I don't WANT to suck, but ... (longish)

[manybellsdown]

I am not actually sure where this could go but I guess maybe I need technical help in how not to suck.

So a month ago, we ordered a new desktop computer off a (usually very good) electronics retailer website. Let's call them ... OldChicken. Mr. Bells has a new job, and can do some work from home, so we wanted a mid-range gaming tower. We dropped about $1k on the features we wanted.

Well the computer arrives promptly and we're surprised at how small it is. And ... I don't remember it only having HDMI output? And we don't own an HDMI capable monitor so off to the nearest YellowTag. Finally get it set up and ... huh ... these graphics kind of suck? Why do I have to turn GW2 all the way down?

Now we've just moved and there's boxes everywhere, so with one thing and another it was two weeks before we could really sit down and optimize the computer. Probably bad drivers on the card, we'll just update. Only then do we realize the graphics card we ordered isn't even in the computer. Intel onboard.

Well, crap, they didn't install the card? Haha. No. That was not the problem.

OldChicken sent us a totally different computer. A $400 budget-model Acer. And we didn't notice.

On the outside of the box are two shipping labels with our name on them, and one shipping label for a different guy in a different state. Someone in the shipping department derped and switched orders and now someone has a much nicer computer than the one they ordered.

So we've shipped the wrong computer back (it took them a week and 3 phone calls, and 12 photographs of the box to authorize the return), and now the computer we were SUPPOSED to get is showing up as out of stock.

I don't want to suck. But I'm really annoyed and I think they owe us a little better than a "huh, that's weird ..." Which was pretty much their response. What do you guys think? Am I entitled to some other compensation, especially if they can't even ship us what we ordered after all that? I mean, Mr. Bells is kind of picky about his computer components, so we're going to have to start from scratch if we need to pick out something different. And how should I ask for it without being a jerk?

[emax4]

It's good that you're asking. Whatever you do, don't threaten anything though, don't burn your bridges.

Have you had good service from them before? It helps to point out how happy you've been in the past, but let them know this mixup has been causing a lot of confusion and issues. See if you can find a compatible model, even with a different brand but with the features you want, and see if you can get it for the same price. Keep in mind that if there's one component such as thevideo card that does not come with the system, you could always purchase a separate, gaming video card and install it yourself. This way you'd have a spare card, or if your motherboard in the computer has an extra PCI-express slot for an additional video card, you can use both of them. FYI, most video cards have two ports; VGA, DVI, HDMI, or a combination of them, and most of the time you can run two monitors off of one card (mirroring or extended desktop).