Buyer Beware

 You know that exhilarating feeling that comes with buying something big and new? 

I got that feeling in December when I bought a new laptop. It doesn't happen every year or even every other year, but being so reliant on teaching online, I decided I needed a new laptop.

I had been wanting to add some software called ManyCam that allowed me to show slides while I taught. The recommendations were for an i7 processor. My old laptop has an i5 processor, so I upgraded. Ordering a computer from Amazon on December 8. 

You can see the blur beginning at the bottom of the screen.

Last week, February 1, conveniently one day after the Amazon warranty expired, the camera began to get fuzzy. I asked fellow teachers what could be causing it. They agreed that it looked like a camera problem, and sure enough, my camera was slowly blurring from the bottom of the picture upwards. 

By the next day, I had a student who said the picture was so dark he couldn't see me. I knew the camera was getting worse. 

This is what it looks like today. That's me peeking above the expanding blur.

Trying to get help with a technical problem is a ridiculous process. I spent about six hours on the phone calling Dell for help, being cut off, then shifting to another IT person. I watched various tech people moving around the cursor on my screen, checking for drivers and updates, turning on my camera only to see a blurry me looking back at them. After talking to seven people on two separate nights, here's what they told me, call the Dell France division. They'll have you mail your computer to them and they'll fix your camera then mail it back. How many weeks without my computer does that sound like to you? 

I teach on my computer six days a week. I just spent a thousand dollars on a new computer in December, and I'm going to have to send it away for an unknown number of weeks only to receive a "repaired" computer back, rather than the new one I thought I was getting in December. 

So, this is my attempt to warn you to avoid making the same mistake I did. Do not order a computer through Amazon, Best Tech Deal (which is apparently Best Buy) or Dell Inspiron. They don't care if you get a faulty computer or camera.

A company concerned about good customer service would send another computer, allowing me to return mine after the new one arrives. Then, I wouldn't miss any days using my computer to teach. I'd get a computer with a working camera, the company could fix the camera on my laptop and sell it as a reconditioned laptop. 

But a lot of things would change if I ran the world. Sigh!

Customer Service - A Thing of the Past for Best Buy

Eight phone calls.
Two hours and 28 minutes total on hold or explaining my problem to a "Customer Service" representative.
That has been my experience with Best Buy in the past 13 days.
And my $32.01 problem has not been solved yet.
I considered myself a loyal Best Buy customer. In the past year alone, I've purchased three laptops from Best Buy. Apparently, I thought the store was reliable because I never had problems with any products.

Woe to ye who must sit on hold waiting for a Best Buy "Customer Service" agent.
Nevermind the fact that the speakers and the hold music on Best Buy are horrendous. If you ever listened to the hold music on Best Buy, cracking and popping its 1960s tunes, you would never buy any stereo equipment or phones at Best Buy. You'd expect a cutting edge technology store to have at least decent technology. Believe me, I've had 148 minutes of mostly hold music, rarely interrupted by a representative, to listen to.
The original problem was complicated. I tried to buy something as a download and I got an error message. It didn't download.
So, I tried to buy it again, and again. Each time it seemingly got turned down. Then I looked on my checking account and saw that I had been charged for it four times. I still didn't have the darn product. That was my first call to Best Buy "Customer Service." When I couldn't get a person, I drove to the bank for help.
Now, all of the mistaken charges have gone away, except for the original charge of $32.01. Because it was a download and I don't have an actual product to return, they can't seem to wrap their head around me getting a refund.
The next day, I went to an actual store -- Target, not Best Buy -- and bought the product I wanted. Now I have the product, but I've paid for it at two places and only have it one.
"Take the product back to the store," one of the Best Buy reps told me on the phone today.
I never went to the store! I have no product to return.
"Well, why'd you leave the store without the product?" she asked.
I wanted to bang my head against the wall over and over.
I thought I was onto something last week. I got a southern accented man who told me the refund would be processed by Wednesday. It wasn't.
Today, I got one hour and six minutes into a call. The woman was helping. She said, "I'll stay on the phone with you while you talk to this department." She walked me through three different departments without success. Then she said she knew the right department and she put me on hold. That's when my call got lost. The loneliness overwhelmed me. She was the only one who understood my problem and she drifted away on the crappy phone system.
I went to the end of the cue again as an operator said, "Please tell me the problem so I can direct your call."
"No, no, no.... Give me back to the woman who was about to solve my problem," I begged. They couldn't. And the system is set up so she can't call me back or even notify a supervisor that the person she has worked with for an hour got dropped.
Sorry. Start over.
And that's why I question whether it's actually customer service. Service would indicate that someone got some sort of help, which I haven't gotten.
The supervisor I insisted on speaking to today was a little surly.
I mean, I wasn't his cheeriest customer, I'm sure.
"What's your last name, Mike?" I asked.
"I can't tell you that," he said.
"What's your supervisor's name, Mike? Even if he or she isn't there, could I have a name?"
"I can't tell you that," Mike said again.
Maybe the CIA should take some tips from Best Buy because they appear to be good at keep information on the QT.
Unhelpful Mike left it by saying he had to send a note to another department. A note? Really? Is he sending it by pneumatic tube? Is he handwriting it and dropping it in interoffice mail? Where's the technology?
I would hear from the mystery department when they had resolved the issue, unhelpful Mike said.
"So, if it isn't resolved, I won't hear anything?" I asked. "I'll just have to use another 148 cell phone minutes on the phone with Best Buy?"
He didn't have an answer.
Neither do I, but I know where I won't be turning for help next time.
Addendum: About a week after I wrote this blog post, which I sent to Best Buy, I got a call from a Best Buy representative. At the beginning, I wasn't hopeful, as she again reiterated that her records showed I had purchased the software at the store.
Trying not to get frustrated, I promised that I had been sitting in my dining room at the time of purchase and that there was nothing I could do other than forward her the email the company sent which showed the day and the price, nothing else.
She suggested she could give me a credit to Best Buy.
I declined, saying I didn't plan to shop there any more.
This customer service rep was apparently allowed to take a little initiative though. She said she couldn't reimburse me for something bought at the store (I didn't scream at her when she said this) but she did credit me the same amount on a computer I bought online the month before. So, after much frustration, I did get my money back.
I'm not sure that's true for most people who get caught in the ring of hell known as "customer service."