efrethei@blackbird.afit.af.mil (Erik J. Fretheim) (10/12/89)
I'm sitting here reading the news and typing this out on my old
XT because once again my new 386 is in the shop. This is the
third time in as many weeks, so I thought I would explain in case
any one else was wondering why.
I did a lot of hunting to find the best deal possible on a 386
or a 286 machine, in fact I was only planning to buy a 286 but found
such a good deal at Microtyme I bought a 386. When I ordered the machine
I was told it would take about 6 days to build it and burn it in. Already
three days later they called and said I could drop by after 5 to pick it
up. Well, no one told the service people this so when I came they were
surprised and it took about 45 minutes for them to get the thing together.
I took it home and wired it up. Pushed the monitor button, and pushed the
monitor button and again and again. No response, not even the power light.
The next day I ran it down to the shop and changed monitors. This time it fired
up. I started to fill out the warrenty cards only to find that nowhere
did I have any documentation on the components or system, so I called the
store. The salespeople couldn't help so I got to call back 4 times to talk
to a service person who was irratated that he had to spend time telling
someone what brands/etc the components of their system were. I was able to
convince him that I did need to get some sort of documentation, if only to
fill out the warenty cards and change the comm port of the modem. But this
took another trip to the store to pick up the stuff (which I should have had
when I got the thing).
Next thing I decided was that I needed an extra serial port so that I could
talk to this beast. Well, they couldn't tell me anything on the phone, so I
made yet another trip. The salesman told me that the best thing would be to
convert my single serial board to a dual board/ or since they didn't have the
chips just then they would exchange it, or for four dollars more I could get
another serial board. Well, I didn't want to make another trip and besides
they wanted to have the computer in the shop for 24 hours to do a five minute
board change, so I got the extra board. Got home, put it in and fired it up.
Well it could talk but wouldn't listen. Called the company. They asked, are
you holding the board in your hands, "no", "can't talk to you then." Pulled
the board and called back. They asked if the jumpers were set right. (Not
what they were, just if they were right). They then decided the machine needed
to come into the shop, bring it on down today. Well this was a Saturday, so
when I got there they said they didn't have anyone to work on it until Monday.
Why not tell me this on the phone?
Monday I called, they had fixed the problem, "the old serial board settings
were interfering with the new ones." So then they wanted to charge me for
changing the settings because they had advised me to get the old board
expanded. Then I got a five minute lecture on listening to them because
they know what's best. So I told them I didn't plan to pay and I wanted
documentation on the settings for the first serial card. I was told that
they didn't give it out because some people change the settings and screw up
the system, and they didn't want to have to fix them. I persisted. Next I
was told that the documentation was all in Taiwanese. I said it was ok as I
knew someone from Taiwan. Well, I got the documentation and low and behold,
it was in English!
I brought the computer home and fired it up. Same problem. Ripped out
everything except the bad serial board and it still didn't work. So much
for their interferring interupts theory of life. So now they have the
computer for another 24hours to figure out for themselves that the board is
bad and needs to be replaced. So I have nothing better to do with my time.
By the way, the back of my claim check says:
"After the SALE, it's the SERVICE that counts!"
I guess that says it all.
erik
--
These ramblings belong to noone but myself and do not represent my employer.karl@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Karl Denninger) (10/18/89)
>Item 6152 (0 resps) by efrethei at blackbird.afit.af.mil on Tue 17 Oct 89 >11:36 >[Erik J. Fretheim] Subject: Microtyme's Attitude >(66 lines) (lots of woe deleted) This is one of the reasons you should buy from an outfit that: 1) Does really think that service is important. 2) Includes the peripheral manuals with the system. 3) Checks out the machine(s) before they ship (for 72 hours, no less). 4) May not have the >exact< lowest price. and, if it matters to you, 5) Knows what Unix is and knows that it will run on their gear. You get what you pay for in computer equipment, as with most things in life. -- Karl Denninger (karl@ddsw1.MCS.COM, <well-connected>!ddsw1!karl) Public Access Data Line: [+1 312 566-8911], Voice: [+1 312 566-8910] Macro Computer Solutions, Inc. "Quality Solutions at a Fair Price"