So, I have been doing hourly checks at the internet site of the camera warranty repair company that has my broken camera. I sent it in the monday after the infamous black sunday. (July 22) There were rules in "how to pack your camera for shipping", and not wanting to hinder any delays, I followed instructions of the bubble wrap distribution specifications to perfection, along with removing all straps, batteries, cards, and of course, the lens. I enclosed a check for $10 for its shipping return costs, and I was off to Ship n Mail. I am at the counter telling the clerk that the value was $700 and that I needed insurance and delivery confirmation w/signature (per instructions), blah, blah, blah, right? So, she has to check the package to make sure I have packed it correctly, given that the value is over $100. She thinks that it needs a few squares of shipping pillows and proceeds with the proper packing. It has now been weighed, and she is adding up the total, which I am thinking around $10 bucks, because that's what it would seem to be for the camera company to send it back, as my check covered. Ummm...not even close. The total was....wait for it................$33.84. Lets break this down, shall we... Package $30.78 Labor $2.00 Earth friendly material $1.00 Delivery conf. w/signature $4.25 tax .06 Here is my issue: How can the camera co. send it back to me for $10 (and I'm sure they are rounding up) and I have to pay $35 (rounding up)?...plus covering the return shipping, so the complete shipping on my part is $45.00. First of all, my packing was perfect, she was padding, so to speak, the bill. These little 1" x 1" pillows were crammed in there so that the box bulged. Whatever...but to see the whole "earth friendly material"...its freakin plastic, filled with air, how is that earth friendly? And to charge me labor? For what?...it took her 7 seconds to overpack my package. O.K., so I'm bitching about $3.00, but on a grander scale, I am comparing shipping rates of sending out verses returning. It makes no sense to me, but alas, my rant on this subject is over, and I'm on to the next...
I have digressed from my opening sentence...
My hourly checks to the website have been going on since July 26th. I have been trying to monitor the progress of the repair, so as my life will soon be back on track. I can't nearly describe the suffering I've endured, which sounds completely selfish, given the War, famine, other numerous outragious conditions in this world I don't even want to think about, but still... sometimes I guess a spade is a spade, so you can call me Hannibal Spade. It hurts in a routine sort of way. I have planned my days around the weather for years... I would go to certain wildlife areas, depending on conditions, but I have never not gone 3 weeks without a photographic experience, and the days are still passing...Perfect frickin days, I might add. Oh the pain...I digressed again...so I check this site every day, and finally I see "on line" in the status window and the date it appeared was July 31. Well, since July 31st, I have anxiously awaited an update. That update has yet to appear. Its August frickin 8th! That makes for a whole lot of log-ons, probably 50 give or take...The site is now a bookmark, and my frustration has grown to anger. I decided to call customer service this morning. I told the lady that I have checked the repair status on her website for over 2 weeks, and it seems no progress has been made, or the techs are not updating the site. She was very nice. She told me on-line meant it is in the building and logged in. She also told me that it takes 10-20 days for the techs to even "see" the camera. I asked her if the Techs update the site on a regular basis, and of course, she said yes. I thanked her for her "help"...I'm still a spade, I admit it. Life sucks!
I google imaged "life sucks" and found the image above! Ain't it great? It made my life better, for today, well....right now anyway! (and I needed something interesting to grab your attention to read this post. Why? You have to ask? Because I haven't taken any pictures, stupid!) (Thanks for hanging in there!)
awesome beer label. made me chuckle.
ReplyDeleteyeah, I would be going nuts if my camera was still gone.
Your pain is breaking my heart. Here's some chocolate for you. (If chocolate really lands in front of you right now, then my voodoo lessons are paying off!)
ReplyDeletePffft! If you were a better photographer you wouldn't even NEED a camera! At this point I'm a little disappointed to learn that all of these pictures aren't just a result of you staring at nature and mentally making the picture appear on the blog.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's right. I thought you were that good, Hannibal...I thought these pictures were magic.
tjd,
ReplyDeleteGuess what? A Dove Promises wrapper mysteriously appeared out of nowhere, but it was empty, just like the promise on the wrapper, it said: "What, were you expecting chocolate?" Empty Promises, I feel like Charlie Brown.
Anyway, your voodoo skills are almost there, keep trying, and can you work alittle harder on the voodoo "snapu" please?
McGone,
If I was all magical-n-shit, I would create the coolest pic.'s, like the white deer with an apple in its mouth standing next to a beautiful flowering bush that had a bunch of butterflies of every color, with 1 of them landing on the deer's nose. All of this is found at the edge of the lake with the turquoise water like glass, except for the bass in the distance, that jumped to catch the dragonfly! I would capture all of that along with the entire reflection in the lake. Oh yeah, and a hot air balloon is floating in the sky, just barely blocking the sun for a great lens flare. Yeah, it would be that good!
Slinger,
Still going nuts, its monday morning, Aug.13th, still no change, I need another 1 of those beers.