attempt to call. They said that their newspapers are the ONLY newspapers acceptable to the government for these kinds of legal notices. They're liars and they suck. If you need to publish a fictitious business name, go to the Inter-City Express instead. Not only is it "acceptable" to the government, it was actually RECOMMENDED to me by a government agent. STICK IT TO THE MAN, I SAY.

To ring in the new year, this review is for the Trib's bells…read more Today, while walking through the crisp air in downtown Oakland around 5:30 pm, I stopped to listen to the bells of the Oakland Tribune Tower. I have a thing for bells. I love living in a neighborhood, visiting small towns, and being in places where bells (probably recorded but still cool nonetheless) ring gloriously. For a few seconds, you are reminded of where you are and what you were doing when the bells rang. I'd probably fell differently if if I lived *next* to one though. According to Wikipedia, bell towers (or belfries) rang bells to signify the hour, for special occasions or hearken the old days to sound a civil defense or fire alarm. History comes alive. The Trib's bells ring daily around 12 noon. Other famous local belfries include the Ferry Building's clock tower and the Campanile Bell Tower at UC Berkeley and the many church bell towers including one in my beloved 'hood-St. Peter & Paul's. So next time if you are in the vicinity of a bell tower/belfry on or near the hour, stop, listen and remember.

I love the Castro Valley Forum. The CV Forum informs me of important occurrences in my…read moreneighborhood of over 20 years. Hats off to the THE CVV Forum team that brings a great newspaper to Castro Valley each week.

I cancelled the SF Chronicle end East Bay Times as they have virtually no Castro Valley news. The…read moreCV Forum is it. I appreciate that it's free, and has a variety of local events and local advertising. I pick my copy up at the Aitken Senior Community Center on Wednesdays. That they print your articles occasionally is great for our community. Also, local organization announcements are accepted. Thank you so much, CV Forum!

The Post is as good as it gets in a local paper! Everything Piedmont needs to know about what's…read morehappening.

Great paper look forward to it each week. I've been reading for as long as I've lived here over 60…read moreyears.

The San Leandro Times is an amazing local business and a real pillar of the community. It…read morehighlights voices, stories, and events that would otherwise go unnoticed, and it does so with care and integrity. In a time when local journalism is disappearing, the San Leandro Times continues to protect and preserve the history and identity of our city. Supporting it means supporting transparency, connection, and community pride. Everyone who values San Leandro should consider donating to help keep this important legacy alive.

I had to do a business post and had the pleasure of working with Joyce M. who gave me excellent…read morecustomer service. It's been a pleasure doing business with Alameda Sun thanks to you.

I AM LIVID. My Grandmother's obituary was published today and they completely removed a line about…read moreher son who passed away a few years ago. I can't get a hold of anyone there.. I am so upset that one of those most important people in her life was left out of her obituary by the newspaper company. I double checked my submission and it's definitely there.

These folks have the worst business practices I've seen. In fact, I wonder how they stay in…read morebusiness. The worst parts were their tardiness in communication (they take weeks to respond to email inquiries), their consistent billing errors; and the quality they delivered was totally sub-par. Do not spend your money here. Initially they were recommended by my designer who's worked with them before (but no longer does, after my experience with them). We had a business card order that needed to be ready by a certain date; I needed the cards for a conference. We had asked well ahead of time when they need the final design in order to have the cards shipped to me on time. They needed about a 4 or 5-day lead time. We submitted by the deadline, and I got the cards on time. That was the only thing that went right here. The quality of the cards delivered was well below par and no better than what I could have done in an hour or so with a Kinko's color printer for less. Their initial quote was $98. The overnight shipping (from Oakland to San Francisco) they charged me for $40 which I didn't authorize, and I had communicated to my designer (although I don't know if that reached Golden Gate Litho) that I would have picked them up myself. Initially they agreed with us that the quality was unacceptable, but they offered no apology or explanation. They did offer to reprint a similar order for free, or one with a more high quality print technology for a discounted price. We didn't move on this for about 2 months, pending some redesign of the card. All of a sudden they demanded payment, for a higher price than originally quoted, and the offer they extended to us for a free reprint had evaporated. I told them I wanted a free reprint and would order a bigger order with them, but if they insisted on payment that I'd go elsewhere. Eventually they agreed to a 50% discount, but the numbers never worked out. My inquiries and requests for a detailed accounting based on the initial quote were never replied to, and I only got emails like "amount such-and-such is unpaid and this needs to be resolved." No way to run a business. I've been very happy with www.greenerprinter.com that we eventually used. Not only were they cheaper, they turned around quickly, quality was good, they're environmentally friendly in the products they use, and I never needed to get involved.

I run a local business called Auto Glass Express and started using this print shop based on…read morerecommendations I got from other local business owners in my networking group. I had previously only ordered from online companies, thinking that I would get the best deal if I ordered online. The first job I did with them was a reprint of our carbonless invoices, which they quoted at a significantly lower rate than what I had ordered online. Little did I know that the quote actually included a complete redesign of our invoice (with my permission), which I had previously designed in Word and saved as PDF. They took the invoice I sent them and made it much more professional looking, while still maintaining our "look" and logo. They delivered for free, and really spent far more time with me overall than I thought profitable for a relatively small job. Service on subsequent jobs has been the same. When I went to them for a quote on what it would cost to get a wrap on our new work van, Scott at Golden Gate made some really useful suggestions, including the idea to add a "QR code" to the vehicle, our print media, etc. This is relatively new technology in the US, but it seems smart to get out ahead of a marketing tool that is already widespread in Europe and Japan. I realized that I'm getting a lot more than a printing service out of these guys. I don't know what most people go to a print shop for, but if you're coming to them as a business owner, they have a much more comprehensive package of offerings than any other print shop I've dealt with before. To sum it up: they're local, they've got good rates, they're union, they're green, and all the people I've dealt with (Scott, Don, Amy) have been great. I highly recommend them!

GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE!…read moreGARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! I'm so sick and tired of this sorry ass insignificant piece of crap paper that nobody reads, let alone gives a flying F of its existence. Constantly littering the front of my house. It has been YEARS! I emailed the publication to STOP countless times, I've lost track. I got a reply ONCE, stating that they were going to cease dropping that paper on my residence, but nooooo, it kept coming. I'm installing security cameras and will keep a log of evidence. You better PRAY I'm not there in person to confront the delivery person, it's not going to be a nice greeting. Why you keep wasting poor trees to make your pathetic paper? In these times of the pandemic, I don't want your infected garbage of a paper anywhere NEAR my property! ENOUGH IS FRIGGIN ENOUGH! Good grief, I HATE YOUR GUTS!!!

Finally, I got a response that stuck. Perseverance pays off. I can't say I've read the Montclarion,…read morebut they need to make it easier to cancel mailings...