artiss.blog

Category: Automattic

My life at Automattic

  • TomTom Customer Service

    TomTom Go 540 Live
    TomTom Go 540 Live

    Believe it or not, I’ve been working for my current employer for 20 years (yes, yes, I started when I was 12). Loyalty like that is a rarity these days (or could I just not find anything better elsewhere)? Anyway, they’ve given up on handing out watches and simply give out gift vouchers instead (although a generous amount, I should add).

    I’d been thinking for a while of replacing my aging TomTom One v2 – I was attracted to the larger screens and IQ routes features on more modern versions. I thought I’d get a TomTom One XL IQ, as this covered the bases, although secretely I’d have ideally liked one of the better models. Well, these vouchers were all I needed to upgrade my aspirations! I could use my vouchers at Halfords, and as they had a sale on at the time, it sounded ideal.

    After much searching of reviews and looking at specifications, I narrowed it down to the TomTom GO 540 or the 730.

    The 730 is the more “up market” model, but is the not the most recent. Halfords were actually selling this cheaper than the 540.

    However, the 540, or more precisely the 540 Live, had one thing that I wanted and that the 730 lacked – voice control. My new car has a very steep sloping windscreen so to secure it in its ideal position at the bottom of the screen would put it out of reach. Of course, you still have to press an on-screen button to activate the voice control but the purcahse of a bluetooth remote would eliminate the need to even do that.

    Anyway, I weighed up the reviews and general pros and cons, and finally decided to go for the 540. The Live services (at £7.99 a month) are steeply priced but offer regular traffic updates, amonst other things. After now using the 540, however, I feel compelled to try and find the money each month to pay for the Live services.

    The only thing left bugging me is the on/off technical support from TomTom – they’ve often responded to me quickly on most questions but when it comes to swapping over the map update services (that I’m paying for) to the new device, they haven’t responded in over a week – even when I’ve updated the support call with a prompt.

  • Dixons.co.uk Customer Service

    The Nintendo DSi comes out in a matter of days and I’m sure that, come Christmas, it’s going to be nigh-on impossible to get hold of. So I thought I’d pre-order one now, in preparation for my daughters Christmas present (or sooner if she’s good!).

    The two cheapest retailers appear to be Amazon and Dixons, at £145. However, I had an affiliate money off code of £5 for Dixons, making that £140.

    So, I sign in to the Dixons website using the details I have stored in my password manager (KeyPass) and add the DSi to my basket. I put in the voucher code and it all works correctly. I now click to checkout and it asks for my password again, for security reasons. I, again, use the password manager to put the password in. It comes up to say the password is invalid. Eh? I try again. The same.

    I now use the option to reset the password and set the password to what I had it noted down as. But, again, it won’t accept it.

    Is it Firefox? I try IE and get the same results.

    That’s fine, I’ll give their customer support a ring and see if I can get it sorted. Except the site has no number for doing such a thing. The nearest I can find is a number to ring for complaints – I try that and find it be a general purpose helpline for the site, which is what I was after. I explain the problem to the chap who answers and he says, “sorry, can’t suggest anything for that”. And that’s it. I explain that unless I can sign in I’m going to have to buy from elsewhere. But he insists there’s nothing he can do, suggesting that maybe I’m typing the password in wrong (yes, I explain how it’s cut & paste from a password manager). “Have you tried setting up your account again?”. At this point I gave up.

    It may be £5 more, but I’m now ordering from Amazon.

  • Dell Customer Service

    Or rather my most recent online chat with them about the Dell Mini 9. Here is, word-for-word (but with personal details removed), how it went (my lines in bold)…

    Initial Question/Comment: Are there any further offers on the XP Mini 9?

    Thank you for contacting Dell Sales Chat. This is xxxxxx xxxxxx, your Sales Advisor. Please give me a moment while I review your query. In order to serve you better, may I have your telephone number & email address, just in case of disconnection I can either call you or email you back. My email address xxxxxx_xxxxxx@dell.com and Dell dial number 0870 9075 128 Ext: xxxxx

    My number is xxxx xxxxxxx, my email xxxxxx

    Thanks for the contact details

    Well David Dell don’t offer any further discount on the products.

    Oh. Ok. The price has gone up recently, and it’s now outside of my budget range

    All right

    Is that it? No attempt to get a sale from me? No offers?

    David i am not suppose to offer any further deals on the system.

    Who can then? Surely you don’t wish me to now go and spend my money elsewhere?

    Dell don’t have the discounting policy any more.

    Do you know why the Mini 9 has shot up in price? A week ago it had a £20 off and was £279. That makes the “full price” £299. However, you’re now selling it for £329, with £10 off. That makes the full price £339 now. With the Mini 10 coming out, I thought you’d be dropping the price, not increasing it.

    Just to let you know we start new promotions on every Thursday morning and the present promotion will be expired.

    Will it be replaced with another?

    I cannot inform you about it as of now as there is no information available.

    Ok. Thanks. You’ve been helpful yet no help at all!! I’ll take my money somewhere else.

    Thank you for contacting Dell Sales Chat and allowing me the opportunity to assist you. Have a wonderful Day.

    And then it came up with a questionnaire for me to fill in. I enjoyed that.

    So, what we’ve learnt. Dell have stopped their discounting policy, so there is no haggling – the price on the site is what it is, even if as a customer you’d rather go elsewhere.

    But that’s the last such chat. I’ve given up with Dell (I became a recent fan because my work laptop, a Dell, is so good. However, even my employer is now going elsewhere).

  • Dell Customer Service

    Dell Inspiron Mini 9
    Dell Inspiron Mini 9

    I’ve been looking at potentially buying a Dell Inspiron Mini 9. It’s currently retailing at £279. As I’m sure you’re aware, the “Nettop” market is pretty crowded with everyome bringing out their own version. They generally tend to range between £200 – £300 with those with bigger screens, batteries and hard drives on the higher end. The Dell one, however, doesn’t have any of these, yet is in that upper range.

    But that’s fine, Dell are well known for their ability to haggle a good price with a customer who, after all, is interested in buying. So I use their online chat and get… nowhere. Not interested in any discount.

    So I ring. After putting me on hold they go away and come back with a price – but only if I buy today – of £273. Yes, £6 cheaper. And that’s all they’ll do.

    Rubbish.

    And their website is slow.

    So I’m now looking at the cheaper alternatives elsewhere…

    Update: the same laptop was £253 before Christmas

    Update, 22nd January: The original “£20 off” offer finished yesterday so I was keen to see if Dell has replaced it with anything better. They’ve been banging their drum on their website about how we should buy before the 21st to ensure we get this great saving. Well, they’ve now replaced it with, erm, a “£20 off” offer for the next week.

  • Belkin don't wish to speak to you

    So, I’m looking at buying a Belkin product but have a pre-sales question.

    It’s not urgent so I send them an email using the form on their website. I don’t get a reply.

    So I use their “live chat” service on the website… the person pretends not to receive my questions and then stops talking to me.

    Finally, I use the old fashioned method of ringing… I got through all the menu options and – I’m met with silence. No further menu options, no ringing, no nothing. I try again and get the same thing.

    I assume Belkin just isn’t interested in me as a customer.