Logbook: Money
Explain the fee… Sprint and there goofy “Free” 4g Fee.
I recently got a new phone on the fact of the phone i had was starting to have some issues. I know my luck with phones is not exactly the best. but, I decided I’d go with a brand new phone rather than a older phone.
So I picked up the HTC EVO and Figured i’d go with a plan with unlimited text and data, the one curious part was the fact that sprint wanted a 10$ Premium data fee, which made no sense, at first i didn’t think much of the fee than I saw multiple sites post about how 4g was suppose to be free, so I got curious. So what does this “premium data” cover?
Strangely enough it has nothing to do with data as sprint.com explains
Premium Data
This phone can do it all and then some. Because we’ve boosted your data experience with this phone’s amazing services and features, you’ll need this add-on. Enjoy:
- A wicked fast processor to make your apps run smoother and faster on our Sprint 3G and 4G network
- Top quality media experience with oversized screen, high resolution video and HD recording
- High-quality pics to snap and share with friends and family
Gamestop/Moviestop the Next Chapter.
Now, I’ve written about moviestop in the past and there parent company is Gamestop . Thinking I’d heard the last of advertising problems with them, I’ve not posted about them till my last few stops at Gamestop.
The Gamestops near me are bunched together , there’s 3 in less than a 1000feet of each other it makes you wonder at night if they play tag or something. The One I had been frequenting was the one Gamestop near the Moviestop I had a problem with. In this particular gamestop it has a pretty good selection, and the help is generally helpful until recently.
It seems that maybe these people were too helpful and were sent to india to be trained in how to be vaguely helpful without being helpful, I don’t know. I’ve traded in a few games lately and waited till gamestop has one of the deals of “TRADE YOUR SHIT IN WE NEED X GAME AND WE ARE GIVING MORE THAN A PITTANCE FOR IT”. Looking through my game collection I eye’d a few things and brought down 3 games. which using gamestops Trade in deal sheet plus Prices from CAG . Figuring i had 3 games and a rough price of $52 of trade-ins I figured i’d get Red Dead Redemption and have a little leftover. So I make my way down to the mall figuring I’d not have to put out cash and go to proceed with the trading process. Now If you’ve done this “trade” process its not really trading its more like pawning off your games for a lump of shit for your gold. Handing the guy the games He spits back “Ok, you have $23 in trades. What the fuck?
He goes yeah these 2 games are worth 10 each and that one is worth 3$. I look at the guy and say , You guys have a deal going on these 2 should be $25 EACH! This guy just looked at me like I just split a higgs boson particle in front of him and told him to explain it at gunpoint. There was an awkward silence followed by this gem of a comment “well If you have any proof of this You can show me , but our computers give us the prices and Whatever the computer says we Price at” At this point I’m getting livid, I open my phone up to the exact page on the gamestop site with the listings for “GAMES FOR $25”
At this point the worker looks at me and says , Oh well yeah that must be an Online Only thing. I look at the GS employee and say “REALLY?! Why the heck would gamestop do an online only, No one would trade stuff in” I Ask for my games back and walkout pissed.
I go across the street to the Gamestop there on the first floor of the mall and talk to the person who i’ve known for a couple years and explain everything that went down. He goes “Uhh wellllllll Was he new?”, now not being sure other than having the rage to kill at that point. I say I have no clue. Game stop employee puts my trades in the system and proceeds to tell me “You have $53 in credit, and I Have NO clue whats going on over at the other gamestop because I didn’t have to do anything to bring this up. ” The employee than told me he was sorry for the treatment over there and gave me a small discount.
but what the hell gamestop? I really don’t feel like playing deceptive advertisement again from your company .
The state of gaming.
Ever had one of those days where you look at something and say hmm. Well, I’ve been doing that for about a few months. For awhile Now I’ve been wanting to spread out my gaming more than just between the WII and the PC. Both platforms in my opinion are suffering from bad development and bad companies. Well, After long thought and wondering if I’d be better off with a Bluray Drive for my PC or Some other upgrade I finally decided against both and went with the black sheep of the decisions.
Phone Fun IV: A New hope.
In our last episode of phone fun I had got an HTC TOUCH , Well…… That didn’t work out so well. Exactly 360 or so days the HTC touch Starting having issues with the screen and Calls. Now, from trials and tribulations with sprint I learned the last thing you want to do is call *2 on your phone. Doing that is like crank calling the deathstar while its in orbit around your planet. Sprint Over the phone support basically told me I had to buy a new phone. Which I don’t have money I can magically pull out of my ass. So I did the next best thing, I headed down to a sprint corporate store. Since I pay my phone bill locally by walking into these stores I figured I’d get a better idea of what to do. After a short talk they sent us down to Boxboro Massachusetts. They have a repair depot up that way, anyways after a 30minute drive and a 30 minute wait they told me the phone was shot(radio was damaged). After a short wait they sent me on the way with another HTC Touch(#2), After getting that home with-in a few hours the audio on that phone sounded like a cat barfing in your ear. Called *2 and sprint offered to send out yet another HTC touch(#3). They shipped it overnight which was very nice and it arrived on monday.
I had that phone no more than 48hours when the phone would just lock and gave a screen of death, Now I am fairly careful with phones and use screen protectors and such. After wasting 3 of them I was not exactly happy. That Phone went back to sprint. To make a long story short, I’ve gone through alot of HTC touches and as Far as my last post about this phone in 2008 . How does the phone rate up?
A bit of a learning curve which kind of surprized me but none the less I like it so far. As far as my requirements for a phone
Requirements for a Phone
- to make calls
- The Phone is configurable
- good battery life
- add/make ringtones
- Applications that don’t cost a years pay for a small 3rd world country
- Durable
Well… After a year with one phone and 1 to 2 months on 4 others.
1 The phone defiantly passes on. For a refurbished HTC-Touch that is debatable.
2. Again you can’t knock the touch on this, its extremely configurable once you figure out the interface.
3. battery life… That is actually pretty good. Although using the GPS Or other intensive options I would recommend a car-charger.
4. You can make ringtones till you puke with this thing rather than jumping through hoops trying to convert soundfiles into strange formats.
5. As Far as applications go, you can find most of the common apps you need on the phone although I’d recommend downloading Google maps. With enough looking you can find pretty much any app you want for the phone but, this is where i’d give the Iphone or palm pre a small advantage with an “app store” for centralized buying of applications although the Iphone is more like Locked into the app store which I believe you can not install any 3rd party apps w/o jailbreaking the phone.
6. Lastly durability I seriously question, as the phone did make it One year. as Far as the refurbished HTC-Touches.. Those sucked ass.. there’s not enough swears in the English language to say what shit the HTC Touch Refurbs are. I may of run into a bad line of them but that is hard to believe that i’d of gone through that many phones.
as far as my current phone, Sprint has offered me a HTC Diamond, Again i leave this post open till the next time I come back to phones.
As far as sprint is concerned – It seems they are OK as far as support as long as you get the right person.
I’ve quit smoking* (part I)
Since Feb 8th I’ve not actually smoked one cigarette. Although, I digress to say that I’ve not quit cold turkey. I’ve done cold turkey quits twice in my life and people say I become Hulk angry when I do. My Cousin had bought in e-cigarette which i was highly skeptical about when I had first seen him with it but, after 1 month it passed what I had called the Timmy test.
At the beginning of the month i had purchased an E-cigarette after watching my cousin and friend use one with no issues with leaving the conventional cigarette behind. when I had received ordered this it was actually February 1st, little did I know I’d end up in the perfect storm of clusterfuck. When I had ordered from Volcano there shipping department had moved so my order was delayed, not only that there shipping computers had crashed. Usually USPS tracking takes a few days to update- You can often receive packages while tracking says otherwise. After stalking the mailman for a week – I started to email support for volcano, to which they will actually find time in there day to reply to you, well to find out my package was like alice in wonderland. Figuring i was in for the long haul I had made a second order. which in the end that was the best thing i could of done with out realizing it.
E-cigarettes are a different experience of sorts but it keeps the feeling the same so to speak. When you have smoked for a long time and a lot of people that fail quitting end up smoking again because of the fact they try to treat the chemical end of smoking without treating the mental end of smoking. If you have smoked and you have quit you’d know what i speak of. if you quit its best to find a bic pen or some other object in your hand to emulate that cigarette or you will be beyond hulk angry and quite possibly rip some walls out.
I’ve put the title as “i’ve quit smoking*” but I used the barry bonds method of scoring here Notice the *. Because to a point i am still getting some level of nicotine, but No fire ,no combustion, no dirty ashtrays , No butts. I am quite happy with this E-cigarette after a rough start from the company I bought it from.
Fun With Teva shoes
In the early half of 2009, I purchased Teva aravalli mens shoes. For years I have worn Teva shoes since Timberland shoe quality went downhill. Now since I do not drive a car, quality of shoes are important to me.
Around Mothers Day in 2009 I purchased these shoes and out of the store they were very comfortable. but, after a month these shoes started to fall apart which aggravated me. The glue to hold the sole together had was very inferior due to the fact that the more you walked the more that the sole separated from the shoe.
After I had returned the first pair I figured that the shoes were a fluke. In june I the second pair and those too fell apart in no time. Since I needed shoes and the older Teva shoes I had some holes in them, the retailer I bought the shoes from did everything in there power to help me out, but to no avail. finally I had emailed Decker shoes the parent company of Teva figuring that i’d get no response. About a week late to my surprise I received an email back
Hi Mike
Thanks for your email. Honestly. We really appreciate you taking some time to connect with us and share your feedback.
First, I’m sorry to hear of your most recent issues with Teva products. You are absolutely correct in your frustration, we definitely owe you a huge apology and a new pair of shoes. I hope you will accept both from me and know that I will help in finding a resolution. Teva prides itself on high performance, quality and, as a sign of our camaraderie, our customer service. I’m sorry to hear we fell short in these department for you.
As you may know, the Aravalli is no longer available in our current line. However, I would be happy to replace your shoes with a pair from our current selection. I would like to offer something like the Riva Leather eVent or the Riva eVent. You can check both out here. If these aren’t exactly what you’re looking for, just let me know if something else stands out.
Once you choose a style, please let me know your size and address for shipping. I’ll go ahead and get these out as soon as possible. Also, for all of your troubles, I would like to also extend an offer for a pair of our Mush flips. I know it’s starting to change seasons but year-around these are a definitely a treat for your feet.
Thanks again Mike for reaching out. We’re glad to hear from you and I apologize again, on behalf of Teva, for your troubles.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
jaime
Jaime Eschette
Teva Public Relations
Goleta, CA
(###) ###-### x1178
please consider the environment before printing this e-mail
After a few email exchanges Teva sent me a pair of Teva Riva Event shoes, These shoes are amazingly comfortable, A little tight at first but after you break in the shoes. they are very light, durable, and weatherproof. I really have to hand it to Teva/Deckers shoes for helping me out and fixing this problem with my shoes. Really as far as shoes go I never thought of Teva for shoes, I used to use Timberlands for shoes but, as there quality went downhill I was happy to find this brand.
EA … Its not in the game anymore and the PC and the $$$$$ (for .99 cents you can buy the letter z in this post)
EA for years has been known for abysmal games of poor quality, although they have improved in some matters but, its really false positive in my mind.
Sure there are a handful of good games from EA as of recently – Crysis, burnout paradise,the sims 3(I guess) *orange box doesn’t count because its a repackage from steam
MovieStop gets stranger.. (possible employee reply)
While sitting here and realizing i’ve not updated in ages , I decided to check my comments sections, It was kind of funny . I noticed a Comment sitting in moderation for my moviestop post that I had posted over a year ago. I had an problem with MovieStop, and after a few emails the situation was corrected, I thought it was spam until I decided to read it.
Policy is, if you reserve a movie they match the lowest “ADVERTISED” price. This means there has to be an in store advertisement stating the lower price. They do not match every price because they sell used movies which are always lower than any other store’s new prices. Sounds to me like you are one of those customers that all retail employees hate to have to service. You think that you should get the best deal even though the policy is different than what you want. Maybe step down from your high horse and come join the rest of us on planet earth.
Maybe I’m on a High horse maybe I’m not, but this comment is basically an attack, let me break this one down.
- Policy is, if you reserve a movie they match the lowest “ADVERTISED” price.
From my previous post: Before Leaving the Moviestop lot I had checked the window to see that there was a Large sign in yellow with black large letters “GUARANTEED LOWEST ADVERTISED PRICES”. When i had asked regarding this sign in the front of the store windows the person claimed that there was an asterisk in the sign on the front of the store. Checking the sign again there was No asterisk no Limitation no claim to see in store for details Nothing noting of any policy of what this person had spoke of.This item was new, and the price I saw was ADVERTISED, It was in the best buy flier for the same week.
- This means there has to be an in store advertisement stating the lower price.
See above
- They do not match every price because they sell used movies which are always lower than any other store’s new prices.
That’s a given but, I purchased this product new. generally used products fall under different rules which are printed in stores (Or at least gamestops that I’ve been too).
- Sounds to me like you are one of those customers that all retail employees hate to have to service. You think that you should get the best deal even though the policy is different than what you want.
Now your getting a little snippy here, As far as being hated by retail employees, I don’t think so, Now i’ve been nice up to this point. I’m sure a lot of gamestop/moviestop employees are not like you, Hell I know my gamestop/moviestop managers and they know me but,you are a gamestop/moviestop employee In richmond, VA area, who has no clue what went on and are assuming the customer is always wrong, I never believe the customer is always “right” but, there is a happy medium. That right there is the first sign of bad customer service, Secondly I pointed out the sign issue, most states have laws saying they are bound by what the sign says unless its a grievously bad error, also by the federal trade commision .
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the main federal agency that enforces advertising laws and regulations. Under the Federal Trade Commission Act:
- Advertising must be truthful and non-deceptive;
- Advertisers must have evidence to back up their claims; and
- Advertisements cannot be unfair.
But to get this kind of treatment almost a year later is kind of low, I’ve been mostly nice through this post but if MovieStop employees really think they are god to obviously which you think you are, you need to really sit down and think! How do i want my store to be and how can I keep people coming back to my store. Not find a post on the internet and bash the person because what you believe is right, quite simply you need to educate your customers and educate your self and CORRECT problems when you see them, If you store has a sign that says
“GUARANTEED LOWEST ADVERTISED PRICES”.
But, the sign only refers to preorders, The sign is incorrect! You need to correct the sign because the sign says quite different from the actual given “policy”. A better sign would be
“GUARANTEED LOWEST ADVERTISED PRICES ON PRE-ORDERS: See inside for details”.
After this I think moviestop is on the shitlist again.
Console Gaming without a TV part V (Samsung 2333HD monitor)
From my last post I had talked about getting a new Monitor and retiring the Wii VGA cable . The thing is the post was getting to the epic dictionary size so I felt the need to make another post, After doing much research after my first failed attempt at getting a monitor I noticed they were making Monitors with TV tuners built on to them. Personally I don’t want a TV with a VGA input on it for many reasons, TV generally have very limited resolutions as far as computers are concerned.
Looking around I stumbled upon Samsungs lines of monitors with TV Tuners built in, the T2#0HD line of monitors are basically monitors with an HD Tuner built in. I like the idea of a monitor that has a built in TV tuner, It removes the need for a TV and also it is more convienent for me, The major problem with these monitors is there fucking imposible to find locally in a store, best buy has them on there site but there all WEB ONLY which is a pile of moose shit, they went you to purchase a TV rather than taking more convienent route of getting a monitor with built in tuner.
After the fun I had with the Samsung 2253BW, I just for the hell of it looked at TV’s on the Office Depot site- which hit me with a profound yet silly answer– I had to look twice because the model number did not make sense- Samsung 2333HD 23″ Widescreen LCD HDTV? Wait a sec.. 2333HD? And I just had a 2253 ? and the T220HD ????? What the.. going to google it made alot more sense after. The model number didn’t look like a HDTV Model number, after dealing with a TV problem in the house that needed to be replaced I became familiar with model numbers. Usually a model number from samsung for a monitor would be ####AB where-as tv’s used a much differnt sequence like – Samsung LN26A450. The only exception I’ve found was the T###HD monitor line, which is still much different than any model numbers for TV’s.
Comparing the T220HD to the 2333HD yielded another interesting result. The 2333hd Can goto 1080p while the T220HD could only achieve 720p. After a call to Office Depot I manages to get the 2333HD.
For A TV analog channels do look a little fuzzy but on HD channels this monitor really shines, as for the Wii, It Removes the need for a VGA cable, it also has enough inputs to not clusterfuck the back of the pc with inputs and outputs. The sound from the built-in speakers is very tinny. The easy fix is to use the optical out on the back of the monitor which provides excellent sound through a Stereo reciever. As for the wii using a RGB Component in with the audio inputed in through the TV Also is a huge bonus (less cables all over the place).
As for the monitor end of things the monitor give an excellent response time for gaming with no noticeable trails or other things that would otherwise annoy you. Also the monitor goes into standby when you turn the PC off which is the BIGGEST thing I wanted and the reason I did not want to buy a TV. When you turn off a TV with a PC connected 95% of the time your left with a screen that says “no signal” and your just wasting power. the 2333HD does not do that after you shut down your PC the monitor happily goes to standby.
the Images look great as far as I’m concerned and this really is the best of both worlds when considering your options for a setup for a console without a TV.
Console Gaming without a TV part IV (Samsung 2253BW monitor)
I’ve written in the past about not having a TV to play Console games on , And through many trials I settled on the VD-W2 Wii VGA cable. The cable definitely served its purpose, after trying many TV Cards that just could not hold up to console gaming I decided to try that cabled on a whim. Honestly it was one of the best things I bought to use with my monitor. So if you have a small room and do not want to deal with the annoyences of TV Card or having a TV and a Computer monitor in the same room with your console and PC, The Vdigi Wii VGA Cable is worth the buy!
well….
The cable earned its retirement after almost a year of faithful service, I had given away one of my monitors due to the fact we still had a monstrosity of a CRT monitor in the house, That given, It started me on a new quest.
To find a monitor to fit my needs….
Since I was using both the VGA and the DVI inputs that meant I needed a monitor to have at least 2 inputs. The last time I had purchased a monitor was 2007 and, I was not sure exactly sure how things have changed in that technology.
Well I took a little crash course.
(click more to read on)