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Your questions: “What are some recommended strategies for managing email with Outlook?”

This question came today from Kim, drowning under a mountain of email…



“I’m getting a lot of email at work and at home. Are there some strategies and features you recommend in Outlook for managing email?”


As noted, I like lifehacker and particularly enjoyed the post on Merlin Mann’s presentation on managing mail. This was a presentation to Google employees “on dealing with the daily onslaught of email, and the video’s now available to the rest of us.”



“Merlin’s full presentation (slides available here)… is based on his excellent Inbox Zero series at 43 Folders. His system inspired most of the empty inbox proclamations here on Lifehacker, so this is your chance to hear it from the horse’s mouth. Thanks to Merlin and everyone at Google for making this one available to the public.”



Yes, thanks. šŸ˜‰


I also recommend these links on managing email:



Tags: Microsoft, Crabby, Office.

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Xbox interactive agent available 24/7

Ask Xbox

On Xbox.com… the AskXbox interactive agent, “your way of getting fast answers to your Xbox service and support questions, seven days a week 24 hours a day” for the original Xbox and Xbox 360.

You can get a list of topics by typing “?” or “TOPICS.” You can also type in Xbox error messages.

Tags: Microsoft, Xbox 360customer support
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My Xbox 360 is on the way to the repair facility

xbox_ship

Our Xbox 360 is on the way to the repair facility.

As noted previously, we have an Xbox that displayed the dreaded red flashing lights on the Ring of Light on Friday the 13th.  

Last Thursday, four days after placing my call to customer service, a box arrived on our doorstep, complete with illustrated step-by-step instructions, packing materials, a pre-paid UPS label and a piece of tape.

That’s right: a strip of pressure-sensitive packaging tape was included. This was one easy procedure.

It should be as I won’t see the system for up to six weeks.

I sympathize for people that have a single unit and are sending their only system in for repair.

Personally, I’d like to see…

  1. a tracking site so I can track the status of my repair, even if to know that it’s been received and is being processed*,
  2. where possible, the Xbox group to provide advance replacement units, as many mobile phone carriers do (including mine) for under warranty service, and
  3. some sort of recognition, perhaps in the form of a free game, download or points.

In this case, to paraphrase the late-night commercial… I’m not just a company employee… I’m also a client.

As with all consumer electronics, if you purchase a new product and find that it is bad out of the box, you should return it to the retailer for a direct exchange.

* Update 7:30AM PDT, 072607: There is an on-line tracking service, tied to your Windows Live ID… go to Registration, Warranty and Repair Service for Devices page for more details.

Tags: Microsoft, Xbox 360customer support

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Your questions: “Is there a good Microsoft Bluetooth mouse that will work with the Mac?”

My friend Joel asks…

“I’m also looking for a bluetooth mouse to replace the bluetooth mighty mouse that came with my iMac…” 

Is there a good Microsoft Bluetooth mouse that will work with the Mac?

Wireless Laser Mouse 8000

As for a Bluetooth mouse there’s the Wireless Laser Mouse 8000 which I use at the office (it’s a handful but very comfortable)…  

And I believe that it works with the Mac. (The upcoming 8000 desktop does… more info here)

As an FYI, here’s how to set up a MS Bluetooth mouse with a Mac, from Apple’s site: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107585

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Missing Samsung screws, poor customer service and fake blogs (with CNBC’s Jane Wells)

I enjoy Jane Wells’ blog and live reports on CNBC. 


This week she looks at poor customer service (sorry, she labels it “hellish “). A friend of Jane’s Andy signed up with satellite internet service provider WildBlue.net


“Barnett signed up in May of 2006, and the equipment was guaranteed for a year. Eleven months in, it died. Thus began one of the most mind-numbing attempts to get repairs that I have ever heard. He’s made repeated calls to the company only to learn that the piece of equipment he needs is no longer in stock. A company rep told him over the phone they’re completely out.



“Yet they continue to charge him for monthly service THAT HE NO LONGER HAS. And, according to Barnett, during this time WildBlue sales reps continued to tell prospective customers they could get service within a few weeks, even though the company allegedly didn’t have the necessary equipment.”


That’s amazing. Many consumer companies I have worked with throughout my career prescribed to the notion to keep spare parts on hand (or reasonable replacements and alternatives) available to customers for five to seven years. This means that, as a customer, you should be able to find replacement parts long after the latest gizmo has gone the way of the dodo. I found this to be true with major firms such as Canon, Dell, Toshiba, Sony, Panasonic and Samsung.


Wait a sec… hold that thought on Samsung for a moment.


Let me be clear on one thing: in order to get good customer service, you also have to be able to get through to the company. Lately, I had a heck of a time reaching Samsung, to obtain a replacement part for a monitor. I like their LCD monitors, having several at home (from an old SyncMaster 770 TFT to the latest 19″ widescreens). Turns out that a mounting screw (connecting the base to the bottom mount of the monitor) was too short to make the connection. No problem, I thought, a quick call to their customer service centre should solve that problem.


Not so fast.


Several calls to their “customer care” 800 number resulted in being disconnected while I waited on hold. And when I dialed their offices on both coasts (on my dime), I left messages and never received a response. And my emails sent to the company were never answered.


Sheesh.


Let’s just say that due to the lack of support, I resorted to my own devices. I hopped in the car and shot over to Lowe’s hardware, where I met a retired contractor now working in hardware customer service. In less than a minute, he found the replacement part (a metric screw, M4 .70 x 16) that solved my problem. I’ll let you know if I ever hear back from a live person in Samsung’s monitor division.


Thank you, Lowe’s.


Also this week, Jane takes a look at all of the fake blogs popping up (such as fake Steve Jobs)…



“With all the talk about the ā€œFake Steve Jobsā€ at www.fakesteve.blogspot.com, (including on this blog), followed by the “Fake Gene Munster,” the Piper Jaffray analyst who covers Apple, at www.fakegene.blogspot.com (Jim Goldman alerted us to this one yesterday), it seems to me all the attention goes to the fakes.”



Jane also spend time last week reporting on LinkedIn… which I’ve found is a great way to reconnect and stay connected with friends and close business associates.


On CNBC, I also read Jim Goldman’s blog – I enjoy his reporting style, watching him originally reporting on Bay Area news channels.


 


Tags: SamsungJane Wellscustomer support