#Computer Answers
25 messages in this thread
Consumer Alert: Computer Answers
A friend of mine has asked me to post this letter written to Donna
Viveiros, Administrative assistant at Amazing Computing.
On March 22, 1994 I called Computer Answers to order an Amiga 4000/40.
My first question was "do you have it in stock?", the answer was "yes
we do". My second question, "how long for delivery?", the answer, "two
weeks at the most". I am trying to get a small business off the ground
and time is quite important, but for the advertised prices I figured
it would be worth the wait. As you can see by the date on this letter
(June 16, 1994), it has now been close to three full months of anxiety,
frustration and a different excuse with every inquiring phone call. I
first called approximately three weeks from the order date to find out
why my Visa had been charged on March 29 and nothing had been received.
I was told at this time that they were waiting for the WarpEngine to
ship and that it was expected in the next couple of days. Evidently "in
stock" means something different in Canada. I called a week later and
was told that it was just starting to ship and I was first on the list.
At this time I also ordered some additional memory to be installed and
asked that they make sure it was 60ns and not the 70ns chips that come
with it. I called again one week later and was told that they were
having trouble getting a shipment from the States, but they were sure
it was about to be shipped from one of their nearby distributors. I
waited another two weeks to call and was told that the WarpEngine was
there, but they had to wait for the memory chips which had just come
in that day (June 7, 1994) and they were just putting it together,
promising faithfully to ship it that same day. When I called again on
June 13, 1994 I was told that the shipping clerk was off sick that day
and that the computer had been shipped on June 10, 1994 via UPS air,
so the sales person did not have access to the shipping number that I
might have it tracked. I called again the following morning, June 14,
1994. The shipping clerk was in, but they would have to call UPS for
a tracking number and would call me back. At 1:15PM that same after-
noon I called them back and was told that my computer was not actually
in the hands of UPS or customs either. They told me that they have
their own warehouse next to the border and it would be shipped from
there to customs with a promise that I would have it by Friday, June
17, 1994. HAH!!!!
With time lost and several international long distant phone calls,
this hasn't been such a great deal after all. I would appreciate any
thing you could do to bring some light to this nightmare of deception
and false advertising.
Robert O. Bennett
Funky Fliks
——————————————————————–
Well there you have it. I've been following this saga with Bob for
the last 3 months and Computer Answers has sure given him the
run-around. Myself, I probably would have canceled the order about
a month ago, but Bob has more patience than I. The false advertising
Bob was referring to is a statement made in their ad's that reads:
A4000 or 4000T $39 5-9 days
(Quoting from ad) "These are the average rates & delivery times in
business days for ground service within Canada & the USA."
They are not even close!! Looks to me that its easy to offer great
prices on something if you don't deliver the product, or make
enough interest off of the VISA charge <g>.
// John (Speeding on the Information Superhighway)
\X/ Mercury@ins.infonet.net
Their advertised prices are about 15% less than what they will quote you
on the phone.
The other popular rumor that is not true is that they have/can get/will
deliver 4000Ts. They have been honest with me on that point, anyway. THey
say they have not had them since "the announcement" and though they have
them on order, they do not know when/if they will get them.
wmc – via Autopilot!
When I talked to them on the phone, that is not the story they gave me on
the 4000T. They said they would have some "next week" and that they'd
sold some the previous week.
Has anyone else ordered from Computer Answers and had any experiences good
or bad?
—
Dale L. Larson, Intangible Assets Manufacturing
I ordered a CD32 from Computer Answers and it arrived (3-4 weeks after the
call) in a torn-up box with opaque tape wrapped and re-wrapped around it
like a homeless person (forgive the reference <g>).
I was told by someone online here that the unusual wrapping was because of
the unit's little tour through customs. THAT I can believe. However, a
couple games that they said were "in-stock" ended up being back-ordered. I
got them about a month to six weeks later.
The excuse, as I was told, for the late games was that although they know
their inventory, they can't inform a caller where they stand on the good
old waiting list. Sounds like a guy and his brother working out of a
garage or something. Getting too much response from offers they can't
keep.
I'll try other avenues before calling them again. Just my little opinion,
as requested.
Stephen Bailey
Sawyer & Bailey Film & Video – Chicago
I forget who, but it seems that someone told me that they are a relatively
small dealer who have just entered the mailorder business. They thought
they could do it better, so they wanted to. Looks like there is a big
difference between providing good service to a small group of local
clients and providing good service to an international pool of tens of
thousands.
—
Dale L. Larson, Intangible Assets Manufacturing
I see your point. Your conclusion reminds me of an interview that was
published in Wired magazine with futurist Alvin Toffler (Nov. 93) where he
talks about niche markets and economic networks based on either local or
small world-wide exchanges of goods.
Great interview, I thought, though you can never place all your eggs in
one dogma 🙂 The interesting proposals seem doomed to never occur beside
the foot stomping of nationalism, fear, greed, and narrow mindedness. Same
same same.
OK. I've had a rough day. Computer Answers should get introspective and
just figure out their limitations. Or, not. Perhaps it's hard to expect
terrific service when you're ordering from another country. Us selfish
American pigs <G> are too spoiled.
bye. 🙂
Stephen Bailey
Sawyer & Bailey Film & Video – Chicago
I received a 4000/030 from them in November. It took 2-3 weeks to
arrive and came via customs US Mail. I have had no problems with them
although the wait was long, and they stated 2 ship dates after ordering.
The price was around $2000 American with a 2 meg EGS Spectrum (not
installed.) The price was still almost $200 less than any one else.
I had just come through a fiasco with Creative Computing. I had a 3000T
on order for 6 weeks before my wife made me cancel. (She was right. The
4000 is a gem.)
…………. Mark via AP 1.052
Hmmm, very interesting. I think I'll call them back Monday and have a
little more "intimate" chat with them…
wmc – via Autopilot!
I can tell you my experience with Computer Answers, I'm a dealer and like
everybody els was looking for A1200's..I called Computer Answers one day and
talked to one guy who said they had A1200's in stock..I called back the next
day to order some and talked to another guy who admitted that they really
didn't have any at the time.
I know of two other customers of mine who ordered an A1200 from them..one was
ordered in December and finally received it in March. Another ordered one back
in April and still has not received it. They gave him the two week delivery
story too.
And as you said the prices in their ads aren't the real thing either…
Ray Tronix Micro Systems
Well I imagine at this point, hardly anyone could get 4000T's. They are
probably so scarce that it's going to take some time to get them. Right
now, my desktop 4000 does just fine with what I need to do. Besides, I
don't like reaching down to change the disks, and it probably wouldn't fit
on my computer desk.
// John (Speeding on the Information Superhighway)
\X/ Mercury@ins.infonet.net
But unfortunately, I think C= designed the 4000 in their "the Toaster is
not a 4000 product" phase of the relationship with NewTek. And they
refused to consider lessons learned from the 1000 and 3000 experiences.
Just another example of, "oh, the consumer will eat it up – because we're
COMMODORE!" attitiude that got them to the current state.
For me, I can't make a 4000 work in my set-up without major compromises
that outweigh the benefits:
Add VT and Y/C Plus, I've got one slot left. Ad AmiLink software, I loose
the serial port to it to communicate to some external chassis that houses
the AmiLink card. I loose the parallel port to the AmiLink dongle. Now I
have to use up the one remaining slot for an I/O card so I can drive
either a printer or ParNet, but not both. And an extra serial port to
communicate with external TBCs. Now, there is no room for a 24 bit card,
and unless I go with the addition of a Warp board, no SCSI. Now we have to
decide where the SunRize card has to go…
Currently in a 2000 I have G-Force 040 with SCSI, Ser: (Modem) and Par:
(printer), Toaster, Y/C Plus, MFC II (ser1: to DPS 230 TBC, and par1:
ParNet to a second 2000) AmiLink card, Amiga SER: switchboxed between
Nucleus PSFC and AmiLink comm, and Amiga PAR: used up by AmiLink dongle.
(The SunRize card was recently moved to the second system for timing
reasons that SunRize tells me will be resolved in the next release so that
I can move it back.) Then ther is the FFV card and the DKB board.
The blood between C= and NewTek was so bad at the time, I almost imagine
Ali or Irv baby ordering engineers to make a design that would put Toaster
users in Hell and limit the NewTek market to the existing 2000 base.
Then, I believe management delayed the production of the tower by about 9
months in order to try to sell down existing 4000 stocks. However, in the
meantime money ran out, CD32 took preference and the Tower never, as far
as I can tell, got anymore than a test production run of a few hundred
units.
If I didn't need the Toaster for my living, I'd have gotten a 4000 long
before now. However, based on not being able to make slot allocations
work out, I decided to wait for the Tower. I gambled that it would come
out before CBM bellied up. Experiences like this are why, when in Vegas
for NAB, the Casino's see nary a dime of my dough. :^}
wmc – via Autopilot!
The problem with the A4000 is simply a matter of Mr. PC Jr., nothing more
or less stupid than that.
—
Dale L. Larson, Intangible Assets Manufacturing
Yeah, I know… (who hired that bozo in the first place…[steam]) BUt
what WAAASSS he THINKING!?!?!?
wmc – via Autopilot!
Mehdi Ali hired him. What he was thinking is obvious … he wanted to
make the Amiga as popular as the as the PC Jr. … he succeeded.
-sja
Theres another quote for the mags… hee hee. You should collect these
gems into an extended C= obituary. A little levity at the expense of a
dark situation might not be so bad…
wmc – via Autopilot!
I agree, for Toaster work, the 4000 is about as slot poor as you can get.
Bob is going to keep a lot of his boards that don't depend on the Amiga
bus in the 2000, i.e. the TBC's and VectorScope. Then about the only
boards that will go in the 4000 will be his Toaster 4000 and a few others.
// John (Speeding on the Information Superhighway)
\X/ Mercury@ins.infonet.net
Make that the Toaster 4000 and TWO others, 'cause thats all there' room
for (Toaster covers video slot and one other Zorro/PC-AT slot
combination).
wmc – via Autopilot!
At the Infocomm show in L.A., a Newteker, St Germain said:
1. List price of a Flyer will be $4995.
2. Preorders b4 July 17 will be $3495.
3. Preorders b4 July 30 will be $3995.
4. Somebody (2 hrs North of Topeka, hint) is making a box to house the
Flyer. Think about this. Outboard Zorro slots or ????? At least it solves
the internal space problem.
Joe Clasen
Joe's DB&G
Joe,
I'd like to talk to the (2 hrs North of Topeka, hint) somebody making this
enclosure. Must not be Smith, cause they said told me last week they were
not pursuing it.
Also, I understood that the Flyer would not be sold by NewTek direct, that
you had to get it from a dealer. Is this still the case (as that policy
was annunciated before the fall of C=)?
wmc – via Autopilot!
Get a toaster oven. They give you 9 drive bays, all of your slots, and they are
available now.
Bob should realize that if someone makes contradictory statements like "it's in
stock now" and "we can't get ship it for several weeks" then at least one of
those statements is a lie.
Well, I don't think Bob would have minded so much if they were at least
honest with him. But sometimes that could cause a cancelled order or no
order at all, so sometimes the mail order outfits would rather take the
chance and lie rather than loose the sale. Recently I called Safe Harbor
to order my WarpEngine. When asked if it was in stock "No, but we can get
one in a couple of days." Well I decided to give it a shot, and 4 days
later it showed up on my doorstep. I would much rather do business with
someone like that, even if they can't deliver immediately.
// John (Speeding on the Information Superhighway)
\X/ Mercury@ins.infonet.net
Maybe it was '5-9 months' ?
-MaRiO- -= Intel inside! (…my washing machine) =-
Confucius say: "A bird in hand makes it hard to blow nose"
"Maybe it was '5-9 months' ?"
Yep, must have been a misprint <g>.
// John (Speeding on the Information Superhighway)
\X/ Mercury@ins.infonet.net