Early today, I checked the transactions summary of my credit card again to see if the promised refund from Dell has gone through. The good news is, it did. The bad news is that it is short by several dollars. I was erroneously charged $1,458.02 by Dell New Zealand Singapore but the amount they refunded was only $1,443.53 (that’s a difference of $14.49 plus the foreign currency conversion fee of $36.45 because the charge was made in Singaporean dollars. That came out to a total difference of $50.94).

Meanwhile, I have yet to receive the laptop that I ordered from Dell Australia. The delivery status as reflected on the order tracking system in their website reports a status of “futile delivery” last Friday afternoon. There’s no other information available and I assumed that the failed delivery happened on the courier’s warehouse after it has been checked out of Customs. So I didn’t call them straight away. After all, the estimated delivery date yesterday morning was February 27. Perhaps they’ll delivery it in the afternoon?

The day ended yesterday with no calls from the courier nor any shadow of a delivery man carrying a Dell box. Early this morning, I checked the status again. There were no further updates since the “futile delivery” on the 24th and the estimated delivery date has changed to today. I sent out an email to the sales rep. and told her about the refund being short and the delayed delivery. She called me on my mobile within an hour and said she’ll refund the difference to my credit card (I just hope she remembers to make it out in Australian instead of Singaporean dollars) and then gave me a number where I could check on the delivery status of my order.

I rang the number and finally got a live person who told me that the failed delivery might have been because there was nobody home to receive the goods. I replied that the delivery address is my office and that there is always a receptionist manning the front desk. That flustered her a bit and she put me on hold. When she came on again, it was to say that she’ll have the delivery re-scheduled this Thursday afternoon. Would that be okay? I asked if she could have it delivered tomorrow? Nope, saying something about a cut-off time.

Okay then, how about have the courier call me beforehand so I could receive the laptop? Sorry, they don’t do that service (this, even if they have a “Call Required Before Delivery” tick box in their order form). The best they could do is call a few days beforehand. Yes, and yet I didn’t get a call at all when they allegedly delivered my order last Friday. In fact, I could categorically say that the couriers NEVER called me at all, how ’bout that?

The lady said she’ll organise the delivery to be made on Thursday afternoon and said she’ll call me back once she has everything arranged. An hour later, I got another call from Dell from yet another cog in the wheel. The lady at the other end of the line asked if I ever got a call from the couriers? No. She’ll arrange the delivery to be made on Thursday, is that alright? Yes, in the afternoon? Her answer was, “anytime from 9AM-5PM on Thursday.” She proceeded to let me know that they don’t have any control on what time the delivery would be made. Aha, and yet the lady I talked to previously asked me if I want to have the thing delivered in the morning or the afternoon. I wonder, was that merely a rhetorical question?

Trying hard not to scream, I calmly enquired whether they could be certain of a Thursday delivery. She said she’ll call me back tomorrow morning at the latest. By this time, I was wondering if I should yell at her or laugh hysterically. Having worked at a customer-service center previously, I did neither. I thanked her and hung up. What’s so difficult about scheduling a delivery anyway that they couldn’t do it while I am on the line? What’s with this inefficient process of calling the customer with no real results nor any new information? And what could have happened had I not called them checking on the status of the delivery? Why not publish the number to call in their website, perhaps something like “Futile delivery. Please call this number to re-schedule delivery”?

At this rate, I looks like it would take a miracle for the refund amount to be correct and receive the laptop on Thursday. Heck, I wouldn’t put it past them to deliver a totally different thing when they eventually get down to delivering it. I could just marvel at their incompetence and rant. Don’t think I’d make any phone orders through them ever again, thinking about it is already giving me another headache.

Meanwhile, I just noticed the slogan in my sales rep’s email signature - Our Passion is Delivering a Great Customer Experience. I think not. Certainly not by a long shot!

At last! After four days of having a dead phone line and, in effect, no Internet, we are connected again.

We came home Thursday night to discover that we couldn’t connect to the Internet through our broadband connection. At first I thought the problem was with the wireless router and the ADSL modem. After fiddling around with the settings, I finally tried to pickup the phone.

It was only then I realised that there was no dial-tone at all. I switched phone sets just to be sure it wasn’t just our usual phone. Nope. Still dead.

We could’ve called up our service provider, iiNet, but since we didn’t have a phone line to begin with, the only way to call them up was through my mobile. But, that wouldn’t happen.

We know from past experience and from other people’s that before you can talk to an actual person on their support number, you’ll have to wait an average of thirty minutes on hold. On a mobile phone, that would just be too expensive. We ended up waiting to call iiNet the next day instead.

In the morning of Friday, I gave iiNet a call and, as predicted, I had to hold for over thirty minutes before I got to speak with their support person. Fortunately, I could continue doing my work (programming) while waiting on the line.

I explained the problem to the support person. After taking in the details, she told me that it was possible to get somebody from Telstra (the company that actual owns the telephone copper lines here in Australia) to drop by our house later that day to check the problem out. She added that she’ll give me a call to let me know if I needed to go home so that there would be somebody to receive the Telstra technician. If it wasn’t going to be fixed by Friday evening, it’s possible that the technician could drop by on Saturday morning.

Friday ended with no call from the iiNet support person and our phone line was still dead. We figured that maybe the technician would drop by the next day. The problem was, Raquel and I was supposed to go all the way to Frankston to pick up a second-hand TV we won on eBay.

On the off chance a technician might suddenly drop by that Saturday morning, one of us had to stay at home. So, Raquel stayed while I had this near four-hour return car trip.

Raquel was bummed because she wanted to go out instead of being stuck at home. She was further bummed when no technician showed up to fix our dead phone line.

So we ended up having no phone and Internet access the whole weekend. What a downer.

Although I was hoping that the phone would get fixed today without any further intervention on our part, we decided to give iiNet another call anyway. Just to be sure.

After another thirty-odd-minute wait, I told the support person that even though we were told that the line would be fixed in 48 hours at most, our line is pretty much dead. The guy on the phone assured me that Telstra estimated the job would get done by 6 pm today.

I didn’t really believe him but what else was I to do. I just said thanks and hung up. All we could do was wait.

Even though I was at the office, I could still find out if we got our line back by dialing home. If I get the answering machine, then I would know that we have a phone connection again. At the time, when I call home, all I get is endless ringing — as if the line is okay but no phone was connected at our end.

A couple of hours after talking to the support guy, I gave our house a call and instead of a continuous ring, I got a busy signal instead. Woohoo! It wasn’t the answering machine but at least it wasn’t the expected continuous ringing.

I gave our house another call a few more hours later. “Hello, nobody is at home to take your call,” answered our answering machine. Yes! We have our phone line back and our Internet access!

At the end of the day, I didn’t get a phone call from neither the iiNet support or the Telstra technician. But we did get a card in our mailbox from the technician when we got home. We were hoping he’d say what the problem was but all we got was, “your phone line has been repaired.” A little more information would have been nice.

It didn’t matter. We have a dial-tone and I can surf on the Internet from home again.

Early yesterday morning, I got an email alert from my bank stating that there was a charge of almost 1.5k made to my credit card account. The email alert does not detail where the charge came from so I made a mental note to check it out later. It was nearly quitting time at work when I remembered the email alert and promptly logged on to the bank’s system to check my credit card transactions statement. Hmm… it looks like Dell Singapore has charged me 1.4k and since the amount was in a foreign currency, the bank also automatically tacked on a foreign currency conversion charge. Now, this amount debited to my account does not make sense at all since Dell Australia has already charged me for the laptop I ordered. Where did this mystery charge come from?

Although unlikely, I asked Gj if he ordered anything from Dell Singapore to attract the charge. He didn’t, which means Dell somehow stuffed up the billing for my yet-to-be-received notebook. I promptly called the sales representative I’ve ordered the thing from but she was busy with another customer. I left a message and waited for a call-back. A few minutes later, my mobile rang and it’s S- on the line.

S-: Hello Raquel, how are you today?

Me: Fine, how bout you?

S-: I’m fine.

Me: Good, I’ve called you because there seems to be a problem with the billing of the laptop I ordered from you last Monday. It looks like there was double-charging.

S-: How did you know that Dell was the one who made the mistake?

Me: Uhm, well, I’m looking at my credit card summary and there are two charges from Dell. One from Dell Australia, which is correct and another from Dell Singapore, which I don’t know what for plus a currency conversion charge because the charge seems to be in Singaporean dollars.

S-: Well, you shouldn’t be charged twice. Dell does not charge their customers twice for an order.

Me: I can see it in my credit card statement and I’m telling you that there’re two charges. I don’t know what happened there.

S-: Alright, it looks like our billing department may have made a mistake. Just send me a copy of that statement and I’ll forward it to them. Sorry for the inconvenience.

I asked for her fax number, hurriedly went on to print the credit card statement, composed a short fax cover letter describing the issue and sent everything to her.

On the way home, Gj and I are still fuming over the incorrect charge. Now we have to wait for Dell to resolve the issue, refund the money and then we have to talk to our bank to cancel the foreign conversion. Gahhh, maybe I should have just completed that laptop order over the internet and eliminated the human factor. Maybe then, I won’t have this problem. On the other hand, I rationalised that maybe the problem could have occurred either way anyway. There’re no guarantees that automating the order would have eliminated the need for someone in Dell’s billing section to doubly enter my credit card information to another system which may have caused the incorrect charge showing up in my credit card statement. Wonder if they have a fully integrated system in place or not?

When we got home, I immediately fired up the old desktop computer to see if Dell’s sales rep. has sent me an email confirming she got the fax. Problem is, there’s no internet connection. I’ve rebooted both the system and the modem, re-checked the settings of the modem before enlisting Gj’s help. He did more of the same with the same result - zilch internet connection. It wasn’t until he decided to connect to our ISP through dial-up that we found out the source of the problem, the phone line’s dead as a door nail. With no other way to call iiNet’s call center to ask what’s going on, we waited well after midnight hoping that the problem would go away by itself and we’d have our connection back. Well, that’s not exactly true as we could have used our mobiles to call their call center but with the usual 30-minute wait we’ll have to endure before we actually talk to someone, we figured it won’t be worth our dime. Curses, no way to check my email, surf and download Gj’s daily dose of podcasts. We very nearly had actual withdrawal symptoms.

Our phone connection didn’t magically resurrect itself this morning either so Gj reported the problem to iiNet. From what I gathered from him, the company promised to send out someone to check the line and report the fault to Telstra. Failing that, they would have to check our physical connection at home, meaning someone had to go home early to let them in. Bummer. Meanwhile, my inbox was filled with everything but a confirmation email from the rep. from Dell. I fired a quick email to her to confirm whether she got my fax and if there are any updates on the issue yet. Around noon, I got a short answer. She said they’ll refund me the unnecessary charges but did not elaborate if I still have to call my bank to have the foreign currency conversion fee cancelled or if they’ll take care of it as well. I suspect I’d still have to sort it out with the bank but that would have to wait until after the refund has been done (dunno when that will be).

As we say in the Philippines, abangan ang susunod the kabanata… (stay tuned for the next chapter…)

Federal Treasurer Peter Costello yesterday mentioned in a public speech that if you want to live in Australia, you have to follow the Australian rule of law. I’m fine with that. It’s what to be expected wherever you live, anyway.

But he also basically said that migrants should adopt Australian values or go home. “Before becoming an Australian, you will be asked to subscribe to certain values - if you have strong objections to those values, don’t come to Australia,” he said.

I somewhat agree that if you’re a migrant who wants to live in Australia, don’t expect to change the people here to follow the same way of life you used to have in your country of origin. And if you don’t like that, go back home. Fair enough?

I assume that the Treasurer is only targeting the small minority of extremist Muslims that may have migrated into our country. But the way he put it in his speech sounded like all migrants must adopt all Australian values — no exceptions — or get out.

But what exactly are these Australian values that the Treasurer spoke of? Is there a list so I can check if I have adopted every single one of them?

Let’s see. Australia is a democracy so I assume democratic values are part of this list of Australian values. We have fair laws, freedom of speech, assembly and worship, equality, tolerance and social justice. No problem there. I follow the law like any other Aussie and I certainly exercise my freedom of speech. I’m a Roman Catholic and I should be allowed that in a democracy. I treat others equally and fairly. I try to be tolerant of others’ beliefs and culture.

Looks like I get to stay in Australia.

But I have this suspicious feeling that some redneck Aussies would think that adhering to democratic values still wouldn’t mean I’ve adopted Australian values.

At the risk of being an arrogant prick, I believe I could speak and write English, albeit American English, fluently. In fact, I’m slightly peeved when the people here who grew up with English as their primary language make silly grammatical mistakes like “it’s hotting up” or label the Men’s toilet as “mens”. It should be “it’s heating up” because hot is not a verb — heat is. And it should be “men’s” not “mens” because “men” is already plural.

That probably wouldn’t be enough for some redneck Aussies though because I still wouldn’t be able to speak with an Aussie accent and use the slang. They’d also be offended that I know a second language and use it like when I talk to Raquel in Tagalog in private conversations. It can’t be helped. The best I can do is speak and write in English the way I know how.

How about other Aussie values? Aussies love sports like footy and cricket. I think I’ll be in trouble in this department as I’m not all that fond of sports even when I was still back in the Philippines. And what’s up with cricket? It takes too long and seems too slow for my taste.

A lot of Aussies seem to enjoy beer and wine a lot. Well, I don’t drink. I hate the taste of alcoholic beverages. Even when all my friends back in the Philippines started drinking San Miguel Beer, I stuck to drinking soft drinks. I just don’t get why anyone would prefer a bitter glass of beer over a sweet glass of Pepsi. So, if drinking is another Aussie value, then that’s another value I couldn’t adopt.

How about eating lamb? There was this TV commercial recently that eating lamb is the Aussie thing to do. Right now, I no longer eat meat that came from mammals not because of any religious conviction but because I now find eating such meat gross. Since lamb is a mammal, then I wouldn’t eat it. So, again, there’s another Aussie value I couldn’t live up to.

Sure, Mr Costello probably didn’t mean that people who don’t watch cricket, don’t speak with an Aussie accent and don’t eat lamb should leave the country. But it could be interpreted that way by redneck Aussies who want all migrants to forget the language and the culture of the country they left behind like magic.

I just don’t like where we’re headed right now. Already, people who are against multiculturalism are emboldened by the Treasurer’s speech. I just hope this wouldn’t incite future “Cronulla” riots.

Read here for further discussions about Multiculturalism and Peter Costello’s speech: The Age Blogs: Your Say

There’s a 20% Off Everything sale on Dymocks Melbourne CBD stores (only) starting today up to Sunday the 26th of February. Of course, it doesn’t really mean “everything”. The fine print excludes CDs, DVDs, videos and any existing specials.

So, if you’re from around Melbourne looking to buy some books, you may want to drop by the city and buy them off Dymocks.

The new Ashton CG44 Classical Guitar pack I won from eBay last week finally came in the office yesterday. I usually give my office address for online orders nowadays since nobody is ever at the house to receive an item when it’s delivered.

Needless to say, I was pretty excited to try it out. But, since I was in the office and I don’t play the guitar very well, I had to curb my enthusiasm until I got home. While in the office, I was still able to inspect the contents of the box at the very least.

First, here is the official specification for the Ashton CG44 Classical Guitar pack as written on Ashton’s website:

Fantastic value for anyone starting to explore the world of classical guitar. Based around Ashton’s rich-toned and resonant nylon stringed CG44 guitar, this pack also includes a sturdy gig bag for carrying your instruments to practice or performances, plus extra strings and picks. You’ll also get Ashton’s easy-to-follow Starter Pack Software, with lessons you can follow on your computer screen.

- CG44 Acoustic Guitar - Ashton Starter Pack Software includes Lessons, Tuner and Metronome - Gig Bag - Strap - Extra Strings and Picks

When I opened the box, I saw the guitar there in tip-top shape inside the cool gig bag (which would’ve cost an additional $20 if I bought it separately). Inside the gig bag pocket was the extra strings and picks as well as the manual. Also in the box was the strap and the Ashton Starter Pack Software in a CD.

What I was surprised to find missing was the guitar tuner and the metronome. For a moment, I thought I was swindled by the eBay seller. However, after another round of checking of the contents, I realised that the tuner and the metronome were indeed included. Except, instead of actual physical devices, they were software programs included in the CD.

The specs were a bit misleading but I can’t complain that the metronome and tuner weren’t there. And I thought I got myself a bigger bargain because it came with what I thought were physical metronome and tuner devices.

Another downer is the included Ashton Starter Pack software which was supposed to be a guitar lessons software that I could use to learn how to play the guitar. Don’t get me wrong, it works great. What I disliked about it is that it included only three lessons. You’d have to pay the makers of the software to unlock the rest of the lessons.

However, for the price I paid for it, even if the software was a disappointment and there wasn’t really a metronome and tuner included, I reckon it’s still good value for my money. Given another chance with the same budget, I’d still go for this pack again.

When I got home, I placed the guitar on my lap and quickly started to play some chords I’ve learned from when I was younger. It sounded very awful. I was hoping it came in tuned. I had no choice but to tune it first. Fortunately, I already kind of know how to tune a guitar.

I soon tuned the guitar and was able to play it like I did back in my younger days. That is, poorly. Now that I have a guitar, I can start learning how to play it. And by learning to play, I don’t mean just learning to play a few chords. In time, I hope to be able to serenade Raquel with it.

So, in summary, I’m very pleased with the guitar pack. Even though I found the software wanting, I’m quite happy with the guitar and the gig bag. Having extra strings and picks was a good bonus, too. If you are in search of a relatively cheap beginner’s guitar, I can recommend the Ashton CG44 Classical Guitar pack, for sure. Just keep in mind that you may want to buy a real metronome and guitar tuner afterwards as well as a full guitar method book or software.

Ever since we bought our new place, some people seem to think that hint dropping, joking and even openly inviting themselves to our place is a good idea. I don’t know if it’s only curiosity that’s driving such comments but I find them crass. I mean why in the world would you invite yourself to someone else’s home, especially if they barely know you, if you have some semblance of propriety?

People seem to think that we’re operating a guest room exclusively for them all of a sudden, somewhere to crash when they’re in town. Then there’re instances when acquaintances seem to think that our place would be ideal for an afternoon barbie with a bunch of friends. I wonder, when and where did we advertise our house to be a free hotel and park for anyone to use?

I vaguely remember a time when people would wait to be invited, understanding that it is a privilege, not a right. What’s with this pressure for us to invite you to our place? There’s nothing special about it - it’s a medium-sized house in the suburbs full of boxes and in desperate need of furniture we can’t afford to buy. Oh, I can hear it now, it’s okay, we could sit on the floor if need be. But that’s not exactly the point, is it? Or haven’t you gotten it yet? We’ll ask you over when we’re good and ready, and not a moment before.