So let's see... I need a laptop for work, so I specced out one that I liked and gave the specifications to our procurement guy. He forwarded my specs on to the vendor who produced a quote. The quote got turned into a purchase request by the lab's procurement office and the PR went back to the vendor. They also sent me a copy of the PR.

On the PR was clear and explicit evidence that no one had ever read my specifications. Numerous accessories I asked for were not present, nor was the laptop configured with the options I requested. It went so far as to include built-in wireless, which would mean I couldn't bring the laptop into my building. Not helpful. I had to search for a long time to find a Thinkpad that didn't come with wireless on-board, and I went through a lot of trouble creating the specifications so that some procurement person wouldn't have to. But they apparently just ignored that.

I talked with the vendor directly for awhile and got him on the same page in terms of what I really needed and what I couldn't have. He's now coming up with a new quote. It will not surprise me if he comes back with exactly what I specced out in the first place.

I think what just happened was I wasted a bunch of my time. Not sure on that though.