UD140469@NDSUVM1.BITNET.UUCP (04/14/87)
Received: by NDSUVM1 (Mailer X1.23) id 0016; Mon, 13 Apr 87 18:49:40 CDT
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1987 18:30 CDT
From: Scott Udell <UD140469@NDSUVM1>
Subject: Atari customer relations and 520 repair/replacement
To: <INFO-ATARI16@SCORE.STANFORD.EDU>
Wow! I'm impressed, Atari--your customer relations phone support has sure
improved since I last called! I dial--it's *7:45* am on the west coast. *Two*
rings later (yeah--only two!)--"Goodmorning, Atari" (or something like that).
I stutter out my problem about the 520 I sent in 4 weeks ago for repair. No
problem--she knew what I was talking about! A big change from those people
who answered the phones (if they were answered at all) two years ago--those
people acted as if they were just off the street and barely knew what a
computer was (indeed, it was rumored that the people answering the customer rep
phones were just that). Back to my story--she took my name, put me on hold,
and maybe a minute later (!) came back with the answer to my question. What a
shook--I didn't have to wait 10 minutes for the someone to answer the phone,
and then didn't spend 15 minutes on hold while the person dug up the answer--
all together, I'll be I spent less than 3 minutes on this call...
The bad news...:
Well, not really bad, just not to my liking. I was calling to try to track
down the 520 I'd sent in on their repair/replacement policy. It was supposed
to take 3-4 weeks. It's now 4 weeks +, and no Atari. According to the lady on
the phone my "order" (order? I hadn't really 'ordered' any thing...) was
completed April the 8th, and would "probably" be shipped "today or tommorow."
Today or tommorow is the 14th or the 15th of April... an awfully long time to
be sitting in shipping, isn't it? By the time it gets here, it will be almost
two weeks late... In all fairness to Atari, I talked to someone (I'm afraid
I've already forgotten your name) who got his computer back in 3 weeks.
He said what he got back looked like a completely new system--computer, mouse,
power supply, manuals, etc.
Moral: Atari's customer reps on the phone have improved oodles and bunches
over what they were just a short time ago (upper-level management take note),
but I wouldn't rely on their shipping dept. for speedy action...
Scott Udell
UD140469@NDSUVM1.BITNET