Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Austin, Texas, USA
Posts: 195

I've been noticing as I read these posts that the overall experience when dealing with the folks over at Handspring hasn't been a terribly good one. The sales staff doesn't seem to be knowledgeable. Different sales people have been saying conflicting things, or don't know about people's orders, or what the shipping status is, etc. Now, I know that this is partially due to the fact that up until recently, the orders were being recorded on paper. But still, I wish they were up front about it. I ordered my Visor on the 14th, and when I called back about a week ago to confirm my order, the salesperson told me that he had no way of confirming my order, but didn't volunteer information about the fact that all orders had been recorded on paper.

Anyway, I'm getting bad vibes from my personal experience with customer support at HS, and I've been reading about other people having the same thing. Is this just a select few of us, or have a lot of other people had similar experiences? I've been looking forward to getting a PDA for so long, and when I found out about the Visor, I called in and snatched one up right away. I'm hoping that they're on the ball enough that I'll actually receive my order.

[This message has been edited by ChrisB (edited 10-05-1999).]

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Columbus, Ohio USA
Posts: 255

I've had polite service, but a horrible knowledge base from the reps.

I called mine in the 14th like most people.

Called back a few weeks later to say I hadn't received any email confirmation like I was supposed to "within the week." Then yesterday I changed my order from a graphite visor to a blue deluxe and aside from credit card info, I had to do it almost all over again.. couldn't really find my old info.

Then I called today to make sure things were changed over and he didn't even know if mine had shipped yet or not, saying it woudln't get changed if it already shipped.

Very weird, but I'm not expecting anything before the end of the month. First week of November is what I'm shooting at. Anything before that would be a bonus.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Austin, Texas, USA
Posts: 195

Pretty much the same here. They're plenty polite, but don't seem to know much or communicate well. I'm surprised to hear that some are already shipping. I'm going on a vacation next week. It would be great to have my new Visor with me, but I'm not getting my hopes up!

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Durham, NC, USA
Posts: 47

I've heard October 15 as the first shipping day, but don't hold me to anything. I'm not surprised that the customer service folks aren't completely knowledgeable, as the thing you have to remember is that when you call them, you're not calling Handspring out in California - you're calling a contracted company somewhere in New York. They can't be expected to have all the answers, especially this early in the game. It'd be different if they were supposed to start shipping a month ago, but keep in mind - us folks who called in *took a chance*. If Handspring had been completely ready for us, they'd have already had the online order-and-tracking system in place. I feel it's basically US who ambushed THEM - not that they promised anything they haven't delivered. I may change my tune if I don't recieve what I ordered by November 1, but I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location:
Posts: 23

I just call CS to get a status on my Email Confirmation. She asked if I ordered on the 14th of September. When I said I did I was told the the units had started to ship and that I should have mine by the end of this week or the beginning of next week. I didn't believe her so I asked her to repeat what she had said. Quote "Units are shipping now. You should have yours be the end of this week, or the beginning of next week." I was so excited , confused happy, that I totally forgot to get a name or even confirm that she had my name.
So, Bottom line. I'll call again tomorrow to see if I get a different answer....

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Urbana IL
Posts: 144

Pretty much same as above; my rep was polite and helpful, but was wrong about the shipping dates. I was told that orders should go out by this week, and woould likely go out last week. Obviously this hasn't happened!

However, I agree that people should calm down about this. The word from HANDSPRING has never changed. I do think that they should have given their CSRs more info, or cautioned them to not say anything about ship dates, b/c most of the hubbub is over things that people not in-the-know have said.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Athens, GA, USA
Posts: 23

I finally broke down and ordered my VD (I had waited to see if online-ordering was coming any time soon) I went for the even popular blue. About the CSR...she was very informative and seemed to have more information (probably from talking to people like us). Maybe Handspring has given their reps more info by now? Anyway...she said may order, since placed this late (ironic that late is before it comes out) it would ship in three weeks. I also inquired about the custom case claim, and she said the web site would be up in 2/3 days and anyone wanting one could call and upgrade their orders until 1 day before shipment and get that case shipped with their V. Also this...express 1 day shipping is 3 dollars more than the regualr shipping....so if you want it fast..only three bucks. (I went ahead and did it...) I was pretty satisfied over all with the CS, and I think that they are starting to get there act together more and more.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Spokane, WA, USA
Posts: 114

I'm pretty much with Jamester. I think WE ambushed THEM. They announced the upcoming release of a product, and a chunk of us jumped on 'em. If they didn't have their system ready, they should've simply said, "We have announced our new product, but we will not be accepting any reserve or pre-orders until (date X)."

Had they said that, instead of offering a "reserve your order here" phone number, I would've waited until (date X) and been quite content... a little antsy, but content.

But I will still give them the benefit of the doubt for a little while longer. I, for one, admire Jeff's and Donna's steps into this semi-new venture, and my $250 will go to support that. However, I would certainly hope that the overall trend of friendly but ignorant CSRs would cease in the near future.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Austin, Texas, USA
Posts: 195

I just broke down and called customer support again. They have now entered all of the early orders into their system, and were able to look up my order, which was placed on the 14th. So, that's sounding promising.

But, the rep stated that the orders are NOT shipping yet, but that I should receive it in about a week. I'm inclined to believe that this rep is correct about the shipping status.

She also gave me some info regarding the email notification. Evidently, their email system had crashed, so they were manually sending email confirmations for a while. They realized that this was taking too much time, and decided to concentrate their efforts on handling the orders - taking new orders, and getting old orders entered into the system.

Anyway, it sounds like things are coming along, slowly but surely. Thanks, Jamester for clarifying that the people answering the 888 number aren't really Handspring. That clears up some of the confusion.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location:
Posts: 81

I've only called once, when I first ordered my Visor. I know what the CSR I dealt with told me about when it'll ship, and I know what the Handspring website says.

Everything else is, from my perspective, pure rumor. How much of it is CSR misinformation, how much is customer misunderstanding, and how much is exaggeration or just plain bull**** by the posters is anyone's guess. There's no way of knowing how much of any of this is accurate. (This applies to whatever *I* say about what my CSR said, too. Of course.)

*If* a significant fraction of the my-CSR-said reports here are accurate, it reflects badly on the people that Handspring chose to handle the orders and, by extension, reflects *somewhat* negatively on Handspring.

But I'm at least as exasperated by the reaction of some folks to all these rumors. A lot of you take these rumors a *lot* more seriously than you have any rational reason to.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Pittsburgh, PA USA
Posts: 12

I called last night to cancel my order (decided to spend that money on a GPS device) and it didn't sound like I was in the system. I may have jumped the gun when I ordered mine on the 14th (before thinking it through) but when I canceled my order, it sounded like he was just writing down my info, as opposed to pulling my name up on the computer.

I think I'll just wait a few months until I actually can buy a Visor at a store. I'm also looking forward to hearing reviews from all those who are waiting for their Visor's right now.

-Rampart (looking forward to when my new GPS devce comes in the mail

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: San Francisco, CA U.S.A.
Posts: 42

I just called to confirm my 9/16 VD order. The rep from Toronto said that all first-week orders would be through to their "VISA department", none of them have actually shipped yet, and that I should expect mine in the next week and a half.

He also said that all covers come in the same color as whatever Visor was ordered. He also said I can expect to receive my product before I receive any sort of email confirmation, and that he "could not" confirm the date that Handspring's online ordering system would be up, but he said "soon".

I did feel somewhat reassured to hear him punching up things on the computer, that is, until he took ALL my personal information again from scratch.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Austin, Texas, USA
Posts: 195

What? You mean he just said "While I've got your info up, let me just re-enter it for you"? That's a little strange. The rep that I spoke with pulled up my information and read it to me, so I know it was there.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: San Francisco, CA U.S.A.
Posts: 42

No, it didn't sound as if he could bring up any of my information. It's as if because I was at the "VISA Department" stage, the info was in their hands, not his.

I got the impression that he was just taking the information again so as not to screw my order request up with another (I was confirming that my Serial connector was included in the order).

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Ft Walton Bch, Fl
Posts: 24

I just got off the phone with a customer service rep 5 minutes ago. The rep was very helpful and very apologetic. He said that people who ordered the first few days should have them by next week. Even someone who orders today will recieve it by the end of the month. When he tried to call my name up on the computer, I wasn't in the system. He explained that it was actualy a good thing. It seems the first few thousand orders have been emailed to the warehouse for processing. Once that happens the orders are no longer in the sales computers.

The rep also said there are plenty of Visors in stock waiting to be shipped out. Emails confirming your order will be sent out just prior to shipping (the day before). I was told that I should receive an email in the next few days.

Can't wait (mine is blue)!

p.s. I would like to see a police scanner springboard module.