Update on the ShadowSpark (Eee) Saga (old):

[azurelunatic]

Thursday, January 27
Took care of the #1 stressor of January. Yay. Then I finally got through to Microcenter after the sort of runaround that makes for near unto slapstick comedy when you're not the one doing it, and (in my case) even when you are the one.

(Back in 1994, one of the books I was reading mentioned the concept of 'sacred clown'. The concept clicked into a place in my brain that I hadn't until then realized would exist. It encompasses both the shaking-up-the-Establishment that apparently I'm a little too fond of, and also the finding-the-humorous-angle-in-nearly-anything. If I'm not describing even the oh-my-god-why-is-this-happening-to-me parts of my life in hilarious terms, there's something very wrong and I need to get my head whacked around by a licensed Alpha Operator.)

Fortunately the runaround was approaching hilarious proportions for me. Timeline on the meta-problem:

• ~ April 2009: Asus Eee 900HD, "Disaster Area", purchased from Best Buy.
• ~ February 2010: Disaster Area fails to boot. Diagnosis: busted RAM, busted HD; not covered under warranty.
• Late October 2010: dogsitting windfall, time for a new netbook. Asus Eee 1000H, "ShadowSpark", purchased from Microcenter, with repair plan.
• November 1-30: NaNoWriMo, writing sprint challenge: 0-50,000 words in 30 days
• Mid-November 2010: ShadowSpark starts arbitrarily rebooting. DURING NANO. THIS IS NOT GOOD.
• I email MicroCenter techs giving the symptoms and asking for help.
• ~ A few days later: They email back with troubleshooting suggestions, and say I should bring it in for repair.
• I test (yes, it happens without the battery in as well, just from wall power).
• December 2, 2010: ShadowSpark taken to MicroCenter for repair. (See hilarious story involving me and Caltrain.)
• ~ a week later: call from MicroCenter tech saying that they have duplicated the problem, but not diagnosed; they were still working on it and it might take a while longer. I assented.
• December 13, 2010: The Google Cr-48, "George", comes into my life. I tote George everywhere that requires a portable computer.
• Early January 2011: I realize that I have not heard from MicroCenter for a while.
• I call Microcenter. Their phone system is being eaten by weasels.
• I call Microcenter. I get through and leave a message asking for a callback with the status of my computer.
• I call Microcenter. I get a real human being, who does not have information on my computer in front of them, but who can check and call me back. I leave my name and number, but do not get a call back.
• January 25, 2011: I call Microcenter. I get a real human being, who is not in the repair department, but who can ask someone in the repair department to call me back. I advise her that I had already asked for a call back but did not get it. She says that she can check with them personally and call me back. I leave my information, do not get a call back.

January 27, 2011: I call Microcenter. I get a real human being, eventually one in the repair department. I ask after my computer. The guy says that a gift card was issued, in the slightly-dismissive tone of voice that indicates that the user is receiving information for at least the second time. I cut in here, before he can get much further in the user-must-be-crazy train, and say that I have had no actual information on the repair status of my computer since early December: I dropped it off December 2, got a call saying it was still being looked into a few days later, and then nothing. The guy's entire demeanor changed at this point, he pokes at his computer for a bit, and in a very determined tone of voice he asks if he can call back after he researches this. I point out (meanwhile I am relaying to my chatfish in a so-far-beyond-surreal-that-it-is-hilarious fashion) that I've already not gotten two callbacks. He promises half an hour. I vow to myself that if he hasn't called back within the hour, I'm calling back again, and then coming right down there.
He calls back in 20 minutes, and says that the machine could not be fixed, but there's a card there with my name upon it for the price of the machine, and furthermore, given that I'd got the protection plan for it, either the protection plan would be applied to the new equipment I got, or I could have the price of the protection plan applied as an additional discount.
So I hustle on down there and spend a diverting while picking out tech. The stuff I get eventually includes a hard drive, RAM, and enclosure, sized to repair Disaster Area. Hooray!

Comments

[axelrod]

If I'm not describing even the oh-my-god-why-is-this-happening-to-me parts of my life in hilarious terms, there's something very wrong

That's basically my friend Mara :) She balances out the fact that I'm all seriousface about absolutely everything.

[azurelunatic]

I'm not sure what would have happened with me if I hadn't developed the ability to locate the humor in everything. I suspect it wouldn't have been good.

[axelrod]

I've never tried that, as a coping method. Dunno if it'd work for me.

[azurelunatic]

I suspect it may not be for everyone all the time.

[kk1raven.livejournal.com]

Last year someone from a Microcenter in a different state called, asked for me by name, and told me my computer was ready to be picked up. After a bit of confusion with me not understanding what was going on, we figured out that they had somehow attached my name and phone number to someone else's computer in their files. I hope they eventually figured out who it did belong to. It is very unlikely that it belonged to someone with the same name as me. I wasn't impressed at all.

[azurelunatic]

Oh goodness. That is a whole basket of fail.

[scolaro]

This is why I always ask for and write down the names of the people I talk with. A week ago a service person of my internet provider called and made me a pretty awesome offer, then said she'd sent it to me via email. I wrote down the details and her name and later on got an email saying I'd agreed to more phone calls from them (which I had), but no offer.

As apparently the email address I'd given to them worked I called them and asked about this - then was told that this offer should not have been given to me at all (but due to the fact that I knew the name of the service employee they believed I was indeed presented with said offer).
The guy I was talking to then gave me a reduction instead for my trouble (and for not raising hell) and said he'd talk to the colleague in private (and not send the team leaders after her).

Even if you do expect them to call you back, I'd always take their names anyway. It puts just a tad more pressure on them to get things right.

[azurelunatic]

It's a good thing to do. I should start doing it more often.