No, means No!
This has nothing at all to do with fitness but I need to vent. I’m just a little irritated so bear with me here.
I answered a phone call at dinner time only because the caller ID said it was from Dell USA. My laptop being from that company, I decided maybe they had something important to say, like a recall or to ask how my computer is doing. Well, I got an offer for an extended warranty on my laptop. $159 for one additional year of parts, labor and technical support. $209 for two years. $70 off if I pay for this NOW. I wanted to research this and make sure my money is not going to go to waste; I’m still within the 30 days money back guarantee timeframe and I have the standard 1 year warranty right now. I politely informed the sales agent that I appreciated the offer and I would be contacting Dell later to purchase said extended warranty as I don’t have room in my budget this month for that expense. Does that sound like a reasonable response to you?
Well, Ms. Pushy Push didn’t think so. She told me "well ma’am this offer is only good for right now and the price WILL go up on the warranty coverage." Once again, I said patiently, loud and clear, "thank you, but right now I am not able to buy an extended warranty. I will contact you when I can afford it." Her next words? "Ma’am the price will go up seventy dollars, there isn’t any way you can pay for this now?"
Now, I appreciated her trying to help me save some money. I really did. But I had said the equivalent of "No, Thank you" TWICE. My patience ran out. "No", I said in the firm and even tone that I use with my nine year old daughter. "I have other things that I must pay for right now" (like $3 a gallon milk for the kids and gasoline to get me to and from work; not to mention I am setting aside savings for school, vacation and paying off a credit card). She thanked me for taking the call and hung up. Was I too hard on her? Or did I not get my message through? I have read that in some cases, extended warranties are just a waste of money and time. If it’s gonna break, you’ll find out immediately. I mean, Dell has a great reputation for its products. And until now, awesome customer service. I’m not angry, don’t get me wrong. But I think she overstepped her bounds just a tad with me. Thanks for listening.
August 19, 2008 at 11:19 pm
Companies make a lot of money on extended warranties. They make this because odds of the machines having a failure are much lower justified by the cost.