Nobel Peace Farce

I can't believe Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He hasn't accomplished anything. Really!! He hasn't done a thing. There is still a war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Note the word "war". Not "peace". There is still a recession. The banks won't help me refinance my house. My friends still have not found jobs. Unemployment rate in California is near 15%. I guess I don't understand. What has he done to receive such an award?

I know he's made promises. Many promises. But I can make promises too! Doesn't guarantee anything though. So, to me, the Nobel Peace Prize has become the Nobel Peace Farce. You don't have to actually do anything. You just have to make promises. Even empty ones.

TechForLess Response

When I received the response from TechForLess.com, I was completely shocked! It was a reply from a real person and not some automated script or majordomo. Who'd ever thought that companies still care to help their customers.

Here is the email: Names have been removed to protect the innocent.

My name is **** and I am with Tech for Less. I was looking over your case and I see that the Workstation V6 Linux CD that you have has been already registered. I have looked in our inventory and we do not have any other ones in stock. I am going to set up a full refund for you. You will see the refund with in the next seven to ten days. I do not need the CD’s back you can do with them as you see fit. If you have any other issues please feel free to contact me. Thank you for your time.

It's still hard for me to believe that I'm not getting ripped off. The constant lack of help for the average consumer jaded my senses to the point of not believing anything said or advertised by vendors. Now I have to retract statements from my previous post. I guess TechForLess.com actually cares about customer service. In this day and age, it seems that customer service is just some phrase thrown around. It's gotten so bad that it has lost all meaning.

So, even though I got burned, TechForLess.com was nice enough to reply and refund my money. This fact should be enough for the bold and frugal shopper who is willing to take some risk and reap its rewards.

Problem With TechForLess.com

UPDATE: Please see next post for refund.

It's been a long time since I've written anything I've been really busy, and blogging just wasn't at the top of my list... But just recently, I purchased a retail/boxed software called VMWare Workstation from TechForLess.com. Now, I'm not some internet newbie, and I've read about plenty of scams, but this most recent online purchase had me fuming. At myself! I cannot believe I fell for the oldest trick in the book. I hear it all the time: Buyer beware, Caveat Emptor, "If it's too good to be true, it probably is"...

Here's my story:

I had shopped online looking for the lowest price for VMWare Workstation. I compared prices from many different websites, and TechForLess.com had the lowest price. I even called their sales to ask how they are able to sell it for less. He said that it is probably overstocked. I was ready to buy, but hesitated because they were selling a retail box. I was highly suspicious of boxed software until I saw that Amazon.com is their affiliate. I figure I would have a recourse if anything went wrong.

Well... Guess what, I got ripped off. The box was already opened, and neither TechForLess.com or Amazon.com is going to help me. TechForLess.com has not responded to my email, and Amazon.com just said they're not involved. I've just become another victim. A statistic. All I can say is "Lesson learned".

TechForLess.com is a hit and miss. Some people say good things, while many others say bad things. It only makes sense that they can sell their products for cheap because it's already opened, trashed, or whatever - an inferior product no matter how you look at it. To the reader, please learn from my mistake. Seriously shop around. If you think that it's too good to be true, it probably is. I know I'm not going to TechForLess.com anymore.

UPDATE: Please see next post for refund.

Reading About The Economy

I've been seeing a lot of posts and comments about the economy from experts, journalists, Joe The Plumber, and my neighbor. Everyone has an opinion. I have one too. But I found some writing (from Yahoo) to be clinical and seem almost detached from the gravity of the economic situation. It seems funny as in Hmm... follwed by Hahaha! to me that those writers could be the next group to lose their jobs especially after watching CNN interview several prominent journalists who were laid off due to falling advertising revenues.

The Racial Republican Response

A couple days ago, President Obama delivered his address to Congress. Shortly after, the Republicans delivered their response. Here's what I have to say:

Did the GOP just use an ethnic minority governor to speak on their behalf? I don't know about other people, but it just amazes me how the Republicans think that the American people are stupid. First, Sarah Palin Hmm... Let's get the woman vote by choosing a woman VP candidate... Now, Bobby Jindal Oh! Obama is half-Black. Let's get a half-Indian to deliver our response... Give it a rest. The GOP should just accept the fact that they've lost popular support because they don't change along with the American population. It's just sad to watch them. Denial is not just a river...