Irresponsible Service

Ok, time to denounce something that's pissing me off. Worry not, I'll keep it short, so that my liver doesn't explode in anger. It's upset, UPSET! with the Postal Service. As you may know by now, I've been sending out postcards, letters and even a couple of packages since I've got here. It's only normal, since I have penpals and also a large chunk of my friends live in Costa Rica.

Ever since I've got here I've sent these out to the United States, UK, Austria, Belgium, Malaysia, Germany and Costa Rica. I've got feedback from everywhere that they've got their postcards, their letters and even the small parcels I've sent for birthdays and special care-packages. All but those sent to Costa Rica.

Naturally, as precaution I've filled out forms similar to the one shown here for the parcels, because ALLEGEDLY you can track them down, and know at all times where the parcel is. Yeah right. I don't know how it works in other countries, but at least in Costa Rica and in Hungary, they track the package only INSIDE the country. Once it leaves the country, the parcel enters the Twilight Zone. That wouldn't be much of a problem if the package were received, such as it happened with all the other parcels and letters I've sent out, and which - to my amazement - were received in a week or two, which for me counts as "record time". However, this doesn't happen with Costa Rica, where over 10 postcards, 5 letters and a parcel have been sent since February and none have been received. From this lot, it happens that the parcel I sent has a tracking number. The number is RR214810410HU. This package left Hungary on March 5th, and since then the track is lost. From the other side the Costa Rican Postal Service simply pretends the parcel has never arrived to the country.

It's quite interesting because I know for a fact that the parcel was correctly addressed, so it's not possible to imagine that the package was mistakenly sent to Abu-Dabi or any other place. It was addressed to Costa Rica, to an address I know like the back of my hand. Still, the Costa Rican Post Service, Cortel, feings ignorance, though the parcel left to Costa Rica over six weeks ago. Through the Hungarian Postal Service we've sent to Costa Rica a formal request about the destiny of the package, whether it has been delievered, lost or returned, but they have failed to answer so far, something unheard of.

So, you pay EXTRA money to have some SECURITY about the things you send by the Postal Service, and STILL, it's a bogus? Nobody can tell me where the parcel is, and to top it all, there are no actual, real means to shake up the IRRESPONSIBLE counterparts from their comfortable position of not doung their job and still charging for it.

This should be stopped.

E-bay's win a win for customers

My first thought was "fuck, I really should improve my French, because that sounded so wicked". But then, after reading it a tiny bit more carefully, I realized that, no fucking shit, e-bay actually claims that winning this trial against Tiffany's for letting people use the name of the brand on fake jewelry, and not be punished IS a step up for the rights of the customer. Fuck yeah! We are entitled to be taken for fools and cheated with cheap knock-offs in the name of fucking capitalism. Fuck dude, this makes my day! There's a company on the Internet, where trust is vital like air and fragile and expensive like a beautiful Lalique glass pendand, that ensures our right to be sold a lemon, to be tricked, cheated, robbed, misguided and subjects of forgery and fraud. Really, how can I thank them? Oh, I know! I'll never buy from them!!! Geez, that would be awesome, don't you think? ^_^ It would be just great! And since they lost a similar case in France, where those "stick-up-noses" pretend to protect the customer by forcing the enterprise to punish knock off sellers and disclaim faux products,, yet in American soil they where given the right to let their customers be cheated, well... would I buy something pricey or of a good brand from any Internet company? Oh, you can sit and wait for that to happen! Adidas sportswear from Internet? Not in my life time. Out of the cart!!! Lovely Swarowsky glass pendant ring? Give-It-Back! Lalique pendant for Christmas? Hahahahahahahahaha!!! Yeah right.

One case won sets a precedent, which will be brought up over and over and over in each long case, and meanwhile Internet companies, which should be the first ones to ensure the up-most quality and the most precise information (since you can't actually see the product and properly inspect it before purchasing it), let the veil of doubt fall upon their merchandise. It is easy to shake off their responsabilities and say that "the customer should know better", or that it a provider is bad it will eventually disappear because people will notice how bad business is with him or her. Suuuuuuuure! And rumors do not affect the stock market because eventually brokers will realize it was a rumor and they won't listen to it again.

I would like to say that the world, and the market, is not like in the books, so please don't be as stupid as to think that the perfect competition can be made a reality. I know there are a lot of imbecilic people out there, many of them product of purchasing their degrees or grouping up with "the right people" to get a job or get the school projects done instead of studying of Hyne forbid, "working". I mean, yes, I am a 108 Narcissist, but I am not stupid, and all in all my results are perfectly normal (someone as smart and hot as me NORMALLY will turn out to be narcissistic. Or what? Do you EXPECT ME to consider myself equal to my peers and just as STUPID? HA!!). So, I know about morons and imbeciles. I work at the very core of their civilization. Yeah, lazy and ignorant people, like those who think that "maths" have no use, and "history" is a waste of time, or that the "literature and language" class is a bunch of useless crap, and so, are likely to think that "perfect competition" is duable. However, the ones pushing these ideas into people's mind, pretending to have the key to get there, are not necesarily imbeciles, but rather corrupted people who need a smoke screen to ste their crooked business. Open markets so they can have a share of a former public enterprise. Sell State assets so they can get a "bonus" for it. Sure, they are imbeciles but that's not the matter. Their imbecility is shadowed by the smashing magnitude of their corruption. At least in the past, in the Ancient and Medieval times, these corrupts in power claimed to have a Divine Right, but what do these claim to have? The aproval of the people? The people they are squeezing into poverty and death?

World, where are the daughters and sons that once stepped up in France, in America and around the world in revolution for their right to be human?

Annoyance

If you are in my mail list from one of my yahoo.fr addresses, then you may have received a copy of the mail I sent to the people of Adam Hersh Posters. You may wonder what's the story about it. Well, simply put, I have fell in love with this poster made by Theophile-Alexander Steinlen known as "Tourné du Chat Noir". It's not only iconic of Paris, but also of the Parisian boheme, artist life. Today is the Birthday of a dear friend of mine and I wanted to give him something beautiful, something special, and all the meaning that this poster has, our shared love for cats, our love for art, for the creative and artistic evolution of mankind, as well as many perticular aspects of ourselves regarding our environment that are so similar to the story, the meaning of the Chat Noir Café, well, it made of this poster the perfect gift.

I went to Amazon, as always, selected the poster sad because Amazon was not selling it directly, but confident that someone with 4,5 start of rating would deliver the items with the usual Amazon efficiency. I ordered two posters because, well, I wanted one for myself too. Then came the first shock:

Posters: $5,98.
Shipping and handling: $9,97

Okay... the shipping more expensive than the items themselves. But then I booked it under the fact that, me being a Prime Rate Member at Amazon, I was no longer used to shipping and handling rates. I ordered two books from Amazon from the same date, and which hit Miami two days ago and are on the counter here today. I was going to pay a faster shipping for the posters so I would make only one trip when I realized this seller didn't have that option. Deception No.2. When I checked when the items will arrive to Miami, it was for tomorrow, Feb. 1st. That wasn't good either, but I thought my friend might not mind the delay on his present.

I tried to pay the purchases with my Raiffeisen card, but Amazon seems not to like my debit cards, so it smacked them back that same day. I, naturally, in order not to delay the delivery, put the purchases, ALL OF THEM on one of my credit cards. As soon as I received the e-mail that my purchases were shipped, I ran to check them to prealert them at my local courier company. That's when I realized that my books were sent, but the posters were not being shipped. So I went to check on them and the delivery date was moved to Feb 2nd-Feb 5th. Okay, that was LATE for me. I mean, my friend's Birthday is TODAY, Januar 31st, and waiting to get the poster on Feb 5th as the latest in Miami, and then wait 1 to 2 days to get it here was not doable. Yet I believed that with a lot of smiling I could manage and explain my friend that it was not that I forgot his present, but that the perfect present was delayed by the seller. I was Pissed but I could live with it. Deception No.3. I wish ti would have been only up to deception No.3, but Deception No.4 was waiting around the corner.

At the begining of this week I checked on the posters again and the delivery date was delayed yet again. This time it was Feb 5th to Feb. 8th. Well, I was not going to take that, would they delay the delivery of the posters until Christmas? Absolutely not. I wrote both to Adam Hersh Posters and to Amazon requesting to cancel the order since it would not be delivered on the originally offered date. Amazon immediatelly jumped up to help me, sending the cancelling e-mail from my part, since at that point that was all they could do. (So Adam Hersh Posters go TWO e-mails where I cancelled the order.) I received the confirmation of reception of my mail from Amazon, but nothing from the seller. Little later the seller sent me an e-mail telling me that my order was ready to be shipped. They do not listen. Deception No. 5. I wrote the again letting them know that I HAD cancelled the order. No answer, no answer and then, TODAY, two days AFTER I told them again that I wished to cancel my order, and that I had e-mailed them about it, as well as Amazon has told them about it, the tell me that my order had been SHIPPED and furthermore, some lady from the Customer Service Department sent me a mail telling me that my order couldn't be cancelled since it was already processed. Deception No. 6.

Now you may understand the upset (an therefore terribly mistyped) e-mail I sent them promising them I would let the world know what a piece of shit they are.

So please everybody, remember the name, Adam Hersh Posters and stay away from it, and let others know. Or recommend it to people you hate. ^_^