Random Rants
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I don't want to rain on anyone's parade and don't like to participate in ranting on the internet but I do dislike the tendency that Merry Christmas is being degenerated into Happy Holidays.
The exact reason that I said Happy Holidays this year, due to last year I posted Merry Christmas and some one replied what about Hanukkah. Funny thing is the person isn't Jewish. Next year I won't post.
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Ultimately, as far as holiday greetings go, someone is attempting to wish you well. You can get bent out of shape at the presumption that you celebrate a certain holiday, or you can let it go, take the win that someone tried to say something nice to you, and return the favor. The latter seems easier and I'm lazy.
Besides that, if someone wishing you a "Merry Christmas" or a "Happy Holidays" has any bearing whatsoever on your holiday spirits, you're doing it wrong.
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today's random rant:
I ordered a hat on the 19th and it was scheduled to be delivered on 12/22. Something happened along the way and for some reason my package got diverted to Wisconsin, came back briefly to Minnesota and then get rerouted to St.Louis, Missouri instead of staying in Minnesota which is where I live. I realize that all the mail carriers get bombarded every holiday season but this circuituous route by USPS takes the cake
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I ordered a pair of shoes on Nike's SNKRS app about 20 days ago. I was "in line" on the app and had no idea if I was selected to buy the shoes I would automatically be checked out without requiring me to verify shipping information…. I was selected, automatically checked out, and the shoes were to be sent to my old office address. I realized this less than 10 minutes after buying the shoes. I contacted Nike. They tell me I have to wait until the shoes have a label generated for them and then I can update the address (wrong). Fast forwarding I spend another solid hour on the phone over the course of multiple calls dealing with multiple Nike reps trying to get the address updated after the label was generated to little avail (one even tells me the opposite and that if I had called within 30 minutes of the order I could have updated it then). All of this because Nike does not allow the recipient to communicate with the shipping company and edit the delivery address or preferences in any way. So instead I have to deal with their less than stellar customer service. Finally someone arranges for me to pickup the shoes at a FedEx office. I show up to pick up the shoes. Literally 30 minutes before I got there Nike requests the shoes be returned. At this point I'm pretty pissed. I call again. Get hold of someone who is clueless. So I call again and have my issue "escalated" to their "elite service team". The pending result as of today is that my shoes have made it all the way back to their warehouse and there has been a note placed on the order to re-ship to the correct address..... But, if they can't find my order I will simply be given a refund.
For a company with the resources and technology that Nike has this entire ordeal absolutely blew my mind at how inefficient and idiotic their systems are.
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first issue. if only i had access to SNKRS app. nike's presence in AU has been so shit that we barely get anything. being in london's niketown was like for me like a kid in a candy shop.
second. i suppose a refund wouldn't necessarily be a good thing, considering that whatever is usually launched on SNKRS is usually quite sought after..
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Totally sucks. Part of the reason you had this experience is that many of the systems you interacted with are not owned or operated by Nike itself. Corporations have been in a constant push to get departments and employees off of their books. If they can outsource order fulfillment and customer service to others they'll do that. If they can turn previously benefited internal hires into line-item contractors they'll do that.
This is a fact that's somewhat hidden by our (in the US, at least) relatively low unemployment numbers. People have jobs, yes, and thus not seeking unemployment benefits, but they increasingly "employed" as non-benefited contractors when they would obviously prefer a direct-hire position. It's not something that people in previous eras would recognize as "employed." More like make-work until the real job comes along.
I recently had a problem with some incorrect medical bills and it was virtually impossible to navigate the web of insurance call centers, and 3rd party billing call centers and the bill originator call centers. Everyone I contacted was seemingly informationless and powerless and I had to contact someone else. One of the bills had strangely (and even admitted by one of the people I talked to, inappropriately) been sent to collections which added yet another party into the mix.
This desire to sell something and then immediately jettison responsibility for it was the root of the recent housing market crisis. Once the mortgage was repackaged and sold off, its provenance was obfuscated, and no rational decisions could be made about its quality. Once my medical service was rendered, and the bill was released into "the system" it becomes little more than a dollar value, an identifying number, and billing code, which describes such a vague and broad "service" that there is no way for anyone to determine if I'm paying for what I actually got. My insurance company and the bill originator are happy assume that the other party might fix the mistake, because they both know that the responsibility for the bill ultimately lands on me.
All this stuff "works" as long as the consumer just shuts up and pays, and everything goes where it's supposed to go. But, like you (and I) experienced, if there is something wrong there is no clearly responsible party that will have a vested interest in fixing it. Passing the buck to someone else is a "fix" as far as they're concerned (to include perversely asking you at the end of the call, after telling you they can't help you, if they can do anything else for you before you hang up). And why would this call center employee bend over backwards to help me anyway? They're likely just employed as a contractor…
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@louisbosco yep. In terms of obtaining the thing a refund does me no good. Order was for the Concords. Unless I want to pay double MSRP I'm not getting the shoes.
@tvenuto agreed. We had similar issues with our insurance company after my wife gave birth to our daughter. Although I would say the most frustrating thing above all else for me was the fact Nike does not allow the receiver to adjust shipping information with the shipping co. (FedEx). The entire debacle could have been avoided if I was allowed to personally contact FedEx and arrange for alternative delivery. About halfway through the whole disaster it definitely changed from a "I need to get these shoes delivered to me" to "screw the shoes, this is now about the principle of the matter"….. My tone on the second half of the calls I made was definitely a bit more "stern".
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@Snowy I understand why Nike doesn't allow the receiver to amend to a certain degree…. But I don't understand why I can't have a package held at a facility for pickup (something Nike does not allow). Doing so has more levels of verification than delivering to an address and having any person at the location sign for it since picking up from a FedEx store requires the recipient to provide ID and sign.
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Ebay should require you to do a CAPTCHA every time you place a bid. This would prevent bots from outbidding you. Also a live chat would be fun so you can talk shit to the other bidders and rub it in if you win. I almost lost out on something I had been watching for a week. I'd love to tell the other 2 bidders that drastically raised the price to suck it, they still lost.
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give em hell mike
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@Filthy:
Ebay should require you to do a CAPTCHA every time you place a bid. This would prevent bots from outbidding you.
This is a solid idea.
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@Filthy Said business might have a conscience if it wasn't such a corporate monster.
When I list anything I list as buy it now. I know the price I'm happy with, I generally pitch just under the going rate. Everyone knows where they stand that way.
I listed 4 pieces of silver jewellery yesterday, all sold for £400, payment received immediately from a trusted previous buyer, 526 J ordered. Everyone's a winner.
It isn't actually that difficult for societies to function well for all of it's citizens if they are just courteous to each other and stop being greed driven numb nuts.
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@Filthy Said business might have a conscience if it wasn't such a corporate monster.
When I list anything I list as buy it now. I know the price I'm happy with, I generally pitch just under the going rate. Everyone knows where they stand that way.
I listed 4 pieces of silver jewellery yesterday, all sold for £400, payment received immediately from a trusted previous buyer, 526 J ordered. Everyone's a winner.
It isn't actually that difficult for societies to function well for all of it's citizens if they are just courteous to each other and stop being greed driven numb nuts.
I didn't think Ebay was that bad. But I guess like anything else it is. I like under most circumstances you're buying from a person. I just don't like being stressed about being outbid. But I guess that's why it is an auction. I get to pay $25 for my Raiders of the Lost Ark poster book instead of the original bid of $4.50.
Also I was being sarcastic about telling them to suck it. I am a human doormat. I would never say that, even when I am given the chance to be completely anonymous.
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@Filthy Said business might have a conscience if it wasn't such a corporate monster.
When I list anything I list as buy it now. I know the price I'm happy with, I generally pitch just under the going rate. Everyone knows where they stand that way.
I listed 4 pieces of silver jewellery yesterday, all sold for £400, payment received immediately from a trusted previous buyer, 526 J ordered. Everyone's a winner.
It isn't actually that difficult for societies to function well for all of it's citizens if they are just courteous to each other and stop being greed driven numb nuts.
I’ve started listing stuff as BIN. I got burned by a non paying bidder recently and it was a tremendous pain in the ass and complete waste of my time.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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i've stopped using ebay in almost a decade unless i've got to get some stuff. i think back then, i've heard of ebay scams and even how ebay strongly to protect the buyer more than seller that i just decided that i don't want to wade any of the treacherous waters..
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i've heard of ebay scams and even how ebay strongly to protect the buyer more than seller that i just decided that i don't want to wade any of the treacherous waters..
That's how I interpreted their policy. I honestly don't get why there are ebay users out there that bid on stuff that they have no intention of paying for. I guess I need to do a better job at setting buyer requirements in the future.
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ebay works OK for a buyer, but the fees are pretty crazy as a seller..10% off the top including the shipping
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^yes. that included. although places like grailed do charge a 10% as well, but at least shipping's seperate..
That's how I interpreted their policy. I honestly don't get why there are ebay users out there that bid on stuff that they have no intention of paying for. I guess I need to do a better job at setting buyer requirements in the future.
to be honest, there are many of those people out there on different sites, not just ebay. and mostly, they aren't even bots. just regular people with no thought process and too much time on their hands. i guess ebay caught the knack for them first..
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When you have a piece of furniture that comes in three boxes, it seems to me that the assembly instructions should be in box one, not at the bottom of box three.
