My 2cents
Netflix was a great online video service they provided as you would receive a choice of 3 videos by mail and you can stream unlimited movies online for $20. However, due to the poor choice of decisions made by the executives of the company, Netflix sacrificed their customers for profits, which is why their stocks fell exponentially after their financial reports were published. The company should have kept the losses and satisfied their customers. In sacrificing their customers over profits, Netflix reduced their offering on the amount of dvd's you get by 1. So you'd be paying $20 for a choice of 2 dvd by mail and unlimited streaming. It is a big sacrifice especially if you like watching movies, but it is better than the alternative such as Blockbuster.
I find that Blockbuster is even costlier than Netflix. Looking at Blockbusters service/rental plans, it is mainly a mail service. They do provide streaming services, but they are at a higher price range. For each movie you stream, you are paying about $2. $2 may not sound alot, but when you start adding it up within a single month, it exceeds the price of what you pay with Netflix. One of the best features of Blockbuster is the ability to return a video to a local store and getting a new video. It's great because you can stop by locally instead of waiting for it by mail, which takes 2-3 days. However, where can one find a local Blockbuster store near them?! We used to have a Blockbuster store, but the company have shut most of them down. This was a great idea, but it failed because it's become nearly impossible to find a local store around you.
Overall, Netflix is still a prefered choice over the other video services that are out there in the market. It is competitively priced and gives the best value overall. However, with the emergence of Redbox and their experimentation of streaming with their local video service, it may actually become the new prefered choice for renting videos. Keep your eyes open for Redbox.
With Redbox, you get the lastest movies and games for $1 a video/game for a day, which is a plus as it's directly from the video vending machine and you don't have to wait by mail. Because they are testing the streaming service, I am curious on the selection of videos that they will provide.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
ED64 PLUS
I was surfing the net several weeks ago, sometime during the first week of December 2012, and stumbled across an Nintendo 64 back-up cart called ED64 Plus. I became curious as to what the features the back-up cart had compared to the other manufacturer's such as Neo Flash and the Everdrive.
Directly from the ED64 Plus website, www.ed64plus.com , the features are as follow,
Now that I knew how much it cost, it was time to compare it to the other N64 back-up carts. I already knew that the Neo Flash carts would be the costliest of the three back-up carts, going for $200 from the online retailer, www.ic2005.com. So it was likely that I would never purchase a Neo Flash cart due to the high cost of the item. It also seemed inconvenient for Neo Flash to use their own proprietary media drive from the Nintendo Gameboy Advance back-up cart that the Neo team have made. These two negative points made a permanent impression that they are not worth the money to spend on.
The second cartridge to be compared was the Everdrive 64. The Everdrive 64 is more affordable and convenient than the Neo Flash 64 as it ran on a standard SD memory card, which can be purchased cheap and freely from any electronic store anywhere, and it's competitively priced at $115-$130 for a bare chip or $175 for a deluxe version, which includes a memory card, a choice of the cartridge color, a cartridge case, a driver cd and a manual. Comparing the overall value of the Neo Flash to the Everdrive 64 Deluxe, you can clearly see that the Everdrive 64 carried a bigger value as you're getting all these extras, the choice of the cartridge color, a cartridge case, manual and memory card, at a price that is cheaper than the Neo Flash.
While comparing the Everdrive 64 to the ED64 Plus, both are practically identical to each other except for one condition. The Everdrive 64 has a soldered cic6102 chip installed while the ED64 Plus requires a bypass cartridge. I believe there is no real advantage of one or the other except in terms of physical esthetics. The Everdrive 64 looks like a regular cartridge and has a pleasing and sophisticated look, while the ED64 Plus will look like a tower, which makes it look cheap.
During my comparison of the Everdrive 64, I've found out that the ED64 Plus is a generic clone that was manufactured in China. Many people would disregard the ED64 Plus as it is likely inferior to the original. However, I am an optimist and looked forward in what the ED64 Plus has to offer.
Knowing that the ED64 Plus was a clone, I went back to Google and searched once more if it was possible to obtain a cart at a cheaper price. All seems lost and dismal as site after site the cartridge was listed for sale at $100. Eventually I gave up and stumbled across a website called www.aliexpress.com . I searched through and found a seller that had the ED64 Plus at a very cheap price of $67.20. I figured you can't go wrong buying a clone Everdrive 64 at that price. So I went and purchased it for less than $70, which included shipping at $2.01 for 5-10 days as opposed to the free shipping for 15-25. I received the package a week before Christmas and tinkered with the back-up.
My overall impression of the ED64 Plus is that it isn't bad. I ran several games [Resident Evil 2, Zelda Ocarina of Time, Mario 64, Smash Brothers] with Castlevania Legacy of Darkness as my bypass and most of the games that ran through seems to work fine. There are a few things to note here about the games. The roms that I downloaded I didn't check to see if they were good or bad or rather they were patched to bypass the security lockout. One example is the game Cruis'n'USA, while the game does work, it is in black and white. Another example is the game Jet Force Gemini. The game loads and runs alright, however, the player cannot shoot or run. The loading time for Resident Evil 2 was probably 10-15 seconds, a guess since I did not scientifically timed it. Most of the load times for a game wasn't that long. The last thing to note is that this was operated on a NTSC US Nintendo 64 console. I do not know if it works on a Pal console or not.
For $70 I would say that it isn't a bad buy. Most of the games that I manage to run through seems to work. The ones that don't seem to work, I already own. If you're looking for a cheap alternative to the other two back-up cartridges, you can go with an ED64 Plus. Other wise, stay off Neo Flash and buy the Everdrive 64 Deluxe.
Here is where you can obtain it at Aliexpress,
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Free-shipping-ED64PLUS-ED64plus-Game-Save-Device/400495_684561967.html
Directly from the ED64 Plus website, www.ed64plus.com , the features are as follow,
+ ED64Plus can support a maximum of 512Mbit(64MBytes) ROM imagesReading through the features of the ED64 Plus, it seems like a good choice for a back-up cart to purchase. So I went to Google and searched what the price range that it went for. Going from www.tototek.com to www.ebay.com and other online international retailers, it went for around $100. It wasn't a bad price.
+ Support SD, SDHC, MMC card with FAT, FAT16, FAT32 format (maximum 32GB)
+ Multi CIC chip compatible (note.1)
+ Supports all games of the region corresponding to the console
+ Region free (will play a PAL ROM on a NTSC system, and vice-versa)
+ Supports all save types, even FlashRAM save type
+ Stores cartridge based saves directly on the CF/MicroSD card (note.2)
+ Supports homebrew ROMs
+ Most games load within a few seconds. Larger ones take several seconds.
+ Drag and drop support directly to SDCard
+ No proprietary extra adapters involved
+ Supports multiple ROMs up to the capacity of the SDCard
+ Supports sub folders
+ ROMs are stored indefinitely until files are deleted or the SDCard is formatted
+ Continued menu, firmware, GUI, and hardware development support
+ 64MBytes of high quality Micron RAM onboard
+ High quality 4 layers printed circuit board and SMD components
+ Does not require any special hardware or software to flash games
+ N64 menu is navigated with the gamepad
+ Uses SDCard to store ROMs
+ Reset button takes the user back to the ED64Plus menu
+ Easy to use once set up properly and then recommended for the novice user
+ Most commercial ROMs backup work (* Some CIC6105 ROMs backup require the patched versions still)
+ Most games which required a patch for old copiers work with or without a patch
+ Support byte swapped ROM images
Note.1The ED64Plus cart require a commercial N64 game cartridge with CIC6102 to be plugged into it as a dongle for the CIC microchip protection check. However, there are only one CIC6102 cartridge need.Note.2The ED64Plus launch a ROM with corresponding save type automatically. All save types are fully supported. However, the ED64Plus menu allows changing of the save type prior to launching a ROM. This is done by pressing the L/R buttons to cycle through the different cartridge save types. When game is playing, press Reset button will take the user back to the ED64Plus menu, and the ED64Plus automatically creates a save file on the inserted SDCard within the /ED64P/SAVE folder. Each save game will have an extension corresponding to what type of save it is.
Now that I knew how much it cost, it was time to compare it to the other N64 back-up carts. I already knew that the Neo Flash carts would be the costliest of the three back-up carts, going for $200 from the online retailer, www.ic2005.com. So it was likely that I would never purchase a Neo Flash cart due to the high cost of the item. It also seemed inconvenient for Neo Flash to use their own proprietary media drive from the Nintendo Gameboy Advance back-up cart that the Neo team have made. These two negative points made a permanent impression that they are not worth the money to spend on.
The second cartridge to be compared was the Everdrive 64. The Everdrive 64 is more affordable and convenient than the Neo Flash 64 as it ran on a standard SD memory card, which can be purchased cheap and freely from any electronic store anywhere, and it's competitively priced at $115-$130 for a bare chip or $175 for a deluxe version, which includes a memory card, a choice of the cartridge color, a cartridge case, a driver cd and a manual. Comparing the overall value of the Neo Flash to the Everdrive 64 Deluxe, you can clearly see that the Everdrive 64 carried a bigger value as you're getting all these extras, the choice of the cartridge color, a cartridge case, manual and memory card, at a price that is cheaper than the Neo Flash.
While comparing the Everdrive 64 to the ED64 Plus, both are practically identical to each other except for one condition. The Everdrive 64 has a soldered cic6102 chip installed while the ED64 Plus requires a bypass cartridge. I believe there is no real advantage of one or the other except in terms of physical esthetics. The Everdrive 64 looks like a regular cartridge and has a pleasing and sophisticated look, while the ED64 Plus will look like a tower, which makes it look cheap.
During my comparison of the Everdrive 64, I've found out that the ED64 Plus is a generic clone that was manufactured in China. Many people would disregard the ED64 Plus as it is likely inferior to the original. However, I am an optimist and looked forward in what the ED64 Plus has to offer.
Knowing that the ED64 Plus was a clone, I went back to Google and searched once more if it was possible to obtain a cart at a cheaper price. All seems lost and dismal as site after site the cartridge was listed for sale at $100. Eventually I gave up and stumbled across a website called www.aliexpress.com . I searched through and found a seller that had the ED64 Plus at a very cheap price of $67.20. I figured you can't go wrong buying a clone Everdrive 64 at that price. So I went and purchased it for less than $70, which included shipping at $2.01 for 5-10 days as opposed to the free shipping for 15-25. I received the package a week before Christmas and tinkered with the back-up.
My overall impression of the ED64 Plus is that it isn't bad. I ran several games [Resident Evil 2, Zelda Ocarina of Time, Mario 64, Smash Brothers] with Castlevania Legacy of Darkness as my bypass and most of the games that ran through seems to work fine. There are a few things to note here about the games. The roms that I downloaded I didn't check to see if they were good or bad or rather they were patched to bypass the security lockout. One example is the game Cruis'n'USA, while the game does work, it is in black and white. Another example is the game Jet Force Gemini. The game loads and runs alright, however, the player cannot shoot or run. The loading time for Resident Evil 2 was probably 10-15 seconds, a guess since I did not scientifically timed it. Most of the load times for a game wasn't that long. The last thing to note is that this was operated on a NTSC US Nintendo 64 console. I do not know if it works on a Pal console or not.
For $70 I would say that it isn't a bad buy. Most of the games that I manage to run through seems to work. The ones that don't seem to work, I already own. If you're looking for a cheap alternative to the other two back-up cartridges, you can go with an ED64 Plus. Other wise, stay off Neo Flash and buy the Everdrive 64 Deluxe.
Here is where you can obtain it at Aliexpress,
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Free-shipping-ED64PLUS-ED64plus-Game-Save-Device/400495_684561967.html
Sunday, November 4, 2012
nintendo's "quality" removed from seal
Nintendo's seal of quality approval was a trademark Nintendo have used during the company's startup with the NES. A lot of people went nuts and people complained when nintendo decided to remove the word "quality" from their seal. It's understanding why people would be upset because there is no longer quality in the product since the word has been removed. However, I believe there is more to the reasoning as to why Nintendo removed the word "quality" from their seal.
With the NES, America was in a video game crash. Consumers didn't have any faith from video game makers since most of the games being released by them were seen as mediocre or simply just bad. Everyone talks about the Atari 2600 ET game as a prime example and it holds true to it's value. Because of this situation, Nintendo had to create a system of enforcement to gain the confidence of the consumer and to watch the development process of the game makers. This was the reason why Nintendo created the seal. The seal meant that consumers can have confidence in the product as the company has reviewed the game for quality consistancies with their approval standard.
However, fast forward to the 5th generation of Nintendo home consoles with the Wii, Nintendo decides to remove the word "quality" from their seal. Does it make a difference?! NO!
It no longer makes a difference because the environment has changed. The gaming world is no longer in a crash and Nintendo no longer has to watch over the third party companies. So who watches over the third party developers?! Quality will be determined by the third party themselves. Every company that makes a game will be under their own demise for creating games that are below to consumers expectations. Even Nintendo makes bad games and they lose big.
So what made Nintendo follow this direction after so many console releases?! The other console companies.
If you look at the other console companies, Sony and Microsoft, Sega is not included because they are no longer a console maker, they do not provide any form of quality assurance for their games. If you look at the library size of the playstation 2 and xbox, they both have a substantial amount of games and none of the console companies provide "quality". Not only did the other console company not provided any "quality", the third party companies were taking full responsibility for making bad games. If capcom made a bad game, capcom didn't blame Sony nor the consumers of the playstation 2 system. So if Sony and Microsoft didn't have "quality" in their seal and third party companies were understandable for their action, you follow suit, which explains why "quality" is removed from Nintendo's seal.
In the end, what does this mean? A lot of complaints! But to who?
A lot of people will tell you that there are a lot of garbage games on the wii. Who is to blame for that?! Many would say Nintendo as they are the one who is responsible for quality that is being released on their console. However, the reality is that the third party developers are the ones who are responsible. A good example is Okami made by Capcom. The game was a big flop on the playstation 2 and was remade for the wii, which had little results. The difference is that the wii had a harsher complaint than the playstation 2. Capcom would blame Nintendo consumers as they were labeled "casual", which meant incompetent gamers. But how can a company make such claims to similar consumers on a previous console as the playstation 2?!
Thursday, November 3, 2011
restaurant letter grading
http://www.amny.com/urbanite-1.812039/loophole-lets-unhealthy-restaurants-post-passing-letter-grades-1.3056687
http://www.amny.com/urbanite-1.812039/city-steps-up-efforts-to-thwart-restaurant-inspection-bribes-1.2913503
http://www.amny.com/urbanite-1.812039/dirty-dining-manhattan-nabes-that-serve-up-the-most-health-violations-1.2671873
all of us has attended school and all of us have taken exams in school. when the teacher is there everyone follows through on their behavior or else you'd get in trouble. during exams, teachers at times may step out of the classroom and head somewhere else, such as heading to the teachers lounge to pick something up or maybe a bathroom stop and the list goes on. when the teacher leaves the room, she can either ask a teacher next door to keep watch at her students while she is temporarily away or leave the students unattended while she leaves the room momentarily. in either case, the students are left open for anything. now during an exam in class, most students would ask other students for answers and solutions to any of the questions they have a problem with in the exam. in other words, students are cheating while the teacher is away.
now lets compare this to the grading level that are given to restaurants in nyc. i have and am currently working at a restaurant and can tell you that there are things where we do violate the regulations and is often on a daily basis, such as failure in providing experation dates on used products or simply over label an expired label with a new label. the general process of an inspection is that inspectors can stop by your location at any time either with a notice or as a surprise. it wouldn't matter on either.
lets start off with a notice. managers or owners would be notified that they would be visited by a health inspector and would make necessary arrangements to insure that the restaurant is in accordance to standards. btw, just because the inspector says they're coming at a particular day doesn't necessarily mean they are coming. it just means the restaurant needs to keep an eye out and remain vigilant in standards. when the inspector stops by, everything or most of the standards in the store are meet in accordance to the standard and the restaurant is given a passing grade. so basically, the restaurant can be as dirty as they'd like before the inspection and manage to pass as they prepare to meet standards on the day the inspector stops by.
the second is surprise inspections. with surprise inspections, managers and owners panic and start to force everyone to perform standard maintenance, that means they would tell workers to start cleaning up, put labeling dates, etc.... this is important because it shows to the inspector that the workers are doing [or rather trying] their job in meeting the "A" grade standard. here's an example, suppose an inspector says that there are no dates on a storage container. the managers could say that the employees are currently busy and would make a label when it is no longer busy, or as the manager would have shown that the employees are trying to provide one but the inspector came at a bad moment and the employee never had the chance to make a expiration label. so during a surprise inspection, restaurants are able to pass as they are providing cover up and bullshit to the inspector.
passing the inspection is easy. all of us have went to school and all of us have used or follow a list of rules and proceedures. passing the inspection is all about following a check list. when we go to the store, we make a list of things to buy and when we get those things, we mark them out on the list and move on to the next. when we do our school work or our jobs, we make a mental [or written] check list of the things that needs to be accomplished. it is not complicated to pass the inspection when you follow the check list and that is all there is to it. restaurants that fail the inspections should be closed because they are too stupid to follow a check list.
http://www.amny.com/urbanite-1.812039/city-steps-up-efforts-to-thwart-restaurant-inspection-bribes-1.2913503
http://www.amny.com/urbanite-1.812039/dirty-dining-manhattan-nabes-that-serve-up-the-most-health-violations-1.2671873
all of us has attended school and all of us have taken exams in school. when the teacher is there everyone follows through on their behavior or else you'd get in trouble. during exams, teachers at times may step out of the classroom and head somewhere else, such as heading to the teachers lounge to pick something up or maybe a bathroom stop and the list goes on. when the teacher leaves the room, she can either ask a teacher next door to keep watch at her students while she is temporarily away or leave the students unattended while she leaves the room momentarily. in either case, the students are left open for anything. now during an exam in class, most students would ask other students for answers and solutions to any of the questions they have a problem with in the exam. in other words, students are cheating while the teacher is away.
now lets compare this to the grading level that are given to restaurants in nyc. i have and am currently working at a restaurant and can tell you that there are things where we do violate the regulations and is often on a daily basis, such as failure in providing experation dates on used products or simply over label an expired label with a new label. the general process of an inspection is that inspectors can stop by your location at any time either with a notice or as a surprise. it wouldn't matter on either.
lets start off with a notice. managers or owners would be notified that they would be visited by a health inspector and would make necessary arrangements to insure that the restaurant is in accordance to standards. btw, just because the inspector says they're coming at a particular day doesn't necessarily mean they are coming. it just means the restaurant needs to keep an eye out and remain vigilant in standards. when the inspector stops by, everything or most of the standards in the store are meet in accordance to the standard and the restaurant is given a passing grade. so basically, the restaurant can be as dirty as they'd like before the inspection and manage to pass as they prepare to meet standards on the day the inspector stops by.
the second is surprise inspections. with surprise inspections, managers and owners panic and start to force everyone to perform standard maintenance, that means they would tell workers to start cleaning up, put labeling dates, etc.... this is important because it shows to the inspector that the workers are doing [or rather trying] their job in meeting the "A" grade standard. here's an example, suppose an inspector says that there are no dates on a storage container. the managers could say that the employees are currently busy and would make a label when it is no longer busy, or as the manager would have shown that the employees are trying to provide one but the inspector came at a bad moment and the employee never had the chance to make a expiration label. so during a surprise inspection, restaurants are able to pass as they are providing cover up and bullshit to the inspector.
passing the inspection is easy. all of us have went to school and all of us have used or follow a list of rules and proceedures. passing the inspection is all about following a check list. when we go to the store, we make a list of things to buy and when we get those things, we mark them out on the list and move on to the next. when we do our school work or our jobs, we make a mental [or written] check list of the things that needs to be accomplished. it is not complicated to pass the inspection when you follow the check list and that is all there is to it. restaurants that fail the inspections should be closed because they are too stupid to follow a check list.
Monday, January 17, 2011
update on aquaclear 110 ebay problem
About a week ago [around the 7-8th of january 2011], i received an email message from ebay stating that i have mistakenly left the wrong feedback for the aquaclear 110 filter that i bought from pond passions outlet [ http://myworld.ebay.com/bottomfisher/ ] in ebay. in return for changing the feedback, she would send a replacement unit for the one that was damaged. of course, i didn't act immediately to this offer, especially when she mentions of here customer satisfaction, while such a thing wasn't provided when my filter case was damaged due to her mistake. i sent her an email informing her that she has 1 week to send me a replacement unit, until then the feedback will remain. it's been over a week [a week and a day] and i haven't received anything. clearly, be very cautious with this seller on ebay, she does not stand up to her claims.
lets take here oath of customer satisfaction that she posted on here ebay webpage and make some puns with it,
" ... I TAKE PRIDE IN CUSTOMER SERVICE. I ALSO GET A LOT OF CLOSEOUTS. I WOULD NOT BE HERE IF IT WERE NOT FOR MY CUSTOMERS. I HAVE MANY RETURN CUSTOMERS. I HOPE YOU WILL BECOME MY NEXT ONE. THANK YOU FOR LOOKING...POND PASSIONS OUTLET. "
there is no customer service as i have provided the example with the broken filter case due to their mailing neglect. she would not be where she is if she had not screwed the customers on their purchases. she says they have a lot of returned customers, which is likely true because when the customers receive a damaged product, they will seek you out for a refund. in the end, she hopes that you will become her next target to get suckered.
in the end, i did receive a replacement filter case from hagen, the manufacturer of the aquaclear filter brand. the customer service representative informed me how the warranty did not cover the replacement of the broken filter case, which got me worried. i told her that the ebay user have ditched me and she eventually asked for the receipt, which i provided as well as other documentations to illustrate who she is. in the end, i informed the customer representative that though the warranty may not cover the filter case replacement, wanted her to inform the company that this ebay authorized retailer should be inspected.
lets take here oath of customer satisfaction that she posted on here ebay webpage and make some puns with it,
" ... I TAKE PRIDE IN CUSTOMER SERVICE. I ALSO GET A LOT OF CLOSEOUTS. I WOULD NOT BE HERE IF IT WERE NOT FOR MY CUSTOMERS. I HAVE MANY RETURN CUSTOMERS. I HOPE YOU WILL BECOME MY NEXT ONE. THANK YOU FOR LOOKING...POND PASSIONS OUTLET. "
there is no customer service as i have provided the example with the broken filter case due to their mailing neglect. she would not be where she is if she had not screwed the customers on their purchases. she says they have a lot of returned customers, which is likely true because when the customers receive a damaged product, they will seek you out for a refund. in the end, she hopes that you will become her next target to get suckered.
in the end, i did receive a replacement filter case from hagen, the manufacturer of the aquaclear filter brand. the customer service representative informed me how the warranty did not cover the replacement of the broken filter case, which got me worried. i told her that the ebay user have ditched me and she eventually asked for the receipt, which i provided as well as other documentations to illustrate who she is. in the end, i informed the customer representative that though the warranty may not cover the filter case replacement, wanted her to inform the company that this ebay authorized retailer should be inspected.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
7 genesis manuals for $7 with $14 shipping
i bought 7 sega genesis game manual from ebay user whtnja [ http://myworld.ebay.com/whtnja/ ]. the manuals were for;
earthworm jim 1
golden axe 2
incredible hulk
sonic 2
animaniacs
seperation anxiety
zombies ate my neighbors
i left a negative feedback for all of the items won. the reason why was due to unnecessary charges for shipping. as the title of this post suggest, i paid $1 each for each of the manual and it totals to $7. the problem is that i paid a total of $14 for shipping. $14 to ship out game manuals is pretty steep which is the reason for the negative feedback. additionally, i bought 14 manuals from another ebay user and i only paid $2 for shipping. clearly the difference of $14 to $2 is a big difference. so he ripped me off and i left him a negative response for it. when i received the package from the guy, it was in a bubble wrapped envelope and the postage was .44 cents. big rip-off.
the guys response to my negative feedback was,
"Buyer didn't read shipping info or ask about shipping. Unfair neg. feedback"
on the item page, it was never mentioned about combined shipping and when i e-mailed him about combined shipping, he never respond back. so nothing was ever mentioned and a no response means i don't know the answer on rather he combines shipping or not, which means it's open water. after the end of the auction, i asked for him to re-total everything and that was when i found out that he did not combine shipping. i even asked specifically about combining shipping again by re-totaling the cost and he did not respond. i paid for the cost and i left him a negative feedback because he knew what he was doing, that is to say that he was ripping me off. so is it an unfair negative feedback? NO!
earthworm jim 1
golden axe 2
incredible hulk
sonic 2
animaniacs
seperation anxiety
zombies ate my neighbors
i left a negative feedback for all of the items won. the reason why was due to unnecessary charges for shipping. as the title of this post suggest, i paid $1 each for each of the manual and it totals to $7. the problem is that i paid a total of $14 for shipping. $14 to ship out game manuals is pretty steep which is the reason for the negative feedback. additionally, i bought 14 manuals from another ebay user and i only paid $2 for shipping. clearly the difference of $14 to $2 is a big difference. so he ripped me off and i left him a negative response for it. when i received the package from the guy, it was in a bubble wrapped envelope and the postage was .44 cents. big rip-off.
the guys response to my negative feedback was,
"Buyer didn't read shipping info or ask about shipping. Unfair neg. feedback"
on the item page, it was never mentioned about combined shipping and when i e-mailed him about combined shipping, he never respond back. so nothing was ever mentioned and a no response means i don't know the answer on rather he combines shipping or not, which means it's open water. after the end of the auction, i asked for him to re-total everything and that was when i found out that he did not combine shipping. i even asked specifically about combining shipping again by re-totaling the cost and he did not respond. i paid for the cost and i left him a negative feedback because he knew what he was doing, that is to say that he was ripping me off. so is it an unfair negative feedback? NO!
Sunday, January 2, 2011
bad ebay purchase of aquaclear 110
ebay user: bottomfisher [ http://myworld.ebay.com/bottomfisher/ ]
ebay store: pond passions outlet [ http://stores.ebay.com/pondpassionsoutlet ]
Name: Michelle McCord
I recently bought an aquaclear 110 for $66 with shipping included on the 25th of December and received it on wednesday the week after. I opened up the package and found the case of the filter cracked in two places. The first crack is at the top where the filter outputs the water and the other is a crack at the bottom of the filter. I contacted the person immediately when i saw the crack and they responded rather quickly for a picture. I sent several pictures through email and the person never replied back. According to the description of the product, it is under warranty by Hagen, the makers of the aquaclear filter. I sent an email to Hagen thinking that the company would replace the broken filter case. Hagen replied that they would not replace the case because the person I bought it from is not an authorized dealer. To make things short, I'm stuck with a broken filter case that will be replaced out of my own expense because of neglect by the seller. Beware of this ebay seller.
Here is a link to a person who also had a similar problem like I did with the same ebay seller [ http://www.ripoffreport.com/pet-shops-supplies/michelle-mccord-pond/michelle-mccord-pond-passions-b6235.htm ].
Here is the picture of the crack on the filter. There is another crack on the bottom [about 2 inches long]. However, it is not visible to take a picture of the bottom crack because it's on the edge and it's hard to see on picture.
ebay store: pond passions outlet [ http://stores.ebay.com/pondpassionsoutlet ]
Name: Michelle McCord
I recently bought an aquaclear 110 for $66 with shipping included on the 25th of December and received it on wednesday the week after. I opened up the package and found the case of the filter cracked in two places. The first crack is at the top where the filter outputs the water and the other is a crack at the bottom of the filter. I contacted the person immediately when i saw the crack and they responded rather quickly for a picture. I sent several pictures through email and the person never replied back. According to the description of the product, it is under warranty by Hagen, the makers of the aquaclear filter. I sent an email to Hagen thinking that the company would replace the broken filter case. Hagen replied that they would not replace the case because the person I bought it from is not an authorized dealer. To make things short, I'm stuck with a broken filter case that will be replaced out of my own expense because of neglect by the seller. Beware of this ebay seller.
Here is a link to a person who also had a similar problem like I did with the same ebay seller [ http://www.ripoffreport.com/pet-shops-supplies/michelle-mccord-pond/michelle-mccord-pond-passions-b6235.htm ].
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