The Pitiful State of Customer Service (1 Viewer)

[ManW_TheUncool]

I do have a tendency toward anxiety and always have. Fortunately, I live in Colorado and we have these special stores. I'd never been to one until last year. You have to show your ID to get in and they only accept cash. But they have these gummies, and when the world is getting to me, if I slice off a sliver of one and chew it, twenty minutes later the world doesn't bother me so much anymore. I can go to one of these stores and for $60 I'm stocked for an entire year.

I think we have some of these stores opening in Vermont next month. I'll have to check them out.

Yes, I heard they're expanding or something... probably even (legally) over here in NYC (very soon, if not already), haha...

_Man_

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Its now technically legal in the state of New York, but the state hasn’t yet determined rules for how to legally sell or purchase it - so we’re in a weird limbo period where it’s illegal to buy or sell but not illegal to possess.

Federally, of course, it’s still illegal across the board.

 

[JohnRice]

I think we have some of these stores opening in Vermont next month. I'll have to check them out.

Yes, I heard they're expanding or something... probably even (legally) over here in NYC (very soon, if not already), haha...

_Man_

We’re 10 years ahead of you guys.

The cash only is a result of the federal issue.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Its now technically legal in the state of New York, but the state hasn’t yet determined rules for how to legally sell or purchase it - so we’re in a weird limbo period where it’s illegal to buy or sell but not illegal to possess.

Federally, of course, it’s still illegal across the board.

I heard that's called govt bureaucrazzzy for yah, LOL...

_Man_

 

[John Dirk]

We’re 10 years ahead of you guys.

The cash only is a result of the federal issue.

Probably even further ahead of us here in the South where they still regulate the time alcohol sales can begin on Sundays.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Probably even further ahead of us here in the South where they still regulate the time alcohol sales can begin on Sundays.

I think we still have that in New York. We certainly did in my college years - you know, the time in life when that matters most.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I think we have some of these stores opening in Vermont next month. I'll have to check them out.

Our nephew is part owner of several here in Michigan. He's doing extremely well financially. We were visiting he and his wife's home a year or so ago, and our niece's husband (a gastroenterologist) and I (the retired IT professional) looked at each other and both said "we went into the wrong business".

 

[bmasters9]

Its now technically legal in the state of New York, but the state hasn’t yet determined rules for how to legally sell or purchase it - so we’re in a weird limbo period where it’s illegal to buy or sell but not illegal to possess.

Federally, of course, it’s still illegal across the board.

How do you possess it, if you can't buy or sell it? Do you have to have a supply from before the law was passed?

 

[BobO'Link]

How do you possess it, if you can't buy or sell it? Do you have to have a supply from before the law was passed?

You grow it yourself.

 

[LeoA]

The Mohawk reservation up here in upstate New York has tons of those pot shops already.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

How do you possess it, if you can't buy or sell it? Do you have to have a supply from before the law was passed?

It’s a catch-22. You can’t buy it or sell it legally in the state for recreational purposes because they haven’t established the rules for how to do that yet. In practical terms, there are grey market businesses that are springing up and counting on the vagaries of the law and limited resources of the state to get away with it until an actual system is established.

You grow it yourself.

That is not yet legal for recreational purposes, because the state hasn’t yet established the guidelines for how to do so.

The Mohawk reservation up here in upstate New York has tons of those pot shops already.

Those are considered sovereign countries and aren’t subject to the laws of the state. So that doesn’t really have anything to do with NY state law.

 

[JohnRice]

It was passed by ballot issue here in Colorado in 2012 and all these issues had to be figured out. The Governor at the time was opposed to it, but it passed so he did his best to make it work. There isn't a true solution, but a working one seems to have been found. None of the "end of the world" doom predicted on some fronts has come to be. The one weird thing is the "cash only" aspect. In my extremely limited experience, it seems to be significantly safer than alcohol.

Hands down, it's the best sleep aid I've ever tried, and it only takes a tiny little bit. I mean, just a sliver of 1/10 of a gummie.

 

[LeoA]

Those are considered sovereign countries and aren’t subject to the laws of the state. So that doesn’t really have anything to do with NY state law.

I was just referring to one way people are accessing this while the wheels of government turn slowly in Albany.

I imagine the situation is the same for the other reservations across the state, such as the Onondaga one down in the Syracuse area.

 

[Capt D McMars]

Its now technically legal in the state of New York, but the state hasn’t yet determined rules for how to legally sell or purchase it - so we’re in a weird limbo period where it’s illegal to buy or sell but not illegal to possess.

Federally, of course, it’s still illegal across the board.

 

[Francois Caron]

Weed has been legal in Canada for four years now. Surprisingly, the most adverse effect is that too many weed shops have opened at the same time. The market's currently oversaturated with them.

WARNING: don't try to cross the border in either direction with the stuff. That's still illegal and can get you into huge trouble.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I recently remotely attended a livestreamed talk about entrepreneurial stuff from my alma mater in a little annual "summit" they entitled "Eclectic Convergence". One of the guest alums (really/literally) named Smoke, who actually graduated during my first couple years there (though I of course never knew or heard of him before), talked in fireside chat style interview (w/ his more conventional, fellow alum, frat buddy) quite a bit about getting into the weed bizz amongst others during his seemingly fairly prolific (and "eclectic") career in venture capital.

And one interesting thing he (and his buddy) pointed out is how the illegal federal status has been (and continues to be) a problem for banking for the bizz... and how it's still all cash and they still have to find ways to "launder" the $$$, LOL. And apparently, at least one of the bigger weed dealers (or distributor?) he knows even tried (successfully?) laundering the cash thru the IRS by very substantially overpaying their taxes and then getting it back as refund (and/or credit I suppose), LOL.

He also mentioned it was actually his wife that initially suggested for him to get into the weed bizz several years ago, haha. And of course, they had to begin the chat w/ having a little fun w/ his name, Smoke, which he sorta lived upto during college (though not by smoking cannabis) and even briefly got kicked out (apparently via some kinda seemingly fairly well-known form letter ), which he finagled into a brief enrollment at a coveted, crimson nemesis of sorts, ie. Harvard, before returning. Certainly a fun and oddly informative fireside chat, especially for a school that loves to promote its very liberal mandate of "to do the greatest good", LOL...

_Man_

 

[JohnRice]

After another service adventure, with plumbers and my parents' house, I've finally realized that a common attitude today is that businesses make you feel like they're doing you a favor by providing much of anything. And, once they have your money, they're done. Regardless. If there's a problem, or something you're unhappy with, their attitude is pretty much that you should shut up and go away. They got your money and anything more is just an inconvenience to them.

 

[BobO'Link]

So... In a way this is OK and I understand but in another it's rather poor CS/support and cost Dell a long time customer (I've purchased Dell exclusively for the past 15 years and recommend them consistently - but no more).

The hinge on my wife's laptop broke away from the screen on one side - the small plastic extensions that secure the *screws* to the plastic back plane broke off of the back plane (no more attached hinge) so everything wants to pull apart when the screen is opened (you have to manually push the hinge up and resnap the outer bezel in place). It works but now pulls away if the screen's closed and opened again. It's obviously poor design and bad/defective manufacturing. The warranty expired 9 days ago - *9* days. I work in corporate IT and if we have a device that's *that* close to warranty expiration it's typically repaired anyway. It's a Dell (same brand I have zero issues with on a slightly expired warranty at work) so I get online and do a chat to explain the issue and ask for an exception. They refuse to budge. I explain the situation more detailed - with a photo of the "damage" proving it's *not* "accidental" but a manufacturing defect, adding that it was a Christmas present and wasn't given to the user until the 25th of next month. No dice. I ask "How much to get repaired?" The total for evaluation,, a new screen, repairs, and shipping is $280!! I can purchase the *exact same* system from them for $380 (on sale this week and roughly $50 more than I paid last year) - $100 more and it'd have a 1 year warranty. Paying $280 for repairs that'll have, at best, a 30 day warranty is plain stupid. I told the CS rep I am *not* paying that much for repairs due to a faulty design on a system that's only *days* out of the warranty period, said I'd be replacing the system with a non Dell model as a result, and thanked them for their time.

Stupidly I opened a support ticket instead of just "extending" the warranty ($10/mo on a month-month basis and cancellable at any time) and *then* opening a ticket, which would have gotten the system fixed for $10 (I'd have cancelled as soon as it came back from repairs). So... I'm annoyed that they won't make an exception for a system that's that close to the warranty expiration. Had it been another week or two I'd never have asked for an exception,in spite of it being a Christmas gift.

I then ordered my wife a new, non Dell, system that's identical, spec wise, to the broken system for less than the identical replacement system from Dell. The new system has an extended warranty plus a better designed hinge and a superior designed power plug - right angle at the computer instead of straight like Dell uses and less prone to damage.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I had a projector screen that developed a defect exactly one day after the warranty expired. I wound up sending a letter via the old fashioned postal service to the head of the company saying I was a long time customer and that I can’t imagine the intent is to have products go back the moment the warranty expires, and to their credit, they made it right.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Probably even further ahead of us here in the South where they still regulate the time alcohol sales can begin on Sundays.

You can get alcohol on Sundays?????