World Of Warcraft Billing Problem

World Of Warcraft Billing Problem

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My past reviews of World of Warcraft has rated this game very high.  As I find with a lot of very large companies, as they grow larger they get less customer friendly.  I recently found out that my WOW account credit card information became inaccurate because my credit union issued me a new card and they change some of the account digits and the account expiration date.   I was notified by Blizzard that my card was no longer working and gave me a web site link to update the card information.  The link did not target my account information but was a generic World of Warcraft Battlenet log in web page.    I selected the account that was having problems and was taken to a page that said my game was frozen and it also showed that World of Warcraft Remote was unsubscribed.  I went to Account Settings at the top of the page and chose Payment Options.  I then changed my credit card information.  I noticed a message to the side of the page:

“To manage World of Warcraft subscription fees and paid services, return to the Account Management homepage and click on the World of Warcraft license that you wish to manage.”

I went to the page specified and only found one option and that was to set up a whole new game subscription.  You go to be kidding me.  Every other subscription service that I use, notifies me that my card will not work in so many days or months and to please update the credit card in advance of expiration.  Every other subscription service allows me to update my credit card information in a direct friendly manner.  My e-mail account for this product showed no warnings that my credit card was to time out with this subscription.  What is going on with WOW?

I submitted a ticket.

I later (June 30, 2012) received a notification that my ticket “has been successfully created”.   A most interesting part of the message reads as follows:

You can view your ticket details and check its status by clicking the link below:

If you can’t click the link above, copy and paste the entire URL into your browser.

As you can see from the text above, there is NO link provided.  So how am I to view the status of my ticket?  This is getting even more lame.

Much later during June 30, 2012, I received a reply to my ticket to my e-mail account.  Here is the gist of the message:

        The primary billing profile is used for our online store (also paid services) and is separate from the recurring subscription. You may need to head to your game management page for XXXXXXX and select “Set Up Game Subscription” to reactivate your account.

Oh, that is nice.  I upgraded my credit card for the on line store?  So I did have to make a new account and waste a lot of my time!   And, they added this little gem that is meant to wast even more of my time:

To reactivate your Diablo III account, and add the Tyrael’s Charger mount back to your World of Warcraft account, please contact Customer Support.

Conclusion:  WOW is a terrific game.  The business side of this company is either lame or immensely disrespectful of the customer (probably both).

AT&T U-verse Update (June 2012)

AT&T U-verse Update (June 2012)

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Something rather curious has been taking place at one of the AT&T old POTS (plain old telephone service) box resting on a major street sidewalk.  AT&T trucks have been parked on the street just next to this box working on it for over two months (currently not finished as of June 18, 2012).  I stopped by and asked what was going on.  It seems that the U-verse system might be suffering from bad cabling from the old POTS system, that is the old twisted wire running from this huge interconnection box to our homes.  Two problems were identified.  First, there are cable runs that are just bad and need to be replaced.  This really shows up when it rains.  Second, the old system of wiring used bridged taps which now has bit AT&T in the pocket book.  A bridge tap was a means for each home to be “seen’ at a number of terminal locations down a long street, for example.  This might be convenient for the installer but having those wires running out past your home and not dedicated just to your home causes some pretty dire consequences when broad band signals run down the wires.  Simply put, signals that are this sophisticated need to ONLY run directly to you home.  DSL signals really go dysfunctional due to signal reflections running down dead end wires (past your home) and reflecting back.   The new U-verse system must go nuts with this antiquated legacy wiring.    (posted June 18, 2012).

Mac Pro Coming Out In 2013?

Mac Pro Coming Out In 2013?

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The Mac Pro tower has not been updated for quite a few years (as of June, 2012) and a lot of people wonder if it will be discontinued.

Discontinued

One of Apples web pages explaining Thuderbolt may have shown a hint of what is to come.  Look at the text carefully that follows.  “With Thunderbolt, you’re just as likely to build a professional video setup around your MacBook Pro or iMac as your Mac Pro.”  Notice the words “iMac as your Mac Pro”.  Might this not suggest that Apple has already planned to do away with the tower?

Reference: http://www.apple.com/thunderbolt/

Continued

A counter argument has appeared on the Internet, macpro.MacRumors that a new Mac Pro will indeed come out in 2013.
http://macpro.macrumors.com/.  If this article fails to show then search for Mac Pro Rumors (Tuesday June 12, 2012) or “Apple Spokesperson Confirms New Mac Pro Design Likely Coming in 2013”.

Winner Take All Politics by Hacker & Pierson, a book review

Winner Take All Politics by Hacker & Pierson, a book review

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Title: Winner-Take-All Politics
Authors: Jacob S. Hacker & Paul Pierson
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks
ISBN: 978-1-4165-8870-2
List price: $15 (paperback)

Following is a book review that is in progress and as such may change at any moment.

How I chose this book to read:
I must confess that although I buy a lot of books, I seldom find the time to read any book  more than part way through.  Not enough time and not enough sustained interest may be my affliction.  So it was simply surprising to myself when I picked up a book that I anticipated would be tossed into the party read pile but instead it remained in my hands and I am drawn to it like a very sweet jelly doughnut.   Let me step back a moment and tell you of my concerns that draws me to a particular book.  I have longed wondered what was going wrong with my country.  I am simply amazed that I live in the United States of America and not some back water third world country where I would be destined to scratch out a living and not experience the level of happiness that is a great part of this country and what I experience with my current life.  This country is not perfect and I get a deep feeling that some corrective action is needed.   There are a lot of issues hanging in my mind that I could not understand or the why behind a number of issues: the political morass in Washington, the GOP vs Democratic feud that is so ungentlemanly, the economic troubles that seem to draw this county down, my friends and students not able to find jobs and this list goes on and on.  Almost by accident I picked up a book at Barnes and Noble one day on my way to pay for the one book that I had in my hand.  I really do not know why I looked down and was drawn to the book Winner-Take-All Politics but I did.  I do not believe in predestination but picking that book up really got me to think of how lucky I was that I made that decision.  It is important because after reading just over half the book I realize that it stands as a possible game changer for this country.  I truly believe that this book’s true value is on par with Silent Spring, The Prince, and The Medium is the Message.  This book will only matter if enough people read it and reflect upon its lessons and act appropriately.

Book review:
We need to solve some important social and political problems in regard to the U.S.A. political process and to gain social results that improve this country.  We do have a personal responsibility to do what is right not just to ourselves but our family, our tribe, friends and everyone.   This book may help you to make the correct decisions.  It is based on a lot of research and covers a huge area of political landscape, almost exhaustive in its presentation and most impressive piece of writing.   The information comes at you at a mind numbing speed which may be why I liken it to eating a jelly doughnut, gives me a intellectual (not sugar) high.  I just love to immerse myself in truthful viewpoints as they are so darn hard to find.  It seems everyone wants to control your and my mind on important issues.  Everyone seems to be skewed to the point of being dishonest in their pronouncements.  I get a gut feeling that these writers found an array of important lessons and have laid the array out pretty well order that we can all follow the logic, follow the history, and may agree on where we are going if corrective action is not taken.  Most important to me is this seems to be a honest work.

T-Mobile Handset Insurance

T-Mobile Handset Insurance

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T-Moblile may be one of the best out of a lowly lot of cell phone providers for my area in North Orange County, California.  One major flaw for T-Mobile may be their handset insurance.  If your battery dies you can ONLY get a mail replacement (really stupid).  If the store has a direct replacement in stock they will charge you full price (This can range roughly between 30 and 50 dollars).  This shows their apparent lack of customer service and respect.  My daughter was told that a battery replacement would cost just over $7 and take 5 days to arrive.  You will see later in this review that this $7 may not be for just shipping and handling but we may have had to buy the whole new battery without T-Mobile taking a financial loss.  We have handset insurance and the battery should be provided for free.  The next day she gets a text message saying that the battery would take 7 days.  That is totally unacceptable!  I will not let my daughter leave the house without her cell phone.  I expect the local T-Mobile stores to stock every battery for every phone they sell.  I further expect that if the store has a direct replacement in stock that it be furnished for free when the customer has handset insurance.  We found that we could purchase a new battery on the Internet for about $7 and it would take 5 to 10 days to arrive (about the same price T-Mobile charges us for “shipping and handling”).  My daughter did buy a battery from an Internet site and paid just over $14 so it would arrive in one to three days.  T-Mobile, in my mind, may be approaching the despicable, under performing status that AT&T has exhibited.  (Posted June 13, 2012)

Collateral Movie Review

Collateral Movie Review

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Score 4.5 out of 5.  This movie really worked for me.  The ending was a bit weak because one knew that the script needed to clean up the ending and it did so with less than full convincing results.   But the whole movie, in total, still  stands up as an excellent piece of art.