An Ode to my Printer

So believe it or not, I have been trying all weekend to write this post, however… SHOCKER… my internet has been extremely slow EVEN THOUGH we upgraded to higher bandwidth (which is sufficient for a small business, army, school whatever). ANYWAY… I decided to post at work, seeing how this is much more important.

Ah, my printer. I ordered (with the help of an Israeli) this “great” laser printer online and had it delivered to my apartment. Simple enough. Unfortunately, when I opened said printer and tried to print from my computer, no go.

I decided to call Lexmark in the UNITED STATES to discuss my problem and see if they might be able to help me. I must say, after living in Israel, if someone just says “hello” to me without an attitude, I am speechless. Even a remark “Hello, how may I provide you with excellent service today” is just comforting to hear. After discussing my problem with Jon (yes, my tech’s name- from India- was Jon) he directly connected to my computer, also AMAZING, and tried to help me with the problem.

After about an hour, he established that there is a communication error with my printer and I need to have it exchanged by Lexmark there. I started to laugh, I KNEW how this was going to go down. Thanked him, and hung up.

Now came the difficult task, getting a new printer. First, I decided to try to exchange the printer from the original source of purchase. My conversation went like this:

Operator: “Yes this is Pandas.”

Me: “Hi, I bought a printer from you and after an hour with tech support from Lexmark they determined there is a communication error with the printer. Can I exchange the printer for a different model? It’s within 30 days”

Operator: “No, you opened the box”

Me: “Well of course I opened the box. How else am I supposed to know if it works??”

Operator: “I’m sorry. You must call Lexmark Israel and discuss it with them”

Me: “You know, this is ridiculuous. There is no reason why you can’t take back the printer. They do this all the time in the States.”

Operator: “Well this isn’t America.”

…. touche…. click.

Current state of affairs:

3 Calls into Lexmark Israel

1 Nonworking printer

1 extremely frustrated and annoyed Shira