Buying electrical good in KOW is often a frustrating experience

[xandreu]

In typical Khmer style, I just tried to buy a laptop which descended into such a farce, I had to walk out.

I chose my laptop, they bought the box out from the back, opened it and pulled everything out - something which does frustrate me but I've got used to by now. I prefer to just take the box home and unbox it myself, but I know that's not how it's done here and they need to check it's working OK, so I've grown to live with that.

They then tell me that I'll have to wait an hour while they update it.

"It's ok, I can update it myself at home"
"But we can do it for you sir"
"No seriously, I can do all of that myself. It's no big deal."
"But the Windows is Chinese sir. We have to change it to English for you."
"I can do that too. It's not a problem."
"Oh, you know Chinese sir? You know what to click?"
"I can work it out. It's fine. really"
"But we have someone who can do it all for you."
"Really. I'm going to format the drive and replace Windows anyway, regardless of what you do so there's no point in you updating it or changing the language."
"Please just wait sir. We can check if it's ok at the same time. Just 15 minutes. Take a seat please sir"

I reluctantly sit down and play with my phone. 15 minutes passes. 30 minutes pass. All the while, they guy working on it keeps calling the other assistants over and three or four of them all stand around my brand new laptop, wiping their smudgy fingers on the screen, looking bemused, at least twice the guy pulls his face mask down over his chin and coughs all over it.

I walk over to him to find him trying to navigate the Windows English site to find out how to download the English version of Windows, yet barely being able to read English himself, which was why he kept asking the other assistants to help - you couldn't make it up. He was doing the exact reverse of what they were trying to help me not to do, and taking much longer doing it than I would have taken simply by formatting the drive!

I simply walked out. Despite having lived here for some years now, I really need to be a little bit longer before I can deal with frustration like that.

I feel bad knowing that they've opened a sealed box but jeeeze...just give me the god damn computer, I'll give you the god damn money and we'll all be on our god damned way.

[Username Taken]

Amateurs! All Khmer IT peeps know that all computer problems can be fixed simply by right-click, then hit Refresh a dozen times.

[Marty]

Bugs the heck out of me too. Once they took four hours to do the same thing and also coughed and put greasy fingers on my new laptop. To calm myself before going into these places I get thoroughly stoned or boozed up before going in. Otherwise I wouldnt buy anything.

[Jerry Atrick]

In typical Khmer style, I just tried to buy a laptop which descended into such a farce, I had to walk out.

I chose my laptop, they bought the box out from the back, opened it and pulled everything out - something which does frustrate me but I've got used to by now. I prefer to just take the box home and unbox it myself, but I know that's not how it's done here and they need to check it's working OK, so I've grown to live with that.

They then tell me that I'll have to wait an hour while they update it.

"It's ok, I can update it myself at home"
"But we can do it for you sir"
"No seriously, I can do all of that myself. It's no big deal."
"But the Windows is Chinese sir. We have to change it to English for you."
"I can do that too. It's not a problem."
"Oh, you know Chinese sir? You know what to click?"
"I can work it out. It's fine. really"
"But we have someone who can do it all for you."
"Really. I'm going to format the drive and replace Windows anyway, regardless of what you do so there's no point in you updating it or changing the language."
"Please just wait sir. We can check if it's ok at the same time. Just 15 minutes. Take a seat please sir"

I reluctantly sit down and play with my phone. 15 minutes passes. 30 minutes pass. All the while, they guy working on it keeps calling the other assistants over and three or four of them all stand around my brand new laptop, wiping their smudgy fingers on the screen, looking bemused, at least twice the guy pulls his face mask down over his chin and coughs all over it.

I walk over to him to find him trying to navigate the Windows English site to find out how to download the English version of Windows, yet barely being able to read English himself, which was why he kept asking the other assistants to help - you couldn't make it up. He was doing the exact reverse of what they were trying to help me not to do, and taking much longer doing it than I would have taken simply by formatting the drive!

I simply walked out. Despite having lived here for some years now, I really need to be a little bit longer before I can deal with frustration like that.

I feel bad knowing that they've opened a sealed box but jeeeze...just give me the god damn computer, I'll give you the god damn money and we'll all be on our god damned way.

I like to go to the smaller shops, like Vantech on K. Krom because of this phenomenon you describe here.

They are much cheaper there and have cut out a lot of the bullshit that the large shops nearby Monivong and Sorya have.

[techietraveller84]

So where are you going to get your laptop now? Hope the next shopping experience is much more pleasant.

[xandreu]

So where are you going to get your laptop now? Hope the next shopping experience is much more pleasant.

I've been dithering over whether I should buy it or not for a couple of weeks now. I'm not usually suspicious but when things like this happen, I take it as a sign that perhaps I shouldn't be buying after all lol. There are plenty of places that sell the same laptop for the same price, but I'll wait it out and hopefully my tech urge will pass. It was the new Matebook 13 from Huawei. Beautiful little thing but a bit pricey

[Phnom Poon]

it's for the best
think about getting a real laptop next time

[chinesetakeaway]

I bought a ‘new’ iPad pro from Hakse a few years ago and they brought out a sealed ipad, broke the seal when I confirmed I wanted to buy. I don’t recall them switching but several months later when I went to Japan it wouldn’t work with a local SIM despite being an unlocked iPad. I went to the Apple store in Tokyo where they confirmed that the iPad had been sold locked to NTT in japan 4 months before I bought it in Cambodia. I went back to Hakse and they disputed Apples assertion. This is a risk with buying in Cambodia.

[Bitte_Kein_Lexus]

I love how they feel the need to out a "warranty seal" sticker on absolutely everything. Isn't a bill enough? No, you need that sticker on the WiFi extender, inside the battery compartment of that mouse etc...

[Marty]

Yes that bothers me to no end and I immediately scrape all those warranty stickers off as soon as I get the item home. Then I use alcohol or some other solvent so no trace of the sticky stuff remains.