Premium Company the Sequel: Deception in Cybersapce
Some time ago, I wrote an article about a premium design company (rip merchants who have the nerve to call themselves web designers) who tried to contact one of my customers while I was on site, and tried to get him to sign on the dotted line to revamp a website that he didn't even know that he had, and was met with yours truly to shoo them away.
Well, sadly these space cowboys are beginning to show how they can fund two offices. As my customer called me on Friday, sounding most confused as this company had rung him again, this time they dropping my name in their pre-rehearsed script, saying that I have recommended that this revamp be carried out.
When this became clear to me, I couldn't help but recall the conversation I had recently had with my 3-year old daughter, on asking me if she could watch TV all day and when refused, she retorted with "Well Daddy said that I could".
So does this company's Telesales staff consist of all 3-year olds? Or are they misguided individuals that are trained vigorously by a fat cat sitting behind his antique mahogany desk to spot a vulnerable person from the other end of a phone, employ every dirty trick in the book to get them to sign on the dotted line, and in the process get themselves lots of that lovely green stuff so they can buy knocked-off designer gear and Crazy Frog ringtones?
One thing is for sure: They are not giving the genuine web designers (I do blow my own trumpet on this occasion) a good name. Genuine designers who wouldn't dream of using such tactics, and if so, would not sleep at night. Naturally I am in the process of sending my customer an email telling them to count their losses and discontinue association with that company.
May these virtual cowboys be condemned to the virtual fires of virtual Hell with a virtual Satan shoving a virtual red-hot fork on their backsides.
Well, sadly these space cowboys are beginning to show how they can fund two offices. As my customer called me on Friday, sounding most confused as this company had rung him again, this time they dropping my name in their pre-rehearsed script, saying that I have recommended that this revamp be carried out.
When this became clear to me, I couldn't help but recall the conversation I had recently had with my 3-year old daughter, on asking me if she could watch TV all day and when refused, she retorted with "Well Daddy said that I could".
So does this company's Telesales staff consist of all 3-year olds? Or are they misguided individuals that are trained vigorously by a fat cat sitting behind his antique mahogany desk to spot a vulnerable person from the other end of a phone, employ every dirty trick in the book to get them to sign on the dotted line, and in the process get themselves lots of that lovely green stuff so they can buy knocked-off designer gear and Crazy Frog ringtones?
One thing is for sure: They are not giving the genuine web designers (I do blow my own trumpet on this occasion) a good name. Genuine designers who wouldn't dream of using such tactics, and if so, would not sleep at night. Naturally I am in the process of sending my customer an email telling them to count their losses and discontinue association with that company.
May these virtual cowboys be condemned to the virtual fires of virtual Hell with a virtual Satan shoving a virtual red-hot fork on their backsides.
Why I Don't Sing off the FireFox Hymn Sheet - Just Yet
I am signed up to a number of useful newsletters varying from security issues to getting a pucker ranking for your website and touching on some good design and programming hints in between. One major article received recently in an email newsletter was regarding the ever-increasing number of internet users that, freaked out by the spying antics of Microsoft Internet Explorer, have been won over by Mozilla's new browser FireFox.
Now I have to stay one step ahead of my customers, and if there is an ever-popular browser, I have to start testing my customer's websites in it sooner as opposed to later. Having a customer advise you into what browser to use, just will not do. So I gave the bods at Mozilla my vital details and downloaded it.
One feature that did interest me, was the fact that you can transfer your bookmarks across from Internet Explorer to FireFox so you don't have to start from scratch (I currently have 34 sub-folders for my bookmarks - beat that). There is also a little form you can fill out in the Options menu somewhere and it transfers the information into any online forms you may come across. The best thing was Lycos Email plays a little deceptive trick on me and conveniently places an advert link that shows on top of my sub-folder list (thus I fall for it most of the time), and in FireFox this cancels it out. Some of these little functions seemed to revolutionise my everyday tasks and finding these little thangs made me feel like a child in a sweet shop.
But that is where the excitement ended.
Because that afternoon I was online and was looking at a property site and this particular design was badly misinterpreted by FireFox and as a result pictures were displayed on top of links and and it all looked an absolute mess. Ditto with a few more sites thereafter (Note to all of my customers: I have checked all of your sites and your sites all look the same as they do in Internet Explorer). It seems that the sites built solely using FrontPage and using Explorer as their sole browser tend to come off the worst.
In their X amount of years in trading, Microsoft do tend to be the "people's choice" as they are the more affordable and user-friendly solution and tend to have their name stamped across most web design courses that I've come across. This is why it is quite easy to get sucked into a sole internet world where Microsoft dominate and to hell with everyone/thing else. Probably hence why they have been reputed to monopolise a tad too much.
So other than Microsoft-dominated websites that don't measure up under an up-and-coming-browser (though great reality check for all webmasters) the form function, that would be a great concept as all online forms are samey anyway, does not work. Maybe I am not as savvy as I would like to hope (and I don't give my credit card details willingly) but the form function is D-Y-S-F-U-N-C-T-I-O-N-A-L.
Sorry, but you don't build the wall around someone and then knock it down immediately afterwards.
My answer to the problem: Use FireFox for most things, but for sites that don't quite function, you still cannot beat Internet Explorer.
So advice to FireFox: either upgrade or stop flattering yourself.
Now I have to stay one step ahead of my customers, and if there is an ever-popular browser, I have to start testing my customer's websites in it sooner as opposed to later. Having a customer advise you into what browser to use, just will not do. So I gave the bods at Mozilla my vital details and downloaded it.
One feature that did interest me, was the fact that you can transfer your bookmarks across from Internet Explorer to FireFox so you don't have to start from scratch (I currently have 34 sub-folders for my bookmarks - beat that). There is also a little form you can fill out in the Options menu somewhere and it transfers the information into any online forms you may come across. The best thing was Lycos Email plays a little deceptive trick on me and conveniently places an advert link that shows on top of my sub-folder list (thus I fall for it most of the time), and in FireFox this cancels it out. Some of these little functions seemed to revolutionise my everyday tasks and finding these little thangs made me feel like a child in a sweet shop.
But that is where the excitement ended.
Because that afternoon I was online and was looking at a property site and this particular design was badly misinterpreted by FireFox and as a result pictures were displayed on top of links and and it all looked an absolute mess. Ditto with a few more sites thereafter (Note to all of my customers: I have checked all of your sites and your sites all look the same as they do in Internet Explorer). It seems that the sites built solely using FrontPage and using Explorer as their sole browser tend to come off the worst.
In their X amount of years in trading, Microsoft do tend to be the "people's choice" as they are the more affordable and user-friendly solution and tend to have their name stamped across most web design courses that I've come across. This is why it is quite easy to get sucked into a sole internet world where Microsoft dominate and to hell with everyone/thing else. Probably hence why they have been reputed to monopolise a tad too much.
So other than Microsoft-dominated websites that don't measure up under an up-and-coming-browser (though great reality check for all webmasters) the form function, that would be a great concept as all online forms are samey anyway, does not work. Maybe I am not as savvy as I would like to hope (and I don't give my credit card details willingly) but the form function is D-Y-S-F-U-N-C-T-I-O-N-A-L.
Sorry, but you don't build the wall around someone and then knock it down immediately afterwards.
My answer to the problem: Use FireFox for most things, but for sites that don't quite function, you still cannot beat Internet Explorer.
So advice to FireFox: either upgrade or stop flattering yourself.
