Listening to the Voices in my Head

Very productive day

Got up early-ish to meet up with Bob Litchfield to meet him at Saint George's College. Some friends of Wing and I are getting married in September and would like us to take photographs of the wedding. We all went there to scope out the area, and pick where the best place would be for taking good and great photos of the wedding party. Was a day well spent, and we went away with lots of info.

Afterward, I called 'D' and asked him about the wedding party, if we could get permission from the priest to photograph the wedding inside the church, and photograph the wedding party on the grounds afterward, so we don't have to take them hither and yon, as their day will be stressful enough! Also asked important info, like what color dress the bride will be wearing, what the colors the bridal party will be sporting too. Got it all. :) And, there is going to be a rehearsal, so we can give the photography a 'dry run'. 'M' was almost in tears when she heard what we were doing to make sure their day will be THEIR day.

And they wonder why Support Staff get a bad rap?

I use Corel PaintShopPro along with other stuff, because I have yet to find ONE program that does it all for me. So, I have been having problem with it opening RAW files from my Mini Canon and my Big Gun Canon (pun intended) aka the G1X and the 5DMkIII

I told them at the outset what cameras, and they kept having me tweak this, reset that, uninstall this, reinstall that, so after weeks of jumping through all these hoops, they say "Oh! Our bad! Your cameras aren't supported yet."

That's what you get because they scan to find a term, copy and paste from their FAQ (even though I had told them I read it, and had already done everything listed) instead of READING THE $#@*&@%$ SUPPORT REQUEST!

Might be a waste of time, but hey, if it works...

I rode my bike to Bunnings. This is what I sent to "Customer Feedback" on the net.

I don't drive, I ride a bike. Today was the first time I rode my bike to Bunnings to pick up some tools needed for household improvement (a pipe wrench and adjustable pliers).

There was no place to securely lock my bike. The bollards, which prevent theft are too big to chain a bike to, and a persistent thief would just lift the a bike up off of it if you could chain it to it.

Locking the bike to the trolley bay? Not unless you want it scratched or crushed by cars or trolleys. I have a $1600 electric bike. I need a secure place to lock them. I have discussed this with other bike riders and they agree, some sort of 'bicycle' bay is needed. Just a couple of upside down U metal pipes cemented into the ground would do it. It would increase sales as people won't have to wait to get a ride, or go to the K-Mart to get tools.

Who knows? Might actually get some results. Can't hurt to ask!

The great escape..

While we were out grocery shopping, Ziggy snuck out (I've said over and over to be careful closing the side door since replacing the rollers/track wheels. It can bounce back open if closed too hard. Even 1cm is enough for Loki to shove it the rest of the way open).

Luckily, she snuck over to Un-son, Robin house, slinked into their lounge room, and hid in a corner. Jean called us, we came right home, grabbed the pet carrier, a piece of bubble wrap to tempt or pacify her, and coaxed her out. He scooped her up, put her in pet carrier, funnily enough, she didn't fight like she usually does when put in one).

Now here she is, all curled up on the sofa, with a sheet of bubble wrap next to her on her comfy blankie, none the worse for wear.

Gee, can they do anything other than Copy/Paste from their scripts?

Adobe once again sending an email, chanting their policy that wasn't made available prior to their stealing (yes, I call it stealing as I was told told that my credit card would NOT be charged, and it was, now they refuse to return the money with the same speed they stole it) My response:

Your policy of stealing my money, then not returning it for 10 to 15 days is wrong. You wrongfully charged my credit card, or your rep lied that it wasn't going to be charged, then refuse to return my money in the manner you stole it. Immediately.

I have now convinced 14 other people to not bother upgrading their versions of CS5. I know I'm nothing to you, but I am something to others. Word of mouth goes a long way, and you should wonder who those 14 people are advising to not buy your 'upgrade' (which should have just been an update for CS5 as it fixed some of the bugs in that version).

And then they bemoan how their software is pirated? They steal money from customers, then don't return it, and they complain about pirating? Really?

After a month...

I got my 5 month (now 6 month) old 70-200 lens returned. I think if I hadn't called asking what was the status on the repair of my lens, only to be told it was only JUST being looked at after a month, I would still be waiting.

From the work order, all the parts they replaced on the inside of the lens, it might have been cheaper and sure as hell quicker to have just replaced the lens!

I'm glad it's fixed, but irked because I was told by Canon it would be a 2 week turn around on the repair. Not 5 weeks. I wonder if I should be asking them to extend my warranty the amount of time they were holding my lens hostage?

Mother's Day for me

This was the first year that both Alan and Wing remembered.

I got some lovely orchids from Alan. According to knowledgeable florist I showed this photo, this is a variety of Thai Orchid.



Alan and Wing fixed breakfast, and then Wing and I went for a walk around Fremantle for a photowalk. Was a nice relaxing day for me.

Kind of wish Adobe would reply in the same manner they force customers to use

Make note of my first entry at the bottom, where I was told that my money HAD been refunded. Which is why this run around 'policy' bull$hit has me riled.

Adobe Rep attempts to pass the buck.. FAIL!

Once again, I get a phone call from Adobe about their charging me twice, and again quoting their 'policy' as their reason.

Hold on right there, bucko. You made a mistake. You told me my credit card would NOT be charged for the erroneous pre-order which is the only reason I went ahead and got the 'right' version. Then I found out you charged my credit card for both purchases at the same time? Now I have a charge on my credit card that was YOUR error, costing ME interest, and you're citing policy?

No, I don't want to 'speak to your manager', as I am quite certain he or she will just recite your policy from a script. I know you don't give a darn (yes, I said darn) about customer service, but let me tell you I don't give a rats ass about your policy. YOU made the mistake, YOU wrongly charged my credit card, you WILL refund it immediately, just as your took it. I will except no other option.

Then I hung up on him.

Dear Adobe... F**k you!

Ok, brief summation: due to a misunderstanding and piss poor site design, I purchased the wrong version of PS CS6. I was told not to worry that the charge for the wrong version wouldn't be debited to my credit card, and just get the 'right' one. I called them when I found out that yes, I had been charged, sent them a screen cap of the credit cards statement (gotta love internet banking) as proof they did tap me twice.

Imagine my surprise when I saw that not only did they still charge me for the wrong one along with the correct one, but I was informed that it would take 10 to 15 days for them to refund my money.

Whohuhwha...?? They charged me immediately, but have to take that long to refund it? F**K NO!

I just received a phone call from one of your reps. Let me say I am not happy with your 'policy' of refunding money. You were quick enough to take it from my bank account, but making me wait 10 to 15 days for the refund is not acceptable. If I purchased $300 worth of goods from K-Mart and it was the wrong item, I could go back down there and get refunded immediately, regardless if I paid cash or used a credit card.

Now, I know Adobe doesn't care a flying fart about customers, but we do have power. It's our money. This 'update' to CS6 should have been a free fix/update to CS5, not an over priced upgrade.

Now, I don't care what rules you have to bend, break or mutilate to refund my money in the same manner your took it, immediately, but I want it done. If not, charging interest comes to mind, as this 10 to 15 day policy you cite wasn't made clear anywhere that normal people could have read. This case is far from resolved. If you close it, I will open another, or call.

People/businesses really should not f**k with me.