drg@mdaali.mda.uth.tmc.edu (06/12/91)
Has anybody else noticed the ad for the Shiva FastPath 5 in the latest (July '91) MacWorld? Near the end, it mentions upgrade options for FastPath 4 owners, including mention of a free upgrade kit if you act before Sept. 30. I called about this and was referred to someone who told me that there was no such program and that the marketing department made "a mistake". She then went on to tell me about three upgrade options I had, with prices ranging from $150 to $1300, if I remember correctly. I'm not saying that someone in Shiva's marketing department didn't make a mistake, but this sure *looks* like a classic bait-and-switch ad. Every time I have contact with Shiva, I get a more negative feeling for the company. If I can find a TCP/IP software-only router that can run on a server with Liaison or Apple Internet Router, I may stop recommending FastPaths in my institution. Has anyone else had a similar experience with this ad? David Gutierrez drg@mdaali.mda.uth.tmc.edu "Only fools are positive." - Moe Howard
rsvp@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (R. Scott V. Paterson) (06/17/91)
drg@mdaali.mda.uth.tmc.edu writes: >I called about this and was referred to someone who told me that there was no >such program and that the marketing department made "a mistake". She then went >on to tell me about three upgrade options I had, with prices ranging from $150 >to $1300, if I remember correctly. I'm not so hot on Shiva as well. We bought a NetModem two months ago and it connected to the net fine, but would only stay connected for five minutes at a time. I talked with support and they told me I needed a ROM upgrade (sheesh I had just bought it new) and that they would send one... Here it is seven weeks later and no ROM... No wonder they keep changing their phone number... -rsvp
km3t@jjmhome.UUCP (Dave Pascoe) (06/17/91)
In article <1991Jun17.021937.9122@dartvax.dartmouth.edu>, rsvp@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (R. Scott V. Paterson) writes: > > I'm not so hot on Shiva as well. We bought a NetModem two months ago > and it connected to the net fine, but would only stay connected for > five minutes at a time. I talked with support and they told me I needed > a ROM upgrade (sheesh I had just bought it new) and that they would send > one... Here it is seven weeks later and no ROM... No wonder they keep > changing their phone number... Gee, I thought I was the only one. At work we have several NetModems and, while ours do stay connected, there are serious errors when trying to do file transfers. We get lots and lots of CRC errors on ZMODEM transfers when these boxes are hooked up to a larger network. With the NetModem connected directly to a Mac there is no problem at all. I have been working on Shiva for the past few months on this. I have *repeatedly* gotten the run-around from them. Each and every time I mention a problem and present the technical evidence of the problem they give me the old cure-all answer: "Oh, what version of the ROM do you have? Well, let me send you the latest version." I'm really sick and tired of their weekly firmware releases. This shouldn't be that hard to get working. Unless they just have a bunch of yutzes doing the firmware. And I'm also tired of being a beta test site because they haven't found the time to do adequate testing. The problem we have could easily have been simulated if they had a lab to do it. I imagine they must have some sort of test bed. But they never even tried. It has become increasingly difficult to reach their technical support staff. They must be on the phone constantly. I had to call the head of technical support to find out why my call wasn't returned last time. It's one thing to not have your problem solved but to not have your phone call returned is an atrocity. I can understand they're in a growth mode but they're shooting themselves in the foot by not being responsive to customer requests. And I haven't received the new PROM yet either.....going on four weeks. And they said they sent it too...... -- Dave Pascoe | km3t@jjmhome.UUCP OR dhp1@gte.com KM3T | Packet: km3t @ k1ea.ma.usa.na