[TheForge] Computer question

[Andy Vida]

Jerry Frost wrote:
> 
> Sounds like you've never called customer no service.
> 
> It goes more like this:
> 
> (After the 37th. +/- ring) In an accent in a dialect of an english-like
> language that gives you a warm fuzzy feeling of personal contact with
> another inhabitant of our wonderfully diverse global village . . . "If you
> wish to contact bla bla, please press . . . ". After between 15 and 35
> iterations of option selection you, finger bruised and bleeding, finally
> reach differently accented human voice, another wonderful and heartwarming
> example of diversity in the global village. "Hold please", click. I almost
> learned to like bad instrumental knockoffs of Muzak versions of ABBA tunes
> done by the "Electric steel Zither Orchestra".

	Oh vell... isn'dis speciahl!
> 
> I wish I were joking. Deb spent two hours a couple weeks ago trying to BUY a
> Dell without using one of their payment plans. You know: I want X model,
> with these upgrades, here's my CC# and address? She couldn't even find an
> E-mail address to talk to someone. I tried too and got nothing but bounced
> from menu to menu and back.

	Ah... global economics...  Like steeping into a nice warm
	bath, isn't it?
> 
> I gave up and called... Finally got through to Kevin... employees
> at Dell hated the phone mail system...  convincing liar...
> assured me he could cut me any deal... maybe even do a little better...
> told him to call Deb...
> 
> Think we'll ever hear from dear old Kev?
> 
> And yeah, I gave him our number.

	OTOH, this can work in your favor at times.  in 99 I called
	Tiger Direct (another comp. mfr./super retailed).  I order
	model 'X'.  They screwe up the order.  Byt the time we got
	finished, and due solely to their being cluless dolts, I
	wound up taking delivery on TWO machines several grades more
	expensive than the one I ordered and was billed for.  I paid
	some $700 for what was nearly $4000 worth of hardware at that
	time (probably the equivalent would be $1500 today, that or
`	$49.95).

	I considered doing the right thing.  Then I recalled that 
	those dunderheads kept me on the line for close to eight
	hours total (no lie).  At $200/hour (my rate in those better
	days of software consulting) plus the headache bonus, I
	figured it was a little more than what I made out with.  Add
	to that the idiot penalty for being so Darwininanly unforgiveable
	in their stupidity, and I let sleeping dumbasses slumber peaceably.
> 
> We're having the good guys at Customcpu build her machine and guess what.
> It's substantially faster, larger HD, more ram, better CDr/w, etc. etc. for
> less money. Best of all we know the guys at Custom personally and if
> necessary can lay our hands on them for problem resolution. As they're our
> ISP they'll spend as long as necessary on the phone and shop time is a flat
> $89.

> Andy, you haven't offended me in years. Does this mean you don't like me
> anymore or have I just drifted too far over the edge?

	It's all your fault.  I've worked at it harder and harder, and
	you keep getting smarter and smarter, rendering the potential to
	offend farther and farther a possibility.  Go get yourself some
	dumbass, cook it up good and digest... THEN come back and see
	what we can manage, OK?

	Sheesh... kids.