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Because of the 2008 drought, and in order for Pride to return to Piedmont Park (last year it was at the Atlanta Civic Center, which is not a great venue for a festival like this), Atlanta Pride was held today. When I checked to leave to head to Piedmont Park, it was pouring, so I waited for the rain to subside and then went out. Instead of getting to Piedmont Park at 9:30'ish, I didn't arrive until about 10:35 AM. Surprisingly, there were no religious freaks (although I was prepared - I brought a copy of the Masoretic version of the Jewish Bible to use against them to remind them that theirs was a plagiarized version of the original). I always go so that I can see what interesting sights there are to see and to see what interesting vendors and artisans are there. I usually end up spending about 3 hours walking around with my backpack on my back (this year it was 4) and getting swag here and there (which I did this year), not eating the overpriced food, and just being in the park. Well, I went a wee bit overboard this year. After making a donation to help animal shelters, I was given a swag bag of stuff to bring to my sister's dog, Lucy, which she'll get in 2 weeks. Someone was selling something called "Big Skinny," which turned out to be a wallet which was about half as thick with credit cards in it than the present one I use. Taking no chances, I bought two of them and found (after I got home) that when I loaded it up with what's presently in my wallet, it's at least 1/2 the thickness of my old wallet and I have room for more stuff (which I won't be putting in except for things like the Costco card when I go to Costco, etc.). I also bought myself something called Tupelo Honey, which is supposed to be diabetic-safe, a candle made out of soy, a candle made out of beeswax, and (you ready for this?) a Utilikilt. They had it in my size, it was a very reasonable price, they had it in black (which will go interestingly with my blue camo sporran), and so I broke down and bought it. I now have a kilt for when I do Celtic festivals and highland games. At 1:30, Georgia AVER (American Veterans for Equal Rights) held a Taps ceremony at the main stage. A member of Washington, DC AVER, an active-duty major in the Army, was remembered as being the first known gay man killed over in Iraq. We also honored all military personnel who have been killed in the past 9 years. I stood up and saluted when Taps was played. I left after 2:30 and was home by around 3-something. Tonight is food shopping and maybe recording some lines for Starship Excelsior. AND, you're not going to believe this: For the first time ever, I had children knock loudly at the door and yell "Trick or Treat! Being totally unprepared, you know............ And a Blessed Samhain to those who celebrate that tonight. Tags: atlanta gay pride, halloween, samhain, starship excelsior
Current Location: bedroom
Current Mood:  tired
Current Music: A Prairie Home Companion
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If you remember this post, you'll recall that I had dropped a letter to Consumer Advocacy with a cc to the CEO of Motorola. Well, within a day or so of the letter being faxed, I received a call from Julie in Consumer Advocacy who told me basically that I shouldn't have bought the phone over ebay, that I was a second user of the phone (but how does that explain that the Motorola software I have say I was the first user?), but because of the rotten treatment I got at the hands of Customer No Support, Motorola had decided to send me a brand-new replacement phone. The phone arrived yesterday. I've charged the battery, put the SIM and micro-SD cards into the phone, downloaded the 2 ring tones I mainly use (the phone rings to the whine of the ST:TOS hailing frequency, and a voice mail is Worf talking about an "incoming message"), put up a different picture on the phone when it turns on, put the phone numbers into the phone for when I (hopefully) go internationally (even though the phone is locked - habit of force), and am now happily using the purple Motorola W490 as my US phone. The only bad thing is that it's a locked phone, but that's OK; I have my blue Motorola KRZR K1 as my unlocked international phone, for which I'll purchase a SIM card for whatever country I end up going to (except Japan - the phone is GSM and Japan is CDMA) so that I can save money when/if I need to make phone calls wherever it is I'm going. I am happy. Thank you Julie at Motorola. Tags: motorola corporation
Current Location: work
Current Mood:  happy
Current Music: none
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This time, it's Motorola. I bought a brand new purple W490 phone off ebay in September. After using it for a couple weeks, all of a sudden I couldn't hear anything from the earpiece and I couldn't be heard through the "handset." So I called Motorola tech support and after a good long time on the phone, it was decided the best thing to do would be to send it in for repairs. I'd also checked and found that the phone was indeed within warranty. About a week after I sent the phone in, it came back with a note saying that the "PC board" was damaged and the phone was out of warranty. I disagreed with that, at which point I was told to re-send the phone in and it would be looked at by a department called "repair escalations." Several days later, after sending the phone back a second time, it came back with the same note and a card saying "oh, and by the way, call us to buy a new phone and get 15% off with this coupon and coupon code." Thank you, NO! I want my phone to work. Move to October 1. I call again and was firmly told that the phone couldn't be repaired, it was out of warranty, it was my fault (I must have dropped the phone), and the best we can do is offer you a replacement black T-mobile capable phone (mine was unlocked and was purple) for $75.00. Now, I had paid $54 for the phone originally, and now they're wanting more?! I said that was unsatisfactory - that 1) I didn't break the phone; 2) the phone was purple, not black; 3) why should I even consider getting a replacement Motorola phone if this is how I'll be treated the first time I have a problem with the phone? The person with whom I spoke said she'd see about getting an unlocked phone and would call me back by Monday, October 5. Fine, I said. Well, October 5 came and went, so on October 6, I called in and ended up speaking to a supervisor named John who told me that I'd hear from someone within 2 days. Cut to Thursday, October 8 - the person who had called on October 1 and told me I'd hear from her on October 5 called while I was in traffic. I asked her to please call me back at home in 10 minutes, giving her my number after explaining that I was in traffic and didn't want to risk an accident or anything. Fifty minutes later, after she had not called back, I called in again and after nearly 20 minutes on the phone, I ended up speaking with Angelina (I'm guessing at the spelling), who said she was the Manager in charge of Repair Escalations. One of the first things she said was that the problem with my phone was the "flip," ( now wait a minute! The cards I received said "PC board" - how could it suddenly be the "flip"?). After telling me twice that it was the flip and my reminding her that the cards said PC board, she admitted she was wrong, but she also said that there was nothing they could do with regard to the phone, that it was out of warranty, that I'd have to buy a new phone. I told her that her alternatives weren't satisfactory, that I still hadn't received any explanation as to why a brand-new phone could suddenly be out of warranty when I didn't do anything to damage the phone and it ends up damaged, so I demanded (I'll admit it) that I wanted to talk to her superiors. What ended up happening is that I faxed a letter to "Corporate Advocacy" explaining exactly what had transpired: the lies, the no calls, the no explanations, etc., and how I was still dissatisfied. What Angelina refused to tell me was the name of the CEO, as I wanted to contact him. She didn't know, and I didn't tell her, I was going to cc the CEO of Motorola Corporation. Well, the letter has been faxed, and it's in the mail to go to the CEO of Motorola today. I don't know what's going to happen, but I know this: a company that has been respected in the US for so long is doing all it can to be disrespected. I realize that "customer support" has become "customer no support" and that the only way it seems to get any sort of satisfaction is to post your displeasure on the internet (although this is not as good as the youtube video "United Breaks Guitars (part 1)," which actually gave me the impetus to sit down and write this). All I want is a working, unlocked, purple W490 that doesn't have problems. Is that too much to ask? Tags: cell phone, customer service (or lack thereof), motorola corporation
Current Location: work
Current Mood:  aggravated
Current Music: none
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