Web v Street

[Cymru1]

Ok, I drive and Audi Estate (sry Avant) but I thought I was still youngish; but
Christ, I must be getting old!!.


How hard can it be to buy something these days??


Today, I wanted to part with some of my hard earned cash; but I just got
fobbed off at every turn!!


Can you guess what i tried to buy today??



(Condensed transcript - been to pub again)

Me: Hello, Can I buy this? Seen it on the Interweb.
Shop: No, Thats a T'internet price,it will be anothor £100 if you want it now.
Me: WTF? but its your company site and I have cash - look!
Shop: Yes, but that is on-line shop, not "street shop".
Me: WTF ??? Goodbye.


So I try my existing supplier......


Me: Hi, would like one of these please.....
Them: There a bit XXXX they are, What you want is this one for ££ extra!
Me: No, I want one of these!
Them: Sry, but this is a better and I can only do this deal today"
Me: Do what deal?
Them: Offer you this, + this + this + this - isn't that good?
Me: No, it's NOT what I wanted.
Them: Thank you for your time, (Hang up phone!)
Me: WTF?

Anyway, ordered a new mobile phone on-line in the end.


Bet it won't turn up!

[quattro]

What did you get?

[Big Lee M]

Got to be a iPhone. Sounds like O2 customer service to me,i should know i have one...............

[quattro]

See I looked tha the iPhone and didnt like it, over hyped like most of apples stuff (mostly marketing).
I ended up with the Blackberry Storm smart phone and i hated it for the first week and nearly sent it back but once you get used to it its FANTASTIC!!!!

[S2central.net]

The iPhone takes a week or two to jive with as well - I've heard that from a couple of guys at work - both very IT savvy. I was gonna get the Gen-2 iPhone - I personally really prefer the Apple experience and usability - they get bad press now for their marketing hype and renewed success. They were in the doldrums for a long time, but a hardcore of power users helped pull them thru the hard times and once the masses cottoned onto the superior resilience, ease of use of OSX versus that ******** XP then the tables turned... and of course iPod, iTunes domination... and onto the iPhone.

MS tried to comeback with Vista, then that was all delayed and descoped cos all the corporates had so much pressure on them to create SP2 for the major flaws of XP. And only this year will Vista offer anything like the user experience of OSX - but needing much more powerful hardware AFAIK.

[Cymru1]

got a Nokia 5800 (touchscreen thing) on Orange

Free phone, £20 p/m, unltd txt.

Happy with that.

[mcandmar]

Storm vs iPhone is an interesting debate, i'm currently using the Storm as i rely on the Blackberry service for work, its a nice phone but i just cant get with the touch screen nonsense. iPhone has a lovely interface but its useless as a mobile business device, its all form over function.

Best phone i ever had was a Nokia 6310, it made phone calls, can send/recieve texts, and has a battery that actually lasts more than a day

[S2central.net]

LOL - I still have my old 6310 as an emergency phone - lovely bronze coloured thing - just the right size and weight. Worked in EU and US so was great for travelling. Much more reliable than the N73 I currently have... So much for progress eh

[Rusty]

Phone companies are a joke of the highest order. I got my phone online for £25. I phoned the number next to the price and it was £150, instore I don't even want to know...

[stiglet]

I have a vintage Nokia, the one which is covered in rubber. You can throw it at people, walls, down stairs and those annoying small dogs that yap at your ankles. Works a treat.

AND it sends text messages

[philKS2]

Isn't the whole point here about "web vs street".. in the end you pays your money and takes your choice... if a company employs shop front staff and runs a shop, you will pay more for the product than if they just ship it from a warehouse.... but what happens when your web-purchase goes wrong..

It's why people like John Lewis survive, because their customers recognise that in exchange for paying a (reasonable) premium you get excellent customer service...

Although I have to say I've found myth about internet sales being poor on customer service just IS NOT universally true ... Take the £120 Roberts internet Radio bought online... I thought it had a fault and the internet company couriered me a replacement... then I relaised it just could not work with my wifi... and they agreed a full refund including the postage. (I got a Pure one instead, much better product)

[Sonic]

Thats the price of convenience

Some days im happy to pay it, others, im not!