Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!uwvax!umn-d-ub!dross
From: dross@umn-d-ub.D.UMN.EDU (david ross)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: PC Clones (response)
Summary: Excel
Message-ID: <2137@umn-d-ub.D.UMN.EDU>
Date: 20 Aug 89 18:34:15 GMT
References: <1284@ucf-cs.UCF.EDU>
Reply-To: dross@ub.d.umn.edu.UUCP (david ross)
Distribution: na
Organization: University of Minnesota, Duluth
Lines: 38

In article <3050@nmtsun.nmt.edu>, nigel@nmtsun.nmt.edu (Nigel Sharples) writes:
> Does anyone have any experience with clone manufacturers such
> as:
> 
> Swan
> PC brand
> Dell
> SAI
> Excel

About a year ago I bought an Excel from Network-PC; I was attracted by
the warrantee, the 48 hour burn-in, and the fact they were in Nebraska
(I'm a loudmouthed Chicagoan, and am quite good at bullying rural
midwesterners when necessary - as it turned out to be in this case, though
generally such people bend over backwards to be honest and helpful.)

The machine arrived totally disfunctional.  Inside I found that the
drive cable (I ordered a machine with a hard disk and only 1 floppy,
a 3.5") was not only not connected, but not connectable.  I called
NPC; they told me to whittle the cable's connecter with a knife until
it fit (!).  I did, but of course the machine still didn't work.
I switched myself into bully mode, and finally got the company's president
on the line (I was demanding not only a full refund, but compensation
for my time, which I had itemized).  My biggest question was, how could a
machine, which had obviously never worked, have passed a 48 hour burn in?
And wouldn't Nebraska's Attorney General be interested in this?

Well, I finally got a replacement machine from them, together with
a few extra doodads (like a second, 5.25" disk drive) and a small rebate for
my time and trouble.  To be fair, they were actually reasonably nice about
everything.  They even had a fairly convincing (if not satisfying)
explanation for the burn-in thing.  The machine has worked absolutely
flawlessly for almost a year under fairly strenuous use (once I stopped
using DR DOS, which came with the machine, and which is total garbage).
I would even buy from them again.

However, I wouldn't recommend them to someone who had neither technical
expertise nor a willingness to get fierce over the phone.