Registered: Dec 1999
Location: Wantagh, NY USA
Posts: 7

After waiting since Oct. 13, 1999 in late Dec I e mailed Donna Dubinsky and asked nicely for help. My blue delux was in hand in a few days. They were very nice and concerned about the past problms adn want their customers to be happy. I am! Thanks

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Kutztown, PA, USA
Posts: 106

yeah, why is everyone so mean to handspring. they are doing a good job, everyone is posting about how they suck, but look at how many orders were good. and if you order in December you most likely got yours in 2 weeks or less! this is great. I love Hndspring

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Greg Moore
[email protected]

[This message has been edited by GregMoore (edited 01-03-2000).]

Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 16

The problem I see is getting to Handspring. Once you get there, it's great.

I was given a song and dance, including a specified shipping date that never happened, by the company that handles orders. All my shipping and credit card info was correct each time we checked. I even called the main Handspring office, and left a message w/ customer relations, and emailed from the web site, both times with no response.

After 10 weeks, I cancelled the order and called the main office again. the receptionist was very courteous, took my information, and I requested a return call. Within a day, I got a return response. The person was very responsive and the experience was great. She shipped the unit out FedEx Priority 1, and called back in 10 minutes with the tracking number. I had my ice VD in m hands within 18 hours. They even included a serial cradle at no charge.

Now that I have it, I love my Visor, but the customer handling by the ordering company was extremely poor. I hope I never have to go through that process again!

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: New Hampshire
Posts: 195

I will add my voice to the chorus of those saying good things...

After reading other's experiences, when I realized there was a shipping problem I did everything I could to contact Donna Dubinsky directly. She was away for the holiday, but someone else on this board also mentioned Barbara Grossman, so I contacted her. As with the experience of others, I found her to be highly motivated to resolve my difficulty and, even though it was immediately before Christmas, a Visor was in my hands asap. Following that, she took the initiative to send a backup module as a way of acknowledging the problems. After the holiday when Donna Dubinsky returned, she replied to my email the FIRST DAY she was back, asking if everything had been settled. I was able to respond in the positive and she then even responded to that, saying she was glad that everything had worked out OK.

Throughout all of this, and despite the experiences of others, I've taken the approach that the folks in the company made some poor choices (re: outsourcing of customer support, etc) but want to "adjust" their business standing in order to continue to producing and servicing an excellent product. I have not gone in with the idea that these folks just slapped something together, hyped it, and are hoping to make a fast buck before the close up the shop.

Clearly, HandSpring made some poor choices in the beginning, but when the head of a company takes personal interest in seeing that individual problems are addressed, I will give her the benefit of the doubt and assume that it's not just because I guessed correctly at her email address, but because there is a concerted effort to improve the situation, company-wide. As for Barbara Grossman, I don't even know what her position in the company is, but I hope she's well-compensated, because, in my experience, she's certainly worth it.

I'm anxious to see where the company is, six months from now, as the Springboards start to roll out and the customer service problems get resolved. I'll be happy to read the articles about how HandSpring was rescued "from the brink" and is helping to lead innovation in the industry. If I'm wrong, well, I've got a great introduction into the world of PDAs. My Ice VisorX is working beautifully and is doing for me far more than I had dreamed.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Vienna, VA
Posts: 8

I have to agree with the sentiments expressed here. I had unending problems with my 9/16 Visor Deluxe order and my 10/6 stylus order, but when I brought the problems to the attention of Ms. Dubinsky, she assigned good and responsive individuals to resolve my issues. My thanks to Susan Yost and Barbara Grossman for their quick work and good humor.

By the way, my 12/6 order for USB travel cables and an 8M Springboard went flawlessly and everything was delivered before Christmas! Way to go Handpsring!

Registered: Dec 1999
Location:
Posts: 39

Unfortunately, I can't say that I've had the greatest luck yet.

While many people who ordered in December have gotten their Visors quickly, I ordered a Visor Deluxe on 12/14 and haven't seen anything for 3 weeks. While Handspring certainly appears to be doing better than it was, it's not working in my favor...

I sent an e-mail to Donna and Barbara on Monday of this week and neither have responded as of yet.

I guess I can't complain, because it has only been 3 weeks, only 1/2 of the quoted time. But it's fairly frustrating to see people who ordered 10 days or more later than I get the same exact Visor that I ordered.

Guess I'll try sending another e-mail Barbara's way just for fun...

I can only imagine the frustration felt by those people who ordered very early (like October) who saw people in who ordered in December get their first...

Oh well...

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...Jim

Registered: Dec 1999
Location:
Posts: 39

Well, I'm willing to eat crow when necessary.

Shortly after I posted the above message, I sent a note to Barbara Grossman again. She responded almost immediately and said she would look into it. About 20 minutes later she replied again saying that it appeared that my zip code was not input correctly (missing a digit) and that once I sent her the correct zip code she would expidite my order.

I'm looking forward to playing with my new Visor!

I have to admit, it's still a little scary that a mistyped (probably my own stupid fault) zipcode could lead to weeks of delay, and if I didn't know about this website, who knows how long it would've taken...

Looking forward to adding my name to the Visor recieved log!



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...Jim

Registered: Dec 1999
Location: Wantagh, NY USA
Posts: 7

Ordered a serial cradle, ice, and a 5 pack of stylus on the web with exp delivery and rec'd same in one week. Well done.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Singapore
Posts: 13

can't be any happier, really.

ordered (phone) on 13 oct.
waited till dec to email Donna, she responded immediately and Susan contacted me. turned out my CC number's wrong, though i've checked numerous times before...
i have to admit i was really frus then,
but i persisted and waited patiently.
Christmas came and went, still no visors...
that's when i dropped Barbara an email and hey presto! she responded immediately and i got my TWO visors on 3 Jan!!

my advice to those who ordered early and still haven't gotten their visors: contact Barbara Grossman, she's efficient!

cheers!

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Enumclaw, Wa
Posts: 268

Yes, The first time I emailed donna i was very polite. I apoligized for bothering her. Thanksed her for her time. She emailed back a very long letter. Which was very helpful. Saying that she looked into it herself, but it would be a couple of days to get it worked out.Well she didnt loie since i wrote the letter almost right before the six week mark was up. After the six week mark was up, I emailed her again. This time i wasnt polite almost edging on rude. The reponse i got was the same, ver short. Simply saying that if she gets time she would get someone to look into my case. Just goes to show you. Be polite to Donna!LOL, well bye.
-Devin

Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 5

Hey all,

My IVD is overdue now as well,
don't just take it from her! I recived the same curt, short, unthought or spell-checked message from the big D.
I think the problems of a company start at the top and work their way down.
But what do I know I'm just the customer?

D.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Hong Kong
Posts: 10

Yes. Thanks Handspring. Although I got my GVD with a wrong cradle, defective CD and missing rainbow pack that I ordered, they send them back to me through FEDEX right away after a few E-mails, and more importantly, they shipped to me directly to HONG KONG.

Thanks a lot. Looking forward to international order on the accessories.

Way to go Handspring.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Posts: 22

When I telephoned Customer Care on Jan. 11 to check on the status of my order I was told that, although all my information was in the system correctly, it had not properly reached the warehouse. Had I not called, the two Visors I'd ordered never would have shipped.

The support person, Emanuel, told me that everything now was on track.

That afternoon, I received email notice of a new order (identical to my original one), with an additional 4-week time frame. I emailed back that I had not placed a new order, only tried to pry loose my old one. As yet, no response from Handspring.


[This message has been edited by JHromadka (edited 01-12-2000).]