So I thought I would write a short post about how a certain corporation’s store got the best of me. Here is what transpired:
Back on July 5th, 2015 I ordered a Dell Inspiron Laptop from The Microsoft Store. I bought it from this site because they offered a deal that was below what Dell was selling the same computer. This was a computer for my wife in her retirement that would give her plenty of hard drive space, more than enough memory and a fast processor. I failed to really notice that on the order they put a disclaimer that no refunds after 30 days.
The computer arrived and I was all excited about giving my wife, for her birthday mind you, a screaming machine using the latest OS, Windows 8 at the time, and having a new computer she could use well into the future. Well my excitement slowly turned into frustration as performance issues began to happen to the point now that we can’t even use the machine.
I got online with Dell and their tech spent almost 3 hours with me trying to diagnose and repair the issues. They could not find a problem but they also did not fix the performance problem. So my next step was to go to the Microsoft Store. We began moving to a different state so it got put on hold a little longer than necessary but the fact remains the computer is about 3 months old and my wife’s old Gateway Laptop with Windows 7 out-performs this Dell!
The Microsoft Store….I began an online chat with a Microsoft person. I retold my entire story and the person was constantly saying how they understood how frustrated I was….that’s where the understanding ended. I have spent so much time trying to resolve this with Dell and now with Microsoft that I really just wanted this resolved by replacing this machine. I was told, in no uncertain terms, that they could not refund my money as it was over 30 days. I replied that I did NOT WANT A REFUND, I just wanted a machine that worked as expected!
Apparently this is just not something the Microsoft Store does. They do not back up their sales and the Microsoft store tech came back at one time with a comment that maybe I should think about where the root of the problem exists, in other words it was Dell’s fault.
We are now at a point where if we buy something online it is a buyer beware kind of setup. I learned a lesson here. I thought I was dealing with a reputable company and that they would indeed provide the right kind of support. They offered me a “tune up”. So I guess they think there is something Dell, the manufacturer, could not find.
To end this hideous story, I was contacted through the Facebook page of the Microsoft Store and asked to send my order number and other pertinent info. I did so and have not heard a word. I am done with the Microsoft Store. I learned an expensive lesson and my point in writing this is to teach others. I will tell you if Microsoft makes good I will write a follow-up but don’t hold your breath!
