Microsoft won’t take my money, and won’t let me buy their product. Here’s my story:
I recently bought a new Mac. After being with Windows since ’95, I wasn’t giving up on them – I would still consider myself a Windows user for some things. But other things, are just nicer on a Mac, and some software I use is only available on the Mac. So I bought a Mac. Not the cardinal sin, is it?
In any case, one day while using my Mac, I needed to write a report, and do a presentation. Now, I know that Apple makes their iWork software, but I’m an Office guy through and through. I visited the Microsoft site, found their Mac section, and promptly downloaded their trial of Office. Since I was in a rush, and didn’t have my credit card ready, I figured it was the easiest way to solve my problem at the time, to just use the trial.
Of course, time went on, and I kept using the trial. Again – not the cardinal sin. Then, one day, I opened Word and discovered what was going to happen eventually: my trial had expired. No big deal, really, because I already knew I’d be buying the software – this just meant that I HAD to buy the software. So I got up from my desk, went to get my wallet with my credit card, and came back to click the “Click here to buy serial online” button on the Office window on my screen.
That lead me the Office web site, where I filled in my information, and went on to attempt my purchase. It processed, and …. failed.
“That’s weird,” I thought. “Perhaps I put in the wrong expiry date, or entered a number wrong.” So I tried again – this time taking extra care. It processed, and … failed again.
“Wow, I really must need new glasses,” I thought. So I tried a third time – same thing. So my immediate reaction is that there’s something wrong with my card. I checked my online bank, and the balance and everything there was fine, so I called the card company. A great guy helped me out, and assured me that nothing had been charged to my card, and everything was working fine on their end. So what next? Well I guess I should call Microsoft.
Now, I think it’s safe to say that everything you expect from this, is what ended up happening, but indulge me anyways. A man with an accent picked up the phone, and I began to explain my situation. He said there must be something wrong with how I typed in the information, or something wrong with my card. I explained that I had tried three times, and just got off the phone with the card company – there’s nothing wrong.
Then I told him what web site I was on, and he said it was the wrong site. I explained that it was the site I was brought to by clicking the button in the window that explained the trial had expired. Didn’t matter, apparently - here’s a new web site. I went there, and got FORWARDED to the same URL I was on previously. Apparently that was supposed to make a difference. He asked me to try it one more time, so I did, and once again, it failed.
He was confused, because it really shouldn’t be happening, he said. I asked him could it be my browser – since I was using Chrome. He had a revelation.
Of course it’s the browser! “Chrome is no good for online purchases – it’s just for checking email and watching YouTube,” he said. “You should try Internet Explorer.”
Keep in mind, now, I’m buying Office for Mac. Thus, I’m probably on a Mac – of which Microsoft stopped making IE for in 2003. I explained this, and he said of course, I was right, he meant “the other one.” I said “Safari?” Yes, that’s what he meant.
Safari = failed again.
At this point I ask him is there any way I could make the purchase over the phone. He said not at the number I had called, and the sales department was now closed. I gave him my information, and he said someone would call me back within 24 hours.
Here I was, then, without Office, without hope of completing my work, and without much hope left in the people I’ve been giving money since 1995.
Two days later, I got an email, asking me to contact MS Customer Support so they could assist me in my purchase. At that point, I really wasn’t in the mood to give these people money, so I decided to let ‘em sweat it out. By this time, I’d already downloaded OpenOffice, which wasn’t the best solution, but it did the stuff I needed it to.
Yesterday, though, I finally decided I was over my bitterness, and I was going to go ahead and purchase Office from Microsoft. I called the number they gave me, and discovered that customer support was closed at that time.
Hem.
No matter – they’ll be open soon enough. I went on through the work day, everything went relatively fine, and I didn’t let it bother me much. The next day (today) I realized that I STILL didn’t have Office. So I finally called Microsoft up one more time. Another gentleman with an accent answered the phone, and I began to tell him the story.
He informed me that the problem was with the bank – not them. “That doesn’t matter,” I said. “I just want to make a purchase over the phone.” He asked where I was from, and I told him Canada.
They can’t do phone orders for people in Canada.
So here I am, frustrated beyond belief, peeved to the core, and still have no Office on my Mac. The whole purpose of this post is to describe that it wasn’t for lack of trying. And to offer a plea to Microsoft: Please take my money!
Side note:
The Office serial purchase on the MS web site costs $119.00 in the USA. It’s $129.00 in Canada. I’d also like to point out that the Canadian Dollar is doing much better than the American Dollar right now – so according to the Bank of Canada, $119 US dollars is actually $117.90 CAN dollars. Not only can I NOT buy this software – I’m even paying too much for it!!
Update:
My immediate response to my problem was to download Page from Apple. It allowed me to work on what I needed to work on, but wasn’t ideal. A trip out of town has warranted me opportunity to get Office in the brick and morder store. I went to Staples and bought a copy of Office there. I ended up getting the CD as well, which was useless to me, but at least I got it now.When I put in the serial I had a 110MB update to download as well. Oh the joys.
