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1. Jun 10 2008

   I love my van

   By Dieter Orens | 1 Reaction so far… | 0 Trackbacks

   This will probably sound ridiculous to anyone reading this, but  I love my car.

   Unfortunately she died on me yesterday.

   Since a few weeks the battery led stopped working when I put the key on contact. Since then the battery has gone empty, with various reasons that might be causing it.

   You might think: why is he loving that 16 year old slow wreck? Simple, I have good memories about her. I cleaned and rebuilt the loading space so it can be used as a camper, and on the five years we've been together, we've been travelling a lot without any problems.

   Winter and summer we have been camping in it. We've been in the snow together. Slept in it with our winter sleeping bags at temperatures of minus ten degrees and less! And even then she didn't refuse to start.

   We saw many mountains together, drove 8000 kilometers on three weeks once through Portugal and the south of Spain. This baby can do 1100 kilometers with a full fuel tank!

   We've climbed the Alps and conquered many french 'cols'. In Januari we were in a snow storm together in the french Vosges, with minus fifteen at night and everything froze. But she kept going while many newer cars had problems.

   Our next trip would be to Norway this summer, and when time would let us, drive all the way to Nordkapp, the most northern place you can get.

   Unfortunately, all this might come to an end, when the costs to repair her are too high considering her current value. I was thinking of replacing her somewhere in two years from now, but not right now! Not when we were planning our trip! Not when I have to move house in August! Not when summer's there and I need her!

   Some of you might think: good thing, another polluting diesel less. Yes, maybe. Wanna compare how many kilometers I drive her every year? I think that averages to 10.000 or less. Wanna compare how much I use her in the city, on short trips? Well, almost never. Apart from two holidays and a few weekend trips, this baby just rests and enjoys her retirement. She's been abused enough in her past by distribution companies and alike.

   Even though she might look ugly to you and is terrible slow, I actually don't want to change her for a fancy or fast and shiny one. We've been through too much together.

   Call me insane, but it will hurt when she eventually has to go. But not now!

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2. May 26 2008

   Akkuinternational part 3

   By Dieter Orens | 0 Reactions so far… | 0 Trackbacks

   Read this and this first.

   Today I suddenly received my battery. Well, not suddenly. I think I got some help of internetoplichting.nl and was threatening with a lawsuit. :) Last week I sent him another mail, and immediately got a response, almost the same one as in the beginning:

   Hello, thanks for your mail. We are very sorry for the delay. But our supplier told us now, that our order is on the way to us. So we should recieve it within the next 5 days. On the same day we recieve the order, we will send it to you. I think you will have it then latest in the next week.

   I replied to him that he should stop sending this crap, cut the bullshit and send out my battery unless he wanted to meet in court. So half an hour later I suddenly got an email that the battery was sent out. Asshole.

   The mail also stated that I had to test it immediately for damage and get confirmation from the driver / distributor if so (wtf). Now I know why too. The nitwit didn't even bother to protect it decently. Just the battery in a too big cardboard box. No fluffy things to protect it from shocks or pressure. 

   I immediately plugged it in. The battery is just plain black, with no brand on it. It seems to work alright, although I'm not really sure if it's charging. (I really don't think it is.) 

   Don't buy there. Just don't.

   UPDATE: the battery seems to charge alright. 

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3. Apr 23 2008

   Akkuinternational Part 2

   By Dieter Orens | 0 Reactions so far… | 0 Trackbacks

   Read this earlier post first.

   So after sending out a few more unanswered emails, I suddenly got a new answer yesterday from Milan Rajcic, the shopowner:

   "Hello, we will recieve the battery this week. On the same day we recieve it, we send the parcel to you."

   So there is hope for my hundred euros. In the mean time I also discovered that this guy is a well known individual on  Internetoplichting.nl. In my last mail to him I mentioned that I had added my complaint about him to that site, maybe that's why he suddenly answered. It sounds like he does want to deliver, but you have to be patient and willing to send a lot of mails.

   Somehow this feels like the reversed world... I pay and have to ask and beg for my ordered items?? Let's wait and see if I eventually will get my battery. And hopefully the correct one.

   It's a strange world.

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4. Apr 15 2008

   Akkuinternational

   By Dieter Orens | 0 Reactions so far… | 0 Trackbacks

   My notebook battery died on me three months ago. Annoying, because I got quite used to dragging it around the house, which becomes a pain of course without a battery.

   So a quick search brought me to Akkuinternational. Not the most beautiful or well designed site, but good prices and lots of different brands and types, and I got it from someone who looked trustworthy on Belgiumdigital.

   That's when I did something I'm about to regret. I ordered my battery without reading more reviews about the shop. Quite accustomed to buying online, and never experienced any trouble whatsoever, I made the payment, with the naive belief that large shops are always trustable.

   The email for payment followed about 2 hours after buying the battery. I paid immediately with an international money transfer and sent  out an email in which I confirmed that my payment was done. Odd enough, a week of silence followed. So I decided to contact the shop, with a disappointing email as a result:

   "Hello,

   thanks for your mail.

   We are very sorry for the delay. But our supplier told us now, that our order is on the way to us. So we should recieve it within the next 5 days. On the same day we recieve the order, we will send it to you. I think you will have it then latest in the next week."

   Weird that they do not inform people themselves when the item is out of order, but you never know. It might be a one man operation without enough time for professional service.

   More waiting... still no news. A week later, I send out another email to ask about my battery, after two days I get an answer:

   "Hello,
   sorry for the long delay, you will recieve your order within the next week.
   
   In case of answering please enclose the entire correspondence. Thanks."

   Now, yesterday, I did some research for the shop, and I didn't find one decent review about it. I even found a review that describes the exact same path of emails as mine: check out this one on tweakers.net. The first reviewer got the exact same mail as me the first time:

   "thanks for your mail. We are very sorry for the delay. But our supplier told us now, that our order is on the way to us. So we should recieve it within the next 5 days. On the same day we recieve the order, we will send it to you."

   Now that says it all doesn' t it?? The bastard probably ran off with my 99 euros! I give it one more week, before I'll try and make sure everybody on the internet knows this batteryshop is a spoof. Guess I'll make a short trip to Germany with some friends too...

   To be continued... In the mean time, DO NOT BUY FROM AKKUINTERNATIONAL.

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