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I've blown off getting anything accomplished tonight in favor of getting a new monitor so that I can get something done tomorrow and the day after and the day after. My monitor was slowly getting fuzzier and fuzzier and I had Just Had Enough, so when I was at Office Depot and spied the LCD monitors on sale ...
...well, I didn't get one at Office Depot. Not through any effort of mine, oh no, it was because the clerk there was amazingly uninterested in selling me anything. She took the slip I got from the display and typed the number in, came back and said "We don't have that." I stared at her and she repeated herself, adding "We just have the display." I asked if they sold the displays, and she said not to her knowledge, and checked out the rest of my stuff without a word. No effort to offer to call other stores. No effort to call anyone over. No effort to see if she could order it. No effort to sell me another monitor.*
All of which ticked me off, unreasonably so,** and I quietly stormed out and went to Best Buy.
At Best Buy I had two salesguys look at me and walk off, which is about par for the course, because I never look like I'm going to drop $300 on something so salesguys on commission usually ignore me.*** Once I got one of them to acknowlege my presence by walking up and staring at him in a creepy manner, I got my monitor, along with over eight linear feet of rebate slip.**** And the salesguy got points awarded back to him by not attempting to sell me any sort of plan.
And ended up getting a better deal than the monitor I was going to buy at Office Depot, and a better deal than was on the display. After rebate, the display said it was $330, and after I send in all my rebates, I'll ahve paid only $280. For a Samsung SyncMaster 930B 19" 1280x1024 LCD monitor.
I no longer have this huge, hulking thing on my desk, and I can push the monitor back far enough to actually put my entire graphics tablet on the desk. :D
ETA: Wooo, there's a URL for a survey about my shopping experience on the bottom of my receipt! I filled it out and gave 'em a piece of my mind, and explained that Best Buy is usually slightly cheaper for the stuff I buy, but usually not enough to be worth driving the 10 extra minutes and deal with the hassle of the Weirdest Highway Exit in Fort Worth, but I'm perfectly willing to do so to get a salesguy who is happy to sell me something. I checked the thing that says YES SHARE MY COMMENTS WITH OFFICE DEPOT!!!!, so maybe they'll give me a gift certificate or something. I've got a neverending need for printer cartridges, and the store really is less than 5 minutes from my apartment. (I could walk there if I wanted to dare the very busy streets.)
* Which she could have done easily, because I wasn't married to that particular monitor. I'd have even gone up another $50.
** I was actually shaking with indignation when I got out to the car, which is way overreacting, so I have no idea what set me off. But I stormed out very unobtrusively, because I hate making scenes, so as far as Office Depot knows, I'm a happy customer.
*** To their peril. I rarely spend more than $400 at once, but when I start looking for a salesguy, I've usually already made up my mind and just want them to find me the box and ring me up, so it's a no-effort, no-time sale for them.
**** I measured. Three rebates, rebate receipts for each one, plus my real receipt. The salesguy had a fit of the giggles while the slips printed ... and printed ... and printed ... and printed ....
...well, I didn't get one at Office Depot. Not through any effort of mine, oh no, it was because the clerk there was amazingly uninterested in selling me anything. She took the slip I got from the display and typed the number in, came back and said "We don't have that." I stared at her and she repeated herself, adding "We just have the display." I asked if they sold the displays, and she said not to her knowledge, and checked out the rest of my stuff without a word. No effort to offer to call other stores. No effort to call anyone over. No effort to see if she could order it. No effort to sell me another monitor.*
All of which ticked me off, unreasonably so,** and I quietly stormed out and went to Best Buy.
At Best Buy I had two salesguys look at me and walk off, which is about par for the course, because I never look like I'm going to drop $300 on something so salesguys on commission usually ignore me.*** Once I got one of them to acknowlege my presence by walking up and staring at him in a creepy manner, I got my monitor, along with over eight linear feet of rebate slip.**** And the salesguy got points awarded back to him by not attempting to sell me any sort of plan.
And ended up getting a better deal than the monitor I was going to buy at Office Depot, and a better deal than was on the display. After rebate, the display said it was $330, and after I send in all my rebates, I'll ahve paid only $280. For a Samsung SyncMaster 930B 19" 1280x1024 LCD monitor.
I no longer have this huge, hulking thing on my desk, and I can push the monitor back far enough to actually put my entire graphics tablet on the desk. :D
ETA: Wooo, there's a URL for a survey about my shopping experience on the bottom of my receipt! I filled it out and gave 'em a piece of my mind, and explained that Best Buy is usually slightly cheaper for the stuff I buy, but usually not enough to be worth driving the 10 extra minutes and deal with the hassle of the Weirdest Highway Exit in Fort Worth, but I'm perfectly willing to do so to get a salesguy who is happy to sell me something. I checked the thing that says YES SHARE MY COMMENTS WITH OFFICE DEPOT!!!!, so maybe they'll give me a gift certificate or something. I've got a neverending need for printer cartridges, and the store really is less than 5 minutes from my apartment. (I could walk there if I wanted to dare the very busy streets.)
* Which she could have done easily, because I wasn't married to that particular monitor. I'd have even gone up another $50.
** I was actually shaking with indignation when I got out to the car, which is way overreacting, so I have no idea what set me off. But I stormed out very unobtrusively, because I hate making scenes, so as far as Office Depot knows, I'm a happy customer.
*** To their peril. I rarely spend more than $400 at once, but when I start looking for a salesguy, I've usually already made up my mind and just want them to find me the box and ring me up, so it's a no-effort, no-time sale for them.
**** I measured. Three rebates, rebate receipts for each one, plus my real receipt. The salesguy had a fit of the giggles while the slips printed ... and printed ... and printed ... and printed ....
