Here’s why I love big companies…. Recently I bought a Toshiba laptop. This is the 5th one I have purchased. It’s called brand loyalty. It used to mean something. So anyway, the computer came with Windows Vista, but if you register the product on-line, I get a free upgrade to Windows 7. So I followed the instructions and received an email stating I was on the list and gave me a confirmation code. Fine. Then I got an email a few weeks later saying registering the product on-line was no longer good enough. Now I had to have the original box, copy the area showing the Part & Serial Number, scan it in and send it to them. Since I still had the original box I did so and now was back on track. Then I got an email a few weeks later saying registering the product on-line and sending in the Part & Serial Numbers were no longer good enough and I had to confirm my mailing address and how to do so. So I did and was back on track. Then I got an email stating that registering the product on-line, sending the part 7 Serial Number and confirming my home address were no longer good enough and now they needed a copy of the original sales receipt from the store. So I did and was back on track. So today I got another email from Toshiba and they state that registering the product on-line, sending in a copy of the original box showing the Part & Serial Number, confirming my home address and sending in a copy of the original sales receipt is no longer good enough to demonstrate ownership and I don’t get the free upgrade after all. How I love big companies.
Wow. Did they give you a new task you needed to do, or is it just you don't get the upgrade? What bullshit
maybe you can sue them for false advertising and make a fortune. Then you will love big companies again.
Nope. I'm now dead in the water since I can't prove I own the computer (with the original sales receipt and original box).
Post the emails here. Redact it. I would send it in to a few tech-show hosts like Leo Laporte, etc. Get that shit viral.
Send an email to consumerist.com telling them your story. I've seen people get resolutions from big companies simply by emailing them their story. Can't hurt, right?
You can solve this just for yourself, or for you and the many others who didn't save as much stuff as you fortunately did. To do the former, complain to TV shows and magazine columns that specialize in getting consumer redress. To do the latter, complain to the state attorney general's consumer office.
HAHAHAHAHA!! Since each email from Toshiba has a different Customer Service Rep, I'm thinking there's a screw up there somewhere and have sent a polite email to them asking for a closer looksie of the situation. I'm hopeful this will work out. Also, I have taken other steps that I hope will be effective.
I ran into the same thing BLAZER PROPHET. Bought a computer online from HP that was supposed to have free upgrade to Windows 7. Since I bought it online I don't have a sales receipt... but I copied my order from online and sent it to them and they said that wasn't good enough. Note though that HP contracts out the upgrades to some other company I believe... and I bet it is the same one you are trying to get your upgrade from. I bet they get paid whether or not they every provide you anything... so there is financial benefit to them to drag their feet. I don't really care about the upgrade really... but the scam does bother me.
The key with any customer service issue is to find the person that has the power to help you. Whenever I arrive at an impass, I ask to speak with the person's boss. When the person says, "There is no one else above me" (which often is said, I make them prove they're CEO, President or Chairman. Of course, if you're abrasive enough, they finally will kick you upstairs. The VP of customer service doesn't want to be hassled, so they'll give you whatever you want.
Send an email here w/ what you just posted here - http://consumerist.com/ It is a great site owned and run by Consumer Report magazine. For everyone else this is a bookmark worthy site, worth visiting every couple of days.
