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This happened at a local computer shop. It's not one of the big chains, but there are two locations in the area. If you need something right away, there's a good chance they'll have it. They're a little bit more expensive than some of the online companies I order from such as Newegg, but if I need something in a hurry (like when my motherboard blew out and I couldn't just order one and wait 3 days or so), it's definitely nice to have them around.
My son needed some parts, so we drove over there (with him driving -- trying to get in as much practice as we can.) He picked out what he needed, and went up front, where there was one customer being helped and another that was waiting.
One drawback about this particular store is that there's usually only one person working, at least in the evening. It's not so bad if people know what they want, don't ask any questions, and just buy it and leave. But if someone has a bunch of questions or is being difficult, it can hold things up. Somehow I sensed that the customer who was waiting was going to be one of the difficult ones, and sometimes I hate being right.
He started asking the salesman all sorts of questions, and once I realized it might take awhile, I started looking around while my son waited in line. He had his own money, so there was no need for me to wait there anyway. I wasn't really paying close attention, but I heard things like "We couldn't find any water damage", "We put some memory in", and "someone had removed the hard drive."
I could sense the customer was getting annoyed, but he didn't make a scene like I thought he was going to. Eventually he left, after my son and I had waited a good 10 or 15 minutes and now it was getting to be closing time. This particular salesman is a cool guy, and my son and I have come to be on a first-name basis with him. As soon as the customer was out the door, out of the parking lot, and safely out of eyesight and earshot, the salesman kind of chuckled and shook his head.
He told us the guy had been in there several times, wanting him to write up something he could submit to his insurance company for some business computers that supposedly had been water-damaged. He said there were four of them, and they worked just fine. Apparently he just wanted his insurance company to buy him some newer, better computers. I guess he wasn't expecting anyone to actually test them rather than blindly signing some statement, and he asked him, "Couldn't you just write something for the insurance company that says they're not worth fixing?" He told him politely but firmly that "that would be insurance fraud, and we'd both get in trouble for it."
This time, he had brought the four "damaged" computers in to be evaluated again. The salesman told us the one wouldn't boot up because the customer oh-so-cleverly pulled out the memory and the hard drive. The salesman didn't make any accusations, but told him, "Someone had pulled the memory out, and once we put in new memory, it worked just fine. We can sell you some for $xx. Also, someone took out the hard drive..." At this point the customer interrupted with some story about how they took the drive out for backup purposes or something like that, but "didn't know how the memory got taken out." So he went on and on, basically letting the customer know that he knew what he was up to, but sounded like he was trying to be helpful, until the customer gave up and left.
I asked him what was wrong with the other three computers, and he said, "Nothing, they booted up just fine!" I guess he expected him to only check the one and not the other three. He told me there was no way water got in the computers, because there was dust inside, just like any other computer, and if water had truly gotten inside, you would have been able to see where it had been. I just had to chuckle about the memory and hard drive being removed, and commented about how "He must think you're pretty stupid." The salesman told me that sadly, at some of the other places with less knowledgeable employees and/or spineless managers, he probably would have gotten away with it.
Some people...
My son needed some parts, so we drove over there (with him driving -- trying to get in as much practice as we can.) He picked out what he needed, and went up front, where there was one customer being helped and another that was waiting.
One drawback about this particular store is that there's usually only one person working, at least in the evening. It's not so bad if people know what they want, don't ask any questions, and just buy it and leave. But if someone has a bunch of questions or is being difficult, it can hold things up. Somehow I sensed that the customer who was waiting was going to be one of the difficult ones, and sometimes I hate being right.
He started asking the salesman all sorts of questions, and once I realized it might take awhile, I started looking around while my son waited in line. He had his own money, so there was no need for me to wait there anyway. I wasn't really paying close attention, but I heard things like "We couldn't find any water damage", "We put some memory in", and "someone had removed the hard drive."
I could sense the customer was getting annoyed, but he didn't make a scene like I thought he was going to. Eventually he left, after my son and I had waited a good 10 or 15 minutes and now it was getting to be closing time. This particular salesman is a cool guy, and my son and I have come to be on a first-name basis with him. As soon as the customer was out the door, out of the parking lot, and safely out of eyesight and earshot, the salesman kind of chuckled and shook his head.
He told us the guy had been in there several times, wanting him to write up something he could submit to his insurance company for some business computers that supposedly had been water-damaged. He said there were four of them, and they worked just fine. Apparently he just wanted his insurance company to buy him some newer, better computers. I guess he wasn't expecting anyone to actually test them rather than blindly signing some statement, and he asked him, "Couldn't you just write something for the insurance company that says they're not worth fixing?" He told him politely but firmly that "that would be insurance fraud, and we'd both get in trouble for it."
This time, he had brought the four "damaged" computers in to be evaluated again. The salesman told us the one wouldn't boot up because the customer oh-so-cleverly pulled out the memory and the hard drive. The salesman didn't make any accusations, but told him, "Someone had pulled the memory out, and once we put in new memory, it worked just fine. We can sell you some for $xx. Also, someone took out the hard drive..." At this point the customer interrupted with some story about how they took the drive out for backup purposes or something like that, but "didn't know how the memory got taken out." So he went on and on, basically letting the customer know that he knew what he was up to, but sounded like he was trying to be helpful, until the customer gave up and left.
I asked him what was wrong with the other three computers, and he said, "Nothing, they booted up just fine!" I guess he expected him to only check the one and not the other three. He told me there was no way water got in the computers, because there was dust inside, just like any other computer, and if water had truly gotten inside, you would have been able to see where it had been. I just had to chuckle about the memory and hard drive being removed, and commented about how "He must think you're pretty stupid." The salesman told me that sadly, at some of the other places with less knowledgeable employees and/or spineless managers, he probably would have gotten away with it.
Some people...
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