My Experience In Purchasing Flowers Online

Well, first of all, this is not a sponsored post or advertisement but more of a personal experience on buying flowers online.

Few months ago, together with some friends, we decided to send flowers to our good friend on her birthday. Since it is my job to do the online purchase, I decided to go for Blooming Florist, the only online florist I know back then. However, I ended up very disappointed because my friends and I have to pay a hefty price for a bad service. My friend not only received her flowers on her BELATED birthday but only received it in the evening after I made a call to the customer service during lunch hour.

Then when I asked them why I can't trace my order online, they gave a silly reason saying that their tracking system couldn't trace order to Penang. I was upset because instead of apologizing for their inefficiency in the delivery, they gave a lot of excuses.

Recently I did another online purchase but definitely not Blooming Florist again because of their lack of professionalism and services. I don't want to even mention their bouquet arrangement.

This time I decided to consult from a friend, Tracy, first before I make another bad purchase online and she recommended Pure Seed Florist. Honestly, you'll be impressed by the pictures in the websites. I'm amazed too but again I'm a bit cautious this time after the previous bad experience. However, the florist, Winnie is very helpful, and they are very professional in flowers arrangement and providing great service especially in accommodating special request.

I am so impressed by them I want to share this in my blog. Whatever you see in the pictures are what you are going to get. They made the flowers arrangement look so expensive and elegant. Even the soft toys are of good quality. And the flowers are the freshest in town too.

finally HP said the desktop pc is ready

After my post yesterday, finally I have received a good news from HP this afternoon.

I did sent an email to the HP Marketing Manager (MM) yesterday asking the status of my prize, a HP Desktop PC which I won at the Window Vista Launch recently.

And today after failing to get the person in charge on the phone several times (I failed to get her on the phone yesterday too), I decided to call the MM himself. He told me that the PC is available for pickup.

I've just log on to my email and saw the MM's reply and he thought I already collected the PC.

I'm just glad that I called the MM or else the PC is going to sit at the office just because nobody cares to inform me (or should I say attend my enquiry).

I'm going to pick it up tomorrow and going to write a review about the desktop PC soon. Hopefully it's going to worth the wait.

complaint against UM library - part 2

I'm glad that the head librarian and head of customer service department paid attention to my comment the other day.

Although I'm not so satisfy with the answer given, saying that the librarian in charged had accidentally switched off the main power because he thought it was the air-con, at least they take the matter seriously. I've not gone back to the library in the evening to see if they have done any improvement.

Anyway, new semester reopen and I'll be spending a lot of time doing research in the library.

complaint against UM library

I am frustrated with the service offered in UM main library. Even though the library will be closed in 30 minutes, the librarians will start switching off lights and computers and ask students to leave.

I was particularly mad yesterday when one of the librarian purposely switched off the main power in one of the computer lab specially for postgrad. I was on my way out when suddenly the lights were out. Some students were doing their work and of course whatever they were doing or typing, all the data were gone! So rude! At that time, it was just 7.45 pm and the library will only be closed in 15 minutes. Or at least, the librarian should inform the students to save their data as he will close the main power. Even the promoters at shopping centre doesn't chase customers away 15 minutes before their premise is closed so that they have time to pack their stuff and switch off lights.

I've sent an email to the head librarian, the head of customer service and QAMU (Quality Assurance Management Unit) to complain about the matter.

Selamat pagi,

Saya merupakan seorang pascasizwazah ingin melahirkan perasaan kecewa tentang layanan yang diberikan kepada para pengguna di Makmal Komputer B.

Semalam (pada pukul 7.40pm, 21 Jun 2006) setelah diumumkan bahawa perpustakaan akan ditutup dalam masa 30 minit, seorang pustakawan (yang tidak akan saya nyatakan nama di sini) telah masuk ke Makmal Komputer B yang dikhaskan untuk pelajar pasca ijazah. Dengan nada yang tinggi, pustakawan tersebut memberitahu bahawa perpustakaan akan ditutup pada masa itu (sedangkan pengumuman mengatakan akan ditutup dalam masa 15 minit lagi). Saya mula meninggalkan bilik tersebut. Ketika saya melangkah keluar dari bilik berkenaan, pustakawan tersebut dengan sengajanya menutup suis bekalan yang terdapat di dalam Makmal Komputer B. Ini bermakna semua maklumat dalam komputer yang sedang digunakan oleh beberapa orang pelajar yang masih berada di dalam bilik itu telah hilang kerana suis bekalan elektrik telah ditutup tanpa pengetahuan mereka. Paling mengecewakan, pustakawan tersebut membuat seperti dia tidak sengaja berbuat demikian.

Para ketua pustakawan sekalian,
Ini bukannya kali pertama pustakawan berbuat demikian untuk "menghalau" (rasanya tidak berlebihan untuk saya mengatakan demikian) pelajar walaupun masa tutup perpustakaan belum sampai. Pustakawan harus bersikap lebih profesional dan Perpustakaan Utama Universiti Malaya harus menyediakan perkhidmatan yang baik kepada para pengguna. Seperti masa tutup yang dijanjikan iaitu pada pukul 8 pm, perpustakaan UM harus menyediakan perkhidmatan sehingga waktu berkenaan. Masa 30 minit (atau 15 minit sekalipun) sebelum masa tutup bukannya masa untuk pustakawan berkemas untuk pulang. Seperti pasar raya, promoter tidak akan menghalau pelanggan keluar 30 minit sebelum premis mereka ditutup dengan alasan mereka ingin mengemas barang atau menutup lampu untuk pulang.

Universiti Malaya ialah sebuah universiti bertaraf antarabangsa dan begitu juga dengan Perpustakaan Utama yang merupakan gedung ilmu dan tempat yang paling akrab dengan pelajar. Diharap para ketua pustakawan sekalian akan mengambil langkah yang sewajarnya untuk menyediakan perkhidmatan yang terbaik untuk para pengguna.

Sekian, terima kasih.

(not so) disappointed with Canon (anymore) pt. 3

Finally I have received calls and sms from Canon as soon as I placed a call to one of the customer service rep, Ms Lai (thank you!) and an email to the marketing department (Ms Ang, thank you too!).

Thanks to philters for the advice.

I am happy that they did take immediate action as I need the camera urgently for my field work. I'm not sure if their server was down the other day when I sent an email to their helpdesk. They claimed they did not receive my email.

Seriously there is still room to improve at Canon especially on machine repair and customer service. I'm not a photography enthusiast like my sis (who prefers Nikon) but I want an efficient service when my camera break down (as I need it for my job).

disappointed with Canon pt. 2

Disappointed with Canon

I have waited for my camera to be repaired for two weeks now (as promised by the customer service rep) and I still do not see the camera is ready in their "machine repair status " website.

I've sent them an email asking about the status of my camera but there was no reply or whatsoever. So my conclusion, slow service and slow respond by Canon. I think I wouldn't be so particular about this if I don't need to use the camera.

disappointed with Canon

I was rather disappointed with the services at Canon. I went to the branch in Shah Alam and had to wait for 15 minutes before it was my turn.

I know my IXUS II was rather outdated but I knew many people who's using the same model having problem with the display LCD as well. It was pretty frustrating because the screen is totally blackout. I was told by one of the customer service rep to wait for two weeks. Until now, even after 9 days, I couldn't see any changes to the status of my camera. I tried to login earlier on but the website was down.

I went to Nikon a week earlier to service my Sis's DSLR and I must say that the services offered there were so much better. I didn't have to wait for my queue and their service was fast (plus the reception is very friendly)! I was told to wait for 15 minutes for sensor-cleaning but they never keep me waiting for that long. Moreover, it is free.

I love the IXUS camera but I hope Canon can improve on their services (they need to learn to smile, too!).

an ex-user of Renu Multi-Purpose Solution

I am an ex-user of Bausch & Lomb's Renu Multi-Purpose Solution. I am not surprise when I read in The Star that this multi-purpose solution is causing fungal eye infection.

In December, I started facing problems with my contact lens. At first I thought it was the lens. I have been using Acuvue disposable lens (1-month) for many years and never have such problem until I started using the multi-purpose solution in that month. I have to change the lens just after two days of using them because I felt sharp pain in my eyes. Then I decided to stop using the solution to see if that's the cause to my problem. I was right.

I thought it was my eyes that were sensitive and not suitable in using the Renu brand. Now I know I was not alone. Hopefully our Ministry of Health will investigate and stop users from using them until they can prove the solution is safe for usage.

never trust an IT guy: part II

It seems that I finally know what is wrong with my pc now. The amount of money which I spent is not worth it at all because the problem is not with the power supply or the hardisk.

I came across a website which provide me with the solution.

pci.sys and ntfs.sys error messages when booting

"Recently I ran into an issue with a WinXP box booting up. I kept getting "pci.sys" errors…and if, after cold booting a few times, I was lucky enough to get past that error, I would get the "ntfs.sys" error. Turns out I had a bad memory card. Dropping in a new card resolved ALL issues."

So I'm going to get a new memory card and see if it works. Now, how much is the memory card...

Lesson learnt: In some cases, it is better to learn to solve the problem yourself rather than depending on people who make you pay extra for nothing.

never trust an IT guy

Recently my home PC broke down after I've installed Sims 2 game. When I restarted the computer, an error message came out as something like this: system32/drivers/pci.exe missing or corrupt file. It says that I have to restart the computer with the original Window Setup CD (which I don't have the original) and press 'r' to repair. I tried with the pirated ones but it just couldn't work.

So I called up an IT guy, Kee, whom I came to know about through an advertisement in The Star newspaper. As I need the PC urgently to do my work and I don't have time to do research and fix it on my own, I leave it to his expertise. He convinced me that something is wrong with my hardisk and I agreed to change a new one. He brought back the PC to his office to fix it. When my PC came back, he told me he changed the power supply as well (which he haven't even ask my permission or explain to me about the faulty yet). End up I have to forked out RM320.

I thought the PC was ok until today. About two weeks after the repair, it seems that my problem is back to square one. I'm facing the same problem again. I think I've been duped. I called the IT guy just now and told him the problem. I was patient (after a few classes of meditation) enough and in fact I was surprised I did not curse at him. I just told him that I'll look for somebody else to fix it instead of paying him another RM90 (could be more!) to come over and doing nothing.

I wonder if most IT guys are unethical and look for fast money...