Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Good Guys, Good News
Maybe you have a favorite home electronics store. Maybe you don't. It doesn't matter much, either way, since this isn't about you in the first place.
My favorite home electronics store is The Good Guys. When I was a teenager I bought a turntable from them. It was red. I liked it. I think I probably bought my first VCR from them, too, but I'm not certain about that.
After I got married, The Good Guys sold us a Denon stereo receiver. We still have it. Still works great. We also got a car radio from them - installed - when we were still in California, too.
A while back I bought a DVD player from them. It was nice, although it had occasional problems with VeggieTales DVDs. Recently it died, but I had bought the extended warrantee with 3-year replacement. We were a year and a half into the warrantee, so we're set, right? I found the original box with original packing materials and wrapped it up nice and neat, ready to go.
Of course, I couldn't find the receipt showing I had actually purchased the replacement warrantee, which is pretty much the way things go around here. I called the customer service 800-number on the off chance that I wouldn't be hosed, and it turns out that the store should have that information in its computer.
Well, I should have filed the receipt better, so I didn't have great hope when I took the dead unit into the store this morning. Turns out I was in their database (I didn't tell them I'd lost the paperwork before they looked me up; sign me up for Celebrity Poker), and the exchange went smoothly. The guy said it would've gone faster if I'd had the paperwork, but I don't think it went all that slowly.
I walked out with one of these. I think I paid a bit more two years ago, but the new unit has new features like an SD card reader so I can see "big screen" pix of Phil.
Before I left the store, the salesguy suggested I tape the receipt to the bottom of the unit so I won't lose the receipt again (I forked over $36 for the 3-year replacement deal). Guess where I never checked for the original receipt? I have no idea if I had taped the receipt there or not, but I can pretend I did and that I'm not a complete filing retard (people who actually have partial or complete filing retardation should not take that as a pejorative comment; the filing challenged can, with encouragement and minor electroshock therapy, lead otherwise perfectly satisfactory lives. I salute the filing-impaired whereever they may be, in city and county clerks' offices nationwide (and in Canada), in DMV bureaus, in physician and dentist practices, at schools, and in church offices - well, not my church office; Shannon is very organized. Huzzah!).
Re: the pix of Phil I mentioned earlier (and how I had so much time to dilly-dally in the store ... and a haircut ... and an oil change), there should be some pictures of this morning's "play date" online tomorrow. Stay tuned.
My favorite home electronics store is The Good Guys. When I was a teenager I bought a turntable from them. It was red. I liked it. I think I probably bought my first VCR from them, too, but I'm not certain about that.
After I got married, The Good Guys sold us a Denon stereo receiver. We still have it. Still works great. We also got a car radio from them - installed - when we were still in California, too.
A while back I bought a DVD player from them. It was nice, although it had occasional problems with VeggieTales DVDs. Recently it died, but I had bought the extended warrantee with 3-year replacement. We were a year and a half into the warrantee, so we're set, right? I found the original box with original packing materials and wrapped it up nice and neat, ready to go.
Of course, I couldn't find the receipt showing I had actually purchased the replacement warrantee, which is pretty much the way things go around here. I called the customer service 800-number on the off chance that I wouldn't be hosed, and it turns out that the store should have that information in its computer.
Well, I should have filed the receipt better, so I didn't have great hope when I took the dead unit into the store this morning. Turns out I was in their database (I didn't tell them I'd lost the paperwork before they looked me up; sign me up for Celebrity Poker), and the exchange went smoothly. The guy said it would've gone faster if I'd had the paperwork, but I don't think it went all that slowly.
I walked out with one of these. I think I paid a bit more two years ago, but the new unit has new features like an SD card reader so I can see "big screen" pix of Phil.
Before I left the store, the salesguy suggested I tape the receipt to the bottom of the unit so I won't lose the receipt again (I forked over $36 for the 3-year replacement deal). Guess where I never checked for the original receipt? I have no idea if I had taped the receipt there or not, but I can pretend I did and that I'm not a complete filing retard (people who actually have partial or complete filing retardation should not take that as a pejorative comment; the filing challenged can, with encouragement and minor electroshock therapy, lead otherwise perfectly satisfactory lives. I salute the filing-impaired whereever they may be, in city and county clerks' offices nationwide (and in Canada), in DMV bureaus, in physician and dentist practices, at schools, and in church offices - well, not my church office; Shannon is very organized. Huzzah!).
Re: the pix of Phil I mentioned earlier (and how I had so much time to dilly-dally in the store ... and a haircut ... and an oil change), there should be some pictures of this morning's "play date" online tomorrow. Stay tuned.
Mikesell
