Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Posts: 97

roma,
If you really really want to email Ms. Dubinsky, you can easily figure out her address by trial and error ...

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 434

Fell asleep on couch - woke up after 4 am - decided to call HS. No wait at all.

Interesting:

1) The order number they give you is useless for checking whether or not an order has been shipped.
2) Right now their accessible shipping data is only up to date as of Nov. 30. Mine had not yet been shipped.
3) Apparently, as of today (Dec. 4), NOT all Canadian orders have been shipped. (Note Donna D's Dec. 1 announcement on Canadian orders.)
4) For Canadian orders that have been shipped, some have been held up at the border for whatever reason. Perhaps that explains the delay with USPS Priority Mail. Xmas rush too much for customs?
5) All Canadian orders are shipped by USPS Priority Mail.

I wondered when I ordered whether or not I might get the thing before Xmas. It looks like the the answer might be no.

And the wait continues... Back to bed.

Eug

Registered: Nov 1999
Location:
Posts: 6

I called the Canadian Customer Service line on Thursday this week to find out the status of my still-not-received Visor Deluxe (order date: Oct 4).

After a 55 minute wait and a 25 minute discussion with a CSR who was apologetic but unable to help, I spoke with a supervisor who identified herself as Fiona. Fiona said she and the other CSR folks were told - only moments before talking to me - that as of Monday (Dec 6) the HS web page will be posting a 1-800 number. If you ordered in Sept or Oct and haven't received your Visor, calling this number is supposed to get you overnight shipment. For Canadians, I'm guessing that can only mean they'll ship it that day; when it actually clears Customs is another matter.

The timing of her "good news" seemed rather convenient and I've been lied to before when speaking with Cdn CSRs, so please take this update with a grain of salt. Actually, you might want to keep a big ol' salt lick handy. In the hope that it is true, it might be worth checking out the HS web page on Monday.

In the "things that make you go MMM Dept", if all the Canadian orders have been filled as the web page states and they're not taking any new Cdn orders, why are we experiencing hold times up to an hour?! Surely those who have received their Visors don't require that much Tech support yet!

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 434

I didn't know there was a Canadian customer service line. Huh? If you mean the order desk, that Canadian 888 number is for both the US and Canada.

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: saskatoon
Posts: 4

my wife called the 888 number friday morning re, our sept 27th order and after yet again going threw the whole data bit still found our postal code wrong. she informed her that on and hour and a half she could input the correction in the computer for good this time... I called back friday night to get the but head csr "Mike" who was far from beeing helpfull. all I asked was to confirm the changes to my data thats all .. he went on about how they only have a read only database and that the only place that can make changes is California and bla bla bla ( in a realy rude tone of voice aswell) I told him to F***** shut up and give me my data.. still same story so I asked for the supervisor who then found that my data still isnt correct. BUT this time he was very informative as well as ticked off.. I guess they have been reciving tons of calls from Canadian customers wanting to buy the Visor most are Canadian Developers looking at not one but 20-100's of them as well at one time they got a call from the CIA wanting to know how they can order some... he said that he dosnt like the way they are treating US (canadians).. he also told me about the 1-800# we are supose to get an Email telling us about the # and that we are to call them to get our Data fixed. then it will be shipped next day. so I am still waiting for my email ( they send only 500 a day to keep the phone wait down) I supose us Canadians are at the end of the list regardless of our prder date....
sorry for the long post..

Registered: Nov 1999
Location:
Posts: 6

Eug - Thanks for clearing that up. In talking to the CSRs and from reading some postings, I knew that there was an order centre in Etobicoke. I had been assuming that there was another centre somewhere in the US and that Cdn callers were being routed (magically, I guess) to Etobicoke. Also explains why we're continuing to wait so long.

myriddn - Did I understand your post correctly? The 1-800 # won't be posted to the HS web page but they will e-mail us with that number?

Did they say how they were going e-mail us? I phoned in my order and am reasonably certain I've never left my e-mail address with them in any of the subsequent calls.


[This message has been edited by mfbtm (edited 12-05-1999).]

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: North York, Canada
Posts: 50

I got basically the same story from CSRs on both the Sales 888 number and the Customer Care line. Supposedly they will be emailing and / or phoning Canadians with problem orders. They will also post another toll-free number for problem orders on the website next week.

Both Sales and Customer care had shipping databases that were last updated Dec 1. I got the impression the CSRs were completely in the dark about any order status and did not want to update orders. My credit card expired and I called in 2 weeks ago to give them the new number, but my order does not seem to be updated.

The CSRs don't seem empowered to do anything to Canadian orders. Their only suggestions were to call back during the week or wait for the mythical email to arrive. Their main objective seems to be to pacify people long enough that they give up.

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Posts: 14

I received my visor deluxe on Friday -- it was ordered October 26, and shipped on Nov 23 (i.e. 4 weeks). It's cool, am having a hoot with it, and am already finding it useful. :-)

More importantly, I can shed some light on shipping delays. The serial cradle shipped separately on Nov 26, but the *postmark* was Nov 29. It arrived on Dec 2, so it was in transit for just 3 days. The visor's postmark was Nov 23, but it had Canada Customs "opened" tape on it ... HS declared it's value at $5.00 so I wouldn't be surprised if customs is opening all Visor shipments to Canada. Needless to say, this may hold things up at the border...

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 434

Order confirmation at http://www.gottasurf.com/handspring/

Well that's interesting. Thanks wrp. However, my order number is useless.

Registered: Dec 1999
Location: Toronto, Canada
Posts: 14

For those of you in the GTA, I am considering ordering a Vdx and having it sent to "Mailboxes Etc" in Niagara Falls. They charge US$5 for their service and will call you the day it arrives. They also charge US$1 for every day they hold it.

Living in Mississauga, the one hour drive is worth it to me! :-)

../mk

Registered: Oct 1999
Location:
Posts: 71

Yaay!

What a day to be at home sick!

The dude came to my door a half hour ago with my BVD and OVD, with extra styli.

Details:
Ordered Oct. 6
Billed Nov. 18
Shipped Nov. 23
Received Dec. 6

Impressions:
Palm Writerights fit just fine
They both feel great, with no creaks and such
The extra styli are more than worth it; if you haven't bought them, get someone in the States to mail you a pack immediately.
All buttons are fine, as are the displays.

In a nutshell, the units were shipped in flawless condition. Here's hoping they stay that way, but my initial impression is that they will hold up to my abuse just fine with the proper attention paid.

Worst part:
I feel better now and I think I should really go into work (i.e. I now have a new toy to show off!)

Now it's on to the other message boards!

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 434

So, I called today. Got the same story about the mysterious 800 number. Anyways, it's supposed to be for the California billing site. Johaan claims that they've tried to sort out all problem orders from before mid-Oct., but he couldn't release the 800 number.

Double checked the info. It seems that ALL is correct: items ordered, address, name, email address, credit card, name on credit card, number, expiry. (He said that credit card chequing accounts were a problem by the way.) Very polite guy, but again, no explanation for the delay.

Oh well.

Registered: Nov 1999
Location:
Posts: 10

Followup to my note posted on 11-30-1999 06:00 PM -

I received my credit card statement a few days later, it turned out my card was charged on Nov 22. I picked up my Ice deluxe this morning.

The serial cradle shipped as a separate box (on a separate day from the visor), so I had to pay an extra $5 Canada Post handling fee, plus the GST + PST (they should not have charged the PST) on the value.

I'm a bit too worn-out by the experience to be really happy, but I am glad the wait is over. Now I have to go and get my PST back.

Aside: the screen on my visor feels a wee bit rough or non-slippery, tested witha handspring plastic stylus and a palm 3 stylus. The palm 3 screen is super-slippery.

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Posts: 9

bigcow, why weren't they supposed to charge you PST? Assuming that was correct, how will you get it "back?"

Very curious.

I'm still awaiting my BDx.

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 434

If you live in Ontario, they recently started collecting PST on all international shipments. It depends on which province you live in however.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location:
Posts: 17

Well, my Visor arrived...
Vancouver, BC
Ordered October 6 by phone...

It's at the mail depot, so I won't have it in my hands until tommorow...

I will post more tommorow.

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 434

Handspring's shipping page has been updated.

"Canadian orders: Canadian orders with valid information have been sent for shipment processing. Please expect your package within six weeks from the date of order. You will be contacted if your order didn't ship because of credit card problems or other order information issues. We will no longer be taking Canadian orders until we begin shipping internationally early next year."

By the way, when did they stop orders to Canada? Something like Nov. 24? Any Canadians who ordered in November get their stuff yet?

Eug
Now at 6.5 weeks and counting.

Registered: Dec 1999
Location:
Posts: 2

This is part of the reply I got when I e-mailed Donna Dubinsky about the information on the "Shipping Status" page. I wrote to her because the page said all Canadian orders had shipped, but two different CSRs had told me mine hadn't.

>Ben .... I need to clarify the information on the web page. The intention
>was to have this apply to the oldest orders from Canada, basically those
>which already are overdue the 6 week timeframe because they were ordered in
>September and early October. All of these that could ship, have shipped.
>This was the case when the original notice was posted, but if it's not
>dated, it would not be clear, so I should update it.

Nice to see she's so responsive (I e-mailed her yesterday evening & got this response back this morning), but I wish they'd been more clear in the original notice; they got my hopes up for nothing! Oh well, It's only the middle of week six for me, so the anticipation is building...!

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 434

Holy crap!!!

I actually got an email from Handspring, and was told to call them! Yes, I was included that new database of "problem" orders.

So I called. Guess what. All of the information I gave them was 100% correct. We went over all the information twice. Moot point, because I had called several times before and each time (when they could find my order) my information was verified as correct. The only thing he could think of was that my country code was typed as "Canada" instead of a two letter code. Who knows, that could be it. If you guys call, ask them about it.

Anyways, now the claim is 3-5 days for processing by shipping then overnight FedEx, even to Canada.

At least a ray of hope for ya...

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Toronto
Posts: 4

Eug, You're the one I look up to now I ordered on Oct 28th and after 4 previous calls of not finding my order; they finally found it on Monday but with some wrong CC #s :-( Pathetic! I specifically asked the guy to read it back to me 3 times. He must have a chicken writing. So, now I'm waiting for that oh so important email from handspring to ALLOW me to correct this. I emailed to Donna and she forwarded to some "executive relations". Whatever! I seriously think that Handspring is punishing all Torontonians for their troubles :-) Please let us know if they actually do something for your order. heck, any chance you could share that secret phone number?????