phingers’s posterous

The whole point of ordering online is to do it quickly and easily, and have full customer service options available. Well I just ordered a laptop for work from HP, and was completely shocked at their customer service. Order placed online. Noticed it wouldn't ship out till Dec 29th. But we chose 5-7 day free shipping. So I called them to see if they could change the shipping to two days, so we could get it on time. They said no, transferred me to the order cancellation department, and hung up on me after holding for 5 mins. I call back again, jump through their hoops, and wait 30 mins on hold. Again they wind up hanging up on me. Call back a third time, ask for a supervisor, 5 minutes later. I supposedly get the order cancelled. Still waiting for the cancellation email.

Just mind blowing. I mean I understand why they do it, but it is most definitely not because they are trying to help the consumer, or improve their bottom line. Most likely reason is because their lazy corporate programmers haven't built the program on the website yet to cancel the order. Or their backend systems are so archaic that to interface with the system to cancel the order is a nightmare. They are overwhelmed with calls, and the cancellation department is probably too. Why they cant update an order with a different shipping option is also beyond me, probably goes back to their systems yet again.

Problem is really that HP has a product that you want, and you need it customized. No one else makes one like that, so I have to put up with their terrible service. If it was Joey's sub shop down the street, I just wouldn't go there anymore, and he'd be out of business.

I think it just goes to show how amazing Amazon is, since you can do everything all online. I've never had to call amazon for anything, and I've ordered a million things from them. Wish they let me buy a laptop customized. Maybe that's coming soon.