Okay the saga continues with the laptop issue.

Here’s the update from Shift Happens: The laptop I got from Office Depot just didn’t cut it, so I called Dell to get my computer from there.

I know…I know…Some people REALLY don’t like Dell, I haven’t had a problem with Dell for the 6 years I’ve been buying their systems…until now.

First, the guy who I called to order the system was ‘sleepy’ and yawned right in my ear… THANKS!

Secondly, (and this was more disturbing to me than the yawn) was that he was trying to make me poor. Throughout the entire conversation, he kept saying things like, “Well you could get the upgrade, but that’s expensive” or “You really don’t need that because it’s 100 bucks more”, etc… I actually started getting a little miffed about him projecting his ‘poverty mentality’ on me.

So I kindly hung up and called back to speak to another agent.

She was pretty friendly, but my troubles continued.

First, when we tried to run the credit card, she didn’t tell me that Dell charges you separately for the system, for shipping, software and peripherals. So there were 5 charges back to back on my PayPal card… all totaling about $2,600 – not a good thing. Well all the charges went through except for the $2,500 charge. Of course, it was the one for the laptop.
Well, I told the young lady, I’d call her back in a few minutes to find out why the charge didn’t go thru.

I call PayPal and just as I figured, PayPal tagged my card for fraud – 5 charges within a few minutes for $2,600 wasn’t a good thing… so they froze the account until I could verify the charges. I got everything cleared up in about 5 minutes and called sales rep at Dell back.

I get her on the phone and told her that I’d gotten everything taken care of, but as I was explaining the situation to her, for some reason, she decided to cancel the order. As she said she was canceling the order, I asked her why was she canceling the order and she says, “That’s what you wanted me to do isn’t it?” Duh… Why the heck would be calling you back, explaining how I just got off the phone with PayPal if I wanted you to cancel the order?

Anyway, after a few hours she said she fixed the issue and the system should ship on the same day.

I was relieved…until today…the day I was so happy about getting my laptop. Every time a big truck would go up or down the street, I’d get the feeling of excitement and run to the door…only to see that it wasn’t UPS. 🙁

So around 10am, I got a little concerned and decided to check the tracking number to see when the delivery would come…and guess what I found out…It was in route and scheduled for delivery today……….. in Las Vegas.

WOW!

How do you screw that up?

I have no idea why the computer was shipped to Vegas. So I called the girl back and asked her why the computer was shipped to Vegas…her reply: “I don’t know…do you want me to cancel the order?”

WTF!?! Does Dell even want my business?

I just wanted tot know how that order got that screwed up and how were they going to fix it….not cancel it. I didn’t say anything about canceling the order. So after a few minutes of shifting the blame on other people, she says “I’ll ask my manager what to do and I’ll call you back.”

So here I am. Still without my new laptop waiting for her to call me back.

I’ll keep you informed.

Multiple morals:

1) If you’re in sales, Avoid one of the biggest mistakes for most sales and marketing professionals. DON’T EVER project your financial situation on someone else. DON’T EVER tell someone what they can or can’t afford.

2) As I said in the prelude post Shift Happens… Things happen in life…they are only things – they’re not good or bad – they’re just things. You control how you respond to them.

3) Don’t let stuff bother you. This situation stinks, but I asked myself, “What’s the really damage being done here… none. Beyond a couple of goof balls over at Dell, there’s been no real harm done…so there’s no real reason to get upset about it.” I’ll just make due until I get my laptop.

4) Take personal responsibility, people will respect you more for it.

So when ever you feel the anger sensation coming on…don’t stop and count to 10…I’m not sure counting will help. Ask yourself what is the real harm being done. There are very few reasons in the world to get angry… your life being jeopardized, deliberate injustices, etc…but a laptop being shipped to the other side of the country isn’t one of them.

So take a moment and ask yourself about what things regularly make you angry – and stop doing them.

Shift Your Energy

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