LAUL@UREGINA1.BITNET (Dennis Gorrie) (08/29/89)
I am in the process of dealing with a mail-order purchase
that has become pretty ugly. The problem lies with United
Parcel Service.
I purchased a hard disk from Cache Systems, Scotts Valley,
CA. It was a 150 MB Micropolis HD, with a C-LTD SCSI 1000
controller for my Amiga 1000.
It was shipped to me August 8, 1989, but UPS Same Day
Service. I was told that because it had to go through
CUSTOMS, it would take longer, a maximum of 3 days.
I live in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
When I did not receive it on the 11th of August, I phoned
UPS it Canada and asked them what was wrong. They told me
it was the shippers fault, because they had not included a
'Proof of Origin" sticker. I asked why they had not called
me and they said they had. This was a blatant lie, as there
are several people here to answer the phone all day long.
I talked to Customs officials direct, and found this was
needed if the article was over $1500 US, which it was NOT!
So I called UPS again and set them straight.
Finally on Wed, August 16, a UPS courier dropped a box with
a resounding 'thunk' on my doorstep. He charged me for
sales tax, not only for the drive, but for the shipping fee.
I talked to Customs again, and they told me this was
completely wrong. UPS fumbled again.
So I set the drive up, but it would not do a DOS format. It
would do a few cylinders, then stop. I would try it again,
and it would stop sooner, until it would not even format
cyl 0. The gen-format worked ok though.
I phoned Cache Systems, and they treated me like I was nuts.
So I talked to C-LTD, and the tech there said I most likely
had a damaged data head on my HD. Finally, Cache agreed to
send a second drive. It was shipped to me August 18.
Today is August 28. I phoned UPS and asked where the drive
is, and they said it never arrived in Canada. So I got the
shipper to put a tracer on it. I was supposed to get an
answer within an hour, but that was 6 hours ago, and no
reply.
I am not sure what to do now. UPS in Canada denies all
responsibility. I don't have any addresses for UPS or
consumer groups, Better Business Bureau in the US to send my
complaints to.
I really don't want this drive any more, it is costing me a
LOT more than I expected. My phone bill is going to be over
$100. And all I have to show for it is a useless drive with
a damaged head. I am thinking of asking Cache Systems for a
return and refund, but I am not sure they will comply.
Does anyone have any useful suggestions?
|============================================================================|
| (patient) Go ahead doc, tell me the worst. |
| (doctor) I'm sorry, but you have MS-DOS... |
| (patient) MS-DOS?? ...Maybe I caught it from a toilet seat or something.|
| |
| DENNIS GORRIE (LAUL AT UREGINA1.BITNET) |
|============================================================================|LAUL@UREGINA1.BITNET (Dennis Gorrie) (08/31/89)
>I wouldn't necessarily put all the blame on UPS. It can be extremely trying >dealing with Canada Customs, and getting things shipped into Canada. In the >U.S. I have always found UPS to be extremely reliable. I can understand this, but in both cases, UPS made the mistakes, customs. >Even still, the combination of untrusworthy mail order dealers and the problems >of getting something shipped make it far more reliable to purchase from >a reputable local dealer. Today UPS in Santa Cruz admitted they lost the second hard disk. I still have no specific complaints about the dealer. They are planning to send me a 3rd hard disk now. Local dealers are USUALY more reliable, but in my case, there is no local dealer that could have supplied a drive of this size. And even if they had, it would have cost two times as much. Thanks |============================================================================| | "The man who dropped a 3270 terminal on his foot... | | | | ... and lived to tell about it..." | | | | DENNIS GORRIE (LAUL AT UREGINA1.BITNET) | |============================================================================|
mark@xrtll.UUCP (Mark Vange) (09/05/89)
In article <8908282242.AA22479@jade.berkeley.edu>, LAUL@UREGINA1.BITNET (Dennis Gorrie) writes: > > I am in the process of dealing with a mail-order purchase > that has become pretty ugly. The problem lies with United > Parcel Service. I have had problems galore with UPS shipping to Canada to the extent that I'd say it's safer to send it by Mail than by UPS. Somewhere in the UPS black hold there are three copies of a 35 page manual which I finally had faxed to me! -- Mark Vange Phone Death Threats to: PAS Systems - "Plain and Simple" (416) 730-1352 mark@xrtll 8 Everingham Ct. North York "Every absurdity has a champion Ont, Canada M2M 2J5 to defend it." - Oliver Goldsmith