Friday 18 April 2008

A potentially academic debate

I have been put forward for a role which requires fair skills in Excel.
Tootling away in Excel isn't the only facet of the job granted, you also need to talk to customers and follow up with the warehouse.
I am by no means computer illiterate and my skills serve me well, but when I did the testing for the recruitment company it was emailed to me... so I was able to use the help function.
Now this function is always available, but I am afraid of one of two things;
  1. I am selling my abilities short and in doing so will come across lacking confidence.
  2. The job may require more skills than I have or can fudge.

What a bother a little animated paper clip has caused me, see potentially academic in the sense that I don't even have the job yet. *SIGH*

Another exciting academic discovery I made today is; I have found the new phone I want.
I have been very happy with my Sony Ericsson's k800i BUT I fear I want to unite all features into one and go for a phone with enough guts to play a decent list of tracks and do away with my old gen one iPod whose battery is closer to death each day.
My contract is up with Telstra (Harbingers of Satan) in June/July and will negotiate my butt off to see what I can score.
It is literally my (current) dream phone, 5 megapixel camera (doing away with need to carry pesky camera), 16 gigabyte internal memory with expandable memory to play about 12,000 tracks or 40hrs video and a neato little kick stand so it sits up so you can watch video (a wanky feature but cute none the less.)
All this on a sleek dual slider design without being needlessly fat like current 5mp camera phones seem to be.
My only major qualm is; it's a Nokia... my phone nemesis.
I developed this phone passion after leaving the nokia clique and moving to a samsung, and my brain was so deadened by the Nokia way that I couldn't operate another brand... Like they aimed radiation at that section of my brain.
Perhaps if I come back into the fold I will try to remain technologically aware... or I could wait and see what someone else offers?

Gotta get a ***** job first.

5 memos sent:

Dataceptionist said...

I feel compelled to copy this rant from another blog I commented on.

I was a loyal Vodafone & Nokia customer for almost 10 years. I was always the first to put my hand up with how good the service I got from both brands.
That was until I got one of the new generation slide Nokia’s that came out 2 years ago. The first handset I had, the service would drop in and out and it would cut out in the middle of a call (among other problems). I took it to my local Vodafone store where I bought it, they told me it would take them 4 weeks turnaround, I would be quicker to send it to Nokia in Chatswood myself as I would be treated as an external customer. Sent my paperwork etc. Four weeks later(!) I’m still waiting for the phone, rang the service centre and got the impression they’d done nothing and were awaiting follow up (?). They say they’re replacing the handset and I can pick it up. I asked them to send it to me (I paid to send it to them!) and they refused, saying postage wasn’t included in the warranty. The Chatswood centre is in a terrible location for parking so I didn’t want to pick it up, don’t see how any of this is my fault when its their product, which is what I told the guy at the Vodafone store when I called to complain that their staff had told me this would be quicker. The manager there was great, he got it picked up and I was able to collect from the store which was local to me.
Three months later, phone is busted again with similar and additional problems. I’m annoyed and take it back into the store with all my documentation.
They send it away for me and they “rent” me a handset for $150 in the meantime, and 4-5 weeks later (again) I call the store, they follow up for me and let me know Nokia are AGAIN going to replace the handset (yep, third handset-same model).

So this handset lasts 5 months. In the meantime, I’ve moved haven’t I?
The inital store, while branded Vodafone is apparently part of the other side to the store I go into (two different franchises, and I’ve got the wrong one, and essentially they don’t want to know about me because I’m seriously pissed off. They tell me to go to a different store.
I have insuarnce on this phone so I investigate cashing it in for a new phone. I’m told I can only get a handset the same as the one I have, I can’t choose a different one (because I’m never owning another slide Nokia).
I will also have to pay the excess, so I try this other store.
This whole time, I’ve been under the impression that the warranty is 12 months from last repair date, so I think I’ll be ok. WRONG.
When I take it to the appropriate store, I’m told that the warranty is from the original replacement, which is JUST over a year ago. WTF!!!
I also discover that the handset I have been given has different serial numbers on it and there is no record that I actually own this phone. THANKS NOKIA CARE CENTRE!
He politely tells me he can’t help me,
At this point I’m so frustrated with the whole experience I break down in the store and start crying.
No one will help me, this was so far from my fault, I never mistreated it, and the insurance woman even admitted on the phone (unoffically) to me that the model I had, they’d had loads of returns on because they knew the software was faulty.
I’ve quietly waited for my plan to expire now and I’ll be changing to ANYONE ELSE that isn’t Vodafone, and ANY BRAND that isn’t Nokia.
Us little people, all we can do is vote with our feet

.:.:. Reanan .:.:. said...

LOL well it isnt quite the same slide, it slides up and down.
Up to reveal the keypad and down to reveal the multimedia pad.
I imagine it could still have either problem though.

I do know how off putting a bad brand experience can be (apple have wronged me and I am very disenclined to trust them again!)
so perhaps wait until the phone is released and wait to hear of any fault complaints?

PrincesseEmma said...

I have heard similar things about the Nokia slides, but when they first came out, so hopefully they've fixed it now :-/
I've got a nokia flip phone and something went wrong with it a couple of days after I got it. Optus was really good about it and gave me a replacement phone while they sent it away to get looked at. I ended up getting a new phone (same flip phone) and havn't had a problem since (touch wood!).
But I do understand the Nokia mind deadening... My first phone was a Phillips and not as good as a Nokia so since I've crossed over I haven't been able to change to another brand. I'm too used to Nokias!

.:.:. Reanan .:.:. said...

I've not yet (touch a forrest of wood) had a drama with my phones but definatly want to research it before commiting!!

K said...

Gotta say, I'm a returned Nokia fan.
I had nokia's for years, all good ones but for my most recent previous phone I went for a samsung, or a change.

It was shit. There were SO many things about it that pissed me off, from contantly taking photos of hte inside of my handbag cause I coudln't lock the quick pic button, to accidentally pressing the esc key halfway through an sms only to discover it been deleted instead of auto-saved in drafts.

Never again. So I returned to Nokia, I have a 6110 Navigator and in the few months I've had it, there's only one complaint - it can take a few seconds for the mic to kick in when I'm dialling out. So a little bit of to&fro helloing and we're all good.