FedEx Still Sucks
Monday, June 30, 2008 - 11:39 AM
Well, I had another thing not delivered by FedEx over the weekend. I hate them so friggin’ much! (I’ve written about my displeasure with them before.) I don’t think FedEx cares about actually delivering packages anymore, because they sure don’t try to actually deliver packages.
On Monday I ordered something from the Apple Store online (a refurbished iPod Classic, if you must know). I chose “standard” delivery (which was free, if I recall). The site didn’t say what the method of delivery would be (FedEx, UPS, USPS), it just listed the expected delivery times and prices for each option. If it had indicated that it was FedEx, I probably just would have canceled the order at that point. (Note to businesses, if you ship FedEx I likely won’t order from you. Please don’t use FedEx!)
When I got the shipment confirmation email (on Tuesday) it gave the FedEx tracking info. My heart sank. I knew it would be a while, if at all, for me to ever get my new (well, refurbished) iPod. It’s been a week since the order was placed, and I still don’t have it.
Of course, the package sat at their hub in California from Tuesday until Saturday morning. Remember, FedEx will make no attempt at delivering your package any sooner than they guarantee, even though UPS doesn’t seem to have a problem getting most of their “ground” shipments there the next day. FedEx wants you to pay extra for next day or 2-day delivery, so they hold onto your package as long as possible if you ship ground. However, given that they can’t even actually deliver the package anyway, why would I pay extra to not get it delivered next day?
So, Saturday afternoon they “tried” to deliver the package. Unfortunately, they managed to show up during the one 20-minute window when no-one was there to answer the door (actually, five friggin’ minutes after I left! Grrrrrrr.). I realize that the timing is purely bad luck, but since FedEx sucks so bad in every other regard, screw it, I’m going to blame them for that, too! This wouldn’t be a problem if their asshat drivers would bother to ring one of our friggin’ neighbors to sign for the package. But, apparently it’s less work to fill out that stupid little non-delivery slip than to ring the next buzzer. Everyone in our building was home on Saturday, and any one of our neighbors would have been happy to sign for the package.
This is a problem anytime anyone in our building gets a package delivered via FedEx. UPS and USPS will both see if there’s someone else to sign for the package and leave it in the foyer. You have to leave a note for FedEx on the door “FedEx for Krueger, Please ring so-and-so.” And even then they usually don’t!
So now, I’m waiting for them to “try” to redeliver the package. The note is up on the door (with the stupid little non-delivery slip), and our neighbors are expecting them. There’s only one problem: The tracking website now says the expected delivery date is tomorrow. Can someone explain why it takes an extra day to redeliver a package that’s already on the friggin’ truck?
Oh, and one more thing. UPS lets me reroute the package to a different address if the delivery was missed. FedEx? Not so much. Again, I really don’t think they care whether or not the packages actually get delivered.
Walk in the Rain
Sunday, June 22, 2008 - 06:38 PM
Carrie and I went for a little walk up to the lakefront today. It started to rain while we were there, but that didn’t ruin our time, as it was a gentle rain which didn’t last very long. We brought the camera and took a some photos. I uploaded some of the better ones to my Flickr page.
Unfortunately, I accidentally had the camera set to small picture sizes, so all of the photos are 640x480 (or slightly smaller, if it was cropped). That’s a bummer, because there were a few really good shots.
One cool thing, which came out better than I expected for a first try, was this fake 3D picture.
Finally Fixed the RSS Feed
Thursday, June 19, 2008 - 09:34 AM
For those of you subscribed via the RSS feed, you’ll be happy to note (as I’m sure you might have already noticed) that I’ve fixed the formatting issue.
This has been bugging me for some time, particularly because the ATOM feed has always been fine. Since I’m not much of a coder, I really didn’t know how to tinker with the site templates to fix it. Well, today I went to the ExpressionEngine community forums expecting to post a dumb question and being ignored (or worse) for being a “newb”. Instead, I found a post from someone with the exact problem and a fix already suggested for the issue. (Although, it did take almost a month for someone to answer the original post.)
Now, if only I could figure out how to get Windows Live Writer to automatically use “smart quotes” so I don’t have to go into the HTML each and every time to fix them. This is particularly annoying on the longer posts, since Live Writer doesn’t have a search and replace feature.
Plant and Krauss
Thursday, June 19, 2008 - 08:03 AM
We went to see Robert Plant and Alison Krauss at Ravinia last night. It was a good concert, but it wasn’t as great as I’d hoped. Of course, both Robert and Alison are awesome performers (I use the term “awesome” not in the casual way that people (including me) tend to throw it around, but closer to its true sense - they are both performers that leave you in awe), and T. Bone Burnett’s arrangements are nothing short of masterful. But, the concert did have some down sides.
First, despite T. Bone’s incredible musical genius, he doesn’t seem to understand that you don’t put a bunch of slow songs in a row in your setlist. There were too many slow songs last night. If you’ve heard the album, it’s like that. Sure, it’s a great record, but it’s difficult to listen to it all at once because the are just so many slow songs on it. Last night’s concert was like that. Unfortunately, with a concert, you don’t have the option to listen to part of it now and part of it a little later. So, when you get three songs in a row that are down tempo, by the time you get through them it feels like you’re just dragging along.
Second, the sound in the pavilion was terrible. The vocal levels were too high compared to the rest of the mix. In fact, they were so high that both Robert’s and Alison’s vocals would hit “peak” levels and clip whenever they pushed a little bit. For those of you not familiar with mixing, I don’t mean to say that they were too loud. The volume level was fine. The inputs on the vocal mics were pushed too high. It’s a little hard (for me anyway) to explain, but the end result is the upper volume levels sound bad and can actually cause a very unpleasant sensation in your ears when the levels peak (which I felt quite frequently last night). The sound guy should be taken out back and shot for the disservice he did to their performance.
It did sound good when we got out of the pavilion and walked around. But we paid for the “good” seats - they should come with good sound. And, if you’ve never been to Ravinia, if you’re not in the pavilion, you can’t actually see the performers. Seriously. The lawn area doesn’t raise up behind the pavilion like most outdoor venues. It’s level, and (seemingly) a bit lower than the back of the pavilion. It’s great for the picnickers, but not if you want to actually see the concert.
On to the good stuff…
Like I said, T. Bone’s arrangements were amazing. The musicians were amazing. And, of course, Robert and Alison were amazing. The highlights (for me, anyhow) were the “In the Mood/Matty Grooves” medley and “Black Country Woman”. “Please Read the Letter” was one of my favorites off of the album (not to mention it’s original version from Page and Plant’s Walking into Clarksdale), so that was good to hear. T. Bone did a couple of songs on his own, and Alison did a great job with Tom Waits’ “Trampled Rose”.
They did do a version of “Black Dog”, which I didn’t think much of. I’m not a huge fan of that song to begin with, but when Robert has recently reworked it with The Strange Sensation (to great effect), why rework it again for this project? Pick a different classic Zeppelin song in it’s place. Of course, they also did “Battle of Evermore”, which I pretty much expected they would. It didn’t do much for me, though. It was the one song that really didn’t stray too much from the original.
So, like I said, it was a good concert, but not as great a concert that I was hoping it would be. I am glad I went, though. And, honestly, I hope they put out a live album from this tour, because the songs that were great were simply amazing.
Concert Tickets - Postscript
Wednesday, June 11, 2008 - 11:23 AM
I finally got a response to the original help request that I filed via Live Nation’s online form (way back in Part Two of this saga). That was over a week ago, remember? Now, bear in mind that when I filled out the form I included very detailed information in regards to the problem, that I was billed twice for one purchase. This is the response I received:
Dear Live Nation Tickets Customer,
Thank you for contacting Live Nation Ticketing Support.
Tickets are currently expected to arrive 4-6 weeks prior to your event if you select the Regular Mail shipping option. Ticket shipments are not trackable with the free Regular Mail delivery option. If you wish to have a trackable method of shipment, please choose 2-3 Day Express Delivery if that option is available for the show you wish to attend.
If you have not received your tickets within 72 hours of the show please contact us by calling 1-800-431-3462. If we are closed because you are calling outside of our normal operating hours you can email us at ticketsupport@livenation.com - when calling or emailing, please reference your order’s 8-digit confirmation number.
For more information please visit http://www.livenation.com/help.
If this did not accurately answer your question, please accept our apologies and reply directly to this email for further assistance.
Thanks,
Shane.
Live Nation Ticketing Support
It took over a week for them to send a form letter that doesn’t even come close to addressing the issue? Way to go, Live Nation. You’re really on top of your game when it comes to taking care of your customers.