Laptop dramarama
The quest that I have gone on to actually purchase this laptop is one that I still feel should be detailed and retold around LCD screens Beowulf-style for generations to come. I'll try to remember the gist of it here.
Last Monday, July 7th,
insipidnight informs me that she is purchasing a laptop. She links me to a laptop, and lo and behold, the Holy Grail shines before me. Instant rebates worth about $300. Tiny (12.1 inch diagonal) monitor, completely customizable with up to 4GB of RAM, less than 5 lbs, and a reputable brand (HP). The heart sings! And what light through yonder (browser) window breaks? It is the student discount, and my bank account is won! And so with the tenacity of a pit bull with your Porterhouse dinner, I decide that this laptop must be mine.
I lovingly trick out my future laptop ("Why yes, I DO want the fingerprint security option! However did you know?") add the printer with the scanner... and copier... and fax machine options, and for giggles throw in a cute little turquoise mini mouse the likes of which probably will be lost within hours. I'm so overcome by this point that I'm already considering names. (My first computer is named John, and my ipod is Steve. It's just this thing that happens. Maybe this one will be a girl. Lizzie?) Gleefully, I click next...
$1400.09. Troubling.
I'll cut back! I don't need the... Oh, yes I do. But surely the... Nope. Really, the only the thing I couldn't justify was the mouse, and so, farewell sweet mouse. Maybe later.
$1367.10 Still bad. Particularly as that's BEFORE Illinois sales tax. Damn.
Not great, but doable. They have an e-financing option! ... That I don't qualify for. Damn honesty, prompting me to admit that I only work part-time. And people wonder why I prevaricate so often.
In any case, after being thoroughly rejected (All they were missing was the blinking LOL LOSER banner), I decide to just toss the cost on two separate cards, one debit and one credit. I charge $700 and some cents to each, confident that finally, my laptop will be on its way to the stork/UPS man within a mere week. And yes, I do tend to wax poetic where my (potential) electronic devices are concerned. Thanks for noticing.
I wait for my confirmation email... Nada. Zilch. Nothing, even hours later. Worried, I call.
"Hi, I placed blahblah order for blahblahblah, but haven't received a confirmation email as of yet."
"Let me check for you... Oh, it seems one of these credit cards was deemed fraudulent."
"WHAT?!"
As a result of my moving back in March, apparently one still has a different billing address. Go figure. They'll cancel my order, so forth, and so on. Sigh. This was Monday. I checked my online banking to be sure, and there it was, a pending charge for $700. Damn.
Tuesday. Down by $700.
Wednesday. Still broke.
Today, I go on to check my account and see it still down by $700. Good thing I'm not in a hurry or anything... But wait!
sweetestbliss1 points out a coupon for $200 DOLLARS OFF.
I feel renewed in my quest.
I check the coupon, and yes, my new total is $1114.74! YES PLZ. However, my bank account is still with the pending debit account. Life is so unfair.
I call HP. They tell me to call my bank. I call WAMU. They tell me to call HP. I call HP and say that WAMU told me to call them and that I was rather tired of the "Go ask your father, then" brush-offs I was receiving. Someone had better either get my money back to me, or put this laptop (gently) in my hands.
Randomly, when I call HP for the third time, I get the first guy I'd heard from in this whole ordeal. I was beginning to think the whole of HP and WAMU was inherently matriarchal.
"Hi, I placed an order for blahblah, and was declined, but the money is still being held."
"Order number?"
"Blahblahblah."
"All right, I went ahead and cancelled that for you."
Now let me tell you, every other time I called I was inundated with offers to purchase more more MORE, but my problem had not been solved. And now, the in the most to-the-point, almost brusque conversation I've had, my problem is solved. I sat in shock for some seconds.
"Ma'am?"
I thank this wonderful man profusely, hanging up before my overwhelming gratitude led me to offer to bear his children. I log back onto HP. Finally, finally....
The coupon is expired.
Tears of frustration. Tears of rage. Dejectedly, I google HP coupons and find SAVE 500 ON ANY LAPTOP OVER 1399.
Tears of joy. Tears of relief.
And now I'm sitting here nervously, as my account has STILL not been credited back yet. I'm not sure I could handle the emotional fallout of another coupon dying on me, particularly as this one drops me even lower, to under $1100. The world needs to stop toying with my emotions.
ETA: The drama continued for a short while longer. I put the order through ($1067.49) and it was immediately declined, and they said a hold might have been put on my card. NO NO NO. I could feel the tantrum coming. And then, miraculously, I hit refresh and it accepts. I am wary. This is too good to be true. But here we are, two days later, and indeed, it has gone through. Within two weeks, Lizzie shall be mine! Printer has already shipped. 8D
Last Monday, July 7th,
insipidnight informs me that she is purchasing a laptop. She links me to a laptop, and lo and behold, the Holy Grail shines before me. Instant rebates worth about $300. Tiny (12.1 inch diagonal) monitor, completely customizable with up to 4GB of RAM, less than 5 lbs, and a reputable brand (HP). The heart sings! And what light through yonder (browser) window breaks? It is the student discount, and my bank account is won! And so with the tenacity of a pit bull with your Porterhouse dinner, I decide that this laptop must be mine.
I lovingly trick out my future laptop ("Why yes, I DO want the fingerprint security option! However did you know?") add the printer with the scanner... and copier... and fax machine options, and for giggles throw in a cute little turquoise mini mouse the likes of which probably will be lost within hours. I'm so overcome by this point that I'm already considering names. (My first computer is named John, and my ipod is Steve. It's just this thing that happens. Maybe this one will be a girl. Lizzie?) Gleefully, I click next...
$1400.09. Troubling.
I'll cut back! I don't need the... Oh, yes I do. But surely the... Nope. Really, the only the thing I couldn't justify was the mouse, and so, farewell sweet mouse. Maybe later.
$1367.10 Still bad. Particularly as that's BEFORE Illinois sales tax. Damn.
Not great, but doable. They have an e-financing option! ... That I don't qualify for. Damn honesty, prompting me to admit that I only work part-time. And people wonder why I prevaricate so often.
In any case, after being thoroughly rejected (All they were missing was the blinking LOL LOSER banner), I decide to just toss the cost on two separate cards, one debit and one credit. I charge $700 and some cents to each, confident that finally, my laptop will be on its way to the stork/UPS man within a mere week. And yes, I do tend to wax poetic where my (potential) electronic devices are concerned. Thanks for noticing.
I wait for my confirmation email... Nada. Zilch. Nothing, even hours later. Worried, I call.
"Hi, I placed blahblah order for blahblahblah, but haven't received a confirmation email as of yet."
"Let me check for you... Oh, it seems one of these credit cards was deemed fraudulent."
"WHAT?!"
As a result of my moving back in March, apparently one still has a different billing address. Go figure. They'll cancel my order, so forth, and so on. Sigh. This was Monday. I checked my online banking to be sure, and there it was, a pending charge for $700. Damn.
Tuesday. Down by $700.
Wednesday. Still broke.
Today, I go on to check my account and see it still down by $700. Good thing I'm not in a hurry or anything... But wait!
sweetestbliss1 points out a coupon for $200 DOLLARS OFF.
I feel renewed in my quest.
I check the coupon, and yes, my new total is $1114.74! YES PLZ. However, my bank account is still with the pending debit account. Life is so unfair.
I call HP. They tell me to call my bank. I call WAMU. They tell me to call HP. I call HP and say that WAMU told me to call them and that I was rather tired of the "Go ask your father, then" brush-offs I was receiving. Someone had better either get my money back to me, or put this laptop (gently) in my hands.
Randomly, when I call HP for the third time, I get the first guy I'd heard from in this whole ordeal. I was beginning to think the whole of HP and WAMU was inherently matriarchal.
"Hi, I placed an order for blahblah, and was declined, but the money is still being held."
"Order number?"
"Blahblahblah."
"All right, I went ahead and cancelled that for you."
Now let me tell you, every other time I called I was inundated with offers to purchase more more MORE, but my problem had not been solved. And now, the in the most to-the-point, almost brusque conversation I've had, my problem is solved. I sat in shock for some seconds.
"Ma'am?"
I thank this wonderful man profusely, hanging up before my overwhelming gratitude led me to offer to bear his children. I log back onto HP. Finally, finally....
The coupon is expired.
Tears of frustration. Tears of rage. Dejectedly, I google HP coupons and find SAVE 500 ON ANY LAPTOP OVER 1399.
Tears of joy. Tears of relief.
And now I'm sitting here nervously, as my account has STILL not been credited back yet. I'm not sure I could handle the emotional fallout of another coupon dying on me, particularly as this one drops me even lower, to under $1100. The world needs to stop toying with my emotions.
ETA: The drama continued for a short while longer. I put the order through ($1067.49) and it was immediately declined, and they said a hold might have been put on my card. NO NO NO. I could feel the tantrum coming. And then, miraculously, I hit refresh and it accepts. I am wary. This is too good to be true. But here we are, two days later, and indeed, it has gone through. Within two weeks, Lizzie shall be mine! Printer has already shipped. 8D