You waited until the last minute...

[FuzzyKitten99]

...so it has nothing to do with our customer service abilities, jackass.

I really cannot understand it. I can see if there were only a handful of people that waited until their kids were already in school to get the graphing calculator, in particular the TI-84+ to help with homework.

But it was damn near every group of people last night. School in our area started Tuesday. Some even started the last week.

These calculators aren't cheap. They actually have gotten more expensive than when I was in classes that needed them, nearly 13/14 years ago. I think I bought mine for about $90. The one that the schools in the area are asking for is $120. And it is the same model, but maybe with a few new features.

However I believe every retail store within our area that sells them, were sold out. Walmart, Target, OfficeMax, OfficeDepot, BestBuy, etc. We have a few more coming on our truck tonight, but I think my supe said it was only 12. So, if the customer needs one and can't get to the store to claim one of the 12 (and we had about 40-50 families come in last night looking for one), they can order one online and they get it in 5-7 biz days.

Yet two families felt the need to tell us we sucked at customer service because we couldn't magically produce the calculators on demand. I know I love Harry Potter series, but I am just a lowly muggle. I have no magic abilities that can conjure something out of thin air. They insisted that we were holding out.

Why? Why would we hide them? What purpose would that serve?

Besides, why are you waiting until now to get one? You kid is already in school, has homework now, and for some reason, you felt the need to wait until 9pm on a school night, homework waiting, to go get the calculator.

[NateTheChops]

Man, schools are getting demanding. I really do feel sorry for the kids whose parents are on a limited budget (guess where my sympathy comes from), because some of the demands for certain school supplies are ridiculous.

Even our store is pretty much drained for school/office supplies and some of the notebooks kids are getting are 15 to 20 bucks.

[Selkiedreams]

The graphing calculator is probably the worst investment ever and it's really stupid that schools make it mandatory. I remember when I was in high school they made us have them, I paid 95 dollars for a TI 82, then one of the functions was faulty and I had to go buy another one for another 95 dollars. They justified it by saying "they'll make you use it in college! all your math classes will make you use them" HA! funny... I never used one in college, in fact, they weren't even allowed in the room. grrrr lol. I still have both of them... anyone need a TI-82 or a TI-83?

[Kheldarson]

I'm kinda surprised that schools require the students to buy them. True, I own my own TI-83, but it was a graduation present. Every math class I attended had graphing calculators you could borrow--my 8th grade year every student in the class got one from the teacher to use and we gave it back at the end of the year or we paid for it.

Still miss all the games I had on that one...

[FuzzyKitten99]

I'm kinda surprised that schools require the students to buy them. True, I own my own TI-83, but it was a graduation present. Every math class I attended had graphing calculators you could borrow--my 8th grade year every student in the class got one from the teacher to use and we gave it back at the end of the year or we paid for it.

Still miss all the games I had on that one...

I don't know if the schools require it, but I know that some do loan out school-owned ones. Problem is, I think because of the population of the district we are in, it just isn't possible to loan out calculators to all of the kids. My former high school alone has over 3,000 students between 9th & 12th grades, and that is only one high school out of the 4 that are in the district. However the middle schools here also have classes that need them, and there are about 6 middle schools in the district.

[poofy_puff]

You should come to my office, I have about 30 scientific calculators - HP's, TI's, Casio's... They leave them in the lab and never claim them. We keep them in a kind of lost-and-found until the end of the term, then I take them. Check it out:

3 x Casio fx-9750G PLUS

1 x Casio fx-6300G

1 x Casiofx-115MS

1 x Sharp EL-9600c

1 x Sharp EL-531V

1 x Sharp EL-506L

1 x TI-30Xa

1 x TI-36X II

3 x TI-36X Solar

2 x TI-83

8 x TI-83 Plus

1 x TI-84 Plus

1 x TI-85

3 x TI-89

1 x TI-89 Titanium

There are a few more lying around. Students here have money so it's easier for them to buy a new calculator than to replace the batteries or to go looking where they might have left it. Sometimes people come back looking for their stuff, but it's usually Extension School students who DON'T have rich parents who pay for everything. Too, people tend to abandon things at the end of the semester, esp. the Spring semester when they graduate. Yesterday I collected 4 of those keychain USB data storage thingies, one was 4 GB (gave that one to DH)! People stick them into the Macs we have here in the lab (it's a chem teaching lab) and never even come back LOOKING for them! We get lots of other stuff, too. Umbrellas, coffee mugs, barely-written-in notebooks, looseleaf binders and portfolios, occasionally headphones and cell-phone chargers, what-have-you, and sometimes the odd piece of jewelry or clothing. Also, fancy pens, pencils, markers, sharpeners, and carrying cases. I could go on and on.

Anyone in the Boston/Cambridge area need some of this shit? PM me and I'll tell you where you can pick it up (in HSQ).


Edit: When *I* was in HS, we weren't ALLOWED to BRING a calculator INTO THE SCHOOL BLDG.

When I was in college (1990's) we were required to have calculators that could handle trig fxns and logarithms, but were NOT ALLOWED to use the graphing ones. If you had a graphing calculator, you had to run it by the instructor so they could see that you had no functions stored in it. They wouldn't let you use it if it had functions hard-wired into it.

That seems more fair to the folks who cannot afford an expensive calculator. Make everyone use a CHEAPER calculator that does scientific functions. These can be bought for around $25 or less. (such as some of the Casios and Sharps mentioned above, as well as certain HP and TI models). None of this bullshit about requiring a SPECIFIC CALCULATOR. They're supposed to be teaching MATH, which should be the same on ANY calculator, not a course in how to USE a calculator.

Sorry, this is one of my pet-peeves.

[Kheldarson]

That seems more fair to the folks who cannot afford an expensive calculator. Make everyone use a CHEAPER calculator that does scientific functions. These can be bought for around $25 or less. (such as some of the Casios and Sharps mentioned above, as well as certain HP and TI models). None of this bullshit about requiring a SPECIFIC CALCULATOR. They're supposed to be teaching MATH, which should be the same on ANY calculator, not a course in how to USE a calculator.

Hey, I still learned math and I was required to have a TI-83 for my math classes. Then again, for a while I was in a school that was very much focused on math and science and required a major science project during the year...BUT the kicker with math classes I've found is that the teacher has to be willing to handle both calc and non-calc problems. Enforce the fact that a majority of problems can be solved without the calculator. Unfortunately...people take shortcuts, parents, students, and teachers alike.

[FuzzyKitten99]

Hey Poofy (heh, that sounds funny!)

Ever thought about donating those calculators and such to a school-supplies drive that many cities have yearly? Or maybe selling them on eBay and donating the money to your school or to a charity that helps underprivileged students?

[poofy_puff]

Point made. I'm glad you learned your math

However, with respect to the OP, requiring EVERYONE to have the same calculator can have supply-and-demand repercussions. Then what, next semester a different instructor is going to require everyone to get ANOTHER same-type-of-calculator.

And textbooks - another racket. A new edition for Physics I? Elementary Physics hasn't changed since, oh I don't know, the Big Bang? Same goes for languages, math, accounting, even literature and basic psychology, and they make you buy the latest edition anyway. What's been changed? The NUMBERING of the practice problems / homework questions.

But I digress.

Hey Poofy (heh, that sounds funny!)

Ever thought about donating those calculators and such to a school-supplies drive that many cities have yearly? Or maybe selling them on eBay and donating the money to your school or to a charity that helps underprivileged students?

Yes I have! I have already given a few away to people I know. If I sell them, I would use the money toward animal-rescue, which is where most of my disposable income goes in the first place.


(BTW, my avatar is "da Poofy-Puff, Lilya")

[auntiem]

Edit: When *I* was in HS, we weren't ALLOWED to BRING a calculator INTO THE SCHOOL BLDG.

Same here! Granted - I went to HS in the early 80's. Bringing a calculator to school for math or physics class was considered cheating.

[protege]

The only high school class I had a calculator for....was my accounting one. It would have been helpful in Algebra II or chemistry, but oh well. No extra cash at the time

[The Grim Shipper]

I just checked Amazon for fun. They're in stock and on sale there and have overnight delivery available. I have to admit that they're usually the first place I send my SCs, particularly when they come in asking for something we don't sell/aren't restocking soon.

[Dave1982]

How come no one said this yet?

"Failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."™

Hey, if they really need a Ti-84+, send them to my store. I've got a metric shitload of them for $90 after rebate that I'd love to get rid of. They're clogging up my high-ticket area.

[Golden Phoenix]

Ugh, i'm *awful* at planning but i never had the gall to complain at the shop workers for my tardiness and i've never understood the people who do.

On the calculator side of things, i carry a scientific calculator with me at all times due to my dyscalculia* (number dyslexia) and have done for years, it's easier than being completely lost in any situation involving math and has once or twice prevented me being over-charged on stuff. It's a Casio fx-83ES.

On the textbook side...i've just finished a batchelors degree and my most expensive textbook set me back £400. *faints*

*May be spelled wrong.

[wagegoth]

Having to buy school supplies for myself (university) and my son (high school) can make things interesting, and damn expensive. I tend to go to the local dollar store for stuff like pens, pencils, dividers, binders, and paper to help offset the costs of the text books I have to buy. Second hand text books are the way I usually try to go but for some courses you just can't find second hand.

I've been getting the best deals on half.com. New textbooks for 40% off! Used ones up to 75% off! (Sorry, Lupo P.) If you want the names of the dealers I bought from, PM me.


I went to Big Lots! for a lot of the supplies this year.

Back OT: Last year, my older son was required to get a graphing calculator for 6th grade. He never used more than the simplest functions on it. This year, his new school didn't even ask for one.