Things I hate...

Well, OK, here is another one I am not really fond of as a developing trend.

PC software. Seems that a lot of companies are going to the leasing paradigm of the software they used to sell to their customers. Basically you pay your money for their product, and used to be you could keep on using it until some OS upgrade or something caused it to become non functional on your PC. I have software I have been using for quite a number of years, which work just fine on my current Windows OS level.

With this leasing gambit the software industry seems to be migrating to, you pay your money (which in many cases seems to be about the same as when you were buying the product outright), but you can ONLY use it for one year. After that, it becomes disabled until you lease it again for another year. I believe that Adobe is the first one to use this method, and I pretty much stopped using their products as a result. Except for those products I still had versions of that remaining working all along for me, of course.

Used to be I might have one application I really needed a particular bit of software to do, right NOW, and I didn't mind buying the product as I thought perhaps I might need it again some day, and I would already have it. But heck, to pay that money for a product for a single use, and next time I might need it, if over a year later, I have to lease that software product again? Thanks, but NO thanks!

So what am I going to do if they ALL go with this new MGA style marketing strategy? Well, real good question. I guess I need to keep what I have concerning PC hardware, OS, and purchased applications for as long as I can.

And here is a thought. Suppose the server operating systems and applications go the same route? I am already paying monthly for Cpanel for my server, which comes bundled with the monthly lease of the hardware.

But I guess that is a bridge I will have to consider crossing when I get to it. Since I am already leasing the hardware anyway, that might not be quite so bitter of a pill to swallow.

That subscription business model is now being used for cars if the option is not related to safety. Features like heated seats, remote start, etc. are nice to have but there will be a monthly fee to activate them.

Originally Posted by bcr229

That subscription business model is now being used for cars if the option is not related to safety. Features like heated seats, remote start, etc. are nice to have but there will be a monthly fee to activate them.

Well, I certainly would not go for that, neither. I would tell the salesman to shove that sales contract where the sun don't shine and walk out.

Does everyone HAVE to be so greedy? Aren't those cars expensive enough, as it is? So people would have the monthly payments for the purchase AND those options that people most likely would want?

And I wonder how many people will get that foisted upon them via the "fine print" in the sales contract? "Oh, but it is in that sales contract, and you DID sign it. Didn't you read it? Well, sorry, nothing we can do about it now. Here are your keys. Oh gee. Looky there. Your first payment came due while we were standing here talking."

Sheesh!! Been trying to activate a new credit card account with a current company I have had an account with for years. I use the current one for business related purchases and want another one (kind of as a backup for another account I have with a second company) for personal purchases.

So I got a card issued, and went through the process of activating it. I can see the new card account online, but it says that this new account is currently restricted. I needed to call in to get it straightened out. Oh, before I forget, each time I go to the online access for this account, I am asked to have a code sent to my mobile device. Claiming that they do not recognize my logging in through this device. Which is my laptop, which I use ALL of the time, but apparently they still don't recognize it.

Anyway, I called the phone number. They asked me for the last 4 digits of the credit card number. Gave that. Then the last four digits of my social security number. OK. Passed that, which means they must obviously have my information on file, including my social security number. Get a person on the line. She wants my full name. OK. Then she says she is going to send me a code to my mobile device to verify my identity. She asks me for that number. ??? Doesn't she already have that info? If not, how would she know who I am based on whatever number I give to her? Anyway, I gave her the number, and she claims it doesn't work. I told her I just did that very same thing logging in online, and it worked fine. Well, she is obviously following a script that she cannot deviate from. So she wants to do another form of ID. This time she wants a photo of my driver's license, front and back. I reminded her that I already have an existing account with that company dating back years, and am just adding another credit card to that account. Again, must not deviate from the script. After some back and forth, I just hung up the phone, figuring I was just dealing with an idiot robot.

So I tried again. Got someone with an Indian or Pakistan accent. But at least I could understand him. Went through the same rigamarole. Still could not send a code via the cell phone. And we got to the next line in his script about the driver's license. He explained that it is really easy, that he would send me a link via a text message (??) that I could click on that would prompt me through the process. When I asked him how I would receive that text when he claimed he could not send me the code via text, he stumbled a bit, but got back onto the script. I swear, if I hadn't initiate this call, I would swear this is a phishing attempt to get my identity info. Anyway, I decided to go with the flow.

So I had to use my cell phone to take a pic, front and back, of my driver's license. Submitted them. Get a message saying that they could not be processed. Guy says there was a shadow on the pics. No, there was not. But I tried it again. This one got rejected as well. The guy said there might be a problem with the background. The instructions said to use a dark background, so I used a black mouse pad. Not good enough, I guess. So I tried again, using a wood grain dark brown background. Still rejected. Guy says the pics look perfect, but maybe it was because the card was not perfectly parallel in the pics. Screw this. I asked for a supervisor. He said he was transferring me, but after a few minutes, my patience quota ran dry and I hung up the phone.

***Expletives deleted*** This is just downright ridiculous. Credit cards are supposed to be a convenience, but this process sure as hell is not. So screw it. Guess I will just have to put personal purchases on my business credit card and deal with it during tax time to segregate them as needed.

Sometimes I feel like my head is just going to explode. I would expect this sort of thing living in a third world country, but damn....

If you want an AmEx Blue Cash let me know. I can always use a referral bonus.

Originally Posted by bcr229

If you want an AmEx Blue Cash let me know. I can always use a referral bonus.

Maybe later. Thanks.

But right now I am fit to be tied dealing with that previous credit card company. Not sure I have the stomach for another go-around any time soon with these brainless robots just reading inflexible scripts concerning their options.

Oh yeah. I LOVE how customer service for so many online businesses has taken a nose dive lately. I am on Best Buy's website right now to ask them a question, and here is what I get in their customer service chat system.

Waiting for an agent
We'll be with you in about 139 minutes.
We apologize for the delay.