Unruly Behavior

Ok, I posted some funny e-mails from my Dell rep, even told him to stop e-mailing. He hasn't learned, but he did send this funny e-mail about Christmas shopping and what a rip-off Dell products are at Best Buy. No crap, e-mail from a Dell rep, cutting down their new business and distribution partner.

Message from your AE at Dell (important please read)

alphonso_quesada@dell.com
sent: wed 12/3/2008 2:15 PM

Hello,

I wanted to follow up with you for your Holliday shopping. Your account is in the corporate division therefore you get cost on everything that is electronic and computer accessories and TV etc. I can tell you right now that if you are buying from best buy or any other retailers you are paying too much. I wanted to reach out to you and see what you are looking at and I will be able to get you a better price. As your AE at Dell I want to look out for you and let you know that I have over 200k products that you probably have no idea we sell. Here is a big example of what I am talking about;

Best Buy-

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&id=pcat17071&type=page&st=KDL40XBR6&sc=Global&cp=1&nrp=15&sp=&qp=&list=n&iht=y&usc=All+Categories&ks=960

price- 2,299.99 regular

their sale price is 1,999.00

Dell-

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Video_Conferencing/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&sku=A2018549

price- 2,299.99

online sale price- 1,999.00

your price 1,400.00 saved 600.00 dollars

Use this Link to look at what we offer and email me for quotes. Be more than welcome to shop my price. Just email me the part numbers you are looking to make it easier to quote you. I have to discount the product manually and send you a quote. Once again your price bracket is lower than consumers so you will always get a better price.
Follow this link ;

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/default.aspx?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd&~ck=mn

Alphonso Quesada
Senior Account Executive
RSR AcquisitionDell, Inc.
toll free number- 1800-901-3355 ext- 946-1562
Direct Line-# 512-946-1562
Fax: Fax: 512.283.9992
ATTN: Alphonso Quesada

Support Team;

Mason Lam
Software and Peripherals - Acquisition Account ManagerBusiness Sales DivisionDell, Inc.
1-800-901-3355
direct dial (512-946-0929)
Fax: (512-946-0929
Mason_lam@dell.com

I want to earn your business and shouldn't be beat on price. Call me today for networking equipment, MSOL Volume Licensing, phone systems, Tape Back-ups, and Power Products--as well as all other peripherals & upgrades!

Labels: best buy, dell, stupid marketing

Ok, like I've said, we were in Las Vegas last weekend. I get regular mailings from They Might Be Giants, and after I got my trip set, we got a newsletter saying they would be playing at Area 108's The Gathering, along with The Bravery, Plain White T's, Shiny Toy Guns and Silversun Pickups.

The concert was originally at the Orleans Arena, and we secured great front row tickets for one of the center sections. Just before the trip, we got an e-mail that the concert had been moved to the Joint, at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.

Sounded cool, we love the Hard Rock, it is a pain in the ass to get to, so we usually don't go there without a reason, now we have a reason this trip.

So, on with the review:

Venue - The Joint - F - I was disapointed to find out that this was not the concert hall that you see on the HRC live music specials. This is realy just a large room with four tiers of floor and some handrails. There was a balcony with seats, but you had to be a VIP to get up there. Typical Vegas High Roller shit. We ordered two drinks from one of the bars, it was $18 for two well drinks. WTF? I know it is a tourist trap, vacation hot spot, but come on, $9 for well drinks?



It was also apparent to me from the process entering the venue, to trying to go to the john durnig one of the breaks, that the Hard Rock Hotel was in no way properly prepared for the deluge of people that came to this show. The people working security and crowd control were impolite, rude and relatively unhelpful.

First Band - Plain White T's - B- - Ok, we had never heard of this band, but we decided to go with an open mind for all the bands with which we were not familiar. As far as sound goes, I think that the band's raodies didn't understand the difference between a somewhat large arena, and a small room. The instruments were overamplified and too loud, somewhat distorted. Conversely, the vocals were too low and washed out by the overamplified instruments. We liked the band, their songs were good, but didn't really stand out for us in any particular fashion or style.



Second Band - Shiny Toy Guns - A+ - Again, another band that we were not familiar with, but we went in to see what we might find good this night. This band suffered from the same disproportionate amplification problems of the first band. But we really liked this band, in fact, I'm listening to thier album, "We Are Pilots" right now as I write this review. This band uses dual lead singers, one male, the other female, and the band also takes turns playing different instruments. The female lead reminded me of Terri Nunn from the band Berlin in the early 80s. The music is great, I especailly liked the second song of the set, "Le Disko". I bought their CD, and I'm looking forward to them doing some more albums.



Third Band - Silversun Pickups - F freaking Minus - Again, another new band. Again, the same amplification problems. But with a bonus, the lead singer screamed his way through the first song, sounding like Donald Duck. To top that off, the band seemed more focused on feedback than actually playing their instruments in some musical fashion. To top it all off, this band does not have any real maturity as songwriters, and their 'songs' go on for 10 minutes or longer and just sound progressively worse. This is absolutely the worst band I have ever seen live. I've made it a point to memorize their name, so that if I hear a song of theirs is upcoming on the radio I will know to change the channel.



Fourth Band - They Might Be Giants - A+ - Ok, this is the meat and potatoes, what we came to see. First, the amplification was correct, instruments sounded right, were not overwhelming, and the vocals were loud and clear. This is part of a warm up album for TMBG's soon to be released album "The Else". They led of with "Not the boss of me", and proceeded to play a ton of old favorites, then some of the stuff off the new album, and all too soon it was over.





Fifth Band - The Bravery - No Grade - By the time TMBG was done it was 11 PM Vegas time, 1 AM home time. We were dead tired and had been up for about 19 hours. We had not had dinner yet, and had been in the venue for about 5 hours. So we left. We had seen the Bravery in 2005 when they opened for Depeche Mode, and they were an enjoyable band then. But ot memorable enough to stay for another hour plus to see this band.

We had a great time, found one new band to enjoy, and got overcharged for weak drinks. All in all a great evening. We ended up eating pizza slices on the strip at the food court between Harrah's and Casino Royale. Don't eat there.

Labels: best buy, review, travel, vacation, vegas

Ok, yesterday online I found this Best Buy Clearance Coupon.

It just so happens that my Home Theater amplifer went belly up on Tuesday, and I was in the market for a new amplifer.

Ok, so off I go to Best Buy. I find a Yamaha 5990 Open Box special for $849.99, a good price, minus 20% plus 8.25% for Tax works out to $649.49, a really great deal.

So I check with the sales guy, we find an acceptable remote control and I go to check out.

The coupon does not work. Tells me they system has changed how it works, and I will get a 20% Gift Card instead. So I had him call the manager, the manager says that they cannot honor their coupon.

Bastards.

I'm not buying a freaking $200+ gift card from you lying asses today. I left.

Here is a screen print, from today, of the coupon, still online. Going to call their 800 customer support # and see what I can find out about this attempted rip-off.



Called 1-888-237-8289, got connected to a "Specialist", Scott, he decided to put me on hold after I sent him the link above. He came back and was unclear, so I explained to him about how I didn't want to purchase a $170 gift card today, that I wanted the $170 discount that was offered with the coupon.

He had to go talk to a supervisor. He came back and said that Best Buy had changed this program over a month ago. I told him that they should change their web site then, as that is not the offer they are maknig to their customers.

Dumbases, guess I'll go to Tweeter or Fry's after work today.

Update 10-14-2006:

Ran by Tweeter last night after work and picked up a Yamaha RX-V2500 home theater amplifier that they have on close-out for $800 plus tax. A little more than I wanted to spend, but they didn't try to screw me on the deal. Took about 3 hours last night to remove the old Onkyo TX-DS787 amplifeir and put in the new Yamaha.

Now I'm working on programming this thing and getting my Phillips Pronto NG remote reprogrammed to work with the system. Should eat up most of my weekend. Wohoo!

Labels: bad support, best buy, home theater