should have known better


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Subject: should have known better
Name: Joe F
Date: 5/7/2001 7:16:06 PM (GMT-7)
IP Address: 65.27.58.232
Message:

I had a great experience with CompUSA today (note sarcasm). I went for their no interest for 17 months promotion last month, and bought a digital camera. I got a Casio 2.1 Mpixel with 3X optical zoom and a 340 MB microdrive for storage. I spent the $80 to get the 2 year replacement warranty.

Saturday I noticed the battery door wasn't closed all the way. The plastic tabs that hold the door shut had broken. They were still hanging on, but they weren't keeping the door shut, and the spring pressure on the batteries was pushing them out. They were out far enough that the didn't make contact and the camera got no power unless I held the battery door down manually.

"Well," I thought, "it's a good thing I bought the extended replacement warranty."

So I went to CompUSA this afternoon and went up to the Customer Service desk and explained the problem. The said the model had been discontinued and that all they had was the display model. I wasn't too enthused about paying full price for a display, and I also didn't want the increased risk of the display breaking (hell, the new camera had broken). They sent me to talk to the tech services guy. The tech manager came up and tried to tell me that it was a cosmetic defect and wasn't covered. I explained that the camera couldn't take pictures without power, so it was a functional defect. He told me it was cosmetic. After going around and around, he finally admitted that it was functional, but then claimed that it wasn't covered becasue the warranty did not cover abuse. The camera wasn't abused, the cheap-ass tabs broke. I remained polite, though.

Then he told me that the warranty wasn't a replacement warranty, as the salesman told me when I bought it, but it was only a repair warranty. He said that for my $80 they would ship it back to the manufacturer and see if they would fix it. I asked him if I had paid an $80 delivery charge, and he said no, but he said all he could do was send it back to Casio and leave me without a camera. I'd have to talk to customer service if I wanted anything else.

So, back to customer service. I the lady at the desk if they could get another of the same camera from another store, and she said, "Well, it's discontinued, so they probably won't have one." I didn't ever see her make an attempt to locate another new camera of the same model. I told her that the tech manager had told me that it was only a repair warranty. She said no, it should be a replacement warranty. She went to talk to the tech manager, and came back with the story that there is a replacement warranty, but I had bought the repair warranty. All they could do for my $80 was send it to Casio. I asked for the store manager, but he wasn't there today. She eventually got the sales manager.

The sales manager said, "We can give you the display model." I said, "With the service I've seen so far, I'm in no hurry to take a display model." He essentially said, well, we don't have to do anything, but since it's been discontinued and you've only had it a month and I'm such a swell guy, we'll replace it with another model if you have the original accessories. So, he got a salesman to help me pick out another model.

The salesman suggested a Kodak 3.3 Mpexel with 3X optical zoom and a 16 MB flash mem card. It was priced at $600, and the sign for the Casio I had bought also had the price listed at $600 (it had been on sale for $500, and my receipt, which I showed to everybody I talked to, had $500 on it). I also noticed that on every price card for every digital camera, on the bottom right corner, it said "$79.99 2-YEAR REPLACEMENT PLAN AVAILABLE". After looking at what they had, I told the salesman to set aside one of the Kodaks, and I'd go get the accesories and box for the Casio.

I got back to the store with the box and everything for the Casio, left it at the service desk, and went back to get the Kodak from the salesman. The sales manager met me back there and said, "There's no UPC code on the box, so you must have sent the rebate in, so you can only have a $400 camera for a replacement." That's when I got pissed.

I showed him the price card for the Casio, how it said "RE-PLACE-MENT", NOT repair, and how it had the exact same price as the Kodak that the salesman suggested for a replacement. I told him that it's not my problem if the model I bought is discontinued, I bought the RE-PLACE-MENT warranty. I explained to him that it works like an insurance policy - they get $80 a pop for everybody that buys it, and that covers the times they have to honor it. Furthermore, I explained how it was completely irrelevant whether or not I had sent in for the rebate. I am not the person who offered the rebate in the first place, and whether I choose to redeem it or not has no bearing on the warranty coverage. In addition, I told him I did not appreciate being lied to by 3 different people, they'd already changed their story twice, and my patience was at an end. I asked him, "Which one of these cameras am I walking out of here with?"

He babbled a bit more about he'd already explained all he could do and I'd sent the rebate in so he was going to try and screw me out of $100 and the general manager would be in tomorrow. I stood there silently for a while and essentially stared him down until he said, "If you have 5 more minutes I'll try and call the general manager at home."

After a few minutes he came back and said, "We'll do what we originally agreed to, and give you the Kodak for the $100 difference". Well, even though that wasn't what we originally agreed, I accepted it. I paid $500 for the Casio, so I'll accept a $500 credit.

So, we got up to the register and the sales manager gave the new unit to the cashier. Then the cashier tried to charge me $200. He called back to sales and finally got some approximation of the right price. I went and got the price card for the Casio that said "$79.99 2-year replacement plan available" to show the dumbass tech manager, but he'd already left. I left it with one of the techs to give to him. I got the Kodak figured out tonight, so I think I'll go back tomorrow and take a picture of the price card for the Kodak, just in case.

Ah, it feels good to vent and get things organized for my letter to CompUSA. Luckily, I remembered to get the names of the people who tried to give me a line of bullshit.

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