🚀 go-pugleaf

On 02/01/10 22:36, Peter D. wrote:
> Hi,
>
> A few years ago there was a fuss about getting a refund for an
> an unwanted operating system that was bundles with a PC.
>
> What was the outcome of that?  What is the correct procedure
> if you live in Australia?  How much can you get back, from
> whom?

Step 1) Don't buy premade systems from the factory 
(acer/gateway/dell/hp/nec/etc) if you can avoid it. Computer retailers 
and repair premises will almost always produce better-quality machines 
from the parts they put together, plus it's nice to be able to have your 
own preferences assembled. One of those things is the choice of getting 
Windows or not. Just be careful to screen your retailers for idiots and 
ripoff merchants - though it's easier to do than for corporate 
manufacturers.

Step 2) If you must purchase a premade factory system, talk to the 
retailer selling them, and see if you can have windows removed from the 
bundle. If not, shop around.

Step 3) If no-one within reasonable range is available to do it, or if 
you have already purchased the system then call the manufacturer to ask 
for their appropriate sales department. As advised elsewhere, be 
prepared to be put on hold plenty, and to get plenty of people who don't 
know where to send you. Keep in mind "then who should I speak to" is the 
mainstay of phone-sales-rep-hell-survival.

Step 4) If you're lucky, you've been put through to a supervisor or 
manager who can offer you a refund. If you're unlucky, the supervisor or 
manager will try to tell you that you cannot return a product to them 
(illegal in Australia under retail laws; NGID here, use austlii if you 
need to research this). If you're real unlucky, you'll get one of their 
legal team who will then proceed to try to convince you that the EULA is 
watertight, that they do not need to reimburse you your purchase price 
because they have done nothing wrong and have not supplied you with a 
faulty product, and that they do not need to reimburse you for varying 
other different reasons.

^ I got them first go >_< Spent the next four hours in a debate with 
them, while rapidly browsing through austlii to figure out wtf he was 
saying. In the end, he was beaten into a reluctant agreement with me, 
and then I was passed to a supervisor for refund.

Step 5) Hope that they send you the damn refund as opposed to trying to 
be idiots.

===

NB: This is my own experience, from seeking a refund for a redundant 
copy of Windows that came with an Acer I had the misfortune to get hold 
of. Ironically it went very similar when seeking a replacement CD-Key 
for my old Windows 98 that got waterdamaged. Apparently I was trying to 
get a CD-Key for a pirated '98 - despite having proof of purchase, and 
despite that it was in 2007 that I wanted to get the CD-Key replaced. If 
I was going to try to be a smartassed pirate, wouldn't I want to call in 
about a more up-to-date OS?

Anyway, this just out there to show that there's more than what is on 
the tuxmobil.org site for refunds out there.