Reader Sarah expected to receive a manual and software with the Creative Zen Micro she ordered from Geeks.com, but received neither. When she called to complain, a CSR told her the following:

“Oh, don’t even worry about that. These are SO easy to use, you won’t need a manual! I mean, if you had bought some cheap piece of Chinese crap, we would have had to supply a manual. But the Creative players are GREAT. You won’t need one.”

Sarah’s full email, after the jump.

Last week I noticed a deal on Creative Player Zen Micro’s from Geeks.com on your website. In the market for a new mp3 player, I clicked the link, saw the fantastic price of $50 for a 5GB player, and proceeded to complete the transaction. A week later, it arrives. I open it excitedly only to realize that it was sent with a set of headphones and a USB cord, and nothing else. No manuals, no software. Luckily, I know how to plug an mp3 player into a USB port, and I was confident that I’d found the power switch, so I gave it a go. Unluckily, the screen blinked for a mere moment before going off, and no amount of toggling the power switch could revive it. I left it to charge for awhile and tried again. Still no luck. I called up customer support at Geeks.com and this is where the craziness comes in – first, the representative helps me get the thing to turn on. Brilliant! I then inquire as to why I was not given any manuals or software. Here is the response, as close to word-for-word as I can recall:

“Oh, don’t even worry about that. These are SO easy to use, you won’t need a manual! I mean, if you had bought some cheap piece of Chinese crap, we would have had to supply a manual. But the Creative players are GREAT. You won’t need one.”

I protested, saying that I’d feel more comfortable with a manual, to which he replied that I could download the manual from the Creative website. Fair enough, but what was with the wierdo comments? He also mentioned that “You might need to download some drivers, but I don’t think so. No, you should be good.” But, yes, I DID need to download drivers, as well as the software that allows you to organize the music on your player, as well as whatever plug-in was necessary to ensure that my computer could recognize the player was connected, etc etc. It took me around 4hrs and several trips to the Creative Support message boards to get all that straight and get the thing actually working.

So now I’m sitting pretty with my fabulous mp3 player that was mega cheap, but I have a squicky feeling inside over giving my business to a company that tells its customers, in all seriousness, that unless you buy “a piece of Chinese crap” (which I guess they are admitting they sell?), you don’t need any manuals, software, or other guidance whatsoever to learn how to properly use your new toy.

iPods are pretty great and even they come with manuals and software.

(Photo: halighalie)

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