I am trying to set up an Obi for an elderly person and in her room they will only have Wifi. I have a 202 here with what appears to be an old wifi Obi dongle but it doesn't work. Fine, I have had it for years so I decided to just buy 1 or 2 online.
For most people, that is an easy thing. I tend towards Amazon because I live in Hawaii (one of the 50 states you know) but over he water from the rest. Many companies seem to think we are 'overseas' or a foreign country. Your mainland telephones work here, we have banks and Walmart and the like, but we are treated like a third world country. Here is why.
The best delivery options for us is USPS. Yes, the much maligned old Post Office treats us with respect. We can mail out or receive letters with the common (what is it now? 55 cent) stamp. Although packages can be mailed here at a slight increase in cost, I can literally mail a 50 pound box for under $20 in a Priority Mail envelope of box.
So these new or old Obi Wifi Adapters might cost $35 but so far today I have been quotes $60 to $120 for shipping. Something that could be put into an envelope and mailed here for a few dollars.
Of course, these compays like CDW and Voip suppliers cater to big customers, but still, have they not heard of the Post Office? It is not just them, I have been quoted ridiculous prices for shipping in SSD drive and so on too, where the shipping far exceeds the product price.
Currently it would cost me less to fly from my home to Oahu (an island hundreds of miles away) and return with a product (if it was there) for less than the shipping cost.
If you work for a company that supplies products, please ask your shipping department to use some common sense and to install a way to check shipping cost BEFORE I have to create an account add the items to a cart add shipping information only to be told that you either don't ship somewhere or expect me to pay for your kids college.
I understand the new Wifi adapter in on backorder or not ready to ship, so I will be watching Amazon and other places with my fingers crossed. I just hope that this lady does not die before that happens.