Ho frickin' ho!
Sorry for the lack of updates lately, but to be honest, there's little that's been terribly exciting or note-worthy as of late. That is, until this last Saturday.
For those of you who do not enjoy the aspect of shopping, especially during the hoidays, I think you will be able to relate to this little story.
Cut for length...
So, to set the stage, my father decided that this year my mother's present should be a laptop computer. My father knows nothing of technology and shuns it when he can. Actively runs from it, actually. Why he wants to get her this, I'm not really sure. She's got an out of date desktop currently, but it's functional for what she uses it for. I can only assume she dropped some hints during the past few months about wanting one. *shrug* Whatever. So Dad gives me a call a few weeks back, says he wants me to go shopping for a laptop for her, and that he's sending me a check for $1500 to cover all the goodies. He trusts my judgement, knows I won't buy her things she doesn't need, and certainly doesn't want to have to be involved in selecting a piece of technology during the holiday shopping season.
So smiths_hammer and I set off for Comp USA on Saturday night. Now, in the past, Comp USA has been fabulous in customer service and previous computer/software purchases. Never had a single complaint with them before this weekend. Oh my, how things can change.
We decide to look at the laptops last and go around to get all the little bits and pieces we figured she would need to go with the system first. USB mouse, USB splitter, Car power jack, desktop speakers, cleaning kit, Norton AntiVirus... pretty much anything she could ask for. No issues, no problems.
So we idle back to the laptop section. A few nice options. Our first decision was to go with the 17" systems with the normal sized keyboards and the number keypads. Just seemed a little easier for my mom to navigate a standard keypad and not have to worry about plugging up a USB keypad to do finances. So we narrow it down to about 3 or 4. We then begin looking for a salesperson to help us simply get the system, possibly a bag to fit it, and we'd be outta there.
During all this I notice a saleslady, Caribbean by her accent, helping another customer not far from us. The customer was obviously flustered and not having a good conversation with the saleslady. The saleslady calls over the Mac expert and she walks away as they begin to converse. The customer says, loud enough for us to hear, "I'm a single mom,... I'm just looking for software to rip movies onto DVD with. I can't afford that much money!" Normally, this wouldn't have caught my attention, except that when the saleslady hears it, she replies outloud as she's walking away (not under her breath or anything), "Well, I guess you shouldn't be trying to pirate software!"
Wow. I mean, if they really thought the lady was trying to copy licenced DVDs, there are other things they can do besides make snarky outloud comments about it. But honestly, I think the customer was just trying to find a cheap way to copy home movies to DVDs. Eh, whatever.
Unfortunately this is where that same saleslady notices us and comes to help.
So we explain to the saleslady that we are looking to get laptop A, that we have all that we need for it, and that we're pretty much ready to roll. Saleslady goes and checks the stock of laptop A. According to her, the diplay model was the only one in the store. Smiths_hammer asks if she could check other stores in the area. The lady says that's the last one locally. Huh? We weren't buying it, but we decided to simply opt for laptop B. Saleslady checks stock on this one. None in stock, none locally. What? You're kidding? Then why the hell are you still diplaying these? Perhaps a little tag that says "Out of Stock" would be appropriate?
I'm getting aggrivated at this point. The saleslady then proceeds to try and sell us on other smaller machines, not at all what we're looking for. We explain this to her. Doesn't seem to sink in. She doesn't seem to fathom that we're not super concerned about the specs of the machine, more on the particulars of what it has physically. She apparently mistook this as us not knowing what the hell we were doing. She continues to try and throw computer stats at us, in an obvious attempt to confuse someone who's unfamiliar. This is making me even more aggrivated. We decide on laptop C, which she says she has in stock. We tell her to go MAKE DOUBLE SURE that she has it in the store. She confirms this and begins talking to us about what all we need to get to go with it.
Now, at this point, we have already picked up everything we intended on getting. She goes as far as to reach into our basket of stuff, pull out the Norton AntiVirus box and tell us point blank it's not what we want. She felt we needed a fuller package, in the anti-spyware & antivirus variety, and obviously pushing the upsell. Smiths_hammer snatches it back out of her hand, informs her that it's precisely what we want, and that we don't need a more complex package or any super-tight security for this system. The lady can't seem to wrap her head around this and tries to again talk us out of it. I'm pretty furious at this point.
She then tells us that we can get a warrantee and service package for about $250. Um... no. We tell her no thank you. She pushes. We tell her no, really, we're not interested. She pushes again. I tell her point blank, "Ma'am, I have about $1500 to spend on this, and I'm already about maxed out. I don't have the money for it, so let's just forget it. Okay?" She reluctantly backs down and then proceeds to try and sell us on a bag for the system.
We had already sized the system, and though it was a 17", it would fit snugly in a 15" bag. We actually lifted a bag up and sized it to the system itself on the shelf. Yep, it would fit. The saleslady INSISTED that it wouldn't fit, that we needed a 17" bag with a lot of cushion to it. The bag we looked at: $30. The bag she was recommending: $70. I kinda lose it at this point, tell her to forget the bag, we can pick one up later, and that we need to go. Now.
She has the audacity to look surprised.
We get to the checkout desk, she proceeds to boss a couple of the other employees around to help her, they get our system and all the goodies rung up, and all seems like it's about over.
She apparently thinks she's done a good job at this point. She gives us her business card so that if we have any problems we can call her directly, she gives us a $50 gift card, and gives us some sort of tiny discount for whatever reason (I was too angry to give a shit.)
So we walk out with a decent system, all the accesories except a bag, and with a few mail in rebates and such, I came in under my $1500 limit.
This was, by far, the most aggrivating and frustrating shopping experience I've ever had... at least when I didn't walk out of the store. And looking back, I wish I would have. I wish I would have just handed the lady my basket, grabbed smiths_hammer, and walked the hell out of the store. There are other stores. We could have found one. But I needed to get this purchase made for my Dad. If it had been for ANYONE else, I would have just walked the hell out.
So it's done, Comp USA will be getting a SCATHING complaint letter (where the saleslady will be referenced by name... she did give us her business card, afterall), and my mom will have a nice laptop for the holidays.
I so hope I never have to endure that human being ever again... because next time, I can't guarantee I wouldn't end up going to jail for punching her in the teeth.
Makes for one helluva' Happy Holidays warm-fuzzy feelin'! :-D
Here's hoping everyone is having a better shopping experience than I am.
For those of you who do not enjoy the aspect of shopping, especially during the hoidays, I think you will be able to relate to this little story.
Cut for length...
So, to set the stage, my father decided that this year my mother's present should be a laptop computer. My father knows nothing of technology and shuns it when he can. Actively runs from it, actually. Why he wants to get her this, I'm not really sure. She's got an out of date desktop currently, but it's functional for what she uses it for. I can only assume she dropped some hints during the past few months about wanting one. *shrug* Whatever. So Dad gives me a call a few weeks back, says he wants me to go shopping for a laptop for her, and that he's sending me a check for $1500 to cover all the goodies. He trusts my judgement, knows I won't buy her things she doesn't need, and certainly doesn't want to have to be involved in selecting a piece of technology during the holiday shopping season.
So smiths_hammer and I set off for Comp USA on Saturday night. Now, in the past, Comp USA has been fabulous in customer service and previous computer/software purchases. Never had a single complaint with them before this weekend. Oh my, how things can change.
We decide to look at the laptops last and go around to get all the little bits and pieces we figured she would need to go with the system first. USB mouse, USB splitter, Car power jack, desktop speakers, cleaning kit, Norton AntiVirus... pretty much anything she could ask for. No issues, no problems.
So we idle back to the laptop section. A few nice options. Our first decision was to go with the 17" systems with the normal sized keyboards and the number keypads. Just seemed a little easier for my mom to navigate a standard keypad and not have to worry about plugging up a USB keypad to do finances. So we narrow it down to about 3 or 4. We then begin looking for a salesperson to help us simply get the system, possibly a bag to fit it, and we'd be outta there.
During all this I notice a saleslady, Caribbean by her accent, helping another customer not far from us. The customer was obviously flustered and not having a good conversation with the saleslady. The saleslady calls over the Mac expert and she walks away as they begin to converse. The customer says, loud enough for us to hear, "I'm a single mom,... I'm just looking for software to rip movies onto DVD with. I can't afford that much money!" Normally, this wouldn't have caught my attention, except that when the saleslady hears it, she replies outloud as she's walking away (not under her breath or anything), "Well, I guess you shouldn't be trying to pirate software!"
Wow. I mean, if they really thought the lady was trying to copy licenced DVDs, there are other things they can do besides make snarky outloud comments about it. But honestly, I think the customer was just trying to find a cheap way to copy home movies to DVDs. Eh, whatever.
Unfortunately this is where that same saleslady notices us and comes to help.
So we explain to the saleslady that we are looking to get laptop A, that we have all that we need for it, and that we're pretty much ready to roll. Saleslady goes and checks the stock of laptop A. According to her, the diplay model was the only one in the store. Smiths_hammer asks if she could check other stores in the area. The lady says that's the last one locally. Huh? We weren't buying it, but we decided to simply opt for laptop B. Saleslady checks stock on this one. None in stock, none locally. What? You're kidding? Then why the hell are you still diplaying these? Perhaps a little tag that says "Out of Stock" would be appropriate?
I'm getting aggrivated at this point. The saleslady then proceeds to try and sell us on other smaller machines, not at all what we're looking for. We explain this to her. Doesn't seem to sink in. She doesn't seem to fathom that we're not super concerned about the specs of the machine, more on the particulars of what it has physically. She apparently mistook this as us not knowing what the hell we were doing. She continues to try and throw computer stats at us, in an obvious attempt to confuse someone who's unfamiliar. This is making me even more aggrivated. We decide on laptop C, which she says she has in stock. We tell her to go MAKE DOUBLE SURE that she has it in the store. She confirms this and begins talking to us about what all we need to get to go with it.
Now, at this point, we have already picked up everything we intended on getting. She goes as far as to reach into our basket of stuff, pull out the Norton AntiVirus box and tell us point blank it's not what we want. She felt we needed a fuller package, in the anti-spyware & antivirus variety, and obviously pushing the upsell. Smiths_hammer snatches it back out of her hand, informs her that it's precisely what we want, and that we don't need a more complex package or any super-tight security for this system. The lady can't seem to wrap her head around this and tries to again talk us out of it. I'm pretty furious at this point.
She then tells us that we can get a warrantee and service package for about $250. Um... no. We tell her no thank you. She pushes. We tell her no, really, we're not interested. She pushes again. I tell her point blank, "Ma'am, I have about $1500 to spend on this, and I'm already about maxed out. I don't have the money for it, so let's just forget it. Okay?" She reluctantly backs down and then proceeds to try and sell us on a bag for the system.
We had already sized the system, and though it was a 17", it would fit snugly in a 15" bag. We actually lifted a bag up and sized it to the system itself on the shelf. Yep, it would fit. The saleslady INSISTED that it wouldn't fit, that we needed a 17" bag with a lot of cushion to it. The bag we looked at: $30. The bag she was recommending: $70. I kinda lose it at this point, tell her to forget the bag, we can pick one up later, and that we need to go. Now.
She has the audacity to look surprised.
We get to the checkout desk, she proceeds to boss a couple of the other employees around to help her, they get our system and all the goodies rung up, and all seems like it's about over.
She apparently thinks she's done a good job at this point. She gives us her business card so that if we have any problems we can call her directly, she gives us a $50 gift card, and gives us some sort of tiny discount for whatever reason (I was too angry to give a shit.)
So we walk out with a decent system, all the accesories except a bag, and with a few mail in rebates and such, I came in under my $1500 limit.
This was, by far, the most aggrivating and frustrating shopping experience I've ever had... at least when I didn't walk out of the store. And looking back, I wish I would have. I wish I would have just handed the lady my basket, grabbed smiths_hammer, and walked the hell out of the store. There are other stores. We could have found one. But I needed to get this purchase made for my Dad. If it had been for ANYONE else, I would have just walked the hell out.
So it's done, Comp USA will be getting a SCATHING complaint letter (where the saleslady will be referenced by name... she did give us her business card, afterall), and my mom will have a nice laptop for the holidays.
I so hope I never have to endure that human being ever again... because next time, I can't guarantee I wouldn't end up going to jail for punching her in the teeth.
Makes for one helluva' Happy Holidays warm-fuzzy feelin'! :-D
Here's hoping everyone is having a better shopping experience than I am.