Who really controls our lives....

What a weekend this was. I did not do the big project I wanted to it really was too hot to spend a lot of time in the yard digging, building a wall and redoing the landscape. I did manage to get some things done that needed to be done.

It started on Friday, I went to Home Depot to pick up my trimmer that was supposed to have been repaired under warranty. To quickly bring you up to speed, they tried to tell me i would have to pay to have it fixed when it was still in warranty and I bought their extended warranty. If it was determined that it was not a manufacturer's defect I would have to pay. If I did not want it fixed I had to pay for that too. So....I go and pick it up and the first thing they say is it was not a manufacturer's defect and I had to pay $37.90. I explained to them quickly that my agreement when I brought it in there was that I would not have to pay anything. They quickly found the notes and agreed. My question at that point was who decides if it is a product defect or my misuse of the equipment. Afterall, the gas hose broke off inside the gas tank on mine. Is it really possible that I could have had something to do with that. Nonetheless after arguing when I dropped this off Home Depot covered the cost.

Saturday I was having some computer problems. Was not anyone to blame but myself. I get impatient sometimes when things seem to not be working and I cancelled an upgrade before it was done. Then I could not remove or correct the issue. I kept getting an annoying popup message about every 3 minutes and I had just about had it. So I decide I am going to reload my entire computer. Normally this is not so difficult except I cannot locate my Microsoft Office CD. However, Dell makes it easy now as they hide a copy of your system on your own hard drive and you can use it to correct any problem. The only drawback is you lose anything you have added and any files you might have on there. No problem, I backed that all up. Was not really a big deal. I go to confirm I have all my disks and I am unable to locate my Microsoft Office CD. Now it is not totally necessary since according to Dell my system will be EXACTLY as it was when I unboxed it. I even chatted with their online support and they confirmed this.

I decide to move forward and venture into this project. I am confident based on what they told me that it was true. Heck I even have it in writing and I saved it. The reload goes very easy. Completed in about 5 minutes. I proceed to set everything up again and I am unable to set up Microsoft Office. You see, you have to have the CD's, or I guess I should say the product code off the cd's/certificate of authenticity. Now what am I going to do, I cannot find that darn disk. I have every system disk but that one.

I go back to Dell and they say "Sorry 'bout your luck call Microsoft". I then call Microsoft and after I explain everything the guy says no problem can you please get your Office CD. I stop and I say if you had listened to me at all instead of following your script you would have heard me say I did not have them. He then shuts down and says well sir there is nothing we can do if you do not have them. Mind you I registered and activated my software with them originally, why can't they help me? What is the point in registering/activating it. But they tell me I will have to buy a new copy of this software.

Now does Bill Gates really need this $374 from me just so I can use the software I have already purchased? Doesn't it seem a company with the technology of Microsoft should be able to verify my identity from when I activated the software previously and provide me with the information I need. What is the point in activating/registering this software.

Bill Gates and Michael Dell have a combined net-worth of $69 Billion. Just to put that in perspective, lets put it like this: $69,000,000,000. Now those are a lot of zeros. These two men basically OWN the world of home computing and I would venture to say pretty close to the entire computer world. Now $69 billion is enough to give everyone in the country $230. Do they really need another $374 from me? I think not.

Things like these just make you wonder who controls our lives. We are really at the mercy of others all the time. I had no choice and could not voice an opinion on my trimmer being a manufacturer defect. No one at Microsoft or Dell really cares about you misplacing your copy of their software and it does not matter that you register/activate it they are not going to help you. Where has customer service gone to these days. Does anyone care what we have to say.

The good news....My trimmer is back and I was able to mow, edge and trim the lawn and it looks fantastic. Today I dug around some more and located my original Microsoft Office CD's with the certificate of authenticity and was able to activate it. All is now well with me. But it sure is frustrating to think that so few people control so much of our lives.