Mike Leone on Thu, 29 Nov 2001 10:41:00 -0500


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Re: [PLUG] OT OEM software


> I has been at least ten years since I bought a prepackaged PC, but two
weeks
> ago I found myself in Best Buy helping my parents pick out a new PC.
After
> they retreived the system from storage, the salesperson informed us that
> Best Buy has a policy of hooking everything up, and starting up the system
> to make sure it all works before the customer leaves the store.  We were
> told that this helps find problems and reduces the number of returns that
> are necessary.  It only took about 10min.  While we were waiting, watching
> the technician click through the 'I Agree to this licensing agreement'
> prompts it dawned on me that many of the customers who buy new PCs won't
> get the opportunity to choose not to use the bundled software - the
> manufacturers and retailers might eliminate that possibility by 'testing'
> the systems before purchase.  I don't know if yoru consent to the test
allows
> them to accept the agreements on your behalf or not, but it's a good
tactic
> to force license agreement.

 I think the mail order places - I know Dell does, for a fact - do NOT
complete the click-thru for you; the first time you start up the system, you
need to answer a few questions (insert product code; etc). Perhaps retail
stores do the click-thru for you - at which point, you've agreed to the
license, and - presumably - can't legally sell the software.

> That, and they wouldn't complete the sale without giving signup
information
> for the free MSN account.  The only way around that was to immediatly call
> the 1-800 number and struggle through explaining that we already had
internet
> service and didn't want MSN.

Doesn't that just annoy the crap out of you? Take my damn money, and leave
me alone! :-)




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