Registered: Apr 2001
Location: Bismarck, ND
Posts: 114

Okay, you all probably know about the Memplug fiasco at Palmgear. After spending much time on the phone with their shipping supervisor, a copy was found for me in their store, which I received last Thursday. Two concerns:

1) The memplug box was NOT shrinkwrapped, leading me to believe it is used. Even if they do not shrinkwarp the box (which I believe they do), the clear plastic sticker had clearly been opened and the box flap clearly had some wear and tear from being opened and closed.

2) I am having some BIZARRE battery level stuff going on since the memplug has been installed (and only since it has been installed). Once the battery level hits around 60%, the battery level indicator becomes very erratic. It will immediately drop all the way down to around 9-15% and say my power is low and needs recharging before I lose my data. By the time I save what I may be working on, it jumps back up to 40-50%. (Actually it may have been activng erratic all along, but doesn't become noticeable until the battery level is around 60%, because then these power drops trigger the 'you need to recharge' notice.) This has been happening since I received my Memplug, and only since then. Tonight alone this pattern has occurred at least 10 times. I can only assume that the Memplug is sporadically making a dramatic, temporary drain on the battery power (for no reason since I am not using the Memplug at the time of the power drain). This CAN'T be a regular happening with the Memplug, leading me to believe it is defective (though otherwise is has been working okay).

All this leads me to believe that Palmgear sent me a used (and apparently defective) memplug to shut me up, and charged me FULL FEE for it!

Who gave Palmgear the shovels so they could dig DEEPER holes for themselves? Man I wish palmgear was a local store so I could walk in and give them a piece of my mind in PERSON!

PIDeveloper, any information on why this battery level thing would be happening?

__________________
J. Sean McKay, Ph.D.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"In every work of genius....
we recognize our own rejected thoughts."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Registered: Jun 2000
Location:
Posts: 594

Sux. Give 'em hell 'till you get satisfaction.

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"Great Spirits Have Always Encountered Violent Opposition From Mediocre Minds." -- Albert Einstein

Registered: Apr 2001
Location: Bismarck, ND
Posts: 114

quote:

---

Originally posted by bkbk
Sux. Give 'em hell 'till you get satisfaction.

---

You should see the email I just sent to the Shipping Supervisor. I love sending emails that blast organizations and their treatment of customers without using any foul language and never getting nasty. Subtlety is a wonderful thing. And often the sharpest arrow to pierce people with.

__________________
J. Sean McKay, Ph.D.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"In every work of genius....
we recognize our own rejected thoughts."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Hong Kong
Posts: 12

Would you please contact palmGear to replace another new MemPlug. Also, I would pass your comments about the packaging to our supervisor.
Should you have any further problem, please feel free to contact me at [email protected].

MemPlug Support

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MemPlug

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Derry NH USA Earth
Posts: 154

That's where she "found" the four MemPlugs.. In the defective bin..

With all the kudos the MemPlug product has gotten, I'm surprised a story hasn't been done about the situation.

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Registered: Mar 2001
Location:
Posts: 43

Memplug support - I don't doubt you have a fine product, but solely because of Palmgear, I am waiting for an alternative. It appears that most of this is Palmgear's fault, but I believe you should personally have taken steps to rectify the situation. It was you who chose them as a business partner, and you who should make it right. You can blame Palmgear all you like(and rightfully so), but I am still not going to by a Memplug(or anything else) from Palmgear.

Registered: Apr 2001
Location: Bismarck, ND
Posts: 114

UPDATE.

Left Tiffany of Palmgear (the Shipping Supervisor) a LONG email that I sent last night. However, I couldn't wait for her reply and ended up calling her this morning before she had a chance to read her email. She stated that the Memplug boxes do NOT come shrinkwrapped (even if they don't, the clear plastic sticker that is over all box top openings now was dirty and opened and wouldn't stick when I received it - STILL informing me it was an open and likely used Memplug). She also stated that she was unaware of a history of the problems I mentioned, and agreed that it was likely defective (ooh, good detective work! ). I commented that Palmgear's site listed them as not shipping until the 13th. She stated that they did get a small shipment (around 100) but was not sure if they had all already been shipped out to fill backorders. She put me on hold, then came back and said that they still had a box of Memplugs that had not been packaged for shipment to customers. She took one out and told me she would ship it to me overnight with prepaid postage for returning this one.

I am still not happy with the whole process, but at least I am getting a new one (at least I HOPE it's new). I am so disappointed in Palmgear right now that even if she had offered me a gift certificate for purchasing something else on Palmgear, I would have turned it down and just asked for a partial credit added to my CC for the Memplug purchase.

I agree with the above reader that while Palmgear must take most of the blame for their handling of the situation, some responsibility for the loss of sales of the Memplug should rest on PI's shoulders for two reasons: 1) being shortsighted and underestimating the demand, and 2) for not actively pursuing other North American distribution channels.

That all being said, I have a new one on the way and will give a report soon.

__________________
J. Sean McKay, Ph.D.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"In every work of genius....
we recognize our own rejected thoughts."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 152

Re: UPDATE.

quote:

---

Originally posted by headgamer
I agree with the above reader that while Palmgear must take most of the blame for their handling of the situation, some responsibility for the loss of sales of the Memplug should rest on PI's shoulders for two reasons: 1) being shortsighted and underestimating the demand, and 2) for not actively pursuing other North American distribution channels.

---

Registered: Mar 2001
Location:
Posts: 20

Re: Re: UPDATE.

quote:

---

Originally posted by dvIceT


I sympathize with your situation. I was fortunate enough to be in the first post-release wave of MemPlug buyers, but I think you're being a little hard on PI. It seems a little unrealistic for a smaller company to overproduce what seems to be their first product. That would be suicidal. You only need to look to a big, established company like Palm to see what happens to companies that carry an excess of inventory. They may be able to use the success of the MemPlug to fuel more ambitious releases of future products, but I think they would be wise to play it safe for now.

I completely agree with your second point and would like to see a broader choice of Springboard vendors.

---

Registered: Mar 2001
Location:
Posts: 43

Backordered again

They've changed the BO date yet again. Good luck on getting one. I'm waiting for either the Nxist or the unnamed new module referenced by Dave of Kopsis Engineering. I got an email from Peter Chen of Nxist and he states that Palmgear hasn't committed any money to buying the Nxist and that he is looking for alternative outlets. He better - I'm not buying anything from Palmgear.

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Derry NH USA Earth
Posts: 154

Last week's story was "stuck in customs". What a crock..

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<div align="left"><font size="+2" color="#FF8000">Mike</font>
<hr width="200">
<font color="Red"><i>Programming is the struggle between programmers<br> building bigger and better idiot proof systems<br> and the universe building bigger and better idiots</i></font>
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Registered: Dec 1999
Location: Oregon
Posts: 13

Just spoke with PalmGear today regarding the back order. The sales person mentioned that they hope to have units to ship backorders in the "next couple of weeks".
I'm not sure what the hold-up is, Amazon hasn't updated their information either so getting harder to think that both are holding back.

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Seven PDA's and the Prism's wins but the Clie is closing! No more Earthlink.

Registered: Jun 2000
Location:
Posts: 594

They must be buried in back-orders.
(Hey, whuzzzzup? Most of us SPEND OUR LIVES looking to create a product / svc. that MIGHT sell ... and here so many companies have -- but CAN'T GET ENOUGH OUT THE DOOR! Weird.)
Anyway, since I've just been hyping Visors to "newbie" friends, lately, I've realized that the MemPlug is really THE ONLY OPTION for such novice users. God forbid I show them all the little programs that make the others work, and how to go about it, etc.
... and TRUST they won't accidentally TRASH ALL THEIR DATA (by "mistake," of course) ... too?

So, prob. everybody is thinking the same way, until the CF etc. solutions are as "fail safe."
(But not "SO SAFE" as to pay $79 for 8Mb, via HS, eh?)

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"Great Spirits Have Always Encountered Violent Opposition From Mediocre Minds." -- Albert Einstein

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Derry NH USA Earth
Posts: 154

Get a load of this!!!!

The latest....

http://www.palmgear.com/hs/products....cfm?prodID=395

HaHaHa!!

It really doesn't matter to me as much now. There's a "true springboard" that uses CF coming out in two weeks.. That's what I really want. I don't particularly care to play around with stuff...

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<div align="left"><font size="+2" color="#FF8000">Mike</font>
<hr width="200">
<font color="Red"><i>Programming is the struggle between programmers<br> building bigger and better idiot proof systems<br> and the universe building bigger and better idiots</i></font>
<hr width="200">
<b><a href="http://enhanceyourlife.com">http://enhanceyourlife.com</a><br>
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Registered: Oct 2000
Location:
Posts: 443

has memplug set up palmgear as the sole seller? if so, i'd never buy one. it was a nightmare dealing with those idiots when i bought my soundsgood. i wrote good and told them i loved the product, and if they put out an SG2 i would probably buy it... unless it was only available thru palmgear, in which case i would definitely not buy it.

PG did not:

1. write me back even once (wrote them 3 times with questions regarding my SG's status).
2. return my phonecall (left a msg)
3. answer their phone during business hours (got a msg telling me that they were only open during such and such hours (which is when i called)). this happened 2 times.
4. when i did speak with someone i was promised a return call in 10 minutes. never called back.

idiots.

mc.

Registered: Jun 2000
Location:
Posts: 594

Wow, I had no idea PG sucked so bad. I wonder how they can maintain their biz screwing people like that. I guess it's the big sw listing....
Still, that sucks.

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"Great Spirits Have Always Encountered Violent Opposition From Mediocre Minds." -- Albert Einstein

Registered: Jan 2001
Location:
Posts: 17

Well, that's probably just it. Palm Gear is pretty good for downloadable software - but maintaining hardware sales, inventory, warranty servce...not the same thing. It might or might not be better, but I usually prefer to order hardware from somebody who sells hardware, like direct from the manufacturer or one of the bigger catalog houses...not always possible, I know, though...

- dan

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Derry NH USA Earth
Posts: 154

Guess what's not listed as backordered!?!?!? Really!

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<div align="left"><font size="+2" color="#FF8000">Mike</font>
<hr width="200">
<font color="Red"><i>Programming is the struggle between programmers<br> building bigger and better idiot proof systems<br> and the universe building bigger and better idiots</i></font>
<hr width="200">
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Registered: Apr 2001
Location: Discworld
Posts: 21

Guess what's listed as backordered again? Saw that it was "in-stock" earlier today too, that's why the backorder link said "n/a", but it has a 5/20 ship date now. It's been over a month for me, and longer for others. Any word from PI about alternate distributors? (amazon, or anyone at all?)

At this point, I'd switch to a CF adapter, but I've got 38MB of smartmedia, and no CF cards, so this is the only viable solution right now..

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Derry NH USA Earth
Posts: 154

I promised someone about a month ago I'd beta test his MemPlug enabled program. The SM I've bought is no big deal. If I go to CF, I'll sell it on Ebay and buy CF. I ordered on 4/6 and haven't heard anything unless I initiated it.

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<div align="left"><font size="+2" color="#FF8000">Mike</font>
<hr width="200">
<font color="Red"><i>Programming is the struggle between programmers<br> building bigger and better idiot proof systems<br> and the universe building bigger and better idiots</i></font>
<hr width="200">
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