New Computer

I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I was getting a new computer from Office Depot. Well I am now typing on my new laptop from Best Buy. When we ordered the laptop through OD, it said the product was in stock and it would be delivered July 22nd, between 9:00am and 5:00pm. All through the weekend the site different update messages. "In stock." "Processing." "In warehouse." Then Monday July 21, it switched to, "Delivered, Short-shipped." This concerned me a little but it still said the scheduled delivery was July 22. I called the automated service and was told the order was processing and delivery was set for July 22.

July 22 came and we expected our computer. At about 4:00 Jill started making calls. She finally got a hold of a real person, who told her that "Delivered, Short-shipped" actually meant that they were out of stock, and our order may not be eligible for the rebates. So we tried to cancel the order. We called again and spoke to someone else, who told us that it was impossible to cancel the order, that the computer would be shipped to us when they were in stock, and that if we did not want it all we had to do was refuse delivery and our bank account would be credited with the full amount of the product. This did not set well, so we contacted customer support by e-mail, hoping to get something in writing.

While being as vague as possible, the rep. apologized for any inconvenience and told us that the order amount was set to $0.00, and if we were still interested in the product, an agent would be glad to assist us. Unsure if this meant that our order was indeed canceled (since an earlier rep told us this was impossible), we asked point blank if we would be receiving the computer or if it was canceled. Again they responded that the order was set to $0.00, and we could reorder if we wanted to do so. They apparently do not like the word canceled and we are still concerned that a new laptop may show up at our door any day.

I have purchased other products in store at Office Depot, and have always been satisfied in the past. But their on-line and phone customer service were both horrible in this instance. The only good thing I can say about the experience is, it appears, they never charged our debit card for the computer.