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From: tdn@spice.cs.cmu.edu (Thomas Newton)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Multi-vendor Mac failure.
Message-ID: <1205@spice.cs.cmu.edu>
Date: Wed, 27-May-87 23:35:09 EDT
Article-I.D.: spice.1205
Posted: Wed May 27 23:35:09 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 6-Jun-87 15:37:18 EDT
Organization: Carnegie Mellon University
Lines: 79

> From your tone, it's obvious that you're p*ss*d *ff.  From your statements,
> it's possible that you have some of the facts, but that being p*ss*d *ff
> has fogged your brain.  Perhaps you imagine that the moguls operating
> MassTech took the money and ran after screwing all the innocents they
> could.  If so, you're wrong.

My statement that I am convinced that they will not return my money voluntarily
is based on their record of living up to their claims and promises.  Start with
the upgrade itself.  They assured me that if my Mac's power supply couldn't put
out enough power for the board they would put in a supplementary one.  But even
with the Apple supply turned up to its limit, the voltage was well below 5V.  I
pointed this out to them, and suggested that it might be causing the problems I
was experiencing, but they never did put in an extra power supply to compensate
for the excessive drain that their upgrade placed on the existing one.

When I asked for reimbursement for the mounting costs of shipping the Macintosh
to them for repair, they agreed.  I was told that the check was in the mail, or
that it would go out "on Monday"; it never came.  They told me that I would get
a refund when I returned the upgrade.  I returned it, but the check never came.
They gave me the runaround when I called, until one day when I went to call and
their phone numbers were not working.  So I sent certified mail, return receipt
requested.  It was returned marked "Refused".  Not another standard reason like
"Addressee unknown" or "Insufficient address".  "Refused".

I got in touch with the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office.  I think they
were the ones who told me how to get in contact with MassTech's attorney.  The
runaround I got from MassTech proper was -nothing- compared to the runaround I
got talking to this attorney.  He kept claiming how MassTech was going to file
for bankruptcy real soon now and how sorry they were and so on and so on.  All
he ever did was talk.  Once he promised me a check for the full amount by some
certain date, but it never came.  When the check did not come and I called the
attorney's office, I was told that this lawyer had been told by another lawyer
that he could not legally send me a check due to the upcoming bankruptcy.  The
thought that runs through my head is that if he was at all competent he surely
must have known this at the time that he promised me the check.  The runaround
went on for so long that the Attorney General's Office told me that

	"He [the MT attorney] stated once again that he is about to file
	 for bankruptcy and that you should file a proof of claim at that
	 time.  Considering the period of time that has passed since Mr.
	 Miller first stated that he was about to file for bankruptcy, it
	 would be a good idea to file in Small Claims Court."  [01/16/87]

Unfortunately, to do that I would have needed to have gone to Massachusetts or
to have hired a representative there, and the bar association which I was able
to call said that none of their members took small claims court cases...

> MassTech was a small "mom and pop" (literally!) operation.  While he was
> in business, Steve (president, founder, chief engineer, and janitor) did
> his best to deal fairly with customers.

Really?  I wouldn't know it from the way that I have been treated.  They have
both my money and the returned upgrade.  I have a pile of broken promises and
long distance phone bills.

> Your experience with MassTech hardware is atypical.  In every case I know
> where the hardware worked *initially*, and absent any further changes
> in environment, it's still working.

I think it's pretty bad when a company selling upgrades for vanilla 128K Macs
can't get their upgrade to work in an unmodified [until they touched it] 128K
Mac given several chances to get it right.  Especially since they ignored the
requests I made to make sure that the logic board was running at a full 5.0V,
even if that meant keeping their promise about adding a supplementary supply.

> Be fair, not rabid.
>
> The writer whose article prompted your outburst...
>
> ...I lost money when they went under.  But I'm not flaming about it...

Friends of mine who have observed my behavior throughout this whole affair and
the way in which MassTech and its lawyer have treated me haven't considered me
to be rabid.  On the contrary, I gave MassTech three chances to repair the bad
upgrade and remained very civil even while I was getting the runaround.  After
a long period of dealing with their lawyer, my temper did snap, but it has not
been without just cause.

                                        -- Thomas Newton