Registered: Dec 1999
Location:
Posts: 11

I've only recently found this forum so if the subject has been well trodden I apologize in advance.

I ordered a Visor Deluxe Ice on October 6 using the web site. Got a confirming email with correct shipping address. (Yes, it includes a company name.)

Checked in via the 888 number a couple of times, everything seemed fine.

My credit card was charged on November 19.

On December 1, a Handspring phone rep told me that my order had not been shipped. He claimed he was escalating the matter to his supervisor for immediate shipment.

Email messages sent to various Handspring address have either bounced or gone unanswered.

December 7, another Handspring rep could not confirm any information about my order and suggested I wait another week for an email message that would "explain what my options will be."

I'm growing tired of the never-ending delays and increasingly angry that Handspring has had my money for three weeks without delivering a product.

The idea of disputing the credit card charge and buying a Palm Vx instead is beginning to appeal. The catch there is not so much the cost of the PDA but USB support. I plan to sync with my Macs via USB and IR. The Palm of course requires a serial to USB adapter but will be better for IR thanks to the updated OS. The Vx is also sexier but when push comes to shove, I prefer the Visor's built-in USB support.

I'm also considering filing a complaint with the California Attorney General's office. http://caag.state.ca.us/piu/mailform.htm Intentional or not, Handspring has taken my money and failed to deliver a product. That is fraud.

Your thoughts and suggestions are welcome.

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

It is only fraud if it is intentional.

In Handspring's case, incompetence is a more applicable term.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Columbus, Ohio USA
Posts: 255

I say go ahead and dispute the charge.

You will get a visor no matter what (eventually) and if your credit card company takes the charge away, you'll get it for free (though you really didn't expect it). So you have a Vx for about 150 after you sell off the Visor. Not too bad

If they charged your credit card early man, go for it. THat's just not good business. This isn't being a good customer either, but they started it

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: West Palm, FL
Posts: 53

markedwards,
Naa, it's not fraud. I dont think you will get anywhere with the fraud thing nor is it worth the trouble. I wouldn't cancel the order either, I was close too canceling mine and I'm glad I didn't. It was worth the wait. My VDX is great and I think you will feel the same.
I would just pester the hell out of them to get it to ship being that it is chargec on your CC. Good luck.

[This message has been edited by QL2 (edited 12-09-1999).]

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Hong Kong
Posts: 200

HS does not commit any fraud - they are too disorganized to do it.

Registered: Dec 1999
Location:
Posts: 11

Update if anyone cares. Email to Donna was promptly acknowledged and my case was turned over to executive relations team in California. Visor arrived three business days later.

Unfortunately the Visor is defective. If it is unused for more than five minutes, it requires a reset to power on. I've seen at least one other report of this problem in the Troubleshooting section.

Handspring HQ has been notified. I'm now waiting for an RMA.

The springboard slot is a clever idea. However the lack of shipping modules and the frustrations of dealing with Handspring combine to obliterate any advantage the Visor might have.

If anyone reading this is trying to decide whether to order a Visor, do yourself a favor. Buy a Palm instead.

I wish I had.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: NY, NY, USA
Posts: 155

Mark:

I ordered a Visor on 9/14, got it six weeks to the day later, and it was dead after falling three feet onto a padded, carpeted floor six days thereafter.

After I finally bit the bullet and attempted to sever all ties with Handspring over a month ago, I sent back everything and requested a credit. I haven't gotten a dime back from this f*cked-up company yet. They credited me the overcharge (two serial cradle charges) and the tax (don't live in CA) and that's it.

It's a piss-poor company with abysmal organization and awful support. Six weeks ago, lots of handspring loyalists were tsk-tsking me after I got my Palm Vx and was really pleased with it. Well, I've had nothing but perfection from the Vx. I am very, very pleased with it, and have no issues with the unit other than the price, which, after a friendly discount, ended up costing me less than the Deluxe did (and that includes the spare cradle and the hardshell Palm case as well). Bottom line, anyone extolling the virtues of an expansion port on the current model is missing the point. It is a good idea, and it eventually will succeed. But buying a decent to sub-standard product from a lousy company without support (technical as well as customer support) is a mistake. Relying on said product, and said company, by locking your personal and business organization/information, into this situation is a bigger mistake.

I hope all of those people who love their Visors don't have to deal with Handspring tech or customer support. They'll find it harder and harder to come up with reasons why having this product at this time makes any sense at all.

One final note: for those legal eagles out there, please verify whether fraud is based on commission or omission. From what I've been told regarding NYC, even mismanagement that results in people being screwed by a company (iow, mass ineptitude) can indeed qualify as fraud if the company, given an appropriate opportunity to correct same fails to do so. Waiting for a product to be shipped is one thing -- if you're willing to wait for a product for two-plus months, that's your problem, not Handspring's -- but if you've been charged and there is no legitimate reason why you have not received product or remuneration for same, intentional or not, you've been victimized by fraud. While this is a gray area, at least how it was explained to me, the consistency and the repetition of this type of ineptitude could easily be actionable. My credit card company told me that they will file a complaint with the California AG if the refund isn't processed. So the nice thing is that while my balance is screwed up by ~ $320 or so, my episode won't have gone for naught.

If Handspring doesn't improve immediately, they're prolly not going to. Good luck to anyone who's been charged and hasn't received anything. Hope it all works out.

Registered: Dec 1999
Location:
Posts: 7

""""If Handspring doesn't improve immediately, they're prolly not going to. Good luck to anyone who's been charged and hasn't received anything. Hope it all works out.
"""""

hotCarl...you oviously must be a [edited]... How do you figure that a company that was unprepared for the tens of thousands of orders they are getting, can straighten out their problems immediatly. Come on now, nobody in their right mind would believe that all of the sudden handspring can now ship orders in one day, all their customers service reps are now the nicest people in the world, no more credit card mistakes, bla bla bla bla...give the company a chance...put yourself in their shoes...imagine if someone walked into the donut shop where you work and said hotCarl...i need 10,000 longjohns now...and i'm gonna call and bug you every 20 minutes until i get them.

[This message has been edited by JHromadka (edited 12-16-1999).]

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: NY, NY, USA
Posts: 155

Rott:

"Come on now, nobody in their right mind would believe that all of the sudden handspring can now ship orders in one day, all their customers service reps are now the nicest people in the world, no more credit card mistakes, bla bla bla bla...give the company a chance"

They've had more than three months to fix their problems. How long does it take to implement decent customer service, passable tech support and honesty in dealing with consumers?

Blah blah blah. That about sums it up.

As long as there are people like you letting Handspring off the hook (and ingoring the facts), why would they bother improving anything? They were unprepared three months ago. That demonstrates ineptitude off the bat, but allowing it to perpetuate as they have says even more about what type of company they are. What I meant earlier, btw, is that I doubt they'll last. Aside from Handspring loyalists who ignore reality, no typical PDA customer is going to spend six weeks plus waiting to acquire a product so that he can save time and energy when ordering same from Handspring is the very definition of wasting both time and energy. Not gonna happen.

Again, hope it all works out.

Registered: Dec 1999
Location:
Posts: 21

rot621,
hehehe, I like your humor. Aside from that you do have some valid points.
Handspring has improved consideratly since it had started taking orders 2-1/2 months ago, and I think they will still continue doing just that.
The way I see it is there are two markets until Handspring goes retail.
The first will be people who can wait and will order a Visor, and the second will be people who cant wait, and for them there is the 3Com family to choose from.
Either way this only shows there is market share for both to survive. Hey, with all the orders Handspring is getting it will only make it easier for anyone wanting a 3Com palm, they will be more plentyful.

I'm sure with the talent of such people as Hawkins and Dubinsky Handspring will be here for a long time to come.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Alberta, Canada
Posts: 34

HotCarl -

Am I missing something here? Are you trying to get a refund on the unit *you* dropped and broke or another unit? If it's the one you dropped, that reminds me of the episode of "Friends" where Ross tries to return a sofa he sawed in half trying to get it up a flight of stairs.

------------------
Too err is human, to moo bovine.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Texan in Calgary for a while
Posts: 1361

We seem to be getting off the subject on this. Time to end it...

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James Hromadka
VisorCentral.com
Personal Website: http://www.Hromadka.com