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tl;dr: Drop $1200 on a TV, no one bats an eye. Order a dozen $90 TVs, everybody loses their minds.
So, I'm working on an art project that requires a bunch of cheap 32-inch TVs. I need them all identical, so they have the same bezel size and same color performance for their panels.
I should've ordered them back on Black Friday weekend, it might actually have worked out better.
I would've preferred a name brand, and yay, a certain retailer that both has physical stores (with "Walls") and a big online presence had one for sale. I start to order them online - and their website only lets me order three.
So I go visit their physical store to pick them up there. Hey, they actually had one in stock! But not the rest. And the price was close to double. And they couldn't match their own online price because the item model code was slightly different. And they couldn't order more either.
I went to customer service to ask for help. Well, they couldn't place the order manually for me, but they told me to just go ahead and do separate orders. Well, okay...
Off I go to the website. Order three. Order goes through as expected. Order three more. Order goes through; cool. Order three more, and three more; orders go through just fine.
Until a few minutes later, then I get emails saying two of the orders had been dropped, because I'd ordered too many. Whoo boy.
So I contact customer service. Tell them what I need them for, and that I'd have to cancel the other orders if they didn't go through. They were nice, and reset their system; told me to wait 45 minutes or so and order again.
So I order again, and they appear to go through... Then I get emails saying they've been bounced again. I call again. Get told they're sorry, wait another 45 minutes and try again.
Okay, try the order again... And this time my credit card bounced the orders, probably thinking they were duplicate orders. Call them, straighten it out. Order again. This time, they go through. Finally.
Until 24 hours later, when I get that same email, saying they've bounced.
*sigh* Okay, cancel orders. Except their website doesn't seem to let me cancel.
I call them on the phone directly. They apologize again, say wait 45 minutes and order. I sigh and mentally schedule to order a bit later. But minutes later, I find out the cancellations went through, and I'm not going to go through that all over again, so I just drop it.
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A couple of weeks later, the "Worst Sell" retailer, also big-box and online, now has one of their own brand TVs on sale for that same $90. I would've preferred a name brand, but if it'll go more smoothly... Their website also has limits on how many I can order, so I head to their store. TV looks good, so I go to the electronics desk to order.
Turns out there's limits on how many they can ring up, too, but no worries, they can ring it up multiple times.
So they do, in batches of 5, 5, and 2. The system didn't bounce them, so all's good. I set it up for in-store pickup, so I could get a look at the condition of the boxes before I accepted them.
Minor nitpick; for some reason the batch of 2 wound up shipped to me instead of shipped to store. The boxes were a bit beat up but the TVs survived, and I wasn't charged for shipping, so that's good.
Went to pick them up, and it seems like corporate tried to mess things up by canceling one of the TVs, but they happily replaced it with one in stock. Finally got them out the door, shoehorned into my SUV, and back home. Yay.
So, I'm working on an art project that requires a bunch of cheap 32-inch TVs. I need them all identical, so they have the same bezel size and same color performance for their panels.
I should've ordered them back on Black Friday weekend, it might actually have worked out better.
I would've preferred a name brand, and yay, a certain retailer that both has physical stores (with "Walls") and a big online presence had one for sale. I start to order them online - and their website only lets me order three.
So I go visit their physical store to pick them up there. Hey, they actually had one in stock! But not the rest. And the price was close to double. And they couldn't match their own online price because the item model code was slightly different. And they couldn't order more either.
I went to customer service to ask for help. Well, they couldn't place the order manually for me, but they told me to just go ahead and do separate orders. Well, okay...
Off I go to the website. Order three. Order goes through as expected. Order three more. Order goes through; cool. Order three more, and three more; orders go through just fine.
Until a few minutes later, then I get emails saying two of the orders had been dropped, because I'd ordered too many. Whoo boy.
So I contact customer service. Tell them what I need them for, and that I'd have to cancel the other orders if they didn't go through. They were nice, and reset their system; told me to wait 45 minutes or so and order again.
So I order again, and they appear to go through... Then I get emails saying they've been bounced again. I call again. Get told they're sorry, wait another 45 minutes and try again.
Okay, try the order again... And this time my credit card bounced the orders, probably thinking they were duplicate orders. Call them, straighten it out. Order again. This time, they go through. Finally.
Until 24 hours later, when I get that same email, saying they've bounced.
*sigh* Okay, cancel orders. Except their website doesn't seem to let me cancel.
I call them on the phone directly. They apologize again, say wait 45 minutes and order. I sigh and mentally schedule to order a bit later. But minutes later, I find out the cancellations went through, and I'm not going to go through that all over again, so I just drop it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A couple of weeks later, the "Worst Sell" retailer, also big-box and online, now has one of their own brand TVs on sale for that same $90. I would've preferred a name brand, but if it'll go more smoothly... Their website also has limits on how many I can order, so I head to their store. TV looks good, so I go to the electronics desk to order.
Turns out there's limits on how many they can ring up, too, but no worries, they can ring it up multiple times.
So they do, in batches of 5, 5, and 2. The system didn't bounce them, so all's good. I set it up for in-store pickup, so I could get a look at the condition of the boxes before I accepted them.
Minor nitpick; for some reason the batch of 2 wound up shipped to me instead of shipped to store. The boxes were a bit beat up but the TVs survived, and I wasn't charged for shipping, so that's good.
Went to pick them up, and it seems like corporate tried to mess things up by canceling one of the TVs, but they happily replaced it with one in stock. Finally got them out the door, shoehorned into my SUV, and back home. Yay.