Members where02190 Posted December 30, 2005 Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 All CompUSA brand items, such as print servers, FW cards, etc., all carrry a lifetime toll free support guarantee. A kewl thing right? Well, having bought a COMPUSA print server recently, aft I might add, giving some very detailed info on the computers and network it was to be used on, and being assured that setup was a simple process, and if there was anything that I didn't understand this (vision salesgeek pointing to notic on box of same) free support would be available to fix me right up. So, sucker that I am I buy the thing. (FYI it's for the gf's house which is 2 pc's and an airport base station for my Powerbook via a Linskys router.) I get the PC s hooked up ok, but they are printing funky, sometimes printing some gobldygook for a page before printing what they are supposed to be printing. the Mac, not printing at all. So I call the free lifetime support number. Voicemail. I leave a message. OK it's 2 days after xmas, they are busy, no problem. Two and a half days later, about an hour ago, I get a callback. OK so let me cut to the quick here. Turns out their support team is 4, count em, 4 people total, working 9-5:30 m-f, and their typically backlog is 400 calls. average callback time; 24 hours. Why even bother..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff da Weasel Posted December 30, 2005 Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 Originally posted by where02190 Turns out their support team is 4, count em, 4 people total, working 9-5:30 m-f, and their typically backlog is 400 calls. average callback time; 24 hours. I'd suggest a proactive suicide watch for that "support team". - Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted December 30, 2005 Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 They've obviously done their homework. They've probably sold tens ouf thousands of items using the promise of that service -- and so far they've only pissed off 400 people. As CompUSA all too clearly figures things, that's as close to a win-win situation as they're ever gonna get. If CompUSA didn't exist, Fry's would have to invent them so they could say, Well, hey if you don't like us, you can always go to CompUSA, ha ha ha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members franknputer Posted December 30, 2005 Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 What kind of print server is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members where02190 Posted December 30, 2005 Author Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 The manufacturer is unknown, it's COMPUSA branded. I guess I should be grateful I didn't get routed to India... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members daklander Posted December 30, 2005 Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 Originally posted by blue2blue They've probably sold tens ouf thousands of items using the promise of that service -- and so far they've only pissed off 400 people. It looks that way only because their call server will only handle 400 accesses at any given time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted December 30, 2005 Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 Originally posted by daklander It looks that way only because their call server will only handle 400 accesses at any given time. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kylen Posted December 30, 2005 Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 COMPUSA stories - my favorite...too kwell about their phone support. In store support is really nice too! I took my new laptop into get it worked on in the Silicon Valley here a few years ago. After waiting at the support counter for 5 minutes I noticed a wad of paper flying past the door that was slightly ajar leading to the computer gurus. Then a paper airplane sailed past...I poked my head thru the door to see where the service people people were and they gave me a look as if to say "Can't you see we're having a paper wad fight?" Haha the "staff" finally got to work on my computer (I watched) and, you guessed it, No Problem Found!!! Haha...Never Again have I purchased there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Super 8 Posted December 30, 2005 Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 Originally posted by where02190 Turns out their support team is 4, count em, 4 people total Wow! Four people?!? Sounds like they better hire another person! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted January 1, 2006 Members Share Posted January 1, 2006 I asked a simple question about when trying to purchase an internal CD-R drive (I can't remember what it was, as this is about ten years ago, but it was very basic). The first answer didn't make any sense and was clearly wrong. I asked a second person and got an equally nonsensical answer. In total, four different people (what is it with the number four here?) could not answer a very simple question. In addition to the nonsensical answers, I had asked where the CD drives were located in their store. You guessed it, I got four different answers (the last answer was correct). Disgusted, I walked out and went to the local computer store near my house, where they answered the question quickly and I purchased the drive from them. I've never been back to CompUSA since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted January 1, 2006 Members Share Posted January 1, 2006 Well, you know, they've changed hands. They're now owned by the largest retailer in Mexico -- and, at least as judged by the store nearest me, which was a disaster the first few years it was open -- they're at least a little better run, now (at least they occasionally mark their prices,now) -- but they also let go of the only guy there who knew what was up in his department. Unfortunately, perhaps, for him -- he actually told people what he thought, not what CompUSA told him to say. I expect precisely no more expertise from the staff at CompUSA than I expect at, say, Target. And I'm seldom surprised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff da Weasel Posted January 1, 2006 Members Share Posted January 1, 2006 Originally posted by blue2blue I expect precisely no more expertise from the staff at CompUSA than I expect at, say, Target. Right. Treat things as a commodity, where you only expect to be rung up in the same way the grocery store checker scans your milk and bread, and you won't be disappointed. I have zero expectations that any retailer will be able to offer me anything beyond that. I do all my research beforehand (thank you internet), pray that I won't require post-sale support, and buy from a blend of the most convenient/lowest price places I can find. It's not good... it's just reality. - Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted January 1, 2006 Members Share Posted January 1, 2006 If a retailer can't answer a simple question put to four different people such as "where do you keep the CD-R drives?", then they should have zero expectation of having customers in their stores. If a store has human beings working in it, then I expect that they'd at least know something about what they're stocking - such as where it's located. Maybe one or two out of four people might know that. But 0 out of 4? Now, I'm not naive...I know lots of stores have idiots working in them, and I don't have high expectations of most of them. Which is why I avoid them. If they're going to have morons working there, why don't they simply sell CD-R drives out of a vending machine on a street corner? They can mark the price down even more. Everybody has "the lowest price". So to me, the thing that makes the largest difference is customer service and just even a little bit of knowledge. They're the ones who get my money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members where02190 Posted January 2, 2006 Author Members Share Posted January 2, 2006 Now, I'm not naive...I know lots of stores have idiots working in them, and I don't have high expectations of most of them. Which is why I avoid them. So what store is the exception, and on what planet does it exist. Customer service is long dead IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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