Catching Up

Once again it has been awhile since I have posted something here, but it seems every few years I turn over a new leaf in my life and thus I create a new blog. In the past year I created a new blog called: The iPhone App Blog (www.TheiPhoneAppBlog.com) and most recently, in lieu of me graduating from college and my struggle to find a job in the production industry I have created a blog called "PA 2 DP"which will encompass my journey as a Production Assistant (PA) into becoming a Director of Photography (DP).

I realize I don't update this blog much, but I soon will. A majority of things I will post on this blog will more than likely refer to other things I have written on other website/blogs or be technological articles of random interest.

Chat with a Sales Rep to Recieve 20% Off - FAIL

I was looking for a web hoster ans when I attempted to check their payment plane, I was attacked with a pop-up asking me to login or to register, so I just packed out. Then I was again hit with "are you sure you want to leave? and then was given the opportunity to chat with a "sales assistant" and recieve 20% off any year payment plan. Here's the chat log:

Connecting to Agent...

You have been connected to Amber

Amber Says:Hey Wait! We would hate to see you go without seeing what's made us an Award Winning Host. So just this once we would like to offer you a special 20% discount. To take advantage of this one-time offer just CLICK HERE

Amber Says:When you are ready just say 'Hi' and we can get started....

You:Hi. I mainly want to see the payment plans without having to create an account

Amber Says:It's 20% off your order for ANY hosting plan with 1 or 2 year billing period! CLICK HERE

You:is there a montly pay plan for the Basic package?

Amber Says:Sorry i didn't quite understand your question, can you rephrase it please..?

You:for the Basic plan, is there a monlthy payment plan?

Amber Says:We accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and discover card.

Amber Says:So if you want to sign up with the 20% Discount offer, just CLICK HERE

You:that's not what I am asking

Amber Says:You can only receive this huge discount through me today, if you wish to claim your 20% Discount, simply CLICK HERE.

You:this is an automated "help" chat, no?

Amber Says:Remember this 20% Discount is only available today through this chat... We give you a 30-day money back guarantee too, so if you are not happy with our service for any reason, we will happily give you a full refund.

Amber Says:So this is risk-free hosting, with award winning hosts and for a hugely discounted price! So what have you got to lose? Just CLICK HERE to receive your Discount!

You:seriously? great! But you still haven't answered my question

Amber Says:I will do my very best to assist you with any query you might have.

You:is there a monthly payment plan?

Amber Says:We accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and discover card.

Amber Says:So if you want to sign up with the 20% Discount offer, just CLICK HERE

You:I don't want the DAMN 20% off, just answer the frigging question!

Amber Says:Sorry, what was your question again?

You:You're an idiot

Amber Says:OK, I'm going now. If you change your mind CLICK HERE

To say the least I was just straight-out annoyed. I rank customer service pretty high in business, this wasn't a good choice in my opinion. I am not wasting my time trying to fight thier website. iX Web Hosting - not recommended.

Online Photo Printers

I have been looking for an online photo printer for a couple of months - not for professional use that is, but for pictures of friends & family. After much research I think I have finally found the best site:

Shutterfly.

Why? because their prints cost the same as Kodak with one exception - DISCOUNTS!

They have annual plans, pre-paid packages and what no that drop the print's costs drastically. For instance: a poster print (20" x 30") is $22.99 but using the annual plan it is $16.09, that's nearly $7 off the cost of the print. So how do you get the discounts? Well you pay an annual fee of $30...why pay for discount? Well I figure I'll be printing at least 5 poster prints in the next year, which allows me to "save" money.

Even if you were to go with medium sizes such as 11" x 14" (orig. $7.99) it would be $5.59 so on you 13th print you would start your saving right? Also the annual plan gives you a FREE photo album book ($30 value) so it's nearly free discounts! Right? Yes...maybe...the reason they do this is they believe most people will not buy that many prints in a year. So if you going to be doing larger prints, GO FOR IT! Smaller prints? you're better off doing the prepaid amount like (the best one I think) 400 4x6 photos for $56 ($0.14/photo) or you can go the 800 4x6 photo pre-paid plan which also includes a FREE photo album for $96 ($0.12/photo).

So see for yourself:

Plans Here

• Annual Plan
• Pre-paid plans
• Portrait pre-paid plans

The best way to compare, and most importantly, you want to see the photo quality, so I suggest you order 5-10 prints from different places and see what is best - besides Shutterfly, you can also try Kodak
HAVE FUN!

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