the next generation of time-killing
Which of these lines doesn't look like the others?
A linear or sub-linear increase would be great…
yes, it's just hype... but what's so wrong with hype anyway?
UPDATE: I drank the Cool-Aid and ordered the iPhone from T-Mobile a few days before the European release. The customer service lady on the phone told me that it would be released on the 26th and therefore would be at my door the next day, which was a Saturday. Great!
But Saturday came, and Monday and Tuesday, but still no iPhone. After arranging things so that someone was home to meet the delivery man and anxiously checking my e-mail, text messages and chat window for the glorious news that it had arrived, I finally called the customer support again to see what the expected delivery date was.
This time the lady told me that it would take 13 days. Whaaaaa? OK, well, I wish someone had told me that when I ordered it. Had I known, I would have just picked it up in the store on the same day, like a colleague of mine had done. Wait, maybe I could cancel my order and pick one up at the store, seeing as they’re in stock now. So, I called back the customer support.
This time the lady told me that once the order had been placed, it was no longer possible to cancel it and pick one up at the store. Damn it! Also, it was a two week minimum delivery time, more likely four weeks. Whaaaaa? Yeah, so it should arrive after we’ve left the country for summer vacation. Great… nevermind that one of my excuses for getting the iPhone was to have e-mail and web access during our vacation. Damn it!!
If only the customer support lady had told me it would take this long when I was placing the order, I could have just gone to the store, stood in line, and fixed all my problems in a single day! Damn it!!!
So, I’m out €100 up front and the expensive montly data plan costs because of course I have to pay on time, even if they get a month to deliver the goods. I wasted two days waiting in excitement for my new toy (which teaches me a lesson in patience). I won’t have any cool internet device during our vacation. My iPhone Cool-Aid suddenly tastes like ashes and urine.
P.S. T-Mobile is poorly organized and customer support personel are either poorly trained, intentionally rude, or both!
UPDATE: After mean emails, threatening to cancel my contract, agreeing to a compromise, taking the day off work to wait for the delivery (a pleasant appointment anywhere between 11:34 and 14:34), waiting like a sad-puppy by the door for the last hour of that, calling the package service when they handn’t shown up by 15:00, then screaming like a little girl when the doorbell rang at 15:11, signing the paper, paying the delivery costs (keep the five cents, buddy), clawing at the packaging like a hungry monkey, lifting the black beauty as a precious gift from the heavens, staring at it for several minutes, then finally sliding in my SIM card and switching it on. Life has changed now; this is a new chapter with new possibilities (and frustrations); I am one of those, they, them; I am drunk on the Cool-Aid and very much loving it…
A friend of mine has just been the victim of some E-bay fraud. Now, we’ve all had this in the past, I’m sure, some product that was nothing like the product you thought you were buying. Perhaps the logo said ORKLEY instead of OAKLEY or the collector’s coin turned out to be nothing more than a quarter with a cheap sticker of Obama’s face. Anyway, this story sticks out because of how amateur and tacky the fraud has been. Actually, it ranks up there with the collector’s quarters.
Here's what it's SUPPOSED to look like.
Here's what it DOES look like.
Sloppy paint job seen on the hinges.
So, this friend of mine decided to buy a Dell Mini 9. A great little sub-notebook that stands out above it’s competitors. Just one problem, despite this being a great product, Dell has discontinued it due to a parts shortage. Too bad… but wait, have you tried E-bay! So, after hours of careful searching through many a shady trader, my friend found an official Dell refurbisher offering a nice red refurbished Dell Mini 9 for a reasonable price. He ordered, waited, received and opened his new toy with a child’s eagerness.
The first surprise was a defective ‘s’ key, but that’s no biggy seeing as the laptop is under warranty. However, under closer inspection he discovered that the case was not actually the red Dell case, but a generic case that had been sloppily spray painted red. The red coloring has been popular among consumers allowing for Dell and its resellers to charge a nice premium. This was no doubt also the motivation of the spray painter, whether that was the E-bay seller or someone before them.
In any case, an official Dell refurbisher with a good reputation on E-bay has sold a sloppily spray-painted Dell Mini 9 with a defective keyboard. My friend has already lodged a complaint with all parties involved. The question is how will they react to such an amateur and embarrassing attempt to defraud a customer? Will they refund the money without raising a fuss or will they suddenly close shop and scurry away?
