Big Box Rant
This is a rant on my part, be warned....
I went to my local big box store this morning to pick up a couple of things. While I was there, I wanted to submit a photo to get printed. Since they have a customer operated networked set of computers to do so, it should be no problem. Guess again.
It turns out the customer kiosk is only available while the photo department is open. From a technology standpoint, that makes no sense. The kiosks are networked to a central server that drives the printers. Since the store is open 24 hours a day, it makes no sense that at least one kiosk is available during store hours.
So I decided to open an online account so I can submit the stuff online. That was until I saw the form. They want not only a user name and password, they want all sorts of other info. Stuff such as which store I want to use, my birthday, my phone and address. All I want to do is submit a photo and pick it up the next time I'm in the store.
Plus frankly, their privacy policy sucks. It basically says they are not responsible for anything their partners do. Looking at the list of exclusions, it was surprising to me how much of their web site is run by third parties. Plus any privacy policy changes are at the customers risk to find. There is no notification provision at all.
I decided not to go ahead. I guess I'll have to find a printer that is more rational. Last time I checked, sites such as MPix and others weren't quite so nosy. Time to try mail order.
I went to my local big box store this morning to pick up a couple of things. While I was there, I wanted to submit a photo to get printed. Since they have a customer operated networked set of computers to do so, it should be no problem. Guess again.
It turns out the customer kiosk is only available while the photo department is open. From a technology standpoint, that makes no sense. The kiosks are networked to a central server that drives the printers. Since the store is open 24 hours a day, it makes no sense that at least one kiosk is available during store hours.
So I decided to open an online account so I can submit the stuff online. That was until I saw the form. They want not only a user name and password, they want all sorts of other info. Stuff such as which store I want to use, my birthday, my phone and address. All I want to do is submit a photo and pick it up the next time I'm in the store.
Plus frankly, their privacy policy sucks. It basically says they are not responsible for anything their partners do. Looking at the list of exclusions, it was surprising to me how much of their web site is run by third parties. Plus any privacy policy changes are at the customers risk to find. There is no notification provision at all.
I decided not to go ahead. I guess I'll have to find a printer that is more rational. Last time I checked, sites such as MPix and others weren't quite so nosy. Time to try mail order.
Comments
I've considered it, or Color Incorporated in Grandville. They are closer to me and I've heard good things about them also.