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Sunday, August 14, 2005
DM computer store sucks.
I went to pick up my new computer last night. I had chosen DM above all other stores because they had been highly recommended by Jared, a good friend of mine who had had good dealings with them in the past (and who knew most of the staff personally.) They seemed friendly enough, and were even willing to take in an old computer of mine as a trade-in. I trusted them so completely that I didn't hesitate to deal with them, even though their closest store is about 100 miles away from where I live. I dropped my order off with DM, expecting that, when I came back up this weekend to visit my friend Jared, that I would be able to swing by the store and find my machine all built and ready for me to take home. Alas, such was not to be the case. When I arrived, I found my computer, motherboard and software to be naught but an unassembled pile of boxes sitting in a corner. The lone salesman/computer guy working the store that day (who was, incidentally, NOT the guy who had sold me the computer and therefore, not the one responsible for putting it together) had to build it for me there on the spot. Once it was finished, Jared and I took it over to Jared's apartment where he hooked it up to his computer monitor. Our attempts to register my copy of Windows XP were a dismal failure - I eventually had to call up Microsoft and speak to a man named Habib--er--"Robert" and request a new serial number, a process which was the over-the-phone-transactional equivalent of a quadruple wisdom tooth extraction. So, my copy of Windows XP finally registered, now would come the time for me to install all of my programs. First thing Jared and I tried to install was the Virus software which had been included with my computer package. Whoops! Turns out they had given me the wrong version for my operating system. Jared called one of his friends who runs the store (which had closed by this hour of the day) and they assured me they would get the correct software to me asap. No worries, right? Jared and I install the rest of my software programs- graphics programs, games, etc... Then I check the Computers Properties screen to see how much hard drive space we had taken up...
Um... Something's not right here. I had ORDERED a 120 G harddrive, yet this screen tells me I only have an 80 G harddrive. *Long, drawn-out, dramatic, why-can't-anything-EVER-go-smoothly-for-me sigh*... I've got the store's phone number. I decide to take my new computer home, call DM the next day and ask them why I wasn't given the right computer and the right software, and is there any way I could be compensated for it. (After all, I did not get what I had paid for, and since I lived 100 miles away, it would be a severe inconvenience --not to mention the waste of at least 20 dollars worth of gasoline- to drive back up to the store to get this little problem taken care of.) What follows is a general approximation of the phone conversation I had with "Nick" the salesman who had put my computer together:
Me: Hello? DM? I'm the woman who came into your store yesterday to pick up a computer - the one YOU had to build for me because the salesgeek who was SUPPOSED to build it for me was probably in hour #47 of his latest World of Warcraft battle campaign/Elven panty raid LAN party and couldn't be bothered to actually do his JOB.
Nick: Yes?
Me: Well, I discovered, while trying to install my software last night that the harddrive you had given me was 40 gigs too small, the copy of Windows you had given me was un-registerable, and the Virus-scanning software you had given me was the wrong kind for my operating system.
Nick: No it wasn't. It worked perfectly when I installed it last night.
Me: Wait. What? What do you mean "when you installed it last night?" When I turned on my computer for the first time, the very first thing it told me (after telling me to register that buggy copy of Windows XP that you had given me) was that I had NO Virus-scanning software installed. And the software disc that you had supplied me with did nothing when I tried to run it. Hell, "Don" the guy who RUNS your store even admitted it was the wrong version for my operating type after Jared called him.
Nick: Yeah...okay... Well, we can send you the right disc then. No problem...
Me: Fine. Now, what are you going to do about my harddrive? I paid for 120, but I only got 80.
Nick: That wasn't a 120 gig harddrive? The label said it was...Someone must've put the wrong label on it.
Me: Well, carelessly mislabelling sensitive and highly-specialized computer components certainly sounds like a good way to run a business. Did I say "run"? I meant "ruin".
Nick: We're getting another shipment of harddrives in a couple of days. If you want to come in then, we can exchange yours.
Me: I did mention when I visited your store earlier that I live 100 miles away, didn't I? I'm not planning on coming back to town for at least a couple of weeks. If I have to come up any earlier than that, it will cost me an extra 20 dollars in gas money. Not to mention all the time I'll be wasting in having to travel up there (which I wouldn't have had to do if you had done your job in the first place.)
Nick: I can knock off 20.00 from your final price to compensate for the gigs you didn't receive.
Me: But I had ORDERED an 120 gig harddrive because I wanted that much space to store my graphics, images, and videos. If I had thought an 80 gig harddrive was sufficient for my needs, I would have ordered one. How much would it cost to have the extra 40 gigs installed as part of an external harddrive?
Nick: Well, it's 69.99 for the case, and 89.99 for the harddrive itself.
Me: Whoa. But those 40 extra gigs are only worth 20 if they're part of a 120 gig harddrive. So if I swap out the 80 g harddrive I currently have for the 120, it's not gonna cost me anything?
Nick: No.
Me: Other than the 20 dollars worth of gas and the three hours of travel time it's going to cost me to have it done.
Nick: Yes.
Me: And there's no chance of you guys compensating me for that lost money and travel time...
Nick: Hey, I already had to spend MY Saturday building your computer.
Me: Yes, but I wouldn't exactly call "going out of your way to get what your company should have gotten DONE" just compensation for the extra time and trouble it's going to cost ME to get what I've rightfully paid for. If you've an issue with someone, it should be with the person who failed to do their job, not with the customer who was expecting it to have finished on time.
Nick: This is all I can do for you.
Me: And it's within your rights as a business to say that. Of course, a business what wishes to generate goodwill within its customer base might want to pay a little more attention to what they promise them and, when they fail to deliver on those promises, offer to cut them a break of some sort. Not that I'm expecting much, but I would at least like an acknowlegement of all the trouble I've gone through.
Nick: I'm sorry.
Me: Yeah...*sigh* ...so am I....
Okay, I admit I wasn'y NEARLY as witty or assertive in the actual conversation as I was in the above summary, but it certainly helps to sum up all I feel about that particular transaction. You'll notice I only mentioned the store by it's initials, not by it's full name. This is because I don't feel it is right to judge a business by the actions (or inactions) of only one (or two) of its salespeople. And I know how hard it is to run a business. Sometimes you just can't deliver and I understand that. But you could at least be a little less...prickish...I guess....And assembling a computer is not like costume-making, where delays might be caused by unforseen design problems, the customer changing their mind or the research of and experimentation with improving methods and materials. This is a pretty straight-forward business. Get the computer components, slap it together, boom. It's done... (Maybe I'm wrong. I dunno... I'm too tired to think about it any more...)
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