Dick Smith Electronics
have developed a
deadly piece of retail weaponry; sentient cash registers. Or at least
that's the conclusion I'm forced to draw after an unsatisfactory
weekend experience.
It started with an impulse
buy on
Friday. Due to some machine movements around the house I now have an
occasionally-used PC that's networkless. Rather than hassle with
running more cable I resolved to add it to the wireless portion of my
home network and bought a DSE
802.11g card for that purpose.
It didn't work so the card
went back
on Saturday. There's a digital clock on the wall behind the service
desk in their Vivian Street store so you can watch you life tick away while
you're waiting. After a couple of minutes I was served and given a
replacement
Number two didn't work
either so it it
went back on Sunday. This time I had a seven minute wait while a
couple of staff engaged in phone banter and another two struggled
with the growing crowd.
I opted for a refund and
there was no
quibble about that – at least until the sentient cash
register
kicked in.
Friday's purchase was by
credit card.
Saturday's replacement involved returning the old receipt and being
issued a new one. Sunday's refund hinged on a single question: "How
did you originally pay for that? Cash, EFT-POS or credit card?"
If you're ever asked this
question in
a Dick Smith store you may want to phone a friend or ask the audience
for help because – be warned – the cash register is
listening.
When I naively told the
truth, I was
asked for the credit card I'd used, but I didn't have it on me.
"Sorry, no credit card, no
refund," I was told.
Pardon?
"The till won't let us."
Eh?
"There's absolutely no way
the
cash register's programme will allow us to do a refund without the
original credit card."
I should stress that at
this point
there'd been no physical interaction with said register. There was
nothing on the receipt to indicate my method of payment and if I'd
said "Cash" I'd have left with some. Instead, I was
dismissed with the faulty goods and instructions to return with the
proper credit card at my own inconvenience. Conclusion: DSE are using
sentient cash registers.
Footnote
#1:
After the long wait, the
hot day and
surly arrogance of the senior staff I decided not to return to Dick
Smith Electronics. Having been refused a refund I shall, instead,
contest the charge against my credit card when the next bill comes
in. This will have two consequences; DSE will have to arrange
collection of their faulty goods at my convenience and, more
importantly, they'll be hit with what the credit card companies call
a chargeback
fee for the reversal. Some chargeback fees run as high
as $35. On a $54 network card.
Footnote
#2:
Even if the card had worked
perfectly
it would have been returned. The external packaging indicates it's
suitable for Windows Me, 2000, 98 SE and XP and twice mentions it
supports 64/128 bit WEP and WPA Encryption. Not true; it doesn't.
Puzzled by only being given the vastly inferior WEP encryption
option, I examined the Installation and User Guide
packed away
inside the box and discovered that it really only supports WPA when
using Windows XP. If you bought one of these cards expecting WPA
encryption on a non-XP machine you've been misled and are covered by
the Consumer
Guarantees Act. I suggest you ask for a refund.
All it
takes is a handful of live Linux CDs and a little nerve. It's called PC
Jacking and was started in Paris by a chap named Manu Coronet
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