Some of you may have seen my tweets yesterday about my broken iGo power supply. In which case you will know that the power trip to which I refer has little to do with my ego and everything to do with my journey to find something, anything that would power my laptop and my Blackberry.
Here is the woeful tale. On the train to NYC on Wednesday, my iGo power adapter cord broke. It being the ONLY power supply I have with me for my laptop and my Blackberry and my iPod, I was pretty well screwed. I called my husband from the train and asked him to call iGo customer support to find out where in NY, preferably near the hotel, I could get a replacement part. Luckily, I only bought it in late January and still had the box with the model number in my office.
God bless my husband and high marks for effort to the iGo support techs. They had to do multiple calls because they had to check with me twice with questions about the broken bits. The recommended solution was for me to pick up a replacement part here in NYC. The iGo support tech told David that Radio Shack and Best Buy stocked the part, so off I went to the Radio Shack in the Manhattan Mall right next to the hotel. Unfortunately, Radio Shack did not have the part, so the Radio Shack sales rep recommended a basic wall adapter. Ka-ching $40.00 Back to the hotel I go to charge my phone and get some work done.
Then we have the OOPS. The wall adapter does NOT work with the laptop tip, only the small device tips. Back I go to Radio Shack. Where I learn that you have to buy a full converter package to charge a laptop. Wondering why the Radio Shack sales rep earlier in the day didn’t know that, off I go to Best Buy (12 blocks away) to see if they have the replacement part.
Best Buy on 44th & 5th doesn’t stock ANY iGo accessories of ANY kind. And I’m getting desperate. So I buy a regular power supply. Ka-ching $90.00
If you are keeping track, I’ve now spent $130.00, and about 3 hours on my "power trip." On top of the time that David spent on the phone with the iGo support techs while I was on the train. Because a $130.00 product that I’ve had for about 2 months broke. If you are still keeping track, that’s $260.00 all in.
Now, iGo is sending the replacement part to the house, but really what the company should have done is fed-exed the replacement part to me here at the hotel. At their cost, not mine. From some of my husband’s comments, it sounds like he did discuss this possibility with the iGo tech, but the overnight shipping would have been at my cost, not iGo’s. Since all I needed to do was buy a replacement part, why spend the money…
Well, it didn’t work out that way. I think the iGo techs meant well, but the information was bad. And I wasted time and money.
Tuesday I wrote, once again, that companies don’t seem to be replying to bloggers’ unsolicited comments, and it doesn’t seem to matter whether the posts are negative or positive. The silence is generally deafening unless it is a very high profile blogger. I have no illusions about my profile so it doesn’t surprise me that I’ve never heard from AAA, who I blasted in December, and Verizon Wireless, whose customer service I have complimented on more than one occasion both here and on Twitter.
Let’s see if iGo is paying attention to the the blogosphere beyond the A-list…
The really top marks for this whole mess go to my husband for trying to sort this out for me while I was on the train. If you see him, tell him I said so.
He doesn’t read my blog either.
Tags: iGo, customer service
Susan, not to put salt on a wound but the Affinia Hotel has a Travelsmart program where they would have given you iGo chargers and adapters to use during your stay.
It’s the first hotel chain that I am aware of that offers this service — I think its great so a big shout out to Affinia Manhattan for making travel a lot less stressful.
I noticed the program when I checked in and almost called to use it because I thought I had once again forgotten my cell phone charger–fortunately I had not.
Elana
Interesting. And a little discouraging, as I told *both* the desk clerk and the concierge at the hotel about my problem when I asked where the nearest Radio Shack and Best Buy were. NEITHER of them told me about this program.
A great amenity is no good if the staff doesn’t know to tell people about it.
Affinia Manhattan Gets It Right: Customer Service is Superior
If you are looking for a deluxe hotel, you will be disappointed. It’s not luxurious. It does not offer a comfy bathrobe. The bathroom is so small that you bump into yourself when you are trying to navigate where to
Oh, Susan, I had this with my iGo power supply when it first came out a while back. Cost me tons to replace, just because of that tip problem. Ugh. Total. waste. of. time.
I feel your pain!