Greasing the Hog
I've been buying Bob & Brian albums for more than ten years now. For the first five or six years my annual tradition was to arrive at the Exclusive Company store in Brown Deer at 5am to hang out with the other lunatic fans there. This store was always the first on the autograph tour, so it tended to draw a crowd. We always challenged each other to be the first in line next year. Eventually, one particularly frigid and rainy November morning ended that tradition for me, after all I'd been living on 76th and Howard for a while. There's an Exclusive company RIGHT THERE!
Last year I tried ordering online, with mixed results. I felt funny waiting for the album when I could just go and get it, but I was able to order a box set with a copy of an album that I'd managed to ruin.
This year, someone at WHQG has their head up something warm and smelly.
1. They ditched the Exclusive Company. Obviously, this was a decision guided by little green bits of paper. But, come on! I've been buying this thing from the Exclusive Company for years. If you want the album this year you need to go to... The Charcoal Grill??? Can I buy the latest Metallica album there, too? Geez...
2. You can download the CD online. Cool, no wait right? I thought this was a great idea!
Pay attention to the fine print. I ordered the album and then went back to order the bonus tracks. On the second order, I noticed my mistake. Granted, the web dudes did place the warning on the page in nice, big, red letters. But, they still let you place an order that's doomed to failure. Take note, people: if you have a yahoo.com or charter.net email address you will not receive your download instructions! You will, however, be billed for your order. Thank you sir, may I have another? Somebody ought to have a talk with these radio promoters about their web gimmicks. This isn't the first time I've seen a "professional" web site that made me want to hurl.
Who hires a web developer that can take your credit card order, but can't write code to reject an invalid order based on a simple text search?
Maybe we could've tested a yahoo.com email address? They are pretty common.
Another note on the download: you get one shot at it. This one was dreamed up by lawyers, I imagine. If you get dropped or fail somehow there is a form where you can apply for one last try. Well, there's supposed to be a form. Click the link and you get an error message, I did anyway. Maybe I need to use Internet Explorer?
The Hog laid a big steaming pile this year.
Last year I tried ordering online, with mixed results. I felt funny waiting for the album when I could just go and get it, but I was able to order a box set with a copy of an album that I'd managed to ruin.
This year, someone at WHQG has their head up something warm and smelly.
1. They ditched the Exclusive Company. Obviously, this was a decision guided by little green bits of paper. But, come on! I've been buying this thing from the Exclusive Company for years. If you want the album this year you need to go to... The Charcoal Grill??? Can I buy the latest Metallica album there, too? Geez...
2. You can download the CD online. Cool, no wait right? I thought this was a great idea!
Pay attention to the fine print. I ordered the album and then went back to order the bonus tracks. On the second order, I noticed my mistake. Granted, the web dudes did place the warning on the page in nice, big, red letters. But, they still let you place an order that's doomed to failure. Take note, people: if you have a yahoo.com or charter.net email address you will not receive your download instructions! You will, however, be billed for your order. Thank you sir, may I have another? Somebody ought to have a talk with these radio promoters about their web gimmicks. This isn't the first time I've seen a "professional" web site that made me want to hurl.
Who hires a web developer that can take your credit card order, but can't write code to reject an invalid order based on a simple text search?
Maybe we could've tested a yahoo.com email address? They are pretty common.
Another note on the download: you get one shot at it. This one was dreamed up by lawyers, I imagine. If you get dropped or fail somehow there is a form where you can apply for one last try. Well, there's supposed to be a form. Click the link and you get an error message, I did anyway. Maybe I need to use Internet Explorer?
The Hog laid a big steaming pile this year.
posted by Aaron at 11:53 PM
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