The Great Laptop Hunt

Ds2 is still not sure what to do about getting a laptop.  I called the company we purchased the current one from, and said that we had decided to have it replaced.  The guy I talked to started pressuring me to buy a service warranty for $139.00/year.  I told him that I was not interested twice, and he started in a third time.  Instead of answering him this time, I said, "Why don't YOU give me a discount because your website gives false information about this computer?"  (He had admitted to me earlier in the conversation that they had made a mistake and he said he would make sure he told someone about it, so no one else got confused.)  It got real quiet.  I just held my tongue.  We sat there, a good thirty seconds, if not longer.  Finally I said, "Are you there?"  He said, "Yes, I'm here."  Then there was more silence.  (I think I foiled him because my response was not on his standard list of replies, lol.)  Finally he asked me if I would be more inclined to purchase the service warranty if they would give me a discount on the laptop.  I said I would.  He said he had to talk to his superior and it might not be much of a discount, because they hardly made any money on them to begin with, but he would see what he could do.

 

Well, about an hour later, in my email, I receive a confirmation of my order for a laptop and TWO YEARS worth of service warranty.  For all I could see, I was being charged for this.  So I called back right away and talked with someone else and told them I wanted this order cancelled and furthermore I wanted my money back and didn't want a replacement laptop due to this order being placed without my permission.  The lady I talked to said my credit card hadn't been charged, and she would cancel the order and gave me two numbers to return the things we had purchased.

 

Circuit City has a two week return policy, with a 14% restocking fee.  So we looked around for someplace that didn't charge to restock.  Ds2 had decided on a different laptop.  So he called CompUSA and they said they had a 21 day return policy and no restocking fee.  Cool.  So I went to purchase the laptop, and I double checked on the return policy.  Come to find out since it's a LAPTOP, no, they don't charge a restocking fee, and yes you have 21 days to return it, but only if you bring it back in the box UNOPENED.  Otherwise, they will issue a gift card for the full amount.  HUH!?  I went up front and asked a second person, who confirmed that this was indeed correct. 

 

Cool.

 

NOT.

 

Needless to say I left the store.  FYI, this isn't complaining about my life, it's a general public warning about these computer places.  You have to ask and re-ask before you get the whole story.   They did explain that this is to prevent people from "renting" a laptop for a couple of weeks and returning it to the store.

 

Here is the laptop we were looking at buying: Compaq Presario v6030us Notebook

 

Until next time.