Registered: Oct 1999
Location:
Posts: 6

Just wanted to let you all know of my success in solving my problem. I ordered a Blue Deluxe on 10-10-99 and at the time I placed my order I let them know that I was going on vacation this Sunday. I specified express delivery and the order was placed. After several calls to Handspring after that, I found that they had some of my info wrong, I corrected that and sat back and waited all the while getting less and less confident they would deliver my Visor in time. I called back a couple more times and each time I was assured it would arrive on time. Yesterday came and it still wasn't here so I decided it was worth a shot to email handspring. I sent an email to a couple different addresses I got my hands on detailing my problem and I waited anxiously for a reply.

Now the happy news... This afternoon my phone rang and I was expecting a friend to call but instead it was a lady named Susan with Handspring Customer Relations telling me that she had read my email and wanted to know what could be done to solve the problem. She said since I was leaving Sunday, that she could send me a Graphite Deluxe via Fedex Overnight for Saturday delivery. She said she couldn't get her hands on a blue one, but she had a Graphite one sitting next to her that she would package up herself and send out right away. I thanked her profusely and now I sit here waiting for her to get me a tracking number. I only hope that she is able to deliver on her promise.

I am pleasantly surprised with this resolution as I was expecting nothing more than an appology email. I'm really sorry that I'm going to end up getting mine before many of you early adopters and I wish you all the best of luck. I would reccomend emailing some of the appropriate Handspring corporate email addresses calmly explaining your problem and perhaps you will get excellent results as well.

Thanks very much for reading my extremely happy rant! Have a great weekend everyone!


------------------
--Andy

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Falls Church, VA, USA
Posts: 15

I'm going to be reallyreally ticked off if you get the one she promised to me this afternoon...please keep us posted on whether you get it or not...

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Blacksburg, VA, USA
Posts: 26

Again, I'm glad you're getting your order but what the f**k is up with that? I'm also glad you're going on vacation but I don't see why that should give you priority status in receiving your order ahead of a great many frustrated and misinformed "customers." It's a good thing you'll have a PDA to take with you on vacation. The rest of us only want to be more productive at work and at school. We should be made to wait...

This is adding insult to injury. Like many others, I will not recommend doing business with handspring to anyone considering their PDA options.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Plantersville, TX, USA
Posts: 109

Glad to see that I wasn't the only person that this thread absolutely pissed off...

No offense to the originator of it...But I cross my fingers that its a joke.

Maybe I should find this Susan's email and give her a song and dance that I have 1 week to live and was hoping to check out the Visor before I reincarnate to the 8th circle of Hell (that of being a CSR for Handspring)...

Ok...venting done.

Zen

Ps. Ordered 9/29... Damn CSR that took my order couldn't spell Tom so I had to endure horrible hold times to set things straight only to still be waiting for any signs of me getting the damn thing.


[This message has been edited by Zen (edited 11-05-1999).]

[This message has been edited by JHromadka (edited 11-08-1999).]

Registered: Oct 1999
Location:
Posts: 84

Dont forget people we are all in this together...we are fighting the good fight...let this thread not enduce hostility and bitterness amongst us...

PS: If he gets the Visor by Saturday, then it begins

Registered: Oct 1999
Location:
Posts: 6

Okay guys, I'm sorry I ever said anything. I definitely wasn't trying to make you all angry or rub it in, I just thought I'd let you know that there is at least some staff at Handspring who care enough to be worried about orders. As I said in my post, this isn't the kind of response I expected from my email to handspring, I honestly didn't expect a reply at all. I don't think it is fair that I'm going to get my Visor before you earlier orderers, and if they hadn't told me at the time of order that it would be here in time and then having them keep saying the same thing after the order, I wouldn't have even bothered to email them. I won't let you all know if I do get it tomorrow as I don't want this kind of response again and I'm sorry if I've made anyone really angry. I guess I'll just go back to watching in the background. Again, I'm sorry if it seemed like I was rubbing it in, but I was just so happy I couldn't help but post. I wish you all the best of luck in getting your Visors. Thanks for the posts that have made me read this board compulsively. Have a good weekend.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Blacksburg, VA, USA
Posts: 26

I can't speak for everyone, but I'm not mad at you and I know you weren't trying to rub anything in. I'm upset with handspring for continuing to ship orders out of sequence and rewarding patient customers with longer waits. Not to imply that you aren't a patient customer, merely that customers who appeal to handspring directly seem to be getting priority service. I wasn't kidding when I said I'm glad you may receive your order tomorrow. If you do then more power to you! Please do let us know if you get it.

I am, howerver, rapidly loosing faith and confidence in a company that cannot compare two order dates and ship the earlier orders before the later orders. I'm confident I could train a primate to perform that exact task.

Since handspring seems to keep up with this board let me see if I can help them out. Here is a simple SQL query that may help you folks out since no one has tried it yet.

SELECT * FROM tb_orders
ORDER BY date_order_entered ASCENDING

This will return a list of order information sorted by the date the order was received by your company.

Now that you have a sorted list of orders, start at the top of the list and ship the orders in the sequence that they appear working from top to bottom. I suggest deleting shipped orders from this new list so as to avoid multiple shipments and / or multiple billing.

Take care not to skip the first months orders!

Also, resist the urge to ship orders from this list at random.

Hopefully this should help you guys get back on track. If this is unclear, just let me know and I'll fax you simpler instructions in a crayon color of your choosing.

[This message has been edited by Variable (edited 11-06-1999).]

[This message has been edited by Variable (edited 11-06-1999).]

Registered: Oct 1999
Location:
Posts: 95

I got an e-mail from Handspring, signed by "Donna". I called a CSR who said my order was placed on 10/12. I placed it on 10/1 and added a backup module later, apparently on 10/12. I sent an e-mail to Donna asking if I could get this corrected (hey, don't flame me, I only asked to get set back to 10/1 and wait there !! ) Here's the response I got (add it to the others... )

quote:

---

Michael,

Thank you for your patience with our logistics problems. We have been
suffering through some corrupted data in the system. Once we get these
orders cleaned up and shipped, the remaining backlog should ship pretty
quickly. I'm not sure that it actually will make much of a difference
to
you once we start shipping October orders ... right now September
orders are
the priority. But I've copied our customer relations staff to ask if
they
can check your order, and make sure that it is properly dated for
October 1.

I apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you.

Donna

---

I consider it to be a thoughtful, reasonable, informative response. Am I reading this correctly? It looks to me like they had a corruption/problem with the database that messed up the September orders. It appears that they are menially and painstakingly sorting through that data, and the rest of the orders are on hold until they get it straightened out. But the October orders are cool, and as soon as they get through the corrupted data files, the pipeline will be unclogged and Visors will flow. It also seems that they are holding the other orders until they get September cleared up.

Or maybe I'm not reading this correctly? I think it's helpful, positive news (even if it is taking forever to get the Visor Draino working! )

MJH <><

[This message has been edited by mike1in3 (edited 11-06-1999).]

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Blacksburg, VA, USA
Posts: 26

If they're holding other orders until the September orders are taken care of then why are people who ordered in October getting their visors and people who ordered in September still not getting theirs?

I think that there is a data corruption problem somewhere in the lines of communication between the shipping center and handspring executive offices.

Message from Shipping Center to HQ:
Ummm, we really don't know what the hell is going on. We're throwing random combinations of products into boxes and picking address in our "database" to send them to. Pretty cool huh?

Message received at handspring HQ:
We've had some data corruption problems. We're going to stop shipping until we get them sorted out. Nothing to worry about. Situation in hand...

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Long Beach, CA
Posts: 1

This comment is not directed at the original poster, but rather, to Handspring, who is sure to be reading these posts. It is good business 101 to provide excellent customer service. In fact, it is probably more important than providing a superior product. Good communication and service go a long way towards customer satisfaction. To provide excellent service to a FEW and then blow-off the rest does not help matters. I too ordered earlier than the original poster, however, have been given the run-around, have discovered glaring errors in the way my original order was taken and have received no response to my repeated e-mails to customer service AND to execs at Handspring. I think the very least they could do for us is to be honest about when they are really going to ship the devices. Placating one customer by express mailing ONE order does not make matters any better either. In fact, if shows that they have a long way to go. Lots of folks are going to be upset to find out that orders are being shipped at random. My latest call to Handspring, which I paid for myself by calling a non-toll-free number did get a faster answer. But, to my dismay, when I wanted to confirm that they had corrected my data, was told that it would still read out wrong in the computer even though I was assured by the person who made the correction that she had gone into the database and fixed things. Then the guy told me that he knew for a fact that my order had not been shipped, when I was told it would be shipped earlier. What a mess! I am seriously thinking of canceling or refusing my order when it comes in and buying a Palm Pilot. This is just too frustrating.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Mililani, HI, USA
Posts: 256

This is making me sick.

At first I thought we were frustrated at HS. But no!

Now some of the crop of disgruntled customers will stop at nothing--not at personally attacking fellow customers, and not at making racist comments--in the process of venting their frustration.

Watch your comments, folks. I KNOW your frustration, b/c I've been there. I was a first-day order too. I think it stinks that you still have to wait. But I think some of you are just crossing the line of decency. Go ahead and flame me for saying this, but some of you are just plain wrong for the things you're saying, and wrong for personally attacking sgmandy.

Chris

[This message has been edited by ragamuffinn (edited 11-06-1999).]

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Blacksburg, VA, USA
Posts: 26

Nurse! We need 10CC's of Lighten Up STAT!!!

I didn't read anything in this thread that constitutes a personal attack on sgmandy. I assume you are referring to the Canadian comments as racist. Canadians aren't a race of people anymore then Americans are. While that joke was in poor taste it is no reason to label someone as a racist.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Plantersville, TX, USA
Posts: 109

I wrote:


Damn Canadian that took my order couldn't spell Tom so I had to endure horrible hold times to set things straight only to still be waiting for any signs of me getting the damn thing. Cartman was right...Blame Canada! (j/k)


And this is being deemed racist? Whoa! I wrote specifically "NO OFFENSE" to the original poster of the thread... The guy that took my order was Canadian and I am peeved at him (if it -was- his mistake) for getting my info wrong... And now I am racist?
The 'Blame Canada' bit was an inside joke to anyone that has seen South Park:The Movie... But by no means did I intend racial slur!?

Zen

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Thousand Oaks, CA, USA
Posts: 49

Sorry, I just don't believe the initial poster's story. I'm not even sure this person has ordered a Visor.

I am sure that he's gotten a bunch of us early (attempted) adopters to snipe at him and one another.

Handspring has until this Thursday to fulfill my order. After that, I will join the ever-growing legions of new Palm Vx users.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location:
Posts: 6

In response to the last posters post, I most certainly did not make this story up. I indeed did order a Visor on 10-10. Well, guess what, I didn't get a package this morning and neither Fedex or UPS has any record of any package going to me and all I get from the phone number she gave me is Handspring's Customer Realtions Department voice mail, which no one has responded too in the last two days. I guess this means I'm going to go on my trip Visorless. I'm not so angry that I won't have the Visor, I'm more unhappy that yet another promise has been broken. I guess I'm still in the same boat as all of you. I'll let you know what comes of the situation when I get back. Also, I knew you all weren't attacking me personally, just venting your frustration as you should have, sorry I had to be the one to start the venting. Later!

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Mililani, HI, USA
Posts: 256

Zen:
Okay. I didn't see South Park, and I wasn't aware that this constituted an inside joke. In any case, your comment did seem to assert some link between one's being Canadian and either his/her damnedness and/or the inability to spell. I now know you were just making an inside joke, so don't worry--I'm not calling you a racist. Sorry for suggesting that you are one.

Variable:
My apologies for imprecision. (How's "provincialist" or "prejudiced" then?) In any case, my "drift" was clear. I'm sure many of us in the U.S. would recoil at being called a "damn American," even though we are no more racially harmonious than Canada. Race, shmace...it was, as you say, in poor taste, discriminatory, and at least deserving of a check.


Chris

[This message has been edited by JHromadka (edited 11-08-1999).]

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Falls Church, VA, USA
Posts: 15

I was really hoping he would get his Visor since that would mean there would be hope for me. I guess I thought that when one of the Prez's hand picked problem solvers got on the case and I talked to her personally that maybe there was some hope...
BTW, I was told that blues were backordered...but I told her that I didn't care and would take the graphites that were in stock...she said it would ship yesterday and I would have it today...well, there is always Monday.
I heard an old phrase that I hadn't heard in a long time yesterday...and it fits so well with those September orders...fubar...

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Blacksburg, VA, USA
Posts: 26

Yep, handspring started off at SNAFU, skipped TARFU and went directly to FUBAR.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Mililani, HI, USA
Posts: 256

What is TARFU?

Registered: Oct 1999
Location:
Posts: 95

"Things Are Really Fouled Up." At least, that's the way I translate it!!

MJH <><