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Official Alan supplier to the BBC...and shipping transactions gone horribly awry
So the useless computer software that I ranted about below is finally redeeming itself, it seems. After I don't even know how many attempts I finally succeeded in creating my first DVD from a VHS tape. The DVD I put together was a collection of some short films from early in Alan's career. The resultant video still looked like second (or even third) generation VHS, but I was satisfied in that it would at least maintain this quality significantly longer than it would on VHS format.
Although it was never my original intention, I thought there would be no harm in making a copy to put up for sale on eBay, to try to recoup some of the cost of the software and certainly the countless hours of my personal time wasted struggling with said software. I did so, and the bidding took off like wildfire (which was quite satisfying after I recently had to let a brand new leather jacket go for a song because I couldn't get the original price I wanted for it). I was a little skittish about copyright laws and whatnot, but as the films were taped off TV I really didn't see the difference in me selling them as opposed to how I bought the original copy of them.
The bidding closed at $51 (holy shit! said I), and then I felt generous (greedy) and offered a second copy to the runner-up bidder, whose top bid was $50 (because I am personally familiar with the heartbreak of losing by only $1). I got an email back from the runner-up thanking me for the opportunity and asking about shipping to the U.K. Which was all well and good until I noticed the fancy signature line at the bottom of the note, declaring the author a "BBC Researcher." ::::gulp:::: The BBC? The very people my little disc was copied from. I cursed my lot in life and raised my fists to the Heavens.....Why God, why? Of all people, WHY did the runner-up have to be a BBC employee????
With slightly shaky hands, I typed a response, deciding to take the blunt approach and asking, "I am a little nervous about your affiliation with the BBC. Are you planning to sue me?" Thank God she wrote back about 10 minutes later, because the suspense was absolutely killing any chance of concentrating on my work. She reassured me about the "s" word (as she put it) and explained that she was working on a film tribute to Julie Walters (who happens to be in one of the shorts with Alan, "Bathtime," very briefly) for BAFTA. For those who don't know, BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) I believe is the British equivalent of the Academy Awards people. She said she had to look at material and pick out suitable clips for the tribute, but it was very hard to find older material without paying "extortionate reproduction fees" (I just love how the English talk!) She signed off "God bless the collectors!" and I was put much more at ease. I was confused as to why the BBC needed to find private collectors when the material was originally owned by them, and my British friend Jeff explained that the BBC foolishly taped over their archives when they ran out of tape, thinking no one would ever want to see that stuff again, so now all the old episodes of shows like "Doctor Who" and "Top of the Pops" are lost forever except for what exists in personal collections. Silly, silly BBC!
Because I am so damned scrupulous I offered her the disc at a lower price, since the quality was horrid and Julie Walters was only on it for about 3 minutes, but she wasn't too concerned since the BBC was covering her expenses. I put in a good word for Alan by suggesting that maybe someday BAFTA could make a tribute to him and then she would need the rest of the material (don't worry, Alan baby....gotcha covered :::wink, wink:::) She responded that anything is possible and finished with the comment that now she knew where to come for any additional Alan Cumming footage. You heard it here first....I am now the BBC's official Alan Cumming supplier. I hope this means that an arranged meeting with him is imminent.
So we completed the transaction and I went across the street to my neighborhood Mailbox Stop to ship it off to Merry Olde. The problem with this idea was the place is being taken over by a young Asian man who has absolutely no idea what he is doing. He took one look at the address on the package and said, "Uh-oh....I don't know how to ship internationally." Okay, probably NOT the best thing to say if you want to inspire confidence in your customers. He tried to call the previous owner for instructions but she didn't answer the phone. To my dismay, he decided he would try to muddle through anyway on his own. After spending an intolerable amount of time entering all my personal information in the computer (which, a.) I have been going in there for over a year now and have never been asked for this, and b.) demonstrates the very arrogant assumption that my information needed to be stored for future visits, which, as you will see from this visit's outcome, was not at all a safe assumption to make) he finally turned his attention to the destination of the package. He recognized that the United Kingdom was the country, recognized the zip code and that London was the city, then asked me with a perfectly straight face, "Do they have states in England?" Ummmmm.....perhaps a career in the packaging and shipping industry wasn't the wisest choice, what do you think?
After an endless period of typing that would have made a travel agent proud, he finally got the address in the computer correctly (I hoped....I say this because he actually said to me, "I hope I did this right!" Again, NOT the best thing to say in front of, let alone TO, a customer) He then tried to tell me that the cheapest delivery rate he had was $25 for US Postal Air Mail. $25? Is that AMERICAN dollars? For a tiny less than 1 pound CD-sized package? When he saw the alarm on my face he tried once again to ring up the previous owner. After again having no luck, he suggested he hold my package until he could ask her about it, then he would call me back and I could return to finish the transaction. I made it clear that there was no way on God's green earth I was paying $25 to mail this tiny little package, and he said, "Well, she might know something I don't." I thought to myself, Son, I know more about this place than you do. I told him I had a better idea. I would take my package with me (and with that I swiped it out of his hands) in case they COULDN'T do better than $25 and I had to go elsewhere. As I left he promised repeatedly to definitely call me and let me know.
Well, I drove straight to the post office (where I should have gone originally, obviously, but it is a little farther out of my way than across the street) where the whole transaction took less than 5 minutes and I was charged exactly $4 for shipping. And it is a damn good thing I didn't wait on him, because it is now 32 hours later and he still hasn't called me. I have to wonder if that is because he still can't get his question answered or he realized he completely, totally, in such a major way, blew the sale.
He has no idea who he is dealing with.
>:)
-=Lainey=-
Although it was never my original intention, I thought there would be no harm in making a copy to put up for sale on eBay, to try to recoup some of the cost of the software and certainly the countless hours of my personal time wasted struggling with said software. I did so, and the bidding took off like wildfire (which was quite satisfying after I recently had to let a brand new leather jacket go for a song because I couldn't get the original price I wanted for it). I was a little skittish about copyright laws and whatnot, but as the films were taped off TV I really didn't see the difference in me selling them as opposed to how I bought the original copy of them.
The bidding closed at $51 (holy shit! said I), and then I felt generous (greedy) and offered a second copy to the runner-up bidder, whose top bid was $50 (because I am personally familiar with the heartbreak of losing by only $1). I got an email back from the runner-up thanking me for the opportunity and asking about shipping to the U.K. Which was all well and good until I noticed the fancy signature line at the bottom of the note, declaring the author a "BBC Researcher." ::::gulp:::: The BBC? The very people my little disc was copied from. I cursed my lot in life and raised my fists to the Heavens.....Why God, why? Of all people, WHY did the runner-up have to be a BBC employee????
With slightly shaky hands, I typed a response, deciding to take the blunt approach and asking, "I am a little nervous about your affiliation with the BBC. Are you planning to sue me?" Thank God she wrote back about 10 minutes later, because the suspense was absolutely killing any chance of concentrating on my work. She reassured me about the "s" word (as she put it) and explained that she was working on a film tribute to Julie Walters (who happens to be in one of the shorts with Alan, "Bathtime," very briefly) for BAFTA. For those who don't know, BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) I believe is the British equivalent of the Academy Awards people. She said she had to look at material and pick out suitable clips for the tribute, but it was very hard to find older material without paying "extortionate reproduction fees" (I just love how the English talk!) She signed off "God bless the collectors!" and I was put much more at ease. I was confused as to why the BBC needed to find private collectors when the material was originally owned by them, and my British friend Jeff explained that the BBC foolishly taped over their archives when they ran out of tape, thinking no one would ever want to see that stuff again, so now all the old episodes of shows like "Doctor Who" and "Top of the Pops" are lost forever except for what exists in personal collections. Silly, silly BBC!
Because I am so damned scrupulous I offered her the disc at a lower price, since the quality was horrid and Julie Walters was only on it for about 3 minutes, but she wasn't too concerned since the BBC was covering her expenses. I put in a good word for Alan by suggesting that maybe someday BAFTA could make a tribute to him and then she would need the rest of the material (don't worry, Alan baby....gotcha covered :::wink, wink:::) She responded that anything is possible and finished with the comment that now she knew where to come for any additional Alan Cumming footage. You heard it here first....I am now the BBC's official Alan Cumming supplier. I hope this means that an arranged meeting with him is imminent.
So we completed the transaction and I went across the street to my neighborhood Mailbox Stop to ship it off to Merry Olde. The problem with this idea was the place is being taken over by a young Asian man who has absolutely no idea what he is doing. He took one look at the address on the package and said, "Uh-oh....I don't know how to ship internationally." Okay, probably NOT the best thing to say if you want to inspire confidence in your customers. He tried to call the previous owner for instructions but she didn't answer the phone. To my dismay, he decided he would try to muddle through anyway on his own. After spending an intolerable amount of time entering all my personal information in the computer (which, a.) I have been going in there for over a year now and have never been asked for this, and b.) demonstrates the very arrogant assumption that my information needed to be stored for future visits, which, as you will see from this visit's outcome, was not at all a safe assumption to make) he finally turned his attention to the destination of the package. He recognized that the United Kingdom was the country, recognized the zip code and that London was the city, then asked me with a perfectly straight face, "Do they have states in England?" Ummmmm.....perhaps a career in the packaging and shipping industry wasn't the wisest choice, what do you think?
After an endless period of typing that would have made a travel agent proud, he finally got the address in the computer correctly (I hoped....I say this because he actually said to me, "I hope I did this right!" Again, NOT the best thing to say in front of, let alone TO, a customer) He then tried to tell me that the cheapest delivery rate he had was $25 for US Postal Air Mail. $25? Is that AMERICAN dollars? For a tiny less than 1 pound CD-sized package? When he saw the alarm on my face he tried once again to ring up the previous owner. After again having no luck, he suggested he hold my package until he could ask her about it, then he would call me back and I could return to finish the transaction. I made it clear that there was no way on God's green earth I was paying $25 to mail this tiny little package, and he said, "Well, she might know something I don't." I thought to myself, Son, I know more about this place than you do. I told him I had a better idea. I would take my package with me (and with that I swiped it out of his hands) in case they COULDN'T do better than $25 and I had to go elsewhere. As I left he promised repeatedly to definitely call me and let me know.
Well, I drove straight to the post office (where I should have gone originally, obviously, but it is a little farther out of my way than across the street) where the whole transaction took less than 5 minutes and I was charged exactly $4 for shipping. And it is a damn good thing I didn't wait on him, because it is now 32 hours later and he still hasn't called me. I have to wonder if that is because he still can't get his question answered or he realized he completely, totally, in such a major way, blew the sale.
He has no idea who he is dealing with.
>:)
-=Lainey=-