A wasted day - the blight of Internet websites....

I wasted hours yesterday.

Digital voice recorder

I'm on the lookout for a camera - I'm probably the last person in the Western World to have a digital camera, so I started looking for one on the internet. I also want a digital voice recorder to help with writing - thought it was a good idea to look for one at the same time.

Website

I found a Sony camera and an Olympus recorder that would suit just fine - so far, so good. The next step was to order - always a bit dodgy - I wish websites were user-friendly. It annoys me when I have to prat about finding what I'm after. Why aren't they easy to navigate???

In my past life I designed digital control systems for a cement manufacturer, and it didn't matter how complex the underlying system was - if it wasn't absolutely simple to operate, I had a bollocking from the lads on the control desk....

I think someone should give website designers a bollocking.... Why are most of them so complicated?

At any rate, this was where I hit a MASSIVE stumbling block. After negotiating through the spiral of websites, not ONE of the British or American sites would mail the stuff to Spain - WHY NOT?

In the the past, I've had all sorts of goodies delivered from several different sites both in Britain and America, so why not these? I was absolutely pissed off in the end... Just what is it with these sites that stops them mailing a simple little camera and recorder to Spain? Does ANYONE know?

Emphasis on customer

One site in particular, angered me. It has outlets in numerous countries all over Europe, so you'd think this would be the one.... Not so. When it came time to press the accept button, it threw a wobbly and came up what was fast becoming a familiar sign - 'cannot deliver to this geographical location' .... WHY?

When I clicked on a little flag at the bottom of the page it sent me to their Spanish outlet site - with the same goodies - but it was written in Spanish - no translation - my Spanish is shit. WHY couldn't they have simply transferred the order, why put the emphasis on the customer.

They piss me off. What's happened to 'The customer is King', bit? Shouldn't they be trying to help customers, not put them off....

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