Dear Valued Customer and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more

Buy New

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
or
Amazon Prime Free Trial required. Sign up when you check out. Learn More
Buy Used
Used - Good See details
$3.23 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
Fulfilled by Amazon

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
   
Kindle Edition
Read the Kindle edition on Kindle, iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry, PC and Mac.
 
   
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Dear Valued Customer: You Are A Loser
 
 
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.
Start reading Dear Valued Customer on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Dear Valued Customer: You Are A Loser [Paperback]

Rick Broadhead (Author)
3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews) |
Price: $9.95 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
  Special Offers Available
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Only 2 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).
Want it delivered Tuesday, June 5? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details

Formats

 Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition $7.99   -- --
Paperback $9.95   -- --

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2004
To err is human. To really screw things up takes modern technology. To enjoy reading about the misfortunes of others at the hands of technology...all it takes is this book!

In addition to being one of the country's leading technology experts (he's co-authored more than 30 books), Rick Broadhead has had a life-long predilection for stories of the strange-but-true genre. In Dear Valued Customer: You are a Loser, he combines his two abiding passions to present an exhaustive, fascinating, and hysterical collection of technologically enabled blunders, bloopers, and mishaps.

Have you heard the story about the bank in Chicago whose computer made overnight multi-millionaires out of hundreds of its account holders? How about the man in California who was informed that he owed 39 trillion dollars in overdue library fines? Or the woman in New York state who claimed she was seeing the names of dead people on her caller-ID box?

The Most "F" words in a Disney movie, The Most Embarrassing Open Mike Gaffe by a Politician, The Strangest Discovery by an Airport Metal Detector (a woman discovered she had a surgical retractor in her stomach)..;.these and more than one hundred other bizarre stories will definitely keep readers uproariously enthralled.

Special Offers and Product Promotions

  • This item is eligible for our 4-for-3 promotion. Eligible products include select Books and Home & Garden items. Buy any 4 eligible items and get the lowest-priced item free. Here's how (restrictions apply)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Rick Broadhead is a leading consultant, analyst, and professional speaker in the technology industry. He has co-authored more than 30 books on technology and the Internet. He lives in Toronto.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 240 pages
  • Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing; 1st edition (April 1, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0740738232
  • ISBN-13: 978-0740738234
  • Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,145,940 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

More About the Author

› Visit Amazon's Rick Broadhead Page
Rick Broadhead
Rick Broadhead is a leading consultant, analyst, and professional speaker in the technology industry. He has co-authored more than 30 books on technology and the Internet. He lives in Toronto.

Customer Reviews

5 star
0
3 star
0
1 star
0
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This fun little book offers an antidote to those misguided people who, I'm told, think information security is dreadfully boring. Its 315 small-format pages contain a collection of entertaining stories about "computer errors" and other IT-related glitches, drawn mostly from the general and IT press.

Each story has been verified to some extent by the author although few sources are fully referenced. Most stories are less than 300 words long, just long enough to get the gist.

There are numerous examples of information security breaches in the book, especially if one accepts that most data-entry errors are either the result of untrained, incompetent or careless computer users, or inadequate data entry validation. A typical example is the one about a Salomon Smith Barney trader who lent on the `instant sell' button on his keyboard one day and inadvertently placed on sale 14,500 French government bond contracts worth a staggering $1.3bn at a low price. Salomon managed to cancel the sell order but not until 10,000 contracts had been struck, leaving the company nursing a huge loss. I'd have been willing to bet, before the event, that Salomon's risk assessments and contingency plans did not even consider this kind of event. Do yours?

Creative information security awareness managers, trainers and presenters use news stories like these to liven-up their training sessions, case studies, seminars, newsletters and intranet websites. Even people who hate IT enjoy the opportunity to laugh at the unfortunate victims of computer spoofs, stunts, accidents and failures. The trick is to use this kind of material to engage the audience and, while you have their attention, explain the underlying information security risk and control issues.

At less than ten bucks, it's a genuine bargain.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I picked up this book after hearing about it on the radio, and I'm glad I did. Being a heavy computer user, I have heard about some of the stories detailed in this book, but most of them just made my jaw drop as to how modern technology can screw up either by itself or by a human hitting the wrong button. So this book is highly recommended, but don't give it to any of your luddite friends. They'll use it to prove you right.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book contains dozens of short stories about mistakes that businesses supposedly made (some of which are urban legends). Many of the stories are the same thing over and over again. How many different ways are there for companies to screw up account balances? At least ten, if you believe this book. One example would have been enough--the other nine were just repeats.

Another thing that annoyed me was that the author does not know the proper meaning of the word "ironic."

It gets a second star from me because a few of the stories are interesting and entertaining.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

Tag this product

 (What's this?)
Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.
Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums

Listmania!


Create a Listmania! list

So You'd Like to...


Create a guide

Look for Similar Items by Category

Look for Similar Items by Subject

Search Books by subject:









i.e., each book must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...