jay@argosy.UUCP (Jay O'Conor) (07/25/90)
I thought this might be of interest to all those who have had experience with Jasmine, or might have to ... I have a Direct Drive 100 which I purchased 12/30/88. Jasmine drives have a two year warranty, so mine is still under warranty. My drive has a Rodime mechanism. It has recently decided to give me problems. The nature of the problem is after about 15 minutes of use, it will start to make a rapid clicking sound - very similar to the clicking sound the drive makes when powered up or down. Due to Jasmine's financial problems, I've kinda figured that I was just SOL. Unfortunately, I can't afford to replace the drive right now. I decided to give Jasmine a try. As most of you know, Jasmine went Chapter 11 some months ago. What I learned today, as a result of calling their tech-support number, is that they are now out of Chapter 11. They seem to be working very hard to rebuild their business. Many people have posted here relating how terribly frustrating it's been dealing with Jasmine in the past. My experience today indicates that they might just be turning that around. The phone was answered within a couple of rings, the operator put my call through to tech support, and even though I initially got a recording from tech support (you know, the ususal 'all our people are busy, the next available person will take your call' type of thing), a tech support person picked up after only a few rings. So far, so good. Certainly much different from descriptions of trying to get through to a live human being that I've read in the past. I described the symptoms to the tech support person (Mark), and he seemed very knowledgeable regarding my problem. Even before issuing me an RMA number, he explained Jasmine's situation regarding Chapter 11 and how that will effect getting my drive repaired. Specifically, he quoted me a lead time of 60 days to get my drive repaired. He explained that they are working hard to rebuild their relationships with their vendors (including Rodime). Rodime has recently agreed to begin repairing/replacing faulty drive mechanisms received from Jasmine. One other detail regarding having the drive repaired was that Jasmine does not have a budget for shipping repaired drives. In other words, you have to pre-pay the return shipping. Since I live in Fremont, I elected to just drive up there and drop it off, and pick it up again when it's repaired. He indicated that it may be possible that the drive would be repaired before 60 days, but that given their current situation and backlog, nothing less than 60 days could be promised. Although I'm not crazy about being without my DD100 for two months (and having to live with my old Photon 20), I'm very encouraged by the ease with which I was able to get to a real person to talk to. Further, I'm encouraged by their sucessful emergence from Chapter 11 and most importantly, the seeming honesty in their dealings with me. While it will be 60 days until I know for sure if they really are dealing honestly, I'm willing to give them a chance. I'll keep you all posted!!! Wish me luck!!! Jay O'Conor jay@maspar.com