The next chapter in the continuing saga of the computer adapter is that the cute young repair clerk called this afternoon to tell me the adapter was at the store. This, of course, is a day after the guarantee date.

But I didn't push on that. I did ask if there was any way they could send the thing to me, since it's really not convenient for me to go to the store this week. He said he didn't think so, but was sure the store would hold it for me for 120 days. I said that would be fine (well, pitching a fit at this point wouldn't help, and I wasn't that angry).

Yes, thanks, I know that particular marketing ploy: offer the customer a substitute if you don't have/can't do what they ask.

So an hour later I was minding my own business when the phone rang again. This time, it was a polling organization wanting to ask me questions about the "repair work" I had had had the store do. I said I had taken a part in to be replaced, not repaired. The questioner then asked if I had the replacement part. I said since they had only called an hour earlier, I did not. That ended the questioning; he thanked me and hung up.

But for some reason, getting that call really pissed me off. It pretty much proved to me that the departments in that organization do not communicate very well with each other, and are not mindful of wasting the time of customers. It's one thing if I choose to waste my own time; it's no one else's place to decide to waste it for me.

You will notice that I am not naming the store. I don't want to invite all of you to boycott the place. But I will say that I don't plan to buy anything else from them that comes with a store-honored warranty. Because they should have been able to get the part to me a lot faster than they did, and they should have made some arrangement to actually get it to me after I asked, even if they had needed to ask me to pay for it (I would have). Of course, at this point, I thnk they should come to my apartment and deliver the adapter on a sliver platter.