Idiotic Competition ... All Welcome !

[Ash]

My rant for the day on the most annoying and idiotic penny pinching sales gimmick .... can you beat it?

The other day my son's laptop stopped accessing the Internet. After much head banging we worked out that it was a faulty PCMCIA Wi-Fi card and so I returned home and had a look around the Internet and found a new PCMCIA card and ordered it with delivery direct to my son's house. It arrived today and my son isn't amused. The instructions (not the manual) which came with the PCMCIA card detailed where on the Internet you could download the driver and manual in order to get the PCMCIA card working. HELLO ... the reason we bought the card was so he could access the Internet ... WTF is the point of selling a new product that you can't use until someone else downloads the driver software for you? I know it saves a few pennies by not including the driver with the card but isn't this just taking the P? Now I'll have to download the driver and make another journey to get my son's laptop up and running .. I don't mind helping my son but it's just the inconvenience of not getting 'everything' you've paid for.

I know that some cards, plug in and play etc now carry their own software/drivers but really ... saving a few pennies on not including the driver ... is it just me or is the world going mad?

Can anyone beat this modern day 'customer care' sales gimmick?

Ash Don't give up. Moses was once a basket case!

[PeterC]

Don't make the journey - e-mail it to him! ;->

[Ash]

You'll got the Managing Directors job with that one .... :o(

[Ron O'Brien]

I bought a video recorder way back in the early 1990's, the instruction for that were on a video tape supplied...although to be fair, hidden amongst the warranty card, 14 language declaration that the VCR is safe to use and a couple of sheets of peel-off sales promotion stickers that was inside the box, there was a small A5 sheet of paper that said something along the lines of plug the aerial wire in, connect SCART to TV and switch VCR on it will automatically configure and on inserting the instruction video it will automatically play.

What make of PCMCIA card was this? It sounds to me like you may have purchased a reconditioned one, like the Netgear router I once bought - I didn't read the small print that said it was a recon and that I would have to access the insternet to get the drivers, although after a quick phonecall they did post a CD to me

Ron

[Bob Minchin]

Strikes me that your son must have a very minimal set up if he can't plug the computer into the router with a cable. I certainly would not like to have a router/modem where I needed to rely on the wireless link to configure it. Setting passwords could be a nightmare! Whilst the vendor might deserve some criticism for not offering an alternative source for the driver, he could reasonably expect a wired connection to the interweb to be available.

Bob

[Ash]

Netgear

[Mentalguy2k8]

Ah well, look on the bright side, it probably won't work anyway LOL

They probably assume that the Windows OS will install its own generic drivers to get it working so that you can then connect and download the official drivers/software for it.

[Ash]

He shares the house with his girlfriend and another couple and the main computer is locked in his friends bedroom along with the router. His friend, unfortunately, has gone away for an extended holiday over the Easter period and so he can only access the route by Wi-Fi. Passwords aren't a problem because it's not password protected ... none of them use the Internet for banking, buying, etc so they decided to make their Internet available to anyone who wants to surf ... and as they rent a few rooms to friends it becomes a hand little resource.

Ash

[Ash]

Actually once I'd downloaded the driver and went around to my son's house and installed it it worked first time and skips along. As for how long who knows?

We had thought about this but the leaflet with instructions on how to download the driver clearly stated that the driver needed to be loaded before plugging the PCMCIA card in.

I don't mind paying extra if it means getting everything you need to get up and running but I do mind when it's not clearly stated that you'll need to have an alternative method of accessing the Internet in order to download the driver. I'd have gladly paid a £1 or so more if it meant getting everything delivered with the card.

Ash

[Mentalguy2k8]

It's still good practise to secure the network and give out the password only to those who live there. 6 housemates won't be impressed when someone down the road maxes out the connection bandwidth with P2P or downloads something illegal and they all get their laptops siezed by the Police....

[Mentalguy2k8]

Instructions, Schminstructions!

Most people don't even read them, they just plug it in and see what happens LOL

[Ash]

Yup ... tried to explain but they know everything ... and when things go wrong he comes running home to Mum and Dad .

[Mentalguy2k8]

Ah yes, not quite as independent as they like to think.... Still, he's back online so you might get an e-mail from him every few years :)

[Ash]

Lives in his own house but still comes around with his washing .... expects a full cooked breakfast .... and then disappears as soon as his managed to wangle some beer tokens out us. I wonder sometimes if cuckoos really ever leave the nest?

[John Whitworth]

:-)

My dad (now retired) worked on the Liverpool Street line when I was at uni. That was the early nineties, and because he had been there before privatisation, I got the staff privilege pass. I used to make regular trips back from Hull to Southend with humungous cases of dirty washing! :-)

JW

[Ron O'Brien]

In that case you bought a reconditioned one - as I once did, was it a bloke on Ebay based in Scotland by any chance? Who doesn't make it very clear that you are buying a recon job, and to obtain the drivers you are directed to a link on his own website if I remember rightly.

Ron

[Jim.GM4DHJ ......]

the DIGITAL world IS mad .....