Customer Service HELL
I am in customer service HELL. I am trying to maintain a stable blood pressure, but it’s really hard.
OK, so you know my monitor that I got last week? Dead out of the box? Called Viewsonic customer service, and they confirmed it was a hardware failure. Said they would send me an email with a form for a replacement. No email came. I called, they sent me to a web address where I could download the form. (why not do that from the start?) Of course, after the form was downloaded I couldn’t print it (stay tuned for the freaking printer story - I told you I was in hell) and even had I printed it I couldn’t fax it over the weekend, because I don’t have a fax modem in my computer. So I had to wait until this morning. I faxed all the details through, made sure I had enough money in my checking account to cover the cost of ANOTHER monitor while they were waiting for my return. I called a few hours later to make sure they had my fax. Guess what? The department that collects and processes faxes only works the 4th shift! Naturally! I asked if I could scan and email the form - no go, it has to be faxed.
10pm tonight, I get an email from them, I didn’t enclose my proof of purchase. I enclosed my invoice from newegg.com, so what the heck did they need? I called, thank something that they were open this time of night (some department except the fax moles, that is) and the CS rep I got on the phone was quite nice, went to check on the fax and found that the form and the POP came in separately, and they did have what they needed. I am approved for a replacement. But, she has to tell me, the monitor I need is out of stock. She has no idea when it will be back in stock.
O.O
ARGHHHHHHHHHHH!
So, I freaked out with a loud “OMG don’t tell me that!” and when she heard it was brand new she told me that newegg.com should honor a 30 day replacement policy, even though they say on their site that all problems are handled through the manufacturer. Anyway, she told me to contact them with the return authorization that Viewsonic gave me, and they should help me. So I sent them off an email, since their CS is only open for calls every third Tuesday between 10:00 and 10:17 a.m. I am willing to bet that?they will reply that they can’t help me, and I know for a?fact that even if they can I am going to be stuck paying the return shipping?fee, because their website says “We didn’t make it, it’s not our fault it doesn’t work.” Providing they even have the?freaking thing in stock. What I picture happening next is that newegg will send me a new monitor, and charge my account?until they get the return. So?I’ve got $355.00 charges for the both the original and the replacement. Then, even though I canceled the replacement through Viewsonic, they will get one in stock and send?it to me, charging my account a third time (but this time for the SRP, which is $411.00) Lucky, lucky me. And if the damn thing was out of stock, why couldn’t the FIRST person that I talked to on Thursday tell me that?
So, the printer? It’s broken, it’s a hardware problem,?it’s out of warranty. Never mind that it’s a known hardware problem and design flaw, I am SOL. Their?suggestion? They will?give me a “very attractive”?price on a new printer.
O.O
A) Like I want another Epson, if they’re really this crappy with NO support for defects.
B) Imagine how many of these effers are in landfills right now if that’s what they did for?everyone.
C)?What about the now-useless $60 worth?of ink?I bought last week? WTF? ?
Why should I buy a new printer, even for a “very attractive” price, when this one was fine before I changed the ink and your damn defective unreachable nozzle came loose? So I am going to call them tomorrow and tell them I want them to pay for this printer to be fixed. That’s crap, throwing away a perfectly good printer that I am satisfied with, that’s only 18 months old, and full of toxins and heavy metals and who knows what else. Planned obsolesence is one thing, but this is ridiculous.
Also, did I mention that the tripod that I got from newegg has a head with a stripped screw so it won’t lock in place? I swear to God I am feeling like an old fogey. I want to gesticulate wildy with my cane while I talk about the good old days when things were built to last and people gave a damn about service. And the crappy thing is that this is all online and over the phone and I am so damned helpless. I can’t make some guy in India fix my printer - I can’t bring my monitor back to the phone and get a replacement. It almost makes me think I won’t order anything like this over the net again.
GAH!
Filed under: personal ramblings |One Response to “Customer Service HELL”
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I think you’re handling it all pretty well, considering. I hope they get your monitor situation sorted.
I’m still pissed off about the Epson thing. My printer did the “known issue” thing a year after I bought it. First time I changed the cartridges. And not only do they not tell you what the problem really is (please call this long distance number in California somewhere for customer support, so they can re-route you to India where they will tell you to clean the thing 50 more times), they get annoyed when you don’t want to hear “well did you clean the heads again?” And the stupid class action suit wants to give you money toward the Epson online store. Who thought that dumbass idea up?? But hey, I’ve got plenty of unusable ink, too. If they give me a good enough deal on a cheap-o printer, I *might* go ahead and get it, but I’m going to throw it out when it runs out of ink. Otherwise I’ll be getting my first not-Epson since my good ol’ IBM dot-matrix. The one before my Epson LQX-whatever dot matrix.
I actually bought my printer at Staples, but since you don’t normally change the ink before the warranty runs out… “GAH” is right.