Hey guys! Enjoy the follow-up. If you'd like to see me tackle more odd computers like this, please leave a like so I know y'all are interested! I have some cool ideas! 😈 P.S. Thanks Linode for making this episode possible!
as someone who works in a returns warehouse, I can almost guarantee it was definitely sitting next to the coffee pot and has probably been tripped over four or five times
I used to work customer service for a financial institution. Had a guy call in having trouble navigating our website. After about 45 min trying to figure out why what he was seeing was so different from what our site was supposed to look like, I managed to determine he was on a Wow Computer. Didn't even know what that was. Turns out their browser "simplifies" websites, which is fine, but it also drastically changes the layout of things and breaks some functionality. Felt bad for the guy, had to tell him I couldn't do anything because I knew nothing about the way those computers worked. He was really upset telling me, "You mean to tell me this $1500 computer can't handle your website?" He assumed the cost of the machine equated to power and performance. I tried my best to explain the issue and advised he call Wow's customer support. I knew enough then to know these things are junk.
To anyone reading this or anyone in this situation, KEEP THE ACCIDENTAL REFUND. These companies account for that type of mistake and believe me when i tell you they will not return the favor
Ikr, Ken is way more honest than I am! Although, in saying that, a few years ago my bank accidentally deposited $11k into my account and I called straight away and of course they instantly took it back. A bank is a bit different from a shady computer company though. Perhaps if I had withdrawn the $11k they would've also taken their $11k back and left me $11k overdrawn. These guys deserve to lose $1.6k for scamming elderly people.
To fight back against scams, Kitboga mentioned many many times that when you receive money by error, you are not legally (in usa) required to report or return the money. They potential can sue for the money, but unlikely as its not worth the time or cash if they are a legitimate business.
I use to work for Telikin, and I can say this, the Journey Health care thing is new to me. When I was there it was just Telikin, and in certain markets Wow. I can confirm that they find the RMA number on the boxes important when you ship one back to Hatfield, PA because that is actually the quickest "at a glance" way for them to locate and reference your returns or repairs in the shipping dept. There are always a few people that forget to to put the RMA''s on the box, and finding their units and keeping them straight is a nightmare. I think the credit industry has gotten better at this now, but at the time, we would refund money, and it was not uncommon for the credit card companies themselves to take up to 30 days to return money to a customer's account. Two months is a bit extreme for your fiasco. I'm sorry it came to that. But I do know that when you have two companies interacting for a process like this, there is a lot of back and forth on "did you get this".."please refund the customer" type situations. You would think in the computer age it would be a smooth process..but stuff happens. Either cause of computer or networking issues, or someone just drops the ball somewhere. I no longer work for them, and really have no reason to make excuses for them. But I did, at least want to give a little bit of insight into the situation based off of what I know from working there.
I actually have one of these that my late mother-in-law had bought, and didn't use. When we cleaned out her apartment, I kept it and upgraded the ram, and storage, and installed Linux Mint and use it in my garage.
@@insantiwetrust I know the feeling. I had built my father a computer running windows and simplified it as much as possible. Shortcuts to everything he needed on the desktop. But one day I came home, and he had ordered a WOW! computer. I had to connect everything for him and set up his email accounts. I knew technically it was crap and way overpriced. In the long run, he used it a lot. Mostly for the built in games, the email and web browsing. I just clicked better for him. I wish they priced it fairly, or put a bit more horsepower in it, but in the end, it gave him pleasure and connected him to some extended family. Which in its own way was important.
What do we learn from this story? When any company gives you a refund for any shitty product, even if you don't ask for it. Stay quiet and be glad you got your money back. The thing was trash and you deserve your money back.
9:31 This is exactly why I don't give HTC any crap for my bad experience with their Vive Cosmos, they were super kind and responsive when handling my refund request, and the guy I was talking to even said they'd pay for the return shipping + restock when their return policy clearly stated they wouldn't.
Yea my red flag alarms were going off the minute they made their main demographic senior citizens aka “the easiest demographic to take advantage of with crappy overpriced products and confusing refund procedures”.
I get why you would say that. But as someone who knew the owner, and what led him to create the product, its not true. His main demographic was his own parents. He designed the computer for them..and then shared it with the rest of the world. I would say the great majority of purchasers of the computers are not actually the senior citizens, but their children. So, its not about defrauding people that don't know any better. This computer in no way shape or form competes with the average computer on todays market. I would argue that most of the cost value in this unit is the level of support. And as someone who has been doing helpdesk and desktop support for over 30 years, I have no problem saying that the support for this product (at least when I was there) was top notch, and above any other product I've ever supported or had to call for support. It is not easy providing support for senior citizens. Nor is it easy providing support for every product that someone might use with this product. Other manufacturers don't know or understand the Telikin operating system. If they buy a printer, HP or Brother isn't going to support it..Telikin does. And the same goes for EVERY other peripheral. I can tell you this. It takes NOTHING to scare customers off of technology that they are afraid of. To be a tech support person for that company, you have to be syrupy sweet and careful not to upset your customer at ALL times. If the computer was a $50 piece of junk, and the remaining cost was all support...no one that buys that product is getting ripped off.
My aunt who is like 68 showed me an ad for one of these (perhaps another brand though, not sure). Anyway it was $79 per month for 18 months for some pos all-in-one pc. Luckily I talked her out of buying one and took her to micro center where she got something far better for like $600 The ad did make it sound good tho. I’ll give them that
Note that my experience has been, since the 1980s, if you ship it back the companies will generally relent and give you a refund. One of those mail-order houses sent me a Trs-80 Model 4p once with the seal broken and a board removed. They said it wasn't possible... so after some discussion I just sent it back. Refund came shortly thereafter. I stopped buying name-brand products new then and thereafter bought all my computer equipment at the TRW Swap Meet in Redondo Beach and another one in Anaheim... and different meets since then. eBay also does a pretty good job with "the customer is always right" too unless things get complicated (so I hear anyway).
eBay sellers do seem to relent I ended up buying some bootleg DVDs from a seller and told them. They acted oblivious but they refunded me when I sent it back.
I have no connection to Wow but worked for a small tech company in Customer Support. Having a phone-issued RMA to be written on the outside of the shipping box is a common process. There are Point of Sale (POS) packages that will log the number and having it on the box tells the shipping receiver how to route it. Their procedure is identical to the one our company used (other than the delay in the refund of course!) Also, depending on the credit card processors involved it could take up to a week to receive a refund as some receiving companies require what is called an "E-Check" if they do not subscribe to the same services are the issuer. These are basically an emailed check that has to clear like any other check.
The callback never went through because they transferred you and it took the phone number from them, not yours. And even if you left your number on the voicemail, as it usually is an automated system, they won’t hear the voicemail, the system will just try to redial.
Man this sounds like my experience with Readyrefresh. Been trying to cancel with them for two months now. Same BS with it all having to be called in, the line randomly closes for "high volume" and my equipment pickup has been pushed back time after time. Started this process in November. Do not use this company.
I thought there was a way you could block a company taking charges from a bank account, is that possible? I hope it is because I would try that in that situation.
I once called Logitech about a wireless mouse and keyboard that had connection issues. when I called them, I got a person with little to no waiting, and they were able to verify I owned the product in minutes by confirming the number on my device. they then apologized that product was not working right and confirmed they did not have the spare parts in stock. so, you know what they did? sent me a brand-new mouse and keyboard free with express shipping! now every product I buy is a Logitech device.
Logitech did the same to me. I had a pair of Headphones that were DoA and they shipped a replacement without even asking for the original device back. Their customer service is phenomenal.
Great vid. I have a lot of friends that are in the 70s through late 80s. Most all of them use computers a lot, and they all have smartphones and text more than I do. None of them would be caught dead with that crap machine targeted at their age group. There's hope! :)
I used to work tech support at the Telekin office in PA. Wish I could tell you some crazy back room dealings were going on but tbh the job sucked so much that its all kind of a blur.
I presume you used a credit card? You could have just called them and told them what happened, they would have given you your money back immediately and then started an investigation for you.
This doesn't always work either. I recently tried this and without any proof provided to me the CC company declined to issue a refund for an item I did not receive.
I think a better option is to donate an older iPad with a case and delete unnecessary apps and put remaining useless apps that can’t be deleted into a folder like I did for a relative. I then loaded on pictures and Disney movies. They loved it. When they passed, we got a tough case for it and gave it to one of the grandkids. Same product used by 3 generations with just a little modification.
I had the same experience with Lenovo. I ordered a laptop that arrived with a broken screen. They had polite but useless customer service. It took a month and multiple calls to try to get a replacement sent out. It was pretty terrible and a huge waste of time.
Receiving a damaged product is bad enough, the least that Lenovo could do is provide good customer service to try and rectify your experience with them.
I have the same system, my father bought it shortly before he passed away so I was kind of stuck with it. After some research and tinkering i was able to install Bacotera on it and it is now a dedicated retro gaming rig. I am actually kind of blown away at the performance, It is handling psp easily and even can chug through turn based ps2 games.
Regarding the bit about writing the RMA number on the outside of the box, I've encountered that once before myself. If I remember correctly, it was when returning a motherboard to ASUS that died a few months after I got it. So, it's not unheard of, I guess. Still out of the ordinary, though.
It used to be more common, but I encountered it mostly when returning non-computing goods like small appliances and such. They used to need to manually enter RMA numbers on arrival, whereas now much of it is tied to the carrier tracking barcode. It takes away the issue of reading the customer's crummy handwriting, written too small, written in a hidden place, abraded away by the shipping process, etc.
Senior citizen, the pleasing sounding euphemism for old person, creates the illusion that we older folks aren’t all that hip with the modern tech we invented.
8:30 - Yes, thats pretty much exactly what it was doing. Hatfield PA is a logistics depot, pretty much anything going through that checkpoint is almost guaranteed to be the same exact terminal.
Funny story about customer service making up for an iffy product/service from a company. I had such a good customer service experience with a company while trying to fix/cancel their service that, after the interaction was over, I went and got a job with them (it wasn't their fault the service wasn't working correctly, but they impressed me so much that I wanted to work for them).
UPS lost my customer's PS5 I was shipping to a board technician and they still haven't paid us the value of the PS5 OR the shipping. Sent them full claim forms and everything. No response, the support agents dont even speak English as their mother tongue and cant even understand what I am saying because of this. So no matter what I do they try and say they sent an email which is the form. Which the page for sending it is broken. Disgusting. So, i'm down £515. Thanks UPS for sending the PS5 to amazon instead of my board tech.
@@HeroRareheart steve from GamersNexus attempted to RMA an open box motherboard that GN never actually removed from the packing or touched and newegg declined the RMA citing customer fault for damages. Its pretty rough, especially newegg should have known the product as defective as they attempted to RMA with the manufacturer before selling to steve.
Thank you so much for talking about customer service I will never recommend Ring (the doorbell company) because I had a faulty doorbell and I was within warranty, so I tried to get it replaced. What did they do? Force me to be on hold indefinitely, saying that I need to talk to a tech support guy first before they can give me a replacement. I bought a Eufy doorbell instead. Customer service definitely makes or breaks a company. There's inherent value in something like that
This reminded me of when I preordered a toy. The price increased before release and they wanted the difference for the new price. I decided to cancel my order and emailed. They said I could only cancel over the phone. The company was in the US, I'm in Australia. Explained that, no exceptions. Had to make an international call at 5 in the morning to cancel. Most places here would honour the original price, I would think, so it was especially irritating at the time. That being said, there was no hassle. Got my refund, no questions asked.
Seriously, that last guy that called your voice mail regarding the refund sounded exactly like he was about to ask if you had filled out those TPS reports...
I have that wallet and it is the worst. It lasted about 2 years before I couldn't take the amount it was "disintegrating" and that is only how I can describe it. Not sure if it's meant to be some kinda eco-friendly bioplastic and if it is meant to be hygroscopic but the plastic vinyl is very thirsty and eventually just goes brittle (like with PLA filament, it actually snaps and becomes brittle!) and in the UK that is not good for a wallet. I actually have two others by the same brand, one Zelda and one R2D2, and the Artoo one has damage from sparing use and I dont use the Zelda one because I don't want the same to happen. Basically even packaged they will have a lifespan. Just weird cause never seen a wallet do that... I thought it was meant to be leather. All well.
Most seniors have grown up with computers and mobile phones etc and are fully literate. I am 70 and a retired Senior Systems Analyst. My ASUS Vivobook laptop cost half that WOW thing and has an 8th gen i3, 8gb ram and 1TB M.2 ssd. I have an iPhone 13 pro and a Nokia C21+.
I think you have a poor grasp of the flow of time if you think you have 'grown up' with computers and mobile phones. Computers maybe an argument could be made that SOME seniors could have plausibly have had some type of computer access when they were young, but they certainly weren't the majority by any means and most people in their 70's did not have access to computers when they were growing up at all. And mobile phones is an even more ridiculous claim - I barely grew up with mobile phones and I am in my mid 30's. I was one of the first kids at my school to get a mobile phone, I was 17 when I got it, and it was still in the era where all they did was calls, sms and the only game they had was snake. Most older people I know have a fairly poor understanding of things like mobile phones and computers because they DID NOT GROW UP WITH THEM. That's why scammy products like this can even exist in the first place - if most older people 'grew up' with computers and mobile phones they'd never get scammed by an overpriced piece of junk with accessibility features, because they'd take one look at the specs or the operating system and understand it's not worth that price. There is a reason they target seniors with products like this - if seniors were just as tech savvy on average as younger people then they would target people who don't understand tech as a whole, and not seniors specifically.
For around $1.3k I can easily buy a computer with i9 processor in my country For less than that i was able to buy a laptop with Ryzen 7 processor with decent graphics card and Hybrid drive
I'm in the UK and we have bad CS lots of times, too many to mention. When you tell someone about it they usually have a few of their stories to tell you of similar expeirences. Years ago when you phoned a company the phone rang a few times then someone answered, now you get a menu of options, you pick one then get the music on a continious loop, then eventually someone answers who you can't understand, after the call you need a stiff drink.
You know, this makes me sad, not just the whole shenanigans after you bought it, but that the product isn't a bad idea. The issues is that you can get a decent all-in-one computer for like 600 bucks that just needs a more old person friendly interface that would do the trick. I just hope that they don't ever partner with medicare or something because this would be horrific.
A couple decades ago I worked as an internet call operator for a company that installed Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL) for internet access. We tried to best the best job we could but in some cases the phone lines used to transmit digital data was so poorly maintained that some callers would report that even setting a dimmer switch in their house would generate interference to mess up the internet. This basic infrastructure problem kept us from coming up with quick fixes over the phone for some areas of the country. We were much more successful with callers that had problems setting up email accounts, or fixes involving clearing cache, virus detection, etc. So, most of the time, call operators are not part of a scam ring, but trying to do their best based on the circumstances they have.
This video has reminded me to check my Western Digital EU RMA, still waiting for a replacement drive after a few weeks because they've 'run out'. Edit: I’m aware of the SSD issue, but the RMA is for a HDD.
Reminds me of when I sent a dead SSD back to OCZ (remember that company?). After 1 or 2 weeks I was told they'd ran out but would be upgrading me to a higher-end model instead, sweet! 1 or 2 weeks later, box arrives and what do you know... same type as I sent in. I guess they ran into some stock in their warehouse and decided not to upgrade me after all? Guess I can't complain though, the replacement still works perfectly to this day.
Sounds like my dealings with AT&T. In the course of five months and speaking with 42 people spending a total of 53 hours on the phone and in their stores, I still have not gotten the phones I was promised, yet every AT&T representative nicely promises me they will send the the phones but no phones. You have gotten much better service from this supposedly shady company than I have with a first class multi-billion dollar communications bohemoth company. Never trust AT&T promises or offers, go with the "shady" small company where you have a better chance of finding someone that gives a damn.
I agree that customer service makes or breaks a company's reputation. I won't buy MSI products specifically because of my experience with their CS. They straight up lied to me about emails they sent, claiming they hadn't when I could pull them up on my screen, told me that my warranty didn't cover things their website said it did, and kept trying to get me to verbally agree to or digitally sign waivers that would let them dismiss my repair case. People complain about Gigabyte repairs/replacements taking forever, and they do, but their CS is actually very good in my experience, being honest, direct, and actually knowing where a product is in the queue. Same with ASUS.
Martha must love Old Man Ken blowing up their house with the land m-- line, spending thousands on a cheap computer, and constantly being yelled at. MARTHAAAAAAAAA!!!!
Ummmm just my 3¢.....BUT.....I think the biggest issue that I don't see anyone mentioning is that it's targeted and sold to Seniors. So they are cashing in on selling low quality and ability tech that's way over priced. And the run around you got when dealing with returning it and getting your refund. I believe that's done very deliberately in hopes that the Seniors will simply forget about trying to get their refund. Or that it gets dragged out long enough to push them out of the return window so they can refuse to issue the refund. I mean the videos are all fun and light hearted. But it's some companies with very poor business practices that are done intentionally to take advantage of Seniors and take money from them.. That's a bigger story or video that should really be discussed more !!!!
@@brianegendorf2023 WELL.... that might be your own personal experience and beliefs. BUT just like he described in the video all the issues he had and time spent trying to return the item to get a refund ...Its often the same gor the elderly people that its marketed and sold too!!! Yet they can more easily totally forget to meet certain time frames to do a return. Or can easily get themselves confused about guidelines etc. Or that can be caused by someone else on the phone with them or replying to their emails talking them in circles and causing them to be confused etc. And just like the video also described and showed that the Tech they are selling is very very low quality and outdated as compared to the price its sold ..being highly overpriced. While i dont know anything for certain ..i would bet money that some of what i mentioned is Actually very TRUE!!!
i've had several companies ask for the RA on the outside of the box. Also, if you are buying stuff to do videos and then returning the stuff, you deserve to pay a price!
In the UK we have a wonderful thing called the sale of goods and services act. It helps in a lot of situations like this. As you made the return within 30 days they really should have refunded the money sooner. But then no company is perfect. It’s how it deals with the customer when after sales support is needed. That is what sorts the good from the amazing.
Clearly it was you who created the problem all along. Their OS is so advanced that it has a time travel feature, so they initiated your refund before you even received the product!
9:36 This happened with me. I bought a computer that - well - it just didn't exist. I was told I received it when in fact I didn't, and EBay gave me holy hell about trying to get a refund on a computer I never received. They said the guy who sold it closed his account, he cannot be reached, he was a scam artist, he is being searched for, etc. Yet in all this they refused to give me a refund until I took it to a higher level, my credit card company which said, "We'll contact Ebay and fix this for you. Sorry for the problem." The next day I got a refund and I have no idea what they told or demanded from EBay - but it worked.
I can't see how anyone could be duped into buying something that bad for 1300 dollars. with that much money to spend I can build anyone a monster computer with all the bells and whistles!
Sounds like the USA doesn't have much in the way of actual enforceable consumer protection laws. IN Australia, consumers are entitled to an exchange or refund, regardless of the manufacturer's warranty or return policy - on any product or service.
Am still waiting for my sham-wow! The moral of the story is... if you have to have good quality physical product, go to the swap meet and buy vintage!!
I bought the original Galaxy S watch and its screen had a lot of dead pixels but called them up and they said "We are really sorry, you can take this watch to a repair shop or return it back" so I bought another one after that and still use the galaxy watches to this day...
I inherited one of these from an 80 y/o client who had also inherited it. She hated it. A little poking around got me into the BIOS, where I found that it could be induced to boot from a USB device. The key is that the USB device must be plugged in before booting into the BIOS to select USB booting. I was able to install Win10 (32-bit because of the 2 gb RAM). It seems to run decently for what it is (isn't), but the sound is absolute CRAP.
Someone stole my MC-10 Radio Shack computer when I was moving. It had 4 mb ram with a 16 mb ram pack. As well as a cassette tape recorder to download basic programs. It plugged in my 13-inch black and white analog tv. by the antenna. I miss it! I had that computer from 1980 to 2015. As well as the Magnavox tv and Panasonic tape player. That was my first computer while everyone else had a Commadore 64 or Texas Instrument computer. It took me a few months' pay, making 3.25 an hour to get it. That WOW computer would have been the thing back in 1980. For 1299 dollars a better computer can be purchased and have that senior software on it. Glad to know how customer service is because that lets you somewhat know how honest the company is. I would never by that computer to begin with.
Ken, someone gave me one of these Wow Computers and I was wondering if you thought it could be repurposed as a Linux computer. I tried booting it from a thumb drive but it wouldn’t work so I was thinking of purchasing a new internal drive with a flashed Linux distro. I will let you know how that goes. Great channel and I look forward to new videos.
Not really the same kind of story but this happened to me: I bought a new ASUS TUF Gaming A17 Laptop 1 year ago. It was already broken when i installed Windows: Lower 1/4 of the screen is flickering and the touchpad is slight tilted, causing it to stop responding every 1-5 minutes. I have to press the Right touchpad button multiple times until it works and the touchpad resumes working. I have it send in 3 times already. "We couldnt find anything wrong with your device" All they did was delete all my data, installed their OS and left it running for 2 hours (i checked the system logs). They eventually fixed the flickering issue but broke the screen (lower left is always bright when the screen is dark).
I had a customer who had bought one of these, against my recommendation. After a time they realized they couldn't even view pdf files, and I told them they could not with that OS. I told them though it could run Windows if they bought one from MS, and that I would install it for them. They opted for that, and are happy with the switch.
I have a WOW computer that won't let me bring up my Bank to check my account. Was told that my WOW computer was to old to support the minimum security measures we require to keep your data safe. Was told to download Chrome verson 110 BUT my WOW computer won't let me do that, because it's to OLD. So i'm stuck with a $1300.00 computer that won't let me check my Bank Account.
In fairness to one point, I had to RMA a number of things to Western Digital in the mid 2000s and that’s exactly how they handled labeling. I had to write the RMA number in big black marker on at least three sides of the cardboard box I was sending the drive back in.
10:10 No. Undoubtedly you could purchase this computer from a 2nd supplier like Amazon and they likely would issue a full refund with no questions asked.
I hate to say it but this sounds like something I've experienced with several companies recently. It seems far too common these days to get a support person who is polite and helpful... But whose cheerfully offered advice or correction never seems to materialize... Or who seems able to offer "stock answers to common problems" - but not be able to get things right when something unusual happens. Sadly I've had this happen recently with companies who are quite reputable and who otherwise offer great service. It seems like many are hiring inexperienced help personnel who operate from a standard script...(probably out-sourced). The problem is that they cheerfully follow their script, dump the case "into the system", at which point it all falls apart... I had one recent situation where three separate humans clearly told me what they thought would happen... But then their company's automated "case response system" went ahead and did something different. The final resolution was actually in my favor - but was not at all what I'd been told happen... I'm not naming the company because the resolution was actually in my favor... My point is that the polite and helpful human support staff clearly had no knowledge of or control over what would actually happen. (They were simply there to enter it into the system... and, beyond doing that, they were just guessing what would happen.)
First of all who in the right mind would actually buy this computer? There are several big red flags I've seen with the WOW computer. The things are: Unpopular/Unknown brand that doesn't get sold in typical consumer electronic stores, using a bizarre custom Linux OS, the obscured $1300 price tag, and outdated specs. Although you can get a decently good HP or Dell computer for about $200. It'll be running Windows that defiantly has a ton of support and you can configure the OS setting for the elderly people.
I've had to write the RMA on the box before for normal returns. This process is like my 2007 experience returning a DOA Asus motherboard. They sent me back the same dead board three times
Hey guys! Enjoy the follow-up. If you'd like to see me tackle more odd computers like this, please leave a like so I know y'all are interested! I have some cool ideas! 😈
P.S. Thanks Linode for making this episode possible!
I love these videos, definitely keep making them!
Hi
@Darkfarfetch no, “bro”. That’s a last-resort solution. Don’t do it unless you absolutely need to. 👎
nice video
That bomb-ass wig, though. 🤣
as someone who works in a returns warehouse, I can almost guarantee it was definitely sitting next to the coffee pot and has probably been tripped over four or five times
I used to work customer service for a financial institution. Had a guy call in having trouble navigating our website. After about 45 min trying to figure out why what he was seeing was so different from what our site was supposed to look like, I managed to determine he was on a Wow Computer. Didn't even know what that was. Turns out their browser "simplifies" websites, which is fine, but it also drastically changes the layout of things and breaks some functionality. Felt bad for the guy, had to tell him I couldn't do anything because I knew nothing about the way those computers worked. He was really upset telling me, "You mean to tell me this $1500 computer can't handle your website?" He assumed the cost of the machine equated to power and performance. I tried my best to explain the issue and advised he call Wow's customer support. I knew enough then to know these things are junk.
As a senior I really appreciate any time you tell us when a company deliberately scams a senior, thank you
College senior?
@@whitemailprivilege2830lol my dad started getting mailings from AARP when he was a senior... in high school;
Lesson here is to just keep the money on accidental refunds.
Yeah let them call you for months so you can put them on hold and give them the run around for a change XD
To anyone reading this or anyone in this situation, KEEP THE ACCIDENTAL REFUND. These companies account for that type of mistake and believe me when i tell you they will not return the favor
Ikr, Ken is way more honest than I am! Although, in saying that, a few years ago my bank accidentally deposited $11k into my account and I called straight away and of course they instantly took it back.
A bank is a bit different from a shady computer company though. Perhaps if I had withdrawn the $11k they would've also taken their $11k back and left me $11k overdrawn.
These guys deserve to lose $1.6k for scamming elderly people.
To fight back against scams, Kitboga mentioned many many times that when you receive money by error, you are not legally (in usa) required to report or return the money.
They potential can sue for the money, but unlikely as its not worth the time or cash if they are a legitimate business.
I use to work for Telikin, and I can say this, the Journey Health care thing is new to me. When I was there it was just Telikin, and in certain markets Wow. I can confirm that they find the RMA number on the boxes important when you ship one back to Hatfield, PA because that is actually the quickest "at a glance" way for them to locate and reference your returns or repairs in the shipping dept. There are always a few people that forget to to put the RMA''s on the box, and finding their units and keeping them straight is a nightmare. I think the credit industry has gotten better at this now, but at the time, we would refund money, and it was not uncommon for the credit card companies themselves to take up to 30 days to return money to a customer's account. Two months is a bit extreme for your fiasco. I'm sorry it came to that. But I do know that when you have two companies interacting for a process like this, there is a lot of back and forth on "did you get this".."please refund the customer" type situations. You would think in the computer age it would be a smooth process..but stuff happens. Either cause of computer or networking issues, or someone just drops the ball somewhere. I no longer work for them, and really have no reason to make excuses for them. But I did, at least want to give a little bit of insight into the situation based off of what I know from working there.
I actually have one of these that my late mother-in-law had bought, and didn't use. When we cleaned out her apartment, I kept it and upgraded the ram, and storage, and installed Linux Mint and use it in my garage.
by chance did you ever make an image out of the installation? I can't seem to find an ISO or anything out there for these.
@@RoshiGaming I did not, but I believe I had installed Linux mint 19.10 or whatever lta release around that time.
my father just bought a WOW computer and I was so disappointed unboxing it :( also how did you upgrade it any tips?
@@insantiwetrust better msata drive, more ram, and install a linux distro
@@insantiwetrust I know the feeling. I had built my father a computer running windows and simplified it as much as possible. Shortcuts to everything he needed on the desktop. But one day I came home, and he had ordered a WOW! computer. I had to connect everything for him and set up his email accounts. I knew technically it was crap and way overpriced. In the long run, he used it a lot. Mostly for the built in games, the email and web browsing. I just clicked better for him. I wish they priced it fairly, or put a bit more horsepower in it, but in the end, it gave him pleasure and connected him to some extended family. Which in its own way was important.
What do we learn from this story? When any company gives you a refund for any shitty product, even if you don't ask for it. Stay quiet and be glad you got your money back. The thing was trash and you deserve your money back.
Now imagine being a senior citizen on a limited budget who got ripped off and waiting 2 months to get that money back.
Martha!!!!!
Good point. This really is criminal.
@@JosephM101 yeah I can think of cheaper computers they can buy and get the same quality if not better computer for less money
@@raven4k998 who is that actor in your profile pic? It reminds me of someone but i can't put my finger on who
@@kreizmann2943 she's Melissa O'Neil
9:31 This is exactly why I don't give HTC any crap for my bad experience with their Vive Cosmos, they were super kind and responsive when handling my refund request, and the guy I was talking to even said they'd pay for the return shipping + restock when their return policy clearly stated they wouldn't.
Well ofcourse, they know how bad the cosmos is cuz they made it XD
Yea my red flag alarms were going off the minute they made their main demographic senior citizens aka “the easiest demographic to take advantage of with crappy overpriced products and confusing refund procedures”.
I get why you would say that. But as someone who knew the owner, and what led him to create the product, its not true. His main demographic was his own parents. He designed the computer for them..and then shared it with the rest of the world. I would say the great majority of purchasers of the computers are not actually the senior citizens, but their children. So, its not about defrauding people that don't know any better. This computer in no way shape or form competes with the average computer on todays market. I would argue that most of the cost value in this unit is the level of support. And as someone who has been doing helpdesk and desktop support for over 30 years, I have no problem saying that the support for this product (at least when I was there) was top notch, and above any other product I've ever supported or had to call for support. It is not easy providing support for senior citizens. Nor is it easy providing support for every product that someone might use with this product. Other manufacturers don't know or understand the Telikin operating system. If they buy a printer, HP or Brother isn't going to support it..Telikin does. And the same goes for EVERY other peripheral. I can tell you this. It takes NOTHING to scare customers off of technology that they are afraid of. To be a tech support person for that company, you have to be syrupy sweet and careful not to upset your customer at ALL times. If the computer was a $50 piece of junk, and the remaining cost was all support...no one that buys that product is getting ripped off.
My aunt who is like 68 showed me an ad for one of these (perhaps another brand though, not sure). Anyway it was $79 per month for 18 months for some pos all-in-one pc. Luckily I talked her out of buying one and took her to micro center where she got something far better for like $600
The ad did make it sound good tho. I’ll give them that
@@brianegendorf2023 you didn’t watch the video huh?
@@the-guy-on-your-moms-couch yes I did. If you've got a point, make it.
@@brianegendorf2023 well as this video shows the customer support at this company is far from the stellar experience you describe...
Next time wait for the second refund and THEN tell them of the first one... With these "company" you never know wtf will happens.
you should buy a wow computer and say WOW what a pos computer🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Note that my experience has been, since the 1980s, if you ship it back the companies will generally relent and give you a refund. One of those mail-order houses sent me a Trs-80 Model 4p once with the seal broken and a board removed. They said it wasn't possible... so after some discussion I just sent it back. Refund came shortly thereafter.
I stopped buying name-brand products new then and thereafter bought all my computer equipment at the TRW Swap Meet in Redondo Beach and another one in Anaheim... and different meets since then.
eBay also does a pretty good job with "the customer is always right" too unless things get complicated (so I hear anyway).
I would have some anxiety about mailing back a $1000+ item without them authorizing it personally. It makes sense tho
Love the trw swamp meet been going there sense I was 1! It’s been kinda lame after covid sadly.
eBay sellers do seem to relent I ended up buying some bootleg DVDs from a seller and told them. They acted oblivious but they refunded me when I sent it back.
I have no connection to Wow but worked for a small tech company in Customer Support. Having a phone-issued RMA to be written on the outside of the shipping box is a common process. There are Point of Sale (POS) packages that will log the number and having it on the box tells the shipping receiver how to route it. Their procedure is identical to the one our company used (other than the delay in the refund of course!) Also, depending on the credit card processors involved it could take up to a week to receive a refund as some receiving companies require what is called an "E-Check" if they do not subscribe to the same services are the issuer. These are basically an emailed check that has to clear like any other check.
The callback never went through because they transferred you and it took the phone number from them, not yours. And even if you left your number on the voicemail, as it usually is an automated system, they won’t hear the voicemail, the system will just try to redial.
Man this sounds like my experience with Readyrefresh. Been trying to cancel with them for two months now. Same BS with it all having to be called in, the line randomly closes for "high volume" and my equipment pickup has been pushed back time after time. Started this process in November. Do not use this company.
Start mentioning lawyers getting involved. See how quick they respond….
I thought there was a way you could block a company taking charges from a bank account, is that possible? I hope it is because I would try that in that situation.
I once called Logitech about a wireless mouse and keyboard that had connection issues.
when I called them, I got a person with little to no waiting, and they were able to verify I owned the product in minutes by confirming the number on my device.
they then apologized that product was not working right and confirmed they did not have the spare parts in stock.
so, you know what they did? sent me a brand-new mouse and keyboard free with express shipping!
now every product I buy is a Logitech device.
Logitech did the same to me. I had a pair of Headphones that were DoA and they shipped a replacement without even asking for the original device back. Their customer service is phenomenal.
Yup, had a G603 mouse with scrollwheel issues. They never even confirmed a valid warranty, just got my info and sent out a new one.
Good to know
Great vid. I have a lot of friends that are in the 70s through late 80s. Most all of them use computers a lot, and they all have smartphones and text more than I do. None of them would be caught dead with that crap machine targeted at their age group. There's hope! :)
Really glad you did a follow up on this man. Love your channel and it's been great to see it grow since you and I last worked together.
Thanks for watching 😇
As an IT Professional who deals with end users, honesty and integrity can go a long way with customers.
I used to work tech support at the Telekin office in PA. Wish I could tell you some crazy back room dealings were going on but tbh the job sucked so much that its all kind of a blur.
I presume you used a credit card? You could have just called them and told them what happened, they would have given you your money back immediately and then started an investigation for you.
I thought he used PayPal but I might be wrong...
This doesn't always work either. I recently tried this and without any proof provided to me the CC company declined to issue a refund for an item I did not receive.
Not that easy, especially when its over $1000. The bank cares way more about .0001% of its value than this shady tech resellers only sale.
Just use the bank website to look at the details and make a claim straight from there. I recently did that and the bank gave me my refund in 3 days.
That will rarely work. Charge ACLS usually require that something is wrong or fraudulent..
I think a better option is to donate an older iPad with a case and delete unnecessary apps and put remaining useless apps that can’t be deleted into a folder like I did for a relative. I then loaded on pictures and Disney movies. They loved it. When they passed, we got a tough case for it and gave it to one of the grandkids. Same product used by 3 generations with just a little modification.
I had the same experience with Lenovo. I ordered a laptop that arrived with a broken screen. They had polite but useless customer service. It took a month and multiple calls to try to get a replacement sent out. It was pretty terrible and a huge waste of time.
Receiving a damaged product is bad enough, the least that Lenovo could do is provide good customer service to try and rectify your experience with them.
@@TechBaffle yup that’s how I feel too…. Apparently Lenovo has a different idea of how that should go.
I have the same system, my father bought it shortly before he passed away so I was kind of stuck with it. After some research and tinkering i was able to install Bacotera on it and it is now a dedicated retro gaming rig. I am actually kind of blown away at the performance, It is handling psp easily and even can chug through turn based ps2 games.
by chance did you ever make an image out of the installation? I can't seem to find an ISO or anything out there for these.
I agree, what keeps me coming back is the customer service. If the system is utter crap, it's no point sticking with them.
Regarding the bit about writing the RMA number on the outside of the box, I've encountered that once before myself. If I remember correctly, it was when returning a motherboard to ASUS that died a few months after I got it. So, it's not unheard of, I guess. Still out of the ordinary, though.
Yeah I've also encountered it before when returning components.
It used to be more common, but I encountered it mostly when returning non-computing goods like small appliances and such. They used to need to manually enter RMA numbers on arrival, whereas now much of it is tied to the carrier tracking barcode. It takes away the issue of reading the customer's crummy handwriting, written too small, written in a hidden place, abraded away by the shipping process, etc.
Had to do that for a few different things, even for the automotive industry. Not that uncommon
Had to do it very recently to get a pair of headphones (DT770) repaired
I’ve sent back hundreds of boxes of things to Wyse, Lenovo, HP and Acer. Acer and Lenovo/ibm have you write the rma on the box
Senior citizen, the pleasing sounding euphemism for old person, creates the illusion that we older folks aren’t all that hip with the modern tech we invented.
I wish I could thumbs up your comment a million times.
8:30 - Yes, thats pretty much exactly what it was doing. Hatfield PA is a logistics depot, pretty much anything going through that checkpoint is almost guaranteed to be the same exact terminal.
Funny story about customer service making up for an iffy product/service from a company. I had such a good customer service experience with a company while trying to fix/cancel their service that, after the interaction was over, I went and got a job with them (it wasn't their fault the service wasn't working correctly, but they impressed me so much that I wanted to work for them).
It was humorous but I wish that the tone of us useless old people would back off a bit.
*Grandpa Ken what are you doing out of your senior tech home?* 😂
Love that wallet! Brings back memories of many hours mashing the controller buttons and wearing out my thumbs... The struggled was real! 😉
imagine if he was a real old person trying to go through that situation?
The actual computer name isn't "WOW!", it's "WOW! Can you believe no one bought this?!"
OH MY PKCELL!
*wow computer hits pkcell and sends zeny 811 to the floor*
"I think it was on December 7th"
*Pearl Harbor's revenge is finally materialized*
hello Sorry to hear about your long struggle
Ken you are a good consumer advocate at tis point
UPS lost my customer's PS5 I was shipping to a board technician and they still haven't paid us the value of the PS5 OR the shipping. Sent them full claim forms and everything. No response, the support agents dont even speak English as their mother tongue and cant even understand what I am saying because of this. So no matter what I do they try and say they sent an email which is the form. Which the page for sending it is broken.
Disgusting.
So, i'm down £515. Thanks UPS for sending the PS5 to amazon instead of my board tech.
In Europe the UPS website is a pile of garbage, pages not working, asks you to sign in to do stuff, then still doesn't work.
@@danielvanced5526 how they can even get away with it being like that is beyond me
That’s MESSED UP
At least they’re not as bad as Newegg. It may have taken awhile but you did get your money back.
What's happened with Newegg lately? I haven't been following and in the past I've never had a bad experience with them.
@@HeroRareheart steve from GamersNexus attempted to RMA an open box motherboard that GN never actually removed from the packing or touched and newegg declined the RMA citing customer fault for damages. Its pretty rough, especially newegg should have known the product as defective as they attempted to RMA with the manufacturer before selling to steve.
Thank you so much for talking about customer service
I will never recommend Ring (the doorbell company) because I had a faulty doorbell and I was within warranty, so I tried to get it replaced. What did they do? Force me to be on hold indefinitely, saying that I need to talk to a tech support guy first before they can give me a replacement.
I bought a Eufy doorbell instead.
Customer service definitely makes or breaks a company. There's inherent value in something like that
That intro was funny!
Thank you : )
Ikr
I second this!
@@saxman112 marthaaa
Yes
This reminded me of when I preordered a toy. The price increased before release and they wanted the difference for the new price. I decided to cancel my order and emailed. They said I could only cancel over the phone. The company was in the US, I'm in Australia. Explained that, no exceptions. Had to make an international call at 5 in the morning to cancel. Most places here would honour the original price, I would think, so it was especially irritating at the time.
That being said, there was no hassle. Got my refund, no questions asked.
Looks like other people also had issues with refunding their WOW computer, because I found 9 on Facebook Marketplace for $500 or less
Seriously, that last guy that called your voice mail regarding the refund sounded exactly like he was about to ask if you had filled out those TPS reports...
I have that wallet and it is the worst. It lasted about 2 years before I couldn't take the amount it was "disintegrating" and that is only how I can describe it. Not sure if it's meant to be some kinda eco-friendly bioplastic and if it is meant to be hygroscopic but the plastic vinyl is very thirsty and eventually just goes brittle (like with PLA filament, it actually snaps and becomes brittle!) and in the UK that is not good for a wallet.
I actually have two others by the same brand, one Zelda and one R2D2, and the Artoo one has damage from sparing use and I dont use the Zelda one because I don't want the same to happen.
Basically even packaged they will have a lifespan. Just weird cause never seen a wallet do that... I thought it was meant to be leather. All well.
Most seniors have grown up with computers and mobile phones etc and are fully literate. I am 70 and a retired Senior Systems Analyst. My ASUS Vivobook laptop cost half that WOW thing and has an 8th gen i3, 8gb ram and 1TB M.2 ssd. I have an iPhone 13 pro and a Nokia C21+.
I think you have a poor grasp of the flow of time if you think you have 'grown up' with computers and mobile phones. Computers maybe an argument could be made that SOME seniors could have plausibly have had some type of computer access when they were young, but they certainly weren't the majority by any means and most people in their 70's did not have access to computers when they were growing up at all. And mobile phones is an even more ridiculous claim - I barely grew up with mobile phones and I am in my mid 30's. I was one of the first kids at my school to get a mobile phone, I was 17 when I got it, and it was still in the era where all they did was calls, sms and the only game they had was snake. Most older people I know have a fairly poor understanding of things like mobile phones and computers because they DID NOT GROW UP WITH THEM. That's why scammy products like this can even exist in the first place - if most older people 'grew up' with computers and mobile phones they'd never get scammed by an overpriced piece of junk with accessibility features, because they'd take one look at the specs or the operating system and understand it's not worth that price. There is a reason they target seniors with products like this - if seniors were just as tech savvy on average as younger people then they would target people who don't understand tech as a whole, and not seniors specifically.
Please do more senior citizen tech. This is great
For $1.3k, you can LITERALLY buy a base model M1 iMac that is 100x better/faster than this WOW computer.
Or buy an older windows AIO that’s probably still faster and significantly cheaper.
@@EvilTurkeySlices you can also buy newer ones,10th gen i7 aio’s start from 1.2k$ at amazon and you can pocket the spare 100$
For around $1.3k I can easily buy a computer with i9 processor in my country
For less than that i was able to buy a laptop with Ryzen 7 processor with decent graphics card and Hybrid drive
Great wrap-up! I always enjoy watching your vids. Keep them coming!
I'm in the UK and we have bad CS lots of times, too many to mention. When you tell someone about it they usually have a few of their stories to tell you of similar expeirences.
Years ago when you phoned a company the phone rang a few times then someone answered, now you get a menu of options, you pick one then get the music on a continious loop, then eventually someone answers who you can't understand, after the call you need a stiff drink.
You know, this makes me sad, not just the whole shenanigans after you bought it, but that the product isn't a bad idea. The issues is that you can get a decent all-in-one computer for like 600 bucks that just needs a more old person friendly interface that would do the trick. I just hope that they don't ever partner with medicare or something because this would be horrific.
At 70 I find a keyboard and mouse quite satisfactory.
Amazon has been doing that too.
A couple decades ago I worked as an internet call operator for a company that installed Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL) for internet access. We tried to best the best job we could but in some cases the phone lines used to transmit digital data was so poorly maintained that some callers would report that even setting a dimmer switch in their house would generate interference to mess up the internet. This basic infrastructure problem kept us from coming up with quick fixes over the phone for some areas of the country. We were much more successful with callers that had problems setting up email accounts, or fixes involving clearing cache, virus detection, etc. So, most of the time, call operators are not part of a scam ring, but trying to do their best based on the circumstances they have.
This video has reminded me to check my Western Digital EU RMA, still waiting for a replacement drive after a few weeks because they've 'run out'.
Edit:
I’m aware of the SSD issue, but the RMA is for a HDD.
Reminds me of when I sent a dead SSD back to OCZ (remember that company?). After 1 or 2 weeks I was told they'd ran out but would be upgrading me to a higher-end model instead, sweet! 1 or 2 weeks later, box arrives and what do you know... same type as I sent in.
I guess they ran into some stock in their warehouse and decided not to upgrade me after all? Guess I can't complain though, the replacement still works perfectly to this day.
Their nand has recently been contaminated and because of that there is a shortage of WD drives
@@ayanamisuki I should have been specific as it’s a HDD.
Lmao you got the computer back on exactly my birthday, must have been my present delivered to the wrong address. Not like I wanted it anyways…
Sounds like my dealings with AT&T. In the course of five months and speaking with 42 people spending a total of 53 hours on the phone and in their stores, I still have not gotten the phones I was promised, yet every AT&T representative nicely promises me they will send the the phones but no phones. You have gotten much better service from this supposedly shady company than I have with a first class multi-billion dollar communications bohemoth company. Never trust AT&T promises or offers, go with the "shady" small company where you have a better chance of finding someone that gives a damn.
"The Information Super-Highway" nice reference to a Windows 95 ad :)
Just watched the follow up Ken as why wouldn't I or as the humor my gal likes, "Wood eye?!" lol. God bless!
I agree that customer service makes or breaks a company's reputation. I won't buy MSI products specifically because of my experience with their CS. They straight up lied to me about emails they sent, claiming they hadn't when I could pull them up on my screen, told me that my warranty didn't cover things their website said it did, and kept trying to get me to verbally agree to or digitally sign waivers that would let them dismiss my repair case. People complain about Gigabyte repairs/replacements taking forever, and they do, but their CS is actually very good in my experience, being honest, direct, and actually knowing where a product is in the queue. Same with ASUS.
I wish you still had this computer, would've been lovely to see if you could install other OSes on it haha.
The way the customer service guy talks at 7:40 triggers the crap out of me.. talking in question for gets my goat...
Martha must love Old Man Ken blowing up their house with the land m-- line, spending thousands on a cheap computer, and constantly being yelled at. MARTHAAAAAAAAA!!!!
Ummmm just my 3¢.....BUT.....I think the biggest issue that I don't see anyone mentioning is that it's targeted and sold to Seniors. So they are cashing in on selling low quality and ability tech that's way over priced.
And the run around you got when dealing with returning it and getting your refund. I believe that's done very deliberately in hopes that the Seniors will simply forget about trying to get their refund. Or that it gets dragged out long enough to push them out of the return window so they can refuse to issue the refund.
I mean the videos are all fun and light hearted. But it's some companies with very poor business practices that are done intentionally to take advantage of Seniors and take money from them..
That's a bigger story or video that should really be discussed more !!!!
No. I've done support for them, and I can tell you that nothing you are saying right now is true.
@@brianegendorf2023 WELL.... that might be your own personal experience and beliefs. BUT just like he described in the video all the issues he had and time spent trying to return the item to get a refund ...Its often the same gor the elderly people that its marketed and sold too!!! Yet they can more easily totally forget to meet certain time frames to do a return. Or can easily get themselves confused about guidelines etc. Or that can be caused by someone else on the phone with them or replying to their emails talking them in circles and causing them to be confused etc. And just like the video also described and showed that the Tech they are selling is very very low quality and outdated as compared to the price its sold ..being highly overpriced.
While i dont know anything for certain ..i would bet money that some of what i mentioned is Actually very TRUE!!!
i've had several companies ask for the RA on the outside of the box. Also, if you are buying stuff to do videos and then returning the stuff, you deserve to pay a price!
A senior citizen would not have been foolish enough to contact them to say you issued me a refund when I didn't ask for it !!!
In the UK we have a wonderful thing called the sale of goods and services act. It helps in a lot of situations like this. As you made the return within 30 days they really should have refunded the money sooner. But then no company is perfect. It’s how it deals with the customer when after sales support is needed. That is what sorts the good from the amazing.
that pixel art frowny face looks cool
Yes, I know it’s been there for a while, but still wanted to point it out
Putting up with that is probably why they call you Krazy Ken!
Clearly it was you who created the problem all along. Their OS is so advanced that it has a time travel feature, so they initiated your refund before you even received the product!
9:06 "Alright ! Looks like everything is working. I got my refund."
Me: "Nope, I'm seeing the video is only 2/3 done."
9:36 This happened with me. I bought a computer that - well - it just didn't exist. I was told I received it when in fact I didn't, and EBay gave me holy hell about trying to get a refund on a computer I never received. They said the guy who sold it closed his account, he cannot be reached, he was a scam artist, he is being searched for, etc. Yet in all this they refused to give me a refund until I took it to a higher level, my credit card company which said, "We'll contact Ebay and fix this for you. Sorry for the problem."
The next day I got a refund and I have no idea what they told or demanded from EBay - but it worked.
I can't see how anyone could be duped into buying something that bad for 1300 dollars. with that much money to spend I can build anyone a monster computer with all the bells and whistles!
Sounds like the USA doesn't have much in the way of actual enforceable consumer protection laws. IN Australia, consumers are entitled to an exchange or refund, regardless of the manufacturer's warranty or return policy - on any product or service.
Ha! I live in North Chesterfield, VA! there is NO SOUTH Chesterfield, so that is pretty funny to see!
0:11
WHERE'S ALL MY MONEY???
MARTHA!!!!!!!!!!!!
Am still waiting for my sham-wow!
The moral of the story is... if you have to have good quality physical product, go to the swap meet and buy vintage!!
WOW, just had a scam ad as the load up ad before this video.
This was hardly unexpected with a company that sells a massively overpriced and massively underpowered tablet.
I bought the original Galaxy S watch and its screen had a lot of dead pixels but called them up and they said "We are really sorry, you can take this watch to a repair shop or return it back" so I bought another one after that and still use the galaxy watches to this day...
I inherited one of these from an 80 y/o client who had also inherited it. She hated it. A little poking around got me into the BIOS, where I found that it could be induced to boot from a USB device. The key is that the USB device must be plugged in before booting into the BIOS to select USB booting. I was able to install Win10 (32-bit because of the 2 gb RAM). It seems to run decently for what it is (isn't), but the sound is absolute CRAP.
And there i was thinking this was old tech from 2000s not something this new
Someone stole my MC-10 Radio Shack computer when I was moving. It had 4 mb ram with a 16 mb ram pack. As well as a cassette tape recorder to download basic programs. It plugged in my 13-inch black and white analog tv. by the antenna. I miss it! I had that computer from 1980 to 2015. As well as the Magnavox tv and Panasonic tape player. That was my first computer while everyone else had a Commadore 64 or Texas Instrument computer. It took me a few months' pay, making 3.25 an hour to get it. That WOW computer would have been the thing back in 1980. For 1299 dollars a better computer can be purchased and have that senior software on it. Glad to know how customer service is because that lets you somewhat know how honest the company is. I would never by that computer to begin with.
Ken, someone gave me one of these Wow Computers and I was wondering if you thought it could be repurposed as a Linux computer. I tried booting it from a thumb drive but it wouldn’t work so I was thinking of purchasing a new internal drive with a flashed Linux distro. I will let you know how that goes. Great channel and I look forward to new videos.
Your big mistake was unrefunding your refund.
You should never have given the original mistake refund back...
ken im such a big fan of yours!
keep up the great work!
Not really the same kind of story but this happened to me:
I bought a new ASUS TUF Gaming A17 Laptop 1 year ago.
It was already broken when i installed Windows:
Lower 1/4 of the screen is flickering and the touchpad is slight tilted, causing it to stop responding every 1-5 minutes.
I have to press the Right touchpad button multiple times until it works and the touchpad resumes working.
I have it send in 3 times already. "We couldnt find anything wrong with your device"
All they did was delete all my data, installed their OS and left it running for 2 hours (i checked the system logs).
They eventually fixed the flickering issue but broke the screen (lower left is always bright when the screen is dark).
I had a customer who had bought one of these, against my recommendation.
After a time they realized they couldn't even view pdf files, and I told them they could not with that OS.
I told them though it could run Windows if they bought one from MS, and that I would install it for them.
They opted for that, and are happy with the switch.
You should have taken it apart to see what hardware it had
I have a WOW computer that won't let me bring up my Bank to check my account. Was told that my WOW computer was to old to support the minimum security measures we require to keep your data safe. Was told to download Chrome verson 110 BUT my WOW computer won't let me do that, because it's to OLD. So i'm stuck with a $1300.00 computer that won't let me check my Bank Account.
by chance did you ever make an image out of the installation? I can't seem to find an ISO or anything out there for these.
my new phone notification sound: MARTHA!!!!!!
In fairness to one point, I had to RMA a number of things to Western Digital in the mid 2000s and that’s exactly how they handled labeling. I had to write the RMA number in big black marker on at least three sides of the cardboard box I was sending the drive back in.
10:10 No. Undoubtedly you could purchase this computer from a 2nd supplier like Amazon and they likely would issue a full refund with no questions asked.
Questioning a mysterious deposit in your bank account was your first mistake. Just take the money!
nice video you made from my recommendation
I have that same nintendo wallet, had to stop using it because it split completely down the middle by the start and select buttons :(
Sounds like GameStop to a tee.
You sure it was not Newegg? Sounds like they went to the Newegg training for customer service.
I hate to say it but this sounds like something I've experienced with several companies recently.
It seems far too common these days to get a support person who is polite and helpful...
But whose cheerfully offered advice or correction never seems to materialize...
Or who seems able to offer "stock answers to common problems" - but not be able to get things right when something unusual happens.
Sadly I've had this happen recently with companies who are quite reputable and who otherwise offer great service.
It seems like many are hiring inexperienced help personnel who operate from a standard script...(probably out-sourced).
The problem is that they cheerfully follow their script, dump the case "into the system", at which point it all falls apart...
I had one recent situation where three separate humans clearly told me what they thought would happen...
But then their company's automated "case response system" went ahead and did something different.
The final resolution was actually in my favor - but was not at all what I'd been told happen...
I'm not naming the company because the resolution was actually in my favor...
My point is that the polite and helpful human support staff clearly had no knowledge of or control over what would actually happen.
(They were simply there to enter it into the system... and, beyond doing that, they were just guessing what would happen.)
First of all who in the right mind would actually buy this computer? There are several big red flags I've seen with the WOW computer. The things are: Unpopular/Unknown brand that doesn't get sold in typical consumer electronic stores, using a bizarre custom Linux OS, the obscured $1300 price tag, and outdated specs. Although you can get a decently good HP or Dell computer for about $200. It'll be running Windows that defiantly has a ton of support and you can configure the OS setting for the elderly people.
I've had to write the RMA on the box before for normal returns.
This process is like my 2007 experience returning a DOA Asus motherboard. They sent me back the same dead board three times