J&R Music and Computer World Bait and Switch Internet

Below is a truncated letter that I sent to J&R in regards to a recent order I made with them that I feel could be classified as a bait and switch.  My issues are not with the manufacturer (Asus) who is currently working with me to get my laptop to work despite the retailers inability to fix this issue, but with the retailer itself who has a strange way of putting broken items on sale (see below):

On 5/10/10 my wife and I purchased an ASUS G51JX Laptop with your 2 year service plan, Norton 360 Premier, and MS Office Home and Student.  Despite having to call my order in as your website is not as compatible with Firefox as I would like (I got stuck in a vicious order loop when my bank tried to have me set up a credit card confirmation account through your site) my experience with your friendly rep made up for that frustrating debacle, and I thought all would be well.  That experience even carried me through my frustration as we waited the next 8 days for our order (a full day after we expected it judging by your website statement of 6-7 days) and as we received a crushed box with crushed materials (thankfully it was just a look and no actual materials were damaged; just the display boxes).  What it wont carry us through is this bait and switch game you are trying to pull right now

When we received the laptop on 5/18/10 and tried to set it up, I hadnt even gone through one screen on the Welcome to your first time in Windows when I got the BSOD (better known as the Blue Screen of Death).  The laptop rebooted and all went well after that, until the graphics started getting squirrelly on me.  Screens would black out, images would fractalize, entire screens would wash out only to appear after I waved my mouse over them.  While it sounds like it may be a cool video game, its actually quite annoying.  Never mind having it constantly blackout and return with a message saying the driver has gone cuckoo.    I can tell you the ten year old computer on which I am currently typing this letter works better than that (and that was what this laptop is meant to replace).

That however is just bad luck.  I understand that the world is an imperfect place, and that not everything comes out of the factory fully functional all the time.  That is why we have warranties and store policies and the like.  I figured something would make this horrible experience better.  I expected that to be the retailer (i.e. you) but that was not the case.

I called Asus tech support to see if I could fix the issue myself.  I updated drivers, I rebooted the system, I reinstalled Windows  I basically spent three days trying to do everything within my power to get this laptop working without having to send it back and not have it for another week.  Much to my dismay after doing everything Asus asked of me, they said we should send it back to you since it was within 30 days and get a replacement.

Still, I was not too worried at this point.  My above mentioned experience left me thinking this would be a breeze to deal with you and I would be on my way to a functional laptop in no time.  When I spoke to your customer service division they said that they would help me resolve this by getting me to the appropriate rep and they would find me a comparable computer since the one I have is out of stock.  I guess I misunderstood comparable as equivalent power and ability, not cost...

When I spoke to your rep and told him of the model that is the equivalent power to the one I bought, I find out I have to pay the difference for the new laptop (my other option is to get a laptop of equivalent price which is no where near the equivalent power).  That is an issue for me, and a big one at that.  We now have something we unwittingly bought broken and can only get replaced by an inferior but cost comparable model if we cant cough up extra money?

Now, bear in mind the reason I knew the exact model that was equivalent to the one I bought was because that was what we were going to buy refurbished until I found the laptop we did buy on your website for the price that you had it with the rebates included.  I cared less about the backpack and mouse that came with the one we originally wanted so getting that price break just for the laptop (and brand new at that) was perfect for us.  So basically, you only got my money in the first place because you had this deal of the day on your laptop.

           

Before you think of us as unreasonable that we refuse to pay an extra couple of hundred dollars for an equivalently powered laptop that only comes with a backpack and mouse extra, lets just re-lay out this scenario in a way that will truly make you understand how we feel currently.

           

We have basically bought a computer from you because it was on a killer deal.  We received it a day later than advertised in a damaged shipping container only to have it not work even after three frustrating days of attempting to make it do so as directed by the manufacturer.  When I am told by the manufacturer it is a hardware issue and return it to the reseller, I am told by the reseller too bad so sad we no longer have it in stock.  The reseller then has two options A) pay more for one of equivalent power, or B) get a model of equivalent price but inferior design.  So basically YOU SENT US BROKEN MERCHANDISE THEN TRIED TO STIFF US WITH A BUNK EQUIVALENT OR FOR MORE MONEY!!!!  As a business model it is not very effective in my opinion.  It tends to ruin repeat business.        

         

Now, in point, everyone has been VERY nice.  But this always bothers me about customer service, because nice and courteous is only half of it.  Producing results that keep a customer happy is the other half.  While this does not mean I should get something for nothing (I know that drives customer service nuts when people call looking for something free), I think it is fair of me to want a computer that does the same thing as the one we ordered and not have to cough up extra to do it because we bought something on sale (not knowing it was on sale because it was no longer being produced).