Tales from the Computer Store

[Depot Denizen]

At the campus computer store/service center I work at, I try to dissuede people from buying the laptops from Staples/Best Buy/Circuit City/etc for their son/daughter. You do get what you pay for, and you want a computer that's going to last for the better part of four years in a college environment. Our comps aren't cheap, mind you, but they do come loaded with the better warranty. Dell has the 3-year accident-protection and parts/labor warranty, Apple has the 3-year parts/labor warranty, and Gateway (blech) has the 4-year accident-protection and parts/labor warranty. And still people buy the $700 HP from Staples that has the limited warranty. Sorry, but we can't touch anything except what we sell.

I notice that most of the parents get extremely irate when we can't do any hardware repair on the el-cheapo deluxe that they got their kid. Or they argue about price. Or they complain about not getting it shipped home (despite the fact we allow it for the first month).

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I have wanted to say this to SC's for so many years! They act like I'M the one who sets the price and not corporate. I just wonder how they'd react if I DID tell them that when they were trying to haggle with on the price.

I actually did tell a guy once that the Gospel Mission (homeless shelter a couple blocks down) was down the street and maybe he was confusing us with them. He was suggesting his order should be free for whatever reason and trying to get out of paying.

[Moirae]

Well, according to alot of the customers I talk to "Your company has a monopoly". Yeah well, welcome to the American economy.

[lordlundar]

A lady, her husband, and her teenage son start playing on the xbox360 display and procede to turn the volume up full blast. It was loud that I couldn't hear myself think when answering the question of a nice customer five isles away. I went over there and turned it back down and the mother had the gal to say, "They wouldn't turn the volume down at Best Buy! We were thinking of buying the xbox here, now we will go somewhere else that will let us expereince the full xbox 360 effect. (to her husband) Circuit City closes at ten, we can go play there."

Hehe! the 360 displays we have came with a special LCD TV. Only the remote operates it. They can try to crank it all they want.

We also had to move the Nintendo and Sony ones, so I took the opportunity to "forget" to plug in the audio.

Besides, at that price, commision is zip.

[Broomjockey]

Huh. I never knew their was a difference between +/-. I know R/RW differences. Nice to learn something new!

[Dreamstalker]

I went over there and turned it back down and the mother had the gal to say, "They wouldn't turn the volume down at Best Buy! We were thinking of buying the xbox here, now we will go somewhere else that will let us expereince the full xbox 360 effect."

ZOMG her XBox experience was ruined!!!111

*runsawayveryfast*