Text 8666, 412 rader
Skriven 2005-12-06 16:06:58 av Rich Gauszka (1:379/45)
Ärende: Re: But it had a hole for a parallel port
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From: "Rich Gauszka" <gauszka@hotmail.com>

I didn't have a problem , I just reposted a blog story about Circuit City. I've
seen people get similar runarounds at both Best Buy and Circuit City though. I
thought the explanation that a hole was a parallel port amusing

I don't own a PC that has a parallel port and don't miss them. I have an old (
keeps on truckin ) HP laserjet 4L hooked to a linksys wireless print server
that fulfills about 80% of my printing needs. A wireless HP all-in-one deskjet
fulfills the remaining needs

I somewhat agree on extended warantees but I did  make an exception for my
laptops and plasma TV ( 3 yrs ).



"Gary Britt" <email@from_Gary_Britt.org> wrote in message
news:4395f8f7@w3.nls.net...
> Sorry to hear about your problems.  If you are insistent enough with your
> credit card company you can usually make the reversal of the credit card
> charge stick.
>
> You could have also sued them in small claims court without a lawyer and
> easily won a judgment for the restocking fee.  It would have been a good
> idea to save/print out a copy of the website so you could prove your
> claim.
>
> Don't want to make you feel worse, but my new laptop didn't come with a
> parallel or 9 pin serial port (just like most these days) so I went to
> Fry's
> and purchased a USB To Parallel Port for about $19, and I bought a USB to
> 9
> pin serial port for about $14.  It sounds like what you bought was a USB
> To
> Parallel Printer cable.   Those were $35 to $45 at Fry's.  But they can't
> be
> used for anything except connecting to a printer.  I bought the actual
> Parallel port (which was cheaper) and to which I can attach the printer
> cable I already own or any other non-printer device that needs to connect
> to
> a parallel port.
>
> Since extended warranties first came out when I was around 18 years old.
> I
> determined it was very expensive insurance, and I would be better off if I
> turned it down on all purchases for my entire life.  This has definitely
> been true.  I do consider an exception to this rule sometimes if the item
> is
> extremely expensive (like say an automobile) and the extension insurance
> is
> reasonably priced.  For most autos I haven't done it as well, but I don't
> turn it down as a matter of rule on something very expensive where
> replacement can be prohibitively costly.
>
> Gary
>
> "Rich Gauszka" <gauszka@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:43945637@w3.nls.net...
>>
>>
>> http://blogspot.boekhoff.org/051203circuitcity.php
>> Saga of Circuit City False Advertising and Customer Abuse
>> December 3, 2005
>>
>> A few weeks ago we were really impressed with the great service we got at
>> Circuit City when purchasing a new car stereo and a new DVD
>> player/recorder/VCR combo. So when we decided to replace our 4-year-old
>> laptop computer, we agreed that we would go back to Circuit City.
>>
>> First we searched their Web site to narrow down our choices. We have some
>> old parallel printers that we're not ready to replace (our old laptop had
> a
>> parallel port), so we looked through the specs for several laptops,
> looking
>> for one with a parallel port. When we saw that the Toshiba M45 S169
>> laptop
>> had a parallel port, we got pretty excited, because it also had
>> everything
>> else we wanted for under $1000! And a $55 rebate! Cool. I wrote down the
>> specs for that model and for the L25 S119, which did not have a parallel
>> port and would need a RAM upgrade, but had everything else I needed and
> was
>> $200 less. I also wasn't sure what the "DVD super multi drive" on the M45
>> was, and I wanted to make sure it would read and write CD's. I wanted to
>> discuss these options with a Circuit City expert before finalizing the
>> decision.
>>
>> So I called the local Circuit City store and talked with an "advisor"
> named
>> Jeremy. He answered my questions about the parallel port and the DVD
>> super-multi-drive on the M45, and told me that would definitely be my
>> best
>> option if I needed a parallel port. I asked what options were available
> for
>> making parallel printers work with the L25, and he said there weren't any
>> options except perhaps buying a docking station. We discussed how the
> price
>> of that would outweigh the price differential between the two computers.
>> Then he did a hard-sell on their setup services and extended warranties.
>> I
>> asked him about the notice on the site that said "Web Only Special" on
>> the
>> M45 , because I couldn't figure out if it applied to the price, the
>> no-interest-until-2007, or the rebate. At first he said he was certain
> that
>> the store could match whatever was on the site, so I could just come in
> and
>> buy it. But then he decided to check with someone else, and he came back
> and
>> said I would have to order it from the site to get the rebate. He told me
> to
>> be sure to track him down when I came in to pick it up so he could get me
>> all set up. He said he worked from 9 to 1 tomorrow. So I ordered the M45
> on
>> the Web site.
>>
>> The next morning I went to the local Circuit City at 9:15 to pick it up.
> But
>> the store didn't open until 10, and I live out in the country, so I sat
>> in
>> my truck for 45 minutes. Whatever.
>>
>> When they opened I tracked down Jeremy out of courtesy. I didn't mention
>> that I'd been sitting there for 45 minutes waiting. But I also didn't
> intend
>> for him to help me with anything on my new PC. I guessed that he was a
> young
>> punk who thought he knew a whole lot more than he actually knew, but I
>> figured I'd give him a break. I was right - a young punk with a bad
> haircut
>> and a very high opinion of himself. He's leading another customer toward
> the
>> surge protectors, and I say "great, I need one of those too". So we head
>> over there and Jeremy says to both of us, "I suggest you buy one with
>> lots
>> of Joules". I laughed a little, and asked why he thought so. He told me
>> quite confidently that lightning has 2500 joules, so the 2800 joule surge
>> suppressor (the highest one they had) would be my best bet. I laughed out
>> loud, and the guy next to me grinned as he looked sidways at me. Jeremy
>> proceeded to tell us a bunch of other pretty amazing things, which we
>> both
>> ignored. The other guy went away with his surge protector, and I chose
> mine.
>>
>> So now Jeremy is ready to help me get my new Toshiba notebook PC fixed up
>> and ready to go. He says he can do the data migration for $60, and four
>> other things for $159 (including virus protection, spyware protection,
>> registry settings to boost performance, and create recovery disks). I
>> tell
>> him I already have a subscription to virus and spyware programs, and I
>> can
>> do the rest of that stuff myself. He tells me that my virus subscription
>> won't transfer over to my new computer, especially if it's one that I
>> have
>> been updating through the Internet. And he also tells me that computers
>> these days come with all this pre-loaded software for which there is no
>> CD
>> or DVD backup, so I really needed to get them to do the recovery disk for
>> me. I told him that a recovery disk is something different from a
>> software
>> backup, and that I was sure he was mistaken about the virus software, but
> he
>> insisted that everything he was saying was true and that I would be sorry
> if
>> I didn't pay them to get my computer set up right. Then he went into his
>> hard sell again about the extended (2 year) warranties - both the
> technical
>> ($169.99) and the accidental ($259.99) ones. I told him I wouldn't even
>> consider the accidental, but I hadn't decided about the technical. Then
>> he
>> told me that the LCD screen is a big problem with all these notebooks,
>> and
>> that if anything went wrong with the LCD screen, it wouldn't be covered
>> unless I bought the accidental. He told me that sometimes these LCD
>> panels
>> just crack for no reason, and that only the accidental warranty would
> cover
>> that. When I just looked at him and stopped responding, he kept going on
> and
>> on, making up other things to try to convince me. I finally told him he
>> needed to go help someone else so I could make up my mind without his
> input.
>>
>> I opted not to buy the extended warranty or any of the other services,
>> and
> I
>> picked up my new computer at the service desk and took it home.
>>
>> Naturally, I took everything out of the box and started it up . . .
> anxious
>> to get all my programs and data migrated from my old notebook. It wasn't
>> long into the process that I decided to try out the parallel port. I
> looked
>> all over and didn't see one. Then I thought, "hmmm, I wonder if I am
>> confused about what a parallel port is?" (I'm not THAT technical, so it's
>> possible.) But I was not mistaken . . . and I looked in the manuals, and
>> online, and NOWHERE did it say anything about a parallel port. So I
> examined
>> the computer again, and I found a "door" on the left side toward the
>> back.
>> Aha - it's the parallel port. So I tried to open that little door . . . I
>> pried it, and pushed it, but it wouldn't budge. I finally decided that
>> something is just not right here. I called Circuit City, and nobody
> answered
>> the first time. I waited a few minutes and called back. Jeremy answered,
> and
>> I started to tell him the problem. He told me to just bring it in. I
>> said,
>> "No! I live out of town! You need to check the one you have in the store
> so
>> we can work this out!". He said he didn't have time to talk to me at the
>> moment, that he was really busy with customers in the store. He told me
>> to
>> call him back in about 15 minutes. I told him I thought this was a poor
>> excuse for customer service, and that perhaps he should call ME back when
>> he's done with those customers. He told me that he would forget, so I
> needed
>> to call him. OK. Whatever.
>>
>> I ate my lunch and called back, hoping Jeremy would be gone by then.
>> Thankfully, another person answered, and went to look at the M45 model
> they
>> had on display. He saw the door, and said "yes, you just have to pry that
>> little door off, and the parallel port will be behind it. I told him I
>> was
>> afraid I would damage it if I did, because I had already tried. He
>> assured
>> me that it would be ok. So I hung up and tried a few more times with
>> increasingly stronger "tools", and finally got a small screwdriver. I
>> finally managed to pry it off with minimal damage to the computer, and,
>> as
> I
>> was beginning to suspect, there was no parallel port behind it. So I'm
>> getting a little ticked off by now, and I decided to package up the whole
>> thing and return it. After all, the product was not as advertised, and
>> the
>> main reason I opted for that model as opposed to a lesser one was for the
>> parallel port. I just knew that the folks at the store would be
>> completely
>> apologetic. I considered just looking for a different computer there, but
> I
>> had decided that I did not want to do business with that department
> because
>> of Jeremy. I resigned myself to just do some more research and find a
>> different computer somewhere else.
>>
>> So I boxed it all up and took it back. I explained the situation to the
>> young lady behind the service desk. She informed me that I would have to
> pay
>> a 15% restocking fee unless I picked out another computer instead . I
>> laughed and asked if I could speak with the manager. The manager comes
>> out
>> and I explain the situation to her. She takes the computer out of the
>> box,
>> and I show her the hole and the door I removed. She trots over to a
> computer
>> to look up the M45 on the Web site, to verify that it does in fact
> advertise
>> that it has a parallel port. I'm thinking, "OK, she just needs to verify
>> that the Web site actually does have the wrong information before she can
>> override the restocking fee". She comes back and doesn't say anything, so
> I
>> ask her, "It does say parallel port, right?" She says, "Yes", and she
> points
>> to the hole and says, "This IS a parallel port". I'm a little incredulous
> at
>> this response . . . I just stare at her for a moment, and try to come up
>> with something to say. I explained to her that all the ports are listed
>> together on the site - it says "3 USB, 1 firewire, 1 parallel". Does this
>> mean that there are holes for all those, and I need to have your folks
>> actually install the part that lets me plug something into it? No, I say,
>> this is not a parallel port. It's a hole for a parallel port, There's a
> big
>> difference. I'm halfway laughing. But I'm getting upset. Unbelievable.
>>
>> In case you're wondering if I have lost control and started screaming by
> now
>> . . . no, I practice yoga and I'm keenly aware that my ability to
>> restrain
>> my emotions is being tested to the maximum. My heart rate is a little
>> elevated, and my chest is getting tight. But I'm working really hard and
> I'm
>> being nice.
>>
>> So I try to explain it to her again, because I think she must not
> understand
>> something. I mention false advertising, and she insists that there is
>> nothing she can do. I keep saying, "This is just not right." I'd like to
>> tell her that she is a moron. But I don't. I tell her that I will simply
>> void the credit card transaction. She says that is my choice. I ask if I
> can
>> borrow the phone to call my credit card company (because I don't know if
>> I
>> actually CAN void the transaction). So I call them, and sure enough, I
>> cannot. The only thing I can do is allow them to charge me the restocking
>> fee ($142.50, by the way), and then dispute it, which could take a month
> or
>> two. And there is no guarantee that I will not end up having to pay it
> after
>> that.
>>
>> This can't be happening. Surely I can talk logic with this woman . . . I
> try
>> again, and she says there is nothing she can do. I say, "Surely there is
>> SOMEONE who can do something." She tells me that the customer service
> center
>> is my only possible source of help, and asks if I want the number. I say,
>> "Yes, and may I please borrow your phone again?". She gives me the phone
> and
>> dials the number. After about 13 minutes on hold, I finally get to talk
>> to
> a
>> representative, and she assures me that she is really sorry, but there is
>> nothing she can do either. At some point in the conversation she puts me
> on
>> hold, and when she comes back she says she has just talked to the store
>> manager, and there is nothing either of them can do. Again I am in
> disbelief
>> and I mention that their own Web site advertises this feature, and how
>> can
> I
>> possibly be the loser in all of this? To no avail. She reminds me that I
> can
>> pick out another computer right here in the store. She doesn't understand
>> why I wouldn't want to do that.
>>
>> Unbelievable. I want to storm out and never come back. But I'm not about
> to
>> lose $142.50. So another adviser from the computer area comes to help me
>> pick out a different computer. I tell him what I'm looking for . . .
>> parallel port, 512MB memory, etc. etc. around $1000. He already knows
>> that
>> this is not going to happen. And NOW I also know that parallel ports on
>> normal notebook PC's are non-existent. But this guy has a brain and a
> little
>> knowledge, so he hesitantly makes a suggestion . . . he knows that
> parallel
>> to USB conversion cables exist, but they don't have them at Circuit City.
> He
>> calls over to Radio Shack, and they have one. Huh? Why didn't someone
>> come
>> up with this solution 2 hours ago? So now I'm thinking I can spend a
> little
>> less money on a lower end computer and just do a memory upgrade and buy
> this
>> cable. Nope, I'll still be charged the restocking fee unless I buy a
> higher
>> priced one. Unbelievable. OK then, I'll just take back the one I brought
> in.
>>
>> So the nice young lady who first waited on me when I came in (she's
>> incredibly apologetic and can't believe this is happening, as is the
>> young
>> man who tried to help me pick out another computer) is finalizing the
>> transaction, and I ask her to make sure they still have the little door
> that
>> I removed from the computer so I can put it back. She informs me that I'm
>> getting a brand new one. She tells me that the manager has already boxed
> the
>> other one up and has put it through the "defective product" process, so I
>> can't have it back.
>>
>> That's interesting, so now that computer is defective. Hmmm.
>>
>> Whatever.
>>
>> By the way, I tried get the manager interested in why I did not want to
> deal
>> with Jeremy. She wasn't interested. I suggested that if she's had any
> other
>> customers complain about him, it might be time to do something. She said
>> she's never had a single complaint about him. I offered that it might be
>> because the people he's dealing with don't KNOW any better and they take
> his
>> bad advice out of fear. She was not the least bit interested, and did not
>> ask a single thing about the misinformation he gave me.
>>
>> So I go to Radio Shack and pay $40 (including tax) for a cable. Why
> couldn't
>> someone from Circuit City go to Radio Shack and buy this cable and give
>> it
>> to me? Jeez, that seems like the least they could have done. Keep a good,
>> regular customer happy. It would have been so incredibly easy.
>>
>> So the next day I decide to go to the Circuit City Web site and write a
>> review about the product. Not to bash the product, but to warn anyone
> who's
>> looking at the product that it really DOES NOT have a parallel port. I
> write
>> the review, and just before I post it I decide that I'd better take a
>> look
>> one last time to make sure it says what I described.
>>
>> Hmmm, the Web site has now been changed. Unbelievable! So I guess that
>> little door is NOT a parallel port after all, and SOMEONE in the company
>> figured out that I was right about the false advertising. I love it when
>> a
>> company takes good care of its customers.
>>
>> So what does a reasonable person do when she gets abused like this? She
> puts
>> it on a blog. I hope nobody else has to endure the kind of treatment I
>> received. As I keep saying, "This is just not right."
>>
>> There, I feel a little better now. May the whole world read it.
>>
>>
>
>

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