26.02.10
Digital radio blues
I’ve just sent off for my first DAB radio.
This is the one wot I ordered: here. To replace the ancient midi system I have had in my middle room for years which only seems to work with AM radio now.
Nice features, great reviews, swanky bit of kit. Thank you very much.
But then the problems start:
First of all I get a delivery card through my door (from “Home Delivery Network”). Not too surprising seeing as I “work” n’all. The delivery co say go their website and pick a different day for delivery. OK no problem.
Oh but they only do Mon-Fri delivery. So that’s useful then what with me, you know, “working”.
No matter I am at home for at least an afternoon a week. Ah that’s not helpful their delivery slots are “7am -7pm”. In other words if I want them to do their job (IE deliver me something they’ve been paid to deliver to me) I must take a day off work.
I wouldn’t trust any of the neighbours round here and there’s no “safe place” for the driver to leave it.
I have another option which is to pick it up from their depot. In Nottingham. Thanks very much. I may as well have just bloody driven down to Amazon’s warehouse in Milton Keynes and not bothered with the delivery.
Doesn’t all of this screw around with the whole bloody point of mail order service? You know, the whole “not having to go and pick it up” thing?
I wrote a very grumpy email to Amazon who, to be fair, did respond quickly but then used the line
“Currently, we do not have the ability to assign certain carriers to a specific customer or address”
What? I find this astonishing if true. They’re the ones who pay the carrying company. But they can’t specify which carrier takes which order? I’m nearly speechless.
I’ve ordered plenty of things from them before and have had to pick orders up which have been unable to be delivered but these items end up in the central post office in the centre of town. So why the hell does this one have to be a: given to a company that is unable to do the job they’ve been employed to do, b: unable to be given to a carrier that actually IS able to do the job or at least will get it to within a couple of miles of my house and c: this snazzy wotsit I’m actually really looking forward to playing with and getting use out of?
Bloody hell!
And just to cap this annoying little episode one of the main reasons I bought a DAB radio was to listen to 6music which looks like it may well be being got rid of in the next round of BBC cuts. Yes that’s right one of few stations on the BBC that actually looks after their public service remit is being cut whilst BBC3 isn’t, BBC1 remains appalling, BBC2 is a pale shadow of what it once was and only BBC4 is showing much of what they should be producing and showing us (and isn’t safe from the chop either).
Bad mood day today.