Free Dell 2001FP for me

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brom42

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I thought I'd share my story:

A month ago I bought a 2001FP LCD. When I got the e-mail that it shipped, I saw that the address was messed up. I called them and talked to someone in India. He said he would take care of it. A week passes with no reponse. I call their small business support and get someone in the US. He promptly calls the carrier and gets it re-routed and I get the LCD the next day. A week later I get a message from the India support saying he was sorry about everything and he was going to send out another LCD. I though WTF that will never happen and I forgot about it. Yesterday I get a box from Dell, a second LCD!! I check the shipping status of the first LCD. I almost fell out of my chair. Dell's site says "Returned to Dell!!" I go to the carrier's web site and check the status. It says "Returned to Shipper!!" I called Dell and asked them about it. He gave me a long winded apology about how it was their fault and they were really sorry about the delay.

It is hard not to laugh when I am sitting in front of my 2 2001FPs while the Dell support person is telling me about how they are sorry for the delay. Hell, I'd wait 3 months for a free 20" LCD. ;)
 
I'll give you $20 bucks for it :)

But seriously sometimes I wish I was this lucky.. especially with Mega Millions
 
That's more like buy one get one free. But hey... still awesome. I wish I had even enough money to buy ONE Dell 2001FP. :(
 
brom42 said:
I thought I'd share my story:

A month ago I bought a 2001FP LCD. When I got the e-mail that it shipped, I saw that the address was messed up. I called them and talked to someone in India. He said he would take care of it. A week passes with no reponse. I call their small business support and get someone in the US. He promptly calls the carrier and gets it re-routed and I get the LCD the next day. A week later I get a message from the India support saying he was sorry about everything and he was going to send out another LCD. I though WTF that will never happen and I forgot about it. Yesterday I get a box from Dell, a second LCD!! I check the shipping status of the first LCD. I almost fell out of my chair. Dell's site says "Returned to Dell!!" I go to the carrier's web site and check the status. It says "Returned to Shipper!!" I called Dell and asked them about it. He gave me a long winded apology about how it was their fault and they were really sorry about the delay.

It is hard not to laugh when I am sitting in front of my 2 2001FPs while the Dell support person is telling me about how they are sorry for the delay. Hell, I'd wait 3 months for a free 20" LCD. ;)
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So please tell me you are going to send the second one back. No joke. Keeping it is wrong dispite the fact that it was their screw up.
 
Brom42: Congrats!!!

Nessism said:
So please tell me you are going to send the second one back. No joke. Keeping it is wrong dispite the fact that it was their screw up.
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Dude. Shut up. You know you would keep it too. I know I would.
 
synack said:
They'll catch the error eventually and you will be billed for both.
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I thought they would at first, but the carrier screwed up when the re-routed it to me. I didn't say all the details because I wanted to keep the story short, but the thing that makes me think that I will get away with it, is that I never signed for it. The guy just handed it over. When I pulled out the slip with the re-routing info on it (I swear there was like 5 lables on it with all sorts of addresses on it), there was a signature required sticker under it. There is no proof that I acutally got the first LCD.

Even if I don't, I was going to eventually get a second one anyway. So if I do get charged, atleast let me be happy until I do (and that is a big if)
 
damn, i thought by the thread title dell was giving them away for free now with their coupon contest :(
 
I hate to sound a sour note for you, but as others have shared this really is not a 'win' situation. First there is the moral aspect - in reality this is theft, albeit owing to the error of another. Secondly, that you have the comfort - I am sure others might claim audacity - to share this publicly could make these fora - even though they are privately operated - complicit in this action. Finally, making it freely known in this regard, could very well get back to Dell. Now I hate to sound all 'Big Brother', but there are enough links in this forum itself directly to Dell - and I suspect vice versa - that someone will likely take notice. Remember, the Tell-Tale Heart ...
 
any chance you would sell that second monitor for a relatively inexpensive price? seriously.
 
brom42 said:
I thought they would at first, but the carrier screwed up when the re-routed it to me. I didn't say all the details because I wanted to keep the story short, but the thing that makes me think that I will get away with it, is that I never signed for it. The guy just handed it over. When I pulled out the slip with the re-routing info on it (I swear there was like 5 lables on it with all sorts of addresses on it), there was a signature required sticker under it. There is no proof that I acutally got the first LCD.

Even if I don't, I was going to eventually get a second one anyway. So if I do get charged, atleast let me be happy until I do (and that is a big if)
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That does sound promising. I'm not going to take a morally superior attitude because although I think I know what I would do, you never know when your in that situation. I just know I would be tempted because all the hoops you have to jump through in technical support, customer support, defective monitors, etc. Plus the fact that you don't get a fair deal on Dell products unless you frequent Hot Deals forums. Dell doesn't think twice wasting hours on top of hours keeping you on hold and wasting time which is money. If it was a company like Newegg who does their customers right, I would call first thing when I got it and inform them of the error. I would not even open the box.
 
FWIW IBM sent me two laptops once when I ordered one around christmas last year. When I called to tell them and send the second one back after I knew it wasn't getting billed for it, the rep on the phone said "It will cost us more in overhead to take it back and recondition it for sale. Keep it, merry christmas". I could certainly use two laptops so I made him take my CC# and pay for it, but moral of the story is honesty gets you places.
 
nweibley said:
FWIW IBM sent me two laptops once when I ordered one around christmas last year. When I called to tell them and send the second one back after I knew it wasn't getting billed for it, the rep on the phone said "It will cost us more in overhead to take it back and recondition it for sale. Keep it, merry christmas". I could certainly use two laptops so I made him take my CC# and pay for it, but moral of the story is honesty gets you places.
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IBM made $89 billion dollars + $2,000 from your laptop last year to give them total revenue for 2003 $89,000,002,000. I',m sure they really appreciated your honesty, which I commend. But come on dude, he offered to give it to you. It was a gift. They know their profit margins and cost of unit production. Honesty is one thing, which I too would have done, but foolishness is another.
 
Ive been working on getting my second replacement 2005FPW for about a week now, and after all the phone conversations and emails i have sent back and forth, i really dont know exactly how many new monitors i am going to be getting. I received a confirmation that they have received my returned monitor when it is still sitting on my desk as i type this.

Im confused!!!
 
Don't worry you won't be keeping the second one for long.

Eventually dell will catch the error and bill you for the second monitor.

Plus didn't you sign for the package? UPS or DHL will have proof that you have the monitor.
 
My personal feelings on this is that I checked with the carrier, dell's website and called them. If any of them would of said that there was a mistake, then I would have returned/paid for the LCD. And frankly the dell rep I got treated me like an idiot. When I asked them to check their records about the status of my LCD, all he kept on doing was refering me to the website. I finally talked him into looking into the 2 orders. Then he finally apologized to me about the delay when he looked at it; and that seemed forced. I am following a policy of don't ask/don't tell on this subject. If Dell calls me and want the LCD back/ paid for, then I will. But as long as they don't ask for it, I am not going to tell them about it. Do I feel at all bad about doing this, even a little bit? Nope!! :D So stop trying to guilt trip me. They are just a nameless faceless company to me, who sends their call center jobs to India. A good enough reason alone to keep it.
 
synack said:
Honesty is one thing, which I too would have done, but foolishness is another.
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Certainly there is. There is another thing called ethical practices, and there is another thing called the economy. IBM can’t hand out free laptops to everyone. If I have the means to pay for something I am going to use, certainly why shouldn't I?

There is a fine fine line between earnest and being calloused.
 
I would keep that monitor and I would have kept (not paid for) that laptop from IBM. IBM and Dell are huge corporations. They know things like this will happen. You need the money/products more than they do.
 
The moral high ground ... that's always struck me as a most interesting argument. While I cannot in any way claim superiority or pretension - as the charge is often ladden with that particular nuance - I can say that we set the own bar for that to which we aspire. The moment I begin to see another human being as 'nameless' and 'them' or 'they' then the next step is to rationalise what it is that I know is wrong.

In regard to 'guilt trip', one of the ramifications of sharing publicly something that others might find questionable, the proviso of not wishing to be held accountable, I feel, is not a vaild position from which to state a position. Yes you did 'everything by the book' and if we all did things in this manner, I feel that the world would be a much colder one. The criteria by which I expect to be treated is that which I reciprocate to others, EVEN IF they do not do so themselves.
 
this has happened to me a few times with hard drives and video card but i wish it would happen with one or 2 of those monitors
 
demons9872 said:
this has happened to me a few times with hard drives and video card but i wish it would happen with one or 2 of those monitors
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This is the first time this has happened to me with something that cost over a couple hundred. This has happened to me before with hard drives(there is a reason I was able to afford to have raided drives :cool: ) and have been sent double mail in rebate checks a couple of times. It surprises me that more people haven't commented on how something similar has happened to them. I guess with all the times it has happened to friends and myself, I assumed it was more common.

I want to add a poll to this thead so people can vote on whether or not I should keep it. Does anyone know if I can do this now anymore? If a moderator sees this, pm me about it.
 
You bastard. That poor boy in Mexico didn't make that monitor for you to have for free. He has a family to feed you know. :rolleyes:

Well since the monitor was rerouted back to your address I don't think there would be a hard time finding it. If they really want that monitor back they'll get it back but I doubt they're going to come looking for it. Keep the monitor and screw all those people with negative feedback. I would print out the order status for both Dell and the carrier for the monitors as proof. This way, if somebody from Dell comes knocking you can show them the order status printout and tell them it never came your way and you never signed anything. It's Dell's error and they wont be hurt by this one blunder.

Finally. I wouldn't have gone out on the internet and talked about it.
 
demons9872 said:
this has happened to me a few times with hard drives and video card but i wish it would happen with one or 2 of those monitors
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Yea me too, I got a free 7 in 1 card reader with a fan i ordered once. I told them about it and they sent me a UPS label to send it back to them but I forgot about it lol. They never got back with me or charged me... :rolleyes:
 
cnick79 said:
*snip*I would print out the order status for both Dell and the carrier for the monitors as proof. This way, if somebody from Dell comes knocking you can show them the order status printout and tell them it never came your way *snip*
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Way ahead of you, that was one of the first things I did. But that is where I draw the line. If Dell comes knocking at my door and asks for it, I'll give it to them.

cnick79 said:
Finally. I wouldn't have gone out on the internet and talked about it.
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Call me ignorant, but after the response of my friends that mainly consisted of "you lucky bastard" I didn't think I would get so many negative responses. :eek: Next time no bragging about my free stuff for me. :(
 
brom42 said:
Way ahead of you, that was one of the first things I did. But that is where I draw the line. If Dell comes knocking at my door and asks for it, I'll give it to them.
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That's how I was when a certain company sent me a second gigabit switch and never charged me (I ordered one and they sent me a second one). :cool: If they wanted it call up and come and get it. I'm not wasting my time calling and going through crap and blah blah not to mention since they can barely speak English and I can barely understand what they're saying, they'll probably gladly accept the return and then turn around and charge me for it after I send it back. :rolleyes: I kept it sitting here for four months in case they called about it. I'd tell them that, yes, it's here so send me a prepaid shipping label and it's your's. Nothing happened so I sold it.


I've been sent extra rebates, too. I just figure it as being interest for my time spent sending in the rebates, looking for two months to see if they got it, looking for two months to see if they sent it, and calling up and fighting for my legitimate rebates that they came up with some excuse to invalidate. :rolleyes:
 
brom42 said:
Way ahead of you, that was one of the first things I did. But that is where I draw the line. If Dell comes knocking at my door and asks for it, I'll give it to them.



Call me ignorant, but after the response of my friends that mainly consisted of "you lucky bastard" I didn't think I would get so many negative responses. :eek: Next time no bragging about my free stuff for me. :(
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Let me see if I have this right, Dell screws up and sends you a second monitor by mistake, so you quickly prepare yourself to commit fraud in case the carrier comes back to rectify the mistake? This is very disappointing to hear and highlights a very important problem with our society; lack of personnel ethics and a selfish attitude.
 
half the ppl hear saying give it back, know if it was them, they would be keeping it, atleast until dell came calling, if they ever did. I say keep the shit. I guess all these people who say give it back, if they found a lottery ticket on the ground with a persons name written in pencil, they would just give it back even if it was worth 10 million. Im sorry, i have a "would they do the same for me attitude". If i lost something like that, i know i wouldnt be getting it back, i would hope and pray for it back, but i know it wouldnt happen. I doubt a million dollar company like dell and ibm care if a few items fall thru the cracks. Its called shrink, no companies shrink is 0%, none. That ibm guy was probally calling that guy who got the free notebook a dumbass, i know i would be after telling you to keep it, and u force your cc# on me like im doing something wrong? But hey, everyone is entilted to their own morals. brom42, merry christmas. To everyone else who said they would keep it, thanks for being honest.
 
cmurda21 said:
half the ppl hear saying give it back, know if it was them, they would be keeping it, atleast until dell came calling, if they ever did. I say keep the shit. I guess all these people who say give it back, if they found a lottery ticket on the ground with a persons name written in pencil, they would just give it back even if it was worth 10 million. Im sorry, i have a "would they do the same for me attitude". If i lost something like that, i know i wouldnt be getting it back, i would hope and pray for it back, but i know it wouldnt happen. I doubt a million dollar company like dell and ibm care if a few items fall thru the cracks. Its called shrink, no companies shrink is 0%, none. That ibm guy was probally calling that guy who got the free notebook a dumbass, i know i would be after telling you to keep it, and u force your cc# on me like im doing something wrong? But hey, everyone is entilted to their own morals. brom42, merry christmas. To everyone else who said they would keep it, thanks for being honest.
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Well, I don't typically stereotype, but with a name like "cmurda21" I don't think you are quite at the point where you understand universal ethical principals, the categorical imperative, etc. Just because you would keep it does not mean the rest of us would. I don't like the more-moral-than-you bull, but honestly, are you so close minded that you do not believe there are honest people that would give that lottery ticket back? If that is truly how you think, that is amazing and scary at the same time.

I really don't think you understand what I am saying here. You are all saying it is just a small fraction for IBM to lose that laptop. Now, I'm no multi-billion dollar corporation, but at the end of the year, paying for that laptop isn't going to make the slightest dent in my checkbook. So tell me I'm a dumbass if you think so. Congrats. I'll sleep at night knowing I did the right thing and everything was done fairly. When I expect the same out of other people, I know I am not being a hypocrite, and that I can call them out on it.

And for the record, I did not force my CC# on him. I said "I am not going to send this laptop back if you do not let me pay for it. Honestly I can use it and it makes sense for me to obtain it like I would any other laptop." What happened was I did not pay for shipping, just the price of the laptop. So, if you think I am such a dumbass, good. But if you ever do business with me and screw me over in the slightest way, I will hunt you down and make your life a living hell until you make it up to me. And you wont have a single accusation to make against me. If you don’t, you will have a nice smooth and agreeable transaction. Believe it or not, treating other people with respect actually makes both parties quite happy. Ask Voorstryden, he and I had a transaction and because he was so agreeable and prompt I paid him $15 for shipping that probably cost him $5, but the fact that he was as prompt and communicative as he was scored him the extra $10.

Now, you want more morals to the story? I ordered from FrozenCPU a while back and at 7:30 UPS went by and my package was not delievered on time. I got on the phone and got a refund. About 30 minutes later, UPS was back and delievered my package. I wrote them an email explaining the circumstances and asking them where I could paypal the money that was rightly theirs. To be honest they were quite suprised that I would be so honest, and said that most people would have kept the money, but that they would accept it back anyways. I sent the money to the account, and thought nothing of it. A few days later a box showed up at my house with a bunch of goodies in it and a handwritten note saying "Thanks for being an honest customer, We look forward to doing buisness with you in the future."

And, for the record, the IBM guy asked if he could be specified as the rep that sold me the laptop. Of course I agreed, and so we finished the transaction. At the end of the phone call he thanked me, basically (he stated) because he knew the comission that he would earn for making the sale would help him buy presents for his family. So no, I'm actually positive he didn't call me a dumbass.
 
They'll eventually catch their error (probably after the holiday season) and ask you to return it. Stuff like this has happened to me before, and they eventually put two and two together and figure out what happened. Send an e-mail to Customer Support instead of calling them. It will be the best thing to do in the long run.
 
Well, I don't typically stereotype, but with a name like "cmurda21" I don't think you are quite at the point where you understand universal ethical principals, the categorical imperative, etc. Just because you would keep it does not mean the rest of us would. I don't like the more-moral-than-you bull, but honestly, are you so close minded that you do not believe there are honest people that would give that lottery ticket back? If that is truly how you think, that is amazing and scary at the same time.
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I guess i could say you dont know anything about ethics etc with bush cheney 04' in your signature or whatever its called. What does my username have to do with anything? Do you know what it means? Then either ask or shut up and dont speak on it. Its the name of a rapper, has nothing to do with me or my lifestyle. Ive worked in retail, and trust me, id bet money he was calling you a dumbass, sure he likes the commission, but if he was in your shoes, he wouldnt be thinking about some sales guys comminssion he aint earn, he would be thinking if that was me i woulda said thanks man and kept it. He had no choice but to take your money, but its obvious by his mindset tellin u to keep it what he would have done if the roles were reversed. I think your the one who is close minded, i guess once again i pass judgement like you that with the Bush Cheney 04 in your sig, u must think america is like Disneyland, the greatest place on earth.

You think someone finds a ticket for 10million, doesnt know u personally, but knows its yours, would give it back? Maybe you live in some nice fairy tale gated community, or some rural area where nothing happens if you believe that. I guess you sleep with your doors to your home wide open too lol, b/c hey, it would be close minded to think someone could walk in the house and murder u and u're kids in this day and age. No one has said it was right to keep it, but reality is he wants to keep it, i would keep it, and many others would keep it. Dont pass judgement on ppl just b/c they would keep a monitor, or their name, you dont know anyone on here personally, thats just 1 aspect of who they are, its the internet.

And i didnt call u a dumbass, i said im sure he was calling u a dumbass for not taking it. What the hell do are you talking about if we ever did a transaction you would hunt me and make my life hell. Does brom42 or me saying we would keep the lcd make us con men or trolls who would rip ppl off. You wouldnt hunt nobody down, calm down and dont make stupid threats on the net. Theres a difference between this, and starting a transaction with the intentions of ripping someone off.
 
This thread is likely going to quickly degenerate - unfortunately - but I really do think that making the matter personal through flaming and insulting never is of benefit. The fact is that many of us have shared our opinion in regard to brom42's post. Each of us are entitled to our opinions. But I would encourage others - myself included - to try to articulate arguments in a manner that is not replete with a bitterness that stifles dialogue. I do not agree with brom42's decision, but I can appreciate his/her position. But because I disagree, I do not feel I have a right to judge. brom42 publicly shared something to which I felt I needed to respond. As a cyber-adage goes, discuss the topic, not the person ...
 
There wasnt really a problem untill captain america, nweibley, wanted to get personal. Passing judgement and stereotyping. Everyone is entitled too their own opinion. Its nice that hes thinks the everyone is honest. And im entitled to think otherwise.
 
cmurda21 said:
I guess i could say you dont know anything about *snip*
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STFU. You're a waste of natural resources and you're making yourself look like a fool on these boards. You're helping his argument by typing anything, because it shows how much of a dumbass you are. Uhm, nice job bringing up the president... that only added to your demise.
 
^^^ . First off, its funny how people curse on the internet like its hurting someones feelings. They probally have no balls to say it to someons face, but feel safe behind a pc screen and want to talk crazy. If you could read, the point was, its stupid to pass judgement and stereotype just b/c of the name on my avatar. Like it defines who i am. Im sure others would agree. But let me STFU b4 you jump thru the screen and beat me up.
 
Nessism said:
Let me see if I have this right, Dell screws up and sends you a second monitor by mistake, so you quickly prepare yourself to commit fraud in case the carrier comes back to rectify the mistake? This is very disappointing to hear and highlights a very important problem with our society; lack of personnel ethics and a selfish attitude.
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Fraud? Those order forms are in no way fraudulant if they weren't altered. Dell shows it "returned to dell" and UPS has it as "returned to shipper" with no signature – case closed. If Dell is going to ship the man two monitors then that’s Dell’s problem and they need to fix the way they work. Our man here is a victim of negligence and did nothing wrong. All this is now is a matter of morals and good nature. He’s the one that’s going to have to live with his self and deal with any guilt (if any) at all. All of you negative people act like the man tricked poor defenseless Dell into a free monitor. If the vendor was a person working out of his basement or a small entity whose business counted on every piece of inventory then I would feel guilty and return it because that person would feel the lose more than Dell. Dell is the number one PC manufacturer in the world and that monitor (which costs far less than they sell it for) means nothing to them. Of course if Dell came looking for it I would easily give it back even though it could be easily kept.

nweibley said:
I ordered from FrozenCPU a while back and at 7:30 UPS went by and my package was not delievered on time. I got on the phone and got a refund. About 30 minutes later, UPS was back and delievered my package.
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You canceled an order because it was delivered late? What the... that makes no sense. Why? How is this no different from making an order, receiving it, deciding you don't want it and cancel it and return it? I can't see why FrozenCPU would give you your money back right away knowing the order has already been shipped. But then again, look what was sent to some of these posters for free.

Remember, these guys are in business to keep us, the consumer happy. The matter could be a complete 180 and our friend here could be complaining how he was charged for a monitor and has yet to receive it weeks later. I'm sure this guy will be purchasing from Dell again instead of boycotting them. With a nice markup, Dell is still making money off of him purchasing one monitor and getting one free.

Enjoy your new monitorS friend as I along with the rest of the readers envy you.
 
Fionavar said:
This thread is likely going to quickly degenerate - unfortunately - but I really do think that making the matter personal through flaming and insulting never is of benefit. The fact is that many of us have shared our opinion in regard to brom42's post. Each of us are entitled to our opinions. But I would encourage others - myself included - to try to articulate arguments in a manner that is not replete with a bitterness that stifles dialogue. I do not agree with brom42's decision, but I can appreciate his/her position. But because I disagree, I do not feel I have a right to judge. brom42 publicly shared something to which I felt I needed to respond. As a cyber-adage goes, discuss the topic, not the person ...
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Exactly. Unfortunately, this topic talks about people's character and you can quickly get caught flaming. I tend to speak my mind at the time of replying, so don't take anything personal from me.
 
....enough. One of the rules we all agreed to when we registered is:
(1) Absolutely NO FLAMING OR NAME CALLING. Mutual respect and civilized conversation is the required norm.
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It matters not who starts, joins in, or finishes, but you can bet that when it gets personal, an Admin may step in and handle the situation and you may not be thrilled at the outcome. Fair warning.....

The second rule I'd point out that we all agreed to when we registered is:
(18) You will not discuss, suggest, engage, or encourage any ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES.
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We could debate the legality of what you are doing, but you know you are intentionally defrauding the vendor. You've chosen to brag about it; to admit what you've done in a very public place. Not cool on many levels.

This one is closed - B.B.S.
 
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