[Discuss] Linux on laptops

[mbr at arlsoft.com (MBR)]

I learned about Costco's return policy about 10 years ago from a manager 
at Costco.  I found it unbelievable, but she was true to her word.

I bought a combination VCR/DVD player at Costco and the video quality 
was quite poor from the start.  But I just never got around to taking it 
back.  I was in Costco one day a few years after I bought it, and I 
decided to talk to a manager there.  I said I fully understood that my 
not having returned the item in a reasonable length of time was entirely 
my fault.  I explained that I wasn't looking for a refund from Costco, 
but I was hoping that Costco might have sufficient clout with the 
manufacturer to get the manufacturer to fix it so the video quality 
didn't suck.  The Costco manager's response was to ask if I still had 
the receipt.  When I said I did, she told me to bring it back and they'd 
refund the purchase price.  My jaw dropped! This was two to three years 
after I bought the thing!

I asked what their return policy was, and she said they didn't have a 
time limit on anything except computers.  And their then-new one-year 
limit on returning computers was only because too many people had been 
returning computers they'd purchased several years before for a full 
refund, and then turning around and using that refund to buy the newest 
model for the same money! This ploy was turning their generous refund 
policy into a policy of free computer upgrades in perpetuity, which was 
something Costco couldn't afford.

In the years since then, Costco has reduced the return time to 90 days 
and applied it to a few other electronics items besides computers: TVs, 
cellphones, tablets, cameras, and camcorders.  I presume that's because 
they encountered people using the return policy to get free upgrades of 
those items.  But for all other merchandise, Costco's return policy 
still doesn't specify any time limit.  I make a point of not abusing 
their return policy, but I have taken advantage of it once or twice 
since then. So I feel secure that, if some product turns out to be a 
real dog, I won't be stuck with it.

    Mark Rosenthal


On 11/13/15 11:25 AM, Steve Litt wrote:
> On Fri, 13 Nov 2015 15:57:05 +0000
> Mike Small <smallm at SDF.ORG> wrote:
>
>
>> And Costco? You don't vomit in your mouth a little bit walking into
>> a place like that? Is that what you want your city to have in it?
> Yes, I want my city to have a Costco, and if it's in the closest
> commercial property to me, so much the better. Costco pays and treats
> their employees very well, they sell good stuff for good prices, their
> return policy is basically "no questions asked" and they really mean
> it. And they sell good laptops for reasonable prices, with a 90 day no
> questions asked return policy.
>
> Don't confuse Costco with Sams Club (by Walmart). They're two very
> different things. I'd be proud to have a Costco in the commercial
> property closest to my house.
>
> SteveT
>
> Steve Litt
> November 2015 featured book: Troubleshooting Techniques
>       of the Successful Technologist
> http://www.troubleshooters.com/techniques
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