mmeyer@m2.csc.ti.com (Mark Meyer) (10/05/90)
I recently ordered a Packard Bell 286 system from the mail-order company Damark International. However, due to tremendous response, it's now on backorder, and probably won't ship until the start of November. Just after I ordered, I read all this stuff in this newsgroup saying bad things about Packard Bell's customer service, and I had second thoughts. Because of the backorder, I have the opportunity to back out of the deal. Should I? Here are the details of what I'm getting: 80286, 12 megahertz Two floppy drives, one 3-1/2" 1.44MB and one 5-1/4" 1.2 MB 30 MB hard drive 1 MB RAM expandable to 3 MB VGA card VGA 14" color monitor, 640x480, 256 colors IBM and AT compatible 8 expansion slots Dual floppy/hard drive controller 2 serial ports, 1 parallel port Zero wait state Real time clock/calendar System configuration in CMOS with battery backup AT style 101 professional keyboard MS-DOS 3.3, GW BASIC (So what? I've already got Turbo C) 145 watt universal power supply Socket for 80287 coprocessor on motherboard One year manufacturer's warranty Factory new and perfect (so they say) The price I'm being charged for all this? Including shipping? ... $1250! Twelve hundred fifty dollars! It looked like a really good deal at the time. They say, you get what you pay for, but I'd really like to upgrade to a 286. The Packard Bell line got a fair review from a recent PC Magazine survey, but after what's been said in this newsgroup, I'd like some more opinions. Atdhvaannkcse. -- Mark Meyer USENET: {ut-sally!im4u,convex!smu,sun!texsun}!ti-csl!mmeyer Texas Instruments, Inc. CSNET : mmeyer@TI-CSL Every day, Jerry Junkins is grateful that I don't speak for TI. "I just can NOT handle weirdness..." - Boy George
browns@iccgcc.decnet.ab.com (Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems) (10/08/90)
In article <MMEYER.90Oct4224731@m2.csc.ti.com>, mmeyer@m2.csc.ti.com (Mark Meyer) writes: > I recently ordered a Packard Bell 286 system from the > mail-order company Damark International. However, due to tremendous > response, it's now on backorder, and probably won't ship until the > start of November. Just after I ordered, I read all this stuff in > this newsgroup saying bad things about Packard Bell's customer > service, and I had second thoughts. Because of the backorder, I have > the opportunity to back out of the deal. Should I? On misc.consumers about a month ago there were _many_ horror stories, including mine, about problems doing business with Damark International. In my case, I ordered a phone, which was repeatedly backordered. I called the day I received their postcard notification, but they refused to cancel the order because they had already charged my card. The mess started in early summer, and it's not over yet. Your mileage may vary, but in future I don't care how good the price looks, I'll not do business with Damark. So good luck, and caveat emptor. The above opinions are not attributable to any other person or company. email: browns@iccgcc.decnet.ab.com Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A. +1 216 371 0043
cgordon@vpnet.chi.il.us (Gordon Hlavenka) (10/10/90)
[Stan Brown]: >On misc.consumers about a month ago there were _many_ horror stories, >including mine, about problems doing business with Damark International. I ordered a TV stereo box from Damark. It shipped on time, arrived in about a week. No problems, no complaints, just exactly the type of ordinary service I'd expect. Maybe I was just lucky. ----------------------------------------------------- Gordon S. Hlavenka cgordon@vpnet.chi.il.us Disclaimer: Damark? No relation!