sk2x+@andrew.cmu.edu (Sun Kun Kim) (11/05/89)
Well, I have gotten some hate-mails and some sympathy-mails. First of all, I don't work for Montgomery Grant. Now, I got my computer from MG and got it NEW.(it was factory sealed) I have had it for over 3 months now and it is still working great. And if I do have a 90 day warranty(which I do think is true now that I have heard from a few THOUSAND users here), my warranty just expired and all those AUTHORIZED repair people who detest MG machines can sleep tight knowing that they now have one less to worry about. I cannot check my waranty card to see if it is from Canada because I left it back home in Allentown, PA.(I am at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh) When I go home for Thanksgiving, I will check it. Now, for my side of the story: When I ordered my computer from MG, I wanted the Amiga 2000 with the 1084S monitor and Panasonic 1124 printer. Their "Sales Reps" told me that they were out of Amiga 2000's and that Commodore doesn't make 1084S's anymore. I decided to get my Amiga without the 1084S since it was "the best" deal I could find and I can buy the 1084S elsewhere. Before I could hang up, they decided to pull some strings out of me. They asked me if I wanted their extended warranty(for 1 year) stating that "Amigas are fragile machines and one little surge could melt down your whole system!!" I wasn't born yesterday and I do know a LITTLE about computers, but I knew that his claims were full of SH*T! I kindly declined his $300+ offer(something like $189 each for the computer and the printer) only to hear him use the same excuse to sell me their state of the art SURGE PROTECTOR for only $89! When I declined that offer, he went on to say that I will need a cable for the printer which will cost me $59. I, being a naive student, took the cable since I thought that Amigas had non-standard(non-ibm compatible) ports and needed some special cables. Well, it turned out that Amiga 2000's are pin compatible with the IBM's and I could have bought one for $15. After I hung up, I immediately called Commdore to see if they really did discontinue their 1084S's. The Commodore Rep sorta chuckled at that and told me they still make them. He gave a local dealer's number and I picked one up that day for $329.(reasonable price for a small dealer) About 3 days later, MG called me to confirm my order and told me that the Amiga was being delayed for another week. I said fine because I had no choice. To my surprise, the UPS package came in about a week and I was thrilled. My Amiga even came with the Super Agnus chip with 1 meg chip memory! And basically, I am happy with the computer that I got although I cannot say the same for their service people. On to another Mail Order Madness. I ordered my second floppy from Software Shop(located in Massachusetts) at the beginning of October with a MONEY ORDER. They told me they will ship it faster that way since personal checks take about 2 weeks to clear. It's been over a month and I still haven't recieved it yet. I called them in late october and they told me that they got the money on the 16th and they mailed it out on the 20th. It's been over 2 weeks now from the time they supposedly mailed it and UPS doesn't take that long. It usually takes about a week to deliver. Anyone have any comments about The Software Shop?? Are they reliable? I know, it is too late but if I don't get it by Monday, they will be getting one hell of a phone call ... FROM ME!!! Sun... (sk2x+@andrew.cmu.edu) P.S. Remember that I don't work for Montgomery Grant! All I know is that I got my computer new and faster than the time they quoted.
mhershede@cdp.UUCP (11/10/89)
I got a Plug 'n' Print for my Okimate 20 from the Software Shop and had a lot of trouble doing it. It took 5-6 weeks witrh a credit card dit card (two phone calls from Colorado Springs!!).. finally got it last week. Initiallty the guy in shiipping told me thayt there was something wrong with the card then something else.. anyway I don't kn ow if their system is screwd or if they don't have hthe things in stock that they say they do..????? I had the same problem with Computer Direct when ordrering some software (Director's Toolkit) .. said it would be out UP S the next day .... called 10 days latter and they said it's on BACK ORTDRER... took me 'bout two months to get that
sk2x+@andrew.cmu.edu (Sun Kun Kim) (11/11/89)
mhershede@cdp.UUCP says:
>I got a Plug 'n' Print for my Okimate 20 from the Software Shop and had
a lot of trouble doing >it. It took 5-6 weeks witrh a credit card
Well, I just got my disk drive. It took me about the same time with a
money order. It came in a box full of styrofoam(no flames about
spelling please). The drive itself was in a little plastice bag and the
instruction and the screws were in a zip-lock bag. It took me 3 hours
to install the drive. The instructions that came with it(which was
printed on a sheet of paper with a printer) were confusing and not
clear. Another problem arose while instlling the drive. I don't know
how many of you have done this before or seen the inner works of the
Amiga 2000, but the drives were screwed on to this metal platform.
Between the platform and the drive, there is a hexogonal screw that is
screwed on to the drive itself and that screw(which allows another screw
to piggyback behind it) is screwed on with anthoer screw with the
platform in between them. The hexogonal screw raises the drive about
1/4 inch to allow the heat to escape(i think). Well, the ones that the
Software Shop gave me didn't even fit the drive and did not come with
that hexogonal mounting screw neeed to raise the drive. I didn't write
to them yet because I don't if it is worth the time. I could probably
get one around here for like a $1.(I just checked Radio Shack and found
no luck. Anyone know of any places in Pittsburgh that may have this
sorta stuff?) For the time being, each of my drives only have 2 mouting
screws.(one at opposite corners).
I think we, as a "network" of Amiga owners/users across the nation and
perhaps overseas, should form some kind of official certification group
and evaluate each of the Amiga dealers/mail order houses. We don't
really have to go out of our way or spend any money because I am sure we
can find at least one person who has experience with that particular
mail order house. After we compile the info from the users of this
network, we can publish the final results on this board and maybe we can
even publish the list on the Amiga magazines. We can perhaps set up a
committee who will gather data as it comes in and release the reports
bi-annually. If any urgent newsflash items come in, like if an
"uncertified" dealer improve their service and product support
dramatically. I think we need something like this protect
ourselves(current owners) and future buyers since there aren't any
information about these mail order houses out in the open. There are
many people who get screwed by the dealers and become unhappy with the
them as well as the Amiga. For example, if I didn't know much about
computers and bought my computer from this mail order company and they
give me a defective machine and offer bad customer service or none at
all, I be pissed and sell it to get a Mac or an IBM instead with
excellent service and support(sorry, but it's true!) This only hurts
because that means one less Amiga user and loss of confidence in the
Amiga as well because who knows how many people that person might know
and spread this bad image of Amiga?
It sounds kinda boring, but it might be something that the Amiga
community needs. Whatta you think? If anyone is interested, leave me
mail and we can maybe work something out. If this sounds like a bogus
idea, then just ignore the second part of this post.
Sun...
(sk2x+@andrew.cmu.edu)
rchampe@hubcap.clemson.edu (Richard Champeaux) (11/11/89)
In article <936700002@cdp> mhershede@cdp.UUCP writes: > >I got a Plug 'n' Print for my Okimate 20 from the Software Shop and had a >lot of trouble doing it. It took 5-6 weeks witrh a credit card >dit card (two phone calls from Colorado Springs!!).. finally got it last week. >Initiallty the guy in shiipping told me thayt there was something wrong with >the card then something else.. anyway I don't kn >ow if their system is screwd or if they don't have hthe things in stock >that they say they do..????? This wouldn't happen to be the Software Shop in Worcester, MA, would it? When I'm not at school, I live in Massachusetts, about 40 minutes from Worcester. I called the Software shop early this summer looking for a HardFrame 2000. This is the conversation I had: ME: Hi, do have a HardFrame 2000 in stock? THEM: Yes we do. ME: Great. How late is your show room open? THEM: Uhm.. Let me make sure we have one. ...... I'm sorry, we don't have a HardFrame 2000 in stock right now. ME: Thankyou. Goodbye. I had been to this store before. For all that they boast, it's a hole in the wall in the basement of a run down mall in the middle of a run down section of Worcester. The guy I talked to is the manager/owner (at least he has a little office). His voice is easy to recognize, since its gruff and he has a NewYork/Italian accent. This guy was obviously ready to take my mail order after lying to me that it was in stock. My guess is that "Yes, we do have that in stock" is their standard reply. I had called quite a few other dealers at that time, none of whom had it in stock, and they all said that Microbotics was slow shipping HardFrames and they didn't expect any for 2 weeks. This was enough to discourage me from dealing with them again. Rich Champeaux (rchampe@hubcap.clemson.edu)
black@rpi.edu (Jerry Glomph Black) (11/11/89)
In <7010@hubcap.clemson.edu> rchampe@hubcap.UUCP (Richard Champeaux) writes: >In article <936700002@cdp> mhershede@cdp.UUCP writes: >> >>I got a Plug 'n' Print for my Okimate 20 from the Software Shop and had a >>lot of trouble doing it. It took 5-6 weeks witrh a credit card >>............ > >This wouldn't happen to be the Software Shop in Worcester, MA, would it? When >I'm not at school, I live in Massachusetts, about 40 minutes from Worcester. >I called the Software shop early this summer looking for a HardFrame 2000. >This is the conversation I had: >ME: Hi, do have a HardFrame 2000 in stock? >THEM: Yes we do. >ME: Great. How late is your show room open? >THEM: Uhm.. Let me make sure we have one. ...... I'm sorry, we don't have a > HardFrame 2000 in stock right now. >ME: Thankyou. Goodbye. >I had been to this store before. For all that they boast, it's a hole in the >wall in the basement of a run down mall in the middle of a run down section >of Worcester. The guy I talked to is the manager/owner (at least he has a >little office). His voice is easy to recognize, since its gruff and >he has a NewYork/Italian accent. This guy was obviously ready to take my >mail order after lying to me that it was in stock. My guess is that >"Yes, we do have that in stock" is their standard reply. I had called >quite a few other dealers at that time, none of whom had it in stock, and >they all said that Microbotics was slow shipping HardFrames and they didn't >expect any for 2 weeks. > >This was enough to discourage me from dealing with them again. > Yes, a similar thing happened to me. I tracked down where 22 Front St in Worcester was, and entered the basement of a mostly-vacant mini-mall in fairly decrepit downtown Worcester. Looks like a 1-man operation--- saw the same 'gruff' character... What they had 'in stock' was a bunch of 3-year-old games and Lattice C (about 3 versions older than current.) I recommend Lightspeed Dist. if you go for mail order! They usually *do* have it in stock.
hill@evax.arl.utexas.edu (Anthony Adam Hill) (11/13/89)
If you think getting screwed by mail-order is bad pick up a copy of the Dec
Amiga Resource Arlan Levitan has a list of the top ten out and out LIES about
the amiga.... THEY ARE F***ING UNBLIEVABLE!!!!!
He said he changed the names to protect the innocent but I think we should
try and get a list of the places and their specific LIES an warn them to clean up
up their act.... (flame off )
I agree with you completely a list of Mail order dealers would be nice..
adam hillstewartw@warpdrive.UUCP (Stewart Winter) (11/17/89)
In article <1989Nov11.135137.26513@rpi.edu> black@rpi.edu (Jerry Glomph Black) writes: >I recommend Lightspeed Dist. if you go for mail order! They usually *do* >have it in stock. Perhaps more importantly they will tell you when they don't have something in stock (and won't sell it to you). This has happened to me twice. They know what they are selling and are dependable. Their prices are slightly higher than some of the weasels out there, but this is a case of getting what you pay for. I have no affiliation with LightSpeed, just a satisfied customer (in Canada yet). Stewart -- Stewart Winter Cognos Incorporated S-mail: P.O. Box 9707 VOICE: (613) 738-1338 x3830 FAX: (613) 738-0002 3755 Riverside Drive UUCP: uunet!cognos!stewartw Ottawa, Ontario "The bird for the day is .... parrotlet." CANADA K1G 3Z4