Technology - bah!

[bookzombie]

I am gradually learning that there are some things not to buy over the internet, electronic equipment being the thing that springs to mind right now.

I had some birthday money left over so I thought I'd expand our home singing possibilities beyond SingStar by getting one of those DVD players that will also play Karaoke disks (CD-G & DIVx). I found what seemed to be a reputable supplier and ordered a player.

It arrived in good time and I set it up:

1. DVD player on normal DVDs working? Check.
2. CD-G & DIVx disks playing okay? Check.
3. Microphones working? Nope. Nothing. Not a sausage.

The next day I was able to check that the microphones themselves worked okay, so it was definitely the unit.

My attempts to telephone the company met with no success. Over about 4 hours of trying nobody answered the telephone, it just rang and rang, apart from the time it was engaged.

I eventually sent an email and quite promptly got a response giving me something to try (related to the possibility that the sound from the CD was swamping the sound from the microphones). Tried it with no results so I sent another email. The contact wrote back to say that she would call me in the morning if I left my contact numbers, which I did.

The next morning (Friday) nothing, not a sausage. I left the office at 2pm and sent another note giving my home contact numbers.
The rest of the day passed with no response: not a phone call or email.

They are now closed until after Christmas so I spent another half hour fiddling about then gave up, put the unit back in the original packaging and sent it back, with a polite but firm covering letter pointing out the flaws in their customer services and asking for a full refund.

The thing that gets me about stuff like this is that it turns something that should be fun into something that is just stressful. My only worry now is that they won't give me the money back without a fight...



On a more positive note, a quick recommendation: if you have the chance seek out the film In Her Shoes. It came in and out of cinemas here in the blink of an eye, not helped by the trailer that made it look like a bog-standard rom-com/chick flick (not that I don't enjoy the odd rom-com or chick flick I hasten to add) but it is a much more interesting film than that. It is directed by Curt Hanson who made the excellent adaptations of both L.A. Confidential and Wonder Boys.