When I pre-ordered the seventh Harry Potter book from amazon.com on May 5, 2007, I was GUARANTEED that I would receive the book on the official releaase date (July 21, 2007). Well it is after 10pm EST and I still have yet to get my book.
At 5pm I tried to track my package via UPS, the tracking information stated that the book was delivered July 21 at 6:53am. Umm I never got it. I called UPS and they said that meant that the book was delivered to the United States Postal Service and that USPS would finish delivery. Say WHAT?? By 6pm I still had not received my book from either UPS or USPS.
I went on about my day a bit miffed. Oh well. Then I thought about it, I won't get the book tomorrow because it is Sunday and I won't get the book before I leave for work on Monday. Thanks Amazon. At 9pm I was at target and they have the book for $17.99, the same price I paid at amazon without the lovely shipping fee. I am steaming mad.
I went to the amazon.com site and it says the following:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Update
The vast majority of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows orders which qualified for Guaranteed Release-Date Delivery have now been delivered. If you have not received the delivery of your order, and your order qualified for Guaranteed Release-Date Delivery, you can contact us through our Contact Us form on this page.
Whatever Amazon. I am not using your idiotic form. I am calling you. I am typing this blog as I am holding for them to answer because they are "experiencing a high call volume." I wonder why. "Thank you for calling we will be with you shortly." Oh really? I think I am going on 30 minutes at this point.
I know most adults out there are wondering why I am so angry. With most books I read I wouldn't really care when it arrived. However, I am nervous that by delaying reading the book I will overhear or read on the web the ending of the book. That's just not fair to me. So when the customer service rep answers the phone I am going to ask for a FULL refund. Do not deliver. I will buy the book elsewhere tomorrow. Thanks but no thanks Amazon.
40 minutes later - Customer service rep: the book will be delivered on Monday.
No thanks. They were very gracious in giving me a FULL refund including the shipping costs. I will just go buy it at the store. Thanks for the disappointment Amazon.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Friday, July 20, 2007
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Coveting the iPhone
So - I have decided not to purchase the iPhone. I have been obsessing for months over this gadget. All the pre-release info scared me away. These are the reasons I decided not to buy one before the release: touchscreen typing, lack of any IM, and AT&T. Well today I went to the Apple store and played with it for a good half hour. Um wow wow wow. I was blown away.
The iPhone is beautiful. Period. Videos are super crisp. Directions on Google Maps are amazing. A very nice weather tool that can be configured for several cities worldwide. Safari was really nice and using the various touch features on web pages was fun. I was able to make a call that sounded ok but the Apple store was loud so I didnt get a true sense of the call quality.
Anywho, I asked my mom to drag me out of the store for the following reasons:
(1) AT&T plans are the pits. I recently switched from Cingular(AT&T) to T-Mobile. Tmobile customer service is amazing and MyFave 5 is nothing short of genius. I talk to the same people all the time. 1300 minutes of anytime and 9pm nights won't cut it for me. On T-Mobile I never need to look at the clock to determine whether a call can be long or short. My T-Mobile bill is roughly $60/month, for the amount of minutes I use I would have to get one of the highest iPhone plans. Also, 200 text messages - is AT&T crazy? If this phone is not for business users than why is 200 text messages acceptable? It's not. So that would be another $10 to get more text messages.
(2) Texting on Touch. Honestly it was not as bad as I thought it would be. However, it was sort of a pain. It would be nice if the keyboard was available in all applications in landscape mode.
(3) Instant Messaging. Dear Mr. Jobs: I could do without a stock ticker widget and weather widget. But I cannot go without IM. That is BASIC. YouTube is not basic. Don't get me wrong I love YouTube and I love that I was able to watch the Starburst Berries & Cream commercial on the iPhone via YouTube. But that is so not necessary. Maybe in Cupertino you have some sort of ESP communication with friends. Out here in the real world IM helps communicating electronically. Also, the email app is sort of unnecessary if safari works so well. If you ever do come out with an iPhone with IM please don't be a jerk and not include Windows Live Messenger. I get it - you hate Microsoft and Mr. Gates. They both have done awful things to you and your company. But grow up and be the bigger man. I don't care about your fight. I just want the iPhone and Windows Live.
(4) EDGE. When I was in the Apple store safari and YouTube were very snappy. I was very impressed. When I demoed the iPhone in the AT&T store, safari was slooooow and YouTube didn't work at all. Why the discrepancy? The iPhone at the store was on Wi-Fi and at AT&T it was on EDGE. After experiencing the difference, I doubt I would even want to use the iPhone unless it was on Wi-Fi. (I will say that the pages displayed very well and the zoom feature is a pleasure.)
(5) Price. One would have to be the village idiot to buy the 4GB version. For $100 more you get double the space. Ok so $600 for the phone and $36 for activation. (The AT&T plans are reasonable for data plans and as slow as EDGE is the iphone needs unlimited data, but the voice minutes on the plan are paltry). Why is there an activation fee if one does it at home? AT&T is making its money. Apparently so is Apple. Recent reports state that Apple receives $250-$300 profit on each 8GB iphone sold. This is America. Profit is important. However, $636 and $30 in state taxes is STEEP. And I have to commit to At&T for two years? Ouch.
All that being said, I really want an iPhone. Despite its shortcomings. Buying one would be akin to dating the perfect person, their only drawback being halitosis. And that is a no go. No matter how pretty the iPhone is, I can't get over its shortcomings and then pay $666. So I will wait until V2.0 and be jealous of those with the iPhone.
The iPhone is beautiful. Period. Videos are super crisp. Directions on Google Maps are amazing. A very nice weather tool that can be configured for several cities worldwide. Safari was really nice and using the various touch features on web pages was fun. I was able to make a call that sounded ok but the Apple store was loud so I didnt get a true sense of the call quality.
Anywho, I asked my mom to drag me out of the store for the following reasons:
(1) AT&T plans are the pits. I recently switched from Cingular(AT&T) to T-Mobile. Tmobile customer service is amazing and MyFave 5 is nothing short of genius. I talk to the same people all the time. 1300 minutes of anytime and 9pm nights won't cut it for me. On T-Mobile I never need to look at the clock to determine whether a call can be long or short. My T-Mobile bill is roughly $60/month, for the amount of minutes I use I would have to get one of the highest iPhone plans. Also, 200 text messages - is AT&T crazy? If this phone is not for business users than why is 200 text messages acceptable? It's not. So that would be another $10 to get more text messages.
(2) Texting on Touch. Honestly it was not as bad as I thought it would be. However, it was sort of a pain. It would be nice if the keyboard was available in all applications in landscape mode.
(3) Instant Messaging. Dear Mr. Jobs: I could do without a stock ticker widget and weather widget. But I cannot go without IM. That is BASIC. YouTube is not basic. Don't get me wrong I love YouTube and I love that I was able to watch the Starburst Berries & Cream commercial on the iPhone via YouTube. But that is so not necessary. Maybe in Cupertino you have some sort of ESP communication with friends. Out here in the real world IM helps communicating electronically. Also, the email app is sort of unnecessary if safari works so well. If you ever do come out with an iPhone with IM please don't be a jerk and not include Windows Live Messenger. I get it - you hate Microsoft and Mr. Gates. They both have done awful things to you and your company. But grow up and be the bigger man. I don't care about your fight. I just want the iPhone and Windows Live.
(4) EDGE. When I was in the Apple store safari and YouTube were very snappy. I was very impressed. When I demoed the iPhone in the AT&T store, safari was slooooow and YouTube didn't work at all. Why the discrepancy? The iPhone at the store was on Wi-Fi and at AT&T it was on EDGE. After experiencing the difference, I doubt I would even want to use the iPhone unless it was on Wi-Fi. (I will say that the pages displayed very well and the zoom feature is a pleasure.)
(5) Price. One would have to be the village idiot to buy the 4GB version. For $100 more you get double the space. Ok so $600 for the phone and $36 for activation. (The AT&T plans are reasonable for data plans and as slow as EDGE is the iphone needs unlimited data, but the voice minutes on the plan are paltry). Why is there an activation fee if one does it at home? AT&T is making its money. Apparently so is Apple. Recent reports state that Apple receives $250-$300 profit on each 8GB iphone sold. This is America. Profit is important. However, $636 and $30 in state taxes is STEEP. And I have to commit to At&T for two years? Ouch.
All that being said, I really want an iPhone. Despite its shortcomings. Buying one would be akin to dating the perfect person, their only drawback being halitosis. And that is a no go. No matter how pretty the iPhone is, I can't get over its shortcomings and then pay $666. So I will wait until V2.0 and be jealous of those with the iPhone.
Berries and Cream
Below is a link to my favorite commercial of all time. Please enjoy thouroughly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYX_zhlTDr8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYX_zhlTDr8
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