Customers in general ought not to be held to know FedEx's corporate structure.
I don't know if, in this age, this is wise. With so many corporations buying up major parts of our lives like food, communications, salaries, and transportation, I would challenge you to take a look at the structure of the different entities that affect you daily. The unfortunate fact is that every decision you make needs to be researched to find the most appropriate course of action based on who is behind the marketing. Sure, it might have the FedEx name on it, but it's not FedEx.
Flickr is NOT Yahoo and Cingular is NOT AT&T, Mazda is not Ford, and certainly PayPal is NOT EBAY. Again, I'm not picking on you, but there is a level of information that is available to anyone choosing shipping companies (I realize you didn't have a choice here, but this is in general), or any service, and the internet makes this available to you instantly. Use it.
the insurance remedy was to return it to the origination address and ask to see an original purchase receipt to award the insurance claim
Sorry to nitpick, but this scam has been around for ages - you broke something, oh no! I'll send it to myself and pretend UPS did it. Hell, I even saw it in Seinfeld. Not that you were doing this, but what you tried is pretty suspicious to an outside observer.
They need SOME proof of value or even that the box was actually full to fight this type of fraud, and the original merchant is one way to do it. Also, what are you doing sending packages to yourself? It is cheaper than taking it with you?
And always buy the extra insurance, or instruct the shipper to declare it properly. Newegg is usually pretty good about this, if they provided the return label. If FedEx limited it to $100, you should have definitely added to the base value. Remember that FedEx Express, FedEx Ground (sometimes called home delivery), and FedEx Smartpost are all separate entities, with varying policies, too. You probably used their ground service, which is a conglomerate of private couriers, with little to no accountability to FedEx corporate.
Not to mention the graphical quality is, well, a little sparse. It took me longer than it should have to get a sense of this 'rhythm' that he refers to. I know, I know - searches are text, but come on, Edward Tufte would be all over this one.
Does Verizon charge for inbound text messages? If so, how much?
Yes, 2 cents from 2003-2005, 10 cents 05-07, and recently it was raised to 15 cents. That's.15 dollars, for those counting.
It's really amazing that they do this. You can't set up blocks or even turn off messaging at the hardware level, so whatever gets sent, you get. It's most American providers though that do this, so it's not likely to change anytime soon.
The primary use for an amplified antenna is for when you are unable to put the unit next to the tuner. If you have a 100 foot run to the tv, you would probably want to invest in an in-line preamp of some sort to overcome loss in the coax. But, you are correct in that an amplified antenna won't magically bring in distant broadcasters - an appropriate one might, though. Don't knock it because it didn't work for you.
Tv reception is an amazingly complex affair, and it is difficult to judge any antenna by others' reviews. Take a look at http://antennaweb.org/ and AVS forum for more on this subject.
Yes, I know the error, it was related to a firmware revision that would try and wait for a telephone line connection, I believe. I got mine for about that much and let it sit overnight until it fixed itself. Off topic, though, I have one gripe about the tuner, and that is that it is not possible to add channels that aren't currently being received to the channel list, so if you are not getting an OTA station at the exact moment of autoprogramming or manual tuning, you are unable to have it show in the list. All in all, though, a great bargain for what it is. It decodes to 1080i, too, I think.
I use a Samsung SIR-T160 together with an amplified Terk indoor UHF antenna. It outputs to my HD monitor, and I've never been happier. It's a decent unit for tuning, and even shows program guide info where it's available. In an urban area I get ABC, NBC, CBS, CW, 2 feeds of PBS, FOX, and assorted local digital stations. I didn't even bother hooking up the VHF ears to it, because DTV comes in so well.
The Samsung receivers are available on ebay in abundance, well south of 50 bucks-just be careful that you understand how to set the unit to non-DirecTV OTA mode - it may require a used access card to stick in the back.
Also, in response to another post, some digital stations ARE on lower numbered VHF channels, and when the switchover happens, some currently on uhf will move down to vacated space, so don't assume that it's only UHF in your city, or it will always be.
eMusic is still fairly anti-consumer with their subscription model. I was ending up with tracks I didn't want just to use them up at the end of the month - so, yeah, you're getting $.18 songs, but only if you work really hard at it. And recently they raised rates, making it pretty tough to stay a customer.
Alternatively, if you are near a major body of water you can use it for cooling
Good luck getting your local building department to agree with you on that one. Typically using 'public' bodies of water for anything practical like this will get you run out of town. In New England, we would love to start using Geothermal systems on our houses with an ocean source or water well as the heat sink, but some towns prohibit wells of any kind, and the DEC's conservation commission has took us to task on laying pipe under the beach to deeper water on two seperate occasions.
Any use of resources like water can get political fast, a recent example is opposition to this project in upstate new york.
People don't seem to get that 'green' building & living isn't a technological issue, it is much more about politics and marketing. There is enough momentum against it that anyone who does something the least bit different is labeled eccentric. In my experience, also, town officials around here are good ol boy Neanderthals when it comes to alternative energy and our impending crisis. Better to waste all that heat, I guess.
Many famous breakthroughs in history have been accidents or errors. Penicillin comes to mind. Maybe this will be a story we are all telling our grandkids someday.
a mistake that should have been obvious to customers as the price was not reasonable.
The issue with this case is that Amazon sometimes gives certain transactions a "surprise discount" - there is a link in the original article. I had a $5 bonus show up once for a purchase there, even though it wasn't listed on the item's page. So, how are you supposed to know it's an actual mistake vs. a surprise? Granted, two free items doesn't seem normal - but they have trained their customers to expect things like this. It's their own created climate of seeing what will happen.
You have the receipt for the purchase, you get to keep it at that price. Sorry, but that's what happens when you play games at checkout.
I had a few times where a song I got from eMusic was, in fact, faulty. The track was 50 seconds of silence, while the metadata showed a full title. I thought it might have been some weird trick by the band, but a quick look at the track listing at amazon showed otherwise.
Anyway, I asked them to take a look at it, but they said the problem was on my end. I'm no longer a member, but I just looked again, and 12 months later it is still showing a broken track. I found eMusic, while having an admirable cause, to be lacking in customer service and enough new music to make their higher rates worthwhile.
So, if the channels aren't in place for returns, it is easier to just say "screw you guys" and avoid having pesky problems. It's all on the customer's end.
except really long and boring lawsuits that cost way too much money and only enrich the lives of lawyers
I don't know about you, but I worry about this very much. Especially since I own my own business and have some assets that could easily become tangled in court.
I pay about 17 cents including taxes per KWH, and I used them to replace always-on corridor lighting in the passage from the street to my front door. Since start up time isn't an issue, they do the trick, and I was able to use just 2 CFLs in place of 4 60w bulbs, due to just a little extra brightness I saw from them. The other poster is correct, though, in that they fade a little over time, and perhaps the Ikea bulbs I started using two years ago are a little more yellow, but I have yet to see one fail.
I replaced 3 of the 4 60w incandescents around the end of october with like bulbs, and then swapped all four with two CFLs the week before Christmas.
I was surprised to see such a change, and didn't realize what the continuous lighting could be doing to the bills. I didn't make any other changes that I could find during this time. Computers go off at night, and the television is on for maybe an hour or two per evening.
I ran an experiment last year with GIMPS running 16 hours a day on two machines participating in the prime number search for a few weeks, and realized it was going to cost more than I was comfortable with, cash prizes or not. My other culprit is the dryer, which happens to be next to the analog electric meter. I watch the little wheel on the meter accelerate as I start that baby up in permanent press...
I recommend the CFLs from Ikea - they are rated at 6W - and claim equality to the output of a 50W incandescent. They have a globe around them to look like traditional bulbs, and except for the color of light they cast, I was quite impressed with the quality and brightness- it was greater than many cheap ones I have around. They are about $3.50 each, but last forever under the right conditions in my place. The only thing is that they don't fit in some fixtures I have.
Most importantly, though, I noticed a drop in my bill immediately - greater than the cost of the 4 bulbs in one month.
There are, however, a few exceptional circumstances (described in the User Agreement) under which you may retract a bid. These are if:
* You made a typographical error and entered the wrong bid amount. For instance, you bid $99.50 instead of $9.95. If this occurs, re-enter the correct bid amount immediately after you retract your bid. If you do not place another bid, the retraction will be in violation of eBay's policy and could result in your suspension. Please review the retraction guidelines if you need to retract your bid.
* The description of an item you have bid on has changed significantly.
* You can't reach the seller. This means that you tried calling the seller but his or her phone number doesn't work, or you have tried emailing a message to the seller and it comes back undeliverable.
So, they just pretend they made a typographical error and the possible suspension is irrelevant, because it's a shill account anyway. It happens all the time.
Junk faxing actually predates email spam, and we got laws prohibiting it quite a while ago. You're entitled to something like $200 per fax... good luck collecting it though.
Wouldn't this involve small claims court - I recall hearing about someone who was successful in collecting a few hundred bucks from a wardialing recording spammer, but it turned out to be someone local and it was on a technicality - that it was before 9am or something.
What is the law on junk faxing? We get 1-2 per day on our line here (refinancing and vacation sales mostly, designed to look like "corporate memos" from the home office), and I would love to put an end to it.
No need to fill it, a few drops are enough. Oil floats on water, it spreads and forms a thin film on the surface. You get a lid that efficiently prevents water evaporation.
This is starting to sound like the introduction for the most boring Mythbusters ever.
"And then we waited for several weeks, comparing the rate of evaporation to our control toilet...."
Slashdot Mirror
I'm just now realizing that many of my favorite sites haven't discovered favicon.gif.
Oh well.
I think we need an European youtube...
Yes, we do.
It would look just like Daily Motion, but BETTER.
Yeah, with a little zero on one side and "infinity" on the other. We're redefining unlimited here, be creative!
Hey, set up a little web page or something, so we know. I'll send you 10MB every few hours!
Um, so change it?
Customers in general ought not to be held to know FedEx's corporate structure.
I don't know if, in this age, this is wise. With so many corporations buying up major parts of our lives like food, communications, salaries, and transportation, I would challenge you to take a look at the structure of the different entities that affect you daily. The unfortunate fact is that every decision you make needs to be researched to find the most appropriate course of action based on who is behind the marketing. Sure, it might have the FedEx name on it, but it's not FedEx.
Flickr is NOT Yahoo and Cingular is NOT AT&T, Mazda is not Ford, and certainly PayPal is NOT EBAY. Again, I'm not picking on you, but there is a level of information that is available to anyone choosing shipping companies (I realize you didn't have a choice here, but this is in general), or any service, and the internet makes this available to you instantly. Use it.
the insurance remedy was to return it to the origination address and ask to see an original purchase receipt to award the insurance claim
Sorry to nitpick, but this scam has been around for ages - you broke something, oh no! I'll send it to myself and pretend UPS did it. Hell, I even saw it in Seinfeld. Not that you were doing this, but what you tried is pretty suspicious to an outside observer.
They need SOME proof of value or even that the box was actually full to fight this type of fraud, and the original merchant is one way to do it. Also, what are you doing sending packages to yourself? It is cheaper than taking it with you?
And always buy the extra insurance, or instruct the shipper to declare it properly. Newegg is usually pretty good about this, if they provided the return label. If FedEx limited it to $100, you should have definitely added to the base value. Remember that FedEx Express, FedEx Ground (sometimes called home delivery), and FedEx Smartpost are all separate entities, with varying policies, too. You probably used their ground service, which is a conglomerate of private couriers, with little to no accountability to FedEx corporate.
Not to mention the graphical quality is, well, a little sparse. It took me longer than it should have to get a sense of this 'rhythm' that he refers to. I know, I know - searches are text, but come on, Edward Tufte would be all over this one.
I want color, dammit!
Yes, 2 cents from 2003-2005, 10 cents 05-07, and recently it was raised to 15 cents. That's
It's really amazing that they do this. You can't set up blocks or even turn off messaging at the hardware level, so whatever gets sent, you get. It's most American providers though that do this, so it's not likely to change anytime soon.
The primary use for an amplified antenna is for when you are unable to put the unit next to the tuner. If you have a 100 foot run to the tv, you would probably want to invest in an in-line preamp of some sort to overcome loss in the coax. But, you are correct in that an amplified antenna won't magically bring in distant broadcasters - an appropriate one might, though. Don't knock it because it didn't work for you.
Tv reception is an amazingly complex affair, and it is difficult to judge any antenna by others' reviews. Take a look at http://antennaweb.org/ and AVS forum for more on this subject.
Yes, I know the error, it was related to a firmware revision that would try and wait for a telephone line connection, I believe. I got mine for about that much and let it sit overnight until it fixed itself. Off topic, though, I have one gripe about the tuner, and that is that it is not possible to add channels that aren't currently being received to the channel list, so if you are not getting an OTA station at the exact moment of autoprogramming or manual tuning, you are unable to have it show in the list. All in all, though, a great bargain for what it is. It decodes to 1080i, too, I think.
I use a Samsung SIR-T160 together with an amplified Terk indoor UHF antenna. It outputs to my HD monitor, and I've never been happier. It's a decent unit for tuning, and even shows program guide info where it's available. In an urban area I get ABC, NBC, CBS, CW, 2 feeds of PBS, FOX, and assorted local digital stations. I didn't even bother hooking up the VHF ears to it, because DTV comes in so well.
The Samsung receivers are available on ebay in abundance, well south of 50 bucks-just be careful that you understand how to set the unit to non-DirecTV OTA mode - it may require a used access card to stick in the back.
Also, in response to another post, some digital stations ARE on lower numbered VHF channels, and when the switchover happens, some currently on uhf will move down to vacated space, so don't assume that it's only UHF in your city, or it will always be.
eMusic is still fairly anti-consumer with their subscription model. I was ending up with tracks I didn't want just to use them up at the end of the month - so, yeah, you're getting $.18 songs, but only if you work really hard at it. And recently they raised rates, making it pretty tough to stay a customer.
Alternatively, if you are near a major body of water you can use it for cooling
Good luck getting your local building department to agree with you on that one. Typically using 'public' bodies of water for anything practical like this will get you run out of town. In New England, we would love to start using Geothermal systems on our houses with an ocean source or water well as the heat sink, but some towns prohibit wells of any kind, and the DEC's conservation commission has took us to task on laying pipe under the beach to deeper water on two seperate occasions.
Any use of resources like water can get political fast, a recent example is opposition to this project in upstate new york.
People don't seem to get that 'green' building & living isn't a technological issue, it is much more about politics and marketing. There is enough momentum against it that anyone who does something the least bit different is labeled eccentric. In my experience, also, town officials around here are good ol boy Neanderthals when it comes to alternative energy and our impending crisis. Better to waste all that heat, I guess.
Many famous breakthroughs in history have been accidents or errors. Penicillin comes to mind. Maybe this will be a story we are all telling our grandkids someday.
a mistake that should have been obvious to customers as the price was not reasonable.
The issue with this case is that Amazon sometimes gives certain transactions a "surprise discount" - there is a link in the original article. I had a $5 bonus show up once for a purchase there, even though it wasn't listed on the item's page. So, how are you supposed to know it's an actual mistake vs. a surprise? Granted, two free items doesn't seem normal - but they have trained their customers to expect things like this. It's their own created climate of seeing what will happen.
You have the receipt for the purchase, you get to keep it at that price. Sorry, but that's what happens when you play games at checkout.
I had a few times where a song I got from eMusic was, in fact, faulty. The track was 50 seconds of silence, while the metadata showed a full title. I thought it might have been some weird trick by the band, but a quick look at the track listing at amazon showed otherwise.
Anyway, I asked them to take a look at it, but they said the problem was on my end. I'm no longer a member, but I just looked again, and 12 months later it is still showing a broken track. I found eMusic, while having an admirable cause, to be lacking in customer service and enough new music to make their higher rates worthwhile.
So, if the channels aren't in place for returns, it is easier to just say "screw you guys" and avoid having pesky problems. It's all on the customer's end.
except really long and boring lawsuits that cost way too much money and only enrich the lives of lawyers
I don't know about you, but I worry about this very much. Especially since I own my own business and have some assets that could easily become tangled in court.
I happen to have my usage between readings: I replaced 3 of the 4 60w incandescents around the end of october with like bulbs, and then swapped all four with two CFLs the week before Christmas.
I was surprised to see such a change, and didn't realize what the continuous lighting could be doing to the bills. I didn't make any other changes that I could find during this time. Computers go off at night, and the television is on for maybe an hour or two per evening.
I ran an experiment last year with GIMPS running 16 hours a day on two machines participating in the prime number search for a few weeks, and realized it was going to cost more than I was comfortable with, cash prizes or not. My other culprit is the dryer, which happens to be next to the analog electric meter. I watch the little wheel on the meter accelerate as I start that baby up in permanent press...
I recommend the CFLs from Ikea - they are rated at 6W - and claim equality to the output of a 50W incandescent. They have a globe around them to look like traditional bulbs, and except for the color of light they cast, I was quite impressed with the quality and brightness- it was greater than many cheap ones I have around. They are about $3.50 each, but last forever under the right conditions in my place. The only thing is that they don't fit in some fixtures I have.
Most importantly, though, I noticed a drop in my bill immediately - greater than the cost of the 4 bulbs in one month.
So, they just pretend they made a typographical error and the possible suspension is irrelevant, because it's a shill account anyway. It happens all the time.
Junk faxing actually predates email spam, and we got laws prohibiting it quite a while ago. You're entitled to something like $200 per fax ... good luck collecting it though.
Wouldn't this involve small claims court - I recall hearing about someone who was successful in collecting a few hundred bucks from a wardialing recording spammer, but it turned out to be someone local and it was on a technicality - that it was before 9am or something.
What is the law on junk faxing? We get 1-2 per day on our line here (refinancing and vacation sales mostly, designed to look like "corporate memos" from the home office), and I would love to put an end to it.
Didn't ANYONE catch the reference?
Give him some slack, he managed to find the '±' key on the keyboard!
No need to fill it, a few drops are enough. Oil floats on water, it spreads and forms a thin film on the surface. You get a lid that efficiently prevents water evaporation.
This is starting to sound like the introduction for the most boring Mythbusters ever.
"And then we waited for several weeks, comparing the rate of evaporation to our control toilet...."