akeef@asd.wpafb.af.mil (Earle Ake) (08/08/89)
Just to throw my two cents worth in. I have talked to a local dealer and they have said that the problem with mail order is not really the mail order itself, but there are places out there that are not on good terms with Commodore. Commodore has yanked the "authorized dealer" status from them. They get such good prices because they buy up bulk lots of machines from dealers unloading them and such. Because they are no longer an authorized dealer, Commodore regards a purchase from them as getting the equipment second hand or used even though it may never have been turned on. These are the kind of dealers we really need to be on the lookout for. Also a previous article was correct in stating that local dealers don't want to service these mail-order machines because it taxes their parts stock and leaves little for their customers. Just put yourself in their shoes. If I sell 25 units in a certain period of time and expect maybe 5 to come back for service, I will stock enough parts for maybe 10 units. If I then get a large influx of mail-order repairs, say 15 or so, I have completely depleted my spare parts supply because I had no way of estimating all those mail-order units coming in. I as a business man would want to give preference to the customers that made my business. I guess I am saying that sometimes it may be better to spend a little extra money and get the service locally than to mail-order and have to beg and plead to get my machine serviced in town. I neither work for, or am associated with Commodore. These are my own opinions and no-one elses. Earle
jwright@atanasoff.cs.iastate.edu (Jim Wright) (08/08/89)
In article <21231@louie.udel.EDU> akeef@asd.wpafb.af.mil (Earle Ake) writes: | Just to throw my two cents worth in. I have talked to a local | dealer and they have said that the problem with mail order is not really | the mail order itself, but there are places out there that are not on | good terms with Commodore. Commodore has yanked the "authorized dealer" | status from them. IMHO, it would be a Good Thing if Commodore made available (posted?) a list of authorized dealers. Failing that, at least they could make this available upon request. It should benefit Commodore, their dealers, and consumers. The only ones to get hurt by this would be the gray and black marketers. So how about it? -- Jim Wright jwright@atanasoff.cs.iastate.edu
protcoop@bnr-public.uucp (Co-op Student) (08/08/89)
Another thing with mail order and local dealers is just this: Why the heck should the dealer even consider servicing your mail order machine when you previously turned your nose up to him and did not buy the computer from him? If I were the dealer, I'd tell you to send it back to the mail order place for service. The way I see it you have two choices: (1) Buy from mail order and save a few bucks, but take your chances when it comes to getting service (2) spend a few extra dollars (very few) and buy from a local dealer and get the best service that is possible. Personally I prefer (2), and I also find from experience that dealers tend to give better deals to regular customers, so you can end up saving some money in the long run. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Alan W. McKay | My opinions are mine, yours are yours. | Eat Food | NEPEAN, Ont. | I in no way pretend to represent the | and | 613-763-8980 | the options of my employer. So there. | LIVE !! |
dwl10@uts.amdahl.com (Dave Lowrey) (08/09/89)
In article <1402@bnr-fos.UUCP> protcoop@bnr-public.UUCP (Co-op Student) writes: > >Another thing with mail order and local dealers is just this: >Why the heck should the dealer even consider servicing your mail order >machine when you previously turned your nose up to him and did not buy >the computer from him? If I were the dealer, I'd tell you to send it >back to the mail order place for service. The way I see it you have two >choices: (1) Buy from mail order and save a few bucks, but take your >chances when it comes to getting service (2) spend a few extra dollars >(very few) and buy from a local dealer and get the best service that is >possible. Personally I prefer (2), and I also find from experience that >dealers tend to give better deals to regular customers, so you can end >up saving some money in the long run. The phrase "CBM Authorized Service Center", to me at least, means that the dealer fixex ALL In Wartentee equiptment. Not just equiptment that was bought from him. The fact that CBM is lax on compensating the Dealers for the work done should be delt with by beating on CBM, NOT denying service to someone who deserves it. Now if the dealer wants to give priority to people who purchased their machines from him, thats well within his rights. For the record.... I can sympathise with the dealres. I purchased my 2500 from a local dealer, not mailorder. -- "What is another word | Dave Lowrey | [The opinions expressed MAY be for 'Thesaurus'?" | Amdahl Corp. | those of the author and are not | Houston, Texas | necessarily those of his Steven Wright | amdahl!dwl10 | employer] (`nuff said!)
UH2@PSUVM.BITNET (Lee Sailer) (08/10/89)
A typical reason for buying mail order is that the local dealer cannot
satisfy the customer. My local dealer is positioned to sell games. They
don't sell any third party hardware and very little non-game software.
Still, they are the only local "authorized" Commodore repair center (and at
that they send the machne 150 miles to their repair site). If my mail order
machine breaks, I think they should fix it. I don't expect them to lose
money at it, but it is still their responsibility.
leekms@ecsvax.UUCP (Ken Steele) (08/10/89)
In article <1402@bnr-fos.UUCP>, protcoop@bnr-public.uucp (Co-op Student) writes: > > Another thing with mail order and local dealers is just this: The problem with this type of argument is that it assumes that one has the choice between a local dealer and a mail order place. MANY PEOPLE DON'T! I don't. Many of my Amiga-owning friends don't. We have to rely on mail order places. THERE IS NO CHOICE FOR US. My 1000 died recently. I had to chose between an IBM-clone, Mac, or Amiga for replacement. If I assumed that CBM had a corporate policy that said "no warranty for machines bought by mail order" then I couldn't pick an Amiga. Rather than promote a dichotomy like evil-but-cheap-mail-order versus good-n-friendly-but-$$$-local, it seems more important to identify good and bad dealers independent of how they deliver their goods. > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > Alan W. McKay | My opinions are mine, yours are yours. | Eat Food | > NEPEAN, Ont. | I in no way pretend to represent the | and | > 613-763-8980 | the options of my employer. So there. | LIVE !! | -- Ken Steele Dept. of Psychology kms@ecsvax.[bitnet || UUCP] Mars Hill College kms@ecsvax.uncecs.edu Mars Hill, NC 28754
darin@nova.laic.uucp (Darin Johnson) (08/11/89)
In article <c01802wv48X.01@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com> dwl10@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com (Dave Lowrey) writes: >In article <1402@bnr-fos.UUCP> protcoop@bnr-public.UUCP (Co-op Student) writes: >> >>Another thing with mail order and local dealers is just this: >>Why the heck should the dealer even consider servicing your mail order >>machine when you previously turned your nose up to him and did not buy >>the computer from him? > >The phrase "CBM Authorized Service Center", to me at least, means that >the dealer fixex ALL In Wartentee equiptment. Not just equiptment that >was bought from him. This won't really apply to me, since my machine is out of warrantee by now. But I am moving soon. I would hate to think that I would have to ship my machine to the original dealer to get it serviced on warrantee (and get at least a month without a machine) when I can drive 10 minutes to a shop where I buy all my software/peripherals, etc. It sounds like good business sense to provide warrantee service on a machine bought elsewhere, since it gives the customer a better impression of the business, and they are more likely to come back. After the machine is out of warrantee, you don't want the user to avoid you when looking for service. If you want the give customers who buy machines from you preferential service, then give an additional warrantee period, or add other perks. If an "Apple Authorized Service Center" refused to service a warranteed machine, odds are they'd get a swift rap on the head. Darin Johnson (leadsv!laic!darin@pyramid.pyramid.com) We now return you to your regularly scheduled program.
charles@hpcvca.CV.HP.COM (Charles Brown) (08/12/89)
>> Another thing with mail order and local dealers is just this: >> Alan W. McKay | My opinions are mine, yours are yours. | Eat Food | > The problem with this type of argument is that it assumes that > one has the choice between a local dealer and a mail order > place. MANY PEOPLE DON'T! I don't. Many of my Amiga-owning > friends don't. We have to rely on mail order places. THERE IS > NO CHOICE FOR US. > Ken Steele Dept. of Psychology kms@ecsvax.[bitnet || UUCP] Ken is right, but he never got around to saying why. I cannot go to the local Amiga dealer because THERE IS NO local dealer in Corvallis Oregon. The nearest dealer is 50 miles from here in Eugene. I visited there several times. After a few bad experiences I decided I didn't want to deal with them. The next nearest dealer is about 90 miles away in Portland. Due to road conditions, it takes me about 2 hours to get there. That's one way. I simply cannot afford throwing away 4 hours of my day to visit the Amiga distributor. If I had known Commodore would not back up their warrantee for mail order buyers, I would not have bought one. Five of my friends have bought Amigas. I think my recommendation influenced them. (I know that two of them were so influenced.) I will no longer be recommending Amiga. I like the system. But how can I recommend it when the company does not back its own warrantee? -- Charles Brown charles@cv.hp.com or charles%hpcvca@hplabs.hp.com or hplabs!hpcvca!charles or "Hey you!" Not representing my employer.
suther@novavax.UUCP (Scot M. Sutherland) (08/13/89)
In article <5660051@hpcvca.CV.HP.COM> charles@hpcvca.CV.HP.COM (Charles Brown) writes: > >Ken is right, but he never got around to saying why. > >I cannot go to the local Amiga dealer because THERE IS NO local dealer >in Corvallis Oregon. The nearest dealer is 50 miles from here in >Eugene. I visited there several times. After a few bad experiences I >decided I didn't want to deal with them. The next nearest dealer is >about 90 miles away in Portland. Due to road conditions, it takes me >about 2 hours to get there. That's one way. I simply cannot afford >throwing away 4 hours of my day to visit the Amiga distributor. I live in Lancaster, CA in LA County. I must order my Amiga equipment from KJ computers, 40+ miles away, Ventura, 65 miles away or some other place even farther away. I have bought my machines and the schools machines by dealing with the dealers and having them ship it. It doesn't come out on paper as mail order that way. Fortunately, KJ, Creative, and Century. It is a mystery to me why Commodore wants to trust the customer's shipping habits more than UPS. I have asked CBM Western about getting us a dealer in the Antelope Valley. There is a fairly large Amiga community up here. Our school district is considering Commodore machines as a possible alternative to Apple. It would really be nice to have a dealer up here. I know several of the folks in the CBM Western division office and they, like everyone else at CBM are simply swamped. They have sent the packettes to the shops that I have suggested to them. In one case the shop owner does really good business in Amiga software sales and would really like to represent Commodore. But as yet no one from Commodore has come to the Antelope Valley to do the leg work. We do have an outfit designated as the official Commodore service center, but they sell Atari, Cordata and IBM clones. Can someone from CBM update me on the status of a dealer for the Antelope Valley? Scot--
waynech@rruxd.UUCP (Wayne Christian) (08/15/89)
Can any one supply me with a list of amiga dealers in the Raleigh/Durham
area of North Carolina? I plan to move there soon and know next to
nothing about the area. I'm planning to upgrade to an A2000 RSN.
--
Wayne Christian
{ seismo, ihnp4!packard } !topaz!rruxd!waynech
or
bellcore!rruxd!waynechLDSHANER@MTUS5.BITNET (Leon D. Shaner) (03/20/90)
Considering the fact that Commodore dropped all mail order vendors as authorized dealers, you can bet that anything being sold by MO is black market, used or defective. Mongomery Grant is a good example of a company that takes advantage of real Amiga dealers who go out of business and must liquidate stock. I'm sure CBM is doing its best to find out who is leaking the machines to them. Who knows, they may infact be getting them from overseas as previously posted. ------- +--------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ | LEON D. SHANER <LDSHANER@MTUS5> :BBS: AMIGA BITSWAP CENTRAL DISPATCH: | EE UNDER GRAD. : (906)487-0006 <-AMIGA ONLY! : | MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY : FREE! - 24 HOURS - 80 MB : +------------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
usenet@cps3xx.UUCP (Usenet file owner) (03/28/90)
In article <90079.100809LDSHANER@MTUS5.BITNET> LDSHANER@MTUS5.BITNET (Leon D. Shaner) writes: >Considering the fact that Commodore dropped all mail order vendors as >authorized dealers, you can bet that anything being sold by MO is black >market, used or defective. [..Mongomery Grant example..] I know there are a lot of people out there that do not have easy access to an authorized dealer. I think that one mail order authorized dealer would be a very good idea. >| LEON D. SHANER <LDSHANER@MTUS5> :BBS: AMIGA BITSWAP CENTRAL DISPATCH: /\ from / \_________________________________ / /\ Chris Dailey, Amiga Enthusiast / \ \ \___dailey@cpsin1.cps.msu.edu___/ \ / \/