We’re thinking of expanding our software arsenal of late, so I went about trying to find how to make the purchase online. Simple task I thought, just click buy and be done.

Not exactly.

There was a promotion going on that meant significant savings, and we wanted to bank on it to make the purchase, hence, I went online to buy “A” company’s programme suite. Going to “A” company’s website, I found out that I had to change the location I’m in to Singapore from the default which is US. So, I made the change, but after making the change, the special promotion store page disappeared. Hence, I could not make the purchase. So I proceeded to find a number to call for assistance.

After listening to what must have been 85 choices, I was finally transferred to someone who could help. I’m not certain, but the person on the line was probably not in Singapore because every time I said something, I had to wait 5 secs before a reply came. I suspect the call was transferred overseas and there was a very significant lag time. Nonetheless, I went about explaining to the help desk my problem, so he tried to explain to me that I can just make my purchase online, thinking that I am a tech noob. So I patiently told him to walk me through the steps. He did it and to his surprise, he couldn’t find the special promotion store page for Singapore as well. So now in his mind, I’m not so much the ass he thought I was anymore. He tried a few other links and what not, all to his dismay. So he said he’ll get back to me and put me on hold. 5 minutes later, he told me that I had to find a local reseller and call them to make the purchase instead. So I asked him for their number and noted it down.

Local reseller number 1 was nice and courteous. She thought I was a tech noob too and asked me to do the exact same things online. I mentioned to her my issues and she tried it herself only to find out I was right. So she said she’ll try to find out what is wrong and get back to me.

Local reseller number 2 was not so nice and courteous, even though they were awarded the Gold reseller award. They asked me to make my purchase through their online portal, so I took down the portal address and went to search for it. Horror of horrors, they did not have the product that I told her about. So I swiftly made a return call to Local reseller number 2 and told them of the issue. In her exact words, “oh, then you can’t buy loh”. HANG UP. Nice, I thought. Excellent attitude to receive the Gold reseller award.

Unfazed, I made another last ditch attempt by using “A” company’s online 24/7 chat service. I was connected promptly and soon I was on my 4th attempt at explaining my situation. Of course, online help desk thinks I’m an idiot and says the same thing as the phone help desk. So I patiently asked her to show me exactly the steps to make the purchase. Of course, she encounters the same problem and seems shocked. So, she tries all sorts of ways to help me make my purchase. After 10 minutes of consulting with her superior and finding stuff out for me, she tells me that I need to call a reseller to make my purchase. So I told her I called all the resellers and they all told me to make my purchase online. So again she went to consult the wiser sages and came back to me with an even better solution. She told me that I cannot make the discounted purchase online, or at a reseller, however, I can buy the original priced item. Wait. Am I hearing things wrongly? So I repeated what she told me back to her just to confirm. Yups, I didn’t read wrongly and I even managed to get her to say in black and white that she cannot help me any further. Nice. Very helpful help desk. So, frustrated as I was, I decided, okay, forget it.

Then, reseller number 1 called me back with good news. She said, “okay I found out how you can make your purchase.” So she said that I can go to this website to make the purchase, and she read out Reseller number 2′s web portal. NICE. So, politely I told her that I’ve already called reseller number 2 and they do not have this product and that I have to make my purchase online.

So, 1 hour later, I was frustrated, pissed off and no closer to making the purchase. I, however knew for certain that “A” company has a very very flawed online, phone, and reseller system.

DT

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