To whom it may concern,

I joined DirecTV last year, just in time for the start of the NHL season. The availability of NHL Center Ice games in HD was the primary reason I made the switch from Comcast. It was great — I thoroughly enjoyed my hockey experience last year.

Naturally, I signed up for the same programming and eagerly awaited tonight—the start of the NHL season. Plus, my team, the superstar Washington Capitals had a premier matchup against the infamous Boston Bruins—how awesome! (I think you know where this is going.) It’s only on Versus, which isn’t a problem since I get 500+ channels thanks to DirecTV, except, it is a problem. Ten minutes before the puck drops I find out that Versus is no longer available on DirecTV. Ummm, what?! Not cool!

You say in your guide that Comcast (owner of the Versus network) is being a dick and making demands you don’t want to comply with. Comcast is acting like a dick? I can believe that—big conglomerates often tend to think they’re too cool for school and, as a result, do stupid things without regard for others.

Sound familiar? You’re a big conglomerate. You think you’re too cool for school. And you’re being a dick to all us NHL fans that already pay way too much money for your product.

Stop being a dick like Comcast and let me watch Versus.

Thanks,
DJ Lein

I was forced to get my camera by the simple beauty of this flower.

Just before the fireworks start. July 4, 2009.

Highlights included:

• 3 sobering hours touring the Holocaust museum
• Lots of cab rides
• Had 2 sake bombs at a random Japanese place while walking to dinner
• Ate at an Ethiopian restaurant, Lalibela, for my first time and they had 3 different futbol matches on
• Saw a dead? guy laying in the street and the responding firetruck drove right past him (they later turned around)
• Bar #1, Madam’s Organ Blues Bar, featured amazing blues and a lead guitarist who resembled both Little Richard and Prince
• I was taught the technical differences between jazz, blues, and other types of music
• A Jewish guy overheard my discussion with Kevin on the Israel/Palestine issue and initially thought we were anti-Semites. Once he got involved in the convo, he agreed with us on several key issues
• Bar #1 tab was close to $200, 45% of which was for Jack & Cokes
• Bar #2 was a reggae bar called the Ghana Cafe and 85% of the live music was Bob Marley—amazing!
• We almost couldn’t find a cab back to the hotel, but we rescued by an off-duty limo driver
• Lowlight: Sunday morning

Yes, we go way back.

After all that, why do I have to sit on hold for 22+ minutes just to cancel *one* of my three radios? Should it really take that long?

How quick could it be done online? My guess is under a minute. Oh wait, that’s not an option! They have every other possible account management option on their site except for Cancel.

Am I surprised? No, not really. A lot of these companies are old school and still think they can keep the customer jumping through hoop after hoop. Newsflash: The internet has given a lot of customers a venue for their voice to be heard and these shenanigans are becoming less and less acceptable (see The Consumerist.com).

I know they want people to call them. To go through a retention specialist with the hopes that callers will change their mind.

My message to these companies: Too bad. Suck it up. Make a better website. Make a better online form. Make a better product. And finally, just accept it.

While I’ll never get that 22+ minutes back, I did successfully cancel a radio and will have an extra $6.99 in my pocket each month. Lucky me.

You showed up and convinced work to steal all my free time. I didn’t appreciate that.

I blame you for the lack of updates on this site and on my photo-a-day project. I doubt I’ll ever forgive you, especially if my photo project dies.

You need to know I’ve found someone new—her name is February. She’s short, but offers me hope.

As for you, I don’t want to see you again until next year.

-DJL

Check out this video of the setup of the rink after the jump.

Up next, learn more about WP child themes. After that, kick one out. (Aggressive, I know.)

I was eager to check out the “infamous” Facebook so I quickly entered Daniel Jay Lein, thinking I could change it later, and moved on. Little did I know how big of a nightmare it is to get your Facebook name changed.

My first request went something like this:

1. I submitted a ticket requesting a name change.
2. They replied with an email asking me to reply so they can verify I’m the guy with the account in question.
3. I wrote back, “Hi, it’s me DJ Lein, replying as requested.”
4. They replied: “Hi, Our records indicate that there is currently a confirmed account associated with this email address. Please try to log in at www.facebook.com with your login email address and password. If you are still having problems, please let us know.”
5. Ummm, huh?

I let a few weeks go by and it only grew on me so I tried a second support request. It went like this:

Subject: Name correction

I’m writing to request a name correction. For my entire life (all 29 years) I’ve gone by my initials, D.J., not Daniel–that’s my dad’s name. Is there any way to make this correction?

I’ve read the horror stories out there about Facebook and name corrections. I’m just trying to connect with people the way Facebook intends and it’s challenging since no one has ever called me Daniel. It’s similar to someone signing up as Jon Doe while the name on their birth certificate is Jonathan.

In conclusion, I sign legal documents D.J. Lein, I sign my checks D.J. Lein, and my website is DJLein.com; why should my Facebook name be any different?

Thanks in advance for your time and your help,
D.J. Lein
http://www.djlein.com

Do you think they’ll make the correction or does it just make too much sense? Check back to find out if I get hosed or pleasantly surprised.

UPDATE : Facebook replied on 1/7/09 with, “Nicknames can be used in the form of FirstName ‘NickName’ LastName, but only if they are a variation on your real first or last name, such as ‘Bob’ instead of ‘Robert’.   We have made the changes that you requested. Let me know if you have any further issues.” They changed my name to Daniel ‘D.J.’ Lein. Which is good enough, I guess.