[dtengineering]

Okay... just spoke to a DTI rep by phone. They called, based on my (now authenticated as non-spam) e-mail that I mentioned in an earlier post.

They were very friendly and helpful.

They offered a soccer ball with similar stitching and surface finish to the HS300 for the same price.

They also mentioned that the HS300 does have a slightly different finish than a standard size 5 ball that you might buy "off the shelf", so I feel it is worthwhile buying a couple of close matches.

And they certainly CAN ship to Canada.

I asked if they had been expecting a rush on soccer balls... they had been told to expect an increase in orders, and thought they were prepared... but weren't.

So FIRST did make an effort to avoid this situation... just an insufficient one.

Had we received ONE ball in our KoP we could have gone to a local store, found a similar, suitable match, saved money on shipping and brokerage, and been 100% happy with the game. Instead of, like 98 or 99% happy. (Okay... I wouldn't have been 100% happy with the new qualifying algorithm, but the game does seem to be really, really good so far.)

And on a bright side of dealing with what is actually a fairly local supplier (I was IN Seattle on Saturday to pick up the KoP!), I was able to invite the DTI folks to come out to Key Arena on March 25-27 and see what all the fuss is about.

Jason