The other night I did a 20 slides in five minutes presentation at BettaKultcha, which was held at Temple Works, Leeds.

I plan to write up my thoughts on being a benevolent dictator a little more soon. But, for now, here’s the slides (as pdf): BettaKulcha Presentation

Isn’t it weird how there are so many people who still feel that it is acceptable to parachute into a web conversation; tell people about their great product/service/idea and then leave again?

What a horrible practice — and how annoying it seems to those who spend time building relations with those who regularly take part in the discussions within that area! But… it’s an easy trap to fall into; the cynical might just think ‘if I blanket advertise it; I’ll get buy in’ — a slightly more targeted version of viagra spam emails. But I’m aware that I’ve done this from time to time — re-joining Flickr groups I was once (or never) a member of and promoting an event I thought they would really like to know about.

What I’ve since realised is — even though you would do this with every best intention — why not take your time and introduce yourself into the conversation first or at very least contact an administrator/moderator and ask them about your concept.

Discussions aren’t the place to blankly promote a service — just imagine how annoying you’d find it if, in a lull in a conversation at a party, that guy that’s just walked in the front door walks over and tries to sell you his used car/ insurance/ personal services? Even if he stood around long enough to ensure it was on topic — you’d still be a little less than excited by his arrival!

So… parachutists; learn to explore the terrain a little before erecting your billboard and getting airlifted out!

I always disliked Kwik Fit –in the past I’ve had cars they fitted the wrong exhaust on, parts that wore out fast and generally felt not at all satisfied.

But, being stuck with a tyre in need of replacement on a Sunday and they being the only place open I thought I’d give them a chance at redemption. So, I phoned up, explained the problem and stated the tyres I had on. I was assured they had them in stock but that they couldn’t see me for a couple of hours.

So, I wait around for 2 hours — not wanting to drive far in car and not having time to do much else — and then take the car over.

At which point they agreed the tyre needed replacing… but admitted that they didn’t have any in stock. So, having wasted time on a Sunday, still having no new tyre and now thinking Kwik Fit are completely crap. I think they just managed to put me off them for life.

All this could have been avoided by  properly listening to me and checking stock.

Following my last post about Sigma’s dodgy customer contentness factor — I’ve another whinge about them.

I sent my flash in to be repaired — and got back a POSTED letter for me to complete. Only, when sending it out, they didn’t bother to check they’d attached the correct quote… they hadn’t.

And now, despite them having my email address I am waiting for them to post out a second… so, don’t think I’ll be buying from Sigma again in a hurry.

But good stuff:

Last Friday I bought (‘won’) a Nikon SB24 flash on eBay. It arrived, from Japan, on Monday morning. Well done that seller.

Last weekend the brass ‘nipple’ for the fastening on my Billingham camera bag vanished. I was a bit upset as the bag was a present (and not cheap) — so I phone up today and the very nice man from Billingham offered to send me a replacement in the post. He even apologised that his post for today had already gone. And he told me how to attach it so it hopefully won’t fall off again. I know it shouldn’t have fallen off — but now it has done I’m re-assured by the great support they offer.

That said — I’m fancying a Lowepro Slingshot to make me look less like an old man.

Last year I bought a Sigma 500 DG ST flash and, whilst I wish I’d paid more attention to the marketing material and bought the more advanced product, the unit has generally been a good purchase.

Until, it went the way of all things slightly outside warranty — and failed.

So, trying to be a little green / penny saving, I thought I would get it repaired. This is where my first problem occurred — I found out that, if I send my flash in, I can expect to pay £10 — even if Sigma can’t fix it; or if they quote and it makes financial sense to replace rather than repair. Also they quote a figure to repair my flash at a little over 50% of the original cost of the unit (not excessively expensive, but enough to consider the repair/replace conundrum)

This being the case I dropped them an email; asking if my fault ‘sounded like’ other faults they had. To which I got an email stating they couldn’t tell me anything by email and to send the lens in to a listed address.

This is what bugged me. 

If you are going to reply to a customer, wouldn’t it be a good idea to actually talk to them in a way that re-assures them that you are a person with some level of understanding of the situation (or avoid any specifics at all).

I will probably still send my flash in to be repaired; but I now think somewhat less of Sigma than I did prior to the failure; and will think longer before buying equipment from them.