XPost: alt.comp.os.windows-11

Josh Epstein wrote:

Does anybody here knows what "Grade A", "Grade B" or "Grade C" means
when shopping for refurbished laptops or desktops?

Dell website doesn't say anything about this.

My very old Toshiba laptop (about 10 years old) has broken down so it is
time to get a replacement. refurbished laptops comes with Windows 10 professional but I know how to upgrade to Windows 11 23H2 so this is not
a problem for me. I am not thinking of 24H2 yet so don't even mention it here.

Thank you for reading this post.

Grade A,B, and C are likely just referring to the number and severity of cosmetic scratches, scuffs, and dents, etc. Probably all are tested only superficially for basic function.

Of course, like everything else, some vendors are probably better than
others. Especially when it comes to support after the sale.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.comp.os.windows-11

Does anybody here knows what "Grade A", "Grade B" or "Grade C" means
when shopping for refurbished laptops or desktops?

Dell website doesn't say anything about this.

My very old Toshiba laptop (about 10 years old) has broken down so it is
time to get a replacement. refurbished laptops comes with Windows 10 professional but I know how to upgrade to Windows 11 23H2 so this is not
a problem for me. I am not thinking of 24H2 yet so don't even mention it
here.

Thank you for reading this post.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On Thu, 10/3/2024 10:45 PM, Josh Epstein wrote:

Does anybody here knows what "Grade A", "Grade B" or "Grade C" means
when shopping for refurbished laptops or desktops?

Dell website doesn't say anything about this.

My very old Toshiba laptop (about 10 years old) has broken down so it is
time to get a replacement. refurbished laptops comes with Windows 10 professional but I know how to upgrade to Windows 11 23H2 so this is not
a problem for me. I am not thinking of 24H2 yet so don't even mention it here.

Thank you for reading this post.

"Refurbished Laptop Grades Explained: What they mean and why they matter

Grade Condition Cosmetic Imperfections
----- --------- ----------------------
A Excellent Minor blemishes
B Good Cosmetic imperfections not noticeable when powered on
C Fair Noticeable cosmetic imperfections [scratched panel, deal pixel(s) ]
D Good for parts Significant cosmetic damage
"

Then the question is, how honest is the company (or person).

The refurb I bought, was actually refurbished by a Chinese guy
in a shop in my own city. I discovered the street address of the
shop, by poking the web page the item was listed on a bit.

I was told the item was Grade A, but it was more of a Grade B.
Likely dropped and metalwork bent a bit. The design engineering
of some of these machines, sets them up for failures like this.
"Tool-less" design seems to bring the worst solutions for
fastening stuff. If the equipment uses screws and a rectangular
metal structure for strength, that's less likely to go wrong.

Laptops have:

1) Power jack damage (need to replace little PCB inside with jack on it).
2) Bad/loose hinges.
3) Damaged panel wiring (where it goes through hinge).
4) Worn connectors.
5) Janky keyboard design, beaten mercilessly by keyboard warrior.
Replacement keyboards for sale, "only available in Spanish"
when you happen to not be Spanish.
6) Scratched panel. Or panel cleaned with the wrong solvent
(matte finish panels don't like chemicals at all, AR coatings
might not tolerate ammonia or analogs of ammonia or alcohol).

Gamer laptops, with 200 watt power dissipation, those can be
unsalvageable after four years of usage or so. Lower power units
(65W wall adapter), stand a better chance, and then you go through
the numbered list for other outcomes.

For desktops, they always have the wrong power supply in them.
You have this RTX 4090 you bought on sale, want to fit it,
and the desktop has a 250W power supply :-) Comedy ensues.

On some desktops, there is also the possibility that two-slot-wide
video card faceplates, are not compatible with the faceplate retention scheme on an older machine chassis. You would think that is not possible,
but, it happened to me.

Paul

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Fri, 4 Oct 2024 02:45:33 +0000, Josh Epstein
<hjujhy@invalid.invalid> wrote:

Does anybody here knows what "Grade A", "Grade B" or "Grade C" means
when shopping for refurbished laptops or desktops?

Dell website doesn't say anything about this.

My very old Toshiba laptop (about 10 years old) has broken down so it is
time to get a replacement. refurbished laptops comes with Windows 10 >professional but I know how to upgrade to Windows 11 23H2 so this is not
a problem for me. I am not thinking of 24H2 yet so don't even mention it >here.

Thank you for reading this post.

If these are online stores, I'd pass. There's no way I'd buy 2nd hand
gear without a proper inspection, regardless of "grades"...

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 05/10/2024 22:05, R2D2 wrote:

If these are online stores, I'd pass. There's no way I'd buy 2nd hand
gear without a proper inspection, regardless of "grades"...

I'm buying from Dell website. They sell laptops for few bobs less when
the original carton box is damaged or when customers return the product
for whatever reasons. In some countries customers have a legal right to
return the products within 14 days for no reason whatsoever when buying
online. This law doesn't apply when buying from a physical high street
store. Amazon have 1 year return policy for buying refurbished machines
but only for faults. I don't buy anything from eBay because there are
many Chinese sellers who don't give their address in local country for customers to contact. Their Chinese address is not good for me.

Thank you to all who relied to this post. I am now aware of what to look for.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 10/5/24 18:59, Josh Epstein wrote:

On 05/10/2024 22:05, R2D2 wrote:

If these are online stores, I'd pass. There's no way I'd buy 2nd hand
gear without a proper inspection, regardless of "grades"...

I'm buying from Dell website.

Thank you to all who relied to this post. I am now aware of what to look for.

There's more.
I bought from Dell. Once. They duplicated my order, I refused to accept
the second delivery, and the item went back. But Dell charged my card
twice and would not refund the extra $250 they collected. I disputed the
charge with Discover, eventually winning by default because Dell
wouldn't responded to Discover's investigation. After a year passed, I
received a letter from a debt collector who demanded the $250 or an
explanation why I didn't owe it! Lots of luck if there's a problem, Dell
won't care.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Sun, 6 Oct 2024 01:59:37 +0000, Josh
Epstein <hjujhy@invalid.invalid> wrote:

On 05/10/2024 22:05, R2D2 wrote:

You talked about upgrading to win11. You know some can be and come
can't be upgraded, right? The ads I've seen tell you.

If these are online stores, I'd pass. There's no way I'd buy 2nd hand
gear without a proper inspection, regardless of "grades"...

I'm buying from Dell website. They sell laptops for few bobs less when
the original carton box is damaged or when customers return the product
for whatever reasons. In some countries customers have a legal right to >return the products within 14 days for no reason whatsoever when buying >online. This law doesn't apply when buying from a physical high street
store. Amazon have 1 year return policy for buying refurbished machines
but only for faults.

I didn't want to return, only advice on fixing, when my Amazon refurb
desktop totally stopped working within the first year, but I didn't
remember who the refurbisher was. And Amazon sold the same model from
at least 3, probably more, refurbishers, and didn't use the one I'd
bought from when I needed to know it. So write it down.

Eventually I fixed the problem and it wasn't something the refurbisher
would know more about than people here. It wasn't relateds to anything
he did. And then two years later, I found his name and phone number on
a sticker on the box!

I don't buy anything from eBay because there are
many Chinese sellers who don't give their address in local country for >customers to contact. Their Chinese address is not good for me.

Thank you to all who relied to this post. I am now aware of what to look for.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 06/10/2024 03:46, Dog Bagfood wrote:

On 10/5/24 18:59, Josh Epstein wrote:

On 05/10/2024 22:05, R2D2 wrote:

If these are online stores, I'd pass. There's no way I'd buy 2nd hand
gear without a proper inspection, regardless of "grades"...

I'm buying from Dell website.

Thank you to all who relied to this post. I am now aware of what to
look for.

There's more.
I bought from Dell. Once. They duplicated my order, I refused to accept
the second delivery, and the item went back. But Dell charged my card
twice and would not refund the extra $250 they collected. I disputed the charge with Discover, eventually winning by default because Dell
wouldn't responded to Discover's investigation. After a year passed, I received a letter from a debt collector who demanded the $250 or an explanation why I didn't owe it! Lots of luck if there's a problem, Dell won't care.

Oh no. I am in United Kingdom and we have protection under what is
called Section 75 Consumer Protection Act. I can summarise the Act here
but this link gives most of the things you need to know: <https://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/credit-cards/guides/section-75-protection.html>

This double charge is the first time I have heard of. Perhaps your
experience was sometimes ago when Credit Card companies were not sending
SMS text messages for transactions to verify that it is you who is
authorising this.

Paying by Credit Card is the best way to buy online these days. Not bank transfer, Not bank debit card or not even PayPal. The reason PayPal is
not good even if you are paying by a credit card is because your
contract is with PayPal and so Credit Card will refuse to get involved.
PayPal has its own internal processes but they are not as good as the
S75 rights. This is what I understand from weekly Radio Consumer
programs in the UK. I listen to radio programs quite a lot.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Sat, 5 Oct 2024 19:46:14 -0700, Dog
Bagfood <find@petshops.com> wrote:

On 10/5/24 18:59, Josh Epstein wrote:

On 05/10/2024 22:05, R2D2 wrote:

If these are online stores, I'd pass. There's no way I'd buy 2nd hand
gear without a proper inspection, regardless of "grades"...

I'm buying from Dell website.

Thank you to all who relied to this post. I am now aware of what to look for.

There's more.
I bought from Dell. Once. They duplicated my order, I refused to accept
the second delivery, and the item went back. But Dell charged my card
twice and would not refund the extra $250 they collected. I disputed the >charge with Discover, eventually winning by default because Dell
wouldn't responded to Discover's investigation. After a year passed, I >received a letter from a debt collector who demanded the $250 or an >explanation why I didn't owe it! Lots of luck if there's a problem, Dell >won't care.

Wow. Sort of related. I signed up for surgery on my parathyroid with a
guy in Tampa who said he did 20 or 30% of all such surgeries in the US.
He had a room waiting for you when you got there, saw you the first day, surgery the second, and home the 3rd.

But later I realized people in Baltimore could do it just as well, and I cancelled, a month before my arrival date, over the phone. Never got a
bill from him until 2 years later someone wrote or called and said I
owed a cancellation fee of a couple hundred. I told him what I just
said and never heard back.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 06/10/2024 05:12, micky wrote:

You talked about upgrading to win11. You know some can be and come
can't be upgraded, right? The ads I've seen tell you.

All machines can be upgraded to Win11. There are ways to bypass
Microsoft's strict requirements. People have even upgraded 24H2 in the
last couple of days.

If you download the ISO and use Microsoft tool then you'll struggle but
if you can get into the cmd prompt (as administrator or user with admin privileges) at the time of installation then you can run: "setup.exe
/product server"

Then you can follow the normal setup instructions on the screen.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On Fri, 4 Oct 2024 02:45:33 +0000, Josh Epstein
<hjujhy@invalid.invalid> wrote:

Does anybody here knows what "Grade A", "Grade B" or "Grade C" means
when shopping for refurbished laptops or desktops?

Dell website doesn't say anything about this.

My very old Toshiba laptop (about 10 years old) has broken down so it is
time to get a replacement. refurbished laptops comes with Windows 10 >professional but I know how to upgrade to Windows 11 23H2 so this is not
a problem for me. I am not thinking of 24H2 yet so don't even mention it >here.

I got a refurbished Dell with Windows 10 after my old Toshiba with
Windows 7 was stolem.

They would have put Windows 11 on it but I was looking specifically
for a 32bit O/S and Windows 11 doesn't offer that option.

Windows 32-bit can run older programs, but the 64-bit version cannot.


--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.comp.os.windows-11

Steve Hayes <hayesstw@telkomsa.net> wrote:

On Fri, 4 Oct 2024 02:45:33 +0000, Josh Epstein
<hjujhy@invalid.invalid> wrote:

Does anybody here knows what "Grade A", "Grade B" or "Grade C" means
when shopping for refurbished laptops or desktops?

Dell website doesn't say anything about this.

My very old Toshiba laptop (about 10 years old) has broken down so it is
time to get a replacement. refurbished laptops comes with Windows 10
professional but I know how to upgrade to Windows 11 23H2 so this is not
a problem for me. I am not thinking of 24H2 yet so don't even mention it
here.

I got a refurbished Dell with Windows 10 after my old Toshiba with
Windows 7 was stolem.

They would have put Windows 11 on it but I was looking specifically
for a 32bit O/S and Windows 11 doesn't offer that option.

Windows 32-bit can run older programs, but the 64-bit version cannot.

I thought 64 bit could also run most 32 bit programs, but I’m probably
wrong.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Josh Epstein <hjujhy@invalid.invalid> wrote:

On 06/10/2024 05:12, micky wrote:

You talked about upgrading to win11. You know some can be and come
can't be upgraded, right? The ads I've seen tell you.

All machines can be upgraded to Win11.

Not all. If it has an old cpu which doesn’t have the newer sse
instructions, it won’t boot 24h2 even if you manage to install.

Most machines less than 12 years old will work fine.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.comp.os.windows-11

Hank Rogers wrote:

Steve Hayes wrote:

Windows 32-bit can run older programs, but the 64-bit version cannot.

I thought 64 bit could also run most 32 bit programs, but I’m probably wrong.

Yes, but 32 bit windows can run old 16 bit apps, 64 bit windows can't
without e.g. DOSbox

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On Sun, 10/6/2024 2:35 AM, Hank Rogers wrote:

Steve Hayes <hayesstw@telkomsa.net> wrote:

On Fri, 4 Oct 2024 02:45:33 +0000, Josh Epstein
<hjujhy@invalid.invalid> wrote:

Does anybody here knows what "Grade A", "Grade B" or "Grade C" means
when shopping for refurbished laptops or desktops?

Dell website doesn't say anything about this.

My very old Toshiba laptop (about 10 years old) has broken down so it is >>> time to get a replacement. refurbished laptops comes with Windows 10
professional but I know how to upgrade to Windows 11 23H2 so this is not >>> a problem for me. I am not thinking of 24H2 yet so don't even mention it >>> here.

I got a refurbished Dell with Windows 10 after my old Toshiba with
Windows 7 was stolem.

They would have put Windows 11 on it but I was looking specifically
for a 32bit O/S and Windows 11 doesn't offer that option.

Windows 32-bit can run older programs, but the 64-bit version cannot.

I thought 64 bit could also run most 32 bit programs, but I’m probably wrong.

Some old programs, have 16 bit installer code (installer won't run),
while the installed materials are 32 bit, and the 32 bit materials
would run under a 64-bit OS.

And you've probably seen cases, where to the customer eye, a code
seems to be 32 bit, but the bloody OS keeps telling you it's not
compatible with the OS you have booted. That's not all that unusual.

I would treat the 32-bit OS for 16 bit code, 64-bit OS for 32 bit code,
as merely a rule of thumb, not a guarantee. It can be pretty hard to
figure out exactly what geriatric format you've been trying to load.

Code compiled with gcc and Visual Studio is "different". Yet, the loader
loads both of them. To debug the code (assumes compiled in debug mode),
you have to use a matching debugger (gdb, or Windbg).

Someone showed an ELF online within the last couple of months,
that seemed to have .NET PE code in it (as the very last linked item).
The manufacturing mechanism was unknown, but it looked like it was being presented, as a potential method of exploitation. While loaders seem to
have *some* rules about what they will load, inexplicably, some really
janky formulations will still work. Which should scare all of us.

Paul

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 10/5/24 10:46 PM, Dog Bagfood wrote:

On 10/5/24 18:59, Josh Epstein wrote:

On 05/10/2024 22:05, R2D2 wrote:

If these are online stores, I'd pass. There's no way I'd buy 2nd hand
gear without a proper inspection, regardless of "grades"...

I'm buying from Dell website.

Thank you to all who relied to this post. I am now aware of what to look for.

There's more.
I bought from Dell. Once. They duplicated my order, I refused to accept the second delivery, and the
item went back. But Dell charged my card twice and would not refund the extra $250 they collected. I
disputed the charge with Discover, eventually winning by default because Dell wouldn't responded to
Discover's investigation. After a year passed, I received a letter from a debt collector who
demanded the $250 or an explanation why I didn't owe it! Lots of luck if there's a problem, Dell
won't care.

I've had good experiences with Dell. Had 4 laptops each lasting 8+ years and even had one totally
replaced due to a defect they couldn't repair.
--
Linux Mint 21.3, Cinnamon 6.0.4, Kernel 5.15.0-122-generic
Al

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On Sun, 6 Oct 2024 06:35:00 -0000 (UTC), Hank Rogers
<invalid@nospam.com> wrote:

Steve Hayes <hayesstw@telkomsa.net> wrote:

On Fri, 4 Oct 2024 02:45:33 +0000, Josh Epstein
<hjujhy@invalid.invalid> wrote:

Does anybody here knows what "Grade A", "Grade B" or "Grade C" means
when shopping for refurbished laptops or desktops?

Dell website doesn't say anything about this.

My very old Toshiba laptop (about 10 years old) has broken down so it is >>> time to get a replacement. refurbished laptops comes with Windows 10
professional but I know how to upgrade to Windows 11 23H2 so this is not >>> a problem for me. I am not thinking of 24H2 yet so don't even mention it >>> here.

I got a refurbished Dell with Windows 10 after my old Toshiba with
Windows 7 was stolem.

They would have put Windows 11 on it but I was looking specifically
for a 32bit O/S and Windows 11 doesn't offer that option.

Windows 32-bit can run older programs, but the 64-bit version cannot.

I thought 64 bit could also run most 32 bit programs, but I’m probably >wrong.

Maybe it can run 32-bit programs, but it certainly can't run 16-bit
and 8-bit programs.


--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 06 Oct 2024 17:19:52 GMT, Mark Lloyd <not.email@all.invalid> wrote:

On Sun, 06 Oct 2024 15:17:20 +0200, Steve Hayes wrote:

[snip]

Windows 32-bit can run older programs, but the 64-bit version cannot.

I thought 64 bit could also run most 32 bit programs, but I’m probably >>>wrong.

Maybe it can run 32-bit programs, but it certainly can't run 16-bit and
8-bit programs.

There was no 8-bit CPU compatible with modern devices (80x86 or 80x88), so
no 8-bit Windows programs. IIRC, the 8080 was "semi-compatible", but
programs had to be recompiled.

I run MS DOS programs in Windows 10. They run more slowly under
Windows 10 than under Windows XP, but they do run.


--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On Sun, 06 Oct 2024 15:17:20 +0200, Steve Hayes wrote:

[snip]

Windows 32-bit can run older programs, but the 64-bit version cannot.

I thought 64 bit could also run most 32 bit programs, but I’m probably >>wrong.

Maybe it can run 32-bit programs, but it certainly can't run 16-bit and
8-bit programs.

There was no 8-bit CPU compatible with modern devices (80x86 or 80x88), so
no 8-bit Windows programs. IIRC, the 8080 was "semi-compatible", but
programs had to be recompiled.

--
80 days until the winter celebration (Wednesday, December 25, 2024
12:00:00 AM for 1 day).

Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"The Invisible and the non-existent look very much alike." -- Delos B.
McKown

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 10/5/24 21:55, Josh Epstein wrote:

On 06/10/2024 03:46, Dog Bagfood wrote:

I'm buying from Dell website.

Thank you to all who relied to this post. I am now aware of what to
look for.

There's more.
I bought from Dell. Once. They duplicated my order, I refused to accept
the second delivery, and the item went back. But Dell charged my card
twice and would not refund the extra $250 they collected. I disputed the
charge with Discover, eventually winning by default because Dell
wouldn't responded to Discover's investigation. After a year passed, I
received a letter from a debt collector who demanded the $250 or an
explanation why I didn't owe it! Lots of luck if there's a problem, Dell
won't care.

This double charge is the first time I have heard of. Perhaps your
experience was sometimes ago when Credit Card companies were not sending
SMS text messages for transactions to verify that it is you who is authorising this.

Be very attentive at Dell's website store. I began there, and at the
final step noticed that the amount due was changed to full regular
price, the special promo discount was abruptly gone. The creeps.

So my order went by phone, and it went through a call center in India.
Sales rep was fluent, and very professional, but at the end Discover
refused the transaction because it was perceived to be "suspicious
activity".

I cleared everything up with Discover, and called the same guy at Dell's
call center back again. He told me the first order was invalid and gave
me a new order number.
However, /someone/ treated the failed first attempt as a completed sale,
and re-charged me on that.

There's much more to the story...
a $100 Dell Gift Card was part of the deal, one gift card.
The bumbling idiots at Dell gave me FOUR of them. Two for the valid transaction, and two more for the invalid one. Yes, they doubled it,
then doubled it again! I could have ripped them off for the bonus $300,
but I didn't.

My letter to the debt collector ran about two pages.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Dog Bagfood wrote:

On 10/5/24 21:55, Josh Epstein wrote:

On 06/10/2024 03:46, Dog Bagfood wrote:

I'm buying from Dell website.

Thank you to all who relied to this post. I am now aware of what to
look for.

There's more.
I bought from Dell. Once. They duplicated my order, I refused to accept
the second delivery, and the item went back. But Dell charged my card
twice and would not refund the extra $250 they collected. I disputed the >>> charge with Discover, eventually winning by default because Dell
wouldn't responded to Discover's investigation. After a year passed, I
received a letter from a debt collector who demanded the $250 or an
explanation why I didn't owe it! Lots of luck if there's a problem, Dell >>> won't care.

This double charge is the first time I have heard of. Perhaps your
experience was sometimes ago when Credit Card companies were not sending
SMS text messages for transactions to verify that it is you who is
authorising this.

Be very attentive at Dell's website store. I began there, and at the
final step noticed that the amount due was changed to full regular
price, the special promo discount was abruptly gone. The creeps.

So my order went by phone, and it went through a call center in India.
Sales rep was fluent, and very professional, but at the end Discover
refused the transaction because it was perceived to be "suspicious
activity".

I cleared everything up with Discover, and called the same guy at Dell's
call center back again. He told me the first order was invalid and gave
me a new order number.
However, /someone/ treated the failed first attempt as a completed sale,
and re-charged me on that.

There's much more to the story...
a $100 Dell Gift Card was part of the deal, one gift card.
The bumbling idiots at Dell gave me FOUR of them. Two for the valid transaction, and two more for the invalid one. Yes, they doubled it,
then doubled it again! I could have ripped them off for the bonus $300,
but I didn't.

My letter to the debt collector ran about two pages.

I think you deserved to keep the bonuses to compensate for all the
bullshit you had to go through.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 06/10/2024 05:17, micky wrote:

In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Sat, 5 Oct 2024 19:46:14 -0700, Dog
Bagfood <find@petshops.com> wrote:

Wow. Sort of related. I signed up for surgery on my parathyroid with a
guy in Tampa who said he did 20 or 30% of all such surgeries in the US.
He had a room waiting for you when you got there, saw you the first day, surgery the second, and home the 3rd.

Hi Micky,

I'm in the UK, had a very successful blade operation on an enlarged
prostate gland on the standard free NHS, me knocked out on general
anaesthetic in the operating room.

After an overnight stay I came out, er, refurbished. Pretty much "grade A"

I understand in the US such operations are routinely done with local anaesthetic just to avoid the cost of the overnight stay...

*ouch*

--
Adrian C

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)