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From: jfa0522@hertz.njit.edu (john f andrews ece)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.handhelds
Subject: HP Customer Service and the Serial Kit SCAM
Message-ID: <1991Jun25.182629.1803@njitgw.njit.edu>
Date: 25 Jun 91 18:26:29 GMT
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Organization: New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, N.J.
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Well, well, well. I am indeed surprised, but, perhaps I was naive.


Just called HP about the upgraded "serial Interface Kit". I am quite
sure this has been discussed here, but did it make any difference???

I paid $50 for a kit to enable me to connect my new $300 calculator to my 
PC (a prime reason for upgrading to the 48) only to find it was nothing
more than a cable and KERMIT????? 

The customer Service rep emphasizes that not everyone knows about KERMIT,
and those great utilities on the disk are also only available (to many people)
in the kit. Geee... I never knew HP was one of those companies that scams
its customers. 

Alas, they will, for an additional $30, give me the software *only* from
the new-improved "programmers development link"... when I queeried the
effluent salesman on the technical details, he informed me (in many, many
words) that it allows you to do wonderful things you can't really do
with the Serial Interface Kit, like execute programs on the HP from your 
PC, send commands without the need for difficult escape characters, etc. In
short, all the things the serial interface kit was supposed to do.

So is this true... HP rips us off and stands in our faces admitting it, but
with no intention to make things right? Geeesh.... HP is taking a serious
dive in the PR department on this one. Who do they think buys a 48sx? I,
for one, will unquestionably look at Casio/other brands now. Before I 
never even bothered (I am a 15 year HP user). 

Anybody had any luck with this? Anybody upgrade for $30? What did you get
(in real words, not package descriptions!)

-=one annoyed HP customer with a seriously tarnished opinion of HP