I finally got my parts from 1st Look through UPS. It took them 6 days for second day mail. They claimed they tried to deliver it on the second day, but they left no note. They didn't try to deliver it on the third day at all. The fourth and fifth day were weekend, and the sixth day they managed to get it here. And they won't give me a refund on my shipping. They said "Yes, the driver should have left a note on Thursday, but oh well. Yes, we should have tried to deliver it on Friday, but oh well. No refund, because nothing is guaranteed during the holidays except first day."
Bastards...
Then, there's the buy.com thing. In this case, I'm not too mad at UPS... On the 23rd of November, I ordered a nice IBM hard drive for a great price. The shipping address was mislabled, so it couldn't be delivered. I sent buy.com a request on the 1st of December asking them to send a replacement. They received my drive back from UPS on the third of December. I got a reply on the 4th of December saying a claim had been filed. On the 9th of December, my order was reinstated. On the night of the 9th, I called and asked when they thought my order was shipped. After waiting on hold for two hours, they told me they didn't know. They said I couldn't cancel my order or get the shipping address changed. I've "imailed" (they don't have email support, only this weird web based form in which you can only enter 1000 characters) them multiple times, and each time the reply takes several days.... Since the 9th, my order has had the status of "processing." I don't know what's going on. I've called them back, they won't let me cancel or get the shipping address changed... So it's going to get sent to Berkeley and then BACK to buy.com, and with the speed these guys go, I probably won't see it until February. Do NOT buy from buy.com.
Bastards...
And finally... A $1700 check was supposedly mailed from MA on the 8th, to pay me back for the 'book which didn't happen. I still haven't gotten that first check. On the 18th I mailed the guy again, asking him to stop payment on the first check and send a new check via priority mail. On the 20th, he said he would do so if the check didn't come that day, which it didn't. I assume he sent out a new check... There's going to be a certain point where flying to MA and wringing this guys neck will be cheaper than waiting for the stinking check.
Bastard...
The other two things weren't the fault of anyone in particular, and I blame them on the holidays in general. But the point is, everything I've ordered since November 23rd has somehow gotten Fubar'd.
And it's really starting to piss me off.
And it all makes me afraid of ordering the DVD player I've been looking at, and until I get that $1700 check I can't order it anyway. At any rate, I've been looking at the Pioneer DV 525 from Best Stop Digital. If you've heard anything bad or good about these guys, let me know, because I've gotten paranoid.