Who is this JD Power and why should I trust his associates?

I went to JDPower.com to try and figure that out. Turns out it is a marketing information company that does research, tracking, forecasting and consulting. They specialize in auto companies but have also expanded into other markets.

What weight does one of these awards have? It seems to me that this may be a rating that is lauded by the company but not valued by the typical consumer. Like many industry awards, most consumers don’t know what these awards mean, how a company goes about winning such an award, or what value is brought to a transaction when you work with an awarded company.

Am I right? I’d love to hear your thoughts on JD Power and other industry awards and their relevance to a purchase decision.

The restaurant needed more time to complete this man’s order, so they asked him to pull out of the drive-thru. He refused and so it appears that they refused to serve him his food. Ten minutes later he goes into the store to speak with a manager, who informs him that the police are outside waiting for him. The police asked for his side of the story then told the manager to give him the food.

My favorite part is when the guy tells them that the video is going to be “all over CNN” and one of the employees says, “I always wanted to be on TV. That’s tight.”

I first read about this story on the new St. Louis gossip site, Punching Kitty.