Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Modesto, CA USA
Posts: 599

Some one has been playing with the web page. They've added an FAQ link that wasn't there before. Is the order tracking and other enhancements nearly ready?

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Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Nashville, Tennessee
Posts: 32

This has been up since last weak...
I don't think it is any sign they are closer to the BIG site....

-charley

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

The web site seems to be a low priority for Handspring right now. After I placed my order, I heard that they were taking the orders with pen and paper. I called back and Handspring confirmed this. They also said that they were having problems with their web site. This problem is also the reason that we haven't received the email newsletter. I don't really know what the problem is, and why they're using pen and paper to take orders, but it made me a little alarmed. If anyone knows more detail on this, I'd appreciate it if you could fill us in. Thanks!

[This message has been edited by ChrisB (edited 10-04-1999).]

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Rio Rancho, NM, USA
Posts: 129

It seems to me that Handspring's website is their most important product at this time. Given the fact that they don't have a physical product in the hands of their customers, the website SHOULD be major priority.

If HS is 'premiering' the Visor at Internet World, then they are WOEFULLY unprepared to be a real player! I don't care about the ordering piece at this time, but you would think that some sort of updating would be done on a daily basis.

Of all the things that make me reconsider my order for two Visors, it's this lack of attention to their main customer conduit.

Their webmaster should be dismissed, IMHO, as well as their marketing director. Given the incredible look and feel of this site, Handspring should be embarrased at the state of www.handspring.com.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Plainview, NY
Posts: 116

I totally agree! If my company was putting out a new major product and I could not get out our web site up proper I should be fired.(So far, I have escaped the bullet)
I am sure that HS has spent mucho dinero for their new visor, Did they run out of money for a viable data base to keep their order records and web site?
When will an official ever reply?

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Dave B "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Dayton, TN, USA
Posts: 66

I don't have a problem with the web site or the shipping date. The site is really quite informative, especially if you take time to look through the developer stuff. It plainly states that the product will ship in October and that one can sign up for an email notification of when the product is shipping. What else is needed except some patience from us all-to-eager future Visor owners?

I ordered my Visor on Sept. 14. Now, if it doesn't come sometime in October, then I'll have something to complain about. Until then, I anxiously await my Visor.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Rio Rancho, NM, USA
Posts: 129

An Open Letter to Ms. Dubinsky, Mr. Hawkins, et al.

Dear Ms. Dubinsky, Mr. Hawkins, et al,

As a professional developer for a major database company, I look forward to the release
of your Visor product. I believe that palmtop information clients are the future and the
Visor offers an extremely attractive price/power combination.

Unfortunately, the handling of customers seems to be a bit... lacking at the moment. I
understand that the official launch may not have occured (scheduled for Internet World,
perhaps?), but you DO have a site up and a stated shipping date of 10/15.

I guess what I object to about Handspring is two-fold. One, the lack of updates on your
site. Not just press releases, but some real information. Two, the seeming disregard for
those of us who have already order a Visor (in my case, two Deluxes). Actually, I'm of
the impression that the phone number for orders was mistakenly included on your site.
Either that or you were looking to gauge the success of your marketing machine at the
cost of the good will of early adopters.

I'm still excited about the possibilities that the Visor presents. Hopefully, I can regain that
excitement about its builders.

Comments above are from the poster and DO NOT reflect the opinions of my employer

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Austin TX, USA
Posts: 79

Bp, what about the features that were supposed to be available on the site by now? Online ordering anyone? Order tracking? Custom case design? Try selecting the 'feedback' link and telling them that you are fed up! I did, and actually got a REPLY. Wow, actual communication with Handspring. Of course, it was a form letter telling me that I'd get an actual reply in the future.

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

In the rare event that Dubinsky or Hawkins actually looks at this site, I would like to state my agreement with the letter posted by Nachtswerg, so that you (Dubinsky or Hawkins) can know that the opinions stated in Nachtswerg's letter are shared by others. Hopefully, we can get a thread of replies from those of you out there who also agree with this.

I have no intention yet of withdrawing my order, but the fact that every single bit of news that I have learned about the Visor - including the fact that I could now call and place an order - was learned through a third party's web site, and not through the Handspring site, is a little strange. It's now old news that HS is taking orders, but this information STILL hasn't been posted on the HS site. It would take all of 5 minutes to post something which says "We are now taking orders! Call 888-565-9393 to speak with a salesperson." This, coupled with the fact that none of the other promised features of the site are available, and with the dodgy answers I've been getting from the salespeople concerning the newsletters and the pen and paper orders(!?) causes me a little concern.

Still, I'm excited about the Visor, and hope that it will turn out to be everything that has been promised. But it would be nice to hear some news from the horse's mouth.

[This message has been edited by ChrisB (edited 10-04-1999).]

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Schaumburg, IL
Posts: 151

Hey Handsprung:

How about talking Marcus into posting this Open letter to the front of the website or something similar so that it's prominent? That way at least our dissatisfaction with Handspring's treatment of the early adopters will more likely be noticed.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Rio Rancho, NM, USA
Posts: 129

And the earth moved....

I got a letter from Jeff!!!!

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
XXXXXXX,

Thank you for your order. I apologize for the confusion. I can
understand
your frustration.

A couple of items have impacted us.

One, the earthquake in Taiwan has caused a temporary shortage of a
few
components. We lost a few days of production due to this. We didn't
want to
start shipping, then stop, then start again.

The other item is that we wanted the commerce side of our web site to
be
really solid before taking orders over the web. We are being somewhat
cautious in this regard. The 800 number was provided for those, like
yourself, who really wanted to make sure their order was in the
queue.
However, we prefer to take orders over the web and that is why we
didn't
promote the 800 number prominently. Most people gave us their email
address
so we can notify them when we are ready to take orders over the web.

I can't make a commitment, but we should start shipping within a
week. You
should receive an email when your order is processed. Those orders
placed on
the 800 number have priority and will be fulfilled in order of date
received.

Again, I apologize for the lack of communications. We received a
tremendous
number of inquiries and orders and we are doing our best to make sure
we
fulfill them fairly and accurately.

-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-

Wow! Now I feel special!

Registered: Sep 1999
Location:
Posts: 72

----
I can't make a commitment, but we should start shipping within a week. You should receive an email when your order is processed. Those orders placed on
the 800 number have priority and will be fulfilled in order of date received.
----
Hmmm... I wonder if they'll ship this week? We'll see...

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Modesto, CA USA
Posts: 599

Brutal comments! I remember the early beta testing on the Palm Professional. Things were very similar. Let's not forget these people are developers and not customer service oriented. I'd also imagine that they have been overwhelmed at the early response. They probably didn't figure on so many people ordering and jumping ship. The Palm was extremely succesful etc. And remember they started this thing with very little outside funding because it's not a public company.
I'll hold off on more comments once the unit ships and lives up to the hype.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location:
Posts: 72

Rsgmoose,

Handspring receives funding from Kleiner Perkins - THE VC of silicon valley.

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

I've heard conflicting reports as to how many units have been ordered. Somewhere (sorry, don't remember where), I heard that only a thousand or so had been ordered as of a few days ago. When I called HS up, the salesperson (who didn't seem to be very much on top of things) said that more like 10,000 had been ordered. Either way, it's amazing how much this word of mouth advertising is doing for them, considering that the HS site doesn't even say anything yet about the fact that it's possible to place orders now. Still, does anyone have any figures for Visor sales? I'm also wondering if this has hurt Palm sales. It must have, since 3Com suddenly dropped the prices on all of the Palm units a couple of days ago.