The all purpose "people are dumb" thread

[anarky]

So Amazon shipped out a package to me last Wednesday. Expected delivery date was Thursday. It was shipped by UPS from North Las Vegas, which should be a day based on past experience, and I confirmed this through the "estimate time and cost" tool on UPS's website.

It's still not here. Amazon's tracking info has nothing beyond "Shipment has left seller." UPS has nothing beyond "Billing information received." So it's lost in limbo--maybe not gone forever, but not moving anywhere.

I scour the Amazon site. Everything tells me I should contact them if it's not received on the expected delivery date. Seems a bit soon to me, but that's what they're telling me to do. So I do, explaining that it wouldn't concern me except that the tracking info says the package hasn't even made it to the local UPS location in Nevada.

It takes less than a half hour for me to get an e-mail back, apologetic because I haven't gotten the package, but telling me to wait a bit longer before contacting them, September 6 (11 days past the date they told me it should be here) to be precise. Packages often take up to two weeks longer than the estimated time, they say.

I'm not in any hurry to get this package (it's little stuff I'd tacked onto two separate orders to get free shipping on books that weren't out yet), but wouldn't you think that, if you want people to wait until a package is more than ten days late, you shouldn't tell them to contact you immediately if it's late?

I wonder how many hours of customer service time are wasted telling people to wait a few days more?

[anarky]

Here's another one:

I get a call on my cell phone from an unfamiliar number. I don't answer it. I look up the number, and it's prankdialer.com. So my brother has re-discovered that site after I told him not to send me anything. (I don't like people eating up my minutes unless it's actually funny, which nothing on that site is.)

I go to their site to see if I want to opt out, thinking I probably don't because it's easier to just not answer the damn calls and not give them any of my info.

No shit, they actually suggest (doesn't look like it's required, but suggested in a way that makes it tough to see it's not mandatory if you're the sort to not look at things closely) you donate $1 per number removed from their list.

Seriously, they have a site where they call people without the permission of the owner of the number, and ask for money to remove you? I wonder if anyone falls for that.

[Batman]

MISSED YOU BY SECONDS, I SEE, ANARKY.

YOU SHALL FALL UNDER MY HEEL, VILLAIN! I HAVE ENDLESS PATIENCE. YOU WANNA KNOW WHY?

BECAUSE I'M THE GODDAMN BATMAN!!

[anarky]

Another shipping-related one:

I've had this old Dire Straits album on my list of things to pick up if I see for cheap for a while now. It looks like it just went out of print. The only site that has it is Walmart.com. It's about $5 cheaper than the MP3s would cost me. And I know from finding random shit in the store that out-of-print albums have a way of showing up in their bargain bins.

So I order it. Shipping would cost almost what it costs, but Site-To-Store is free. I placed my order on 11/1. They sent an e-mail saying it was shipped on 11/2, and would arrive in the store on 11/14. Fuck, that's a long time. But I figure it's a sort of worst case window, and I'm not in any hurry.

So I wait and wait and finally get an e-mail late last night that it's arrived. I go in (waiting about fifteen minutes, because there's apparently only one person in this huge fucking store who can handle these things) and get my package.

And I notice something: Walmart sent this fucking thing UPS to their own store! I just assumed that they'd toss it on one of their trucks. I mean, I am at or driving by that store every day, and there's always at least two trucks in the loading dock. And it's right off an interstate, where you can't drive more than five miles without passing at least one WM truck. And every other store who offers this service just tosses it on a truck when there's room. Oh, and it was actually sent almost two weeks after it supposedly shipped (and my card was charged).

I can't wrap my head around how it's cheaper to send something UPS to the store, when you have literally hundreds of trucks going there every month, or how they can provide that shipping free but sending by the same carrier to my house, less than a mile away, would cost me $3.

[Ran]

I did the site to store shipping once. It took over a half hour before I could get someone to get my order.

[vynsane]

I can't wrap my head around how it's cheaper to send something UPS to the store, when you have literally hundreds of trucks going there every month, or how they can provide that shipping free but sending by the same carrier to my house, less than a mile away, would cost me $3.

honestly, i don't think the 'site-to-store' thing is working the way they thought it would - meaning "if they come in to pick up a site-to-store item, they're bound to buy something else" doesn't happen.

even more idiotic is the LEGO set i got four copies of for 50% off each, using site-to-store. they had the item IN STOCK, but i still had to wait for them to ship it. you'd think that their computer system would be ALMOST advanced enough to figure "well, they can take four off the shelf and give it to him and we'll resupply those four from the warehouse" but, no.

[anarky]

One of the local TV stations posted a thing on FB about how to be a "layaway angel" and pay off someone's layaway.

Really?

You want to help out the needy, so you go to a store and pay off someone's XBox they don't have the money to buy until next month, or some toys that someone simply couldn't hide anywhere at home? People don't use layaway because they can't afford something; they use it because they don't want it on hand, don't have the money at the time, or don't want to pay interest. Consider that layaways now have a minimum of $75 or up at most stores, and restricted to toys and electronics at most stores, and it's inexcusable to let people fucking starve to death so some asshole can have a bigscreen TV.

The "I want to help the needy, as long as they're not needy enough to make me feel bad about my lifestyle" bullshit really pisses me off.

[anarky]

Why is it that so many stores online list items as "in stock," but they clearly aren't in stock? If something is "in stock," I should not receive an e-mail a week after the expected ship date saying it's delayed for another week or, worse, get an e-mail three days after ordering it that tells me they don't have it and my order is canceled. Sure, I might not have ordered it if the page description had said "should arrive in a week, maybe," but they don't know that. And is it better to be upfront about not having something you don't and risk losing one sale versus essentially lying and risking losing every future sale from that person because they decide you cannot be trusted?

I've had so many stores do this. Target just e-mailed me to say something is expected to arrive by June 10 (I hope that's a generous "we should have this thing in a month" estimate), when they supposedly had it ready to go two days ago. Deepdiscount did this so damned much, I stopped dealing with them altogether (the insane wait times when they did have stuff didn't help, either). Even Amazon has pulled it once or twice. The response is always the same: "Sometimes the availability listed on the page is inaccurate due to supply issues" or something very much like that. (How is there a "supply issue" if you're saying you have it on a fucking shelf?) If a physical store can tell me how many fucking pencils they have, why the fuck is counting your shit in a warehouse a problem? You should know how many specks of fucking dust are in there, unless you've got a thief on your hands.

[anarky]

I can't wrap my head around how it's cheaper to send something UPS to the store, when you have literally hundreds of trucks going there every month, or how they can provide that shipping free but sending by the same carrier to my house, less than a mile away, would cost me $3.

More fun with WM site-to-store. (I fucking hate WM, but sometimes they're just way cheaper than anyone else, and, collecting toys, I can't drop them entirely.)

I ordered two very similar small items on the 20th. They ship to the store separately, supposedly from the same location, on the 22nd. The arrival date for one is the 27th, for the other it's the 3rd of September. Can't wrap my head around how two practically identical items ship from the same location on the same date and are supposed to arrive literally a week apart.

But it's WM. I have come to expect slow, nonsensical service from them, so, hey, whatever.

Today being the 27th, I check to see if I have an email from them. Nope. I log into my account to see if maybe it arrived at the store but I haven't received the memo yet. It turns out it's "delayed in shipping" and is now set to arrive on the 30th.

How the fuck is something being sent to your own goddamned store delayed in shipping? I go back and check through all my recent emails, and I got exactly jack shit notification of this 3-day delay. Meaning that, were I the typical Walmart shopper, I probably would've gone in today and waited a half hour to find out it's not there. Oh, and, hey, it's now arriving on the Friday before Labor Day. Fuck it, I'll probably just wait until both orders are in since they're that close together and it's practically an impossibility to pick it up before that day anyway unless it gets there damned early on Friday.

And, on a similar note....

I preorder a lot of stuff from Amazon. They're usually cheaper or the same price as anyone else, fast as hell, and I don't have to worry about going anywhere. I've noticed that stuff guaranteed to arrive on release date (usually a Tuesday for everything) has been shipping later and later recently. Where it used to ship on Saturday and would arrive on Monday or Tuesday, now they're waiting until Monday to actually overnight it. Kinda silly to spend more, but I figure they're cracking down on stuff inadvertently getting into people's hands a day before the release date, since publishers and studios and labels can be pretty dickish about that. I usually don't care; I never order anything online that I need by a certain date unless I give at least a few days extra time just in case.

I had an email this morning at 3AM apologizing for not sending an item out yet that was guaranteed to be here today. No offers to refund anything or give me credit toward a future purchase or anything, just an apology. Now, I'm not trying to get something for nothing, and I really don't care if I get an item a day or two later so long as I know it's on the way, but doesn't "guarantee" supposedly have an actual meaning? "If we don't get this item you preordered months ago to you by the promised date, we'll... apologize in a form letter"?

Funny thing, it's now 11:10, and the item is still in "Shipping Now" status. But what's hilarious about that is they still list a guaranteed delivery time and date of by 8PM today. Not even shipped, and supposed to be here in less than nine hours? I know that a lot of stuff ships from near LA, which is really close by, but, c'mon, is Dr. Who delivering this shit in the TARDIS? You already apologized; give me a realistic arrival date.

With Amazon, though, between this and the huge clusterfuck of inconsistent Slave I shipping causing damage to a high-priced collectible, I have to assume they're going through some serious growing pains in their shipping department. (They seem to be opening warehouses right and left.) Walmart, well, they're Walmart and they suck at most things.

[Diabolical]

I figure they're cracking down on stuff inadvertently getting into people's hands a day before the release date, since publishers and studios and labels can be pretty dickish about that.

Well, it ain't workin'.
*Goes back to watching Star Trek Into Darkness again*

[anarky]

Today being the 27th, I check to see if I have an email from them. Nope. I log into my account to see if maybe it arrived at the store but I haven't received the memo yet. It turns out it's "delayed in shipping" and is now set to arrive on the 30th.

You may notice today is the 28th. I got an email containing the following text at about 6 PM this evening:

Dear [anarky],
Thanks for your recent Walmart.com order using our Site to Store service. Unfortunately, the items scheduled for pickup at the [closest] store have been delayed. They're being shipped and are currently in transit.
We always want your Walmart.com shopping experience to be a good one and we're sorry for the inconvenience this delay has caused.
We're working with the [closest] store to deliver your order as soon as possible. Although we are currently unable to provide a revised delivery date, please be aware that most delayed packages arrive within a few days of the original delivery date provided when you placed your order. We are monitoring the order's progress and will contact you when it arrives.

So, now it's over a week since I ordered the goddamned thing, and they wait over a day after it was supposed to be there to tell me they don't know when the fuck it will be arriving?

Seriously? I paid for it a fucking week ago. Clearly, based on the UPS tracking labels you've left on every other site-to-store order I've made, your pathetic asses just now figured out you hadn't shipped it.

You may also note there is no information along the lines of "We're sorry we didn't get this to you when promised. We understand you may not fucking want it anymore because, hey, it's late and maybe you needed it by a certain time. If you want to cancel it, click here."

Saving a couple of bucks and getting a few points on Swagbucks for ordering this way is not worth this level of fucking hassle.

[Jargo]

Holy fucking shit in a taco! I was browsing for a crappy emoticon to post somewhere and found this blog. The most vapid pile of dog barf I think I've ever read. Jaclyn Swartz former ABC's Bachelor pad participant. She's fucking 28 years old and sounds like a 13 year old retard. I urge you to pay particular attention to her list of reasons not to date a guy. She's going on my list of 'first up against the wall, come the revolution'.

[Tom Foolery]

I just burped and threw up in my mouth a little. It was just a coincidence it happened right after I read that blog. I'm pretty sure.

For the record, I wear cargo shorts and have hair on my back. Amongst other things.

[anarky]

Oh. My. Fucking. God.

So, last night on Boardwalk Empire, there's a subtle moment where a federal agent, who's trying to bring down Nucky's organization by pretending to be a dumbass agent on the take, hands Nucky's brother Eli a handkerchief that's not his own, and Eli realizes something is up. I've been trying to find out if the initials meant something, or if he just recognized that they weren't the same as what he thought the dude's name was.

Anyhow, I go to the FB page to see if anyone's brought it up. And the first post is in regard to another scene. A sorta friend of Richard Harrow (and the father of the woman he loves) finds out he's dying of cirrhosis from pretty much drinking himself to death for years. He relates how, when in the Philippines, he shot a young girl, then came home and lived his life. It's pretty damned obvious that he's telling why he's been such a drunk for years, even if he doesn't realize it himself.

Anyway, someone got indignant and didn't bother to think, and he posted this:

I am a Vietnam Veteran. Last nights program showed the character with the mask talking to a buddy about the war. The buddy related a story about how he shot a young Filipino girl who was maybe 15 in the face and killed her because she couldn't produce I.D? That was a lie and the writer used that moment to stick it to the American Soldier one more time. We liberated the Philippines from the Japanese who committed horrible atrocities against the Filipinos. Do you really hate the military that much?

Oh, yeah, keep in mind if you don't know anything about the fucking show that it takes place in 1924.

[vynsane]

Oh, yeah, keep in mind if you don't know anything about the fucking show that it takes place in 1924.

so not only are they taking cheap shots at AMURIKIN soldiers, but TIME-TRAVELING amurikin soldiers!