Folks,
Disclaimer: What follows is a rant. I'm madder than hell and want
everyone to know :^). AND I want to save others my own experience. If
you've had similar experiences, I suggest you write to the customer service
address in the CC line.
I'm not generally one to write this sort of message, but the last 3 weeks
I've been trying to get a working printer out of CompUSA and as yet have
been unsuccessful. I feel a need to let others know about it so they don't
wind up spending hours dealing with unhelpful sales/support staff and
uninterested management.
No, in all fairness, they've done nothing "against policy", but it's been
my experience that when you sell defective equipment you should go out of
your way to make things right.
The particular policies in question:
- No exchange (even, like-item exchange ... I wasn't asking for anything
other than a working printer the same model as I bought!) without the
receipt.
- No exchange after 10 days.
I, like many of you, work 12-18 hour days, 6 days a week. I took the
printer back a week after the purchase but had misplaced the receipt. The
folks where absolutely not interested in trying to be the least bit
accommodating. It wouldn't have bothered me nearly as much, except that
they did everything short of accuse me of trying to pull some trick. They
were rude, unprofessional, and uninterested in the amount of time and money
that this little game was costing me.
It's also not like I'm an infrequent customer. I, and my business, have
done several thousand dollars in business with this store, and I've sent in
excess of $100K business to them in the last 3 years. Apparently
consultants doing this sort of business steal from them all the time (or at
least that was the attitude I received).
After being dismissed, it was a week before I could make it back to try
again (today). The support person behind the counter was no more helpful
this time than last, and the manager quizzed him on the phone before he
would give him permission to accept it as it was past the 10 days.
What's more, when I went to get a replacement they were out and it would
be up to a week before they received replacements. Since I took only the
core (no documentation, cartridge, etc..) for replacement, I couldn't take a
refund.
When the guy behind the desk called his manager, the manager again spoke
with him for nearly 5 minutes before he gave approval to _allow_ me to
return it when they received more stock!
I've related this story to several other professionals in the system
administration/consulting field and almost all of them had similar stories.
You can draw your own conclusions, but personally I feel quite abused and
would warn everyone who will listen away from CompUSA. While my previous
relationship with the company has been fair (not spectacular, but they
always treated me with some respect), this incident has cost me far more
time and money than the damned printer is worth. My shadow will never
darken their doorway again.
Don
PS To CompUSA:
While I feel you should know about this little incident, I've given your
people more than sufficient time to "make it right". Please do not contact
me on this matter. I'm no longer interested in discussing this matter with
you.
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