Earlier today I called HP to tell them what I wanted in a new PC. Â The first sales representative I spoke to was a man who tried to talk to me very fast into buying a particular PC. Â I told him I wanted a customized system and that it was very important that I have a drive that can play and burn Blu Ray disks. He assured me that I would have that. Â Less than five minutes later he asked me "How important is it for you to have a Blu Ray drive?" I, again, told him it was very important. Â He asked "If you have data on Blu Ray discs can you transfer them to something else?" Â I, becoming exasperated, told him I want to be able to watch and record Blu Ray discs on my PC. Â I use it as my entertainment system. This IS a deal breaker for me. Â He reassured me that it would have a Blu ray drive.
After I finish making the VERY EXPENSIVE order I check the E-mail invoice and it's for a DVD Drive. Â I call them back (and was left on hold for over two and a half hours). Â This time I get a woman who says "Oh, DVD players can play all discs, including CD." Â Me: "I am not talking about CD. Â I am talking about Blu Ray. Â Blue Ray uses a different type of laser." Â She tried to assure me that DVD players can play both. Â And then said we could read over its capabilities together, she would get me the page for the drive. Â A few seconds later she says "Oh, hold on. Â I need to talk to my supervisor." She puts me on hold and comes back several minutes later. "You were right, they are read by different lasers." Â No kidding! Â She then offers me an external blu ray drive for two hundred more dollars.
At this point I wanted to hurry off the phone because there were things going on around me I had to take care of. Â So I accepted this. Â Once things calmed down I called them again to make sure this was the only option. Â This time I got a man, he sounded Southern. Â When I told him the situation he asked "Do they even sell Blu Ray discs anymore?" Â Then he told me "When I was last in the Business department we still had PCs that could burn and play Blu Ray discs. Â You can try our business department on Monday. Â They're closed on the weekend." Â So I'm stuck with an order I might have to cancel until Monday.
What angers me is I think that first sales rep knew perfectly well that he was selling me something that wasn't able to play Blu Ray. Â He was treating me like an idiot the whole time I was making the order, I had a serious sexism vibe, like if I was a man he would not have treated me that way.
I have bought from HP for years and NEVER had this much trouble buying a PC before. They usually understood and respected my specific customization requests. And now I have sales representatives who don’t understand there’s a difference between DVD and Blu Ray or don’t even think Blu Rays are manufactured anymore?!???Â
I used to have such good experiences buying from HP because they USED to respect my customization requests.
