Daily Remarks

I just received a call from Nissan service for my car which is great. They were reminding me that my next service on my car is coming up and they wanted to schedule that for me. They asked about my email and address to make sure that it was correct. I then asked what the mileage should be for my next service. The lady on the phone didn’t speak very good English and I had to ask her twice what the mileage needed to be. At no time did she slow down and try to enunciate the correct mileage. After the 2nd time I just let it go and I figured I would just look in the manual for the correct mileage. I believe that if you are a phone operator trying to get someone’s business then you should speak the native language fluently and have good diction.

I called HP yesterday to get a price on a Netbook with Windows XP Pro. I had to call because they don’t have Netbooks on their website with Windows XP Pro installed.

The conversation went like this,
HP: How can I help you?
Me: I would like to get a price on a netbook with Windows XP Pro.
HP: What is your first and last name.
Me: I gave them my name.
HP: What is your address?
Me: I gave them my address.
Me: Can I get a price on a netbook with Windows XP Pro?
HP: Is this for personal use or resale?
Me: It is for resale.
HP: I am sorry sir you will have to dial this number for our resales division.
Me: Can’t I just get a retail price for a netbook with Windows XP Pro?
HP: Sir, you will have to contact them for pricing.

So then I proceed to call the other number they provided and I basically go through the same thing again, only to find out that I would need to be signed up to be a reseller to get pricing. I couldn’t even get retail pricing. They gave me some sku numbers and I tried using them on the website to look up pricing, but the person on the phone said those skus would only work through the phone call to get pricing. I then proceeded to tell him that I had just been on the phone with 2 divisions and that I couldn’t even get a retail price for a Netbook with Windows XP Pro and that I would be going elsewhere to buy a Netbook and I would put Windows XP Pro on it myself. He apologized, paused and hung up.

I can’t believe that they won’t even give you a price without your life history. If it was on the website I wouldn’t have bothered with them. They could have saved a phone call. Has this ever happened to you?