petes@mmintl.UUCP (01/31/86)
I just heard a horror story from a friend and thought that anyone contemplating on buying an AT&T PC would be interested in this: - he ordered and paid for an AT&T PC in the first week of December, 1985, and was told the PC would arrive before Christmas. - after the holidays he called AT&T to see why he hadn't received his PC. They said, "we're sorry" and that his installation guide and machine would arrive shortly. - a couple of days later, his installation guide arrived with a written confirmation of delivery to be January 31, 1986. He called AT&T to complain about the long delay. They said, "we're sorry and we'll try to get you a machine before the end of January." He was told that the delay was caused by a back-order of some 800 machines. - a week later he was informed that his machine would be delivered that same day. It wasn't. AT&T said, "we're sorry." AT&T repeatedly missed 3 more promised delivery dates for this machine. On AT&T's fifth try, he received his machine. The machine was delivered with a loaner keyboard and loaner copy of DOS, as these were not available yet. - When he opened the box, he found NO manuals, NO warranty cards, and an OLD (1984 model) PC. He called AT&T to complain. They said, "we're sorry." - a few days later, he was told that his machine would "tentatively arrive" the following Friday. Friday came, no PC. A few days later, he was informed that the machine that was to be delivered on Friday turned out to be an old model. - calls to AT&T upper management were of no help. He was told that there was a back-order of at least 1800 PCs, because "Olivetti was having motherboard problems." In addition, AT&T told him that there were "no new machines in the USA" and they hoped the situation was resolved by the end of February, 1986. In the meantime, my friend has lost time and money. AT&T's only response to that was "we're sorry."