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From: PeterPam2@aol.com
In November, 1996, I went to CompUSA, Roseville, MN, to purchase two laptop computers. I told the friendly, helpful clerk that in-house servicing of the warranty was a MUST for these laptops. I had a laptop with a warranty requiring the laptop to be mailed to the manufacturer, and didn't want that experience again. The clerk assured me the NEC laptops I purchased could be serviced in the store, since CompUSA was in the process of receiving NEC certification. I purchased the three-year extended warranties on the laptops and their screens. July, 1997: The screen brightness control burns out on one of the laptops. The screen is permanently so bright that it is completely unviewable. I return it to CompUSA customer service for repair, and am told CompUSA does not service NEC laptops. I must return it to NEC myself. I explain that in-house servicing was a pre-requisite to the laptop purchases and that I'd been told CompUSA would have in-house service. The end result of a prolonged discussion is that CompUSA, Roseville, accepts the laptop and will send it to NEC for me, contacting me when the laptop is repaired. Customer service warns me that will take an extra week compared to mailing it myself; I remember the postage and insurances charges of the past and consider this a fair trade. November, 1997: I have not heard from CompUSA, Roseville, about the laptop, but I had forgotten about it since the second laptop was in use. I check my service receipt and am startled to discover that it has been four months since I submitted the laptop to CompUSA. I call CompUSA to see if my laptop is ready; CompUSA tell me they can't find my laptop - call back later in the week! November, 1997 (three days later): I call back and Customer Service tells me they have found my laptop: it is still out for repairs. November, 1997 (eight days later):
CompUSA, Roseville, calls to tell me the laptop is ready and I can pick
it up. I rush to the store to retrieve my laptop. I ask Customer
Service if I can check out the screen before I take the laptop home, and
the clerk cheerfully complies. The screen is exactly as it was when
I submitted it to CompUSA for repairs: intensely bright and
November, 1997 (later that same day): I call and talk to the store manager. The manager's best guess about my situation is that the laptop was left on a shelf and forgotten. He apologies and offers to replace the screen in-house. I tell him that is no longer an acceptable solution after four months. I want my $2100 back OR I will accept a new $1600 CTX laptop I saw in the store in exchange for my damaged laptop. He assesses the situation and authorizes exchanging the new laptop for the old as well as a five-year warranty on laptop and screen. I will have to mail it directly to the manufacturer for repairs, he warns. After CompUSA "service" I don't mind mailing so much. :-) I return to CompUSA, Roseville, exchange, and go home with a new, later-model laptop. I am satified. February, 1998: The CD-ROM on
the new laptop stops working. I call CompUSA to get an RMA # or anything
else I need to authorize the repair by CTX. CompUSA has no record
of my having a CTX laptop - only two NEC laptops! I am juggled back
and forth between Technical Support and Customer Service. I finally
get all the assorted process numbers I need to inform CompUSA that I have
a CTX computer, and fax the numbers with a copy of the receipt to CompUSA.
Once CompUSA updates their records, I can start over and get the authorization
I need to get the laptop repaired. Meanwhile, Technical Support had
given me the CTX customer service number, because I will need information
from them too, before CompUSA will give me an authorization number.
I call CTX and explain the situation. The CTX representative laughs
March, 1998 (nine days after
mailing): My laptop returns from CTX. The CD-ROM has been replaced
and the laptop works great.
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