Wall Street Journal – Final South Texas delivery resolution

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I just got an email from the the Senior Manager of Customer Care at The Wall Street Journal this morning.

The solution to that delivery problem I’ve been having?

“Dear Subscriber,

I am writing to inform you about changes in our production and delivery operations that will impact the delivery of your Journal subscription.

At Dow Jones and Company, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, we work very hard to provide our customers with the highest quality delivery service.  However, recent changes in transportation logistics have made it impossible to continue delivering your Monday – Saturday Journal on the day of publication.  Effective for the issue date of June 9, 2011, your weekday Journal subscription will be delivered by carrier or by the United States Postal Service, as it is today, but one day after publication date. ”

Well, shit.

Getting the newspaper in the mail? And assuming they mail it immediately on the day of production, that’s still going to take 3 or 4 days after the publication date to get here.

I wanted the newspaper on the same day it was printed. That’s why I skipped out on the Washington Post and the New York Times postal mail delivery and chose The Wall Street Journal home delivery. After all, old news is… well, old news.

The email also had a link to a 30 day subscription to WSJ online, but if I wanted that format, I would’ve signed up for it on my Kindle.

So that’s the end of it. The only “real” newspaper’s delivery in deeeep south Texas is now kaput.

The fact I can’t get a real newspaper delivered every day to my home address tells me three things…

#1: Transportation logistics? That’s the reason the newspaper quit this area? There’s no internet-and-print option to a local newspaper printer? They’re still delivering newspapers on trucks? I’m going to feel pretty rotten if I was the only reason some poor semi truck driver had to come all the way down to the Texas valley!

Which brings me to…

#2: There’s a wide open market down here for a company that will print and deliver “real” newspapers. The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The LA Times and (shudder) USA TODAY are newspapers I’ve read before that are completely unavailable down here in the Texas valley. The local rag is a sad joke, and maybe a “city hub” newspaper printer could sell and distribute a bundle of the top 5 papers to the local schools, libraries, bookstores, etc.

#3: I may need to move since no major newspaper delivers to the area I live in. That’s a pretty big “WARNING! DANGER WILL ROBINSON!” sign right there.

Seriously, thanks for trying Wall Street Journal. It was great while it lasted. I’ll get your print edition again. Someday.

No Wall Street Journal for 26 consecutive issues!

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Just a quick status update on the original Wall Street Journal delivery article. As of May 2nd, I haven’t received one single newspaper. That’s 26 consecutive Wall Street Journals I’ve missed because of “production issues”. (I get M-Sat only. Sundays were never an option and there was no Memorial Day delivery.)

Every damn time I call customer service I am told I will be credited the issue, and the missed issue will be delivered with tomorrow’s paper. The “urgent matter” is also escalated to the regional distributor for kicks.

I’m tired of paying for something I haven’t received. I’ll keep posting these updates going until this mess is resolved.

Texas valley subscribers beware! Delivery of the Wall Street Journal is not reliable!

TIL Verizon sets up 4G LTE passwords the old school way

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Yesterday I got a Verizon 4G LTE mobile hotspot, and so far it has totally smoked the Sprint and AT&T devices I used before.

It’s an idiot proof device with one power button. Turn it on, wait for the blinky light to go solid, and you’re online. Easy! It is also very fast. Much faster than Sprint and AT&T’s service down here!

So today I went to verizon.com site and was setting up an account to keep track of my data usage. After I keyed in the mobile hotspot’s phone number, the site said it was going to send a text message to my device with a temporary login password.

Sending a text message to a mobile hotspot? A device with no LCD monitor? Wait, what?

An email that appeared as soon as I hit SUBMIT confirmed that “A temporary password from Verizon Wireless has been sent to your cell phone with number XXXX”.

Just to be sure I wasn’t missing anything, I logged in to my mobile hotspot directly and checked the logs and under every sub-menu. Nothing.

I called Verizon tech support and they said sending a temporary password to my device wasn’t possible since it was so new. However they would send me a password… through postal mail… so I could complete my setup.

Um… how about emailing it to me? SMS it to the primary phone number? Authenticate my ownership through the device’s MAC address? Confirm the sim card number and device ID over the phone and issue me a new password right there and then?

The technical support was very professional, answered my bandwidth question, and answered the phone fast, so I have no complaints at all about them. As a matter of fact, Verizon has been a five star experience so far, and I don’t rate much of anything five stars. But this old school throwback has me slightly surprised.

No Wall Street Journal for 22 days. Major fail continues.

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Just a quick status update on the original Wall Street Journal delivery article. As of May 2nd, I haven’t received one single newspaper. That’s 22 Wall Street Journals I’ve missed because of “production issues”. (I get M-Sat only. Sundays were never an option.)

I’m tired of paying for something I haven’t received. I’ll keep the updates going until this mess is resolved.

Texas valley subscribers beware! Delivery of the Wall Street Journal is not reliable!

No Wall Street Journal for 21 days. Major fail continues.

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Just a quick status update on the original Wall Street Journal delivery article. As of May 2nd, I haven’t received one single newspaper. That’s 21 Wall Street Journals I’ve missed because of “production issues”. (I get M-Sat only. Sundays were never an option.)

Today I was actually told something different! That my account was in “severe” status. Wow. Maybe if I keep it up I’ll get to “critical” and then maybe “terminal”!

I’m tired of paying for something I haven’t received. I’ll keep the updates going until this mess is resolved.

Texas valley subscribers beware! Delivery of the Wall Street Journal is not reliable!

No more RT Tuesdays!

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I’ve decided to stop re-tweeting everything on Thursdays. It’s taking up too much blog space where “real” articles should go, and it’s easy enough to follow me on twitter.

No Wall Street Journal for 20 days? Major fail.

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I was totally geeked out when I got my subscription to the Wall Street Journal started back in August. I enjoyed the daily paper with my morning coffee and was hoping this was the start of getting other “big hitters” like the New York Times and the Washington Post down here in the Texas valley as well.

What’s that guy in the Simpsons always say? Not Homer, but the bully kid… oh yeah! “HA-HA!!!”

As of May 2nd, I haven’t received one single newspaper. That’s 20 Wall Street Journals I’ve missed because of “production issues”. (I get M-Sat only. Sundays were never an option.)

Every day I call it in, file it online, and send a direct email to Wall Street Journal customer service. I’m using three different venues in the vain hope one of those departments can actually do something about it.

Every single day, the 1-800 customer service number had the same old excuse. I can quote verbatim what I’m always told…

“Hello Mr Eddington. It seems there was a production problem in your area. We will escalate this to the regional distributor in your area and urgent copy the regional manager. We will also credit your account for the missed issue. Tomorrow you will get a copy of today’s paper with the most recent edition. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

At this rate, they’re going to need a dump truck to deliver all the back issues they owe me.

The email reply is about the same.

“Thank you for subscribing to The Wall Street Journal. We are writing to follow-up on your recent complaint regarding your Journal newspaper delivery. We would like to again apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced. There is no need to respond if the issue has been resolved and you are pleased with the way your concerns were addressed.”

The only links in the email are to the 1-800 number I listed above or to the same address that just sent me the auto-response.

Fun.

I’m not sure if the regional distributor has a sudden case of “don’t give a damn-itis”, if the Wall Street Journal drew a line across Texas and said “nothing below that line gets a newspaper anymore!”, or if there’s just not enough material after the local crap gets printed for a real newspaper to get run on.

I’m tired of paying for something I haven’t received. Fortunately, I have a blog to post my rants on. Hmmm…. what should I end with? Ah! How about…

Texas valley subscribers beware! The Wall Street Journal delivery isn’t reliable!

Let’s see what happens form here.

Monday Morning Music : 05/23/11

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Booya! Let’s move this!

Cidinho & Doca – Rap Das Armas (Parapapapa)



Robert Randolph –  Ain’t Nothing Wrong With That



…and finally, some classic oooolld school Kon Kan – I Beg Your Pardon



Wait, I have a blog? No way!

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Oooohhhh yeah. It was one of those months. (Month and a half actually!) Big, bad, fast, relentless, ugly, and lots of sharp teeth.

I did manage to twitter almost daily, so I didn’t totally vanish off the ‘net.

Anyhow, now that things have calmed down I’m going to see if I can get this site moving again.

And with that….

I like HP’s original 600 series over the “new” 610 series

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It has been another bonkers week. I’ve been swamped, running ragged, and everything needed to be done yesterday, but I have a micro-moment to post a quick observation on HP’s latest product update.

Initially, HP offered a 600-1000 series touchscreen PC that was going over very very well at most locations I work at. “Absolutely awesome” would be the best way to sum up the HP 600-1000 series model XL731AV#ABA.

Progress being progress, HP recently updated the 600 line to the 610 series.

The only thing they definitely got “right” with the 610 update is that the PC now lays flat so it’s semi-level with your desk. You can type and sketch on the screen like a ginormous keyboard, then rotate it back up to be in “monitor mode”.

That’s the end of the happy dance.

Somebody at HP decided to change so many features in the “new and improved” 610 XT models, this is really a different-feeling machine.

Here’s a quick rundown of what’s significantly changed in the “new and improved” HP touchscreen 610 series…

  • The bottom stand of the 610 gets SCRATCHED with EVERY adjustment! (Did nobody test swivel this thing a few times?)



    • HP610ScrewUp01


  • There is no “tensioner” on the swing arm. You don’t like how hard it is to level the 610 PC? Tough.


  • The 610 frame feels like cheap plastic. Compare the 610 matte plastic frame (top) to the 600 high-gloss frame (bottom). The high-gloss looks and feels nicer. Having said that, I completely understand why they switched to matte. The high-gloss frame was a perfect-copy-of-your-fingerprint magnet, and since the 610 will be laying flat, there had to be a change to keep it semi-clean. Unfortunately, the new matte frame still holds on to smudges.



    • HP610ScrewUp02


    HP610ScrewUp03


  • RCA connections are no longer an option on the 610!! On the 610 order page, you can specify that you want HDMI & Composite inputs, but when the 610 arrives, you will only get HDMI ports! The HP order fulfillment sales department in India finally transferred me to HP stateside who confirmed that even though the order says HDMI & COMPOSITE INPUTS, you don’t get the RCA connections anymore because there’s a typo on their website! Oh, and for the record, I was the first to find that typo, thank you! (600 series inputs photo next and current screenshot of HP config page with composite input option follows)



    • HP610ScrewUp06


    HP610ScrewUp07


  • No “desk light” on the 610! The little three power “night light” under the entire bar of the 600 series pointed at the keyboard was amazingly awesome for the night-owls who love to work in the dark with minimal light. This took some major “cool” points off the 610. (600 series “night light” switch photo below)



    • HP610ScrewUp05


  • No “dummy” CD/DVD activity light on the 610 or any manual menu override like the 600 had. (600 series photo below)



HP610ScrewUp04



HP probably saved some money with these “updates”, but the 9 HP touchscreens that initially came in are “it” for where I work for now. Nobody liked the new models’ look and feel, and the missing RCA connections were a deal killer for five locations that still use VHS tapes and wanted an all-in-one training hotspot for their employees.

Different isn’t bad. Real-world use and a little bit of time with the 610s will tell if these new HPs are good enough to replace the 600 series.