cardude
Full time employment: Posting here.
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2006
- Messages
- 599
Wow. What a jerk. I feel like emailing him some stupid questions just to piss him off now.............
... Hire someone else to handle your sales, or go back to engineering.
I haven't run the calculator yet, but most of his book assumes what we Americans would think of as staggeringly high expense ratios of 2%. I wonder if that's the difference.When I run some numbers through Otar's calculator it only allows a 2.6% SWR, where Firecalc allows 3.1% for a 50/50 portfolio for 50 years.
Wonder what the difference is?
Perhaps we've only seen one side of the story...Bosco, his response to you was sooooo wrong in so many ways.
Perhaps he is lurking and reading this thread and can see what his poorly worded response to you has wrought in the previously positive take on his work.
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Perhaps we've only seen one side of the story...
Anyone else heard from Otar or had problems with PayPal? I'm off to the Bogleheads to read their thread.
Sounds like Otar is implying that he's happy to let people share their copies with others, especially after he ends up in print.... perhaps it is better that you borrow the book from the local library when it becomes available, before you waste more of your time and money, and mine too.
Paypal is less than perfect, and I do think your dial-up had something to do with the problem. Still, no excuses are acceptable. I am wondering how your account got charged the wrong amount? That is something that should not happen, but of course computers and programmers and users have all been known to make mistakes.I've not had problems with Amazon, or other online providers, and do all my banking and bill payment online, so not sure what the PayPal issue is. My connection is a bit slow here (cellular modem), and Paypal's seemed so as well. So maybe it was a timing out issue. They obviously received my info, or they wouldn't have been able to post the temp. authorizations.
I am tempted to go look for a J*b or w*rk of course they don't really exist in today's economy. Any reporter wanting to do a multimillionaire feeling destitute story, I am your man.
I think you've expressed things well. I'd imagine that he did not anticipate the deluge of response, and probably regrets giving the PDF away, receiving personal emails on the subject, payment problems, etc.More obvious is that Otar is trying to run this by himself from his basement. He likely does not have retail experience, and as an engineer by training, likely has little patience for certain minutae in life like malfunctioning software applications.
That being said, and it might be a bit of a stretch in view of the level of arrogance in the final response, but is it possible that the expectations by the consumer (Bosco) to have the problem in purchasing the book solved by the retailer (Otar) be partly explained by subtle cultural differences between our two countries?
I looked around a bit on the Boglehead site. He seems to have been helpful when a download for which he has received payment has a glitch. In my case, it was the receipt of payment that seems to have been the problem.
He almost implies that I never clicked the payment button on his website. Oh well....life goes on. I do appreciate the sympathy. I'm still curious about the book, but not enough to deal with that again.
I've not had problems with Amazon, or other online providers, and do all my banking and bill payment online, so not sure what the PayPal issue is. My connection is a bit slow here (cellular modem), and Paypal's seemed so as well. So maybe it was a timing out issue. They obviously received my info, or they wouldn't have been able to post the temp. authorizations.
An unfortunate customer service experience to be sure, although I have bought & sold using PayPal for many years without a single problem. Wonder if it was a communication/access problem and not PayPal itself.Bosco, here is the silver lining beside saving yourself 3.95, you also a great deal of anxiety.
Ok I am about 100 pages into the book. I've started to wonder which flavor of cat food will taste best when my portfolio is depleted in 15 years as I realize that as 1999 retiree I hit the jackpot since my sequence of returns (i.e. really bad bear market) is one of the worst in history. Switching to a more conservative AA won't help because the median depletion rate for all AA is the same.
Well somebody please tell me that this book has a happy ending. Death panels are looking better and better. I am tempted to go look for a J*b or w*rk of course they don't really exist in today's economy. Any reporter wanting to do a multimillionaire feeling destitute story, I am your man.
I don't want to necessarily defend Mr. Otar's response, but I wonder if the interaction could be somewhat explained by culture. I have spent substantial time in each country, and I enjoy visiting USA for the exemplary customer service anywhere I choose to spend a nickel. It's just not the same in Canada, IMO. We are more European, in a sense, where the customer may not always be right, and patience with retailers is required. Many Canadian customers will just abandon their efforts if they can't get anywhere with a retailer knowing that complaining may not do much. Lodging formal complaints and letters can be entirely ineffectual at times, whereas I know in America, a verbal or letter of complaint is taken very seriously even if it is baseless (not saying that your issues with Otar's service are baseless, Bosco).
I'm not sure exactly what you mean, Michelle. I am Canadian, and used to being treated more politely by Canadian merchants. This is partially why I was so shocked at rude behavior by this man.
Having spent a lot of time in both countries, I will say that this is an atypical experience, in either country. I have never noticed a lower quality of customer service in Canada, with the possible exception of government agencies.