So how's your Friday?

[EL34]

I'll move this to other topics, but first I have to vent

Was having a great Friday and then I get an email from a customer

On Thursday I get an order to ship a 4 x 470 ohm 3 watt resistors to TN, USA
The guy picks Express mail as the shipping method

I'm thinking, this has to be a mistake, who would pay $20 for $3.00 worth of parts
Not only that, but it's going to a state right next door, TN
It only takes 1-2 days for regular priority mail to a state right next door to NC

So, I shoot the guy a paypal email, but I quote him priority mail shipping cause I think he made a mistake and chose Express mail by mistake.

I get an email back saying he wants Express mail cause he needs the parts ASAP

So I shoot him another paypal email with express mail rates
The parts go out via Express mail on Thursday.

Friday, I get an email saying the parts did not arrive, blah, blah, blah, I want $10 back, etc

I email him and tell him that Express mail is a 1-2 day service, not a next day guaranteed

At no time did the guy say that he needed this next day for sure or I would have told him that Express mail is not a next day service.

He emails back saying a bunch of crap about this and that
Basically it all boiled down to that he expected the package to be a one day delivery

I email him saying that the USPS does not state it is a one day service and neither do I on my web site.
He emails back that he will destroy me on forums all over the web (in so many words)

There's more email garbage back and forth, but by this time I have had enough and don't want to deal with this jerk any more.

I call him a jerk and ask him to join my forum so the guys here can give him a lesson in common sense
I also told him not to email me again, but of course, he did.

So there ya go.
One jerk that has some mis-conceived notion in his head and blames me for his total lack of common sense

You know, it's maybe only 1 out of every 500 customers that are like this guy
Not a bad percentage, but still it sucks when you have to deal with this sort of ill informed person.

So how's your Friday going?

[John]

My Friday has been great.

I too only get one out of several hundred that aggravate me, and I do my best to not let them ruin my day.

As far as him "destroying you all over the web" he's full of brown stuff. I think most intelligent people don't pay much attention to one guy flaming another, and if they do pay attention then they're not intelligent enough to work on this stuff without frying themselves anyway, so Darwin takes care of that part of it.

Oh yeah, how come my single,  1/2 watt,  68K, 50cent resistor hasn't arrived yet???? 

[EL34]

Oh yeah, how come my single,  1/2 watt,  68K, 50cent resistor hasn't arrived yet????  

Oh crap ,I don't know
Oh yeah, it's because only UPS next day air is a next day service and you specified Express mail.  

I told the guy that I have been in business for 20 years and have a spotless reputaion
I know that most of the forums out there know who I am and how I do business, so I am not worried at all

If you guys see some goofball ranting on another forum, post it here so we can all have a good laugh

[12AX7]

Boy, do i know that type ! Thier own happiness tales priority over common sense even if morally and logically they are dead wrong. Forget him and move one.

[EL34]

Forget him and move on

Will do, but I expect more emails from this guy
I will have to just hit the delete button and not read them.

[Willabe]

I told the guy that I have been in business for 20 years and have a spotless reputaion
I know that most of the forums out there know who I am and how I do business, so I am not worried at all

Yep, I've seen guys recomend you on other forums to get their parts.

If you need to cool off a little come on up here (Chgo. area) we finaly have good/safe ice. Be glad to take you ice fishing.      


                   Brad        

[EL34]

I love Ice Fishing
I was raised in Michigan and did a bunch of it

Even went to the Houghton lake ice fishing festival several times

I have pictures of me ice fishing when I was maybe 6 years old
The fish I am holding up is maybe 1 inch longer than my mittens  

[Willabe]

Hey you ever fish for burbit, sometimes called lawyer? They sure are ugly, but I'm told they tast great.

I like to ice fish with tip ups for Northern Pike. Still tryin to land a big one.


                         Brad     

[EL34]

Never fished for burbit
Not sure they are even in Michigan
Never heard of them. (unless they are called something different in MI)

We fished mostly for Perch with tip ups

[tubenit]

I have been in business for 20 years and have a spotless reputaion

You sure do in my book!!! I have always viewed both your service and integrity to be impeccable!
 

On top of that, I appreciate your talent, your common sense, your creativity/ingenuity,  your selfless willingness to help others pursue their passion of music (Library of Information) & your sense of humor.

As far as I am concerned, what you put together on this forum inspired me to pursue a hobby that has been absolutely great fun and rewarding!

I think you are a remarkable & positive example of what internet business should be!  

IF I see this guy on another forum, I will respond to him & let you know where I saw him.

With respect and appreciation for your service and integrity,  Tubenit

[EL34]

Thanks Jeff

[Willabe]

Never fished for burbit
Not sure they are even in Michigan
Never heard of them. (unless they are called something different in MI)

Yeah their all over the north. Ling, ele pout. Look like an ele with a cat fishes head, very poor vison. Take a look at one here, __very__ short video. This is a nice one.

http://youtu.be/Ir2J_sCPdLE


           Brad     

[kagliostro]

Hi Doug

don't care

sometime someone get up in the morning and the only thing he want to do is to vent his frustrations on someone

forget it, not worth it to give satisfaction (getting angry) to some people

Franco

[Tom_Hull]

hi

there's all kinds and whats going on in their existance ..frustration .

.relax .its friday..i wish john was jamming here ........
its quiet here .

just finished playing around with my new girl for the monent.her name is dart ..
cute little girl .. even in the dark..

[EL34]

Ha, after all the Ice fishing talk, I went to Netflix and started streaming Grumpy old Men

That film is hilarious

Jack lemmon, walter mathau and Ann Margret (spelling)

 

[Willabe]

Have a good night Doug.


            Brad       

[PRR]

> So how's your Friday?

Where's my cookies??

Friend down south in Jersey makes cookies. She sent some, we expected them Friday.

But Thursday night it started to snow. And cookies don't fit in the street mailbox. And the mail lady won't come up the drive if it isn't clear.

So I get up early, get the plowtruck started, push snow. Go back for the snowblower to clear the mailbox.

Well, the mailtruck didn't come by until 3pm, and there were no cookies (and no note to come to the postoffice).

OTOH, I got my building permit (garage) plan together, I met with my contractor, I found a missing URL, I read 1/3rd of a story I will critique.

[Dave]

Poor guy was in a hurry. You should have been his knight in shining armor and hand delivered them. What is wrong with you?
 

Dave

PS.... I have gotten 1 day deliveries from you all the way in Texas with cheap shipping. He must have other luck issues to go along with being a jerk.

On a lighter note, here in Texas, ice is a luxury. We would never cut holes in it and force unwilling fish through them.
I have been ice fishing though. On the Ottawa river.... When the guy with the 4" auger came over to drill my hole i wondered if we were fishing for sardines. Turns out we were. You guys up north freeze your butts off to catch itty bitty little aquarium fish. Its a disgrace. Oh, well to each his own.

[EL34]

Just finished watching Grumpy Old Men
about split my sides open a couple times
LOL
A million classic lines in that movie

Where's my cookies??

Sorry, I only ship cookies, I don't deliver them.  

[Willabe]

You guys up north freeze your butts off to catch itty bitty little aquarium fish. Its a disgrace.

Oh Dave, Northern Pike and they say everything is bigger in Texas.


         Brad      

[PRR]

> guys up north freeze your butts off to catch itty bitty little aquarium fish

Yesterday's local story



"This one particular trap that I caught this fish on, usually it produces fish all day long, off and on. I’ll catch two or three or whatever." Not that day. "It didn’t do anything all day. It didn’t produce until quarter of 2 in the afternoon. [The flag] finally went up," he said.

"Back in ’95 I caught an eight-pounder." He was carrying a 15-pound scale. It bottomed-out. This fish was 38 inches long and weighed 21.2 pounds on a certified scale.

[rafe]

Yup. I know the type of person of which you have had the unfortunate fate of crossing paths with...Had a bad e-bay experience a few months back......They are just a weird mix of chemicals that is pretty damned toxic IMHO but unfortunately they don't have a warning label on them......I got over it and you will too.....you certainly shouldn't worry about your reputation...the only customers you will lose will be more or less cut from the same cloth, so he'll only be doing you a favor.....I told my guy I felt bad for anyone that actually had to be in his presence ....and was glad I didn't   that was the last I heard from him ...I must have struck a nerve  

[ernie_jr]

Doug, My friday's been great. step daughter made a surprise visit from college. as for your service, best there is and one of the fastest. he could probably have driven to your place if he needed it that fast and lived that close.
Hope your weekend is better.
Ernie

[Dave]

Northern pike? Scoff...... You should see southern pike. We don't even call them pike, we call them aquatic freight trains.

I knew if I picked on you guys up there in the frigid states, somebody would bust a spring.

Take care my northern brethren. Be sure not to eat any of those huge pike you have there. They may be big, but they taste like scheizenfish.

Dave

[Willabe]

They may be big, but they taste like scheizenfish.

Actually, pike tast great, you just have to know how to cut out the y bone.


                 Brad     

[PRR]

> somebody would bust a spring.

Don't try to take credit. My spring has been broke a long time.

That fish aint from around here. We don't have ice. Yeah, the water in the ditch looks hard but just step on it. This snow was only up to a Corgi's belly. Lot of folks in the skiing ice-fishing snowmobile trade are hurting.

[DummyLoad]

untangling some ethernet cables in a cable management tray in an effort to facilitate bringing up a new service by making some room, i bumped the ONE cable in a patch panel that feeds a server that monitors our entire network. i didn't realize i'd done it until i returned to my desk about an hour later with a voice mailbox and email box full of messages, and of course my cell phone was on my desk ringing away. ugh! the one cable of literally several dozen... RJ45s - bah! what were they thinking? oh well! :-\

on the way home i stopped for coffee and ice cream to help put out the flames... so, all in all, not too bad. :-)

shrug it off doug, i know, self centered, clueless jerks are difficult and do test ones limits. pop a top and put his email addy to the binary trash bin.

this should help cheer you up...
 
Pierre the French Fighter Pilot...

> Pierre, a brave French fighter pilot, takes his girlfriend, Marie, out for a pleasant little picnic by the River Seine. It's a beautiful day and love is in the air. Marie leans over to Pierre and says, "Pierre, kiss me!" Our hero grabs a bottle of Merlot and splashes it on Marie's lips. "What are you doing, Pierre?" says the startled Marie. "I am Pierre, the famous French fighter pilot! When I have red meat, I like to have red wine!" She smiles and they start kissing. When things began to heat up a little, Marie says, "Pierre, kiss me lower." Our hero tears her blouse open, grabs a bottle of Chardonnay and starts pouring it all over her breasts. "Pierre! What are you doing?", asks the bewildered Marie. "I am Pierre the famous French fighter pilot! When I have white meat, I like to have white wine!" They resume their passionate interlude and things really steam up. Marie leans close to his ear and whispers, "Pierre, kiss me lower!" Our hero, grabs a bottle of Cognac and pours it in her lap. He then strikes a match and lights it on fire. Marie shrieks and dives into the river. Standing waist deep, Marie throws her arms upwards and screams furiously, "PIERRE, what in the hell do you think you're doing?" Our hero stands up, defiantly, and says, "I am Pierre the famous French fighter pilot! When I go down, I go down in flames!"

--DL

[kagliostro]

Once Ekido and Tanzan were walking  along a muddy road. It was still heavily raining.
After a bend, they met a lovely girl in a kimono and silk scarf, which could not cross the street.
"Come, girl," told Tanzan immediately. Then he lifted her and carried her over the puddles.
Ekido did not say anything until that evening when they  had reached a temple to spend the night. Then he could no longer restrain himself. "We monks do not approach women, "he told to Tanzan", at least of these young and pretty. Is dangerous. Why did you do? ".
"I've left that girl over there," said Tanzan. "Are you still  taking her with you?"

Franco

[EL34]

Fish and jokes on a Saturday morning, yum


Now I must go and prepare myself
If I am to be destroyed in forums all over the web, I must look nice.

[shortfuse]

Doug
I am sure there are people on the other forums that are here also.  I do read other forums once in a while.  Hopefully the others will stick up for you and tell the guy he is full of it.
I will say I think yours is the best, the people here are all great.  Never see any of the pissy posts or bashing here especially for Greenhorns like myself that ask some pretty obvious questions and constantly make mistakes.
Just my $.02  Thanks for having a great very informative web site and forum.

[Tom_Hull]

well my order

here  i am in canada ....     


ok I order a choke  and power out transformer .for a bassman ..

well ishould have order the power transformer .. ya got an old pt sitting on the shelf ..
\
well i ordered the PT right after ordering the choke and OP transformer .
thats two seperate orders from amixed up by me ..

well one simple email saying ,,,please combine for a cheaper shipping rate .

the one order has a delivery charge of like 27 dallars ...well with the heavey PT must be more ,,,,Right ...

no doug set   tit up 22 dallar about for delivery ..
FOR EVERYTHING >>>>>now thats a great shipping price .. personalize service .. nice ..thanks i needed that ,,,,,,

instead of the telephone company telephone answering system ..
thanks doug
tom




 

[EL34]

Thanks all
Keep your eyes peeled for the rogue ranter

[RicharD]

My Friday afternoon got intense for a little while.  My daughter's old Volvo is sick again.  I diagnosed it as a fuel pump issue which is located atop of the gas tank.  Well I draw the line somewhere so off to the shop it goes via tow truck which I scheduled for 5:00. The plan was, leave work at 3:45, get daughter some food, drop off her stuff, and go home to meet the tow truck driver at 5:00.  Of course I wanted to run that 1 last wire so I'm running late when the tow truck calls and says he'll be there in 10 minutes.  It's nowhere close to 5:00 and I hafta meet him with the key or they're not gonna come.  Dash across town which I managed to do in Friday afternoon traffic which in itself is a miracle.  Fling the key at the big dumb redneck (takes one to know one.... he wins) and turn back around to head towards my appointment with my daughter.  My wife agrees to call in her food.  On the way down there, my wife calls and says the bank is pissed about not getting my car payment.  WTF?  I made the payment so she calls the bank.  Get the food and pull out and the phone rings.  I am now manning a jeep with a crappy clutch, 2 large drinks (no cup holders) and a telephone.  I realize I am beyond control so I pull over.  It's my wife and everything is cool at the bank.  They messed up.  Make it to my daughter's school and I'm only a few minutes late and all's well after that.  Treated myself to a Diablo Caso with dinner.  That's caso with pico and taco meat.  Yum!

[John]

If I am to be destroyed in forums all over the web, I must look nice.

Um. Uh. Those sweatpants make your ass look big.

Thought someone should tell you.

[stingray_65]

Well my Friday was AWSOME!

 

I got to take my Daughter (an aspiring young artist) to the DIA (Detroit Institute of Art) ad see the special display of Rembrandt The faces of Jesus

I've always been a fan of classical oil paintings, especially the Dutch artists and thought I would teach my 14 yr old a thing or two about some art history.

I learned more in 2 hours listening to her than I ever did reading anything on the subject.

Her insight as an artist and from an artists point of view was nothing less than amazing. Patrons started to approach her and ask her opinions, pretty soon we had a small crowd of about a dozen following us around  form display to display.

At one point we came to one of his sketches of Christs crucifixion, (Rembrandt was known for his use of light to draw peoples eyes to certain points of importance) and she commented that she doesn't understand why he was trying to highlight the thief on the right of the sketch. We all realized that indeed the Aureole was shining on him and the other was in dark. The man in the suit who was looking close at the sketch started tearing up, "He's not the thief on the right, we're looking at the scene, he's the thief to Christ's left". It was my chance to use the education I'd got from the nun's all those years ago and explain that in the whole Bible the only person that was specified as going to Heaven {ref Luke 23:39-43} was the thief on Jesus' left.

I drove home barely speaking, she kept on prattling on about the exhibit and how I should make her a press for doing etchings (a process that is really similar to PCB etching), I've NEVER been more proud

[alerich]

One guy could not "destroy" you on forums on the web. You have too strong of a reputation for that... earned and well deserved. Pick any online retailer and you'll find a handful of folks who hate them for one reason or another. It really doesn't matter in the big picture. People can be idiots at times and that's pitfall of dealing with the public. He'll get roasted on any forum where he tries to badmouth you.

Oh yeah.... edited to add. My Friday? I'll trade mine for yours. Medical tests. I hate hospitals.

[Willabe]

I learned more in 2 hours listening to her than I ever did reading anything on the subject.

Her insight as an artist and from an artists point of view was nothing less than amazing. Patrons started to approach her and ask her opinions, pretty soon we had a small crowd of about a dozen following us around  form display to display.

I've NEVER been more proud

Hey Ray, That is great!                  


                          
                           Brad        

[Platefire]

Well Fridays done gone, can't remember   Sometimes that's a good thing! 

[Colas LeGrippa]

ONE guy against you and thousands with....he is a poor stupid frustrated non raised jerk and talking 'bout him gives him too much importance and we oughta stop that right now. He doesn't deserve that.

How was my friday ? Woooooooooo.........finally got an important appointment. Woke up early, no more coffee in the cupboard. Had a glass of water. No more buns ( my daughter likes 'em so ! ). Got in my truck, but at -20, it won't start. Got my neighbour to give me a boost. Well tuned up, it starts well, it's just that the battery is a bit weak. The back wheels spins on the ice. Good tires but this chevy panel truck is so light when empty, the traction's not good on ice/snow. I get my shovell, my pair of ''traction aids'' in a plastic box in the back but the back wheels have already dug a nice half circle shiny hole in the ice. I stop stepping on the gas pedal , put the traction aids ( foldable metal ones ). I put the shifter on ''D'', depress slowly the gas pedal, nothing happens, just a light crackling noise. I push more on the gas, the RPM goes up quite a bit, the trucks starts a movement but stands still.
My impatince grows up, my right foot becomes heavier : suddenly, the truck jumps as if it was rolling on a bump , followed by a metal and glass breaking noise and then I understand the traction aids have passed under the wheels and have been thrown with high velocity on the car behind. ( first time I saw this car on the street ). Get off the truck, I take a look at
the car : grill damaged, right front fender damaged too and right spot broken. I look at my watch : time is getting tight. I write a fast note that I put under the wipers of the damaged car with my name ( not Colas LeGrippa... ) and phone number. It starts to snow lightly. Call a taxi and surprisingly, it's here very fast, GOOD !  Now, I gotta move !!!!!!! Tell the driver where to go, I slip a twenty bucks bill in his hand saying : RUSH !!!!!!!

[Colas LeGrippa]

( suite ) Once arrived at my rendez-vous, I realized I have forgotten my dossier in my truck. All the papers, drawings, music sheet left on the helper's seat in my damn Chevy truck stuck in the ice ! Meanwhile, flurries come down more and more heavily, pushed with strong winds. I get home 2 hours later, with a new appointment in one month from now. (Still haven't drunk my beloved morning coffee). As soon as I get in, the front door bell rings. Police! he shouts.........what's going on , I answer ?

[bigsbybender]

This sounds similar to what I'm going through right now.

This customer I have only knows enough to be dangerous. He keeps messing with his amp, then calls me at all odd hours (not good when your day job is schoolteacher) to tell me his amp is "sounding" funny.

I'll pick it up, fix it, then return it. Within 12 hours I'll get a call that he thinks something else is wrong. What I've discovered is that after I repair the amp to proper function, he'll take it apart and mess with it, "just to see what I did". In doing he messes other things up. Then I get a call, accusing me of damaging his amp or not knowing what I am doing..... It's a damned Silverface Bassman, I could draw him a schematic from memory if I had to. I've since discovered that he read on a Fender Forum about "biasing" so he obsesses over it. So when I fix the amp and set the bias, he gets out his kit to see if "I'm lying". In the meantime he just stabbed in some other non-compatible octal tubes then called me at 1AM in a panic that smoke was coming out of his amp. I picked it up, the screen resistors were burnt and split, the choke showed signs of being very hot. So I replaced the whole worn out sockets and resistors (both screen and toasty grid stoppers). Now he claims the amp is "too dirty sounding"...after he took it apart and played with his bias checker toy. He sent it back to me wanting me to make sure it doesn't break up until 7 on the dial, with the master all the way up. I keep explaining that even the cleanest tube Fenders usually show signs of breakup by 4-5 on the dial, but it's falling on deaf ears.....
This one is making me want to give up my side-business in musical gear.

Here' that's my vent for people that may understand....

Doug, your service has been top notch to me for the last 10 years, never a complaint! What you're dealing with is someone out of touch with reality.

j.

[TubeGeek]

This sounds similar to what I'm going through right now.

This customer I have only knows enough to be dangerous. He keeps messing with his amp, then calls me at all odd hours (not good when your day job is schoolteacher) to tell me his amp is "sounding" funny.

I'll pick it up, fix it, then return it. Within 12 hours I'll get a call that he thinks something else is wrong. What I've discovered is that after I repair the amp to proper function, he'll take it apart and mess with it, "just to see what I did". In doing he messes other things up. Then I get a call, accusing me of damaging his amp or not knowing what I am doing..... It's a damned Silverface Bassman, I could draw him a schematic from memory if I had to. I've since discovered that he read on a Fender Forum about "biasing" so he obsesses over it. So when I fix the amp and set the bias, he gets out his kit to see if "I'm lying". In the meantime he just stabbed in some other non-compatible octal tubes then called me at 1AM in a panic that smoke was coming out of his amp. I picked it up, the screen resistors were burnt and split, the choke showed signs of being very hot. So I replaced the whole worn out sockets and resistors (both screen and toasty grid stoppers). Now he claims the amp is "too dirty sounding"...after he took it apart and played with his bias checker toy. He sent it back to me wanting me to make sure it doesn't break up until 7 on the dial, with the master all the way up. I keep explaining that even the cleanest tube Fenders usually show signs of breakup by 4-5 on the dial, but it's falling on deaf ears.....
This one is making me want to give up my side-business in musical gear.

Here' that's my vent for people that may understand....

Doug, your service has been top notch to me for the last 10 years, never a complaint! What you're dealing with is someone out of touch with reality.

j.

Wow you have lots of patience!  I'd refuse to work with someone like that.  Stressful and irritating to say the least.

[Willabe]

Wow you have lots of patience!  I'd refuse to work with someone like that.  Stressful and irritating to say the least.

Yep, I'd cut him loose, if he knows so much, then let him do it. He's gonna fry the iron or fry himself. Not good either way.   

When he burns up the iron, he's gonna blame you and want you to pay for the new iron and put it in for free.     


              Brad              

[jojokeo]

Doug, Sorry yours was full BS. You don't deserve that garbage for the efforts you put out and go through.

I on the other hand had a very eventful and fruitful one...So far the 2012 NAMM show has been awesome. I've got a lot to share but not enough space on the site. However I do have a few to show from Friday's fun...

Keo

[jojokeo]

a few more...

[jojokeo]

and a few more...

[jojokeo]

Here's a couple close-ups for y'all of that Marshall chassis

[jojokeo]

Some type of Ampeg w/ tremolo and an "echo" control?

[jojokeo]

Okay, last ones. Don't mean to hog up space but thought you might have fun looking at chassis too.
These were on display inside the PRS private show and product demo room. There were some beautiful private reserve guitars also. I got shots of everything.

[oldhippy]

My Friday was great; my order came from Hoffman Amps so I spent the day sniffing solder fumes! The order got here less than 48 hrs after I placed the order and I live in Tucson! Doug, thank you for the quality of the turret board and components. And the service! you rock! respectfully, Steve