pete@utgpu.UUCP (06/01/87)
Hi Everybody. Well, here I go again... About 2 months ago (?) I posted an article that outlined a horror story I had been going through in trying to get my ST fixed. I have a 1040 that I use with both color and monochrome monitors. The problem was (and is!) that the monochrome screen image moves around and flickers. (usually moving between 1 and 4 millimeters left and right). At the time, I took my machine in to Atari. They said they couldn't find a problem. I assumed it had to do with interferance, no such luck. definitly not an interferance problem. So I tested the keyboard unit with other monitors. same problem. OK. I took the keyboard unit in to get IT fixed. 1 week later: "couldn't find a problem." Getting really tired of this now. I appealed to the net. Suggestions: reseat chips. no effect. Bad Shifter. Got it replaced at atari. no effect. This process of continually going out to Atari to get the thing fixed, and having them not being able to find the fault has been going on for 3 months now. At this point I have had to drive out to Atari Canada 5 times (about a 30 minute drive). If you add up the time spent in repair visits, my machine has been at atari FOR OVER A MONTH. I have spent $90 on a new shifter (granted this was my own idea), and the damn machine is still broken (and visiting atari for the 5th time). The saddest thing is that if I had bought a Mac, or an Amiga or just about any other machine, they would simply have swapped my machine and worried about the problem on THEIR time. That is what they are paid for. My point is this: I really like the ST (really!) it is cheap and powerfull. On the whole though I have found Atari's support to be the worst I have had to deal with. I am in fact very tempted to take them to court over the way they have botched my service job. Barring some kind of proof that Atari Canada takes servicing machines seriously, I am interested in collecting other peoples similar stories for posting to the net, bix, compuserve, and/or Byte. Perhaps a P/R kick in the pants is what these people need. Thanks, Pete Santangeli pete@utgpu psantangeli on BIX Mail: Pete Santangeli 56 Coldstream Ave Toronto, Ontario M5N 1X8
mberkley@watmath.UUCP (06/02/87)
In article <1987Jun1.154457.583@gpu.utcs.toronto.edu> pete@gpu.utcs.toronto.edu (Peter Santangeli) writes: > Barring some kind of proof that Atari Canada takes servicing machines >seriously, I am interested in collecting other peoples similar stories for >posting to the net, bix, compuserve, and/or Byte. Perhaps a P/R kick in the >pants is what these people need. After I had my Atari for a while (but still within the warranty period) my floppy drive went out of alignment or something (an "intermittent problem"). So, I took it to my dealer; they took it to Atari Canada in Toronto and I had a replacement machine the next week. That's service! Mike Berkley, University of Waterloo ************************************************************************ *UUCP: {allegra,ihnp4,utcsri,utzoo}!watmath!watsup!mberkley * *Bitnet: mberkley@watdcs.BITNET * ************************************************************************
jenkin@utai.UUCP (06/03/87)
I have a very early 520ST (November 85 vintage), ie when I got it the
Basic manual + disk came through the mail, TOS was in RAM, etc.
I have had problems with machine quality (I've gone through five of them),
but I have had no problem at all with service. My dealer in Toronto
has always given fast service; either swapping the machine for a new one
out of a box, or the one time it did go in for servicing, I was only without
a machine for a week.
There are certain advantages in buying your machine through a dealer
who is willing to provide comprehensive after sales support.
--
Michael Jenkin University of Toronto
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