BDK’s Random Thoughts » 2008 » April
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Apr 25

So, apparently, now we Americans are “rapist baby-killers”.  Wow.  I’m out. 

“Not all, just you making the rest look bad ! Apart from the rapist baby-killer Americans known from Europe, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan or Iraq, they can’t be made to look worse… 

PS, retaliatory feedback will be removed by eBay, feedback with scripts or links too :o))))

- python44″

Enjoy your phones, Adolf.

Date April 25th, 2008 Filed in Kevin's thoughts, Personal No Comments »
Apr 25

After my little run-in with the American-Hating German - let’s just call him Adolf - I did some extensive research.  Apparently there was a recent study conducted that resulted in the following poll results:  

World Popularity Poll

Also included in the study were the following stats:

ATTEMPTS TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD BY COUNTRY’S DICTATOR

UNITED STATES:       0

GERMANY:                1

Date April 25th, 2008 Filed in General, Kevin's thoughts, Personal 2 Comments »
Apr 25

[WARNING:  Extended post.  But worth it, I'm sure!]

Wow.  I can’t believe some people!

If you didn’t already know, we sell cell phones and service where I work.  (BTW, if you didn’t know that, you probably don’t know me.  Then why on earth are you wasting your time reading MY blog when there is so many other INTERESTING things to look at on the net?)

Anyway, we have “dummy” display phones that we use to demonstrate what the phone looks and feels like without risking a real live phone.  When that model has been discontinued or we quit offering it for whatever reason, we sell the display phones at a significant loss.  Believe it or not, these pretty plastic paper weights can cost upwards of $40 for some models!

I recently put several older models on eBay to see what would sell.  Most of them went for less than a dollar, plus shipping of course.  We’re not getting rich on these things - I charge $3.99 for shipping and handling.  We have to pay for the padded envelope and about $2 in domestic postage typically.  We only ship within the United States.

A couple of days into the latest batch of auctions, I received an email asking if I would consider shipping the item to Germany.  I replied that it is against our policy but I would check the rates and requirements and let him know.  After doing so, I quoted $12.99 in shipping and handling fees, and figured that would be the last I would hear of it.

He responded that he tried to bid but couldn’t due to my geographic restrictions.  I edited the Buyer Requirements Exemption List to expressly allow him to bid.  That individual ended up being the winner bidder on two of the display phone auctions.  

I sent an invoice for the winning bid - a whopping $0.49 EACH - and shipping - $12.99 x 2.  I received a response complaining about the shipping price, the very same price I had already quoted.  Now, the auction was over, and the winner bidder was complaining about the price.  

I very politely reminded the winner that all of my auctions tell potential bidders to ask all questions BEFORE bidding.  BUT, because I’m a heck of a guy, I would actually lower the price by nearly 25%!  Yes, that’s a 25% drop in the price that he CONTRACTED to pay!  He thanked me and sent the payment via PayPal.  Jaime took the package to the post office for me, paid the $6.50 postage, and off it went to lands unknown.

A week or so went by, then I received an email.  ”I was a little surprised when I looked at the envelope… It’s OK to charge a certain amount for the handling, but don’t you think $13,20 … is a bit over the top ???  It’s not my fault that the auctions ended with a low price…”

I was shocked.  This bidder knew up front that the shipping charge was $12.99 for each item.  I LOWERED the price by 25%, he thanked me, and then complained that I overcharged him - by charging LESS THAN THE CONTRACT CALLED FOR!!!  

I sent another polite email thanking him for the purchase of both items and explaining my position: Shipping to Germany required a trip across town, standing in line at the post office, and additional postage costs.  I again reminded him of the phrase on both auction pages asking that questions be presented before bidding.  The email ended with an apology, a confirmation that I would not be issuing additional refunds, and a wish for him to have a great day.

Here’s the ABSOLUTELY LUDICROUS response:  ”So you are saying, the next time I want to buy something from an American, I’ll ask, ‘Before I buy from you, please Mr. American, will you treat me fairly or will you rip me off, as it seems fair practice on your side of the Atlantic…’  And you people really wonder, why your nation has such a bad reputation in the world ???”

WHAT?!?  I was COMPLETELY RESPECTFUL in all of my communication.  I bent over backwards to accommodate him by editing the auction, doing extra research in how to ship internationally, traveling across town and taking extra time to ship the item.  I was very clear as to the costs of these favors and then lowered the price after he agreed via contract.

NOW, this scum was tarnishing by good eBay name with TWO NEGATIVE FEEDBACKS as well!  ”WARNING !!! Arrogant beyond comparison - disgrace to to eBay !” read one.  The other:  ”WARNING !!! RIP-OFF !!! Earned $13,20 on the shipping alone !”

So, that’s why I decided to blog about this.  I needed a forum, greater than 80 characters, to tell my side of this story.  I was polite, accommodating and honest and all it got me was TWO STRIKES on my eBay record.  What a load of crap!

Got to go now.  I have some feedback to leave for my new “friend”.  That’s a tip, by the way:  don’t EVER be the first one to leave feedback when things go bad….

 

PS: I did get the last laugh.  This is what I wrote back:  ”I’m sorry - I thought I was selling a display phone, not representing all of the United States!  BTW, we beat you in World War II.    =)  ”

Date April 25th, 2008 Filed in Kevin's thoughts, Personal 4 Comments »
Apr 25

Muddy pits at the trackFans of the Wild Thing #95 (all three of you) are going to have to wait one more week to see us in action.  The races at Lee County Speedway have been cancelled tonight.

Apparently the rain and lack of sun were too much for the dirt to absorb.  I took a look at the pits last night and there was standing water in many places as you can see in the pic.

Bummer…  I guess you have to expect a couple of these early throughout the season.  Hopefully this is just one bad week out of the way!

Date April 25th, 2008 Filed in Racing No Comments »
Apr 23

The past couple of days have been chock-full of operating system updates.  After opening my shiny new Mac and popping in the extra gig of memory, I went through three reboots worth of Mac OS X updates. 

THEN, I installed Windows XP and hit the Windows Update.  NINETY-FOUR “high priority” updates awaited me.  NINETY-FOUR!  That didn’t include the other 14 optional and recommended updates.

Yes, I could have waited until next week’s release of SP3 for Windows XP.  But come on….

Date April 23rd, 2008 Filed in General No Comments »
Apr 21

I’m writing this blog post on my shiny new Mac Mini that just arrived this afternoon!  So far, so good.  I really like some of the visual things about Leopard - I find myself minimizing and restoring browser windows just to watch the animation!

It’s kinda weird, though.  This is the first time in YEARS AND YEARS that I haven’t had a ton of apps, settings, documents, and other crap to transfer to a new machine.  Basically, I plugged the thing in, ran the Software Updater (twice - and it took FOREVER, just like Windows!), setup a few things that I read about over the past week, and now….  Well, I’m not sure what else to do!

The extra memory won’t be here until tomorrow, but I might wait a day or two to install it (I still have to pick up a putty knife!).  I will be looking forward to the wireless keyboard and mouse that I ordered, though.  The used Sony wired keyboard I’m tapping on is not cutting it.

So, if you have any suggestions on what I can install on my new Mac - besides Windows XP, which I plan on doing within the next couple of days - drop me a comment!

Date April 21st, 2008 Filed in General, Mac No Comments »
Apr 21

One thing that I DEFINITELY will be installed on the Mac is the iPhone SDK.  I’m downloading it right now - and it says that it will only take another 7 HOURS and 31 MINUTES!  I feel like I’m on dial-up again!

I wonder if they are hosting the file on a Mac server….

Date April 21st, 2008 Filed in General, Mac, iPhone No Comments »
Apr 18

I’m using a new-to-me piece of software to post this blog entry. It’s a great WordPress plugin that allows you to control just about everything on your blog from your phone.

I’m excited to see how well this works as this is one reason that I decided to host my own blog. Here goes….

Date April 18th, 2008 Filed in iPhone No Comments »

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