Monday, December 20, 2004
Bad:
At&t: they lied to my mom and signed her up for Voice over IP telephone service by telling her it costs half as much (which it does). They didn't tell her it was hard to install, they would charge her $150 to install it, it doesn't work with her home security system, it depends on her cable modem, if her internet goes down so does her phone.
The salesman are a bunch of bastards who take advantage of people who don't know about current technology (which most people don't). We are switching back to Verizon. I hope AT&T goes bankrupt. Now my mom is at home with no phone service and no home security system. Good thing she has tmobile.
Good:
My mom had to send in her iPod for repair. Apple sent her a box for it which had to be sent back with DHL. DHL picked it up within 15 minutes of her calling them. They are pushing hard to take some of UPS and FedEx's business, which will be hard with all the UPS stores and FedEx Kinkos locations. The UPS store tried to sell me stamps above face value. Screw that. Go DHL.
Blockbuster. I hated this company with a passion. They charge so much for movie rentals, and then try to make money off late fees. 12 noon return times? Designed to screw over people thinking "I'll return it tomorrow morning." yeah right.
They actually have a new policy which is quite good. You have a one week grace period to return a movie with no fee. After that you own the movie. If you do return it within 30 days, you get most of your money back. Works for me.
For now I'm sticking with Netflix because I refuse to use a company that basically copies someone else's innovation and charges a little less money. But if Blockbuster continues to move in this direction, they may have me as a customer.
At&t: they lied to my mom and signed her up for Voice over IP telephone service by telling her it costs half as much (which it does). They didn't tell her it was hard to install, they would charge her $150 to install it, it doesn't work with her home security system, it depends on her cable modem, if her internet goes down so does her phone.
The salesman are a bunch of bastards who take advantage of people who don't know about current technology (which most people don't). We are switching back to Verizon. I hope AT&T goes bankrupt. Now my mom is at home with no phone service and no home security system. Good thing she has tmobile.
Good:
My mom had to send in her iPod for repair. Apple sent her a box for it which had to be sent back with DHL. DHL picked it up within 15 minutes of her calling them. They are pushing hard to take some of UPS and FedEx's business, which will be hard with all the UPS stores and FedEx Kinkos locations. The UPS store tried to sell me stamps above face value. Screw that. Go DHL.
Blockbuster. I hated this company with a passion. They charge so much for movie rentals, and then try to make money off late fees. 12 noon return times? Designed to screw over people thinking "I'll return it tomorrow morning." yeah right.
They actually have a new policy which is quite good. You have a one week grace period to return a movie with no fee. After that you own the movie. If you do return it within 30 days, you get most of your money back. Works for me.
For now I'm sticking with Netflix because I refuse to use a company that basically copies someone else's innovation and charges a little less money. But if Blockbuster continues to move in this direction, they may have me as a customer.