hugh%brl-bmd@sri-unix.UUCP (12/08/83)
From: Hugh Dempsey (USAFAS) <hugh@brl-bmd> A WHILE BACK, I SENT OUT A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ON THE PROTECTO MAIL-ORDER HOUSE: I RECEIVED ONLY TWO ANSWERS: NEITHER CORRESPONDENT HAD DONE BUSINESS WITH PROTECTO. BOTH HAD BEEN TURNED OFF BY PROTECTO'S ADVERTISING STYLE: LIST A LOW PRICE WITH A FOOTNOTE THAT MENTIONS THAT YOU MUST BUY A LARGE AMOUNT OF THEIR SOFTWARE. THIS IS THE ITEM THAT BOTHERED ME. BASICALLY YOU ARE PAYING FULL PRICE AND THEY THROW IN A BUNCH OF THEIR GENERIC SOFTWARE. WITH ALL OF THE PROBLEMS ONE ENCOUNTERS WITH NAME-BRAND SOFTWARE, I AM SKEPTICAL OF THE VALUE OF GENERIC SOFTWARE. PROTECTO MUST BE DOING GREAT BUSINESS; THEIR ADS KEEP GETTING BIGGER EACH MONTH. YET NONE OF THEIR CUSTOMERS SEEM TO BE MEMBERS OF INFO-MICRO. HUGH
LENOIL@MIT-XX.ARPA (12/12/83)
From: Robert S. Lenoil <LENOIL@MIT-XX.ARPA> I have done business with Protecto. Last year, I purchased an expansion interface for the VIC-20. They had advertised a 4-slot interface, but were sold out on that. They sent me a card, advising that the item had been discontinued, and suggesting a reasonable substitute, which I purchased. Although I too dislike Protecto's method of advertisement (Specifically, their advertising a machine with 20% more RAM as having "20% more computing power"), my dealings with them was problem-free and conformed to business standards. Let me repeat: I found nothing "shady" about Protecto Enterprises. I even found them to be reasonably friendly on the telephone. Even so, the same as any other mail-order firm, I would only recommend them to those consumers who knew exactly what they were wanted, and were only looking for a convenient and/or inexpensive way of obtaining it. Robert Lenoil LENOIL@MIT-XX -------