Transcript:

8:09 AM  Connecting…
8:09 AM  Connected. A support representative will be with you shortly.
8:10 AM  Support session established with Vinn.
8:10 AM  Vinn: Welcome to HP Customer Support & Services for Imaging and Printing Group. My name is Vinn and I will be your technical support specialist today. While I review the problem description details please confirm your country and phone number, just for the records .
8:12 AM  John Carmack: USA 303-774-4526
8:13 AM  Vinn: Thank you for providing the details.
8:13 AM  Vinn: Could you please elaborate the issue with the printer, so that I can assist you in better way?
8:16 AM  John Carmack: Simple: Instant Ink sucks. The user has had nothing but problems with it. First, she tried to enroll and ended up unenrolling. That was bad enough. Now, she purchased cartridges from Staples, genuine HP cartridges, and only after attempting to use them did anyone realize they were Instant Ink cartridges. Nothing on the box says this, but they are HP manufactured cartridges. Only small print (and I mean so small that 2 other people missed it) on the cartridges themselves revealed the problem. She does not want to hassle with this any longer, and I don’t blame her.
8:16 AM  John Carmack: In short, we are getting rid of this printer. Will you accept it back, or do we have to eat the cost?
8:18 AM  Vinn: Are you near the printer right now?
8:18 AM  John Carmack: No.
8:19 AM  John Carmack: I have an 8:30 meeting, can I have an answer please?
8:20 AM  Vinn: If the printer is not enrolled on instant ink, it will run with regular ink cartridges only. I would suggest you to get the inks replaced from the stores and get the regular ink cartridges to print successfully.
8:22 AM  John Carmack: No. We tried that and YOU, HP, screwed us by packaging them with an illegitimate and probably illegal marking that hides the fact they are Instant Ink cartridges. We want rid of this printer. Period.
8:22 AM  John Carmack: Will you accept a return for it?
8:23 AM  Vinn: John, there is no hardware failure with the printer, we can replace the printer only in case hardware failure with the printer. Just the correct ink needs to be placed in the printer.
8:24 AM  John Carmack: The hardware failure is in your deceptive packaging of the ink cartridges.
8:24 AM  John Carmack: Will you or will you not accept a return for this printer? I will not ask again.
8:28 AM  Vinn: John, I understand your concern, however you need to contact the store to get the ink replaced with the correct ink. We are not authorized to replace the printer in this case.
8:28 AM  John Carmack: Very well. I can see that you do not stand behind your products. I gotta go.
8:28 AM  Saving chat transcript

It seems that most banks are stupid. However, you usually at least have to look for the stupidity. The “Bank of the West Online and Mobile Service Agreement” is stupid and out in the open for all to see.

Some things still flabbergast me. Tonight, I wanted to deposit a check into my Bank of the West account, and the mobile app forced me to accept some updated agreements. No problem, I thought, I’ll just skim through them and be done lickety-split. The first one was tedious enough, but then I got to the “Bank of the West Online and Mobile Banking Agreement”, I was presented with a book that only a lawyer could love. I mean, it went through definitions, acceptable use, disputes and more. I downloaded the PDF, and it literally is 59 pages!

But that’s not all.
Continue reading ““Bank of the West Online and Mobile Service Agreement” Is Stupid”

“Can you hear me now?” used to be at worst an annoying commercial. Now it could be a scam.

Everyone hates robocalls. However, they usually only take a bit of your time, not drain your wallet. However, there is now a scam going around that can co$t you big time! You answer the phone, and the “person” on the other end asks, “Can you hear me?” When you say, “Yes”, your voice is recorded and then used for all sorts of transactions you yourself never approved!

It’s a bad idea to ever use the word “yes” when talking to any telemarketer, but with the latest version of an old scam, saying “yes” can quite literally come…

~If A Telemarketer Or Robocall Asks “Can You Hear Me?” Just Hang Up; It’s A Scam – Consumerist

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How to earn a bad reputation by frustrating your customers to death.

The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense.

~ Thomas A. Edison

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