Janice's dashboard

He said it's an iPhone, which of course has no settings :)

How are you exporting them when you upload to flickr, etc?

Thank you! That's a lifesaver. – Janice, on July 01, 2008 22:41

I had the exact same experience with DirectTV. I don't mind paying for service or labor when I'm getting something of value, but when I'm paying a company over a thousand dollars a year I'd hope they'd invest a little something in keeping my service working. Making me pay for a problem with THEIR equipment makes me feel nickle and dimed. I have no good reason to not switch to another provider that can offer me even a modest savings now. If they just showed a tiny bit of concern for retaining me as a customer they'd could keep me from bailing, and ultimately keep making $1200 a year. I'm itching to leave now (though I'd prefer to be romanced back).

So shortsighted of this company.

Thanks so much for this! I was having the same problem and this helps me a ton.

Turn off your device, unplug it from the wall, plug it back in and turn it back on. Sometimes it can take up to 15 minutes for the data to reset but you should be in good shape then :)

If you experience further problems with the guide data, call Comcast and they'll assist you.

the Prius has one of the highest customer Satisfaction ratings here in the States. People who drive them swear by them. The two complaints I hear are that they're sometimes hard to get, and the fuel savings isn't always as significant as expected (this has much to do with style of driving, of course). Overall, everyone I've talked to says it's hands down the best of the hybrids.

There are several things that could be causing this hiccup. I assume you've double-checked to make sure the SSID is correct, and that the type of security (WEP vs. WPA) matches the one used by your router?

You could try turning off the security on your router and see if it connects to this open network. This would imply the problem has to do with your security settings.

Hi Dean,
thanks for the detailed and personal response. I figured that was the case with the Web forms. Spam is always a concern. Still, it's easy as companies to replace real human interaction with "well-engineered" systems, particularly in customer service. The fact that you're here talking with us openly is a powerful antidote to the brutal efficiency of stock answers.

It's even worse that that, really. The process of just trying to email the company is maddening. They require customers to select from a small number of question types (none of which is "shipping" or "coupons" by the way) and give no way to email if the question falls out of these approved types. Furthermore, inside each version of the email form they tightly control your message content (e.g. "select a question"), effectively removing the ability to send a unique message. The whole thing feels engineered to annihilate genuine interaction between Snapfish and its customers. And that is incredibly off-putting for real people looking for a simple answer from a live person on the inside.

This message from T-Mobile is shocking, but perhaps not surprising given the reputation of telecoms for sleazy business practices. This is the behavior of a monopolist--and as the #4 telecom provider T-Mobile really can't afford to position itself as the company least concerned with customer satisfaction. Come on, T-Mobile, step up and explain yourself! Are you really going to degrade yourself by picking on a startup with passionate users?

Microsoft's Xbox 360 is weathering an incessant battery of bad PR due to its high failure rate. Their initial policy was to ignore the problem (always a bad move!). Gizmodo reports that retailers estimate Xbox 360 failure rates could be as high as thirty percent. Private surveys from game fansites find even higher failure rates, climbing as high as sixty percent! As customer dissatisfaction reached embarrassing levels, Microsoft finally announced in July that there was indeed a widespread problem with their machine.

Here's a rundown of the major problems that can kill your machine:

• Red Ring of Death


• Game discs that get scratched by the console


• Overheating consoles


• Update incompatibility


• 3D glitching

But nothing captures the scale of the problem like reading about the true horror stories out there. For instance:

• One Xbox devotee went through a whopping seven consoles before finally giving up.


• A single UK repair center has been flooded with thousands of faulty Xbox 360's every day.


• This guy had to deal with dozens of unhelpful outsourced tech support reps.


• This poor game journalist waited six weeks for his refurbbed Xbox.


• One poor sap's Xbox actually exploded, and this was one of eleven that he burned through. Eleven!

Gamestop has now stopped offering extended warrantees on all Xbox 360 consoles. This is a telling sign. After all, if a game retail giant doesn't trust the Xbox's quality, why should I? I was actually considering an Xbox purchase a few months ago but this was enough to scare me away.

Fortunately, Microsoft is no stranger to poor product performance (Blue Screen of Death anyone?) and has extended the Xbox 360's warranty to a full 3 years. Microsoft has also beefed up its service policy. If you experience problems with your Xbox, you will most likely get it repaired or replaced within a month or two. But then, you'll probably get a refurbbed unit that is almost as likely to conk out.

Microsoft still refuses to inform the public as to the root causes of these varying malfunctions. In mass failures like these, honesty is always the best policy. Consumers are right to be wary of such high failure rates, especially when their causes remain shrouded in speculation. What's the deal, Microsoft? When rumors are flying around that more than half of Xbox's are bricks, don't you think that's a good time for full disclosure?

Contrast this behavior with Nintendo's handling of the Wii Remote strap issue. They immediately warned consumers of the flaw and subsequently changed production to provide for thicker straps and sent out free new and improved straps to all users. If that weren't enough, they released a slip cover to provide better "grip and cushioning". That's customer service. Nintendo didn't have to wait for lawsuits or even grumbling in the blogosphere. "We screwed up, here's what went wrong, and here's how we're going to fix it."

Microsoft is now manufacturing all Xbox 360s with an updated "Falcon" chip. Yet, even these new and improved models are suffering from a similar ring of death, this time with Christmas cheer. Just in time for the holidays! A buddy of mine told me recently that every single Xbox 360 owner he knew had experienced technical problems of some sort with his/her console. "The red ring of death is the Xbox's puberty," he said. "They all have to go through it." Maybe so, but not on my dime.

The way I see it, such high failure rates, coupled with Microsoft's consistent inability to address the issue head-on make them the Firestone of videogames. Those who would prefer to avoid the hassle are better off waiting until Microsoft releases an updated version of the hardware (that actually fixes the problem) or simply buy a Wii instead.

PS: In the middle of writing this post, my friend told me that his Xbox had bitten the dust. He was almost in tears.