Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!cmcl2!esquire!sbb
From: sbb@esquire.UUCP (Stephen B. Baumgarten)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Followup to Mac512 ROM/disk upgrade availability
Message-ID: <612@esquire.UUCP>
Date: 2 Sep 88 18:14:01 GMT
References: <976@houxs.UUCP> <398@motbos.UUCP>
Reply-To: sbb@esquire.UUCP (Stephen B. Baumgarten)
Organization: DP&W, New York, NY
Lines: 60

In article <398@motbos.UUCP> shino@motbos.UUCP (Rei Shinozuka) writes:
>I had a similar experience.  I decided last year to upgrade my 1984 
>vintage Mac 128 to a 512E.  The Computer Factory in Paramus NJ said
>that they would only do the upgrade if I bought the full 1 Meg of
>memory.  I demurred, pointing out that the disk drive swap was a
>SEPERATE item in the Apple price book and that the 6-7 hundred (or so) 
>dollars for half a meg was not at all competetive.  They couldn't care
>less.  

Sounds familiar.  This is a typical, scummy, Computer Factory tactic.
And if you do get the upgrade from them, they try to charge you *labor*
on top of the upgrade cost (this happened to me when I got my ROM/drive
upgrade years ago).  Fortunately, you knew that you were being lied to
(although at Computer Factory it's always possible that the salesman
was just benignly incompetent).

Just to clarify the point Rei and I are making:  the people who run
Computer Factory are a bunch of weasels.  And watch out West Coast...
they're headed your way.

For a real laugh, call anybody at SuperMac (a company that I've had
nothing but positive experiences with) and tell them that you're
calling from NYC, and that the only SuperMac dealers are Computer
Factorys.  You can actually hear them groan and say things like, "Oh
no!  Well, yes, well we've had some problems with them..."  That's
putting it mildly.

Unless things have changed recently, SuperMac is no longer pre-shipping
products to Computer Factory (i.e., sending a new drive before a
defective one is returned), because they have what is euphemistically
called a "credit hold" against the chain.  That's right, the whole
chain.  Seems they don't pay their bills on time.  Or at all.

>A few months later, I found The Computer Center in Montvale, NJ
>who did just the disk swap as I wanted.  (For their excellent service
>and helpful staff, I subsequently purchased a Mac SE from them--i.e.,
>I recommend The Computer Center). 
>
>I think that if a Computer Factory is going to deny me Apple Authorized
>services, they should have no right to be an Apple dealer.  After all,
>Apple will be known by the dealers it keeps.  I sent a letter to Apple
>summarizing these complaints, but the last posting reminded me of this
>incident.
>
>-rei

Apple is well aware of the problem, but seemingly is unable or
unwilling to do anything about it.  Until they go out of business (not
likely, since even as we speak they're spreading out across the
country) or shape up (not a chance), the people in NYC will continue to
get taken by these bozos, unless they, like Rei, happen upon a honest
and competent Apple dealer.

- Steve

-- 
   Steve Baumgarten             | "New York... when civilization falls apart,
   Davis Polk & Wardwell        |  remember, we were way ahead of you."
   {uunet,cmcl2}!esquire!sbb    | 
   sbb%esquire@cmcl2.nyu.edu    |                           - David Letterman