Re: my thinkpad beefs

["John H. Kim" <jokim@mit.edu>]

On Fri, 19 Jul 1996, Robert Dewar wrote:

> Eric said
> 
> "It's not so much the price itself (since I was already paying well over
> 15000$ for the whole unit) but I wish the rep would have told me so before.
>  So I ordered the thing and it took me only 2 months to receive it
> (back-order...)."
> 
> Did you tell him you wanted to pu the monitor on top of the unit? If not
> how is he supposd to mind read.

Well, considering most pictures of docking stations show the monitor
on top, we could turn this statement on its head:

Did the salesman tell you another part was required to place a monitor
on top of the dock?  If not, how were you supposed to read his mind?
I mean, putting the monitor on top has to be a pretty standard
configuration.  Why else would IBM make a part for it?

The salesman has (presumably) seen the product.  You have not.  I
think the job of the salesman should be to help you make an informed
decision about what you're buying, not to push products out the door.
Those who say "Tough, that's just the way it is, you should have
researched the product before buying it," just don't get it.  It's
impossible to know that you know everything about a product before you
buy it.  You can research it until it's obsolete and you're still not
gonna know if you missed a little detail like Eric did.  You are
probably going to buy this stuff just once.  The salesman sells this
stuff 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year.  He should take
the time to learn what he is selling.  It's up to us, the customers,
to demand a higher standard from salesmen.  If we don't complain, it's
not gonna change.
--
John H. Kim       "I stop for red traffic lights" -- bumper sticker 
jokim@mit.edu     commissioned by the City of Boston as part of a
MIT Sea Grant     campaign to shed its reputation for bad drivers.