Computer trouble

On November 2, 2007 Alex and I bought laptops, and purchased the extended warranty. My AC adapter broke about a month ago, but I was able to borrow Alex's as needed and never got around to calling and filing a claim.

On Sunday the 11th, Alex's AC adapter stopped working. The next morning I pulled our warranty information out of the file cabinet and made the call. I was on the phone for over a half hour relaying all of the necessary information. I got both claims filed and was assured that my power cords would be delivered by either UPS or FedEx within 3-5 business days.

I do all of my homeschooling record keeping, lesson plans, scheduling, etc. on my laptop. I track and pay bills. I receive over a hundred emails a day. I have several blogs that I faithfully check daily . I get my Bible in Year readings daily on my computer. I really hate not having the laptop running all day. Alex does his Geometry, Biology and Spanish on his computer.

I made it all the way to Friday without the computer. I filled in at the office with Shannon last Friday, and Papa Ken was kind enough to leave me his AC adapter while I "worked". I was able to get my battery charged up "in case of emergency" over the weekend, with the assumption that my new cord would be arriving on Monday--the 5th business day.

Monday (the 19th) came and I called the computer help desk to see if I could get a tracking number to verify a delivery date. After a bunch of run-around, I was told that the order for the cord wasn't processed until Saturday the 17th. I'm pretty sure there was smoke coming out of my ears. The customer service rep couldn't really explain why it had taken five days to process the claim and place an order with their supplier. It would be another 3-5 business days before delivery. There was no tracking number listed, but I could call back the next day to see if it had been entered.

I called back on Tuesday (the 20th) and spoke with a different customer service rep. He read through the notes on my account regarding the claims, and told me that I had been given some wrong information initially. Some parts are shipped within 3-5 days, but AC adapters are allowed 14 days for delivery. You should have seen the smoke coming out my ears!

On Wednesday (the 21st) I called back AGAIN and told them that since I had been given several different versions of the details of my claim, that I just wanted to see what the story might be on that day. I'm suspecting that by this point they had notes attached to my claim about a unreasonable, sarcastic customer, because they transferred me to a different department. I was able to speak with a woman who told me the AC adapters were BACK ORDERED and she didn't know when they would be available. I'm surprised the smoke detector didn't go off. Why couldn't they have told me that on Monday, or better yet, the week before? We were on Day 9 of my claim timetable, and I was still without a laptop.

She explained that we could do a "Buy Back". If I went out and purchased the AC adapters, I could fax a copy of my receipt and model/serial numbers and they would reimburse me up to $90 apiece within 10-15 business days. FINE. I loaded up in the car, headed 40 miles to Waterloo. I went to Best Buy, Staples, and 2 WalMarts before I found the adapters for $89.99.

I paid for them, brought them home, and we were back up and running. I faxed all of the required information to the product care plan on Wednesday afternoon. Twice. If they don't reimburse me, I'm out $192.34.

Thursday morning I called to verify that they received my fax. I was told that it was way too soon to expect them to have entered a reimbursement request. I said I'd call back the next day.

This morning (Friday the 23rd) I called to see if they had received my reimbursement request. Yep, they have it. I will be receiving two checks for $96.14 apiece. In 10-15 business days from today. Good. I filed the paperwork in my basket in the cupboard. It's no longer sitting on my kitchen counter.

Today Shannon got stuck in the snow up the road about 3/4 mile. We spent 2 hours working, shoveling, pushing, shoving in the COLD and WINDY weather. The UPS truck pulled up while we were working, trying to determine if she could get her truck through the hip high drifts that Shannon was stuck in. She turned around and went back the other way. The neighbor man finally came out and helped pull the car out of the snow. Shannon went back to work. The boys and I went home.

Sitting on my freezer in the garage were two boxes. Each contained an AC adaptor. The UPS lady had dropped them off while we were scooping.

Now what am I supposed to do?

"Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so." Proverbs 3:27