Saturday, July 20, 2013

Buying a New Computer Shouldn't be That Hard...

Dear Newegg,

You lost a $2K+ sale today… Why? Because you need a smarter shopping cart/check out system.

My Toshiba Qosmio (which incidentally I purchased from you) is breathing its last breaths. So I figured I would purchase its replacement at Newegg.com which has been the source of 80% of my computer gear since 2006. But more importantly where I have a Preferred Account. (Stop me now if you can see where this is going.) However, once I had my chosen laptop in the cart (along with assorted software and service contract) and proceeded to checkout, I discovered a problem – I couldn't actually use my Preferred Account. Apparently it can't be used for digital downloads. But you see, I didn't actually have a download; I had a coupon that was bundled with the laptop.

Now at this point, everyone is probably thinking, "Then just delete the coupon!" I mean, that was what the support tech said during our chat:
"I will be more than happy to assist you. For your question, we advise you delete the NVIDIA Coupon from your shipping (sic) cart."
Oh, would that I could… You see, there is actually no option to delete this item. It has no "remove" link. You can't click it's checkbox (it doesn't have one) and "remove selected". It is permanently there.
This is of course where support takes a turn for the "All I have is this script":
"In this case, we advise you clear your computer's cookies, or complete your purchases within the last 5-6 hours.  Please clear the cookies of your browser and try again. If you happen to use a firewall, please temporarily disable it. If it does not work, please try another browser or attempt on another computer."



And that is when I ended our session. If clearing my cookies can create a checkbox on your site, then either you need to have a talk with your web development team or I am in the wrong business.

So if I have to use a regular credit card, there is no benefit to me buying from your site. I might as well drive the 15 minutes to Fry's and pick something up locally. Now, don't worry, I'll be back. I mean I obviously appreciate the benefits of the Preferred Account (as my current balance indicates). But this sale is as the say, gone with the wind…

Sincerely,
Owner of Abandoned Cart #456876147

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