Registered: Oct 1999
Location: College Station, TX
Posts: 143

I've tried to avoid calling the CSRs, but did confirm my order (10/7 online, order number in the low 2500s) on the web site. It's still showing 4-6 weeks shipping. So I played around with their cgi and started checking earlier orders.

I interpret the confirmation number in the email as 991007-2509 as date-order number. 991006-1000 does not seem to exist, which suggests that perhaps 1001 is the first order on 10/6; was that the first day the web store was operational? If so, my -2509 could either mean order 1509 or it could mean order 509 on day 2 of web store operation - this means that the web store would crash or do something weird if more than 999 people ordered on the same day! Sort of a V1K bug..(V for Visor, of course).

So, anyway, I put in 991006-xxxx to see if any of the earlier orders were showing that they had shipped. The earliest order I could find was 991006-1001, someone's ice Vdx and case. This is still showing on the web site as shipping in 4-6 weeks.

Thus, there are two obvious possibilities:
1) nothing ordered online has shipped yet - everything in the received thread is either a phone order or not specified, as far as I can tell

or

2) they aren't bothering to put the shipping numbers into the web-based database.

Anyone have any data to distinguish these possibilities? Am I correct that 10/6 was the first day for the web store?

Just wondering. Btw, as an indicator of my willingness to do useless things while waiting for my Visor, it is possible to download the manual as a pdf file...so you can be ready when it comes!

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

Just for kicks I called a CSR (only on hold for 25 min.) and asked about the status of my order. He gets my name and order number and asks me when I ordered. I told him 10/6. He then puts me on hold and comes back on for a sec and says "Sir, we're shipping our products in 4 to 6 weeks from the date of delivery. Then he told me I was on the next shipping list or something like that and said it would be another two weeks, which fits the 4-6 week time frame. I think he was suprised when I didn't yell at him. He paused after I said "Thanks for your help!" as though searching for a response. I was hoping for 4 weeks but mentally preparing for 6. I have yet to read or hear of a received web order. Anyway, does anyone know if they're using "express" shipping if you paid the extra money for it?

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 32

huski,

Check out this thread from BizEchilD. http://www.visorcentral.com/visor/discussion/Forum1/HTML/000645.html. Or you could get the info your looking for here. http://bryan-cristina.tripod.com/

[This message has been edited by 150pilot (edited 11-02-1999).]

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Corvallis,OR
Posts: 38

Hi Guys

I do not want to raise the hope of those who ordered online too high.

I ordered online on 10/9, order number 3127.
Called CSR to confirm if my order is intact since the web was out for so long 3 weeks ago. Then two week ago I e-mail to Donna asking her when online orders will be processed as there are phone orders ordered later than most of us had already got their Visors.

Guess what? Got a reply from one of her assistants saying that they can't find my order.


What will happen next?

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: College Station, TX
Posts: 143

midD,

If your order was in the 3000s and you ordered on 10/9 that shoots my theory of the order numbers, unless the system went down all day on 10/8.

I guess if you got the number then you must have gotten the email confirmation. I get the feeling from other threads here that the CSRs don't even know how to access the online orders even if they really are in the database. Then again, if you got an email through to Donna, then I would hope that she would pass it to someone with a clue.

I tried 991009-3127 on the web store:
http://store.handspring.com/cgi-bin.../UserTemplate/5

and it does show an order with that number in the database: 1 Visor Deluxe - Graphite (USB plus serial cradle)

Is that you?

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Corvallis,OR
Posts: 38

Huski,

That is me and thanks. How did you get in to the Wedsite? I just can't get it at all. It seems that your theory is right. If they just list 4-6 weeks that is still very vague. The earlier orders are now on the 7th week. So it really does no good. It would be useful if they can list tracking number when the unit is shipped.

The reply I get was from Handspring's customer relation and not from CSR. So I am leaning more towards the Handspring CR words. How is it that the CR can't find my order? I hope that they are using the same data base or maybe better that my order had been sent to shipping.

I am really anxious as I am going overseas at around the 6th week.

You know what really sucks is there is a guy in the thread that monitor Visor received who ordered thru' the phone on the same day as I did, not a day earlier or later but the same day and the same colour. He has received his on 10/28.

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: MA
Posts: 19

Variable -

I did call a CSR and asked about the express shipping. It boils down to - if you paid the extra money, it is your loss. There will not be anything close to "express" until all of the mess is sorted out. Sorry!

Also - I was told that I could track my order (I ordered online on Oct 7) with the order number and my credit card number. Has anyone seen this function yet? The rep also told me any orders between Oct 6 and Oct 8 were the biggest problem. The exact life of the store before it went down.

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

That doesn't surprise me. I'm a student living on campus and my concern now is that my order will arrive at my dorm during the week we get off for the Thanksgiving holiday. Not only will I not be here, but the dorm will be closed and locked. I don't know how UPS will handle that. Does anyone know if it is possible to redirect a package once it is enroute? I would much rather deal with UPS then with Handspring.

<sigh>

At least some of the september orders are getting shipped. It seems like web orders are taking a back seat to phone orders made during the same time period.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Streamwood, IL USA
Posts: 118

I am 991006-1110 and I have noticed the same thing. The database does not seem to be updating on the web site. I called a CSR last weekend (10/24) and they confirmed that the order was in place. He also indicated that the Exp. Date for my credit card was wrong. He saud this was due to the fact that the Web site had a four digit exp year and his system only displayed two digits. So my exp date was 20. (Interesting Y2k bug)

When I was trying to push him for more specific answers than "4-6 weeks" he said "Well let's see what the web site says..." THen proceded to check the online web site. (I can do that by myself!) Oh well, this week is 4 weeks, we will see what happens.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Pa
Posts: 15

I just called the friendly CSR's at Handspring myself, hoping to find some useful information about my 10/6 online order. All the rep would do for me was suggest checking the status online (in his wonderful broken English).. It's 4 weeks for me today, so I opt'd to wait the other two, rather than getting into a head-butting session just yet. On the plus side, it only took 5min on hold to get through

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Buffalo NY
Posts: 40

Uh-oh. Now you can't check orders online anymore. Just a generic statement screen.
Uncool.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: College Station, TX
Posts: 143

I hope that this thread didn't cause everyone here to go online and jam the online store! I was actually a little surprised that their system allowed me to check on other people's orders; maybe that's why they shut down the order status link.

To be fair to HS, D-day for those of us who ordered online isn't for a couple of weeks...and note that they only promised to _ship_ in 4-6 weeks, not that it would be at your doorstep by then. Thus, HS is really isn't late yet even for those who ordered on 9/14 and chose regular delivery, which is supposed to take up to 8 _business_ days.
(9/14 + 6 weeks is 10/26 + 8 business days is 11/5 - i.e. two days from now) Yes, I know that they have broken the FIFO promise, but as someone who ordered 3 weeks later online, I don't feel like I have any reason to complain yet about my own order...although I'd love to get my hands on the little bugger before Turkey day!

Registered: Oct 1999
Location:
Posts: 187

Acutally, my original on-line orders stated a shipping date of Oct 31. But since the most popular shipping time is "not yet", it was changed to 4-6 weeks.
As for my phone order, I only live 1 day, business to business, via UPS from the shipper. They DID miss that one! The problem is that they can't even confirm the corrections to the corrections to the errors that they induced, because all of the corrections are on paper and nobody knows where the paper is at! "It's not lost. It must have already gone to the shipper."

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

I'm not complaining about not getting my order yet. All I'd like to know is why they offered two shipping options when they only seem to be using one (Fedex shipments from HS HQ notwithstanding). Granted it is only a $3.00 difference but if I paid for overnight delivery then I expect to get overnight delivery. Also, if you're going to have an "online" store in which you can "track your order from the time it is placed to the time it ships" then you should have the functionality in place to allow customers to view:

<UL TYPE=SQUARE>
<LI>Order status.
<LI>Billing status.
<LI>Shipping status.
<LI>Ship date.
<LI>Tracking Number!
</UL>

And if your IT department doesn't understand the concept of load sharing and can't maintain a server capable of handling a large volume of traffic then you shouldn't be doing business on the web in the first place.

whew...I feel better now...

flame me if you will but I call them like I see them...

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

I retract my overnight shipping statement. It appears that at least one web order was received via Fedex overnight.

cool....

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 34

I just found out that their on-line store uses Microsoft IIS.

That explains everything.