eBay Annoys Me

Since I'm rocking a projector, I needed an extension cable for my Wii sensor bar. The major retailers don't sell one (I now know why) so I went to ebay based on a recommendation from a coworker. I found a seller with 40k (yes, thousand) positive feedback and purchased one for $10, including shipping. The following is our communication chain, which has taken place over the last 3.5 weeks. Note that I've condensed my emails for the sake of easy reading but can assure you the full versions are much more verbose and polite. His are nearly verbatim so suffice to say, all his responses have been two sentences... tops.

Me: The item is defective, please let me know how I can get a replacement.
Him: Please make sure the cable is fully inserted. Sometimes you have to push it in hard.
Me: I tried again, it didn't work. When I attempted to disconnect it, the end of the cable broke off and stuck in my sensor bar cable.
Him: Sorry to hear that. We can ship a replacement out without you having to return the defective item if you provide your address. If you would like to return it in "brand new condition" we can refund the purchase price.

~At this point I had zero confidence the replacement would work, so I bought a wireless sensor bar from Best Buy.~

Me: I purchased a replacement because I didn't want to wait another week to use my Wii. The item is not in new condition, because it's defective, can I still get a refund?
Me: (3 days later) Please respond to my previous message, I would really appreciate a refund.
Him: Did you return the item to us yet?
Me: Am I required to pay return shipping on a defective item?
Him: The item must be return to us, yes.
Me: I have decided to request a replacement for the item. Please ship it to me at...
Me: (4 days later) Have you shipped the item?
Me: (1 day later) If I do not hear from you within 48 hours I will open a dispute with Paypal.
Him: Waiting on the defective item before the replacement gets shipped.
Me: Your original email stated I could get a replacement without returning the item. I am not paying to return a defective item if I'm not going to get reimbursed. It is the responsibility of the seller to make right without additional cost to the buyer..
Him: After rereading your email, you stated you wanted a refund. Let me know!
Me: I did, until I found out I'd have to pay to return the item. If that's true, I just want the replacement item.
Him: If you would like to return the item in brand new, unused conditions, we can refund the purchase price.

It's like talking to a brick wall. I eventually filed a Paypal complaint and was informed I would have to pay to send the item back. Rather than pay for return shipping, I asked the seller to refund me the difference so we could just part ways and they eventually did. In the end, I paid $6 for a broken item and I really have no recourse other than to leave negative feedback and poke a minuscule pinprick in his feedback rating. He would then retaliate, knocking my currently perfect feedback down to something like 95%.

Now I realize it's not ebay's fault this guy is a tool but I think it speaks to a larger problem. The site has become so infested with large scale vendors that the little guys get the screw job. With increasing regularity, transactions are not person to person and those who sell dozens of items a day don't care to spend the effort on customer service. The site can still be a good source for those hard to find items but it's definitely not as "garage sale" as it used to be and that's a sad thing.

Movie: Iron Man

I should preface this by saying I'm a wee bit of a comic book geek. I don't wait in line to see the movies, I don't dress up as the characters and I haven't read every issue of everything Marvel's published. I do collect Wolverine comics, own and display one share of Marvel stock along side the four #1 issues of X-Men (Vol 2), have two cats named after X-Men and know most of the major story lines. Needless to say, Iron Man is easily my most anticipated movie of the year.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to the follow public service announcement. Note these suggestions are for the maximum enjoyment of those around you and should be adhered to only if you remotely care about other people. When in a theater full of people, especially behind me, you should refrain from saying the following at your normal conversational volume.

1. I like previews. (right when they're starting)
2. Oh that disgusting! (in reference to a finger prick on screen)
3. I didn't know this was a comic book. (when the Marvel logo appears on screen)
4. What just happened? (After a clearly labeled flashback)
5. What's he doing? (When Stark starts to build the first suit)

There were a lot more but you get the point. We now return you to your regular program already in progress.

I liked the movie, despite the seriously inconsiderate woman behind me. I'd read a few reviews, most saying it was one of the better comic book adaptations and I'd tend to agree. The X-Men series is going to be my favorite for the sheer volume of characters and the presence of Wolverine, but Iron Man is a solid second (fourth?) after that.

Where this movie bested many other superhero movies was the way it refrained from wasting our time with tedious back stories. Those of us who care, already know it all and those who don't, just want you to make with the explosions. There were no hour-long explanations about how childhood shaped the man or about the struggle that comes with responsibility to save lives. There was Tony Stark, played impressively well by Robert Downey Jr, and a quick glimpse into his life sweet life before Iron Man.

I've always been partial to Iron Man and they were amazingly true to the story. They updated it for current times but left all the critical pieces in tact. Downey played the role as only he could (worth saying again), Paltrow as Pepper Potts trounces Dunst as Mary Jane Watson and the presence of Terrence Howard as Rhodes lays a nice foundation for War Machine to appear in the sequel. The movie wasn't too campy, had a solid amount of action and while it had it's share of cheesy one-liners, most were not the "only a 12 y/o would find this funny" variety. I wouldn't have minded more battle scenes but just seeing how Iron Man would work in real life was pretty freakin' cool. I definitely recommend it... but like I said, I'm kinda biased.

Oh and if you go see it, stay until the credits are over.

P.S. - Happy Mother's Day Mom (and all the other mothers out there)

Photos for Anytime Fitness

A guy I used to work with asked me to do some promotional work for his gym. Never one to turn down an opportunity to shoot, regardless of subject, I agreed. I've taken the last few days to post-process and I'm honest when I say I'm not really that happy with the results. I managed to scrape together a dozen of two of the trainers to put into my portfolio... but these are admittedly not my best work.

There was a time constraint because of other happenings so as it turns out, I had just over two hours to shoot exteriors of the gym, group shots, headshots and bodyshots of ten people, a bunch of exercise-like shots and some outdoor activity stuff. I felt rushed and as a result, didn't really follow my normal routine of due diligence. To put things in perspective, I've had a shoot last 8 hours and result in 1200 pictures... for just two models! For these, the lighting was off in a lot of them, some of the pictures are not sharp and there's just a general feeling of blah when I look at them. I think you might feel the same way.

If they're not that good and I don't really like them, why am I sharing them? Well, I've always been one to show people the things I'm most proud of, probably in hopes of propping my ego. I'm selective about what I show and who I show it to because I don't really like not being the best at something (shocking, I know). Showing these is not only my way of saying I'm not always the great photographer I like to think I am, but also taking a step towards allowing myself to be vulnerable. Wow, that's deep. Is this what 30 does to you?