September 27, 13:19 | Comments (26)
While I've been extremely pleased with the warranty from Apple, their official resellers are quite another story. My 17" iMac, which is now being used by my kid brother for his skating projects, has developed a periodical problem with the DVD-drive that results in frequent lock-ups and mechanical noises.
The machine is close to 19 months old, which places it outside Apple's own 1-year warranty, but well within the 2 years provided by Danish law for complaints.
Continued...
August 06, 21:44 | Comments (30)
I case you were wondering about whether Sony had improved their record on customer service since I left the company in disgust over my Vaio issues a few years ago:
I purchased a Cybershot DSC-P92 in February. Then all of sudden it stopped working. I was amazed at how such an expensive product coul;d just stop functioning with no apparent reason. Anyway Sony Customer support sucks!!!!!!! I have the proof of pruchase and the gurantee. But what's the point if you can't get through for 5 hours straight. Also the Automated Cumpter Sytem is horrible, and makes you want to smash the phone against the wall after 3-4 calls. Hekp Me Please!!!!!!
This was posted as a comment to my posting Sony still dodgy on warranty obligations. I'll reiterate my warning: Don't buy Sony.
March 02, 21:06 | Comments (13)
The danish branch of Domino's Pizza has always placed much more emphasis on the "experience" than the informational value of their online offering. The last version had the complete shop-metaphor-in-flash going, which was cute for about five seconds. Then the faithful translation of waiting in the real shop kicked in and you just wanted to get out.
Continued...
January 06, 17:43 | Comments (3)
Orange could easily settle on a better market strategy by having blind rabbits do the picking than through the "market research" I was subjected to today. At least then, management would know they were betting the company on fuzzy luck done in the dark. Unlike the false sense of security they'll get when they receive their worse-than-random report from the undoubtedly over-priced research firm in an impressing binding and with colorful graphs.
Continued...
October 17, 12:45 | Comments (14)
The marketing hacks working the Microsoft case aren't the only ones being too lazy to actually find believable users to push their products. Overuse of glamorous models having fun in stock photos is everywhere, and rarely do they have anything relation with the product they're (probably not) getting royalties "enjoy" (in the abstract sense of a happy smile).
I just received a pamphlet from TDC (the largest Danish telco) on WebSpeed. Their cable modem product. Of course, it puzzles me why I'd get something like that in the first place when I have a glaring NO ADVERTISEMENTS right below my letter slot, but I digress.
It features a black lady on the cover eating a string of pasta. That reference to "broad band" is the closet thing any of the pictures have to do with the product. The rest of the six pictures are nothing but pretty people in various "fun" situations the cause them happiness.
It's a disgrace. This is not marketing. This is someone being overpaid for a job not compatible with their genes.
September 28, 19:47 | Comments (32)
Sony's honoring of their warranty obligations is still a dismal display of corporate integrity. And it's not only a problem with European branch, either. Rob Wilson of Tennessee shares this story of unreasonable, over-priced shipping and refurbished returns:
I came across your article about Sony Customer support while I was searching the web for an address to complain to Sony. I have had almost the exact same experience with Sony, and it is unbelievable and unacceptable. I purchased a VAIO system and flat screen monitor last January. This week the monitor went out and now displays only a white screen.
Sony Customer service told me to hook up the monitor to another computer to make sure that it was the monitor and not the video card. I did this, and the monitor still did not work so I called them back and told them it was definitely the monitor. They agreed, and told me that for $25.00 they would send me someone else's refurbished monitor and that I should send them my defective monitor back.
My monitor is only 9 months old and supposedly still under Sony's warranty. I asked the customer support person why I should have to pay to return my defective monitor and they explained to me that the $25 charge was for postage.
The monitor is a flat screen monitor which can could easily fit into a FedEx box and be mailed to Sony for $12.80. So not only is Sony giving you someone else's defective monitor, but they are making a profit by doing so!
I'll go through the proper channels with this, but I just thought you might want to know how Sony handles defective merchandise.
Coincidentally, I've just put my Vaio laptop for sale on dba.dk. And I just bought an Xbox from Microsoft instead of a PlayStation2 from Sony. Not to add the fact that the Sony Cybershot wasn't even included in the running for my choice of digital camera.
Smart consumers vote with their valet.
September 23, 14:30 | Comments (17)
Speednames was for a long time my favorite shop for Danish domains. It was one of the first resellers to reach wide spread awareness here, and with a ton of purchases already locked up in their management system, they didn't have to work very hard to keep my business. Unfortunately, they didn't work at all.
Speednames rested too long. They're now considerably more inconvenient to use for registering Danish domains, as now require you to fill out and fax a paper form. They're also consistently more expensive with a .dk retailing at some 220 kr. forcing you to commit for two years upfront, while others will let you get away with one year starting at 109,- (or even 39,-, if you buy today).
Either you provide better service, lower prices, or more convenience. Or you decent into irrelevance is only determined by the time lag that exists until your customers figure this out.
September 10, 21:23 | Comments (3)
With all the curved and smooth surfaces, the intuitive and inviting software, the simple and colorful manual, I arrived at a certain level of expectation. Apple cares dearly about details. Listening to how Steve Jobs spend years and years with Next perfecting monitor stands, motherboard layouts, and every other piece of the machine experience reinforces this expectation.
Which only makes the surprise even more shocking. How could they forget about the noise? What good is a snow white beauty if she snores like an ogre? How can the silver tower command respect when it stutters like an ironclad?
For all my awe and acceptance of the Apple offering, I'm baffled, disappointed, and slightly angry at their negligence in assuring a sound of silence for work or study.
Frustrating will make you clamor for Annoying
My iBook has two fan speeds: Annoying and frustrating. Annoying will only take a few minutes to kick in at home. If I leave the computer to mind the simple task of processing my typing or playing my tunes, I can normally stay at annoying. But if I try something more involved, such as parsing pictures around in iPhoto, while unpacking a .sit archive, and having Mozilla guard a dozen tabs? Frustrating will take over.
And when frustrating takes over, it does so in a very un-Apple way. No smooth transition as it gears up. No, it roars so loud, you wonder if it's alright. Then it will hover slightly less loudly, though still making sure you know it isn't an issue of pushing air. It's an issue of a two-dollar fan with grinding away anything but frictionless.
But even the roars of my iBook pales in comparison with the constant humming of my mates 733 tower. From the second you turn it on 'till the second you turn it off. Vrum, vrum, vrum. Music at a considerable volume is a requirement for operating that piece of machinery.
How could this happen? How could you let it happen, Steve? Are the air-conditioned offices of Paulo Alto so comfortable that they make you forget about countries without such power-sucking joys that keeps your fans from parading? Were there really no where else you could cut the $10 (tops!) extra a decent fan would add to the marginal costs? Please, Steve, make me understand.
(Alternatively, keep releasing free nuggets of software gold, like iCal, to remind why I'm still in love with your company)
September 08, 14:07 | Comments (13)
Paying $500 for a watch that isn't made of gold, or other valuable materials, is about buying into an idea. The product didn't cost $500 to manufacture. Or anything close to that. I'm paying for a process of design and management. Fixed cost items on the business budget. High margins.
This is unlike variable cost businesses, such as consumer computers, where the margins are low and the cost of assembly and materials approach the cost of the product. When you run a variable cost business, you can't afford to be lavish with customer service or repairs. When you run a fixed cost business, you can.
At least that's the belief that's fueling my rage over having to shell out $100 to have the strap on my "511" (the title of the watch design) replaced. We're talking $100 to get one-side, without the lock, replaced. A thin slice of silicone coated in metal. $100.
I expect to be fucked on computer repairs or printer refills, but not when buying the idea of design.
