hart@cp1.UUCP (06/03/87)
After alittle run in with Softlogic (the produce of DoubleDos) this morning, I wondered if I had acted properly in canceling my order. What was totally unacceptible to me must be to others, otherwise this organization would rapidly cease to exist. The problem began about 6 weeks ago when I placed an order for several of their products. After making numerous toll calls to determine the status of my order, I was able to convince them to ask UPS for a trace. This morning I was told that the package had been lost, but they would not reship until they (Softlogic) received their money from UPS. I took this response as a total refusal to satisfy my need as a customer and consumer until they got compensation from THEIR agent (UPS). My response was to cancel the order and ask for the return of my money ASAP. Would you believe they had the guts to tell me that they would hold my money until UPS paid off on THEIR claim. This is sort of like rubbing salt into the ememy's open wound. Well, I really don't think I over reacted, but I wonder if others would find this to be satisfactory service. I am really serious, if this is how American Commerce treat a customer, we are in serious trouble. MaySoftlogic is in a cash-flow pinch. Even so, poor cust- omer service should be avoided. After all, even the best widget is worthless if no one will buy it.
johnl@ima.UUCP (John R. Levine) (06/05/87)
In article <1641@cp1.BELL-ATL.COM> hart@cp1.BELL-ATL.COM (Rod Hart) writes: >After a little run in with Softlogic (the produce of DoubleDos) this >morning, I wondered if I had acted properly in canceling my order. ... >After making numerous toll calls to determine the status of my order, I was >able to convince them to ask UPS for a trace. This morning I was told >that the package had been lost, but they would not reship until they >(Softlogic) received their money from UPS. ... That's not a very responsible way to run a business, if that's really what they do. We ship thousands of packages UPS, and UPS does indeed lose a few of them. But if we trace a package and UPS can't prove delivery within a day or two of the trace, we ship out a replacement. It's hardly the customer's fault that his package fell off a shipping dock somewhere, now is it? Besides, it's been proven over and over that any money you may lose to the rare customer who lies about a problem is made up a hundredfold by the good will you get from customers who feel that their problems have been dealt with quickly and fairly. (I don't claim that we solve every complaint instantly; we foul up now and then, too, but we assume a customer problem is real unless there's a strong reason to think that something is fishy.) -- John R. Levine, Javelin Software Corp., Cambridge MA +1 617 494 1400 { ihnp4 | decvax | cbosgd | harvard | yale }!ima!johnl, Levine@YALE.something U.S. out of New Mexico!
fff@dataio.Data-IO.COM (Fred Freeland) (06/05/87)
In article <1641@cp1.BELL-ATL.COM>, hart@cp1.BELL-ATL.COM (Rod Hart) writes: > > After alittle run in with Softlogic (the produce of DoubleDos) this > morning, I wondered if I had acted properly in canceling my order. Yes, you probably acted properly and I assure you that you are not the first to become disgusted with customer service from Softlogic. I bought DoubleDos at anEgghead Software store. I was told that it worked fine with all versions of DOS after 2.11. The saleperson opened the package on the premises and we confirmed by reading the documentation that this was true. Imagine my surprise when I found that it wouldn't work with MS-DOS 3.2. Well, I called them up to find out what was going on and I was told to send them my original distribution disk and $5 and they would send me a version that would work. I told them that I would think about it for a while. The more I thought, the madder I got. Why should I have to pay more money for a product I bought in good faith to run on a reasonably standard system. I called them back and told them that I was not going to pay their extra $5 since I had already paid over $30 for it on the day I actually wanted and needed it. Finally, about 3 weeks after that I got a version that worked with DOS 3.2. That is that last Softlogic product I will use.... Let's hear from some others out there who have had similar experiences. -- Frederick F. Freeland Jr. FutureNet - DATA I/O "Of all the things I've lost, I 10525 Willows Road miss my mind the most." -- ME Redmond, WA 98073-9746 Phone: (206) 881-6444
karld@chinet.UUCP (Karl Denninger) (06/06/87)
In article <1641@cp1.BELL-ATL.COM> hart@cp1.BELL-ATL.COM (Rod Hart) writes: > >After alittle run in with Softlogic (the produce of DoubleDos) this >morning, I wondered if I had acted properly in canceling my order. >What was totally unacceptible to me must be to others, otherwise this >organization would rapidly cease to exist. The problem began about 6 >weeks ago when I placed an order for several of their products. After .......... >if this is how American Commerce treat a customer, we are in serious >trouble. MaySoftlogic is in a cash-flow pinch. Even so, poor cust- >omer service should be avoided. After all, even the best widget is >worthless if no one will buy it. This may be getting more towards the norm, and I don't like it one bit either. We have had the same problem here a couple of times, recently with a company in California (nameless for the time being, perhaps this particular problem will yet be resolved). It's never been an acceptable way of doing business for us here, and never will be -- and how the places that do this kind of thing stay in business I simply do not understand. What ever happened to "the customer is always right"? Within reason, this *has* to be true, for places like ours cease to exist without customers. Personally, I think you have taken a very reasonable step here -- you had a problem, tried to resolve it, failed, and now are making it known to others. This kind of mistreatment of customers can only cease if economic pressure is brought to bear on those who practice it. (Sorry 'bout this little flame, but after fighting with an (ex) vendor of ours for a couple of weeks over just this kind of things the article hit a nerve). -- Karl Denninger UUCP : ...ihnp4!ddsw1!karl Macro Computer Solutions Dial : +1 (312) 566-8912 (300-2400) "Quality systems at a fair price" Voice: +1 (312) 566-8910 (24 hrs)