Sorry no, I'm still not dead post this month. All projects are currently on hold. Altho I have been working on a Mini-ITX motherboard for the Raspberry compute module 4 with onboard native NVME, 2 SATA ports, more 3.0 USB (8 in total), wifi, Bluetooth, standard power supply support, as well as USB and barrel jack (dependant on needs ) and a 1x PCI slot for all of your accessory, needs all in a board you can mount in a mini-ITX/ITX case and it won't cost you your firstborn son either. But this is still very much a work in progress but hopefully, the prototype boards will be made in the next 6 months tho this depends on if I can get my hands on an actual Raspberry compute module 4.
So last week I managed to buy a resin 3d printer. An Elegoo Mars pro 2 and I absolutely love it. It's a really well-thought-out machine that spares such as tanks, FEP and screens are relatively cheap and easy to get your hands on. There have been problems but they have been mostly down to my silly mistakes. like thinking I had bought water-washable resin when really I had just bought standard plant-based resin and then was quite confused when they wouldn't wash properly but I had a small amount of IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol) which I keep around for general cleaning shrugged and moved on.
The other mistake I made was figuring that I could use the sun to cure the resin
Yes I know I was being silly, especially since I live in England and it's January. So Sunday night I ordered an Elegoo Cure station problem solved :
Little did I know that this was the beginning of a saga. But hold on to your seats
Woke up and started stalking my package with amazon.
9 am: reached the distribution center - Great usually at around 11 am they actually roll it out to the trucks and ill come back later to see how they are doing.
1 pm: still at the distribution center - hmmm must be on the second delivery lot (around 3 pm ) this is where I accidentally clicked on the item and noticed the price - While not being anything unusual something in my gut made me wonder ...
4 pm Your Item has been delayed you can expect it between x and y - This seems ... a little coincidental now the price going up and now the item is missing
To Customer service chat!
I got talking with a guy called Mike and he assured me it would be there tomorrow (Tuesday). Oh, hum nothing I can do now I guess ill just have to wait. At least they are aware of it.
11 am: No change to the status of the item
3 pm: Still no updates or change to customer service once again
Started speaking to Barret. Barret is everything that is wrong with Amazon Customer service (and more generally online customer service) every answer is copied and pasted and will happily copy and paste the same thing over and over refusing to go off-script. I should mention, I don't think I'm some special flower that deserves everything the world handed to them. I had 1 goal, to be whole to the letter of the law. That I received the original item I ordered or a replacement at the original price. I understand that Amazon is more than Amazon selling stuff as it is a marketplace with 3rd party sellers and that in a lot of cases amazon can't control the prices. But they still have the power to make me whole. The bone of contention with Barret was that this wasn't an Amazon problem, oh no this was Amazon Logistics. My patience was wearing thin at this point and I just asked could you please pass me over to a manager and quickly he obliged.
I spoke to a very nice person named Sage and very quickly they said " Wait until Thursday. If it's not there before then we'll refund you to a gift card and add the amount that the price has changed to a gift card credit." Great! everything I wanted. Yeah, I had to wait and grumble a little but something was nagging me at the back of my mind ... so I said "Sage, my savior(not actual text) would you mind doing me a solid and just emailing our little agreement over so we have a record outside of this chat window (I screenshotted everything as a plan b)? and he obliged and I received the email and everyone is happy.
Wednesday I checked on the item and no changes ...
So I woke up safe in the knowledge that Amazon has my back with a gentleman's agreement so went about my morning routine, pills, emails, texts, and then sat down at my PC to talk to amazon!
I just check that the item hasn't magically been found while I've been in dreamland and connected to the customer. Thank the lord (or any other deity of your choice) I had typed out the series of events that lead me to enter chat today to help sum up the events for whichever poor CSR happened to get me.
I instantly take back the bit about poor CSR instantly Kadaj is an absolute cunt. I don't use that word lightly either.
As soon as I was through the bot I copy and paste the epic saga to this point to help expedite things
Kadaj: Sorry for the loss of your item would you like this refunded?
Me: Could you please read the above and please honor the agreement I made on Tuesday with Sage?
Kadaj: I've already read it and I can refund you just the price of the item - Lie number 1, there was no way in the 5 seconds that I had been on the chat he could have actually looked either at the chatlog or even what I copy and pasted
Me: (getting impatient) could you actually please read the above I spoke with a manager Sage on Tuesday and we came to an agreement, there should be an email from him in your notes.
Kadaj: I have read it
Kadaj: would you like the item refund?
Me: with the extra that Sage promised yes
Kadaj: would you like the item refund?
He was really grating on me now. My very very last nerve. Now I absolutely understand these people are doing a difficult job, probably aren't native English speakers, and have 40 other people they are trying to talk with at the same time. So I politely ask the question :
Me: Could you please put me through to a manager
Kadaj: My manager will also provide you the same resolution as we share the same resources
What the actual fuck Kadaj! This isn't how we play customer service ball! I mean Barret was an arsehole but at least he knew how to play ball!
Me: Kadaj, I think that you don't fully understand what has gone on here and I need to escalate this to a manager.
Kadaj: My manager will also provide you the same resolution as we share the same resources ( this went on for a while )
*Plants head firmly on my desk*
So I was at a dead end. I mean I couldn't shake Kadaj. every time I switch computers, flushed the internet cookies and history all led me back to Kad-fucking-aj ...
After an embarrassing amount of time spent resetting my password (because who actually uses Twitter
) I @'ed AmazonUK :
Virtually immediately I was contacted by @AmazonHelp and quickly we moved into DM's, I regaled them with my story so far and they sent me to a social media report link since a lot of it was already typed up and ready to go I added Kadaj to the saga and hit send.
And I waited with the chat window still open ... and then something amazing happened Kadaj had been replaced by a heaven-sent manager named Andi. Actual Chat bubbles
Andi: Hi Uiaad, Please allow me just a few minutes to look through the previous chat so I can get up to date.
Me: Great, thanks.
Andi: Upon reviewing this case, I understand how we have fallen short on delivering you great customer care. Please be assured that some of the people you have had contact with will have their actions examined and retrained as necessary. As for the refund for your item, I would be happy to have the item refunded to you, plus a further one time £30 Amazon for your inconvenience
I thanked them for their time and for sorting everything out and that was that.
FAQ time!
Q. Wouldn't the refund have made you whole?
A. Technically yes, but the item had increased in price and Amazon is such a monstrously huge, tax dodging company I don't think they would miss £10 in the name of customer care
Q. What was the nuclear option?
A. That would be a story for another time but it was only mentioned to give a bit of dramatic flair - I certainly wouldn't use it over £10
Q. Why did you say Kadaj was a cunt ? he really didn't seem that bad
A. The section with Kadaj was heavily truncated. Imagine having some copy and paste the same responses at you for an hour
Q. You went Karen on them doesn't that make you part of the problem ?
A. No because I never actually went Karen on anyone. I asked politely to talk to someone higher up. I don't throw a temper tantrum and make a big scene and demand to be handed things on a silver platter if things aren't to my liking. Could I have phrased the Tweet a little better ... Yes I could and I do feel a bit bad for being so dramatic but sometimes you need to be noticed. But in a brick-and-mortar store, I would never dream of making a scene akin to this. Sometimes it's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease.
I hope if nothing else that this was a little entertaining, and ill catch you all again soon
Guinea Pig Tax
Before I forget ... Ted isnt actually a Teddy ... He's a Rex but is hard to tell when they are young !
So last week I managed to buy a resin 3d printer. An Elegoo Mars pro 2 and I absolutely love it. It's a really well-thought-out machine that spares such as tanks, FEP and screens are relatively cheap and easy to get your hands on. There have been problems but they have been mostly down to my silly mistakes. like thinking I had bought water-washable resin when really I had just bought standard plant-based resin and then was quite confused when they wouldn't wash properly but I had a small amount of IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol) which I keep around for general cleaning shrugged and moved on.
The other mistake I made was figuring that I could use the sun to cure the resin
Yes I know I was being silly, especially since I live in England and it's January. So Sunday night I ordered an Elegoo Cure station problem solved :
Day 1: A customer service encounter
-= The names have been changed to protect the people identities because I'm not a complete asshat =-Woke up and started stalking my package with amazon.
9 am: reached the distribution center - Great usually at around 11 am they actually roll it out to the trucks and ill come back later to see how they are doing.
1 pm: still at the distribution center - hmmm must be on the second delivery lot (around 3 pm ) this is where I accidentally clicked on the item and noticed the price - While not being anything unusual something in my gut made me wonder ...
4 pm Your Item has been delayed you can expect it between x and y - This seems ... a little coincidental now the price going up and now the item is missing
To Customer service chat!
Day 2: Release the Karen
11 am: No change to the status of the item
3 pm: Still no updates or change to customer service once again
Started speaking to Barret. Barret is everything that is wrong with Amazon Customer service (and more generally online customer service) every answer is copied and pasted and will happily copy and paste the same thing over and over refusing to go off-script. I should mention, I don't think I'm some special flower that deserves everything the world handed to them. I had 1 goal, to be whole to the letter of the law. That I received the original item I ordered or a replacement at the original price. I understand that Amazon is more than Amazon selling stuff as it is a marketplace with 3rd party sellers and that in a lot of cases amazon can't control the prices. But they still have the power to make me whole. The bone of contention with Barret was that this wasn't an Amazon problem, oh no this was Amazon Logistics. My patience was wearing thin at this point and I just asked could you please pass me over to a manager and quickly he obliged.
I spoke to a very nice person named Sage and very quickly they said " Wait until Thursday. If it's not there before then we'll refund you to a gift card and add the amount that the price has changed to a gift card credit." Great! everything I wanted. Yeah, I had to wait and grumble a little but something was nagging me at the back of my mind ... so I said "Sage, my savior(not actual text) would you mind doing me a solid and just emailing our little agreement over so we have a record outside of this chat window (I screenshotted everything as a plan b)? and he obliged and I received the email and everyone is happy.
Wednesday I checked on the item and no changes ...
Day 4: Dawn of the final day
So I woke up safe in the knowledge that Amazon has my back with a gentleman's agreement so went about my morning routine, pills, emails, texts, and then sat down at my PC to talk to amazon!
I just check that the item hasn't magically been found while I've been in dreamland and connected to the customer. Thank the lord (or any other deity of your choice) I had typed out the series of events that lead me to enter chat today to help sum up the events for whichever poor CSR happened to get me.
I instantly take back the bit about poor CSR instantly Kadaj is an absolute cunt. I don't use that word lightly either.
As soon as I was through the bot I copy and paste the epic saga to this point to help expedite things
Kadaj: Sorry for the loss of your item would you like this refunded?
Me: Could you please read the above and please honor the agreement I made on Tuesday with Sage?
Kadaj: I've already read it and I can refund you just the price of the item - Lie number 1, there was no way in the 5 seconds that I had been on the chat he could have actually looked either at the chatlog or even what I copy and pasted
Me: (getting impatient) could you actually please read the above I spoke with a manager Sage on Tuesday and we came to an agreement, there should be an email from him in your notes.
Kadaj: I have read it
Kadaj: would you like the item refund?
Me: with the extra that Sage promised yes
Kadaj: would you like the item refund?
He was really grating on me now. My very very last nerve. Now I absolutely understand these people are doing a difficult job, probably aren't native English speakers, and have 40 other people they are trying to talk with at the same time. So I politely ask the question :
Me: Could you please put me through to a manager
Kadaj: My manager will also provide you the same resolution as we share the same resources
Me: Kadaj, I think that you don't fully understand what has gone on here and I need to escalate this to a manager.
Kadaj: My manager will also provide you the same resolution as we share the same resources ( this went on for a while )
*Plants head firmly on my desk*
So I was at a dead end. I mean I couldn't shake Kadaj. every time I switch computers, flushed the internet cookies and history all led me back to Kad-fucking-aj ...
Day 4: Part 2 - Uiaad Strikes Back
I was left with 2 options. Option one was the full-on Nuclear bombs raining down on them but we weren't quite there yet. Option two was hitting them where it hurts ... where people can see it ...That right Twitter time!After an embarrassing amount of time spent resetting my password (because who actually uses Twitter
) I @'ed AmazonUK :And I waited with the chat window still open ... and then something amazing happened Kadaj had been replaced by a heaven-sent manager named Andi. Actual Chat bubbles
Andi: Hi Uiaad, Please allow me just a few minutes to look through the previous chat so I can get up to date.
Me: Great, thanks.
Andi: Upon reviewing this case, I understand how we have fallen short on delivering you great customer care. Please be assured that some of the people you have had contact with will have their actions examined and retrained as necessary. As for the refund for your item, I would be happy to have the item refunded to you, plus a further one time £30 Amazon for your inconvenience
I thanked them for their time and for sorting everything out and that was that.
FAQ time!
Q. Wouldn't the refund have made you whole?
A. Technically yes, but the item had increased in price and Amazon is such a monstrously huge, tax dodging company I don't think they would miss £10 in the name of customer care
Q. What was the nuclear option?
A. That would be a story for another time but it was only mentioned to give a bit of dramatic flair - I certainly wouldn't use it over £10
Q. Why did you say Kadaj was a cunt ? he really didn't seem that bad
A. The section with Kadaj was heavily truncated. Imagine having some copy and paste the same responses at you for an hour
Q. You went Karen on them doesn't that make you part of the problem ?
A. No because I never actually went Karen on anyone. I asked politely to talk to someone higher up. I don't throw a temper tantrum and make a big scene and demand to be handed things on a silver platter if things aren't to my liking. Could I have phrased the Tweet a little better ... Yes I could and I do feel a bit bad for being so dramatic but sometimes you need to be noticed. But in a brick-and-mortar store, I would never dream of making a scene akin to this. Sometimes it's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease.
I hope if nothing else that this was a little entertaining, and ill catch you all again soon
Guinea Pig Tax
Before I forget ... Ted isnt actually a Teddy ... He's a Rex but is hard to tell when they are young !
