When the DRM free tracks arrived at iTunes they cost a little more (30 cents more). In response to Amazon's MP3 store they're dropping to price to match their other tracks (99 cents).

There is now no incentive at all for a user to choose the DRM version of a track. The DRMless version costs the same and is better quality (higher bitrate).

Apparently a lot more independent labels are planning to go with iTunes "plus" tracks too. Which will hopefully include Ipecac. I emailed them to ask if they intended to release their tracks in the higher quality "plus" format in iTunes but they never got back to me.

Also no word yet (that I've bothered to look up) on whether upgrading existing purchases to "plus" versions will still cost any money...

Perhaps thinking that the reason people don't like CD singles anymore because they're on CD, Universal intends to try releasing music on USB key [undercover.com.au].

I really can't see this working, particularly as the music is likely to be in some wacky format and not something useful and archive quality like a WAV file. Ooo it'll include videos. Whatever. That's what $9 best-of DVD video collections are for...

No not my puppy...

Baby Animals are reforming! [undercover.com.au]

Baby Animals were part of the line up of the first gig I ever went to. I remember it being brilliant and would love the opportunity to see them live again, if the venue is right...

They intend to release an acoustic re-recorded best-of CD followed by a new rock CD in 2008.

Some Weezer updates via Undercover news.

Weezer are still together and are recording a new album.

Further, Rivers is planning to release a "best of the demos" CD with his favourite demo recordings from 1992 to 2007. It's out in December. Weezer are known for recording many many more songs in the studio than end up on albums so this could very well be a great CD along the lines of Ween's recent "Shinola Vol 1".

I only hinted at our recent purchasing troubles in a previous post about consumer refund rights.

The "saga" has ended so I feel I can write about it.

I'm not going to name the company (the title of this post is a hint) as I don't want to be Google bait for anyone searching for them. I'll only say that if you did search for them (and oh how I wish I had) you'd find them specifically mentioned on page 9 of Consumer Affairs Victoria Annual Report 2005-06 - Chapter 2 PDF (labelled as page 25).

My problem was also specific to one product and one store of an entire franchise and I don't want to infer the nature of an entire company by my one experience.

Right. This is how not to treat your customers...

• Cheap factory second TV advert noticed in Trading Post.
• Look the company up on Yellow Pages and discover they're close to home so we drive out to have a look.
• It's explained that the TVs are all factory seconds and may have scratches and dents to the casing. They're also from the UK and so the internal tuners will not work and SCART converters will be required to plug anything into them. All fine with us.
• TVs come with a three month warranty.
• When purchased we're given a TV wrapped in plastic from the floor. None of the TVs have any boxes.
• On getting it home and undoing the plastic we discover a chip in the screen.
• Returned and another plastic wrapped TV is offered as a replacement.
• Second TV is carted home. It won't turn on. We notice the cable has been crushed and you can see the wires inside.
• I call and demand a refund. I knew all the TVs on the floor would have similar problems and didn't want any replacement.
• "It is company policy to not give refunds".
• I explain it's within my rights to demand a refund.
• "I just work here".
• It's explained by the sales person I will have to wait until Monday to speak with "the manager" to get a refund authorised.
• Take the TV back anyway as that day was the only day we could easily transport it.
• Sales person refuses to take the TV and refuses to sign anything to indicate we'd left it at the store so we take it home.
• We call back on Monday and it turns out that sales person spoken to on the weeked was the the store manager.
• We call Consumer Affairs and they indicate the store's refund policy is illegal and we are within our rights to demand a refund. See my rant about Consumer Affairs...
• We call another store and confirm the refund policy.
• Second store explains that if we drop the TV in for repair it will be sent to the central repair centre. If it cannot be fixed, the manager (of the company) will arrange a refund ("send you a cheque").
• We drop the TV in on Tuesday (I took a day off). Receipt given.
• Three weeks later the TV is returned "fixed".
• On checking the TV before we cart it home I notice the wire hasn't been fixed.
• I ask for another TV on the floor, giving up on the idea of a refund. Three TVs checked from the floor all had crushed cables.
• They offer to fix it. I refuse to wait another three weeks.
• After chatting with the store manager a TV is found on a shelf and after carefully checking that it's cable wasn't crushed and that it worked we took that one.
• On leaving the store a couple came up to us and explained they'd had a similar problem. The TV they bought wouldn't turn on and they were just coming back to ask what the store was going to do about it. I explained that as long as you could find one that works it's a great bargain but don't expect a refund. They looked miffed...

So after almost a month and a large amount of stress... the TV really is fantastic and it's an excellent bargain.

To wrap up I'm mostly irritated by:

• Having to cart a 50+ kilogram TV back and forth inconveniencing my family, borrowing them and their cars.
• Being denied a refund even though the product I purchased was faulty and Consumer Affairs indicated I was allowed to demand a refund.
• Discovering that Consumer Affairs are toothless as far as actually helping a consumer force a refund out of a company.
• Having to wait three weeks to get a TV fixed only to find it wasn't fixed.

If the store had just indicated from the beginning that the products were likely to have significant problems and that they should be checked and tested before leaving the store, I'd have been happy. Now that I fully understand how the store works I don't actually have a huge problem with it.

What I'm unhappy with is their sales team and their refund policy. And I intend to make an official complaint to Consumer Affairs about just those things.

I'm darn happy we didn't buy a fridge...

We spent last week travelling and spending time in and around Marysville. It was ultra relaxing.

Marysville and it's surrounding forests and bushland make Mount Dandenong look sadly pathetic. I particularly liked that in Marysville when a track says it leads to "falls" it means water falling from a distance of more than 30 centimetres. Unlike Mt Dandenong where a walk of a kilometre or more greets you with a trickle of pond scum.

To be fair it had snowed recently and the rivers were lovely and full while the last time I went walking in the Dandies it hadn't rained for months.

I think I saw maybe twenty people the whole time we were there. The place is completely dead during the week. Loved it!

We also spent a night in Eltham which has nothing of worth in it except the awesome Indian restaurant we visited for dinner. Eltham is however a nice starting point for many lovely country drives. I highly recommend the memorial tower lookout in Kangaroo Ground.

We stayed the night at Crest Castle which while lovely, was very strange, mostly due to us being the only guests.

More details later.