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From: rick@oresoft.UUCP (Rick Lahrson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Mail Order Machine
Message-ID: <51@oresoft.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 19-Jul-87 07:09:03 EDT
Article-I.D.: oresoft.51
Posted: Sun Jul 19 07:09:03 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 19-Jul-87 20:42:50 EDT
References: <7200005@uiucdcsm>
Reply-To: rick@oresoft.UUCP (Rick Lahrson)
Distribution: na
Organization: Oregon Software, Portland OR
Lines: 62
Keywords: Customer service?  Lotsa luck!
Summary: Microcomputer Services, Inc.: Grrrrrr.

In article <7200005@uiucdcsm> schwager@uiucdcsm.cs.uiuc.edu writes:
>Well, I'm getting kinda tired of waiting for the Amiga 500 to hit the
>local computer shop, and I'm reconsidering my purchase anyway.  "Maybe I
>should go with the Amiga 1000?" I think to myself.  MicroComputer Services
>is advertising them for pretty cheap... has anyone dealt with these guys?
>I absolutely *cannot* get through to them on their customer service line,
>and that makes me mighty nervous.  Any comments, pro or con, about
>ordering a computer through the mail?

Yeah, I've dealt with them, though not for hardware.  I recently ordered
$320 worth of software from them ($240 of which was for Word Perfect),
based on the low prices in their ad in AmigaWorld.  But I missed the fine
print at the bottom that said to call for shipping charges, so I sent the
$320.  They sent back my order letter, along with a form with a check-off
marked for insufficient shipping.  They did not send back my check.

You're right about their "customer service" number.  It's obviously off
the hook at all times!  I tried for three days to get through to that
number, with no luck.  I finally just sent the letter back along with
the $8 (right, eight whole dollars) for shipping, that was holding up
my $320 order.  I have since gotten three out of four of the programs I
ordered, the missing one being Word Perfect, of course.  I wonder if
they have ever seen one.  Maybe it's not even really available yet.

The part that really makes me mad (excuse me, I mean **FURIOUS**) is
that if I had phoned in my order, and charged it to a credit card, they
would have charged me the shipping, sent the (partial) order sooner,
with no wait for the check to clear, and they would have ended up with
_LESS_ than $320 total, after paying the bank the credit card fee!
An intelligent policy would be to ship the order along with a bill for
the shipping.  Even in the unlikely event that the bill wasn't honored,
they'd be ahead!

Now, I don't know how long it will be before I get my Word Perfect, and
Microcomputer Services, Inc. has $240 of my money to play with for a
while, and their phone line is tied up at all times, so I can't talk to
a human being about this.  I'm frustrated as hell with this company.

In my frustration at trying to reach their "customer service" number, I
called the order number, where I learned (no surprise) that the order
phone was isolated from the rest of the company, and there was no way
to communicate through that number except to place a new order.

So I recommend trying this company only if you're confident that there
will be no problems at all, or you're willing to transact all your
business beyond the initial order, and resolve all problems, by mail.
At their convenience.  I'd probably be recommending them highly, due to
their great prices, if they had a telephone!  But I'd much rather pay
more money than buy the frustration.

Now, I'm not at all worried about using mail order in general, so I'd
like to know if there's a mail order company that has prices anywhere
close to MCS'.  I've got lots more stuff I want to buy for my Amiga,
and I'm going to buy it by mail, but _NOT_ from MCS.  I'll pay more.
And I'll call the company's customer service number _before_ their
order number, to make sure it's possible to resolve problems.

-- 

Rick Lahrson  ...tektronix!oresoft!rick

Disclaimer:  If I ever speak for anyone but me, I'll warn you in advance.