You Can't Always Get You Want, or Need

Tab·let [tab-lit] noun….
6.  Also called tablet computer, tablet PC. a small, thin, portable computer having an LCD screen onto which data can be input with a stylus or the fingertips.
                                                                                                         -dictionary.com

So my husband and I decided that we wanted Tablets – with a capital “T”- for Christmas.  

I am not exactly a technological expert, but I felt cautiously optimistic that we might be able to make informed decisions and smart purchases with proper research.  After all we are bright people, and we knew what we wanted our Tablets to do once we owned them. 

We read everything we could find on the various Tablets, all written in that computer geek language that I don’t quite comprehend.  We spoke with friends who owned them and professionals who sold them.  We thought we knew what we wanted, so we headed off to the electronics retail giant where we typically buy our electronics, in mid-November to avoid the Christmas rush on these devices.  We’ll call the company “Top Purchase” for the purposes of this blog (the name has been changed to protect the innocent – that would be me).

We were assisted at Top Purchase that day by Donis and Dave, two exceptionally knowledgeable, helpful and pleasant young sales associates whose combined ages would probably still make them young enough to be my son.  We were ready to buy our devices when Dave started speaking in tongues of internet access issues.  Then Donis pointed out to me that my needs might be better served by an entirely different device than the one I was about to buy.  We left the store that day empty-handed.

Now after all of that, what I absolutely needed in a Tablet boiled down to two things.  I wanted an external keypad and internal access to the Internet – that is, a 3G device.  Conveniently, Top Purchase sent me an e-mail advertisement for an online sale for an I-Pad, 32 gb, 3G, which is exactly what I wanted. 

However, after receiving it, when I tried to add this Tablet to my Verizon plan, I couldn't because it turns out that they sent me an earlier version of the model of this device that had only WiFi access, and no 3G.

I choose to assume that this was accidental as I really would hate to think that Top Purchase purposely tried to unload an older version of the device on me hoping that I wouldn't notice and keep it anyway at the higher price I paid for the 3G version.  I called Top Purchase, talked to a machine and then to a person who accidentally disconnected me before putting me through to the person who could help me.  Of course, Freud said there are no accidents.

I called back and did get through to the right person eventually, after sitting on hold for several minutes.

“So my agent tells me that you received your order and you no longer want the item and would like to return it,” chirped the customer service representative.

“Not exactly,” I corrected her.  “I received an older version of what I ordered.  I would very much like to receive what I actually ordered.”

“No problem, ma’am,”  she chirped, “ We will send you a shipping label by e-mail and when you return the item then we will ship the other one to you, presuming that it is in stock.”

“Well, I ordered this item as a Christmas present, on November 21^st,”  I clarified, “and because of Top Purchase’s error it is now December 8^th and I will certainly not receive it in time if we do that.”

 

“Alright, ma'am,” the rep said, a little more tersely,  “we will send you the correct item immediately.”

“Well, actually, what I would like to do is return this item and pick up the correct item from one of my local stores,” I said, “ which I know must be possible since Top Purchase promotes same-day store deliveries for online purchases.”

She verified that this was possible and put me on hold. Several minutes later, she returned to the line.

“There is a problem,” she said, “that item is out of stock both here and in all your local stores.  We will have to wait until another shipment comes in.”

“Can you reserve one for me when the next shipment comes in at my local store so I can pick it up?”

Oh, that was not possible. Tablets were in high demand this close to the holiday, surely I understood that, she said.  Well yes I did understand that – that is why I ordered mine in November.

“So, let's review,” I said, “Top Purchase sent me the wrong version of an item that I ordered in November, and now can’t provide me with the correct product which is supposed to be a Christmas present, and can’t tell me when it might come in and it is already December 8^th.  What do you plan to do about this?”

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line.

“We will refund the money to your account immediately,” the rep said sullenly, “and we will send you this in an e-mail, along with the return label for the product you received.”

And they did.  At the same time, I received an e-mail from Top Purchase announcing that the very device I had tried to order was now on sale for $100 less than the price I had paid.  Of course, it wasn’t available online or at any of the stores within a 50-mile radius of my house.  Now, that's ironic.