Poor Service
20 messages in this thread
I have been forced to air this issue in public because you have not
returned my calls. As Black Belt claims to provide excellent support, it's
current and potential customers deserve to see that in at least this case
the claim is false and misleading.
Two weeks ago I sent my HAME unit to you for upgrading. Prior to sending
it, I called to find out how long it would take to get back to me. I was
told that it would be shipped back by air if sent to you this way and that
the upgrades would take 1-2 days to complete. I shipped the HAME by UPS
overnight on Monday so that I would have it back by the following weekend.
When I did not receive it back by Monday of the following week, I called
and was told that the technician had failed to perform some of the work.
Another date was promissed, then another and finally, when I called today,
Friday, I was told it was "finished but we just missed the pickup."
If I had been honestly told about the REAL time this would take, I would
NOT have spent the $$$$ to ship UPS overnight, and in fact would probably
have delayed the upgrade.
If you had kept your promises, or if you even had the courtesy to call me
and let me know the unit would not be shipped, this message would not have
been posted. But even though you DO have my phone number, you have made it
necessary for me to call about this unit when each promissed date passes.
The HAME is an excellent hardware product. Why do you conduct you business
in this miserable manner?
Doug
Ah, Doug Tittle. I heard about your phone calls yesterday evening.
Your _miserable_ phone calls. Where you badgered Barry to no purpose, and
where he (correctly) informed you that if you were dealing with IBM, (a) it
would have taken 4-6 weeks, (b) it would not have been free in the forst
place.
The *specific* reason YOUR unit got held up is that you asked for a
*specific* favor beyond the normal upgrades. FAVOR. You asked that we
perform a special mod for showing only the HAME output, a mod you had seen
here on CIS. I was on vacation – and I, personally, was the one who
invented that mod in response to the initial request. And that was the ONLY
thing that wasn't done on your unit, because the tech didn't know a thing
about it. I've been back at the office for three days, total – mon,tues,
wed. You unit was done on weds. And I wouldn't want you to think you were
the only thing that I had to get done in three days.
Furthermore, on Friday when you called, you were told finished and we MAY
get it in todays pickup, as they were due but not yet there. And in fact,
we DID get it in the pickup, and it is on it's way. I am told that you tied
Melissa up on the phone for about ten minutes ranting and complaining. Sami
says she was unfailingly polite to you. We did hire her because she is a
sweet lady. UNfortunately, every once in a while, we run into customers
like you. Bitchy, pushy, whining and unreasonable… I don't like it when
my coworkers are mistreated for ANY reason. When it's for NO reason, as in
this case, I don't like it even more. Next time you need an upgrade… call
IBM.
Ben Williams.
Ben
Amateur Radio Callsign is A A 7 A S
Ben,
I have not, and do not now, object to the fact that special mods – offered
in public here on Compuserve – may take longer to make. In fact, I
appreciate them.
I was objecting to the fact that I received promises that were NOT kept.
I badgered nobody. I was unfailingly polite and fair. I was also
understandably frustrated. I was made promises and the person blamed for
not keeping them (you) was unavailable throughout.
I do not feel that I am out of line expecting a phone call telling me that
my unit would be delayed. This is simple business courtesy.
If you feel that I have mistreated your co-workers…why did you leave them
out in the cold? I am confident that none of them could honestly report
our conversations as anything as reasonable.
I, as a customer of yours, strongly object to being called "Bitchy, pushy,
whining and unreasonable" for holding you to promises that you and your
employees have made to me. I am a customer asking for service, not a
friend asking for a personal favor.
Doug
Doug, at this point, I really don't give a flying paper plate what you
object to. Your unit is out of here. That's _all_ I care about at this
time. You got more than your money's worth – you cost us more irritation
and trouble than the $$$ you brought in are worth.
You were, and are out of line as far as I am concerned. And, unfortunately
for you, that's what counts here.
Ben Williams
I wanted to reply to Doug's message, but thought "Nah – Ben can defend
himself", not that any defense was necessary. Seems like some people want
everything for nothing and have very little patience. I can understand why
some people have a hard time parting with their Ham-E, and want to get it
back as soon as possible, but 4-6 weeks is not unusual in the computer
market, especially concerning hardware upgrades and special mods. Sheesh,
I'm usually lucky to get a software upgrade back in less than 3 weeks. Of
course, if you take longer than 4 weeks to send my Ham-E back when I send
it in, I have a Ben Williams voodoo doll I've been wanting to practice on
8^)
John (in beautiful downtown Walla Walla) – via Whap!
Lucky I own the pin manufacturers. :^)
Ben
Amateur Radio Callsign is A A 7 A S
well, I don't want to get into this, but I feel I must… I have a HAM-E
unit and I do like it… but I have also had problems when calling for
help… my unit oneday just decided to start showing blacks as greys, after
several months of working fine… I called to get a RAN to let yall check
it out, but I was told that that was just a simple adjustment that was
explained in the manual… well, I did the adjustment, but I had to adjust
the black levels so far down that the images are now very dark and
gloomy… even the black bars pic for doing this adjustment doesn't show
the first 4 bars of grey now…
but the main reason for this post was the way you blasted Doug… I don't
think that was very civil, let alone businesslike… that does not make you
look very good in the eyes of potential customers, Ben.. even if Doug was
being unreasonable (and I have no way of knowing) I don't think it called
for that kind of reply… and if you don't care a "flying paper plate"
about a customer with a problem, well….. real nice way to drum up
business…
Jim – I *do* have a way of knowing if he's being unreasonable. I'm telling
him, and you for that matter, that he was being unreasonable in my opinion,
which is what counts here.
The adjustment in the HAM-E that you were told about is exactly correct. If
that's NOT it, then a RA is called for. I don't htink you've had trouble –
you had good advice.
You are, of course, entitled to your opinion. Keep in mind that I am
entitled to mine.
Ben
Amateur Radio Callsign is A A 7 A S
Every business gets its share of The Customer From Hell, whether it's a
restaurant, a car dealer or a computer developer. Some businesses talk
about it in public, some don't. Regardless, these customers exist, and
behind closed doors, business owners curse the name of certain customers.
Ben's customer took his complaints to a public forum, and Ben responded in
public. Ben may be uhm, direct and straightforward, but he's rarely wrong.
🙂
As a more general observation, what's to be gained by taking a complaint to
a public forum? I think some people do it in order to try and draw a
reaction from the developer, to get extra special treatment that they
weren't getting. If the customer is correct, chances are, someone else will
probably chime in, confirming there might be a problem. Or, a business and
a customer engage in a public shouting match, and it doesn't look good.
Sometimes a person has no choice but to present his case to the public. If
I wanted to, I could tell of my experiences with BBS and they'd be
downright chilling if I told everything. My royalty check for the first
half of the year for HAM-E was so small. I'm wondering what's going on with
BBS.
-Greg
That was brilliant.
Ben
Amateur Radio Callsign is A A 7 A S
Hi Ben, whats this special mod for showing only HAME output? Whats it do?
Nick
It changes the way that the HAM-E works; it allows only HAME information to
come out of the RGB port on the back of the HAME. For some applications,
this is convenient. For most, it's not. You can't see the overlay panels in
IP, for instance, because they are std Amiga output.
When the Amiga screens are supposed to show, you get black – nothing else.
It's something we do if asked, as a favor.
Ben
Amateur Radio Callsign is A A 7 A S
I feel sorry for all the abuse you've had to take. Ben has his crowld here
and he is in charge of this section. I have a couple of similar stories to
tell, and as a freelance thing, I designed the digital section of the
original HAME. Needless to say I'm not happy and won't do any more work for
Ben again.
-Greg
Greg, there are two sides to every story – as you are aware. I don't think
you want us to air our side of this story. It could go a long way towards
destroying a good deal, or possibly all, of your credibility. Think about
it.
Given the statement in your message that you wouldn't do any work for us
again, I feel compelled to point out to the public that you were never
offered the opportunity to work for us again – we had Dean Brown do the
next stage of the HAM-E design, and we are very happy with the results,
unlike our dealings with you. If this causes people to think twice before
considering using your services as a designer, I think that would be
appropriate, personally.
Should you really want to bash this out in public, I can't stop you, and I
won't try.
I will, however, burn you to a crisp in public without a qualm – it will be
easy, because you're completely out of line.
Oh… and none of this will affect your royalties… I don't have
discretionary power over them. Lucky for you.
Ben Williams.
Whew! and I thought the HAM-E was simply a damned-fine display system.
How little did I realize the dark and nefarious nascence of my favorite
piece of hardware.
It's consoling to know that I have yet to find you wrong.
Agreeable…weellll? Contentious…..maybe, but not wrong.
Unsure why I entered this thread,
Michael
It's amazing what lurks, eh? Well, the consoling factor is that DKB
software, which has done numerous designs for us (SoftPanel, HAM-E+,
Ana-16, Gfx Accel, A proto auto-config system…) has never, ever
dissapointed us; never (that I know of) made a mistake in a design that
made it to release or full proto level. They're very professional, and so
we (and you) don't have to worry about this kind of thing happening.
Ben
For all things great and small, I am deeply indebted. Part of that
statemnet applies to BBS, but really is universal.
Pax,
MIchael
Don't make the mistake that I care about credibility. Do you?
I like your carefully crafted paragraph on that you never offered me work
again, etc. For the publics reference, I had basically had told you after I
had finished the final prototype that I would never work for you again as
you inspired distrust, you verbally abused me, and you stretched the
original agreement until it basically broke. I personally find it
hypocritical to be complaining of how Doug treated your employees,
especially when comparing how you dealt with me. OK?
As far as burning me to a crisp: Perfect. The Devil himself couldn't have
said it better. Have the two of you ever been confused for one another?
And none of this will affect royalties? Is that what it was? I was thinking
it was pocket change. Thanks for clearing that up.
-Greg
Wasted effort, greg.