kens@hplsla.HP.COM (Ken Snyder) (11/08/89)
My problems with AUSTIN reached resolution in yesterday's mail. The
check arrived as promised (this time) and aside from some leftover mental
anxiety the resolution is relatively satisfactory. I can't say whether
or not my mentioning I was posting the letter, sending it to the Better
Business Bureau and maybe the Texas Attorney General had anything to do
with the timing of the receipt. However, FYI, September 14th they said
the president had approved a FULL refund and that refund came November
7th. After I was originally told it would take about a week to process.
My only reservations are that my FULL REFUND was $339 less than what
I paid for the machine. This included $100 for a service contract that
didn't work, $120 for shipping (both ways) and $119 for DOS 4.01 which
I returned but "We can't refund money for software that has been opened"!
Actually, in the fine print of their contracts they state that they will
not refund these things even if you return the machine. Since Gateway
bundled DOS 4.01 with their system I have no need to get it back.
Thanks to all of you who responded to me by mail. Some of my replies
bounced so you didn't hear back from me, at least I tried. In general,
it seems that your credit card company is your friend for any problems
you have dealing with a mail order company. Many people told me that
similar problems had been expedited greatly by a call to the VISA folks.
I did get a very nice hand written note with my check apologizing
once again for the overly long "We're sorry it was OUR fault" delay.
It ended by saying they hoped I would consider Austin for future
computer needs. To be perfectly fair, I don't know if what happened to
me is typical. I received no indication from anyone that this had
happened to them (by Austin). I had asked the net about Austin before
my purchase and received no negative responses.
So, that's my experience, for what it's worth. I'm still happy
with Gateway 2000 even though the machine still has some glitches.
They seem to be MUCH more responsive than Austin was.
Thanks again for listening & responding,
Ken