No, I’m not going to bitch about the Snap previews. Covered that. As did Lorelle, albeit at greater length and with compelling arguments about accessibility and stuff. No, I have fresh stupidity for you.
Here am I, planning to take advantage of the post-Christmas sales and get cut-price custom CSS for the custom CSS blog. I log in, all geared up to place my order before the deadline, and this is what I see:
OK, so I still have to spend $15, and I can’t even get anything for my remaining 5 credits?
Somebody really needs to explain the concept of a ‘sale’ to these guys. Let me start. It generally means ‘paying less than you otherwise would’. And please do not try to fob me off with ‘there may be $5 upgrades available in the future’ or ‘you can give the remaining credits to someone else’. If I want something that currently costs $10 I do not normally have to pay more than $10. If I were in a shop and I handed over £20 for a £15 pound item and they kept the change saying ‘oh, but we might have something for a fiver later that you might want’, I wouldn’t be best pleased.
And, naturally, I can’t even send a feedback asking whether they’d be prepared to give me my change. Somebody also needs to explain the concept of ‘not launching new features when support is on holiday’, but then we are dealing with the people who thought that a major new release was the perfect time to break redesign the .org forums, so it’s not like this is surprising or anything.
wordpress™ wank 
engtech said
I’m guessing they forgot that there is a $15 minimum. Before they added this incentive, I think $15 was as low as it goes.
The minimum probably exists to cover backend transaction fees (same reason there is a minimum charge for debit/credit card at some stores).
The gifts system is supposed not to have any minimum (because the transaction has already happened): http://wordpress.com/blog/2006/12/16/give-the-gift-of-wordpress-credits/
adam said
planning? forethought? bah!
or maybe this is part of the “piling your virtual cart full of trinkets” plan you were imagining.
timethief said
wank you made me smile 🙂
Some think the best way to learn is by succeeding through planning and forethought. Others believe we humans learn just as well from failure.
But ahhh … come on now … don’t be too harsh …
This was a well intended gesture. Adjustments can be made.
Javier Aroche said
Also if you want to get the 1Gb Space ($20) you will have $5 remaining. The best that wordpress.com could do is get raid paypal and use their own checkout system. So you’d get the credit what you need and use any valid credit card in the world, not just those in the “approved” paypal countries.
that girl again said
Ah, but PayPal’s quicker and easier from their end, as is only allowing you to buy a set amount of credits. What’s better for their customers doesn’t seem to enter into it.
Mainly I’m annoyed at being promised a 33% discount that doesn’t actually exist. I think I’m going to buy it anyway then send my feedback asking for change 🙂
allansiew said
It does not make sense to me either.
adam said
how did the feedback go? get any change? 😉
timethief said
Yeah, I’m wondering what response you go too wank.
that girl again said
They won’t give me the cash, while insisting that it was a genuine oversight rather than an attempt to con people and fobbing me off with ‘put it towards another upgrade’ and ‘give the credits to someone else’.
I have told them a) I want an explanation why Automattic can’t PayPal me $5 and delete the extra credits, b) if they think I’m giving them any more money again ever they’re dreaming, c) not to think about introducing any more paid upgrades until they can take these things a bit more seriously and d) not to let Matt announce any more new ‘features’ when he’s been at the eggnog. 😉
timethief said
You’re a hard woman to wrangle with, wank, for sure for sure. If you were one of my mares or fillies you would be a difficult training prospect but once trained you’d be one hell of a ride that I would sincerely regret sending back to their owners. *lol*
No offense intended BTW because I love equines and not surprisingly the most difficult ones to train have an internal system counting system that records every fluff up and wrong call a trainer makes. In fact, I had to give up training young horses because I could not run the risk of suffered any more head injuries like the one that resulted in my vision problem. And “yes” I always wore a helmet.
I’ll be eagerly awaiting news of receipt of your apology and the recompense arrangements. Because until the matter is set right for “lead mares” such as you there will be no peace in the wp herd. *chuckle* 😉
Root said
Moooooooooooooo 🙂
adam said
i’m not sure, but i think you may have the wrong barnyard sound there, mr. root.
Root said
I just caught a glimpse of thje word herd. 🙂
you don’t know you’re born: a baby squirrels special « wordpress™ wank said
[…] Oh noes! livejournal has sneakily turned on autopay so they can steal your moneys! OK, I want you to imagine this scenario: livejournal says they’re having a sale on paid accounts so they cost $10. When you get to the checkout they have this shady ‘credits’ system that lets you purchase $15 units only. So you buy the credits and — get this — they tell you they’re not giving you the extra $5 back because they ‘don’t do refunds’. That’s what stealing your money looks like. LJ know perfectly well they couldn’t get away with that kind of manoeuvre. Unfortunately, wordpress.com can. […]