Office Depot Trickery - Halp?

[thestalkmore]

Bought a new laptop from Office Depot today. Guy who sold it to me brought it up and when I asked him why the box was already opened he told me that he was showing a customer the layout of it and that the laptop was still sealed (it wasn't, just was covered in a plastic slip). Came home, charged it, and booted it up. No setup screens as is typical of shit consumer products and when I went to DOS to get the MAC address of the ethernet card, noticed that my root dir was users/david. Additionally, the hostname of the computer was David-PC and there were a number of Chinese files in the recent items menu. Any other ways to confirm that I got shafted before I go back there tomorrow and yell at them?

[Lordwafik]

Yell at them and ask for their manager, bring proof of ID etc to show you're not David and your name is really TheStalkMore. Also bring the reciept and tell them the description of the guy who was working, what time you bought it, and your testimony of you inquiring if it was opened or not etc and you were lied to. If it's like electronic stores here, they will look into it.

[fraguar]

From someone who works there,

Sounds like what happened is that it was a Display laptop and someone wanted to buy it, then changed their mind. Then another employee who didnt know that came in behind him and sold it to you. Don't get too upset though as u have 14 days to return it for a full refund, or u can always exchange it.

[EdgeMoragan]

At my location we can't fit all the display laptops on the floor, nor do we want to Damage and Defective a product if we can help it. Managers usually sneakily reseal things and attempt to sell it (so we can push a warranty or attachments with it).

In my opinion you have a returned laptop that "nothing was wrong with" so someone is trying to sell it. To my experience were it a floor model it would have the stores number as the sign on and would have been passworded already, usually with a password like "sales".

Highly likely it was returned and resold to you. Ask for the -STORE MANAGER- and be insistent. If you can't get him get an assistant manager. Threaten to call corporate if they don't handle you the way you want. They may even bluff you and say "go ahead and call corporate".

Trust me, corporate has 0 loyalty to the employees, even the managers, and they will threaten people into giving you want you want so long as it is not ridiculous and you have not cursed at anyone. No matter what a manager says before you call corporate, they will usually be pissing their workshoes the moment that phone rings after you dial corporate from your cell.

Protip:
Before going the corporate path start asking the manager for their card. Almost all managers have cards and are required to give them to a customer. The moment you're asking about that, the manager will know the direction its about to head and likely cave to your full refund or w/e you want.

[Cephius]

Protip: Never ever buy a laptop or computer from a retail chain, they're almost always shitty, overpriced brands sold by people who's "certification" was a 10-minute worksheet that shows what each physical part of the computer is. Buy from Dell/HP/Sony direct via online or catalog, and always do your research to make sure the price is fair and you're getting what you want.

That being said computers have an "event log" that goes back roughly 3 months and will give you a decent idea of when the laptop was first booted and accessed. You can use this as evidence to show that the laptop was sold to you new yet had clearly been used. Right click my computer -> Manage -> Event Viewer -> System. Of course there are other ways to show that the computer was used.. but this will put a more exact date on it.

[Norelco]

Haha, you got a gutted-a-la-gamestop laptop.

[Akun]

Haha, you got a gutted-a-la-gamestop laptop.

I was going to make that joke

[Killgannon]

Protip: Never ever buy a laptop or computer from a retail chain, they're almost always shitty, overpriced brands sold by people who's "certification" was a 10-minute worksheet that shows what each physical part of the computer is. Buy from Dell/HP/Sony direct via online or catalog, and always do your research to make sure the price is fair and you're getting what you want.

That being said computers have an "event log" that goes back roughly 3 months and will give you a decent idea of when the laptop was first booted and accessed. You can use this as evidence to show that the laptop was sold to you new yet had clearly been used. Right click my computer -> Manage -> Event Viewer -> System. Of course there are other ways to show that the computer was used.. but this will put a more exact date on it.

this is the correct answers.

[Jefe]

Haha, you got a gutted-a-la-gamestop laptop.

SO? IMAGINE YOU ARE BUYING A NEW CAR. OBVIOUSLY EMPLOYEES DRIVE IT AROUND. DON'T YOU FORGET CLOTHES AND MILKSHAKES!

:bagel:

[thestalkmore]

I know that buying a laptop from a chain store is a bad idea. That said, my old, faithful, 6 year old laptop died completely last week and it has left me completely handicapped in class. I needed something cheap, something shitty, and most importantly just something, fast. I only use it to word process. Going back to Office Depot today with screenshots and am gettingz my reperationz!

[4riette]

If you get a refund and are still in the market for a cheap word processor give Asus' EEE PC a look. User friendly Linux based but can have XP installed on it. 2GB HD with soldered mem is $300, 4GB non-soldered is $350.. etc. etc., you can see all their offerings on their site at http://eeepc.asus.com/global/product.htm

The best part is that they're tiny, have good battery life and light :nikkei: Perfect for me on the go and at work

[Feielle]

Trust me, corporate has 0 loyalty to the employees, even the managers, and they will threaten people into giving you want you want so long as it is not ridiculous and you have not cursed at anyone. No matter what a manager says before you call corporate, they will usually be pissing their workshoes the moment that phone rings after you dial corporate from your cell.

Protip:
Before going the corporate path start asking the manager for their card. Almost all managers have cards and are required to give them to a customer. The moment you're asking about that, the manager will know the direction its about to head and likely cave to your full refund or w/e you want.

A-fucking-men. 5 years at BestBuy taught me this in spades, and the amazing thing is that all of this "I-couldn't-care-less-about-your-job" stuff travels downhill. Corporate won't hesitate to tell a manager to stuff it and offer a refund, and that manager won't hesitate to take out all his frustration on the putz who sold it to you in the first place. If you go his name, thats a big plus. Make sure he's standing there with you when you talk to the manager.

If you bought a service plan (which most people don't) remember to mention you'll be returning that too. Accessories are the bread and butter of big chain store profit, so make particular mention of returning anything extra you may have bought with it. That hurts their numbers - and their bonuses - big time.

[Charla]

I actually expected the "lol, you bought a PC from Office Depot?" post to show up faster than that.