Archive for the ‘Rant’ Category

Incompetence is the new norm

Seems like incompetence is the new norm rather than exception in the customer service industry. Here is one recent example:
Typically I read my own PG&E meters and put up a reading card next to the window to be recorded by PG&E personnels. Well, I forgot to update the card in end of March, [...]

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Hit with more tax

Today is the first day of increased sales tax. I was hit with it. At Chinese takeout. For food. Hurts.

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USPS customer service followup

This is a follow up to my previous post on USPS customer service.
I got a callback from a USPS person this morning. This person works for the USPS distribution hub responsible for the region. He told me that his department does not deliver to our company address. Instead my company has a [...]

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Customer service showdown: USPS versus Amazon

I ordered a camera bag (Crumpler 6 Million Dollar Home) from Amazon on Dec. 14. The package left Amazon on Dec. 19 via USPS destined to my work address. Tracking showed that it was delivered on Dec. 23, but because it was Christmas week, I didn’t pay much attention when I didn’t get [...]

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Sneaky Apple and Google

According to reports (here is one), Apple is sneakily installing MobileMe software when users set up iTunes 7.7. I came home tonight and double checked my desktop, and true enough, the dreaded MobileMe setting is in my Control Panel. No where during my iTunes 7.7 installation was I prompted about MobileMe.
Just yesterday I [...]

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False assumptions

Don’t you hate it when this happens?

During development time
Me: Is X true?
Someone: Yes.
Me: Is X true for all environments?
Someone: Yes.
Me: Confirmed?
Someone: Yes
During testing
Someone: Oh, Y needs to be fixed because X is not true.
Me: …

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Cross-OS pain

I tried to move a large file (larger than 4.7GB) from Mac OS to Vista. It was so painful that I just gave up.
Attempt: Burn file to a dual-layer DVD.
Problem: My MacBook only has a single-layer DVD burner.
Attempt: Mount a NTFS-formatted USB drive to Mac and copy the file directly.
Problem: Mac OS cannot write [...]

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Bad, bad Mac OS updates

My wife updated her MacBook OS tonight using the built-in Software Updater. These updates were installed:

Security Update 2007-009 (Universal), version 1.1
Java For Mac OS X 10.4 Release 6, version 1.0
Mac OS X Update (Intel), version 10.4.11
iDVD Update, version 6.0.4

Afterwards her decent Mac user experience went down the toilet:

DiskImageMounter.app wouldn’t run. This means I [...]

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My continuing iPhone/AT&T dealings

My sad iPhone story continues without an end to this day, so much so that I am tired of writing essays on it. Instead I will list out my dealings with AT&T in chronological order.
10/17/2007

Called 611 and filed credit adjust request, received request number.
Told that it would take 3-5 business days for adjustment.

10/26/2007

Called 611 to [...]

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"10 Reasons To Hate Cellphone Carriers"

I haven’t done a pure link post for a while, but given the ordeal I am having with AT&T right now, I just can’t help but to link to this article "10 Reasons To Hate Cellphone Carriers".
Maybe in the future wireless LAN will be so prevalent that we can just use VoIP phones instead? How [...]

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