too many dollars and too little sense...

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homestarmy

Diamond Member
Apr 16, 2004
3,528
2
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artwilbur.com
Well today I get a customer calling in (I think transferred from another dept) that says she needs to purchase a converter to make her xD cards fit into her printer (which has a CF slot). I let her know that on our website one can purchase a xD to CF adapter for $59.95, yet I also let her know that since her camera can take either, it would be wise to just spend the money on a large CF card instead of buying this adapter. The xD cards she currently has are 32 and 64MB in size. She basically stops me and indicates that she has no idea what I am talking about and that she just wants to place the order.... Well.... ok!

So she ends up paying $80.40 shipped (2day shipping) for an adapter for her 32 and 64MB cards, when she could have gotten a 1GB CF card for the same price, or at least a 512 with little to no effort locally.

Why can't I be rich and stupid?
 
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trilks

Golden Member
Aug 16, 2002
1,117
0
0
Originally posted by: TwiceOver
"Just make it work!" seems to be a common statement for customers.
Click to expand...

Yes, I hear that all the friggin time. Why don't people feel the need to learn a little about the things they use?
 
DougK62

DougK62

Diamond Member
Mar 28, 2001
8,035
6
81
People like that are just idiots. That's an extremely easy concept to follow if you explained it to her like you did in your post. If she's too brain dead and lazy to understand then just do whatever you can to get her off the damn phone.

 
Demon-Xanth

Demon-Xanth

Lifer
Feb 15, 2000
20,551
2
81
Originally posted by: TwiceOver
"Just make it work!" seems to be a common statement for customers.
Click to expand...

And coworkers, and bosses...


It's especially common when they're told "There's no reasonable way to make it work." and they're not willing to put in any effort or time into making it work or finding an alternative.
 
DougK62

DougK62

Diamond Member
Mar 28, 2001
8,035
6
81
Originally posted by: trilks
Originally posted by: TwiceOver
"Just make it work!" seems to be a common statement for customers.
Click to expand...

Yes, I hear that all the friggin time. Why don't people feel the need to learn a little about the things they use?
Click to expand...

Yeah it just makes no sense. You'd think people would want to be informed consumers. It's no wonder that so many companies will try to scam their customers - the customers make it too easy!

I make sure I always know the basics about ANYTHING that I buy. I remember one time when I was working under the hood of my car my 50+ year old aunt came by. She looks under the hood and asks "what's that?". I tell her that it's the engine's air filter. Her response? "You mean engines use air?!"

 
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theNEOone

Diamond Member
Apr 22, 2001
5,745
4
81
i will restate my question. what camera takes both xD and CF? the whole point of using xD memory is to save space. adding xD and CF compatibility would complete defeat the purpose of a manufacturer wanting to use xD. if the idea was to offer more memory options to the consumer, then adding SD would have been a better option since it's cheaper and easier to find than xD.

my point? that there was some misunderstanding, you probably heard wrong if you thought that her camera supported both memory formats.

edit: hmm, ok i found one but it's a $900 digital slr. i find it hard to believe that someone w/ a digital slr would be using a 64mb card. something strange is going on here.


=|
 
D

daveshel

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 1999
5,453
2
81
Hey, I've been on the phones. People can be idiots. But I wonder if you gave up too quickly. For me, the most challenging and the most rewarding part of the job was making things so clear and simple that even the most idiotic could understand.
 
Demon-Xanth

Demon-Xanth

Lifer
Feb 15, 2000
20,551
2
81
Originally posted by: daveshel
Hey, I've been on the phones. People can be idiots. But I wonder if you gave up too quickly. For me, the most challenging and the most rewarding part of the job was making things so clear and simple that even the most idiotic could understand.
Click to expand...

That's what I thought until people failed that.

"Is the cable plugged in all the way?"
"Yes"
"You're sure?"
"Yes"
"Can you make sure?"
"It's in all the way."
*goes into the clean room*
*plugs cable in all the way*
*device begins to work*
THREE DAYS IN A ROW.
 
H

homestarmy

Diamond Member
Apr 16, 2004
3,528
2
0
artwilbur.com
Originally posted by: theNEOone
i will restate my question. what camera takes both xD and CF? the whole point of using xD memory is to save space. adding xD and CF compatibility would complete defeat the purpose of a manufacturer wanting to use xD. if the idea was to offer more memory options to the consumer, then adding SD would have been a better option since it's cheaper and easier to find than xD.

my point? that there was some misunderstanding, you probably heard wrong if you thought that her camera supported both memory formats.

edit: hmm, ok i found one but it's a $900 digital slr. i find it hard to believe that someone w/ a digital slr would be using a 64mb card. something strange is going on here.


=|
Click to expand...

Olympus puts xD on the camera because it is their chosen format and is on ALL of their cameras. They do not make CF cards at all to my knowledge. The xD is there to use the standard card shipped with the unit and any other cards they (as Olympus hopes) buy from Olympus, the CF is there because the camera can shoot in TIFF and RAW which are extremely large formats, so the customer can use 2GB+ cards that will probably never be available with the xD format. That's my take on it anyway...

LINK TO CAMERA btw...
 
L

Looney

Lifer
Jun 13, 2000
21,938
5
0
Originally posted by: homestarmy
There'd be a few less of us, but I tend to get legitamite questions here, at least the majority of my calls.
Click to expand...

She called wanting to buy something from you... that sure sounds like a 'legitimate' question to me.
 
H

homestarmy

Diamond Member
Apr 16, 2004
3,528
2
0
artwilbur.com
Originally posted by: homestarmy
So my wording is bad, what is your problem?
Click to expand...

And let me add...

I am in technical support, she called with a problem. My job is to give the best possible solution and my concern is to help the customer and give the outcome that is best for them, as is allowed under my scope of support.
 
B

boyRacer

Lifer
Oct 1, 2001
18,569
0
0
What would be funnier is she calls back and says you never said her camera can take a CF card, and she could have bought a bigger CF card instead. :D
 
H

homestarmy

Diamond Member
Apr 16, 2004
3,528
2
0
artwilbur.com
It just may happen...

I did make it clear... but clear to her? Who knows!

What will be funny is when she think's she's awesome because she can now use both cards in her camera at the same time with the converter!

96MB woo hoo!
 
E

Elbryn

Golden Member
Sep 30, 2000
1,213
0
0
when people buy with company money there is little caring. plus it could have been a situation where they have one printer and multiple cameras? but more than likely she was just not technically savvy + buying with company cash and didnt want to hear it.
 
P

PanzerIV

Diamond Member
Dec 19, 2002
6,875
1
0
Based upon your conversation with her, her lack of incentive to learn about technololgy and careless expenditures, I am convinced she's an executive.
 
T

thomsbrain

Lifer
Dec 4, 2001
18,148
1
0
Originally posted by: trilks
Originally posted by: TwiceOver
"Just make it work!" seems to be a common statement for customers.
Click to expand...

Yes, I hear that all the friggin time. Why don't people feel the need to learn a little about the things they use?
Click to expand...

because they don't care how it works. not everyone in the world is an ATOT geek who loves learning about computers or cars or whatever. you have to realize that to most people, a computer is like a toaster, just more expensive and it breaks more often, which is why they hate them. it's worth it to them to pay extra money to not have to use any brainpower on the infernal machine.
 
D

djheater

Lifer
Mar 19, 2001
14,637
2
0
Originally posted by: homestarmy
Well today I get a customer calling in (I think transferred from another dept) that says she needs to purchase a converter to make her xD cards fit into her printer (which has a CF slot). I let her know that on our website one can purchase a xD to CF adapter for $59.95, yet I also let her know that since her camera can take either, it would be wise to just spend the money on a large CF card instead of buying this adapter. The xD cards she currently has are 32 and 64MB in size. She basically stops me and indicates that she has no idea what I am talking about and that she just wants to place the order.... Well.... ok!

So she ends up paying $80.40 shipped (2day shipping) for an adapter for her 32 and 64MB cards, when she could have gotten a 1GB CF card for the same price, or at least a 512 with little to no effort locally.

Why can't I be rich and stupid?
Click to expand...

Never EVER be nice to the customer. We don't want them awlking all over us do we? ;)
 
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