Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!agate!helios.ee.lbl.gov!lbl-csam.arpa!antony
From: antony@lbl-csam.arpa (Antony A. Courtney)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: QUESTION ABOUT SEAGATE HARD DRIVE/SUBSTN
Keywords: mail order burn
Message-ID: <3631@helios.ee.lbl.gov>
Date: 18 Aug 89 01:47:25 GMT
References: <2516@orion.cf.uci.edu> <2900@tahoe.unr.edu>
Sender: usenet@helios.ee.lbl.gov
Reply-To: antony@lbl-csam.arpa (Antony A. Courtney)
Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley
Lines: 68

In article <2900@tahoe.unr.edu> mikew@wheeler.UUCP (Mike Whitbeck) writes:
>hard drive. I recently ordered an Atari Megafile 30 from ST-Plus
>(aka Zephyr Microsystems). After a month - still no drive
>(it was shipped but must have been lost by UPS, we'll ship
>another right away, oh well that one was the last and it was
>sold over the counter - sorry when we restock we'll rush  one to
>you PRIORITY!, oh, er uh- we decided not to restock (meanwhile
>my VISA bill comes with the charge on it!), we'll refund your
>money less 20% (over $100!!), - you (the buyer) are responsible
>if you don't get the drive you ordered, UPS MAY make YOU pay for
>the lost drive....) *

>the owner(?) talk me into a 138N in a ICD box and a ??(BMS?) 
>controller. WELL AM I GONNA REGTET THIS?

I hope not, although I can't say things look promising...

> New owners? Bad day for the boss? Karma? It

> As for the trace, I have not yet received the shipper no. for
> Zephyr/ST-Plus but a quick check under both names show no
> shipments made. I'll let you good folk know how this melodrama
> resolves itself.
>
> mikew@wheeler.UUCP  | mikew@wheeler.wrc.unr.edu

I am sorry to say I have had a similar bad experience with this company.  I
was working as a contract software developer for the owner of the store
developing a desktop publishing package.  Shortly after I began development
however, Calamus was released and it became painfully apparent that there was
no way I could get a product to market in time to compete with Calamus, as my
development time was rather limited.  Before entering into the deal, we made
damned sure my contract was very very clear about what would happen if it
became necessary for either party to reneage on the contract.  He had lent me
hardware worth about 2x as much as I had given him, and if we needed to break
the contract, I would give him the hardware and anything I had developed, and
he would give me back my money.  Without going into detail, he took weeks to
get me a check, and then the check bounced three times.  It took a call to the
fraud department in order to get him to pay up.  

And this is not the only time I have known him to do slimey business.  He was
audited by the IRS for tax evasion, and he had to pay taxes plus a sufficient
fine.  And there have been any number of other things he has done which I
personally consider bad business.  The tactic you describe sounds exactly like
something he would pull.  The store is called Micro-World.  The mail order
company is called ST-Plus.  Zephyr is the name of a T-Shirt shop next door to
it which he also owns.  

(And for those of you with a cynical eye about my having to bow out of the
contract--I consider it to have been the only responsible thing to do.  I could
have easily beaten around the bush and developed a half-decent DTP package. But
by the time it would have been released, it would not have been very
market competetive.  And for credibility I have worked for about half a year
now doing graphics and network systems programming for the Advanced Development
Group at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and haven't get along extremely well with
my boss and co-workers)

These are JUST MY OPINIONS and perceptions.  I probably would not have posted
this except that mikew appears to have had similar bad experience with them,
and people should be forewarned.

Let the buyer beware....

			-Antony
*******************************************************************************
Antony A. Courtney				antony@lbl.gov
Advanced Development Group			ucbvax!lbl-csam.arpa!antony
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory			AACourtney@lbl.gov