“Worst Buy?”

My voice = completely gonzo. I woke up this morning and had even less of a voice than I had yesterday. What’s happening here??

This morning, as per my sister’s advice last night, I went to the walk in clinic at the local shoppers drug mart. The clinic opens at 10am on a Sunday. I got there at 9:40am and was 3rd in line. I was lucky I got there when I did because shortly after I got there, tons and tons of people started trickling in to the tune of about 9 other people, not including the multiple children that many of them had.

The whole process was pretty fast. I walked out of the clinic with my prescription at 20 after 10, which I think is pretty fast considering the fact that there were 2 people in front of me. I told the extremely nice doctor that I couldn’t talk. “Why are we whispering?” he whispered jokingly. He went on to ask me if I was an Opera singer, since that would be a profession where one’s voice is crucial. I told him that I wasn’t, but I was an auctioneer. We all had a good chuckle. Well, he did. I had a chuckle that sounded more like wheezing. He checked my temperature, asked me if I was allergic to anything, then gave me a prescription for some antibiotics. I need to take 3 a day for 7 days. I hope they work and I get my voice back soon…I gotta go to work! I can speak a tiny bit tonight… I’m hoping I’ll be able to speak at least a little bit in the morning.

After that, Mom and I went to church, then to an electronics store to return some merchandise. If you read the title of my entry, I’m sure you can guess the name of the electronics store.

I bought Norton anti-virus software. My sister told me that she could download it for free from out internet. So, I returned that. Since I bought a netbook, I wanted to buy an external cd/dvd drive so that I could install software onto it that required me to do so with a cd. When I removed it from the package, it didn’t work at all. It didnt even turn on. Am I doing something wrong? I gave it to my sister. It didn’t work for her either. Upon investigation, my sister saw obvious signs of scratches on the drive. Was this a defective item that someone else returned and as mistakenly given to me or something?

After standing in the returns line for about 30 minutes, it was finally my turn. I explained to the lady that the dvd drive did not work and I would like to replace it. It was on sale for $49.99. The clerk explained to me that there were 2 “open box” drives on the shelf. “Open Box” means someone else bought it then returned it for whatever reason. That being said, I agreed to buy an open boxed item, but only if the item was tested right then and there in the store. The clerk said that she couldn’t do that there as they did not have computers in the returns area for that purpose, however I could go back to the computer’s section and have them test it for me. She encouraged me to do so, as buying an open box item would save me an extra $5 dollars or more. I agreed. She refunded the entire amount to my credit card and off I went to the computer section.

When I finally found someone to help me, we went to the external drives section. Surprise surprise, there were no more of the particular external dvd drive I was looking for. The clerk said “well, buy this one”. And he pointed at one that cost about $30 more. I asked him if he was going to sell me that drive for $49.99 and he said no… Ok fine, may I have a rain check? He refused. He said that this was a boxing day sale and there were no rain checks. Are you kidding me? Do you think I’d be here asking for this if I wasn’t sold defective and possibly used merchandise? Mind you, I’m whispering VERY LOUDLY, as loudly as I could with my non-voice. I told him that I wanted a rain check. This was not my fault and I deserved to have the item at the price I paid for it when it was on sale. He told me that I actually “shouldn’t have returned the defective item”. I should have kept it until more stock of the external drive is received, then I could do an exchange. First of all, the refund clerk told me there was product on the shelf now. Secondly…WHAT? What did he mean “Well, I shouldn’t have returned the defective item”. Who does that? Who DOESN’T return something that is broken?

I asked him what he was suggesting. He told me to go back to the now 1 hour line, re-purchase the defective item for purchase price, then come back to the store and do an exchange because I have 30 days. I was dumbfounded. You want me to go and knowingly BUY a BROKEN piece of merchandise because your lame policy won’t allow you to give me a raincheck to purchase an item that I would not have been there to return had it worked properly in the first place? Give me a break! I politely told the clerk that I speak to someone else as I had no intentions of standing in an obscenely long line to purchase defective merchandise. It didn’t matter. He was already in the process of walking towards other customers who appeared to need help. How rude.

I waited beside another clerk who was already helping someone else who was buying a computer. I waited for about 20 minutes until I decided that this could take a while. I saw another clerk staring into space so I decided to talk to him. Mid sentence, he rushed over to the external drive section. I ran after him as he walked really fast. When he got there, he said “Oh, I don’t see that drive”. I told him that I knew it wasn’t on the shelf. I explained the full story and also what the other clerk said. He agreed wholeheartedly…with the other clerk. Geez! I’m in a coo-coo-clock!

“I need a manager” I whispered. He began to motion back towards the refund desk which is also where the managers were. I walked away while he was in mid-sentence as I had nothing further to hear out of his mouth.

I waited another 10 minutes for a manager. One manager looked at me and began to walk past me when I yell/whispered at him. Am I invisible?

I told him the story. When I got to the part where I was told to buy back the defective merchandise, the manager said “Why?” as in, why would I buy back the merchandise if it was broken. I said “I know! This is crazy!” He told me to just come back with my receipt when the item was in stock and I could buy it at the same price.

That’s it? I asked him to write something down. He said there was no need, just tell the clerk that said it was ok. I was skeptical but also tired of being in that store.

I jotted down on my receipt and left the store. Geez, what a waste of over a hour. I can’t believe the customer service. I pay close attention to customer service since I work in the field. That was just a…well, strange experience to put it very VERY lightly.

Not impressed. Not in the least.