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Why do people rely on fax's? (Vent)
Old 01-05-2007, 01:53 PM   #1
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Why do people rely on fax's? (Vent)

I'm so frustrated!
I had a small "Cash Balance" account with my former employer that I wanted to roll over to another qualified IRA. It had to be rolled by 12/31/06. I filled out the paper work & turned it in. Hadn't heard anything at all, so called HR(Kelli) on Dec 28. Was told that the form was faxed to National City on 11/22/06 and that it takes possibly 4-6 weeks for the transaction to complete. I'm to call back in a week (which would be 6 weeks).

So I called HR(Kelli) again today. She called National City.... no they did not receive a fax. THIS time (novel idea!) Kelli will fax the form & call to make certain National City received it! Arghhhhh!

I HATE fax's.......... no I HATE imcompetence!

Fortunately, even tho' it's outside their cut-off date, I will still be able to complete the roll over.

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Re: Why do people rely on fax's? (Vent)
Old 01-05-2007, 02:18 PM   #2
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Re: Why do people rely on fax's? (Vent)

Quote:
So I called HR(Kelli) again today. She called National City.... no they did not receive a fax. THIS time (novel idea!) Kelli will fax the form & call to make certain National City received it! Arghhhhh!
This indicates a very high level of incompetence and apathy in the HR dept. I suggest that you call them every day. Not sure who National City is but I would call them early and often as well. Keep a written record of time, date, who you spoke with etc.

You are now in the "squeaky wheel" area where the HR department folks roll their eyes each time that you call. Do not expect them to return your calls and join the "pain in the a**" club.
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Re: Why do people rely on fax's? (Vent)
Old 01-05-2007, 02:51 PM   #3
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Re: Why do people rely on fax's? (Vent)

Faxes suck. What an archaic relic of technology.

It took 16 days of screwing around for me to get a prescription refill last month because the pharmacy kept saying, "we faxed the request to your doctor." Doctors office kept saying, "We never got a fax." Neither of them seemed capable of actually picking up a phone and finding out what the problem was.

I think, "I faxed it" is the new "the check is in the mail."
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Re: Why do people rely on fax's? (Vent)
Old 01-05-2007, 05:01 PM   #4
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Re: Why do people rely on fax's? (Vent)

I LOVE faxes. A fax at the least, is a physical replica equivalent to an instantaneous letter. Not a certified or registered letter.. but a letter nonetheless.. a physical thing to file and refer to no matter what the state of your computer or Internet connection.

I also love faxes because you can write on them or send anything, like drawings or handwritten comments, without the "aid" of a separate scanner and PC. They show up without you having to do anything. Similarly, you can send them without having to "do" anything (much).

I would say that (five years ago), faxes were at least twice as useful/important to my business as e-mail. Most office idiots can fax things more easily than they can send them as readable computer attachments that I'd then have to spend effort printing out. For certain things, the fax is gold!

Sorry, Bram and Sheryl, about your troubles, but this negligence could happen just the same with a letter or e-mail. It's not the fax's fault per se.

I think the fax is far closer to the epitome of technological utopia than anyone would like to admit, because it is 1.) easy to use 2.) without wierd incompatibilities/restrictions 3.) cheap 4.) immediate 5.) allows for extreme personalization --handwriting, images, etc.. The holy grail of graphic communication!
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Re: Why do people rely on fax's? (Vent)
Old 01-05-2007, 05:15 PM   #5
 
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Re: Why do people rely on fax's? (Vent)

Quote:
Originally Posted by ladelfina
I LOVE faxes. A fax at the least, is a physical replica equivalent to an instantaneous letter. Not a certified or registered letter.. but a letter nonetheless.. a physical thing to file and refer to no matter what the state of your computer or Internet connection.

I also love faxes because you can write on them or send anything, like drawings or handwritten comments, without the "aid" of a separate scanner and PC. They show up without you having to do anything. Similarly, you can send them without having to "do" anything (much).

I would say that (five years ago), faxes were at least twice as useful/important to my business as e-mail. Most office idiots can fax things more easily than they can send them as readable computer attachments that I'd then have to spend effort printing out. For certain things, the fax is gold!

Sorry, Bram and Sheryl, about your troubles, but this negligence could happen just the same with a letter or e-mail. It's not the fax's fault per se.

I think the fax is far closer to the epitome of technological utopia than anyone would like to admit, because it is 1.) easy to use 2.) without wierd incompatibilities/restrictions 3.) cheap 4.) immediate 5.) allows for extreme personalization --handwriting, images, etc.. The holy grail of graphic communication!
Sorry, but Fax's are Old tech. Just scan the image and E-mail it. No phone line to be busy with a cumbersome procedure to ring, answer, transmit. Just use e-mail and you can send not only Images, but voice also!
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Re: Why do people rely on fax's? (Vent)
Old 01-05-2007, 06:17 PM   #6
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Re: Why do people rely on fax's? (Vent)

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Sorry, but Fax's are Old tech. Just scan the image and E-mail it. No phone line to be busy with a cumbersome procedure to ring, answer, transmit. Just use e-mail and you can send not only Images, but voice also!
UUfffffaaa!

From a 'proletarian' POV one could have a <$100 fax machine... OR a $200-$whateverhundred scanner PLUS the addtion of a $400-$1200+ PC. And then have to fiddle with the lot.

The fax wins hands down for on cost and ease-of-use (for what it does). I admit that CURRENT fax machines s*ck (as in aspirate violently). It used to be that fax machines themselves had a built-in reception recognition with which... no worries in the minimum degree. Now, because they can no longer be bothered to spend the $.10 or $.20 for that hardware, they have given over the recognition duties to the "distinctive ring" camp (evil telecom cartel). Fifteen years ago the fax was, all told, easier to use than it is today, sad to say.

For voice, just use the G-D phone!

Once in a while I send my DH video clips at work.. "sorry. I can't hear it.. I don't have a sound card". [Serves him right for buying a PC. "But I have to for my work; no one uses a Mac." - a Mac, where strangely, it seems , just out-of-the box you can 'hear' things..]

DU du du du DU du du du.. (twilight zone music).
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Re: Why do people rely on fax's? (Vent)
Old 01-05-2007, 08:44 PM   #7
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Re: Why do people rely on fax's? (Vent)

Faxes have thier place and are fine if used appropriately. If you're were traveling with no convenient comperter/email access and needed to send a document from the nearest kinko's are whatever, the fax can be a life saver........esp is you get an acknowledgement with timestamp. The problem is what happens on the receiving end...........I often picture the early fax machines where the paper would roll itself up and fall to the floor, into the waste can, or run out of paper. People typically don't check back to verify the thing went through. It seems inappropriate that your HR would be using a fax in this instance without some verbal follow-up. I did a refi awhile back all via fax which I was reluctant to do until the loan officer advised my fax was actually going directly to the hard drive on his PC.
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Re: Why do people rely on fax's? (Vent)
Old 01-05-2007, 09:12 PM   #8
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Re: Why do people rely on fax's? (Vent)

I'd been traveling in LA whilst in negotiations for my MA house in the early '90s. Did it all by fax. ALL of it, as in.. I didn't even have to see or talk to anyone, anywhere, any time, except once at the lawyer's office after all was said and done for the closing. Fax lawyer with offer; lawyer faxes bank; lawyer faxes me; I fax back; case closed. Come back and find my house waiting. It was great.

Same thing 10 years later when I sold. I was already in Italy, faxed some stuff to the broker and got the $ in my account. "Wa la" as they say on the Internets... The last phase of the sale negotiation happened as DH and I were walking in a tiny hill town in Italy. A local B&B let me fax the final acceptance.

Try that with just raw e-mail.
(It may get there, but it's not eggsackly happenin' as we speak --your address results as spam/ our server was down/ I didn't check my in-box-- a scanned page sent by e-mail is at best just a more laborious fax.)
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Re: Why do people rely on fax's? (Vent)
Old 01-06-2007, 03:58 PM   #9
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Re: Why do people rely on fax's? (Vent)

I will admit faxes have their place and use Ladelphina. But I have always had a bad relationship with the danged machines. I hate standing there feeding pages, it will start sending before I am ready, or get overloaded, or eat a piece, and I'll have to cancel and start over...

For many things we do, e-mail works so much better. A Word or Excel document can be distributed to 10 people who can all look at it within minutes, without anything ever being put on paper.

BTW, "wa-la" drives me crazy! I think the people using it have no idea that's not how it is actually spelled. ARG!
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Re: Why do people rely on fax's? (Vent)
Old 01-06-2007, 04:49 PM   #10
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Re: Why do people rely on fax's? (Vent)

Quote:
Originally Posted by ladelfina
I LOVE faxes......The holy grail of graphic communication!
Stop holding back, and tell us how you REALLY feel.
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