Is "with experience in" == "mandatory"

In my mind, when an employer says "Linux Admin resource with experience in Cloud / Docker / Kubernetes area" then Cloud / Docker and Kubernetes are required or mandatory skills in order to be considered for such a job. But apparently not for recruiters. Maybe it's just Indian recruiters or recruiters for whom English is not their native language. Personally, I don't see how one could make this error.

From: Anil Sing <anil.singh@q1tech.com> 

Hi,Hope you are doing well!!                           
We currently have an exciting opportunity with a great client; you’ll find details of the position below, even if you’re not a fit for this particular position, we welcome a current copy of your resume and look forward to working together on future positions 

Job Title: Linux AdminLocation: Phoenix, AZDuration: Long termNote:- Only GC,TN and USC only Description: 

Linux Admin resource with experience in Cloud / Docker / Kubernetes area 

Thanks & Regards,
Anil Singh
Technical Recruiter,
Email Id :- Anil.singh@q1tech.com

Contact No. :- 6305368202 Ext - 5522 

 So I responded with:

Do you think I have Cloud / Docker / Kubernetes experience?

To my surprise Anil responded with:

These skills are not mandatory ,  only linux administration was 

At this point I decided to respond with:

They specifically asked for EXPERIENCE with those technologies!

Look at it this way - let's say you have a rare heart condition. You find out that this is your surgen's first operation. But you requested somebody with experience not only with operating on hearts, but with experience with your specific rare heart condition. Do you let him operate? 

I thought this would adequately explain how, at least in English, when somebody is saying something like "with experience in X, Y and Z" that a native English speaker would take that to mean that X, Y, and Z are required skills to possess.  I thought my example was personal and should resonate with the recruiter, even a non-English speaking person. But I got the following back:

I got you but the thing is that one out of 3 skills will do the task . That’s why I was saying those are not mandatory.
Anyway Thanks for your concern and I do appreciate it.
And sorry it was my mistake.
I think you are AWS certified developer , Right ?

So I responded:

I got you but the thing is that one out of 3 skills will do the task . That’s why I was saying those are not mandatory.

That's not how it works. All three items were requested. Again, to my example - you have a person who is trained in the field of medicine. He has, one out of 3 skills. Do tell him, "No problem doc - open me up"? I think not.

Anyway Thanks for your concern and I do appreciate it.

I have no such concern that you think I have.

And sorry it was my mistake.

So then now you admit that you're wrong?

I think you are AWS certified developer , Right ?

No, I have an AWS Solutions Architect certificate. And as is stated plainly on my resume: 

Important Note: While I am AWS certified, I currently do not have actual on the job experience with AWS. Training for obtaining an AWS Certificate does require hands on with various AWS services as listed above in order to properly prepare for the test. I have been working in the computer field all my life and specialize in coming up to speed with new technologies very quickly and feel confident that I can learn any AWS services in use at your company in a short period of time. Please take this into account while evaluating my skills. Thanks. 

Of course being the consummate professional that you are you did read and understand that right?

Be very careful with recruiters as they know not what they are doing!

Hi Andrew in #2083 from Santana at San Melia

This response was not sent to San Melia directly (sanmelia@avenue5apt.com) but rather sent to me. The purpose is to document what happened while it's still fresh in my mind.

Near the beginning of the year, I had found a note tucked into my door. I read it and it was about my lease coming to term at the end of February and presented me with several choices for renewal. I decided to think about the options for a few days. I did notice that that letter mentioned a different owner company and thought "Hmmm... So somebody bought out chrisken.com". I also noticed that my bank balance, which usually dips around the first of the month when San Melia takes their rent directly from my checking account, had not had the rent deducted yet. You see I watch that to ensure I have enough money in the account so as to avoid having my rent payment fail and late fees charged. I had ~$1600 and my rent's around $1200 so I was not worried, but I was concerned because usually, they take the money like the 1-3rd of the month. Knowing that they were bought out I assumed that they were a little late in doing that because of the change in ownership.

At this time I also wished to request a few things be fixed like the fact that my kitchen faucet was once again stuck in spray mode, the handle on the patio door was loose and the screws were stripped and finally to fix the fireplace which had never worked. Being in Phoenix one rarely needs a fireplace but around the New Year it was particularly cold and I thought a fire would be inviting. I even bought a log from the grocery store before I figured out that the fireplace is actually a gas fireplace and the log was useless. That's when I decided to get these three things fixed. I first went to the website to enter in the request only to receive a 404 not found. Then it clicked to me, "OK, probably because of new management. I'll have to go into the office" and did so around the 7-8th of January. Marlene had taken the order by hand. BTW it's currently the 12th and nothing has been done on this repair order.

On 1/10/19 I went back to the office because 1) I noticed my checking account still hadn't been charged with this month's rent and I wanted to inform them that I would be taking the 7-month lease option. I asked them about the rent and they said they had a bunch of their staff go to all of the apartments with a letter stating that, due to the change in management the normal withdrawal of rent would not be done and that at least for this month you'd have to pay by check and that they were working hard to restore that service. I told Santana that I did not receive any letter on my door and was not aware of any change or that I would have to pay by check this month. He said that sometimes the letters get blown away and even went so far to say that only if I was out of the country and could prove it with receipts that he could wave the late fees. I found that stance quiet heavy-handed given the situation. I told him that I failed to see what my error could possibly be that should cause me to be penalized with late fees and that I'd only be paying the rent and not any late fees. The way I see it is that if this new company, avenue5residential, was in the process of purchasing this property from chrisken that things like this (i.e. what will happen to the people who pay their rent through the old service) should have been properly addressed and while paper notification hand delivered to the door might be one way to handle it, if I never received it then I should not be responsible for late fees. IOW they should at least cut me some slack given it was them, and not me, that caused this problem!

I look at it this way: I did get the letter about the lease renewal but I didn't get the letter stating that I'd have to pay my rent this month manually with a check. If I had then surely I would have attended to it. I'm a responsible person and manage my finances closely. Why would I possibly neglect this if I had received notification? The answer is I would have taken care of the situation properly and I probably would have argued that this should have been accounted for and planned for such that the customers, us renters, did not experience any inconvenience. That's how you properly handle such things. And if you aren't going to handle it properly you should let people slide a bit due to your incompetence.

Santana sent me the following email that said I had to 1) pay via cashiers check or money order. Since I don't have a bank that has a physical presence (Ally bank) this imposes yet another hardship on me - to get a money order - which also cost me $16. Let alone it treats me as if I'm a deadbeat that can't be trusted because they would not simply accept a check as if I'm somehow not good for the money. I resent that treatment mightily! And 2) that $76.73 + 6 * $10.23/day ($61.38) for a totaling  of $138.11. Adding on the $16 that I shouldn't have had to pay for a money order for a grand total of $154.11. I will not be paying that because again, I don't feel I had any fault in this messed up situation.

Let alone the fact that it's been at least a week and my service order has never been addressed.
Note: The new Avenue5Residental email is hello@avenue5.com. I may forward this email to them if San Melia doesn't Do the Right Thing(TM).

Update: 01/17/2019: Finally came to my apartment to fix things. Only looked at the air conditioner. Sink's still broken as is the handle on the patio door and the fireplace still doesn't work. As a side note, they left a card from http://fuel.club that has some sort of "mobile gas" thing. It said it was worth $30. I figured well hell I could use $30 of gas. Turns out to be that the $30 only covers some monthly fee or some such and this thing is trying to sell gas such that they come to you. Stupid idea. But you have to wonder why they would leave such at a thing in my apartment. Were they trying to make things better for me? Or are they just into stupid scams?

On 1/10/19 10:17 AM, Property - San Melia wrote:

Hi Andrew.

In regards to our conversation this morning:

About renewing your lease for 7 months: With all new leases we do require (declaration page) of renters insurance, it needs to reflect at least $100,000 liability coverage. (We do need to be listed on your policy - San Melia - as additional insured.) This must be provided 1^st before we can draw up any renewals.

Also about rent not being paid yet: Your total due for today is: rent $1,221.46 + $76.73 late fee on the 4^th + 6 days at $10.23 a day late fees = $1,359.57 due today in cashier’s check or money order.

Feel free to call the office with any questions.

Santana Vialon | Leasing Manager  o:  480.219.2733  f:  480.219.5159

San Melia  14435 S. 48th Street Phoenix AZ 85044 www.liveatsanmelia.com | Facebook | Twitter PROFESSIONALLY MANAGED BY AVENUE5 RESIDENTIAL | AVENUE5.COM

This message and any attachments may contain confidential information, and are intended only for the recipient(s) to whom the message was addressed. If you have received this email by mistake, please reply to us and delete it from your system; you may not copy this message or disclose its contents to anyone.

(BTW BULL-FUCKING-SHIT! I don't give a shit that you claim this is confidential and I'm allowed to copy or disclose its contents to anyone! You cannot dictate to me what I can do with an email you placed in my inbox, which I run and pay for. As evidence for my defiance, the contents of your fucking email is displayed right here!).

--
Andrew DeFaria
Nebraska: At least the cows are sane.

Update: On or around Jan 28th I mentioned to Melina in the office that things will still not fixed and it was fixed around Jan 29th. Sure had to wait for a long time. Still, it doesn't seem like the fireplace works at all or perhaps I just don't know how to work it. There's some metal thing in the wall that looks like if I had a key or something I could turn it and perhaps gas would start coming out. Not sure how to ignite the gas.

Feb 2, 2019: Looks like San Melia's web page is up but there is no section to check to see what I owe, whether or not direct payment is up and working again nor any place to request service. I'm hoping they bring those back up sometime. Meantime, I guess I need to pay my rent by hand again today!

Feb 6, 2019: Received letter in my door documenting charges saying I owe $196.77. Taking the $154.11 off that leaves $42.66. Sent check to San Melia for that exact amount (I will not be paying the $154.11) and set up an automatic repeating payment to San Melia for the 1st of the month for the amount of $1221.56.

Android Auto with Google Maps (GM) vs Android Auto with Waze

I constantly hear praises for Waze being so great so naturally I was interested and signed up. The fuss always seems to be about the reporting of hazards and cops.  When I initially used Waze I found the "Watch out hazard on road" alerts useless as usually it's just a car parked on the side of a highway. Never bothered me before nor was a "hazard". But as I started paying more and more attention, particularly to the "Police reported ahead" I began noticing that all to often the police reported are not there at all. In fact, when you report a cop there's a setting for "invisible". I scratch my head and think, "Really? Because if he was truly invisible how the hell did you see him?!?". Truth is cops are often in cop cars and they come equipped with wheels in cars with engines and so they tend to move away from wherever you report them. True, the lone cop parked under a overpass with a radar gun is what everybody envisions when they think "Police reported ahead" but more than 1/2 the times it's not the parked cop car but a police vehicle that may have just helped a stranded motorist and who is soon on his way. By rough estimate I'd say 60-70% of the time a cop report is a false positive. Now if you like worrying a lot then perhaps Waze is for you!

Here's the count from the details below on how well Waze performed for me:

But I noticed other deficiencies in Waze that Google Maps has. Some of these Waze deficiencies I consider a deal breaker for me.

Report Type	Number of alerts	Positives	Not Reported	False Positives	Percent False Positives
Police reported	21	7	5	9	43%
Accident	2			2	100%
Vehicle on road	9	5		4	45%
Traffic	2			2	100%

As for traffic avoidance and re-routing all navigation apps do this and Waze, owned by Google, doesn't seem to do these things any better than GM.

The parts I find deficient in Waze when compared particularly with GM are:

1. Lane guidance: Waze does none of this. When driving on a 7 lane highway, knowing that I need to get all the way over to the far right lane, or, when I see the far right lane being congested but it's a two lane exit, lane guidance is really appreciated. Also when there's a multi lane exit and I need to be in a particular lane for an upcoming turn, again lane guidance is invaluable.
2. Route preview: Waze's route preview really sucks - at least under Android Auto - in that all that is presented is 3 boxes for the top 3 routes with straight lines and a bunch of silly icons. I cannot tell which direction each route makes more sense. Contrast that to GM which also presents the 3 top routes but presents them on a map where you can easily tell which direction each route takes as well as color coding indicating traffic congestion.
   
   
   
   

   Compare that with how Google Maps shows routes:
   
   

   
   
3. Searching for things and adding stops: Again Waze falls flat on it's face. After you search for say McDonalds you'll get the top 3, reported in boxes again with addresses. You have no real idea if a box represents you backtracking on your route or really going out of your way. Again GM present this with a map making it easy to choose the correct stop. Additionally in Waze if you select one of these that's your new destination. You'll need to re-set up your original destination after eating that Big Mac. GM adds it as a stop.
   
   
   
   
   Again contrast that with how Google Maps presents search results:
   
   

   
   
   
4. Traffic representation: Waze doesn't seem to color the route as per the traffic congestion but instead seems to rely on those silly icons to indicate congestion. You have to determine what the icons represent.
5. Inability to get under route guidance: It takes far too long for Waze to hook up with the route.
6. Lack of surfacing cards: Some things from the calendar do show up but things like a Home card whenever you are not home or a Work card during weekdays are missing.
7. Not showing alternate routes.
8. Annoying sounds when you stop for gas. That silly noise you hear when you decide to get off route to gas up or to eat is real annoying and you can't turn it off (Note: GM's is starting to do this too!).
9. Routing you around flooded areas that are not actually flooded
10. Trying to detour you down dirt roads.

I spent some time recording my experiences using Waze lately concentrating my efforts on false vs true reporting of cops. The results are reported below.

Here's the raw diary like reporting:

09/26/2018: On way to work saw 2 cop warnings and about 3 vehicle on the side of the road. Of the 2 cop reports the first was a false alarm - no cop there. Then about .5 mile down the road a cop come flying by with lights on. Not sure if that was the cop I missed so I'll count it as positive. The other cop report was a false positive. Of the 3 vehicles on side of road 1 was not there and the other 2 were however the car on the side of the road was 3 lanes to my right.

09/26/2018: On my way to lunch I encountered 4 vehicles on the side of the road. 3 were accurate, one was not there. There was one cop report that was accurate and 3 of them that were never mentioned. I realize that this is because they were on the other side of the road but looking at the other side of the road I noticed there was no cop there.

09/26/2018: On the way home Waze was acting really strange! It had the proceed to highlighted route out but couldn't seem to draw a map of where  I was at! Of course I suspected GPS first but my GPS is always on. Switched over to Google Maps which had no problems finding me then later back to Waze. It finally connected. While driving there were a few DOT trucks with lights on on the side of the road. There was no report of them so I decided I'd report this hazard but the button for reporting things was not there! Later I past by 2 cop sightings, again, on the other side of the road and again

they were not there.

09/27/2018: Drove from Scottsdale to Glendale. Got one cop alert on the way there and one on the way home. Both were false. Both times when taking off Waze would say proceed to the highlighted route and then would not move nor budge for a while. I think it was still calculating the route or something like that. What I do know is that I get in my car, set up AA, click the route I want (note with Waze as my default mapping app when I get to AA's main screen it does not surface card for Home nor Work. With GM on AA I  always have a Home card whenever I'm not home) and start driving. As Waze took about 3 minutes to finally get the route going I'm driving and not knowing if I should turn left or right at the upcoming stoplight. This is not acceptable to me.

9/28/2018: I'm actively using Waze this week and maybe for a while so I can record my observations and report back. Today I noticed yet another deficiency in Waze WRT to GM. I also have 3 different ways (ha! Waze... vs ways... lol) to get to work and depending on traffic GM routes me to any of those 3 different routes. One thing that GM does is that it shows different routes on the map while under navigation. The current, optimal route it highlighted and color coded based on congestion. Alternate routes show up as grey and there's a little annotation on the alternate route. It says things like "5 minutes slower" or "Similar ETA". When headed to work it often directs me to take 143 then go over to 202 but the other common route is taking 60 E. If I'm getting to the turn off for 60 E off of I-10 and I see a little bit of a traffic jam ahead on I-10 heading towards 143 (sometimes there's a little bit of a delay before Google becomes aware of a backup in progress) and the 60 E gray highlighted route says "Similar ETA" I take 60 and avoid the congestion. I noticed using Waze today that it doesn't do any of that. There's no "5 minutes slower" or "Similar ETA". I'm not even sure there's any indication on the map of an alternate route as I find the color scheme that Waze has choice to be odd and harder to read at a glance.

Here's how Google Maps presents Similar ETA:

09/28/2018: On the way home from work today I still had that problem where Waze says proceed to the highlighted route when I was on the route I always take home from work for a few miles before Waze caught up and started me on route guidance. Meantime it was literally all over the map changing it from one place to another in some random fashion. Once back on route it did report one cop and was correct.

10/01/2018: On the way to work this morning I sat in the car longer waiting for Waze to connect and show the route. Didn't have the problem whereas it takes Waze like a mile or two before displaying the route.

Saw two traffic icons on I-10 W on the way to work. First was "heavy" and the second said "standstill". Managed to drive at 79 MPH through both of them. IOW it wasn't there. Where's the button to report that the traffic jam is no longer there?

One cop report - false report. Also saw a cop moving and reported him. No way to report that he was anything other than visible. IOW I couldn't report him moving.

On the way home there was 1 cop report that was false and 2 about cops on the other side of the road and I could look over to verify - both were false reports.

10/02/2018: Again, when I get into my car and get AA up and running, Waze doesn't surface a card for going to work or appointments. I have to get into Waze and select Work. Not cool. However, Waze did offer me an alternate route to work due to traffic which was good.

One "minor accident reported ahead". False report.

Where I work there's a big parking lot behind the building. There's also a street of sorts going through it. It's almost a private road and really only used by people who need to park in the parking lot. Waze navigates me to the middle of the parking lot correctly. Even Google Maps doesn't do that that well. However when leaving the parking lot and going home Waze does not navigate me out of the parking lot but rather gives me that proceed to highlighted route which starts just outside the parking lot!

On the way home there was one cop report that was false and a cop on the other side of the highway that was true.

Question about alerts like red light camera. There's one very close to my apartment. Every day when I drive past it I get interrupted about this red light camera. I know, I know. I don't need to be reminded every day! And there's no way to turn that off without turning off all red light camera alerts. They should have a way to make a camera as "I know and stop telling me about it!".

I think I figured out why Waze was routing me out the back of my apartment complex. We had a thunderstorm two days ago. The internet said the street outside my apartment was flooded and closed. So naturally Waze was trying to route around that. Problem is that the street was not closed nor flooded! This went on for a few days. And the most annoying thing was that Waze kept playing that "your not on route" annoying sound admonishing me about 20 times for nothing! And you can't turn that off without rooting your phone!

10/04/2018: Today one cop report that was false and then just down the road 2 times I reported a cop. So the worst false positive you can get where it says there's a cop there but there's no cop there. Drive another mile or so and wham there's the cop unreported! May have been the cop at the first report that just drove further down the road but he had somebody pulled over.

Driving home from work there was a minor crash alert that was false, a cop alert that was true and two vehicle on side of road that were both true.

Oh and when you have traffic again Waze says the estimated time in traffic. I guess that's pretty cool but I still don't like it interrupting my music/podcasts. GM used to do this saying something like "There is traffic ahead causing a 15 minute delay. You are still on the fastest route". I say used to because they stopped that and instead just surface a card with the information.

10/05/2018: Decided to drive up to the Grand Canyon. Haven't been there for a while. Tried using Waze again. There were about 2 or 3 cop reports that were correct and 1 or 2 where no cop was in sight. But by far the worse was that I got pulled over for speeding! No warning from Waze. Now I know that Waze is only as good as the number of people reporting and probably there weren't that many people using Waze on this stretch of the highway. But really, isn't this exactly what Waze is supposed to be good for? Warning about cops? Luckily I got just a warning.

Later on I got things like:

Which is Waze saying proceed to highlighted route where no route it highlighted. Instead I'm traveling 61 MPH and apparently I'm off roading!

Here Waze is leading me down a dirt road near the South Rim of the Grand Canyon:

At this point I gave up on Waze. Note that even Google Maps had problems around this area as there is really no cell signal here and I foolishly forgot to download the map of the area for offline use.

File this one under What the Fuck (yes spelled out)

So I'm trying to get a hold of the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) because they sent me a Notice of Balance Due letter. I dial their number and navigate their menu tree. This is no easy feat as the menu tree is very misleading.

First thing they do is say "Do you need more time to file your current tax return?..." followed by a long explanation about paying quarterly tax. This is not why I'm calling!

They then ask:

1. Perosnal Tax return
2. Business entity information
3. Learn about web self serve options

Now this notice is for my business but I don't want just business entity information. Badly labeled menu selection.

Once selecting #2, I get

1. FAQ
2. Forms and publications
3. Solution information
4. Any other information

I press 1, that didn't work... Needed to press 4 then 1. Finally in the queue!

"Thank you for calling... All of our representatives are assisting other callers...  we can call you back in more than 3 hours..."

3 fucking hours?!? You're shitting me!

Google Podcast App

The Google Podcast App

Recently my favorite podcast player, BeyondPod, disappeared from Android Auto. It seems that Google had determined that BeyondPod was too buggy so it disallowed BeyondPod from the AA platform. And it does kinda feel like BeyondPod's been having some quality control issues.

Now Google has it's own podcast app integrated into Google Play Music. I had looked at it before and thought it not ready for prime time. One key piece of functionality for me was the lack of being able to set the playback speed to 1.5x which is the speed I'm used to for most of my podcasts. But with BeyondPod knocked out of the playing field I focused on Google's Podcast app again. Sorry to say but there are still some problems and missing functionality IMHO.

First off, Google's been integrating the Google Assistant into AA which is great. If you say "OK Google, what's the news" while in your car it will play, but what's playing it? It's not the Google Music app but, for lack of a better term, the Google Media player which appears as a media app section of AA. However it totally lacks any controls. The queue is empty, there's no way to fill it nor any way change the current podcast. In fact, if you're playing the latest episode of a podcast you'll have one button that goes 30 seconds forward, one to play/pause and one to go backward. Where's the forward button and what does the back button do? Tapping on the back button goes to the previous episode for this podcast. When there you then have a back and forward button. So you can only scroll through the current episodes of the current podcast. How do you change to the next, not yet listened to podcast? The only way I can see is to unlock your phone and select it there. Not good.

What I want is sort of what BeyondPod has - compose a playlist of recent episodes of the podcasts in your list of podcasts. And download them - automatically. Google Podcast (GP) has settings for how long to retain a podcast and when to get rid of them. And there is a download button, but it's per episode and you have to remember to tap it - for each podcast and episode you want downloaded locally! Not good.

The Google Podcast app (Google Media app?) running on AA needs more functionality so you can control this, in a convenient and safe manner in the AA setting.

Moving to GH, it's nice that you can say "OK Google, play <x> podcast" and it will resume where you left off. However if you say play it on say a set of speakers through your house connected with Chomecast Audio, GH will say "Sorry playing podcasts on cast devices is not yet supported". Can you say not yet ready for prime time? Also when playing podcasts on non cast devices like GH itself, after a few minutes the podcast simply stops! Not good.

So to summarize:

• Google's Podcast App (GPA) needs to be able to compose a playlist or queue. It should do so automatically for all of your subscribed podcasts keeping the top <x> episodes (configurable per podcast).
• GPA needs to download episodes from your podcasts automatically (configurable) paying attention to retention settings.
• GPA needs to be able to cast to all cast devices (audio and video).
• GPA needs a real interface for AA, one where you can select podcasts using the UI of AA as well as skip forward to the end of the podcast if you, for example, are not interested in listening to the rest of the episode.
• GPA has a setting for the speed of playback, but that setting is for the player. It needs to be for the podcast instead. I have many podcasts, most of which are spoken. Such podcasts I play at 1.5x playback speed. But I also have some podcasts that contain music that I want to playback at normal, 1.0x speed. In BeyondPod I could set the preferred playback speed for the podcast feed. I would set the music podcast at 1.0x speed. All other podcasts run at whatever default speed the player is set to (normally 1.5x for me). Thus all my spoken podcasts play at 1.5x speed and I can mark which podcasts I want to play at normal speed.
• GPA should have a player widget.

Audible - doing the impossible!

A Customer Focused Company?

Ever ask a service for something simple and are told that that cannot be done? Ever push on that for a bit and find out yes it can be done but only if you're an asshole about it? Why do I always have to be the asshole to get things done? Seems like there are two types of people, those who give up and don't fight about things, just going with the flow and not making waves and those who think they are being treated wrongly and fight for their rights. You people who roll over and just play dead should celebrate us who fight for you, you worthless swine!

Amazon! Great company whose motto is to be the most consume focused company may focus on consumers - but they really won't necessarily help customers. This is a tail about this. Jeff Bezos, are you listening? Do you care? I think not!

Background

I've been an Audible customer for a long time - how long - let's just say over a decade. One day I noticed that I appeared to have 2 accounts. Actually, with AWS and the training I had about AWS, I have a lot of Amazon accounts associated with AWS so I tried to identify my "shopping" account as in my Shopping folder and AWS accounts in AWS folders. In any event I noticed I had multiple accounts so I wrote Amazon support:

Why is it that it appears I have two accounts with Audible. One with a email address of adefaria@gmail.com, which seems to have a wish list and my whole library and another account based off of Andrew@DeFaria.com that has 1 credit but believes I don't have the Audible app, has nothing in my Wish List and only Guitar Zero in my library (which isn't in the library for adefaria@gmail.com)? 

Part of the problem, IMHO, has been this dual account login or at least a confusing login that occurred when Amazon bought out Audible. I've been an Audible user for quite some time. I also use LastPass to manage the many online web accounts that I have. I also have taking some Amazon AWS training so there's some accounts there too. However I labeled the adefaria@gmail.com account as "Amazon Shopping" as I tend to do my Amazon Shopping through that account. But I had had my Andrew@DeFaria.com account labeled as Audible and had had that account with Audible for a long time. 

I would like to get these accounts consolidated into one account. I would be happy with consolidating these accounts to the adefaria@gmail.com or to the Andrew@DeFaria.com account. Either one, but just one as this is a consolidation. 

Also, I want to make sure the consolidated account has my full Audible library and if I am due a credit, have the credit there too.  

Please advise and help me resolve these issues into one account 

Thanks.

To this I was told that this was not doable. That was on 5/29. On  6/23 I was emailed:

Hi Andrew DeFaria,

We couldn’t complete a charge on your credit card to process your Audible Membership fee.

To avoid delays in getting new credits, or a disruption of your membership, let's make sure everything is up to date. Go to your Account Details page and review your credit card information. Check to see if your credit card number, expiration date, and billing address are all correct.

If you believe that information is up-to-date, please contact your credit card company to find out why they declined the charge for your membership fee.

This is what caused me to look into the Two Accounts @ Audible problem once again and I chatted up the support line, customer focused, remember your mission. Here's the transcript:

Hello, Here's a copy of the chat transcript you requested: Initial Question: 1::my_account:::2::other_account_questions::: Why do I have two accounts? 04:13 PM PDT Davaughn(Audible): Thank you for contacting Audible. My name is Davaughn. I can certainly look into this for you. 04:16 PM PDT Davaughn: Could you give me some more information on this 2 accounts you seeing? 04:16 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: You mean you can't see them?!? 04:17 PM PDT Davaughn: I see that you have a merged account. 04:17 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: OK, here's the shspel... You asked for it

Here I copied and pasted an email I sent to support@audible.com. The response I got back from this email was that they couldn't merge two accounts into one account. Remember that...

Why is it that it appears I have two accounts with Audible. One with a email address of adefaria@gmail.com, which seems to have a wish list and my whole library and another account based off of Andrew@DeFaria.com that has 1 credit but believes I don't have the Audible app, has nothing in my Wish List and only Guitar Zero in my library (which isn't in the library for adefaria@gmail.com)? Part of the problem, IMHO, has been this dual account login or at least a confusing login that occurred when Amazon bought out Audible. I've been an Audible user for quite some time. I also use LastPass to manage the many online web accounts that I have. I also have taking some Amazon AWS training so there's some accounts there too. However I labeled the adefaria@gmail.com account as "Amazon Shopping" as I tend to do my Amazon Shopping through that account. But I had had my Andrew@DeFaria.com account labeled as Audible and had had that account with Audible for a long time. I would like to get these accounts consolidated into one account. I would be happy with consolidating these accounts to the adefaria@gmail.com or to the Andrew@DeFaria.com account. Either one, but just one as this is a consolidation. Also, I want to make sure the consolidated account has my full Audible library and if I am due a credit, have the credit there too. Please advise and help me resolve these issues into one account. Thanks. 04:18 PM PDT Davaughn: I do see Andrew@DeFaria.com email that you are merged with. You have 2 accounts in 1. 04:19 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: WTF? Which do I use Andrew@DeFaria.com or adefaria@gmail.com? 04:20 PM PDT Davaughn: This is the 1 you use adefaria@gmail.com. 04:20 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: When I go there it says my membership was canceled 5/17/18. I never canceled it. 04:21 PM PDT Davaughn: I'm seeing that the membership got cancelled because of delinquency. 04:21 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: What do you mean delinquency? 04:22 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: My account was always Andrew@DeFaria.com. How did it change? 04:22 PM PDT Davaughn: The card on the account is either expired or don't have sufficient funds on the card. 04:23 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: Which is why I'm here. I got an email saying you weren't able to bill. I've since put funds in the account. I click the link and I'm not sure what account I'm supposed to update! 04:24 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: Also, do you typically close somebody's account 2 days after saying you coudln't withdraw funds? I mean I thought you tried at least twice. This is a mess and I want it cleaned up. 04:25 PM PDT Davaughn: I'm sorry about the inconvenience, see if you can update card on the account or place a new card. 04:26 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: WHICH ACCOUNT?!?! 04:26 PM PDT Davaughn: adefaria@gmail.com. 04:26 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: Again, my account, FOR YEARS, has been Andrew@DeFaria.com. How, when and why did it change? And what do I do with the old account? 04:28 PM PDT Davaughn: The 2 accounts are merged and the membership was on the adefaria@gmail.com. If you want to enroll back in a membership add card back to this email. 04:29 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: What I WANT is for my Andrew@DeFaria.com account to be my AUDIBLE ACCOUNT. How do I do that? Also my Andrew@DeFaria.com account has only one book and has a credit. 04:29 PM PDT Davaughn: Wasn't that the email you wanted to use when you ask for the account to be merged? 04:29 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: NO. And when I asked for the accounts to be merged I was told that it couldn't be done. 04:30 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: How about we move my one credit to the adefaria@gmail.com account along wtih the one book in the old library and then tell me how I can change the email address associated with my account? 04:32 PM PDT Davaughn: Just a moment. 04:32 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: Also, I don't need to add my card back - it's already there, it's just the funds were low and that has been fixed. 04:36 PM PDT Davaughn: You can't change your email unless you already have another email with a Amazon membership. 04:36 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: But I already do have another email address with an Amazon membership! Andrew@DeFaria.com! Both email addresses are associated with Amazon. 04:37 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: adefaria@gmail.com -> AWS Andrew@DeFaria.com -> Audible Both are Amazon properties. 04:38 PM PDT Davaughn: For security purposes please verify the name, email and billing address associated with your Audible account. 04:38 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: Andrew DeFaria Andrew@DeFaria.com adefaria@gmail.com 14435 S 48th Street #2083 Phoenix, AZ 85044 04:39 PM PDT Davaughn: That's not the address on this email. 04:40 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: Which email? 04:41 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: Addresses I move... a lot. It gets hard to remember the address information and time periods of where I used to live so I created this page. Starting with the most recent... 14435 S. 48th Street #2083 Phoenix, Arizona 85044-6448 March 2018 - Present 11727 Stoney Peak Drive #65 San Diego, California 92128-6440 August 2016 - March 2018 4139 Via Marina #709 Marina Del Rey, California 90292-5385 May 2016 - August 2016 1676 Hope Drive #1915 Santa Clara, California 95054-1721 July 2013 - May 2016 04:41 PM PDT Davaughn: Andrew@DeFaria.com. 04:41 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: That oughta cover it. 04:44 PM PDT Davaughn: I don't the address in those addresses you just sent. 04:44 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: Well then you get the whole list! I guess since you never actually snail mail me I never actually update my address... I move... a lot. It gets hard to remember the address information and time periods of where I used to live so I created this page. Starting with the most recent... 14435 S. 48th Street #2083 Phoenix, Arizona 85044-6448 March 2018 - Present 11727 Stoney Peak Drive #65 San Diego, California 92128-6440 August 2016 - March 2018 4139 Via Marina #709 Marina Del Rey, California 90292-5385 May 2016 - August 2016 1676 Hope Drive #1915 Santa Clara, California 95054-1721 July 2013 - May 2016 11064 West Ocean Air Drive #230 San Diego, California 92130-4605 December 2011 - July 2013 3160 Rubino Drive #103 San Jose, California 95125-6383 February 2011 - December 2011 1742 Seagull Court #101 Reston, Virgina 20194-4336 November 2010 - February 2011 19465 42nd Avenue Southeast #28E Bothell, Washington 98012-5446 January 2010 - October 2010 1250 West Grove Parkway #1178 Tempe, Arizona 85283-4449 June 2007 - January 2010 12500 Merit Dr #6312 Dallas, Texas 75251-1933 October 2006 - June 2007 6265 Kelez Ct San Jose, California 95120-2819 December 2004 - October 2006 2800 Madison Ave #C5 Fullerton, California 92831-2231 May 2004 - December 2004 6168 Camino Verde Way #??? San Jose, California 95119-1407 July 2003 - May 2004 6187 Ellerbrook Way San Jose, California 95123-5012 November 2001 - July 2003 5485 Eagles Lane #3 San Jose, California 95123-1869 November 2000 - November 2001 5475 Eagles Lane #4 San Jose, California 95123-1868 1901 Halford Ave Santa Clara, California 95051 1408 Essex Way #1 San Jose, California 95117 3655 Pruneridge Ave #??? Santa Clara, California 95051 ??? Garland, Texas 75040 549 East Blancke Street Linden, New Jersey 07036 Route 4, Parsippany, NJ 07054 549 East Blancke Street Linden, New Jersey 07036 116 East Henry Street Linden, New Jersey 07036 04:45 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: Seeing as I beleive I started in 2009 I'd think perhaps the Tempe address is the correct one. 04:46 PM PDT Davaughn: Okay I found the address now. 04:47 PM PDT Davaughn: So you want to reconsonsoldate account to the andrew@defaria.com? 04:47 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: If we could get everything over there like my library and the like, sure. That's what I'm aiming for. 04:48 PM PDT Davaughn: Okay I'll get that done. 5 minutes please.

Remember. They said it couldn't be done but it appears as if this guy will do it!

04:49 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: Sure. That'd be great. As I said, the credit card (0061) is good, I just ran out of money because it was close to payday when you drafted. It's good now. 04:49 PM PDT Davaughn: That's good news then, Just a moment. 04:55 PM PDT Davaughn: I have documented your concern with wanting to send your books to your andrew@defaria.com email and will need some more time to look into it. I will contact you back in 1-2 business days with more information. I am sorry for any inconvenience this has caused you. The following is the Case ID that we have created for your account as a reference:Case ID: 0154775001 . 04:55 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: Can you email me that last message so I can keep track? Either email address will do. 04:56 PM PDT Davaughn: You want to enroll membership on andrew@defaria.com? 04:56 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: Yes please. 04:57 PM PDT Davaughn: Your gonna have to place the new card on the email you want to use please. 04:58 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: Huh? I have the 0061 card there already. Do I need to delete and re-add it? 04:59 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: All the details appear to be OK... 05:00 PM PDT Davaughn: I don't see that card on the andrew@defaria.com. 05:03 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: I'm not sure how I can prove it to you but I see it straight in front of my face. There's a banner on the site that says my MasterCard is incorrect or expired. When clicked it puts me to Manage your Credit Cards. I see my credit card right there. I edit it. All the info is good. 05:04 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: I guess I just ahve to delete it and re-add it... 05:04 PM PDT Davaughn: See if you can try again, sorry about that. 05:05 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: Can't delete nor add a new card (if the card info is the same). UGH! 05:06 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: Some developers don't think things through...\ 05:07 PM PDT Davaughn: Just a moment Andrew. 05:08 PM PDT Davaughn: That card is on your adefaria@gmail.com but not on the andrew@defaria.com. 05:10 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: Trust me - I'm logged into Andrew@DeFaria.com in another browser and that card it there for sure. 05:11 PM PDT Davaughn: Let me check again. 05:12 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: Something's screwy! I deleted my MasterCard on that account. I added my American Express card. I logged out and back in and it's still saying ooks like your default MasterCard card is incorrect or expired. Update my info. 05:13 PM PDT Davaughn: Think I found it now. Just a moment. 05:16 PM PDT Davaughn: See if you can add back the master card. 05:20 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: Right now both accounts are set up to use Amex so I guess that's OK. If you can consolidate it -> Andrew@DeFaria.com then let me know, at some point I can add the MasterCard and delete the Amex. 05:21 PM PDT Davaughn: Okay, just a moment. Would have to redo the ticket. 05:26 PM PDT Davaughn: The account as successfully been updated and I sent the information to your email. 05:26 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: You sent this transcript? 05:26 PM PDT Davaughn: The email was sent to adefaria@gmail.com. 05:27 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: Oh I just got a charge to my Amex from Audible but I don't know from which account.... For some reason it was for $16.24. 05:28 PM PDT Davaughn: Tax of $1.29 brings it to that amount. 05:29 PM PDT Davaughn: Andrew@DeFaria.com this is where you are charged from, you also have 2 credits on the account now. 05:29 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: I thought my membership as $15.00 a month. Plus $1.29 would be $16.29 no? Don't recall being taxed before. Perhaps that's from that SCOTUS ruling? 05:30 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: Cool. So can we say that my Audible account is now firmly in Andrew@DeFaria.com? 05:30 PM PDT Davaughn: That is correct Andrew. 05:31 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: I see the 2 credits. Alas I see only one book in my library :-( 05:31 PM PDT Davaughn: Consolidation take 2 days. Read your email for more info. 05:32 PM PDT Davaughn: Books will be there in the next couple of hours. 05:32 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: Oh, OK. My current client doesn't allow me to get to gmail while at work. Thanks for you help. 05:32 PM PDT Davaughn: You are most welcomes chat, you will receive an email confirmation with a short e-mail survey regarding the level of support provided and your feedback will be highly appreciated 05:33 PM PDT Andrew DeFaria: Once again, thanks. Back to work for me...

So this guy just did the impossible and merged accounts when I was told that was impossible to do!

But wait there's more... Given the new credits (there are now 3 - perhaps they were trying to make amends) I figured, time to order a new book so I went to my Wish List which I keep books I'm thinking of getting next. It was empty and so I asked them to transfer the Wish List too. Here's their response:

Hey Andrew, Thank you for writing to us. Let me share some information with you. The wish list cannot be transferred. I apologize for the inconvenience. Currently this feature is not available. Thank you for bringing this into our consideration, and we are glad you took your time to write this to us. Considering your email as a feedback, I have forwarded it to the appropriate department. They will certainly look into this. We value your business and hope you'll give us an opportunity to prove the quality of our service to you in the future. As soon as your request becomes available, we will definitely let you know about this through our website. If you wish you can also send your feedback to : greatideas@audible.com. On a personal level, I appreciate your patience, co-operation and understanding in this matter. It is a privilege to have you as our valued customer and we want to make sure you are always taken care of.

Sincerely, Prerna K Audible.com

Oh no! Another impossibility - The wish list cannot be transferred! I retort

 Hell my wish list is not that large. You could copy and paste it into an email...

And their response?

Hi Andrew, Thanks for writing to us. I totally get your point however, I would like to inform you that for your account safety, we are not authorized to transfer books from wishlist as we have to verify both the account which cannot be done over email support. In this case, I would request you to contact us over live support so that our account specialist team can verify your accounts and help you right away in transferring your wishlist as well. For call: Please click the following link and enter your contact information: https://www.audible.com/mt/click2call. For chat: Please click the following link and enter your contact information: https://www.audible.com/amazon-chat. Be rest assured, once you will contact us over live support, this issue would be resolved. Take care because you deserve best in life!

Sincerely, Jitesh K Audible.com

Anybody notice this same pattern where each response comes from different person? How is that useful? How is that efficient?

I initially respond with:

I feel so safe now! Thanks!

NOT! 

Poking fun at the statement that they are doing it for my safety! Whenever a company gets cornered into being wrong they pull out the "I'm sorry but we can't do that because it's a security issue". Hallelujah! Grace be to 9/11 for that! However I later determined that I should expand on this issue:

 Sorry, but I must add - what a lame ass fucking excuse!

Now go away!

I was pissed because it was a lame ass excuse. And as thought about it more I thought it was a good idea to explain why I thought it was a lame ass excuse:

You know what? Let me further expose on the stupidity of this! 

You mean to tell me you can consolidate my two accounts of which I have no idea how I got a second one, move over all of the books, billing information, past orders shipment dates, etc. from one account to the other but gawd forbid we tell you what your previous, unpurchased, list of "hey I might like this book" otherwise known as my "wish list" because you surely need to protect me from somebody, somehow, in some impossible scenario might figure out what Andrew DeFaria might be interested listening to as an audio book. THAT would surely put Andrew DeFaria in too much harm and we must protect his security!!! We could give a fuck less that somebody might find out what he actually bought and listened to, nor his previous addresses or credit card information. Is that about right? 

Fucking stupid! I'm seriously considering canceling my Audible account. I don't need such stupidity in my life! Maybe if I never had to deal with support droids like yourself. Geeze!

Then I got the following response. Note, yet another person responds:

Hi Andrew, I understand your concern that you would like to transfer your wishlist from old account to this "andrew@defaria.com" account. I am sorry for the inconvenience this may caused you. As you requested, I have transferred your wishlist from old account to this "andrew@defaria.com" account. If there's anything else you need help, please let us know. Thank you for contacting Audible.

Sincerely, Vaishali Audible.com For those keeping count there's Prerna K,  Jitesh K (must be related... K?), and now Vaishali - got a fucking American?!? Amazing! Doing the impossible! Funny, you just wrote me: I totally get your point however, I would like to inform you that for your account safety, we are not authorized to transfer books from wishlist as we have to verify both the account which cannot be done over email support. And yet you just did it. Fucking liar! Why is it I have to bitch and moan and be the bad guy just to get this shit done?!? No I refuse to accept that I'm the fucking bad guy - I was right! From the start. But I have to get upset and fucking curse to get things done. Shame on you! Just total shame! Further email from you will just be returned! Note my spam blocker didn't work because I had customersupport@audible.com in my whitelist so I got more email: Hi Andrew, I understand you're upset and I regret that we haven't been able to address your concerns to your satisfaction. Your last correspondence was handled by our senior executive and that is why they were able to bypass the verification. It was never our intention to not help you, we also called you over live support (Phone/Chat), so that we would help you asap. We appreciate your love for audiobooks and are always happy to help you. Wishing you a good day. Sincerely, Akshay R Audible.com Ah, Akshay R joins the party! 4 emails - 4 different people. Here's a clue - empower your people as far down the line as necessary to provide a customer first, or dare I say the most customer focused company so that they can effect change and get things done and not have to go up the chain to get permission to do what the customer wants!!! The above is a great example of this. I've already established what I wanted to have happen but have to get upset and bitch out, curse and push your support people to do what they say is not possible but in the end is possible and the only reason that it is possible is that I bitch and complain about it and they go up the tree to get permission to do the right thing - the thing I asked for in the first place! It's clear their excuses are nothing more than lies - to their customers! - and/or not put in place to protect Audible nor protect me but rather just to avoid having to do work for those people too timid or too busy to fight for their rights. What kind of impression do you think this leaves with me? What kind of endorsement do you hope to get from me? How shall I spread the word about all of this Audible and Amazon (let alone apparently Amazon to Acquire PillPack - See Pillpack - used to have great support but it has been floundering lately) "goodness". Well you're reading it and it's not good. So I write back: The point is you shouldn't have to do that! You should empower the reps that are working directly with your customers! It's clear this could be done but I was told it couldn't be. Why is that? There is no go reason. NO GOOD REASON WHATSOEVER! When you say you can't do something you should say tjat because you actually can't do it, not because some stupid policy that doesn't mesh with reality is stopping you. The stated reason for the policy what totally not inline with reality - it was fucking stupid and that's the reason upper management told you to push it through - because you done fucked up!  I assure you I will write up this issue in detail on a blog entry and I will assure you that I will make sure it gets to Jeff Bezos eyeballs as I have connections. Expect to be fired as I've heard he tends to do this.  Bad stories about your service can be 1000 times worse than you think. Finally they write back: Hello Andrew, I understand that you are unhappy that your issue was not resolved at first instance. I am sorry for the incovenience this has caused you. I have taken your feedback and forwarded to our relevant team and requested them to look into this. Please be assured that you won't face the same issue again from our end. If there's anything else you need help, please let us know so we will help you in an appropriate manner. Thank you for contacting Audible. Sincerely, Vaishali Audible.com Hey Vaishali's back! Must have been a mistake... Jeff Bezos, is this really your vision for the most customer focused business?