The Saga of the Hard Drive
With all the junk I've been downloading lately, I started running out of space. Easy to correct - get another big hard drive! I decided on getting an external one, and it could float between my home PC and my laptops docking station for when I didn't feel like streaming gigabytes worth of data over my 54 meg wireless network at home (although I've got to do some speedtests now to see which is faster after all).
I found a really good deal at OfficeWorks in the end. A Maxtor 500GB drive for AU$299 - I certainly couldn't find any cheaper anywhere. So I ordered it online, got free shipping (bonus) and I was happy.
A couple or so days later (this was a Monday) it arrived - except that it was the 160GB version, not 500. I call their helpdesk and let them know what happened, and I was assured someone would appear the following day to do a switcheroo.
Having NOT heard from them on the Tuesday, I called them again on the Wednesday to ask what happened. This new person I spoke to told that there was no record of my call on Monday - none whatsoever. They apoligised and (after putting me on hold for 10 minutes) assured me that a) someone would be there the next day to pick up the drive, and b) the item I was after was out of stock was on back order. I was told I'd get a call by the following day at the latest to tell me when I could expect it (roughly) and if this was no good it was fine to ask for a refund.
I waited almost a week. No one came to get the old drive, and no one called to tell me when I'd be getting the item I actually ordered (and paid for). So I called again.
This time it was on the Tuesday (8 days after I called for the first time). This time I was told that the picklup of the incorrect item was ordered the on the day they said, but then it was up to the courier to find time - possibly a couple of weeks. They also told me that with items on backorder they have no idea when the next shipment will be received, and they can't call me until the recieve it - possibly another 3 weeks wait.
So I asked for a refund. They credited my card immediately, and the money appeared on my mastercard that night.
I started hunting again for a decent price, but I couldn't find anyone anywhere near as cheap as this sale at OfficeWorks.
Two days later (we're now at Thursday last week) I had a thought. There's an OfficeWorks here in Canberra - and I was willing to put money on the fact that the website ships out of Sydney - or at least, not Canberra. So I called the Canberra store and they had two in stock. I drove out, grabbed one, paid for it over the counter, and I was happy.
So what have we learned so far? The stores are good. The website isn't. And the support staff for the website aren't either - they dont' know how to enter information in a computer, nor do they know what they're talking about, it seems.
But wait. My story ended on Thursday. Let's look at what happened on Friday morning. A courier arrived with a package for me - my new 500GB drive that I ordered. The order I cancelled on the tuesday, and wasn't packed and shipped until thirsday (kudos for getting it here so fast guys!).
So now I have a full terrabyte of external storage (sweet!) for $299 (double sweet!). It seems the friendly helpdesk people really don't know how to use the computers - they credited my card (and I was snail-mailed an invoice update with the credit), but I guess they didn't actually cancel my order.
I'm happily using the one I bought over the counter. The delivered one is sitting on my desk unopened. I figure I'll leave it about 4 weeks. If I don't get asking for it back (and I don't notice a new credit on my crdit card), then I declare it lost property, and now mine! :)
So my advice to you? Either a) don't use the officeworks website, or b) use it, and maybe you'll be as lucky as me :)