October 1st, 2007
The $150 laptop saga: No delivery schedule and the end of an order
Despite a few giggles and hope for the deal of the century the $150 laptop saga has ended for me.
I just canceled my order for the Medison Celebrity laptop with 2Checkout.com, the reseller handling orders. The reason: Opportunity cost. My $150, which thankfully was never charged to my credit card, is best used elsewhere.
For instance, I could use that $150 to partially fund an XO laptop from the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative. Even though there are valid doubts about the OLPC initiative, I’d feel better about throwing some dough at that project than some unknown Swedish company that can’t create a delivery schedule for its laptops.
I could also build my own all-in-one PC like George Ou, but that’s not much of an option for me. When it comes to home improvement I’ve worked my way up to “not handy” from “pathetically not handy.” My IT skills are a little better, but not by that much.
So more likely I’ll buy an XO and generate some better karma.
Here’s the history lesson on the Medison fiasco: On July 25, I ordered a Medison laptop for $150 and was euphoric. Buyers remorse set in, but I forged ahead for laughs based on two assumptions: Crooks aren’t as visible as the Medison CEO and 2Checkout.com was credible. I contacted 2Checkout.com on Sept. 8 to get my order status. 2Checkout.com was to then contact Medison to get some sort of status. Honestly, I forgot to follow up after a week to get the schedule.
Here’s the update I got today from a 2Checkout.com rep, who canceled my order and sent me a confirmation within a minute:
- Medison has a lot of orders;
- Medison isn’t making any deliveries;
- There’s no delivery schedule.
Those facts bring in the opportunity cost argument. Mentally, that $150 is tied up. It’s spent. So I’ll blow the dough elsewhere. If Medison had even a schedule I’d hang tough. But this is a $150 laptop that will never come. Time to cut my losses.
Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNet sister site TechRepublic. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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