jik@athena.mit.edu (Jonathan I. Kamens) (02/25/88)
Some of you may recall that several months ago I posted a complaint
about Wordstar 4.0 failing to work on my hardware configuration and
about Micropro failing to give me any help whatsoever.
A few of you sent me hacks which might fix the problem, but I simply
haven't had time to hack with it. (Why hack an 8080 when you can hack
a VAX?)
However, I continued to try to get official help from Micropro. About
a month and a half after my first letter, I sent another one. A month
and a half after that, I sent another one, this time with a copy going
to the president of the company and the director of customer services.
A week later, I got a check for $94 from them.
So, I guess Micropro has given up on customer service. When a
customer has a problem, instead of helping him/her solve it, they
simply refund the money and blow it off.
Pretty bad customer relations policy, if you ask me.
-=> Jonathan I. Kamens | "There is no expedient to which man will not go
MIT '91 | to avoid the real labor of thought."
jik@ATHENA.MIT.EDU | -- Thomas Alva Edisonelg@killer.UUCP (Eric Green) (02/26/88)
in article <3202@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU>, jik@athena.mit.edu (Jonathan I. Kamens) says: > Some of you may recall that several months ago I posted a complaint > about Wordstar 4.0 failing to work on my hardware configuration and > about Micropro failing to give me any help whatsoever. [...] > So, I guess Micropro has given up on customer service. When a > customer has a problem, instead of helping him/her solve it, they > simply refund the money and blow it off. > > Pretty bad customer relations policy, if you ask me. It's a real pain in the a$$ to debug a foreign hardware configuration over the phone. For the past three weeks, I've had that dubious pleasure, with folks in California that have a very WEIRD modem/interface setup. Despite them reading me the manuals over the phone line, and me saying "Gawd, that's the strangest thing I've ever seen", we simply could not get the combination working right with our program. Finally they said "hell, we'll just ship it to ya, and you can figure it out over there instead of us running up a $500 phone bill". So right now that combo is in transit via UPS... it simply is infeasible to try to deal with strange hardware via remote control. However, I doubt that Micropro has the personel, management, or facilities to do that, and besides, do you want to lose the use of your computer for 30 days while Micropro figures out what's wrong? Certainly Micropro should have written you a letter, telling you that they were sorry etc. But I really can't fault them for throwing up their hands and giving your money back. You can't run a program on equipment you don't have. -- Eric Lee Green elg@usl.CSNET Asimov Cocktail,n., A verbal bomb {cbosgd,ihnp4}!killer!elg detonated by the mention of any Snail Mail P.O. Box 92191 subject, resulting in an explosion Lafayette, LA 70509 of at least 5,000 words.
jik@athena.mit.edu (Jonathan I. Kamens) (02/27/88)
In article <3502@killer.UUCP> elg@killer.UUCP (Eric Green) writes: > >However, I doubt that Micropro has the personel, management, or >facilities to do that, and besides, do you want to lose the use of >your computer for 30 days while Micropro figures out what's wrong? >Certainly Micropro should have written you a letter, telling you that >they were sorry etc. But I really can't fault them for throwing up >their hands and giving your money back. You can't run a program on >equipment you don't have. I might agree with that in principal, but I think that in this case you are wrong, because you are missing several very important facts about my particular situation: 1. Wordstar 3.33 worked PERFECTLY on my computer with no problems whatsoever, and the new hardware driver is not very different from the previous one. Isn't compatibility supposed to increase when the version number increases? 2. MicroPro did not even make an effort to help me. They didn't call me, they didn't respond to my letters, and they apparently didn't care whether I solved my problem or not. 3. My hardware configuration is *not* unusual. To say that it is unusual for an Apple ][+ CP/M user to have an 80-column card other than a Videx is ridiculous. Furthermore, it would have taken then 0 minutes over the phone to replace the laser printers disk which was fried when I received the software and which they never replaced. -=> Jonathan I. Kamens | "There is no expedient to which man will not go MIT '91 | to avoid the real labor of thought." jik@ATHENA.MIT.EDU | -- Thomas Alva Edison
chad@anasaz.UUCP (Chad R. Larson) (02/29/88)
In article <3202@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU> jik@athena.mit.edu (Jonathan I. Kamens) writes: >Some of you may recall that several months ago I posted a complaint >about Wordstar 4.0 failing to work on my hardware configuration and >about Micropro failing to give me any help whatsoever. > (deleted stuff) >So, I guess Micropro has given up on customer service. When a >customer has a problem, instead of helping him/her solve it, they >simply refund the money and blow it off. > I didn't want this to go by completely unchallenged. In the old days (a whole couple of years ago) you couldn't get help from MicroPro. They would tell you to go talk to whomever you bought from, and wouldn't deal with customers directly. However, since they failed to keep up with the times and enhance their product (as opposed to MicroSoft Word & the like) they got the stuffing kicked out of them in the marketplace. They seem to be serious about getting back though. They have a bank of phones they man (or person :-) ) and have been good about getting back to me with information. They are also one of the few companies still supporting us CP/M hackers with updated products. Anyway, I have no affiliation with MicroPro, I just have found them to be reasonable people lately. Your milage may vary. --------------- "I read the news today, oh boy!" --John Lennon =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= | DCF, Inc. | UUCP: ...noao!mcdsun!nud!anasaz!dcfinc!chad | | 14623 North 49th Place | Ma Bell: (602) 953-1392 | | Scottsdale, AZ 85254 | Loran: N-33deg37min20sec W-111deg58min26sec | =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= | Disclaimer: These ARE the opinions of my employer! | =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
hondcpd@usfvax2.EDU (Honeywell dcpd) (03/13/88)
a WordStar CP/M 4.0 Has anyone had any experience with WordStar 4.0 in its CP/M version? I am considering its use on my Apple II+ with a Z80B and a Diablo 620 printer, and an Ultraterm 80 column card. MicroPro has been unable if this system is even supported.