Welcome to ConglomerateScienceSupplyCo!
Please indicate your country to continue.
But you know my IP address.
Please select from the following menu:
[List of all countries starting with A, because we don't discriminate] or
[List of all countries starting with United States and United Kingdom, because let's face it]
The first version annoys me because I have to scroll all the way to the bottom. The second version annoys me because it reminds me that I am a spoiled American. Also, why the hell do I have to do this at all? You know my damn IP address. You could tell me what university I'm coming from, if you so chose.
Thanks for your selection! Would you like us to remember this selection for future visits?
Go right ahead, although you've never succeeded in remembering it before and I am doubtful that you even know how to place a cookie on my computer, given that you don't seem to have figured out that you know my goddamn IP address.
15 years ago
15 comments:
ugh, VWR sucks ass! much prefer fisher, though their website is not much better...
I think they do it on purpose, so you're forced to deal with the reps, who can try and up sell you.
Ooh, this drives me crazy. Qiagen does it too.
i thought it only did this to me :)
YEAH!
After years of scrolling I learned that on most of those you can hit the "U" key to skip along to USA --if that's your goal, you do still have to get past Uganda and on some computers you can press "U" a few more times to do that. It never remembers anything for me either.
Offering a very strong opposing opinion, I have to say that as an international researcher, I LOVE this feature, even though it annoys me on occasion too. The reason is that I spend time in labs in 3 countries, and it's really good to be able to get info on what products I can order in each country before I get there (so the reagents are there when I arrive). One of my labs is in Africa and I do all my ordering from the UK, but other people there order from other European countries, so all of us would suffer if it chose "African Country" automatically (or any one other country). So it really is a benefit to researchers in other countries to be able to be explicit about which country's site you enter. I just wish they would fix the "remember this preference" feature.
I feel strongly, too, that starting the menu with USA and UK is not only reasonable, but essential to the good design of these things.
Sigma's another one. I sigh every time. I wish I could choose another option instead of yes/no for remembering my country choice - "I *beg* you to try and remember".
But lots of people travel internationally and still have to place orders from their home institutions.
VWR is like the nosy and possessive girlfriend. Where are you, who are you with? And there reps suck, the guy came maybe once a year and when he did he bitched about us not ordering from him. Maybe if he was around or would deign to answer his phone to field complaints we might. I have tossed a broken VWR stir plate at the rep before and told them to get the fuck out of my lab and take their shit products with them.
Sigma drives me up a tree, too.
I'm all in favor of the user being able to change the default country--there should be a little box in the upper right corner or something saying, "You are currently viewing products available for Uganda; click here to change countries" or whatever.
That way, traveling researchers or those who lead complicated ordering lives would have a way to get what they need, and the rest of us would not have to go through this bizarre charade.
One of the great things about being a PI is that you don't have to deal with this kind of fuckwittitude, ever.
I have thought the EXACT SAME THINGS when I go there! Thanks for brightening my day.
VWR is currently not giving us very essential supplies that we ordered weeks ago. Just thought I'd add to the complaints about VWR, cause this has been annoying me ALL DAY!
Add to the list of complaints against VWR:
I'm pretty sure they have cut their 'quality control' staff substantially (or replaced them with monkeys that don't give a shit). Over the last few months, we've been getting more tubes without caps, cracked filters on sterile filter bottle, and, my personal favorite, pipettes with a small hole near the tip so that medium squirts out the side as you empty its contents.
I adore this post.
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