Friday, March 21, 2008

The Things We Don't Think Of?

A friend posted an entry about her laptop going on the fritz. She was ok with it, because she was covered by a warranty. However, she was told that it would be up to 3 weeks before the work would be done.

That happens a lot. No matter what you want to get done these days, "3 weeks" seems to be a magic number. It takes approximately 12 hours to build a computer, start to finish. The whole thing. So what exactly goes on there that it takes them 3 weeks to replace 1 part?

Someone suggested, however, that the 3-week period is caused by the sheer volume of repairs. Yayyy, there's a great advertisement for your product, huh? "Our Stuff Breaks Down by the Thousands!"

I noticed something else that has me curious. I needed to buy something for my kid's science project, and the product (a very simple item) was tagged with "ships in 2 to 4 weeks".

So, when an order hits the warehouse, do they print it out and tie it to a snail? I mean, the dumbest guy I know could take an order off a printer and find the item in less than a week. I think about the actual dynamics, you know? What happens between today and 4 weeks from now, you know, like step-by-step?

And don't get me started on the whole "Same Day Service" thing...

7 comments:

  1. I think they spend 2 and a half weeks looking at it and thinking about it, and then they finally get to it.

    This year I ordered some small shelves for my classroom. They told me it would take 4-6 weeks for shipping; it took 8. The order was placed over the phone with a live individual. What they're doing for 7 and a half weeks is beyond me. Picking their noses?

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  2. I'm supposed to write a post for a club on things that puzzle me. You have inspired me on my visit. lol

    Hope you are well?

    Happy Easter Bud!

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  3. I've often wondered why things take so long. I'm still wondering!

    Once in a while I order something, and it arrives much earlier than the promised date. I love when that happens! :D

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  4. Anonymous11:12 AM

    maybe its the same snails working there as in the va hospitals pharmacy
    LOL
    im so impatient when it comes to waiting on these things
    ahhhh!
    lyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyylo

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  5. That kind of inefficiency makes me irritable. I also get way too worked up about poor customer service. The worst is when a customer service representative tells me, "I don't know" and then just sits there waiting for me to say something. They should NEVER do that. "I'll just find out for you." "Please hold while I put you through to someone who can answer that query." No problem. But "I don't know"? Do they seriously expect me to just shrug my shoulders and say, "Oh, well if you don't know, then I guess my problem will just go away then"? Grrrrr.

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  6. Anonymous12:21 AM

    We sent an Xbox 360 to Microsoft to be fixed. Was told it would take "3 weeks". Three months later we were given a brand new one because they "misplaced" ours.

    Tracie

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  7. MUST comment here lol

    We happen to have this anal whiny little boy about 47 yrs old that wanted to buy a fireplace. Call our distributor, yep they have it, we can install it "in a few days". Few days go by, "We'll be there about 10 to pick up the fireplace."

    "Oh we don't have that model in stock."

    Call around finally find someone with that model. They'll ship it Mon, it's not Fri. Customer is PISSED. (FYI this isn't his house, it's an apt he runs.)

    They shipped it Mon... to my uncle's store an hr drive north. Apparently they didn't read the memo that we weren't partners with him, and haven't been in two years.

    Huh.

    So one week, many many whiny phone calls, and $643,687.81 in gas later, my dad has picked up and installed the customers fireplace.

    In short. Business, especially the big ones, don't know jack about how long it'll take lol

    A more serious answer is that the only businesses that actually WAREHOUSE items anymore, are lumber companies. Seriously, research it, no one warehouses anymore. It's nuts. We're screwed if manufacturing has to shut down.

    ~Lily

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