mikew@wheeler.wrcr.unr.edu (Mike Whitbeck) (08/17/89)
I would very much like to hear about the 138N 30Mbyte Seagate
^^^^
hard drive. I recently ordered an Atari Megafile 30 from ST-Plus
(aka Zephyr Microsystems). After a month - still no drive
(it was shipped but must have been lost by UPS, we'll ship
another right away, oh well that one was the last and it was
sold over the counter - sorry when we restock we'll rush one to
you PRIORITY!, oh, er uh- we decided not to restock (meanwhile
my VISA bill comes with the charge on it!), we'll refund your
money less 20% (over $100!!), - you (the buyer) are responsible
if you don't get the drive you ordered, UPS MAY make YOU pay for
the lost drive....) *
After much wasted time and desperate for a hard drive I let
the owner(?) talk me into a 138N in a ICD box and a ??(BMS?)
controller. WELL AM I GONNA REGTET THIS?
Please let me know if you have good or bad things to say about
^^^^^^
the 138N, I gather I should be carefull about the rom serial
numbers but what numbers should I look for or look-out for?
-----------------------
* for the record I have purchased two color ST's and lots of
software from these guy's and this is the my only really bad
experience. At no time was any mention evermade of a return or
restocking charge (on my first order they told me that I would
get a full refund or prompt replacement/repair of damaged goods
and this claim was honored on my first ST which arrived with a
dead monitor). New owners? Bad day for the boss? Karma? It
appears this outit does business under different rules now.
* also for the record I called UPS and they said I could trace
the original shipment myself IF I could get zephyr-ST/Plus'
shipper no. BUT in NO CASE would UPS hold the receiver
accountable for a lost/stolen/misdelivered order. Furthermore
the SHIPPER chooses if hand delivery to a persononly or leave on
doorstep is OK option BUT IN ANY CASE THE SHIPPER IS ALSO
PROTECTED FROM LOSS- UPS WILL PAY THEM FOR THE LOST ITEM.
So in no instance would Zeph/Plus be out any money.
As for the trace, I have not yet received the shipper no. for
Zephyr/ST-Plus but a quick check under both names show no
shipments made. I'll let you good folk know how this melodrama
resolves itself.
mikew@wheeler.UUCP | mikew@wheeler.wrc.unr.eduantony@lbl-csam.arpa (Antony A. Courtney) (08/18/89)
In article <2900@tahoe.unr.edu> mikew@wheeler.UUCP (Mike Whitbeck) writes: >hard drive. I recently ordered an Atari Megafile 30 from ST-Plus >(aka Zephyr Microsystems). After a month - still no drive >(it was shipped but must have been lost by UPS, we'll ship >another right away, oh well that one was the last and it was >sold over the counter - sorry when we restock we'll rush one to >you PRIORITY!, oh, er uh- we decided not to restock (meanwhile >my VISA bill comes with the charge on it!), we'll refund your >money less 20% (over $100!!), - you (the buyer) are responsible >if you don't get the drive you ordered, UPS MAY make YOU pay for >the lost drive....) * >the owner(?) talk me into a 138N in a ICD box and a ??(BMS?) >controller. WELL AM I GONNA REGTET THIS? I hope not, although I can't say things look promising... > New owners? Bad day for the boss? Karma? It > As for the trace, I have not yet received the shipper no. for > Zephyr/ST-Plus but a quick check under both names show no > shipments made. I'll let you good folk know how this melodrama > resolves itself. > > mikew@wheeler.UUCP | mikew@wheeler.wrc.unr.edu I am sorry to say I have had a similar bad experience with this company. I was working as a contract software developer for the owner of the store developing a desktop publishing package. Shortly after I began development however, Calamus was released and it became painfully apparent that there was no way I could get a product to market in time to compete with Calamus, as my development time was rather limited. Before entering into the deal, we made damned sure my contract was very very clear about what would happen if it became necessary for either party to reneage on the contract. He had lent me hardware worth about 2x as much as I had given him, and if we needed to break the contract, I would give him the hardware and anything I had developed, and he would give me back my money. Without going into detail, he took weeks to get me a check, and then the check bounced three times. It took a call to the fraud department in order to get him to pay up. And this is not the only time I have known him to do slimey business. He was audited by the IRS for tax evasion, and he had to pay taxes plus a sufficient fine. And there have been any number of other things he has done which I personally consider bad business. The tactic you describe sounds exactly like something he would pull. The store is called Micro-World. The mail order company is called ST-Plus. Zephyr is the name of a T-Shirt shop next door to it which he also owns. (And for those of you with a cynical eye about my having to bow out of the contract--I consider it to have been the only responsible thing to do. I could have easily beaten around the bush and developed a half-decent DTP package. But by the time it would have been released, it would not have been very market competetive. And for credibility I have worked for about half a year now doing graphics and network systems programming for the Advanced Development Group at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and haven't get along extremely well with my boss and co-workers) These are JUST MY OPINIONS and perceptions. I probably would not have posted this except that mikew appears to have had similar bad experience with them, and people should be forewarned. Let the buyer beware.... -Antony ******************************************************************************* Antony A. Courtney antony@lbl.gov Advanced Development Group ucbvax!lbl-csam.arpa!antony Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory AACourtney@lbl.gov