Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!samsung!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!ucsd!ucrmath!lord_zar From: lord_zar@ucrmath.ucr.edu (wayne wallace) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: Montgomery Grant? Message-ID: Date: 20 Oct 90 00:56:01 GMT References: <1990Oct18.064518.464@darwin.ntu.edu.au> <11026@hubcap.clemson.edu> Organization: University of California, Riverside Lines: 116 rchampe@hubcap.clemson.edu (Richard Champeaux) writes: >In article <1990Oct18.064518.464@darwin.ntu.edu.au> caldwell_t@darwin.ntu.edu.au writes: >>I am considering buying a harddisk and interface from Montgomery Grant. >>Has anyone had any experiance with this firm. The reason I ask, is that >>living in Australia, I have a fair distance problem if something goes >>wrong. >> >>Thanks for any help. >> >> Malcolm Caldwell CALDWELL_T@DARWIN.NUT.EDU.AU >> Darwin Australia FIDO 3:690/648.3 >NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! >Don't buy from Montgomery Grant! They are scum! For instance, they are >not an authorized Amiga dealer, and are therefore a grey market dealer. (shipping cost of $200 horror story deleted) >My Montgomery Grant story: >I bought my Amiga 2000 from them for $1399 + $200 shipping. I received it >promptly. However, the Amiga box itself (it was shipped within another box) >was very abused and had had shipping labels cut off it. The computer was >obviously used. The fan was very dirty (not dusty, dirty). The case was >bent so that it didn't sit level and rocked. The mouse was obviously used. >It's feet were worn and it's ball and rollers were dirty. Worst of all, it >was an Amiga 500 mouse and didn't even fit through the hole in the 2000's >case. The serial number of the computer didn't match the number on the box. >The box said the computer came with Kickstart 1.3, yet the computer had >Kickstart1.2. And finally, the drive didn't work. >After some screaming over the phone, at my expense, they promised to give >me a factory sealed Amiga. I agreed and sent the computer back with a >fairly nasty letter included, one copy inside the outer box, and one >in the Amiga's box. I received a replacement and have been happy with it >ever since. After relating my story on the net, I received several letters >from other people who had experiences simmilar to mine. One, for instance, >was with a monitor. >Oh, and by the way, I believe that computers bought from a grey market >dealer are not covered under Commodore's warrenty. >Even though you are buying a hard disk and controller, not an Amiga, >I would avoid dealing with them. Just the fact that they are a grey >market dealer would be enough to discourage me, because if they are >dishonest in that respect, they might be slimy all over. Of course, >my experience with them was 2 years ago, and they might have cleaned >up their act. Yeah, right, they're still selling amigas mail order. >If you are still dead set on ordering from them, call them up and ask them >how much they will charge for shipping, and then call other places and >compare the prices. I have a feeling that Montgomery Grant won't end >up being all that much cheaper, if any. >Looking at their ad, I notice that they now discount the shipping to 3% >for orders over $1200 dollars. However, I also notice the sentence >"Trade-in your used commodore or amiga equipment for a new, better model" >Gee, I wonder what they do with the trade-ins? >------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >Rich Champeaux PLT: The plotter device for the Amiga! >rchampe@hubcap.clemson.edu Ask for it at your neighborhood FTP site! >"They say I'm lazy, but it takes all my time." >------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I bought my A2500/20, Magnavox 14" monitor(non-stereo), and an A1010 (??) floppy drive from them in Jan '90, found out my check didn't cover shipping insurance ($100) by the end of january/february, and received it all at the end of march, within the 6-8 week shipping time, once they had received full payment. My A2500 was apparently factory sealed, as the box was intact, the mouse and keyboard were quite clean, and I experienced no problems with the Amiga aside from taking a while to remember some old games like Solitaire Royale (Spectrum Holobyte, tetris-warrior) and Robocop (Data East, they need some real programmers!!!) need to be booted up in 68000 mode :-) I am in southern California, and yet they somehow were able to ship reliably to me all the way from NYC. Maybe they're cleaned up slightly, but not to to the extent of stopping their sales of Amigas ? Oh, guess what ? I ordered my Amiga 2 weeks before I saw the first of several notices on c.s.a. that Montgomery Grant was a "grey market" company. I've d/l'ed animations, demos, and some other stuff, all of which has been running perfectly on my A2500, bought from that paragon of distrust, Montgomery Grant. I've found a BBS sysop who can buy software & stuff from a wholesaler, at 30% off retail, so I doubt I'll be dealing with any mail order companies for the forseeable future :-) If you can, do the same. I'm already enjoying Pirates! (MY GOD, the first game that has the ability to install itself on your HD with a point and click!!!!!) and have ordered more. Now to d/l a good word processor that outperforms or duplicates vi... (I hate EMACS. you can certainly customize it, but it takes longer for setting defaults for anything else I've ever seen! ughh!!! ) Anyways, add my story to the non-horror list. But, with what Rich has been through, maybe you should stay away. Just my $0.02, Wayne -- * // Only /\ |Lord Zar,Commander Of All He Surveys|Stay Alert! Trust * *\\ // /--\MIGA |(and hater of spaces near commas.) |No One! Keep--AHHHH* * \X/ Internet: lord_zar@ucrmath.ucr.edu QuantumLink & Portal: Lord_Zar * * I'm a Purple Hearts & Yellow Moons kinda guy; I'm vay-teeng for you, dahlink* ******************************************************************************* *Don't think of them as pedestrians, think of them as semi-mobile speed bumps.* *-Lord Teka * *******************************************************************************