New Sunglasses...

[neonsport]

I've worn Ray-Ban Wayfarer IIs for about 15 years. They quit making them a while back (I guess when B&L sold the company), so I haven't been able to buy new ones for quite a while. Now they've been reintroduced, but they're different enough that I didn't want them.

A buddy of mine recently bought a pair of Oakley Razrwires. I decided to look for a deal on a pair, since they're good quality glasses, and the design is fairly conservative by Oakley standards. I figured the bluetooth module might be a plus, but if I didn't like the sound quality (ie: if it wasn't loud enough to use in the Tercel), I could just use the glasses without.

I found an ebay seller with a really good opening price, and I won the auction. Out of the 9 pair he had listed, I only mine sold. He was a zero feedback seller, and I was afraid everybody else knew they were fake. I tried emailing him for a week after the auction, and he finally sent me a photo of the glasses in the box. The photo was too small, but I could see the charger, and knew they were genuine. I paid, they were shipped the same day, and I received them 3 days later.

So... Genuine? Yep, absolutely. Bluetooth quality? Great! In fact, the volume is high enough to use them in the Tercel in my weak ear. They're lightweight, my wife says they look good, my kid approved. There's just one problem...

He sent the wrong color! To be specific, the box is for the color I ordered, the bluetooth headset is the right color, everything's right except the color of the glasses, which is a big deal for me. I wanted the black iridium, which is the darkest color they make (10%). He sent the light gray, which is the lightest (40%). I emailed the seller for 3 days before he replied, and he told me I'd received exactly what I ordered. I emailed again, and included a photo of my glasses to prove they're the wrong color. He then blamed it on the manufacturer. In both emails, he told me that if I didn't like them, I'd have to ship them back for a refund (no replacement). I finally filed a dispute with PayPal, then escalated it to a claim after the seller refused to respond. He's now disputing everything I said, and I have very little faith in PayPal's resolution process.

At least they didn't cost the $295 these glasses sold for when they were introduced. I could probably break even reselling these on ebay, but I'd rather just have the color I ordered.

[MootsMan]

Crap like that really pisses me off. The world seems to be full of incompetent people who just don't give a rat's a** anymore. I have recently been having issues with the Apple store here in Nashville. My son's iPod , which we gave him for Christmas last year, completely stopped working. It hasn't been dropped or damaged in any way. SO earlier this week, I head over to the store, fighting through yuppie traffic in the yuppie part of town, spending an hour out of my day to get this resolved. I go in, and everyone seems to be absorbed in other affairs, so I walk to the back counter, which used to be the sales counter.....now it's called the Genius Bar. There are various technical looking people sitting around, but no one acknowledges that I'm even there. After 5 minutes or so, I look overhead and see a sign that says "Serving (Customer's name), and a list of names and appt. times. I turn to the man who is standing behind me ( he has a technical issue with a product also) and ask him if a person has to make an appointment to get help. He manages to get the attention of one of the young "associates" who tells him that he has to make an appt. but with the nature of his problem, she gets someone to advise him. He politely tells this young woman that I was there first and I proceeded to ask her about getting a replacement for the iPod. I find out the following : They no longer make that model of iPod, I WILL have to make an appt. ( she tells me they are booked 48hours ahead) in advance to come BACK into the store to speak with a technical person about the hardware, and this appointment has to be made online. I come home later that evening to make the appt. online, and discover the 48 hours is LITERALLY 48 hours. You have to schedule your appointment within the one hour window exactly 48 hours prior to the time you want to visit the store. So thank GOD I remembered to book my appointment yesterday afternoon at 3:30 pm so I could re-visit the store again on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 PM, once again fighting the traffic in the high-brow part of Nashville where this enclave of corporate snobbery and superiority is located.

After spending all of my working adult life in business where customer satisfaction and service either makes or breaks you, I was floored at the attitude of this company. I will NEVER purchase another APPLE product !

Sorry about writing a book about a trivial insignificant event. I guess it's my therapy. Oh, I forgot to add that even though this product has a one year warranty, if you have had it over 180 days, and it craps out on you, there is a $30 shipping and handling fee to send it back for repair/replacement ( with an appropriately reconditioned model), unless you've purchased their $60 GOLD AppleCare plan. I'm sure that covers their mfg. and parts cost for the units.

Maybe I can find a blog somewhere and post this containing all the obscenities I feel like using !

[ARCHINSTL]

Well, maybe when Steve Jobs takes his bike in for service, the wrench pulls the same stuff on him....As if ! ! ! Bicycle stores are still pretty much service-oriented, although I can think of a couple of the yuppie stores here in STL which only work on "nice" bikes - way to piss off people, in my opinion...

One thing that "appointment crap" does is reinforce the egos of the "associates" at the store...and the very IDEA of a kiosk labelled "Genius Bar" must have been thought up by the person behind those elitist "MY kid is smarter than your kid" and "MY kid is an Eagle Scout and your's isn't" BS bumper stickers.
What chutzpah ! ! !
Tom M.

PS: Altough I must admit to sniffing, when introduced to a person with a big honker SUV or Caddy/Lincoln faux-pickup and asking if their "truck" has a stick or auto and getting the inevitable answer of an auto, "Well, I guess you must drive in traffic a lot..." Gee - I questioned their manhood...
'Course, WE have six gears and they don't - well, maybe the Cayenne does...

[neonsport]

I did manage to find a small bit of satisfaction with my bad ebay seller today. Last night he listed 8 more pair, including the black ones he claims he doesn't have and won't ship me. I emailed PayPal with the ebay numbers, telling them it seems a little funny that he can sell them to other people, but won't ship me the correct ones. I then visited the Oakley website, and found the link to email their legal department. I linked to one of his auctions, and asked if the clipped photos in his listings would constitute an illegal use of their property. As it turns out, it did. My first email this morning was from a member of the oakley legal staff, confirming this and asking for the seller's name and address. The auctions were removed at the same time.

I may never get real satisfaction on this, but there's one unethical ebayer who doesn't get to sell Oakleys on that website anymore.

[neonsport]

PayPal finally decided the case against me, stating that the glasses being the wrong color and not actually new had no effect on the value. I'd been waiting on leaving feedback till this was resolved, so I went ahead and left a negative. First thing this morning I received an email from the seller asking how he could resolve this situation amicably...

Just like the last 10 times I emailed him, I said to send me the glasses I paid for in the first place.