The Kill

Wednesday, June 29 2006
25:29

So, I've bought a condo in Ballard. It's currently under construction, so I won't even be able to set foot inside until October. A little icky, that part of it. It's good that I've got some time to sort things out, sell / give away a bunch of stuff I don't want to bother taking with me, etc. It's not so good that I can't get my interest rate locked yet.

The floorplan is a bit different than usual, the living room set at about a 45-degree angle. Plenty of windows, and they face East and South so there should be good light during the day. Probably not a view of much, though it's a few floors up so more than just the street and stuff. My commute to work will probably be about the same length as it is from my current place, but I'll be a lot closer to most of my friends and the Tuning The Air performance space.

Meanwhile, I've sold the Klein (for 50% more than I paid 3 years ago) and the Chapman Stick (for a couple hundred more than I paid in 1998) – it's still such a foreign feeling for me to actually make money on stuff like that.

The weather around here pretty much slammed into summer mode as soon as the season officially changed. Monday was HOT. Today was only in the 70s but very sunny. It's good.

car music: My Bloody Valentine - Loveless; New Order - Power, Corruption, and Lies

Condo Hunting part II

Sunday, June 18 2006
23:55

Seems like I am in the habit of diarizing on Sunday now.

Getting close to putting in an offer on a new condo in Ballard. It won't be completed until October or November, so if accepted that gives me some time to get a few things in order. Working on getting financing squared away right now – the first place I went hasn't really gotten back to me, need to call tomorrow and get the scoop.

Looked at a bunch of places on Thursday. Some nice, some not. Most had some sort of deal-breaker. Two were in neighborhoods I would not feel safe in; one was just too small, or rather the space wasn't arranged in a way that I would use as I need; one was very nice, good space, good building, in a nice quiet neighborhood – except it was too far from anything. I have realized that I really need to be able to walk to get food, coffee, etc.

It's a bit hard to commit to a place I can't walk in to (a couple of the places had a really different "feel" in person than the pictures (which were detailed and not really misrepresentative) had me expect). But the floor plan and demo stuff (they have a kitchen and some other areas built-up in the showroom) look good. I've spent a few hours here and there with the plan and a tape measure, figuring out the size of each room in comparison to the rooms in my current place. The windows face East and South – could get hot in the summer, though a) there will be an in-wall AC unit, however effective that may be, and b) it should not be nearly as noisy with the windows open as this place is. The location is awesome, right near a whole bunch of stuff. Probably won't be any better of a commute than my current one, but it'll be a lot closer to all the guitar circle activities.

While thinking about money and all that, decided it was time to sell a couple things I've had around but unused. I put the Klein up on Ebay, and it sold for 50% more than my starting price (which was just under what I paid) within hours. So, that goes in the mail tomorrow. So far, no bids on the Stick. I looked at listings for completed Stick auctions, and was surprised how high the prices were. The list price on a similar model is now $2400, compared to $1800 when I bought it (admittedly, 8 years ago). The current used value seems to be about $1800, so that's what it's listed as.

HP Tech Support Saga

April 29th

I contact HP Tech support about a problem with my HP Scanjet 4850. The image quality when scanning dark pictures (eg fireworks at night) was bad - the edge of the photo near the edge of the scanner bed would appear "faded".

I receive this reply:

Taylor, this clearly indicates that the basic hardware of your scanner is dysfunctional. Since the scanner appears to be in warranty, we will replace your scanner.

OK, I'll take their word for it. So, a replacement process is initiated.

May 12th

The replacement scanner arrives. It had the same problem. After emailing tech support, I receive this reply:

Taylor, since your scanner is still within warranty, we can go ahead and replace the scanner once again.

Now, I figure the odds are pretty slim that I got two faulty scanners in a row. I mention this to tech support - and they confirm that by saying "In fact it is something around one out to one thousand." Well, that doesn't make me feel any better. Anyway, the last bit is:

Taylor, you would definitely get a call back at your specified time.

May 16th

Nobody has called. I email them again, and the response is:

Due to some technical issue we have not been able to get in touch with any of our customer. However, the issue is resolved. You would be receiving a call back within a couple of days.

May 19th

Nobody has called. I email and ask if I should send back the original scanner (they have my VISA card on record so they can charge me if I don't send it back within 15 days). The reply is:

I can assure you that the Callback request have been placed and you will definitely receive the Callback before the next 3 business days.

Presently you will not have to Ship us back the Original Scanner, after the Callback is made you will be intimated on the next course of action.

Have a nice day !!!

May 29th

Nobody has called. I call HP Tech Support. After spending over 45 minutes doing things like restarting my computer and powering the scanner off and on, the support agent says he thinks I have a faulty power adapter.

Oh, I should mention - during this conversation, while my computer was rebooting, the agent says: "While we are waiting, since you are having some trouble with the scanner, perhaps you should consider the HP Extended Coverage Program for $34.95". It takes a great deal of restraint for me to not begin screaming at him. I try to explain politely why I'd be insulted and upset by this. He replies by saying, "Uh? I'm not trying to sell you anything…I'm just giving you some pertinent information. Why would you think I was trying to sell you something?". I don't quite know what to say to this.

June 3rd

The new power adapter arrives. The problem persists. I send HP an email indicating that my patience had run out, I have spent more time on the problem then it was worth in the first place. I ask them to please tell me what I need to do to clear my VISA card out of the system (remember that the agent had instructed me NOT to return it). The email reply I receive makes little sense:

Taylor, HP honors its warranty and as you have mentioned that you have not received a promised call back I assure you that I would personally take up the case to my supervisor.

Taylor, it would take about 48 hours to take your case to our supervisor however I assure you that I would get back to you after thoroughly looking into all the previous interactions.

Please accept my apologies for the inconvenience caused.

I want to be sure the troubleshooting steps I provided resolve the issue. If the issue continues, please reply to this message with the results. We will be glad to assist you further.

What? Is he going to refer it to his supervisor or not? Why does he need to? What "troubleshooting steps" is he talking about? My last email indicated that the problem persisted, why would he ask "If the issue continues. . ."?

June 8th

I receive a phone call from HP tech support. The agent starts asking me questions like "So, you're having some trouble with the scanner?" and "Is this a problem when scanning single images, or multiple images?" I finally interrupt him and say that that all I need to know is how to resolve the situation so that my VISA card will not be charged. He says I can return either scanner, and that will be all that was necessary. He then starts saying something about "for your trouble, we can give you some software". I say thanks but no thanks, and hang up.

Given the other things going on in my life, I do not get around to preparing the scanner for return until this evening, June 11th. I will hand it over to FedEx tomorrow morning. Then I log in to my VISA account page, and notice a charge from HP RETURN REPAIR 8003255372 GA for $179.53.

Well, that's it, I've absolutely had it. I'm writing my VISA company and contesting the charge, sending the original scanner back tomorrow, donating the replacement to charity, buying an Epson, and seriously considering replacing my HP printer with an Epson or Canon simply so that I never have to buy any HP replacement cartridges ever again. The HP Technical Support department have not only utterly failed, but it has taken them nearly two months to do it, and wasted hours of my time.

June

Sunday, June 11 2006
19:23

Been searching for condos recently. Spending time looking at listings online, then checking out the promising places in person. Have to suck it up and just accept the exorbitant costs these days (I think houses are even more overpriced), and compare things as they are. A few nice places found so far but with unfortunate problems – mostly traffic noise. There are a number of new construction projects in town right now in varying stages of completion. Some are completely sold out, most are at least 80% sold.

I'm finding myself more attracted to light, open spaces – lofts, for instance. Not sure if I can really get what I want out of one, but places w/ the same square footage that are divided into rooms are just a bunch of little boxes for the most part. I've seen some exceptions – eg, one fully enclosed bedroom plus one "open" bedroom, or something like that.

The HP scanner / tech support saga is nearly over. I gave up and told them to screw it, I've spent more time than it's worth on it. This is after one replacement scanner bed, one replacement power adapter, and waiting a total of about 4 weeks for them to call me. It took about 2.5 months total, to get absolutely nowhere. Sometime I will type up a timeline and some lovely quotes from the tech support folks (for example: while waiting for my computer to reboot, "While we are waiting, since you are having some problems with your scanner, perhaps you should consider the HP Extended Warranty service. It is $34.95 ... ").