A few weeks ago, my Laptop got water spilled on it.  I won't point fingers.
Fortunately, all that seems to be wrong with it is a burnt keyboard.

Unfortunately, I seem to be having a disconcerting amount of trouble procuring a
replacement.  I could have ordered one from Dell, directly, but they wanted card
numbers over the phone, which I don't do if I can avoid it.

So I went online looking for a replacement part, and thought I found one for a
good price, and the company seemed to have good reviews, so I ordered one.  It
took a week to get here, because they shipped it snail-mail instead of Fed Ex,
but that is not the problem.

The problem was that it arrived damaged. one corner was bent and the associated
key was broken off the mount. The box appeared fine.

So I sent the company an email requesting a return for refund, rather than a
replacement because, in addition to sending me a damaged keyboard, the
description -- which stated that the keyboard was a US model -- neglected to
mention that it was US-ISO, not US-ANSI.  But they asked nicely if I would
accept a replacement, and since I erred by not looking closely enough at the
picture beside the description, I decided to eat my mistake and take a
replacement.

Flash forward to today. I get home from work and I am handed... my replacement
keyboard. Upon opening the box, however, I find that this one is also damaged
(in a different corner, and not as badly, but still...)

The thing is, I can't see the keyboard mount plate being bent like that without
significant force.  Certainly nothing that wouldn't have also shown on the box,
had it been damaged in shipping.

Now, I could probably straighten it, and it might even work, but that's not the
point.  The point is that, after sending me two keyboards that were damaged --
and I have to return them at my own expense, since they do not provide a return
label -- I am considerably put out.

This time, I am insisting on a refund.  I'm still not happy about the return
postage: Not that it's expensive or anything, but my budget is tight at the
moment.

I suppose that I will have to get in touch with DELL, and order the part direct.
 At least with them, I can be reasonably sure they'll provide a return service,
and they'll understand the difference between US-ISO and US-ANSI.

A.D.B.

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