Last week we placed 2 orders with the online AppleStore. Due to availability Apple broke the orders into 3 separate shipments.
On Monday we ordered a new 24″ iMac to replace my aging 1.25Ghz G4 PowerBook. The shipping lead time was 1 – 3 days, with a 2 – 3 day ship time if we paid extra. Which we did so my wife wouldn’t have to listen to me complain about FedEx and Memphis.
Wednesday afternoon I placed an order for a second power supply for my MacBook Pro, and a Griffin Elevator. The lead time on the power supply was 1 – 2 days, with a 3 to 8 day shipping time, the Elevator had a lead time of 2 to 3 weeks with the same 3 to 8 day shipping time.
Friday afternoon, the doorbell rings and it’s Purolator delivering the Griffin Elevator.
Today at lunch FedEx dropped off the MacBook Pro power supply, all the while the iMac is sitting in Memphis waiting for it to be the day that Apple committed for it to be delivered on.
Posted in Apple | Tagged Apple
Time for my annual list of Christmas presents received.
Clothing
- Scarf
- Leather coat
- Long sleeve shirt
- Maple Leafs workout wear
- Roots sweatshirt and pants
- Pajamas
- Slippers
Games
- Halo 3
- The Orange Box
- Bioshock
- Guitar Hero 3
Movies
- The Bourne Identity
- The Bourne Ultimatum
- Futurama: Bender’s Big score
- Pirates of the Caribbean: World’s End
- Mallrats
- Night out in a bag: Fargo (movie, coolers, chocolate, popcorn, and bowl)
Toys
Books
- The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes
Posted in Life
Hotspot Wireless Internet Access allows users to connect to the Internet from various public locations. It is a collaboration by Canada’s 4 (really 3, Rogers bought Fido) mobile providers. Accessing the system requires a mobile phone with one of the carriers for billing purposes.
Bell, Telus and Fido (Rogers) offer an hourly rate, Bell $7.50, Telus $10, and Fido at $8. Rogers offers $0.15/minute which works out to $9 for an hour. For greater usage, Bell, Telus and Fido offer daily/24 hour rates of $13, $15 and $15 respectively. Rogers continues at $0.15/minute, for $216.
Now in their defense Rogers does offer a $4/month subscription, for 90 minutes, and $0.10/minute after. But, this is a very weak defense, it doesn’t take long for Rogers to become more expensive than Bell, Telus and themselves (Fido).
Rogers also offers monthly subscription for $24/month which nets the user 600 minutes and a per minute rate of $0.10. However both Bell and Telus offer an unlimited month for $25 subscription.
Telus and Fido both go a step further and offer a pay per use week of $25, and a month for $40. Neither of these requiring a monthly subscription.
One key point to remember here, other than the billing system, the 3 (4) providers are using the same infrastructure, with the same costs.
Hotspot Rates:
Posted in Technology | Tagged ISP, Mobile, Rogers
My wife took our van over to the dealer to get a lube, oil & filter. About 2 hours later the phone rings “The intake gasket is shot and it’s leaking coolant into the oil, and needs to be replaced”. This is the 4th GM vehicle we’ve owned that has required this work. The repair bill would have been $1100, GM offered to pay all but $200 of the bill. However….
Couple years back CTV did a story on GM vehicles that had were experiencing intake gasket problems. It included pretty much all cars/vans built between 1995 and 2003. There were several internal memos where this problem was acknowledged but GM would do nothing about it (there are several class action suits in progress). At the time my car was experiencing the problem and noting the van was also on the list, I called GM to complain.
They logged my complaint about the car, plus my concern that a couple months after the warranty on the van was up, the intake gasket would blow and I’d have to foot the bill yet again. They said they couldn’t repair something that isn’t broken, but they’d keep a record of my concern and should the time come, something would be done.
So I called and sure enough it was logged just as I said it would be, and the woman who took my call said she’d look into it and get back to me.
She later called me back and said they were doing everything they could and no further action would be taken. I informed her of the fact that I’d already expressed concern over this issue 3 years ago, and that I’ve paid for the same issue 3 times previously. That them not handling their quality assurance problems is not the customers fault and I should not be paying for it. She didn’t agree.
At this point I made sure she documented the fact that I would never be buying another GM built vehicle. That in fact my last vehicle purchase had been a VW to avoid the shoddy workmanship and general lack of quality in GM vehicles.
The part that kills me, is GM is wondering why more people are buying imports. Willing to pay more than what a GM vehicle sells for.
Posted in Life