"Call them?"

Many retailers (including card services) make it functionally impossible to call them.

RFT!!!
Dave Kelsen
--
When the only tool you have is a claw hammer every problem starts to look like the back of someone's skull.

Food is cheaper, cars are cheaper, clothes are cheaper. vacations are cheaper. The jury is out on housing - today's houses are much bigger than they used to be.

As a percentage of income (the best way to discuss actual costs vs. non-representative numbers), food is not cheaper than nearly every prior (non-wartime) period. It is in fact more expensive. This is also universally and unequivocally true for automobiles and homes; they take a larger percentage of income than they did at any time since before I started working in 1971. Clothing is (or has been) cheaper, but it is also cheaper. A pair of jeans that were useable for 5 or more years in my younger days are so thin and cheap that 5 years would be a complete joke. Today's houses are bigger than those of 50 years ago, but even on a per square foot basis, they cost more to build and more to buy. You appear to be strangely out of touch with reality, and with how stuff (like economics) works.

RFT!!!
Dave Kelsen
--
"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - booze in one hand - cigar in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming, 'HOLY FUCK, what a ride!'"

ÃoeIÃ(TM)m sorry you are having this problem have you rebooted your wifeà ÃoeIÃ(TM)m calling about cracked glass on a phone screen, how will rebooting help? æand my wife?à (Sound of pages flipping frantically) ÃoeYes, rebootingà ÃoeFor cracked glass?à (All right, I thought a punchline that could tie it all together would occur to me, but noæ)

This is completely fucking useless typing.

RFT!!!
Dave Kelsen
--
Incompetence: when you earnestly believe you can make up for a lack of skill by doubling your effort, there's no end to what you can't do.

I have used Amazon extensively (although of course not exclusively) since 2008. I have not, as far as I can recall, received an item from an order that differed from what I ordered. I have not always been satisfied with what I have ordered, but it's pretty rare that I make a return. Last year I decided to build my last computer setup (I have emphysema). I ordered a decent office chair that I returned, as it was missing a part. In September, I ordered $2542 worth of computer parts. I did have to exchange a motherboard (Asus Rog Strix X670-E), but ordered a replacement even before I got a refund for the first one. After that replacement board came, everything worked fine. I have a very long history of ordering things from Amazon, essentially because it is very convenient for me. I do try to order things in groups to reduce trips.

I have never been screwed over by Amazon. I have gotten some cheap shit from them, but it was what I ordered, so, that's on me.

I believe your experience as well, but it is worth pointing out that your experience is not universal.


RFT!!!
Dave Kelsen
--
"My mom is convinced I have narcissistic personality disorder, but I'm pretty sure I'm too awesome to have that." -- Adrienne Airhart

"Amazon is the dominate* player. And since nobody above them (the government? IDK) is going to solve this problem for the industry, we're looking at what Amazon does to figure out how this is going to play out overall."

* dominant

dominate is a verb.

As much as we all hate telecom companies, the government would likely be worse. The VA runs a hospital system for veterans. It's so badly run that many veterans skip VA clinics and hospitals, and choose to pay for insurance so they can go to commercially-run hospitals, as bad as they are. We already have a nationalized postal system. Would you say that USPS is an example of a well-oiled machine? Hardly. Good luck getting customer service during lunchtime. Nope, sorry, the workers had to go on break, just as the foot traffic reaches its peak.

I use the best hospital I have ever been in, in Fargo, ND. I have lived a lot of places. The VA hospital here outshines every other hospital I have ever seen.

As for USPS, if they were not required to meet the contrived requirements for future pensions, they'd do a pretty good job everywhere. The idea of forcing them to fail (and turn the process over to vultures) was a good one (for the vultures), but it has so far not succeeded.


RFT!!!
Dave Kelsen
--
I'm not saying you're stupid. I'm just pointing out you have very bad luck when it comes to thinking.

regrettably, many people seem to think that Magic keeps the plane in the air, not the engines pushing it through the air and the wings providing lift. I have had to explain to more than one college graduate that more weight = more gas needed for your airplane

It isn't magic. It is bloodsucking. The only reason this is a problem is because the blood and cocksucking airlines have compressed the seat space to jam more people (that's more weight) into the same space. Tall people cannot ride without being contorted, and big people are having the same problem. Meanwhile, the airlines are bringing in record revenue, and fat profits. I wouldn't have a problem with that if they also reduced cost and increased comfort in good times, but that will never happen.

RFT!!!
Dave Kelsen
--
Long ago, my dad warned me that it's a dog-eat-dog world. Well, years of experience have led me to believe that it's just the opposite.

The very best way to prevent that is to not let it be collected in the first place. Sigh. We all know that'll never happen.

RFT!!!
Dave Kelsen
--
I've asked a lot of people what LGBTQ stands for, but no one has given me a straight answer.

I will literally eat my motherfucking hat if those deceptive sacks of shit *lower* their prices during slow times. That won't happen, which means it would be a lot more informative if they said they were going to *increase* their prices during peak times. The mealy-mouthed term *adjust* is just what to expect from any and all of them.

RFT!!!
Dave Kelsen
--
Let's face it, the idea of a god sending himself to sacrifice himself to save us from himself is a bit much for any sane, reasonable person to accept.

How about shooting the motherfuckers? I would have been willing to stay up a night or two back in the day, and that was before you could manufacture a gun with no way to identify it.

Just a thought.

RFT!!!
Dave Kelsen
-- When you're used to privilege, equality feels like oppression. Always applies.

What? How the fuck do you propose to "pull people out of poverty", if not by maintaining or improving productivity?

RFT!!!
Dave Kelsen
--
"Nothing makes a man angrier than his own probably unacknowledged suspicion that heâ(TM)s actually in the wrong." -- Paul Krugman

For some time (before GUIs), usenet was the internet.

Back in the day, I ran a Fidonet node, just because I could. It was bit more of a BBS type communication network; I think I had to pay some small amount monthly fee to do so.


RFT!!!
Dave Kelsen
--
Attila the Nun, a simple girl pledged to a life of violence.

I just read in another slashdot article that India has decided to quit teaching science; reckon how that's gonna work out?

RFT!!!
Dave Kelsen
--
Atilla the Nun: A simple girl pledged to a life of violence.

Thing is, I don't USE biometrics, etc.
I use passwords/userIDs on all my devices, etc.
They don't take into account that not everyone uses a biometric?


Yes, of course they take it into account. It's just that they're Google, and they don't give a fuck.


RFT!!!
Dave Kelsen
--
"Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong." -- Oscar Wilde

"If 'everybody knows' such-and-such, then it ainâ(TM)t so, by at least ten thousand to one." -- Robert Heinlein