{"id":598,"date":"2007-04-27T12:41:54","date_gmt":"2007-04-27T12:41:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nargalzius.com\/blog2\/http:\/www.nargalzius.com\/blog2\/archives\/2007\/04\/2007_04_27_2041.php"},"modified":"2017-02-08T03:17:07","modified_gmt":"2017-02-08T03:17:07","slug":"alphatrack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/archives\/2007\/04\/27\/alphatrack","title":{"rendered":"AlphaTrack"},"content":{"rendered":"
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So I finally got the AlphaTrack after all this time. Actually I already had the unit since Pia came back – however, the unit had outdated firmware. And for some strange reason, Frontier<\/em> didn’t have software available to download that can upgrade it.<\/p>\n

Yet, as mind-boggling as the decision not to have such software seems; Mr. Brian George, the head of the AlphaTrack development, was kind enough to take the time to find a way to send me a new updated unit as a replacement.<\/p>\n

Today, I just spent 3 hours<\/em> in the post-office\/customs to get my replacement unit of the AlphaTrack. I just have to say that I hate Philippine customs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

They are, quite frankly a bunch of bloody thieves.<\/strong> They really find ways to swindle you out of your money and not give you a choice about it. You’re literally at their mercy, and it pisses the hell out of me that you can’t get these motherfuckers fired for their unreasonable actions.<\/p>\n

A few facts:<\/p>\n

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  1. The shipping fee had already been paid for by Frontier Design itself (about 29USD) – and take note this fee already covered shipping across countries.<\/strong><\/li>\n
  2. While it was<\/em> a brand new unit – it’s a replacement<\/strong> unit. I already purchased a unit before, dealt with all of the included taxes before – so there’s no reason to treat it like I was trying to import a newly bought item.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    You know, I have no problem with processing fees. I mean if you got a fee of P250 or even P500 bucks to claim something that has already been fully paid – and should’ve been delivered directly to your doorstep<\/em> – I’m fine with that. Even if we know that the only<\/strong> reason that the item ended up being held in customs was precisely so they could tax the item further – not because it had<\/em> to be taxed, I’m fine with it – I’m still ok with paying a bit to avoid problems.<\/p>\n

    But they wanted to charge me 40USD just for claiming the fucking thing!<\/p>\n

    So let me get this straight: It takes 30USD to send the thing across countries, but 40USD to CLAIM it? Where the fuck is the logic in that!?<\/p>\n

    Long story short, I contested the price and ended up paying about 27USD worth. Which honestly was still ridiculous. But as I said, we’re at their mercy. They can simply decide not<\/strong> to release the item at all – and sell it in the black market or wherever the fuck they want. 1 <\/sup><\/a>My girlfriend knows someone who got a [previously confiscated] brand new 17″ Macbook Pro for 70k PHP – so there IS money to be made in that shady kind of “activity.”<\/span><\/span>