Fortunately, I am the kind of person who almost never has to use customer service. Phone support essentially equates to delayed, inaccurate solutions. I have been giving advice to a friend about building a computer recently and, sadly, he requires Windows. I tried to find out which version of XP Pro would be best (32-bit or 64-bit), because I sure as hell wasn’t about to suggest that he waste his system resources on Vista. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that the x64 version will probably be good and Microsoft actually offers a trial version. Problem solved… almost.
I wanted my friend to be able to buy the OEM version of XP Pro, but you typically have to buy that with new hardware. If he ordered all the hardware, built the computer, tried XP x64 and decided which XP version to get, he would not need more hardware with his purchase of the OS. Since he would have already bought all the hardware for a new computer, it seemed logical that he would be able to buy the OEM version a couple months later without problem, but I decided I had better ask NewEgg‘s support, so I made the mistake of using their chat feature.
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Thank you for contacting Newegg. My name is Fanny. How may I assist you today?
Ian: Hi, I just had a (hopefully) quick/easy question. If I order the parts to build a new computer now, can I order the OEM version of Windows later on? I saw that Microsoft has a trial version for XP Pro x64 and wanted to make sure that it works with everything before ordering it
Fanny: Unfortunately we do not provide compatibility advice on any of the items we sell. Additionally, we do not offer product recommendations nor offer technical support. You might be interested in using our Advanced Search ( http://www2.newegg.com/Product/AdvancedSearch.asp ) engine to locate a more detailed item on our website.
Ian: I just need to know whether I would be able to purchase the OEM version of Windows rather than the Retail version at a later date.
Fanny: Please kindly note that every product we carry is listed on our website, pricing and availability posted in real time.
Fanny: Please check all prices and availability at www.newegg.com for our most up-to-date status.
I gave up early. It was obvious that my question could not be answered by a preprogrammed statement. I was rather disappointed, because Newegg has always been great for me in the past (even when I had to get an RMA for a disc drive), but it seems like this is the way companies are going now. Generic customer service (or outsourced customer service) will be good enough for most people and satisfying most people keeps companies in business. As an isolated incident, this won’t deter me from Newegg in the future, but this is more about customer service in general.
For instance, I had an issue with MySpace spam recently, so I sent them an email about it. Their solution? Ignore me. I never received any response at all.
Newegg does one thing, and does it well: sending you parts.
I remember I bought a pile of parts on Newegg, and didn’t want to pay the premium for FedEx shipping, so I used UPS.
What ended up happening was the case got shipped separately (understandable; it (boxed) was about the same size as the rest of the parts (combined in another box)). Somehow, it got routed to some address on the other side of town. When it hadn’t arrived, I asked Newegg, and the guy I talked to said that a thing needed to be filed with UPS. So I go to do that–uh-oh, can’t, something’s already been filed?–oh, it’s already been done by the guy I just talked to at Newegg! Awesome!
Between the two of them, they got it figured out, and I got my case.