Not for the first time, nor for the second, do I find that my (from a very
limited sample) recent purchase is either CFU or fails within a few months
of buying it.

Why do people swear by this means of shopping

Things may be cheap(er) but if they are useless and you have limited
(practical) means to get redress, what's the point?

Gimme the pound shop any day, at least I can take things back :-)

tim

tim... wrote:
Not for the first time, nor for the second, do I find that my (from a
very limited sample) recent purchase is either CFU or fails within a few
months of buying it.

Why do people swear by this means of shopping

Things may be cheap(er) but if they are useless and you have limited
(practical) means to get redress, what's the point?

Gimme the pound shop any day, at least I can take things back :-)

tim


I'd suggest a garden centre, if you wanted to buy a carp. I'm surprised
it lasted as long as it did :-)

But yes, I think we are all going to learn to be a bit more careful. I
recently got a £5 TV aerial amplifier for mum and dad. I wasn't sure if
it was going to make any difference to their poor signal, so I got the
cheapest I could find. As soon as it was connected to a power supply,
the power LED lit up very briefly and brightly, then went out, and then
there was a faint smell of smoke. Needless to say, it ended up in the bin.

On 20/04/17 11:19, tim... wrote:
Not for the first time, nor for the second, do I find that my (from a
very limited sample) recent purchase is either CFU or fails within a few
months of buying it.

Why do people swear by this means of shopping

Things may be cheap(er) but if they are useless and you have limited
(practical) means to get redress, what's the point?

Gimme the pound shop any day, at least I can take things back :-)

tim


Nothing I have ever sent backl to aasmazon hasnt been either replaced or
refunded as a matter of courese.

Ebay? well generally iof you push you can get a refund there too.

But ebay is caveat emptor,

HOWEVER the last 2 items I got from ebay to repair the lefthand side
sockets on my laptop (where it fell off onto the floor) were 100% perfect.

The thing I should have taken back was the totally crap office chair I
got from staples, but that is a 45 mile round trip. Utter crap. Beyond
utter crap actually.




--
"When one man dies it's a tragedy. When thousands die it's statistics."

Josef Stalin

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
news
On 20/04/17 11:19, tim... wrote:
Not for the first time, nor for the second, do I find that my (from a
very limited sample) recent purchase is either CFU or fails within a few
months of buying it.

Why do people swear by this means of shopping

Things may be cheap(er) but if they are useless and you have limited
(practical) means to get redress, what's the point?

Gimme the pound shop any day, at least I can take things back :-)

tim


Nothing I have ever sent backl to aasmazon hasnt been either replaced or
refunded as a matter of courese.

after 5 months?

or because it doesn't work as well as an "original" replacement when it was
clearly described as not an original replacement (and priced accordingly).
I was prepared for it to not be as good as an original replacement - but it
performed worse that the worn out original item I was looking to replace.

Ebay? well generally iof you push you can get a refund there too.

But ebay is caveat emptor,

HOWEVER the last 2 items I got from ebay to repair the lefthand side
sockets on my laptop (where it fell off onto the floor) were 100% perfect.

The thing I should have taken back was the totally crap office chair I got
from staples, but that is a 45 mile round trip. Utter crap. Beyond utter
crap actually.

Well I wouldn't buy that sort of thing untested

I did the same with a chair that I bought from Viking (long before the
internet - in fact long before Staples had nationwide stores). It was far
from the cheapest available but completely uncomfortable.

But they offered an unconditional returns policy, so I rung up to return it

they asked if there was a price point at which I would accept it - I said no

tim

In article ,
tim... wrote:
Not for the first time, nor for the second, do I find that my (from a
very limited sample) recent purchase is either CFU or fails within a
few months of buying it.

If that is your experience, why continue to use it?

Why do people swear by this means of shopping

Because rather obviously it works well for the vast majority.

Things may be cheap(er) but if they are useless and you have limited
(practical) means to get redress, what's the point?

If you buy anything based solely on the lowest price, you might just get
what you pay for.

Gimme the pound shop any day, at least I can take things back :-)

Then why didn't you buy your whatever there?

I've made getting on for 2000 Ebay purchases. Problems with any being
little if any different from buying on the high street. And never had a
problem getting redress.

--
*He who laughs last, thinks slowest.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 20/04/17 12:28, tim... wrote:


"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
news
On 20/04/17 11:19, tim... wrote:
Not for the first time, nor for the second, do I find that my (from a
very limited sample) recent purchase is either CFU or fails within a few
months of buying it.

Why do people swear by this means of shopping

Things may be cheap(er) but if they are useless and you have limited
(practical) means to get redress, what's the point?

Gimme the pound shop any day, at least I can take things back :-)

tim


Nothing I have ever sent backl to aasmazon hasnt been either replaced
or refunded as a matter of courese.

after 5 months?

After 18 months actually. In the case of the longest one.


or because it doesn't work as well as an "original" replacement when it
was clearly described as not an original replacement (and priced
accordingly). I was prepared for it to not be as good as an original
replacement - but it performed worse that the worn out original item I
was looking to replace.


I accidental;y ordered a TV wall bracket for a friend and it turned out
the TV had unusually wide fittings, so it went straight back no problem
Even postage was refunded.. My mistake. I should have double checked.

Ebay? well generally iof you push you can get a refund there too.

But ebay is caveat emptor,

HOWEVER the last 2 items I got from ebay to repair the lefthand side
sockets on my laptop (where it fell off onto the floor) were 100%
perfect.

The thing I should have taken back was the totally crap office chair I
got from staples, but that is a 45 mile round trip. Utter crap. Beyond
utter crap actually.

Well I wouldn't buy that sort of thing untested

How can you test iit?
you have to put it together first.,


I did the same with a chair that I bought from Viking (long before the
internet - in fact long before Staples had nationwide stores). It was
far from the cheapest available but completely uncomfortable.

But they offered an unconditional returns policy, so I rung up to return it

they asked if there was a price point at which I would accept it - I
said no

tim



Took my Panasonic TV back to currys in Cambridge .
'Wossup mate?'
'After ten miunutes it switches itself off, if I have it connected to
the network showing videos. If its just watching the TV it takes half an
hour'
(plugs it into ship power)
'seems OK to me... '
'well it isn't., Why would I want a like for like replacement if it
actually worked?'
'ok, that makes sense, have a new one'

That was the third one. The first was ordered online but not from
Amazon. It wasn't a smart TV - and that was the websites fault. It came
up ion a smart TV search. I had to drive 25 miles to 'drop it off'

But then I had to drive 25 miles to Currys in Cambridge as well.

There are places that refund willingly. Amazon is one. There are places
that refund grudgingly like John Lewis, and Ebay is between there and
willingly, and there are places that make it impossible to ever get
your money back on anything.

They don't hang around long, except as shops, which is why I prefer to
use ebay/amazon. If the guy has x thousand recommends its generally a
sign he really is OK.

The two worst products I have bought in the last two years are both in
shop' purchases. Te staples chair and the Boots bathroom scales that I
fixed a year ago or so. They have gone wrong again in a creatively new
way, and this time they are in the ****ing bin.

Frankly I am now buying more on the internet than ever, because I get a
better service that way, and its easier to send stuff back.


--
No Apple devices were knowingly used in the preparation of this post.

On 20/04/2017 14:20, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
and the Boots bathroom scales that I
fixed a year ago or so. They have gone wrong again in a creatively new
way, and this time they are in the ****ing bin.

How annoying! Didn't you buy a whole pack of 50 whotsits to fix it? What
did you do with the other 49?

On 20/04/17 14:24, GB wrote:
On 20/04/2017 14:20, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
and the Boots bathroom scales that I
fixed a year ago or so. They have gone wrong again in a creatively new
way, and this time they are in the ****ing bin.

How annoying! Didn't you buy a whole pack of 50 whotsits to fix it? What
did you do with the other 49?


Still available to anyone who wants a trembler switch.

The thing comes on now, but when all four sensors are pressed it says
ERR and switches off.





--
A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on
its shoes.

On 20/04/17 11:19, tim... wrote:
Not for the first time, nor for the second, do I find that my (from a
very limited sample) recent purchase is either CFU or fails within a few
months of buying it.

Why do people swear by this means of shopping

Things may be cheap(er) but if they are useless and you have limited
(practical) means to get redress, what's the point?

Gimme the pound shop any day, at least I can take things back :-)

tim




I buy from Amazon (direct - as in I almost always choose the "despatched
by Amazon" items) because:

1) The delivery is bullet proof. If I'm out, they leave the product
where I tell them to;

2) Or I can choose locker or one of the collection points;

3) I can read the reviews. I've not been let down much but doing it that
way - I've had more duff purchases from bricks and mortar stores;

4) Returns are simple for the first month;

5) They sell things that would be impossible to get in my nearest large
town and I don't have to waste all day driving and parking.

This of course does not apply to Amazon market place sellers, only stuff
dispatched by Amazon. Nor ebay - who I do use for the odd weird and
small thing.


Big purchases like TVs and washing machines, I do tend to go to John
Lewis or a specialist Miele place as the price is usually better and I
can have a good look at it first - so fair's fair.

Amazon, with Prime is very hard to beat. I do believe, once you've got
it sussed, it is far more pleasant than battling through the town.

On 20/04/17 14:36, Tim Watts wrote:
On 20/04/17 11:19, tim... wrote:
Not for the first time, nor for the second, do I find that my (from a
very limited sample) recent purchase is either CFU or fails within a few
months of buying it.

Why do people swear by this means of shopping

Things may be cheap(er) but if they are useless and you have limited
(practical) means to get redress, what's the point?

Gimme the pound shop any day, at least I can take things back :-)

tim




I buy from Amazon (direct - as in I almost always choose the "despatched
by Amazon" items) because:

1) The delivery is bullet proof. If I'm out, they leave the product
where I tell them to;

Not always.

I was expecting a delivery. It was suppposed to be left in the porch if
I was out. This is a sort of room thing, stuck on the front of the house
with a door clearly marked 'sliding door' Mr amazon delivery man.
Unfortunately I don't think many of them read english.


After the parcel failed to arrive, I contacted them and they said they
would dispatch a replacement (book) and refund the (TV tongle) because
it was out of stock.

a few weeks later I had occasion to look out of the garden door and saw
bits of wet brown cardboard blowing in the gale force winds.

Yes, it was what was left of the original amazon parcel, with a sodden
book that was, after drying out, almost readable and a TV dongle that
actually worked. So I kept that. IT had been thrown or dumped in the
garden. The driver MUST have walked right past the porch to do it.

Amusingly, a parcel recently was flagged online as 'left with
receptions, M Cook' which I thought was odd, because I live in a cottage
and am currently in the middle of two building sites, so I asked the
brickies 'Is one of you M Cook?' and 'yes mate' 'Did some **** leave a
package' - 'yes some **** did, it's on the wastetebin' .




2) Or I can choose locker or one of the collection points;

3) I can read the reviews. I've not been let down much but doing it that
way - I've had more duff purchases from bricks and mortar stores;

4) Returns are simple for the first month;

5) They sell things that would be impossible to get in my nearest large
town and I don't have to waste all day driving and parking.

This of course does not apply to Amazon market place sellers, only stuff
dispatched by Amazon. Nor ebay - who I do use for the odd weird and
small thing.


Big purchases like TVs and washing machines, I do tend to go to John
Lewis or a specialist Miele place as the price is usually better and I
can have a good look at it first - so fair's fair.


Well yes, but even then..

"Cant I see the menu on this TV - have you got a remote for it' 'no -
its probably been nicked' .

Ijn fact I gave up on the store altogether. Going online I found
pictures of the menu system and a ton of feedback on the TV.
It was fora technically illiterate mate, and in the end we bought a
refurbed one via amazon. Tatty packaging but works perfectly and not a
blemish on it.



Amazon, with Prime is very hard to beat. I do believe, once you've got
it sussed, it is far more pleasant than battling through the town.

Amazon, without Prime, beats it hands down.

80 quid a year for what? Nothing I want.


--
Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as
foolish, and by the rulers as useful.

(Seneca the Younger, 65 AD)

On 20/04/2017 11:31, Dan S. MacAbre wrote:
tim... wrote:
Not for the first time, nor for the second, do I find that my (from a
very limited sample) recent purchase is either CFU or fails within a few
months of buying it.

Why do people swear by this means of shopping

Things may be cheap(er) but if they are useless and you have limited
(practical) means to get redress, what's the point?

Gimme the pound shop any day, at least I can take things back :-)

tim


I'd suggest a garden centre, if you wanted to buy a carp. I'm surprised
it lasted as long as it did :-)

snip

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=to...bih=2026&dpr=1

Always brings out my inner child when I see it.

Cheers
--
Clive

Clive Arthur wrote:
On 20/04/2017 11:31, Dan S. MacAbre wrote:
tim... wrote:
Not for the first time, nor for the second, do I find that my (from a
very limited sample) recent purchase is either CFU or fails within a few
months of buying it.

Why do people swear by this means of shopping

Things may be cheap(er) but if they are useless and you have limited
(practical) means to get redress, what's the point?

Gimme the pound shop any day, at least I can take things back :-)

tim


I'd suggest a garden centre, if you wanted to buy a carp. I'm surprised
it lasted as long as it did :-)

snip

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=to...bih=2026&dpr=1


Always brings out my inner child when I see it.

Cheers

Never again will I be able to see it on the shelves without having a
little chuckle :-)

Yes the problem is there is a cut off cost where the cost of getting things
sorted outweighs all the need to get it working so you chuck it in the bin.
Unfortunately most of the things that have failed are made in China, nearly
always say in stock with a uk address but the info from amazons then says
its coming from china.
I get the feeling there is some hoodwinking being attempted on Amazon and
the customer here.
Brian

--
----- -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please!
"tim..." wrote in message
news
Not for the first time, nor for the second, do I find that my (from a very
limited sample) recent purchase is either CFU or fails within a few months
of buying it.

Why do people swear by this means of shopping

Things may be cheap(er) but if they are useless and you have limited
(practical) means to get redress, what's the point?

Gimme the pound shop any day, at least I can take things back :-)

tim

On 20/04/2017 16:17, Clive Arthur wrote:
On 20/04/2017 11:31, Dan S. MacAbre wrote:
tim... wrote:
Not for the first time, nor for the second, do I find that my (from a
very limited sample) recent purchase is either CFU or fails within a few
months of buying it.

Why do people swear by this means of shopping

Things may be cheap(er) but if they are useless and you have limited
(practical) means to get redress, what's the point?

Gimme the pound shop any day, at least I can take things back :-)

tim


I'd suggest a garden centre, if you wanted to buy a carp. I'm surprised
it lasted as long as it did :-)

snip

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=to...bih=2026&dpr=1


Always brings out my inner child when I see it.

They really need to get a new idea for the cover photo!


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

tim... wrote

Not for the first time, nor for the second, do I find that
my (from a very limited sample) recent purchase is
either CFU or fails within a few months of buying it.

Why do people swear by this means of shopping

Because most don't get that very often
and it leaves the alternatives for dead.

Things may be cheap(er) but if they are useless and
you have limited (practical) means to get redress,

You don't with amazon and ebay. If its crap you
get a full refund just by telling them its crap and
providing evidence of that with a photo etc.

what's the point?

That you get a vastly better range to choose from
and very effective redress when it doesn't work.

Gimme the pound shop any day,
at least I can take things back :-)

Mine doesn't have what I have bought
from ebay and amazon and aliexpress.

And the pound shop refused to refund with
some useless potato peelers that wouldn't
peel a ****ing potato. It was so cheap that
when the checkout ape refused to refund it,
I couldn't be bothered going back when the
manager was supposed to be there and
making her do what the law requires she do.

I have more useful things to do with my time.

Brian Gaff wrote:
Unfortunately most of the things that have failed are made in China, nearly

Just delete "that have failed" and it's still true so it's hardly
suprising that it's true with "that have failed" in it. :-)

--
Chris Green
·

In article ,
Chris Green wrote:
Brian Gaff wrote:
Unfortunately most of the things that have failed are made in China,
nearly

Just delete "that have failed" and it's still true so it's hardly
suprising that it's true with "that have failed" in it. :-)

True. And suggests things made in other countries like the UK are always
perfect. If they had been, we'd still be making them. ;-)

--
*The most common name in the world is Mohammed *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 21/04/2017 10:31, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

True. And suggests things made in other countries like the UK are always
perfect. If they had been, we'd still be making them. ;-)


I think there are some folk at Crewe who would argue they still do but -
as Marcus Sieff (M&S) used to say - "the price of perfection is
prohibitive"

--
Robin
reply-to address is (intended to be) valid

On 21/04/17 10:51, Robin wrote:
On 21/04/2017 10:31, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

True. And suggests things made in other countries like the UK are always
perfect. If they had been, we'd still be making them. ;-)


I think there are some folk at Crewe who would argue they still do but -
as Marcus Sieff (M&S) used to say - "the price of perfection is
prohibitive"

price tends to infinity as quality tends to perfection.

Anyone who has worked to MILSPEC can tell you that ;-)


--
"I guess a rattlesnake ain't risponsible fer bein' a rattlesnake, but ah
puts mah heel on um jess the same if'n I catches him around mah chillun".

In article ,
Robin wrote:
On 21/04/2017 10:31, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

True. And suggests things made in other countries like the UK are
always perfect. If they had been, we'd still be making them. ;-)


I think there are some folk at Crewe who would argue they still do but -
as Marcus Sieff (M&S) used to say - "the price of perfection is
prohibitive"

Wonder how much of a current Bentley is made at Crewe? And of course R-R
is no longer made there. But both by German owned firms.

--
*If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends? *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Tim Watts" wrote in message
news
On 20/04/17 11:19, tim... wrote:
Not for the first time, nor for the second, do I find that my (from a
very limited sample) recent purchase is either CFU or fails within a few
months of buying it.

Why do people swear by this means of shopping

Things may be cheap(er) but if they are useless and you have limited
(practical) means to get redress, what's the point?

Gimme the pound shop any day, at least I can take things back :-)

tim




I buy from Amazon (direct - as in I almost always choose the "despatched
by Amazon" items) because:

1) The delivery is bullet proof. If I'm out, they leave the product where
I tell them to;

2) Or I can choose locker or one of the collection points;


This isn't about delivery. It's about the quality of the product

3) I can read the reviews. I've not been let down much but doing it that
way - I've had more duff purchases from bricks and mortar stores;


Most reviews are posted within 48 hours of the purchase

how many sites allow you to go back and say "after six months this product
stopped working"


4) Returns are simple for the first month;

5) They sell things that would be impossible to get in my nearest large
town and I don't have to waste all day driving and parking.

Yep, that's why I have bought the items this way.

But I still think that I am entitled for them not to fail after 5 months.

This of course does not apply to Amazon market place sellers, only stuff
dispatched by Amazon. Nor ebay - who I do use for the odd weird and small
thing.


Big purchases like TVs and washing machines, I do tend to go to John Lewis
or a specialist Miele place as the price is usually better and I can have
a good look at it first - so fair's fair.

The problem is with no-name products

I wouldn't even consider buying a no-name TV, mail order. I might just buy
it in a high street major.

tim

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
news
On 20/04/17 12:28, tim... wrote:


"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
news
On 20/04/17 11:19, tim... wrote:
Not for the first time, nor for the second, do I find that my (from a
very limited sample) recent purchase is either CFU or fails within a
few
months of buying it.

Why do people swear by this means of shopping

Things may be cheap(er) but if they are useless and you have limited
(practical) means to get redress, what's the point?

Gimme the pound shop any day, at least I can take things back :-)

tim


Nothing I have ever sent backl to aasmazon hasnt been either replaced
or refunded as a matter of courese.

after 5 months?

After 18 months actually. In the case of the longest one.


or because it doesn't work as well as an "original" replacement when it
was clearly described as not an original replacement (and priced
accordingly). I was prepared for it to not be as good as an original
replacement - but it performed worse that the worn out original item I
was looking to replace.


I accidental;y ordered a TV wall bracket for a friend and it turned out
the TV had unusually wide fittings, so it went straight back no problem
Even postage was refunded.. My mistake. I should have double checked.

Ebay? well generally iof you push you can get a refund there too.

But ebay is caveat emptor,

HOWEVER the last 2 items I got from ebay to repair the lefthand side
sockets on my laptop (where it fell off onto the floor) were 100%
perfect.

The thing I should have taken back was the totally crap office chair I
got from staples, but that is a 45 mile round trip. Utter crap. Beyond
utter crap actually.

Well I wouldn't buy that sort of thing untested

How can you test iit?
you have to put it together first.,

don't they have samples in the shop to try out?

tim

On 21/04/17 12:35, tim... wrote:


"Tim Watts" wrote in message
news
On 20/04/17 11:19, tim... wrote:
Not for the first time, nor for the second, do I find that my (from a
very limited sample) recent purchase is either CFU or fails within a few
months of buying it.

Why do people swear by this means of shopping

Things may be cheap(er) but if they are useless and you have limited
(practical) means to get redress, what's the point?

Gimme the pound shop any day, at least I can take things back :-)

tim




I buy from Amazon (direct - as in I almost always choose the
"despatched by Amazon" items) because:

1) The delivery is bullet proof. If I'm out, they leave the product
where I tell them to;

2) Or I can choose locker or one of the collection points;


This isn't about delivery. It's about the quality of the product

3) I can read the reviews. I've not been let down much but doing it
that way - I've had more duff purchases from bricks and mortar stores;


Most reviews are posted within 48 hours of the purchase

how many sites allow you to go back and say "after six months this
product stopped working"


4) Returns are simple for the first month;

5) They sell things that would be impossible to get in my nearest
large town and I don't have to waste all day driving and parking.

Yep, that's why I have bought the items this way.

But I still think that I am entitled for them not to fail after 5 months.

This of course does not apply to Amazon market place sellers, only
stuff dispatched by Amazon. Nor ebay - who I do use for the odd weird
and small thing.


Big purchases like TVs and washing machines, I do tend to go to John
Lewis or a specialist Miele place as the price is usually better and I
can have a good look at it first - so fair's fair.

The problem is with no-name products

I wouldn't even consider buying a no-name TV, mail order. I might just
buy it in a high street major.

I wouldnt buy it period without having read online many many positive
reviews.


tim





--
"In our post-modern world, climate science is not powerful because it is
true: it is true because it is powerful."

Lucas Bergkamp

On 21/04/17 12:41, tim... wrote:


"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
news
On 20/04/17 12:28, tim... wrote:


"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
news On 20/04/17 11:19, tim... wrote:
Not for the first time, nor for the second, do I find that my (from a
very limited sample) recent purchase is either CFU or fails within
a few
months of buying it.

Why do people swear by this means of shopping

Things may be cheap(er) but if they are useless and you have limited
(practical) means to get redress, what's the point?

Gimme the pound shop any day, at least I can take things back :-)

tim


Nothing I have ever sent backl to aasmazon hasnt been either replaced
or refunded as a matter of courese.

after 5 months?

After 18 months actually. In the case of the longest one.


or because it doesn't work as well as an "original" replacement when it
was clearly described as not an original replacement (and priced
accordingly). I was prepared for it to not be as good as an original
replacement - but it performed worse that the worn out original item I
was looking to replace.


I accidental;y ordered a TV wall bracket for a friend and it turned
out the TV had unusually wide fittings, so it went straight back no
problem Even postage was refunded.. My mistake. I should have double
checked.

Ebay? well generally iof you push you can get a refund there too.

But ebay is caveat emptor,

HOWEVER the last 2 items I got from ebay to repair the lefthand side
sockets on my laptop (where it fell off onto the floor) were 100%
perfect.

The thing I should have taken back was the totally crap office chair I
got from staples, but that is a 45 mile round trip. Utter crap. Beyond
utter crap actually.

Well I wouldn't buy that sort of thing untested

How can you test iit?
you have to put it together first.,

don't they have samples in the shop to try out?

Assuming that they conform to what is in the box, sort of.

In this case the screws that hold the seat on are so long they poke
through the totally inadequate foam padding to become a literal pain in
the rectum.

The shop one didn't have such long screws. And the fact that the back
starts to wobble after a few hours isn't apparent either

Basically with the flimsy A4 filing cabinet I bought that is not even as
substantial as Fiat bodywork, staples can **** off forever as far as I
am concerned.

In short I get a better shopping experience online than in any 'high
street;' or retail park, with one notable exception.

Books.

E books are a complete failure as far as I am concerned because DRM
makes it impossible to use them in the way I'd like, on loads of
different devices.



tim





--
"In our post-modern world, climate science is not powerful because it is
true: it is true because it is powerful."

Lucas Bergkamp

On Fri, 21 Apr 2017 13:08:29 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

E books are a complete failure as far as I am concerned because DRM
makes it impossible to use them in the way I'd like, on loads of
different devices.

You're doing it wrong, then. Try Google Play, for a start.

And O'Reilly.
--
My posts are my copyright and if @diy_forums or Home Owners' Hub
wish to copy them they can pay me £1 a message.
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK: http://www.mirrorservice.org
*lightning surge protection* - a w_tom conductor

On Fri, 21 Apr 2017 13:36:39 +0000, Huge wrote:

On 2017-04-21, Bob Eager wrote:
On Fri, 21 Apr 2017 13:08:29 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

E books are a complete failure as far as I am concerned because DRM
makes it impossible to use them in the way I'd like, on loads of
different devices.

You're doing it wrong,

Well, obviously. Too stupid to run calibre, I guess.

You don't even need Calibre for Google Play books!

(although it was good for converting my Kindle collection)
--
My posts are my copyright and if @diy_forums or Home Owners' Hub
wish to copy them they can pay me £1 a message.
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK: http://www.mirrorservice.org
*lightning surge protection* - a w_tom conductor

On 21/04/17 14:02, Bob Eager wrote:
On Fri, 21 Apr 2017 13:08:29 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

E books are a complete failure as far as I am concerned because DRM
makes it impossible to use them in the way I'd like, on loads of
different devices.

You're doing it wrong, then. Try Google Play, for a start.

Does that have a standalone Linux version?
It seems to e a store selling online services and apps for android.. I
dont want a store selling online services Or apps for Android. I want to
download and tread by Ebooks off line. On linux..


And O'Reilly.

I dont want to read O'reilly books thank you.

My challenge to you would be to find a way to download store and read
say Dorothy L sayers 'strong poison' legally and read it off line on a
linux laptop.



--
€œit should be clear by now to everyone that activist environmentalism
(or environmental activism) is becoming a general ideology about humans,
about their freedom, about the relationship between the individual and
the state, and about the manipulation of people under the guise of a
'noble' idea. It is not an honest pursuit of 'sustainable development,'
a matter of elementary environmental protection, or a search for
rational mechanisms designed to achieve a healthy environment. Yet
things do occur that make you shake your head and remind yourself that
you live neither in Joseph Stalins Communist era, nor in the Orwellian
utopia of 1984.€�

Vaclav Klaus

On 21/04/17 15:02, Bob Eager wrote:
On Fri, 21 Apr 2017 13:36:39 +0000, Huge wrote:

On 2017-04-21, Bob Eager wrote:
On Fri, 21 Apr 2017 13:08:29 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

E books are a complete failure as far as I am concerned because DRM
makes it impossible to use them in the way I'd like, on loads of
different devices.

You're doing it wrong,

Well, obviously. Too stupid to run calibre, I guess.

Which shows how stupid Huge is.

Of course I run calibre,and have been for 5 yeras, but when I buy ebooks
I don't get the book do I? I get a link to some weird **** that only
allows me to download it onto e.g. a kindle, and its encrypted anyway,.

You don't even need Calibre for Google Play books!

Are they DRM free and fully readable offline?


(although it was good for converting my Kindle collection)



--
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's
too dark to read.

Groucho Marx

On Fri, 21 Apr 2017 15:40:36 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

On 21/04/17 14:02, Bob Eager wrote:
On Fri, 21 Apr 2017 13:08:29 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

E books are a complete failure as far as I am concerned because DRM
makes it impossible to use them in the way I'd like, on loads of
different devices.

You're doing it wrong, then. Try Google Play, for a start.

Does that have a standalone Linux version?
It seems to e a store selling online services and apps for android.. I
dont want a store selling online services Or apps for Android. I want to
download and tread by Ebooks off line. On linux..

You're reading it wrong.

It sells real e-books. You must have missed that. In epub format.

Here are four ebook readers for Linux. Just to give you a choice. I don't
use Linux, so I can't speak for all of them, but I use Calibre elsewhere.
It even reads DRM-protected Kindle books.



--
My posts are my copyright and if @diy_forums or Home Owners' Hub
wish to copy them they can pay me £1 a message.
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK: http://www.mirrorservice.org
*lightning surge protection* - a w_tom conductor

On Fri, 21 Apr 2017 15:40:36 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

On 21/04/17 14:02, Bob Eager wrote:
On Fri, 21 Apr 2017 13:08:29 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

E books are a complete failure as far as I am concerned because DRM
makes it impossible to use them in the way I'd like, on loads of
different devices.

You're doing it wrong, then. Try Google Play, for a start.

Does that have a standalone Linux version?
It seems to e a store selling online services and apps for android.. I
dont want a store selling online services Or apps for Android. I want to
download and tread by Ebooks off line. On linux..


And O'Reilly.

I dont want to read O'reilly books thank you.

My challenge to you would be to find a way to download store and read
say Dorothy L sayers 'strong poison' legally and read it off line on a
linux laptop.

https://play.google.com/store/books/details/
Dorothy_L_Sayers_Strong_Poison?id=gyNdf7HGIpsC




--
My posts are my copyright and if @diy_forums or Home Owners' Hub
wish to copy them they can pay me £1 a message.
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK: http://www.mirrorservice.org
*lightning surge protection* - a w_tom conductor

On Fri, 21 Apr 2017 15:43:00 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

On 21/04/17 15:02, Bob Eager wrote:
On Fri, 21 Apr 2017 13:36:39 +0000, Huge wrote:

On 2017-04-21, Bob Eager wrote:
On Fri, 21 Apr 2017 13:08:29 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

E books are a complete failure as far as I am concerned because DRM
makes it impossible to use them in the way I'd like, on loads of
different devices.

You're doing it wrong,

Well, obviously. Too stupid to run calibre, I guess.

Which shows how stupid Huge is.

Of course I run calibre,and have been for 5 yeras, but when I buy ebooks
I don't get the book do I? I get a link to some weird **** that only
allows me to download it onto e.g. a kindle, and its encrypted anyway,.

That would explain why I've downloaded hundreds of ebooks from Amazon and
from Google Play and loaded them into Calibre, then downloaded them onto
an ebook reader that isn't linked to any online account, then. Without
doing anything special.




--
My posts are my copyright and if @diy_forums or Home Owners' Hub
wish to copy them they can pay me £1 a message.
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK: http://www.mirrorservice.org
*lightning surge protection* - a w_tom conductor

On 4/21/2017 12:35 PM, tim... wrote:



3) I can read the reviews. I've not been let down much but doing it
that way - I've had more duff purchases from bricks and mortar stores;


Most reviews are posted within 48 hours of the purchase

how many sites allow you to go back and say "after six months this
product stopped working"


Amazon, for one.

On 21/04/17 17:54, newshound wrote:
On 4/21/2017 12:35 PM, tim... wrote:



3) I can read the reviews. I've not been let down much but doing it
that way - I've had more duff purchases from bricks and mortar stores;


Most reviews are posted within 48 hours of the purchase

how many sites allow you to go back and say "after six months this
product stopped working"


Amazon, for one.
In my case a year. I got a free upgrade on conditons Id say nice things
about the new product. Its been a year and its still works so maybe I
should...


--
A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on
its shoes.

On 21/04/17 16:53, Bob Eager wrote:
On Fri, 21 Apr 2017 15:40:36 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

On 21/04/17 14:02, Bob Eager wrote:
On Fri, 21 Apr 2017 13:08:29 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

E books are a complete failure as far as I am concerned because DRM
makes it impossible to use them in the way I'd like, on loads of
different devices.

You're doing it wrong, then. Try Google Play, for a start.

Does that have a standalone Linux version?
It seems to e a store selling online services and apps for android.. I
dont want a store selling online services Or apps for Android. I want to
download and tread by Ebooks off line. On linux..

You're reading it wrong.

It sells real e-books. You must have missed that. In epub format.


But full of DRM. Or notr woryth buying.

You guys think yiu are ahead, but you aint caught oin toi teh full horror.


Here are four ebook readers for Linux.

Where?

I already have two that work perfectly well. For un DRMed unencrypted Epubs.

That I cant buy.

Just to give you a choice. I don't
use Linux, so I can't speak for all of them, but I use Calibre elsewhere.
It even reads DRM-protected Kindle books.



No, it doesn't. You cant even download them except into a kindle. I tried.





--
A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on
its shoes.

On 21/04/17 16:54, Bob Eager wrote:
On Fri, 21 Apr 2017 15:40:36 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

On 21/04/17 14:02, Bob Eager wrote:
On Fri, 21 Apr 2017 13:08:29 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

E books are a complete failure as far as I am concerned because DRM
makes it impossible to use them in the way I'd like, on loads of
different devices.

You're doing it wrong, then. Try Google Play, for a start.

Does that have a standalone Linux version?
It seems to e a store selling online services and apps for android.. I
dont want a store selling online services Or apps for Android. I want to
download and tread by Ebooks off line. On linux..


And O'Reilly.

I dont want to read O'reilly books thank you.

My challenge to you would be to find a way to download store and read
say Dorothy L sayers 'strong poison' legally and read it off line on a
linux laptop.

https://play.google.com/store/books/details/
Dorothy_L_Sayers_Strong_Poison?id=gyNdf7HGIpsC




Ok, so how do I download it and read it off line on a linux box then?

All I managed to do was read it online.


--
Canada is all right really, though not for the whole weekend.

"Saki"

On 21/04/17 16:56, Bob Eager wrote:
On Fri, 21 Apr 2017 15:43:00 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

On 21/04/17 15:02, Bob Eager wrote:
On Fri, 21 Apr 2017 13:36:39 +0000, Huge wrote:

On 2017-04-21, Bob Eager wrote:
On Fri, 21 Apr 2017 13:08:29 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

E books are a complete failure as far as I am concerned because DRM
makes it impossible to use them in the way I'd like, on loads of
different devices.

You're doing it wrong,

Well, obviously. Too stupid to run calibre, I guess.

Which shows how stupid Huge is.

Of course I run calibre,and have been for 5 yeras, but when I buy ebooks
I don't get the book do I? I get a link to some weird **** that only
allows me to download it onto e.g. a kindle, and its encrypted anyway,.

That would explain why I've downloaded hundreds of ebooks from Amazon and
from Google Play and loaded them into Calibre, then downloaded them onto
an ebook reader that isn't linked to any online account, then. Without
doing anything special.


What did you download them with?
How did you break the DRM?
Was it on Linux?

I got fed up with wasting pounds of money on books it turned out I
couldn't download or read.





--
Canada is all right really, though not for the whole weekend.

"Saki"

On Fri, 21 Apr 2017 23:16:07 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

Just to give you a choice. I don't
use Linux, so I can't speak for all of them, but I use Calibre
elsewhere.
It even reads DRM-protected Kindle books.

No, it doesn't. You cant even download them except into a kindle. I
tried.

Install the plugin. Use Google to find it.

You can download them. But you will need a Windows machine temporarily,
install the Windows Kindle application and you'll get the files. I know
this is a kludge, but I only needed it once, after which I stopped using
Amazon anyway. I buy all my ebooks elsewhere now, and they are all DRM-
free epubs.
--
My posts are my copyright and if @diy_forums or Home Owners' Hub
wish to copy them they can pay me £1 a message.
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK: http://www.mirrorservice.org
*lightning surge protection* - a w_tom conductor

On Fri, 21 Apr 2017 23:20:39 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

What did you download them with?

Go to the website, select 'My Books', and click the little 3 dot options
bit on the book. Select 'Download EPUB'.

How did you break the DRM?

Sometimes it downloads a DRM-free epub, sometimes it gives you an ACSM
file. You need to install Adobe Digital Editions (Win or Mac). It will
take the ACSM file and give you an EPUB file. Read that one anything -
it's just a bunch of HTML and image files.

So it's a faff, but I do it all the time. Really simple after the first
time!


--
My posts are my copyright and if @diy_forums or Home Owners' Hub
wish to copy them they can pay me £1 a message.
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK: http://www.mirrorservice.org
*lightning surge protection* - a w_tom conductor

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
news

On 20/04/17 14:24, GB wrote:
On 20/04/2017 14:20, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
and the Boots bathroom scales that I
fixed a year ago or so. They have gone wrong again in a creatively new
way, and this time they are in the ****ing bin.

How annoying! Didn't you buy a whole pack of 50 whotsits to fix it? What
did you do with the other 49?


Still available to anyone who wants a trembler switch.

The thing comes on now, but when all four sensors are pressed it says ERR
and switches off.

To be fair, I often do that with some posts.

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 21/04/17 16:53, Bob Eager wrote:
On Fri, 21 Apr 2017 15:40:36 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

On 21/04/17 14:02, Bob Eager wrote:
On Fri, 21 Apr 2017 13:08:29 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

E books are a complete failure as far as I am concerned because DRM
makes it impossible to use them in the way I'd like, on loads of
different devices.

You're doing it wrong, then. Try Google Play, for a start.

Does that have a standalone Linux version?
It seems to e a store selling online services and apps for android.. I
dont want a store selling online services Or apps for Android. I want to
download and tread by Ebooks off line. On linux..

You're reading it wrong.

It sells real e-books. You must have missed that. In epub format.


But full of DRM. Or notr woryth buying.

You guys think yiu are ahead, but you aint caught oin toi teh full horror.


Here are four ebook readers for Linux.

Where?

I already have two that work perfectly well. For un DRMed unencrypted
Epubs.

That I cant buy.

Just to give you a choice. I don't
use Linux, so I can't speak for all of them, but I use Calibre elsewhere.
It even reads DRM-protected Kindle books.



No, it doesn't. You cant even download them except into a kindle. I tried.






I prefer dead trees, no arguments about who reads them and the storage
problem makes you very discerning about those you buy.