|
iTunes I'm Diggin On Today:My Links:My Friends:Recent Issues:
|
Tuesday, November 29, 2005Consumer Alert: My Digital Camera Purchase Experience
My wife started having contractions on Tuesday, November 22nd. She’s not due until December 14th but it was a good reminder that we need to start preparing for the big day. Bags need to be pre-packed, directions to babysitters, phone numbers, and pre-registration paperwork all need to be figured out, completed and ready to go at a moment’s notice. Since then the contractions have increased, gotten stronger, closer together and become much more frequent. Anyway, that night, we decided it was time to upgrade the memory card in our digital camera. All we have right now is a working 16MB smartmedia card for our Fuji Finepix 6800.
 It was a great camera when it came out four years ago: three or four megapixels, optical and digital zoom, macro and movie modes, LCD view finder, etc. And the chassis was designed, in part, by some engineers at Porsche too, which I found to be a neat novelty and I’m sure I paid extra for. But apparently, according to several stores we visited and the rather snooty 19 year old sales clerks usually behind the counter at the massive home electronics conglomerates, smartmedia memory is pretty much on its last leg and as such inventories are very low and what is in stock is usually quite expensive. I was mildly discouraged that I’d chosen a camera that, after only 4 years, the memory required to run it had pretty much gone the way of the buffalo. I was even more agitated at the fact that I was pretty sure my best move was to purchase a new camera. The guy at Best Buys tried to get me to walk out with one that night. CompUSA tried even harder. Coincidentally, this is a random side note, I’m pretty sure I’ll never shop at CompUSA again if I can help it. Just about every piece of merchandise I saw there only displayed a price tag of what the will cost after 2 or 3 rebates, one of which inevitably involved a one-year subscription to AOL. But that’s neither here nor there.So I decided I wasn’t going to invest hundreds of dollars into something without doing some research first. I spent most of that evening looking up information on brands, features, etc. I found a very helpful site called Digital Camera HQ. They were most helpful in deciphering what I wanted in a camera, the advantages and disadvantages of the different options, etc. I decided I wanted a good, reliable name brand. Preferably Canon if I could afford it. And I decided I did not need 7 or 8 megapixels. My wife and I figured we could get by on 4, but 5 would give us some room for cropping if necessary. And we decided rather than a large footprint that requires its own carrying case and is awkward to carry around, we wanted a small, compact “point-and-shoot” camera that would fit in a purse, front seat console, or even a large coat pocket. We figure we’re more apt to catch those precious moments if bringing the camera along isn’t a burden. After a long series of evaluations and a detailed matrix of camera needs and features, I decided on the Canon PowerShot SD450.  Pretty happy with my choice and encouraged by a plethora of positive user reviews, I went about finding one. I was hoping to find it for under $300, as Froogle searches were showing that my camera could be had for as little as $250. But after looking up all the local stores that carry them, I found that $350 was the going price for nearly every one of them. Wal-Mart was the cheapest at $320 and my local Wal-Marts didn’t have any in their inventories in stock. Charity and I wanted to get it as soon as possible because the contractions weren’t slowing down and we could go into labor any time and to do so without a camera…well that’s apparently just unacceptable. So she suggested that if it’s so much cheaper through some online vendors, why don’t we see if purchasing it through them and having it shipped “next day air” was cheaper total than $350. So I went back to Froogle…where I discovered a new company to put on my NEVER EVER USE THESE COMPANIES AGAIN list.  Best Price Cameras seemingly offered the lowest price on the camera that I wanted, as you can see from the picture. I attempted to make the purchase on Wednesday night. Attempted being the key word. And attempted, and attempted and attempted. I was a little surprised that a company whose only source of sales was through their website would have such a flakey online ordering process. Broken links at every click. Every time I tried to submit information for the order the session failed, and I’d have to reestablish my secure connection, re-fill in all my information, credit card numbers, etc. This happened at least 5 times before it finally went through (and no, it was not my Internet connection failing because between each failure on the site I would check it against other sites just to ensure my connectivity was not the culprit). It did eventually go through, but I was quite concerned by then that my card might be charged multiple times, so I sent an email to their handy-dandy customer service email address just to verify the order was processed, and only one time. Three hours later I received confirmation of my order and it became clear to me at that time that only the one order that made it through was in fact processed. Shipping it next day air cost about $36, which is what I expected, however I was disappointed to see that adding a 3 ounce 128MB SD memory card would bump the shipping up to over $70, so I decided to forego the memory card (I found one on eBay for $7 plus $9 to ship it, brand new still in its box). Two days later I received an email from Best Price Cameras in response to my initial inquiry about the order processing problems. All it said was please call the customer service 1-800 hotline. Struck me as odd that they’d have a customer service email process set up if all it did was reply back for customers to call the service hotline. Confident that only one order was submitted and processed, I decided against calling them for further verification. Later that day (Friday) I received yet another email from somebody at Best Price Cameras. A sales rep. The email came at 2:19pm and it stated that before my order could be completed and shipped that the gentleman needed to “confirm my telephone number” and I needed to call him directly and do so before 3pm my time, which gave me a 40 minute window to call him or the order couldn’t be processed until the next business day. I of course didn’t get off from work until 3:30pm that day. So I was needless to say, very disappointed by that incident. I called them first thing on Sunday morning (apparently Saturday’s not a business day but Sunday is at Best Price Cameras) and the message still stated I should call back during business hours a full half-hour after their own message said they’d be open. I did eventually get a hold of the guy that wanted to “confirm” my telephone number. Which I thought might be a problem since I did it from my cell phone while I was on the road for work purposes and it wasn’t the number I put on the order. But it turned out to be a non-issue. The guy never asked for my telephone number at all. What he did ask me, in the same “I hate my job” tone that I got at Best Buys, is what kind of battery and battery charger I would like my camera shipped with as well as what kind of warranty (if any) I’d like. Now I was a little surprised by this line of questioning because the website says right on the SD450 page, “Everything we sell is brand new and factory fresh” and the Canon website states what accessories the camera ships with in the box and a battery as well as a charger are included. Best Price Camera’s SD450 page also states “Everything we sell comes with a full US Warranty”. Now, in the version of English that I speak the phraseology, “comes with a warranty” means it’s included in the price. So now I'm getting a little upset that it was not included and that accessories that came in the box according to Canon were costing me extra and asked, in a most reluctant tone, what the price for a battery, charger and warranty was. He quoted me $42 dollars and said it would bump my shipping up too. Yeah, that “next day air” that still hadn’t left the warehouse yet was going up and now…I was looking at paying quite a bit more than $350 for the same camera at a local electronics store and had I gone that route I’d have a camera in my hand and my wife (contractions now every hour) would have one less thing to worry about. So yeah, I let him know I was more than a little ticked off and that's when he decided to be a “nice guy” and cut me a deal, in so much as if I get the 2-hour battery, instead of the 1-hour he’d keep the original shipping price. Gee thanks. The camera, at the absolute earliest will be here tomorrow, one full week after I placed the order. The baby’s due any day now. Best Price Cameras, in my opinion epitomizes everything that my mom is scared of about buying merchandise online. It was one of the worst online vendor experience I’ve ever had, and I’ve done a lot of online purchasing throughout the years. But lesson learned: I’ll never just go with the lowest price in a Froogle search again. 
Bazooka-Joe made it so at 2:56 PM
| 4 class clowns in the back of the class were bored from throwing pencils in the ceiling and paused long enough to comment on this post
Tuesday, November 01, 2005California or Bust
On the Road Again (a brief hiatus)
Well friends, I’m afraid that my band has called upon me for a throw-caution-to-the-wind exhibition around yet another part of the country to play the wandering minstrel part one last time. My band leaves on tour tomorrow afternoon and I will not be returning until November 14th, at which time I hope to write all about it. So until then, al veeter zay. But I will leave you with one deep introspective thought, as I go. Below are the words of an iconic "Christian" rock star that struck me as very interesting and, in fact, nearly emotional to a degree. I wanted to share them with you. I did not write this. But much of my thoughts about people and music and consumerism is encapsulated here. He said it better than I can write now. I'm not saying I agree with everything he says here. Agree or not though, it's an interesting read and it got me thinking a little. So I wanted to share these nuggets with you all. "In 1991, when Rolling Stone interviewed Dylan on the occasion of his 50th birthday, he gave a curious response when the interviewer asked him if he was happy. He fell silent for a few moments and stared at his hands. 'You know,' he said, 'these are yuppie words, happiness and unhappiness. It's not happiness or unhappiness, it's either blessed or unblessed.' This record was written somewhere between the blessed and the unblessed, between the godly and the ungodly by a few young urban professionals from San Diego. These songs are dreams and questions, bleeding together, breathing in and out- always somewhere between life and death. And I feel this tension, this distance now more than ever, like a numbing ache... deep inside. The distance between the way things are and the way they could be, the distance between the shadow and the sun. And this is where we exist: within the paradox. Living out our lives: oxygen and carbon and hydrogen and so on... This record was the attempt to make something beautiful in filthy backstage dressing rooms everywhere, trying to sing something true with a broken heart. This record was written about things that I don't understand. And yes, there's more than a wink of irony in all of this: making music from our most intimate thoughts and selling these songs online for a dollar a pop. Singing an anthem every night about how "we were meant to live for so much more" and many times feeling like a failure; singing "I dare you to move"and feeling trapped. Both loving and hating all the fuss that the music has brought. Knowing that even Rock and Roll, perhaps the best job in the world will not make me happy (in the yuppie sense of the word). And yes, this American life is absurd! a strange paradox indeed... Perhaps no amount of money, sex, or power has ever satisfied us before, but maybe today will be different! Maybe this new purchase will make me happy! And the sun rises and sets once more- another day, another dollar. A carbonated beverage will help to chase your insecurities away. This new product will help to fill the meaningless void I feel inside. And so I drink the beverage, wear the clothes, and watch the war on TV. meaningless. meaning less. Do we hunt our ridiculous suburban dreams like the neighborhood cat? Have we quietly fallen in line with the advertisement? Are we driven by ego uncontrolled, our lives simply vain pursuits of meaningless ends? Do we attempt to validate our existence by materiel means, relational acquisitions, sexual conquests, fiscal achievement, and cultural prowess? It was another jewish man who said something like this a while back. "All is meaningless," Declares the teacher. "Meaningless, meaningless, Everything is meaningless" For me, there is a terrible, wonderful freedom in coming to terms with these un-happy, un-yuppie words. It's a strange consolation in our dizzy and breathless race for happiness to find that you will never outrun the horizon. It's an avalanche you can't escape. It's a fatal wound that you cannot heal. If you fall on this rock you will be broken, if it falls on you you will be crushed. You see, this album started with a blow between the eyes that I am still recovering from, that's really all I've got to offer these days. So in the half-light glow of radio shows, music videos, and greedy billboard charts I am aware of a darkness that is beyond me, I am coming to terms with my unbelief. No, I don't believe in rock and roll. No, I don't believe in the success that we've achieved. And no, I don't believe in me. In a free market world of the bought and sold I feel caught in between. I believe I've heard about a man who was exploited to sell everything from indulgences to the wars of men. And yet he offered only one bitter pill that was not easily marketed. Maybe that's what this record hopes to be: a simple bitter pill of truth that steps outside of our hamster wheel and looks up at the stars and beyond. Maybe Dylan was right when he said Rock and Roll isn't Rock and Roll anymore. I've met so many lonely, desperate, beautiful people over the past few years. Yeah, I've got a bitter pill to swallow, but it just might be true. Maybe our lives drift quietly by and we can't stop the current. Maybe this modern river leads to the sea of death, where no medicine can cure these ills. Perhaps our restless wanting is satisfied only outside of ourselves. It was another jewish man who said something like this, "If you seek to gain your soul you will lose it." I am on a journey that will one day come to final terms with these words."  -Jon Foreman, Switchfoot For those California and South Oregon readers interested, there's a Calendar avaiable here of where my band and I are playing and when. Come join me on my final voyage through rock and roll mediocrity.
Bazooka-Joe made it so at 3:41 PM
| 4 class clowns in the back of the class were bored from throwing pencils in the ceiling and paused long enough to comment on this post
A Farewell to Remember nos·tal·gia (no-stalj,uh) n. 1. A bittersweet longing for things, persons, or situations of the past. It was a night like so many nights in Vancouver, WA. Wet and dreary for the most part. I quickly swallowed a small piece of my wife’s home made lasagna without chewing as the white truck pulled into the driveway. I had been ready for hours.
Dan took some notes while I was enthralled. I helped him identify a few songs. Here's the complete set list, thanks to Dan: 1. Underneath the Blood 2. Dance 3. Your Love Came Down 4. Test of Time 5. Creed 6. Judas' Kiss 7. You're in the Right Place 8. Medley: a. Sight Unseen b. It is Finished c. Think Twice d. I am on the Rock e. Midnight Oil f. Mine Field g. This Means War h. It is Finished (reprise) 9. Jekyll and Hyde Acoustic Medley Set: 10. Rose Colored Stained Glass Windows 11. Road to Zion 12. More Power To Ya 13. For Annie 14. No Doubt 15. The Coloring Song 16. Love Transition: 17. I am a "C" Solos 18. Beyond Belief 19. Lord, I Lift Your Name on High Encore: 20. He Came, He Saw, He Conquered 21. We Need Jesus 22. Show Your Power Bob's Testimony All-in-all definitely an experience I’ll always cherish. I tried to take several pictures but most of them turned out pretty lousy because where we were seated and the lights. Pictures don’t do it justice anyway. If you’re a Petra fan, or have been a Petra fan at any time, this is a show you don’t want to miss. I may come back and add to this posting throughout the week as I think of things I need to say, for prosperity’s sake before my memory starts to let go of some of the details to make room. For those interested and for those that missed it, there will be a live CD and DVD set released. Look for the "Farewell" album.
Bazooka-Joe made it so at 11:46 AM
| 8 class clowns in the back of the class were bored from throwing pencils in the ceiling and paused long enough to comment on this post
|
