Geek'd: The end of a chase for an upgraded laptop

After a month of chasing, begging, pleading and pain, I finally got my new laptop! An ASUS with a 15.6 inch screen, AMD Dual Core and 320GB HDD.

So awhile ago, I dealt with the saga of not getting a tracking number sent to my email and therefore having my purchase shipped and then returned for a refund.

I ran into the problem of not being sent a tracking number. Again. And that was with a different shipping method (I expressed the shipping).

But this time I was aware and prepared of that inevitability. So I called NewEgg and got my shipping number handed to me so that I could keep track of it via Purolator and have at the whole terrible experience.

But I was wrong. Oh I was very wrong.

I called Purolator the next day as soon as I saw that they were having difficulty sending to my address, as usual. I needed to know why (it was the buzz code problem as it always is) and where the package is being left to be picked up, because for whatever reason they couldn't even leave a note stating they tried to send me something and failed for whatever reason and here's where I can find it. In this case, was on the other side of town a good two-and-a-half public transit ride to the location.

Normally, these issues are easily fixed. I call  Purolator and get them to relocate my shipment from that god-awful spot to a commercial Purolator centre close to me.

But... it's not the case this time.

See, the wholesale company that got the order from NewEgg and shipped it out had apparently placed a special designation on it that said, even if the customer requests the relocation of the shipped item to a convenient location, it cannot be relocated without the expressed permission of the company that shipped it.

So I got the number of the company and called them. The customer guy goes on to tell me that because they have no access to personal accounts sent by NewEgg and that I'd have to talk to them.

So I did. And I got a "We will contact you in a few hours to tell you the results of our investigation."

24 hours later, nothing.

So I called them again and got a, "We can't actually do anything for you, once it's shipped it's out of our hands."

Basically saying, we can only relocate the package ONCE YOU REORDER YOUR PURCHASE.

To summarize, they have created a system where if there is a problem with delivering the item to your home, THERE IS NO REASONABLE SOLUTION TO FIX IT SHORT OF PERSONALLY PICKING IT UP AT THE HIGHLY OUT-OF-THE-WAY SHIPPING CENTRE.

At this point, I had enough.

First I extended the hold date on the laptop. Then I called in a massive favour to get a ride to the location to pick up the package within operating hours.

And now it is finally home, and just in the nick of time. Over this weekend, the left hinge finally gave way on my old laptop, leaving the plasma screen hanging loose on that side. And with the wiring of the laptop to the plasma screen largely situated on said side, it now requires extra special care.

It definitely is no longer easily transportable in any case.

Geek'd: the rant of the obnoxious odyssey of having to get a new laptop

So... as of this past month, I had decided to get a new laptop.

Over the summer, my computer has really begun to show its age. And I don't mean in the software, or even the hardware that runs this 4-year-old Toshiba model. Of course that also is contribution to the decision to upgrade.

No. The issue is the construction of the laptop itself.

The frame that holds the plasma screen together has cracked and is being held together by hockey tape. Because it is cracked, the computer doesn't close properly over the keyboard and actually, closing it causes further damage. The corner of the bottom has fallen apart, the CD drive doesn't close properly and the whole thing is about a few bumps and bruises from becoming scrap plastic.

Basically the only thing that isn't falling apart is the keyboard in which to type my rants.

Ever since my first laptop purchase bombed like you wouldn't believe in 2004, I've bought my laptop at your usual big box stores like Best Buy or Future Shop.

Which is all fine and dandy except that it's often a lot of money. My current broken baby was easily close to $1000 four years ago.

So on a friend's very very very strong recommendation, I decided to go ahead and try buying a new laptop online for the first time ever from a website called NewEgg.Ca. He raved about the site, telling me how it's so much more cheaper than your regular store because it cuts out the middle man by selling straight from the warehouse and that the speed in which it sent your electronics was very very fast.

So I ordered a $535 dollar laptop.

And then waited. And waited. And waited.

Sept. 17, it informed me via email that my package was shipped and the order was processed. I wanted to see when the package would arrive, so I looked up my account to see if I could find a way to track it.

They had a spot on the site to track it but you needed a tracking number. I couldn't find mine.

I haven't ever shipped from here before. And because I had picked the cheapest option to ship for, I thought maybe they sent it through Canada Post.

Also, I've had packages that took up to 2-3 weeks to ship something as well. So I took it in stride.

Until Oct. 1st, when I had had enough of waiting and was seriously beginning to wonder what the heck was tacking so long. I called Newegg's customer service to figure it out.

That was when I found out that a massive fuck up had occurred.

So my package was shipped on Sept. 17. By Purolator.
That was the first problem.

Purolator and I have a hate-filled relationship: I have always had problems with them shipping me stuff, from not having phones with their drivers to call me to problems with establishing my address because I live in a bloody apartment complex. It's not a nice combination. One time, they left a package of mine to be picked up in bloody West Etobicoke a good two-and-a-half hour bus ride from my home!

In this case, they got to my apartment but couldn't get to me because I didn't have a buzz code, despite the fact I was actually at home at the time. So without even leaving a bloody slip to inform me that a package arrived for me from them, they sauntered back to the bloody warehouse with the rule to call me.

EXCEPT THEY DIDN'T. Their justification: the package didn't have a phone number attached to it so they couldn't call.

I checked my account: my phone number was right there. Why didn't they bloody well call Newegg and ask for the number attached to my account???

You may be sitting here now and asking: "Wait a minute, why didn't you just use the tracking number to see that you could pick it up?"

Well... BECAUSE I DIDN'T HAVE ONE. Basically, NewEgg's system fucked up on me and failed to send me a tracking number when they shipped it. And the best they could do was put in an error report to figure out why that was happening.

So not only did Purolator not call me OR leave a notice to tell me that I had a package with them, I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THAT I HAD A PACKAGE WAITING PERIOD.

I trust this friend enough that I was willing to re-order the laptop from there. But I'm a rather unhappy person about the whole issue.