The Blog that Noone Reads

Glad I didn’t go to work for them. Story.

Note to self: You’re getting fat. Time to rediscover the gym.

OLPC’s went on sale at 3am PST. I ordered mine at 3:15am PST. According to the website, people who placed their orders in the first couple days should have received their machines before Christmas. People who places later orders should have received them by January 14th. It’s now January 29th. Not only have I not received my computer, I had to write several emails to even get this status update.

Dear Donor,

We are contacting you to provide an update on your Give One Get One donation and the shipment of your laptop.

Our shipment systems are telling us that we cannot ship to the address that we have for you. We are very sorry for this delay.

To expedite the processing of your shipment, please reply to this email with your full shipping address, including the street address. Please also send us a telephone number we can use to contact you if we have any further questions.

If you would rather speak with an agent, we are in the process of setting up a 24 hour dedicated phone line for this purpose. The number is 1-800-883-8102 and it will be operational as of Tuesday, 1/22/2008. Live agents will not be able to assist you until this time.

If you would prefer to receive a refund for the cost of the “get” laptop and associated shipping ($ 199 per laptop plus shipping & handling), please tell us by reply email and we will process your refund.

We appreciate your generosity and patience. We hope you continue to want your laptop, in which case we are committed to getting it to you as soon as possible. That said, if you would prefer to receive a refund, we will issue it promptly.

Sincerely,

OLPC Donor Services

Okay. After doing some research, it appears the reason they can’t ship to the address I provided is that they fucked it up. Somehow, their mailing system dropped a line from addresses that were greater than three lines. I can accept that, but why hadn’t they notified me that there was a problem with my address. Were they hoping I’d forgotten my order?

I’ve since sent them an updated address as well as a status update query. I called the number provided and it rang for 15 minutes without so much as an answering machine. This is really unacceptable.

From listverse.com, 15 Amazing Coincidences.

In the 19th century, the famous horror writer, Egdar Allan Poe, wrote a book called ‘The narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym’. It was about four survivors of a shipwreck who were in an open boat for many days before they decided to kill and eat the cabin boy whose name was Richard Parker. Some years later, in 1884, the yawl, Mignonette, foundered, with only four survivors, who were in an open boat for many days. Eventually the three senior members of the crew killed and ate the cabin boy. The name of the cabin boy was Richard Parker.

I was planning to take pictures, but once I was here, it seemed like it would be too disrupting. We did take a copy of the menu home, so I’ll be sure to write up a full review on the near future. It was such a fantastic experience. Great company, delicious wine, impeccable service, and such a perfect meal. Couldn’t ask for more.