Get a Great Computer - NOT!
My laptop, again, bit the dust about 3 weeks ago. I have had it in the shop, for the same problem, twice since we bought it in January. Unfortunately, this time we also had a major boo-boo on the monitor. (Our fault - we kinda bounced it off the bed.) When I called service to inquire about getting the hard drive fixed, I was told that the company is "all or nothing" (to paraphrase) when it comes to repairs. So, if I sent it back to have the system problem fixed, they would want to also repair the monitor.
I didn't think that was such a bad idea, so I asked what it would cost. That would be the point where I started to lose my sense of humor! They weren't exactly sure what it would cost, sooooo they expected me to front $649.00 - a hold on my bank account - until they decided what they wanted to charge. Suffice it to say - my laptop is dead and not going to get CPR. Sucks, huh?
Tonight, we saw a commercial offering fairly top-of-the-line computers with a ton of software for people with bad or no credit. (Trust me, we qualify!) So, obviously I called! It started out really, really great. Then I started asking questions - oops!
We needed to give them $99.00 upfront, within 10 days. (Okay, not so bad.) Then, we started talking about the specs for the computer.
The processor was no better than the last computer I had (which, if you'll remember, is now my favorite doorstop) and, to be perfectly honest, the computer was - in many ways much worse - the hard drive was 20GB smaller, the screen was smaller, it didn't read or burn DVDs, and I had to contact customer service if I wanted a unit that didn't have Windows Vista. Oh, yeah! Sign me up for another doorstop! NOT!
But I decided to hear this poor guy out and see just how deeply he was going to bury himself since, hey, I could get a digital camera (already have 2) and a 3-in-1 printer (already have a 5-in-1) and free shipping. Woo-hoo! NOT impressed. And, I cannot opt out of anything included in this 'bundle'.
It gets really not pretty at this point. I'm asking questions that he's trying desperately to avoid answering by telling me about all of the software that I'll be getting. Through sheer stubbornness and growing aggravation, we finally got to the important part - what in the heck was this going to cost me when all is said and done?
Luckily, I was sitting down!
Now, this didn't sound too bad - $45.99/week or $91.98/bimonthly. Then, I found out that I would be making these weekly/bimonthly payments FOR A YEAR !!! To save you the trouble of pulling out a calculator - that works out to $2,391.48 - for, basically, a poor-cousin of the computer for which we paid $550.00 in January, plus software, a camera, and a printer that we didn't need.
The person to whom I was speaking was obviously accustomed to people telling him that they didn't want or need a camera and printer, because he said that he generally tells people to sell these unneeded and unwanted items on eBay or give them as gifts Now - forgive me if I'm being overly simplistic - wouldn't it make more sense, if you're offering a service to people with bad credit, to minimize the expense that the customer MUST incur (because there are no options involved)?
I was again reminded that I was getting free shipping and - you're gonna love this - once I completed their payment process, they would send me a whopping $200.00 rebate to (this just made me want to fall down laughing) USE AS I WISHED.
Definitely a "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is" scenario! I'll not post the number I called, but if you see an ad and want to make sure that you're not dealing with the pay-thousands-for-a-cheap-computer that I stumbled upon - post a comment and I'll get back to you.
I didn't think that was such a bad idea, so I asked what it would cost. That would be the point where I started to lose my sense of humor! They weren't exactly sure what it would cost, sooooo they expected me to front $649.00 - a hold on my bank account - until they decided what they wanted to charge. Suffice it to say - my laptop is dead and not going to get CPR. Sucks, huh?
Tonight, we saw a commercial offering fairly top-of-the-line computers with a ton of software for people with bad or no credit. (Trust me, we qualify!) So, obviously I called! It started out really, really great. Then I started asking questions - oops!
We needed to give them $99.00 upfront, within 10 days. (Okay, not so bad.) Then, we started talking about the specs for the computer.
The processor was no better than the last computer I had (which, if you'll remember, is now my favorite doorstop) and, to be perfectly honest, the computer was - in many ways much worse - the hard drive was 20GB smaller, the screen was smaller, it didn't read or burn DVDs, and I had to contact customer service if I wanted a unit that didn't have Windows Vista. Oh, yeah! Sign me up for another doorstop! NOT!
But I decided to hear this poor guy out and see just how deeply he was going to bury himself since, hey, I could get a digital camera (already have 2) and a 3-in-1 printer (already have a 5-in-1) and free shipping. Woo-hoo! NOT impressed. And, I cannot opt out of anything included in this 'bundle'.
It gets really not pretty at this point. I'm asking questions that he's trying desperately to avoid answering by telling me about all of the software that I'll be getting. Through sheer stubbornness and growing aggravation, we finally got to the important part - what in the heck was this going to cost me when all is said and done?
Luckily, I was sitting down!
Now, this didn't sound too bad - $45.99/week or $91.98/bimonthly. Then, I found out that I would be making these weekly/bimonthly payments FOR A YEAR !!! To save you the trouble of pulling out a calculator - that works out to $2,391.48 - for, basically, a poor-cousin of the computer for which we paid $550.00 in January, plus software, a camera, and a printer that we didn't need.
The person to whom I was speaking was obviously accustomed to people telling him that they didn't want or need a camera and printer, because he said that he generally tells people to sell these unneeded and unwanted items on eBay or give them as gifts Now - forgive me if I'm being overly simplistic - wouldn't it make more sense, if you're offering a service to people with bad credit, to minimize the expense that the customer MUST incur (because there are no options involved)?
I was again reminded that I was getting free shipping and - you're gonna love this - once I completed their payment process, they would send me a whopping $200.00 rebate to (this just made me want to fall down laughing) USE AS I WISHED.
Definitely a "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is" scenario! I'll not post the number I called, but if you see an ad and want to make sure that you're not dealing with the pay-thousands-for-a-cheap-computer that I stumbled upon - post a comment and I'll get back to you.
Don't forget to visit JMark Afghans and My Gallery at Zazzle
We also have a page on Squidoo that supports the Genocide Intervention Network.
We look forward to seeing you online.
God Bless!
Jules
posted by JMarkAfghans @ 1:45 AM
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