Saturday, April 18, 2009

Saga of the Computer from Hell (CFH), Wireless Problems Begin - Part 2

Part 2 of the saga begins after returning home with the exchanged Computer from Hell (CFH). Again we set it up and I put it through its paces. The DVD-CD ROM recorder/player worked. However, it would not connect to my Internet Provider, no matter how I configured the integrated USB wireless G network provision.

The immediate suspect was the USB Wireless on-board provision. I call integrated motherboards the All-In One (AIO) motherboards. The only repair is replacement of motherboard.

I began a round-robin of long-distance phone calls, some toll-free, beginning with the big box store (BBS). This call alerted me to the unwritten uselessness of the warranty extension/maintenance agreement I purchase at a hefty price.

One provision was "in-home" repair. I was informed it only covered a 40 mile radius of any store in its large chain. No store was within 40 miles of my home. And "NO, I cannot ship the unit to any store--too many liabilities to the store," a limitation not written in the contract, nor orally explained to me.

I felt deceived, so I made additional calls up the BBS chain of command to the executive level officers (XO), reminding them, their customers and advertising extended more than 40 miles outside their location. Every response was a cold " it's our policy!" The last phone call I reminded the XO of the exponential effect of one person's dissatisfaction regaled to seven other persons who told seven other persons.

Since the manufacturer's warranty was one year and still in effect, I contacted the internationally known computer manufacturer (CM) with whom I had registered the computer's serial and model numbers. This action began a round-robin of phone calls between the CM, Internet service provider (ISP), wireless/wired router tech support and me. After I successfully connected to the Internet with a wired network provision also integrated on the motherboard, CM accepted the computer for repair (replace motherboard).

[Luckie doesn't compute - impatient when I ignore attempts for attention or food is on menu!]

Next: Saga continues...this should be a book!

No comments: