I went to best buy last night to purchase a GPS. I’ve wanted one for a while, but my previous car’s lighter/outlet didn’t work – so, new car, new outlet, and new GPS.
I found the one I wanted, got the option for unlimited maps, and headed to the checkout. The clerk scans the box and announces that best buy recommends the full geek squad service plan on the device.
Now, have you ever bought something at best buy and not gotten pushed into buying some kind of protection plan, extended warranty, or geek squad service? It’s like they expect every product they sell to explode into a fireball of death the nano-second you walk out the store. At least they seemed to have stopped pushing magazine subscriptions. I’m in there buying a device that constantly gets updates from SPACE and they want me to sign up for print media.
So, she continues on about how they can repair it if there are problems and help if I have trouble downloading updates. Now that got my dander riled up. Download? In my head I’m thinking, “Download? Don’t you know who I am? I will download the shit out of that device. I will download that until it needs a support group to recover!”
I didn’t say that, of course. But I did say, “No thanks. I’m a geek. I’ve got it covered.”
Which was maybe a little arrogant on my part because while I’m fairly certain I could download any update it needs, I’d be reluctant to crack open the case and re-solder the connectors.
She was a little taken aback, but followed up with “It also covers replacement if it can’t be fixed,”
To which I (mentally) replied, “You dare doubt my powers?!?” and aloud… well, I didn’t really say anything. I’d already told her I didn’t want the geek squad protection and that was pretty much all I had to say on the subject. I paid for the GPS and headed out.
I used the GPS to get to work this morning. I didn’t like the route it picked, but we soon sorted it out. I also need to download some new voices. There’s no British voice – which I prefer in other GPS’s I’ve used – and the one of the american voices has a sort of whine to her speech patterns.
So, I’m guessing some downloads are in my future. Gee, who could I call if I can’t figure that out?