I was in the market for a laptop, and I really could not decide. There are entirely to many choices out their, and everyone wants your business. I thought about toshiba, apple, fujitsu, hp, lenovo, dell, etc... I wanted to make the right choice. I wanted an affordable laptop, built the way I wanted it. I wanted a reliable laptop. I started searching through reviews of best, most popular, best selling. I just could not, for life of me make a decision. No matter what manufacturer or model I looked at. I found that somebody has something positive to say and somebody has something negative to get off their chest. I do recommend Notebook Review as a good place to get an idea. Just about every laptop you might be considering is going to be there. I found it to be a valuable resource.
The Service I received from dell was outstanding. I customized and ordered my machine on a Friday and received it on the following Wednesday. It shipped on that Monday. A few things really impressed me about the whole transaction. First of all I decided to use PayPal, which felt a bit safer to me than to divulge my bank account number. Within an hour after completing my order with dell, paypal called to verify that it was in fact me that had initiated the transaction. I was puzzled at first because this had never happened before. I asked and was told that dell requires this. I received a phone call from UPS on that Tuesday stating that my order was shipped on Monday and would be here tomorrow. Of course I needed to be there to sign. Finally I found it impressive that the funds did not come out of my bank until after I received my laptop.
To me this is how service should be. I felt respected and was confidently reassured throughout the whole process, without having to ask for this. Maybe my experience sounds pretty standard, but to me it was exceptional. I have had many bad customer service experiences in the past. I have formed a skeptical lens when dealing with Corporate America. I feel like I got a quality product well worth the price, with customer service that I thought had disappeared from business. Dell helped restore a little bit of my faith in the system.
Navistar which makes the commonly known International engine line, has stopped all production of Ford's 6.4l diesel engine. This engine is used in the high volume 2008 F-series (SuperDuty) trucks produced in Louisville,Ky. Ford has not been paying Navistar, over a dispute stemming from a past warranty claim deal. Yesterday Navistar had enough, and stopped all production and shipment to Kentucky Truck Plant. Read the full story at The Courier Journal.
I personally do not feel Daimler has anything to lose and everything to gain by this deal. GM on the other hand, may be falling into the same situation they have worked so hard to get themselves out of. Some habits are just hard to break.
It looks like a new bit torrent extension is on the way for Firefox. The new extension will be called BitFox, and will allow users to do torrent downloads from within the firefox browser.
BitFox is not currently ready for the masses but you can access it from:
http://code.google.com/p/bitfox/wiki/InstallingFromSVN
I for one use firefox exclusively and look forward to using this extension.
The world wide automotive report predicts that autoworkers will likely lose pay and benefits in this years contract negotiations. Ford employees stand to lose the most with a 20% projected loss in combined pay and benefits.
Ford is also changing the buyout delivery. Looks like not enough white collar employees have signed up for the buyout, so Ford is signing up employees involuntarily.
Chrysler is taking note of GM and Ford. They are not offering their buyouts companywide, rather they are offering buyouts by region.
Looks like the domestics are not the only ones having some problems.
Toyota has seen a large increase in quality concerns since 2005. There have been 3.4 million recalls. Today Autoblog reports that Toyota has no plans of increasing warranty coverage. Both Ford and GM have recently increased their coverage. Full story at:
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/02/19/toyota-says-it-wont-increase-warranty-coverage/
Honda is having to extend warranties on 6 million vehicles to settle a class-action lawsuit. The odometers on the vehicles are inaccurate and putting to many miles on the cars. Full story at:
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/02/19/odo-uh-oh-honda-extending-warranties-on-6-million-cars/
I write this with a great sense of relief and a resounding chuckle. Apparently I don't even know my own birthday. Granted I am not very bright, but I knew that already. This started last week when I was filing the taxes using turbo tax. I get all the way through and efile. The next day I check my email to find out that they were rejected. I log in to turbo tax to fix the errors, assuming I entered the wrong AGI or something else to do with a keystroke, only to find that my filing had been rejected do to an incorrect date of birth. Of course I really do know my own birthday so this seemed ridiculous and somewhat infuriating. Feeling rejected and rebellious I simply efiled again. No go, 12 hours later, another rejection.
I have to say turbo tax was very helpful in at least providing a way of resolving this problem. They suggested that I call the SSA and check with them. A bit reluctantly I call and after a maze of voice prompts and incredibly invasive maneuvers I reached what must be the oldest man working for the government. And yes I found him at his most pissed and miserable, why me, under appreciated state. And according to him I did not know my birthday. On cue I say but, but, why!, there must be some mistake. I immediately worried about identity theft. This guy didn't have time to hear me cry so cuts me off and asks for my zip code to inform me of the nearest Social Security Office.
Work prevented my going to the SS office for a week. So as one might imagine I spent the better part of my week in anxious agonizing rumination. Finally on Friday I was able to get to the office to sort this out. I walk in, the guard directs me to a terminal, I take a number and a seat. Unbelievably after only about 15 minutes I heard my number called and was on my way. I walk through door A and sit at desk 3 like the intercom suggested.
I spill my guts to the women behind the glass and without blinking she asks for my social and birthday. I hand her my birth certificate and ss card. She says that apparently in 1984 the first year that a ss card was requested on my behalf (born in 77), someone entered in the wrong information. Finally, after a week, I exhale.
Of course I had questions about this, like how can H&R Block get your taxes to go through but you can't? Maybe because they charge you 3 times to much. Does any application you fill out through life really even get checked? How could this have never been a problem before?
She said the government is cracking down. They are placing more scrutiny on documents. Every number and entry has to match. I guess that has to be a good thing I say back to her. I walk out of the place and truly enjoyed my day.
I guess I learned that it is harder to lose your identity to someone else, than it is to lose your identity to yourself.
I traded in my cable television for the dish Yesterday. I can't believe I waited this long. I went from 0 HD channels to 24 HD channels + a DVR. I am using dish network and the vip622 box.
The box is both a DVR and HD reciever. The box is a dual tuner (2 tvs) box that records 30 hours of high def or 200 hours of standard def or a combination of both. For the money it was a great deal, especially considering in the part of the world I live my local cable company is behind the times.
The installer was fantastic. Key was his name and he represents dish network very well. The whole experience up until now has been fantastic. I find the programing interface to be a step up (from cable) and the quality of HD on my 30" samsung is outstanding. I chose the top 100 programming package. I find the channel selection to be more than adequate.
Just getting started. I would like to start by thanking VOX for the wonderful service you provide.
Recent Comments
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Inquisitor said:
Yes. That is good service indeed. Quite rare these days. Yes, 'notebook review' is quite good for getting the whys... read more
on Very Impressed With Dell's Service -
Inquisitor said:
welcome Brady. The only significant issue i have with Vox is their not allowing non-registered persons to post comments. This... read more
on Just getting started. I would...
Whilst vox ought to be given credit for the wonderful service which they provide, they should also be thanking us... read more
on Just getting started. I would...