So, 2 weeks ago I ordered a camera lens. Expected delivery in 1 to 3 weeks. Should be delivered to me sometime between this Friday and next Wednesday. Ordered through Amazon.
The way Amazon works, they don’t actually bill your credit card or account until they ship the product. So since I don’t know when the order is ready to ship,
I’ve been a subscriber to XM radio for about 5 years. Yeah, now they are XM/Serious (Anyone else read that and immediately think of that comedian ‘Yahoo Serious’?) In any case I generally like the service, and would recommend it for people, both who travel a lot, and for people who are interested in some of the covered genres of music and especially if those genres are not commonly available on local radio. An added advantage for some people is that most of the content on the satellite radio is also available across the Internet. Exceptions are generally reasonable, the result of license restrictions, but all in all they are a good service, and I generally recommend them for people traveling substantially.
On the other hand they can get expensive. I had 5 different radios, which came to something like $400 or $500 a year for a service I found I was listening to for about 40 min or so a day, 3 or 4 days a week. If I were driving cross country, or regularly found myself stuck in traffic, that might make sense, but I’m not.
Their biggest fault is one that is also a failing of commercial radio stations. Play lists. They have gotten better over the past year, but they are still far from perfect. I know two Taylor Swift songs. “Love Story” and “Tear Drops on my Guitar” I’m pretty sure that she has performed other music. But those two songs are pretty much the ones that I know are getting play time on XM. At least in the ‘The Blend’ channel. To be fair, they are not playing a ‘top 100′ list. They really do provide a good selection of multiple artists, and in general are a music provider I like a lot. But I decided I wanted to listen to an even more diverse collection of music.
About 2 weeks ago I pulled the radio in my car. Pandora has an application for my cell phone, and I can use some of the same wiring that I set up for my xm tuner to provide a hook up for my cell phone, so I don’t think I’m loosing anything critical at this time. I haven’t listened to XM in my apartment for over 3 months, and while walking or riding a bike, in over a year.
I received a notice from XM a while back that my credit card on record with them had expired, and perhaps I would like to call in and have the information updated. I decided that was my indication that it was time to close up the XM stuff. I may decide to re-subscribe at some point in the future. As I say I happen to like the service in general, but I’m not really satisfied right now, and the expense is a bit more than I would prefer.
This morning I checked my balance on my checking account, and saw that about what I was expecting to go out for my camera lens was gone. I was about to log out of that system when it occurred to me that I should see where the money went. I very much wanted and expected to see Amazon listed. After all, I’m pretty close to half way through the delivery window, and just about to the beginning of the projected delivery window. I was a bit surprised, and disappointed to see that the actual charge was for my XM subscription. Yeah, a bit upset. Amount the reasons for that is that I had hopes that the lens would show up in time for this weekend. And the funds available now are not going to cover that purchase. Now if they wait till Friday to ship, the funds will be there. But if they try shipping today or tomorrow, I’m likely to see my order canceled. and at best I can expect another 2 to 4 weeks before the order gets fulfilled. At least I don’t think I’m the only person waiting on the lens.
So I called up XM when they opened this morning, and canceled my service. I’m not as happy with that decision as I might be. But since they went ahead and charged an expired card for what is obviously a substantially amount, I’m not going to get too upset about canceling. Unfortunately the refund won’t be immediate. It’s going to be ‘A week to 10 days’ before I see my funds restored. Hey just in time for a convention, but not when I would prefer.
Ok, there is the possibility that Amazon could ship today. That they will bill me and my bank will cover the difference for 2 days, and charge me an added $35 for the privilege of doing that for me. In that case, the lens might show up Friday, and I will be able to use it over the weekend. I’m just not really holding my breath.
So, frustrated, and irritated. And wouldn’t be surprised if I become more frustrated, and further irritated later on today. We’ll see.
