Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Customer Service ... Shmervice

First, a note to: This post may upset sensitive readers, in other words: Beatrix -> go grab a drink, have some drugs, get comfy and remember to breath my friend .... And don't say that I didn't warn you :)

I still don't have my laptop ... it's been three weeks .... I thought I'd document this for posterity, 'cause I know that I WILL find this funny one day ... ok, maybe one day in my next life!

Right, so last we heard was that they will let me know about the "care pack" and send me the info ... hmmm, ok well, we've established that this is in fact an impossible task to accomplish, trust me, not even Tom Cruise could free-fall in there looking all sexy in his black ski mask and hack into their pc to get me the info. After receiving a totally incomprehensible email (um, yes it turned out to be somewhat possible to send an email), with none of the info I asked for, I called them back, so that they can please fix and re-send ... while on the phone, I remembered to ask about payment for this, hoping that i can off course just pay when I collect my fixed laptop .... hmmm, not so much. Nope, should I choose the "care pack", I have to load the child, get in the car and drive the 40 minutes in to town, to go pay cash for this "care pack" option. And NO, they will not accept EFT's or any other form of modern payment, such as credit cards or debit cards, as is totally acceptable anywhere else in the world. Again, I remind you that here in the UAE, different rules apply, to most anything.

I asked the girlie if I could please speak to the manager, to explain to him that I seriously do not wanna drive all the way there to pay, all the way back and then still wait for my laptop, while we could eliminate the whole driving thing, with a sophisticated little invention called "Electronic Funds Transfer", done safely and securely through your bank, online and oh yes, it's INSTANT. NOPE, it's against company policy, I have to come and pay the money in cash. When I tried to reason with him, explaining the above with as much tact, patience and stupid English as I possessed at the time, he promptly put the phone down in my ear. I felt so cared for.

I also obviously decided (after three more days of not receiving clarifying email re what the hell they want me to pay for should I choose a care pack) that I'm in fact not going to part with the money and asked them to just send me a quote for the faulty motherboard and I'll pay for that when I collect my laptop. That email they managed to send the same day, in pdf format nogal!! .... the mind boggles

So, two weeks after that, yip, you guessed it, I'm still waiting for my laptop, 'cause the repair company is still waiting for the part from hp. I know this, 'cause I had to call them, nope they can't call me, I guess, as a person without a "care pack", I'm just not special enough ;)

On to some good news though, we now have a swimming pool!!! it's a kind of blow-up one, and it's awesome!! We have toys and a bar and everything!!! :) I see lots of most pleasant evenings ahead :)

and here's some eye candy:

the pool:



the bar (HOW organised are we??) oh, and that blue and yellow bottle is Kaydin's water bottle, though he really does prefer daddy's beer :)


and when you stay in the pool too long you get "old feet":

and this was last week, before we even got into the pool :)




if you can't see the video, here's a direct link:
http://s77.photobucket.com/albums/j46/maz_08/?action=view&current=MOV04954.flv

we send much love ... and no, I don't have my laptop back yet ....