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Comment by midoridensha | Hacker News Reader

Why would you buy a computer over the phone? I got a Dell a couple years ago and it was easy: I just went to the website, selected the model and options I wanted, put in my credit card number, placed the order, and a few days later got what I ordered in a box. I didn't order any extended warranty so I didn't get charged for one.

To extend this, why would you do anything over the phone if you can just do it through a website? Talking to humans is always going to cause errors and inefficiency; just getting the person to get your name spelled right is a challenge.

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I think it is fair to test the ability of a large manufacturer to sell computer through the phone. Many people do not know what they need to accomplish their work so asking the seller to sell them an appropriate product is not outlandish.

For example I wanted to buy a sewing machine but didn't know anything about them though I knew what I wanted to do with it. So I went to a nearby shop and asked the seller what they recommended and actually ended up with an appropriate product. Maybe for computer related stuff this is not the good way to do it anymore idk.

If you didn't know much about sewing machines, would you buy one over the phone?

I can understand seeing a salesperson in person about a big purchase for some equipment: they can actually show the items to you, let you try them out, etc. You can't do any of that over the phone.

Plus, when you decide to buy the thing, you can verify, visually, that all your information is correct. Again, can't do that on the phone.

You are right I was comparing buying over the internet and talking to someone, but if I have the choice to talk to someone in person versus over the phone, I would prefer in person 100%.

For the video the other person posted, the DELL experience seems particularly shady since they are the only manufacturer which pushed heavily for insurance and financing. They did this experience twice (in 2018 and 2020) and this issue happened both times. So the website part of the product seems fine, however if you talk to a DELL salesperson then you may have to expect shady behaviour since it looks like they are encouraged to sell things you don't need.

But yeah, don't spend thousands of dollars over the phone, I agree.

Yeah, sorry for any confusion. I'm only comparing buying over the internet to buying over telephone. The latter I just don't understand at all, except for the one commenter's claim that you might be able to negotiate a better deal if you know exactly what you want.

Buying in-person is the best usually, as long as the price is the same, and the item isn't something difficult to take home with you.

Sometimes calling sales can get you a better price or benefit to make you close the deal and buy the product straight away.

If you have done your research beforehand, it’s a good way to get a discount.

Something about needing a computer.

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