dougv.com | The Web home of Doug Vanderweide

User Name: briankey1
Product Purchased: SHIMANO SYMETRE 4000 FI SPINNING REEL 4000FI NEW IN BOX

Product As Advertised: Yes
Shipped Quickly: Yes
Customer Service: Great

This is a Christmas gift I purchased for my brother-in-law. The price I paid is about 35% less than I would have paid from any of the big sporting goods retailers, so it was a steal.

The reel came in a factory-sealed box and was shipped very quickly. I couldn’t be happier with the purchase and highly recommend this seller.

WebHost4Life, my former ASP.NET Web Service Provider, and their “promotional pricing,” has turned me from a loyal, happy customer to a totally dissatisfied ex-customer.

In short, Web Host 4 Life would rather lose a current customer than extend the same price to him they’re willing to charge to potential customers: A classic business mistake that speaks volumes about a company and its lack of respect for its patrons.

I had used WHFL to do my shared Windows hosting for 3+ years. For my needs — a low-traffic site I primarily use for e-mail and customer demos — their cost and features were great. I paid about $120 per year and I got good value in return.

Then I renewed my account over the weekend, and I noticed that, in spite of advertising a $9.95 per month rate for my plan and no setup fee (which wouldn’t apply to me anyway, since I was renewing my plan), I was being charged $153.40.

That was $34 more than the price they advertised all over the site, and the price I had been paying. It also marked a 33% increase in price — the kind of increase that usually only the government and insurance companies have the gonads to demand.

Continue reading ‘WebHost4Life’s “Promotional Pricing”: Beware The Bait-And-Switch!’ »

User Name: podsource
Product Purchased: NEW iPOD Video Color LCD Screen Display 5G Repair Parts

Product As Advertised: Yes
Shipped Quickly: Yes
Customer Service: Great

I don’t know what it is about my family and LCD screens: At the very least, my sister, myself, and now my niece cannot be trusted to not shatter them at the first opportunity.

My niece’s iPod video screen was recently shattered in a drop, and her mother asked if I could fix it. So I found this auction — the only “Buy It Now” auction I could find that was based in the U.S. (again, I am not going to send my credit card number to Hong Kong for any reason) — and ordered the part.

It was shipped the next business day and came in a padded Tyvex envelope, in a factory-sealed static bag and securely wrapped in bubble wrap around cardboard, with two non-marring tools in a zip-lock baggie.

The biggest problems I faced in replacing the screen were that first, although the external shell of the iPod is fitted around its frame by friction only, it’s a tight fit; I destroyed both pry tool tips trying to get the front and back to separate. I had to break down and use a #1 flat-head screwdriver blade to force the two apart.

Second, everything inside the iPod is miniature: the panel screws, the ribbon-cable connectors, everything. If you have hot dogs for fingers, like I do, you’re going to want to go slow.

That aside, the replacement is simple: Pry the case apart, disconnect the ribbon cables for the battery, headphones and screen, remove the panel screws on the sides, take off the front bezel, remove the screen, reverse the procedure to close the iPod back up.

I and my niece were very pleased with the results. I highly recommend this vendor.

User Name: cable4av
Product Purchased: Monster Cable MSR Sirius Antenna Extended Cable 50ft.

Product As Advertised: Yes
Shipped Quickly: Yes
Customer Service: Great

This is a simple purchase: As the headline of the listing says, it’s a 50-foot antenna extension cable from Monster. The item was exactly as described; the photo was of the same cable I received; the item came in an OEM zip-lock bag and works just fine.

Considering I saved about $10 by not purchasing the cable in retail packaging, and the shipping on this item was the most reasonable of all the cables offered on eBay, I couldn’t be happier and recommend this vendor highly.