My battle with Best Buy has all but resolved itself, and for the most part, resolved itself satisfactorily for both parties. The terms of our ceasefire are as follows: I agreed not to raze their building to the ground in a burning conflagration of defective products and incompetent employees, and they gave me a new laptop. Somehow, fixing the old one would have cost $1200, so they cashed it and allowed me to get a new one for free. I don't know how it would it have cost that much to repair, unless every single piece of the thing was malfunctioning (a distinct possibility), but that's the deal. I did have to buy a new services agreement, so I had to drop another $250. Technically I didn't "have" to buy this, but the fact that I had to take my last computer in for repairs roughly 9.4 billion times over a 26 month period convinced me this would be cheaper, and plus I can just trade up again when this one inevitably goes to shit, this Thursday.
Of course, I didn't escape completely unscathed. I had opted not to back up my harddrive when I took it in before, because they said all that was wrong was the CD drive. I had saved my most important files on discs shortly before the drive malfunctioned, so I didn't lose much in the way of documents. But all of my music files are lost, as well as some pictures, and the documents I made over the summer at my job. The Best Buy worker informed me it was always a possibility that when you take a computer in for repairs, they might have to wipe your hard drive. Thus I felt it fair to inform him that in the future, it was always a possibility that when I take my computer in for repairs, I might have to wipe that patronizing smirk off his face with a rusty scythe.
Other positives from this agreement - I will no longer be using the 1852 model Gateway with no internet/windows/electrical capabilities. On the downside, I won't get to annoy the shit out of people in class with the buzzsaw noises it made upon turning on, shutting off, and other random moments during class. I honestly liked that noise; it gave the impression that my inappropriately loud computer was more important that anything the professors or students might have to say, which is a message I'm more than comfortable sending.
This also means I will have regular internet access again, which should allow me to post more often, as well as use instant messaging again, and swiftly replenish my lost stock of illegally downloaded music and/or eel porn.
3 comments:
Congratulations on getting a new laptop. I could totally go for one of those right now.
I fucking hate it when they have that smirk on their face. I bought a printer from Best Buy. When I took it home, I realized that it didn't come with the cable necessary to connect it to the computer and, therefore, was a very overpriced paper weight. I took it back and asked how much a fucking cable would cost. The cheapest one was $26. I said fuck that, and told them I'd have to return the printer. They said that was fine, but that I'd have to pay a 15% restocking fee. I said I was paying no such thing, and mentally prepared arguments based on the implied warranty of merchantability, the prohibition on penalty clauses, and the fact that I was bigger than the guy. After some initial resistance, the guy acquiesced. God, I hate people with menial jobs who are all mightier-than-thou about their shit.
I really think the world needs more rusty scythes
You know, I was at Best Buy again yesterday. I realy think that, as far as the customer service counter is concered, Best Buy's hiring policy is to hire the most incompetent, rude, holier-than-though assholes on the planet. And it's a total plus if they all look like atomic douchebags.
In my experience, though, the people in the aisles are pretty nice.
Still, it's fucking bullshit that it took them so long to do pretty much nothing to your computer.
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