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Handspring Having Troubles Delivering Visors
Mad Browser noted that Handspring is having troubles. Massive hold times, downed computers, people getting charged multiple times for their orders. Its either a sloppy system, or a lot of demand.
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When the Visor was first mentioned here, I went straight to their site and began configuring an Visor that I'd like. But, things moved like molasses... I decide to try again later. I come back a couple days later, and the cool configuration process is gone, with only an option to leave behind an email address. It's too bad, but, I'm not deterred yet. I'm hoping I'll be able to order one from Amazon or so. Gotta have one!
The Official Steve Ballmer Webpage
Chances are the problems they're having is a combonation of unexpected demand and lack of focus in regards to their fulfillment procedures.
I personally expect this type of thing in the age of product rush. Hopefully, the time they didn't put into the fulfillment, they invested in the product itself, which I would find admirable.
I don't think it makes a bit of difference to most educated consumers (the kind I hope slashdot is dominated by ), since we tend to select products intelligently. I know its a rare day that I'll pluck down my cash for the newest gadget (although this is sometimes frustrating), instead waiting for usage reviews and bugs to be worked out (not to mention the price drop that eventually comes after they've milked all the impulse buyers).
All in all, these problems wouldn't disuade me from purchasing one, especially if it's as good as it looks, which the recon (impulse buyers) will alert us to.
My ISP was in a TOTALLY bad way when I joined it. It was having problems and ALOT of them. Now one and a half years later, it is both the cheapest and best flat rate provider in my country. It is now quite good all round.
What I am saying is don't give up on these guys just yet....
A friend of mine who ordered a Visor at the beginning of last month, when they first came available, recieved the cradle in the mail today. No Visor, mind you, just the cradle. Hmm. I think they'd be wise to get they's shit together before they lose a lot of loyalty from they's customers.
by Mike Buddha -- Someday the mountain might get him, but the law never will.
Last weekend, I was on hold trying to get some information on the status of my visor, ordered 9/28. I talked to a very nice CSR, but she spent an hour on the phone trying to find my order. Apparently, they have like 10 different databases, just they haven't merged them yet So, to try to find my order she would have to search through each one with my name, etc, and was unsuccessful for like the 5 or 6 different times she did it with me on the phone. So, it was the case of the missing order, which I've heard other people have.
Apparently, the CSR company is up in Canada, and have a slew of temp's who keep screwing things up for them, messing with the databases, etc. Just seems like they weren't ready for this, and are under a lot of stress.
Anyways, back to my situation, she eventually found it and left a message on my voice mail a day later; who knows where it disappeared to. But hopefully I'll have my blue visor dlx in just about 2 weeks.
Ordered it Sep 17th, and it arrived Oct 22.
I sometimes wonder if stories like this are fabricated and paid for by the competition. I and 2 other friends orderd and received our units in under 2 weeks. Just got mine on Thrusday. I waited on hold for about 10 minutes to order. Seems pretty reasonable for a new product introduction...
My Visor just arrived this morning. I called last week and waited on hold about 10 minutes. The CSR couldn't find my order, so she said she'd call me back with the info rather than make me wait (we were on the phone about 10 minutes).
She called back about 10 minutes later, to let me know it should be arriving next week (now this week)....sure enough it arrived this morning.
If you go to Handspring's web site, there is a message from their president apologizing for the problems and saying the demand was unexpected. My guess is they didn't plan for so many people to order one before they could even see it in person.
It looks like they're trying their best to fix things as fast as possible. For example, the day the web store went up, it was so swamped you couldn't get through. So they took it down, which is better than companies that would just leave up a crappy e-commerce site rather then try to fix it.
Btw, I order a Deluxe, in ice. Do the cradles all match what color you purchased? Mine is clear, so I'm wondering if they match them to the Visor.
On November 6, I placed an order on Handspring's web site, specifying "Express Shipping". Just called to check the status of my order, and I was told that they couldn't give me a status because "the web site is still down". The Handspring representative implied that if I had placed my order on the phone, as opposed to online, they might have been able to give me a status. ( "You'll have to wait till the web site comes up. Then we'll be able to give you a status." )
Hmmm......sounds suspiciously like NT went down, taking all online order data with it. ;)
But then, We're all biased here.
The cradles only come in the graphite and ice colors. You get an ice cradle if you ordered a "cute"tech visor, ice, blue ...
Visor is a small company with a lot of talent. Palm is about 10 times the size and, although it's been bleeding talent because it's been shackled to 3Com, still has some pretty good engineers. I think the Visor is an excellent product; but the Palm V is the hottest-selling palm out there, and the springboard module means Handspring won't have a small procuct like this for a long while.
The handheld market is a HUGE and growing one, and there's currently room for 4-5 different products to be runaway successes. Handspring is being bowled over by just one such success. The good news is, with Palm's aggressive licensing strategy, the whole market is moving to PalmOS, and they won't pull an Apple.
Preferential Voting: easy as 1-2-3
Handspring is not responding to emailed questions about the problem. Word on usenet is that they plan to release the source, but not now, and maybe not for the current version. Of course GPL Sections 5 and 7 clearly state that you can't distribute derivative works unless you're prepared to offer source at the same time.
-Peter, no longer so enthusiastic about Handspring
Can you compare it to a palm? Is it faster, does it run all your other palm apps? Did you get the blue one? :) In general, what are your impressions of the quality, workmanship, etc...?
Can you think of any more annoying questions I could ask?
Thanks
Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. - Mark Twain
Either you ordered a REALLY long time ago or you mean October...
Yeah, they are having problems meeting demand. I got a temp CSR that could care less when I filed my order on Sept 28th, and I've spent the last few days trying to check on it. Three times total getting through, 45 min, an hour, and then finally the winner at 2 hours, 10 minutes on hold. Nearly had a heart attack when I heard a human voice. To give you an idea I sat reading the entire set of "User Friendly" cartoons and nearly finished... The original temp did slightly screw up my name, but they were able to figure it out based on phone number, etc... They refused to quote when it will deliver other than the original promise of 4-6 weeks from ordering... We shall see. They are having growing pains... Reminds me of my 18 month stint at Netscape during their ramp up, trying for a week and a half to get a phone fixed.... And I thought Big Blue was bad... But don't get me started on buy.com and UPS this week, 2 orders (the original and its replacement) for the same hard drive - one beaten to pieces and its replacement lost. I think FedEx next time... BTW, buy.com plays strictly by the numbers, don't expect special treatment when a package gets destroyed or damaged... They wouldn't even offer a shipping upgrade and I spent more than 45 minutes on hold at a time.
If you ask me, their big mistake was using proprietary GNU software in an official release.
Oct 15, 10:00 P.M. CST Oct 15, 10:50 P.M. CST Oct 20, 11:00 P.M. CST Oct 22, 5:45 P.M. CST Oct 23, 2:50 P.M. CST
something clever
With some money to burn, I ordered 10 Visor Deluxe units on the first day the phone line went live. Somehow I had faith that Handspring would deliver. Well, after calling 12 times and sitting on the phone at least an hour for each call, I don't have much confidence in Handspring. I was told that the units would be $240.00 each, and all units would ship together. Then I was told 3 weeks ago that they would be 249.99 + 8 shipping and shipped separately. Then I was told my order was shipped and I couldn't change the color I selected. I wanted 2 of each color. When My card wasn't billed on Oct 15, I was told they were on the way anyway. I was told to call UPS, but Handspring couldn't give me a tracking number. Isn't it illegal to advertise and then not fulfill on the advertisement? I ordered the 10 units to give away for the holidays and just to have fun. What a load of BS Handspring has given me. If they had just been honest and said we don't have a clue then I would understand. Instead, they keep telling me that my units have shipped and should have arrived. Also, when pressed I was told to call "Corporate" in California, so I did. They had no clue either. (BTW, 650-230-5000 x429 is Hawkins #) At least I haven't been billed. I think I'll cancel my order and blow my money on something else.
Grow up Handspring
Learn how to run a business
Good luck getting help if your Visor breaks!
Did I leave my keys here?
Whenever the GPL test case finally happens, its going to have the legal ambience of the OJ trial meets the Unabomber trial. Jeff and Donna know better than to put themselves in the middle of that scene ...
Okay...no one seems to have mentioned this, so thought I'd share a dirty little secret with my fellow slashdotters.
= -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
When a company pisses you off...fails to respond to your questions...or is just generally unreachable...there is something can get you on the inside track...run a WHOIS. Check out what is listed for handspring.com:
JD TECHNOLOGY (HANDSPRING-DOM)
189 RENARDO AVE.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA 94043
US
Domain Name: HANDSPRING.COM
Administrative Contact:
HAWKINS, JEFF (JH28760) JHAWKINS@HANDSPRING.COM
650 230 5000 (FAX) 650 230 2100
Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
BOLY, JEFF (JB37706) jboly@HANDSPRING.COM
650 230 5000
Billing Contact:
JD TECHNOLOGY (JT240-ORG) no.valid.email@WORLDNIC.NET
650 470 0944
Fax- 650 470 0943
Presto...look at all that information. There's a couple of fax numbers. Why not sent them a firm, but polite request for information? According to the WHOIS, they have phone numbers that begin with 650-230 and 650-470. Why not try wardialing them to see what other extensions you can find?
Notice the e-mail addresses and the pattern they follow: first initial plus last name. That means that you probably know the e-mail addresses for everyone on the Executive Team like Donna Dubinsky, Ed Colligan, Bernard Whitney, Mike Gallucci and so forth.
Also rememeber that any other domains that show up on a WHOIS can lead to more information. Check out all the other domains that ol' Jeff currently owns.
Now, of course, this is dirty dirty pool. These people are not going to like being contacted directly. But this only underscores how STUPID it is that Network Solutions forces us to put our real information in a public database. That's why I run a WHOIS on major technology companies every day. Whenever I get a busy Vice President on the phone...I am sure to let him know how I got this phone number so he can be sure to let that @#$!@$#! Network Solutions know what he thinks of this WHOIS nightmare.
Anyway...if you goal is to find out when your Visor is shipping...contacting someone on a WHOIS is a good way to make sure you get put last on the list. But a friend of mine had Handspring put an $800 hold on his credit card (which would cover the cost of THREE Visors, not the ONE he ordered) and after politely alerting everyone at Handspring to his problem, he got a personal apology from Donna. And later that day, a phone call from Sally, the head of customer service promising to resolve it ASAP.
So...to review...if you have a SERIOUS issue...go ahead and try a WHOIS. But remember that this type of contact can easily be considered abuse, so if aren't careful and tactful you will end up doing yourself more harm than good.
- JoeShmoe
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-- I wonder which will go down in history as the bigger failure: the War on Drugs or the War on Filesharing
...for being an early adopter. Maybe other people have more money to throw around than I do, but I wouldn't want to order a Visor just now anyway. My IIIe, crippled though it is, can still do most of the stuff that a Visor could, since I don't believe there are very many springboard modules out yet...and with color Palms on the horizon, why would I want to buy something that I'd just want to trade in again a week later?
Not to mention that by a few months from now, they'll probably be available in Best Buys and Circuit Cities and such all across the country, with no pesky waiting for your order to come in.
I am looking forward to the Visor's enhanced capacities...but not to the point where I want to subject myself to the hassle of ordering them direct yet.
Editor Emeritus and Senior Writer, TeleRead.org
Can the currently available tools for pilot syncing (kpilot, staroffice, etc.) be used with the Visor? I figure they should, same OS, but ... since I haven't read any explicit news about compatability, I don't want to assume ...
-creon
I honestly didnt mean the post as a rant (tho i suppose it turned into one).
Still, what makes it a troll comment?
After 30 min of clicking together an order, I came to the marvolous choice of shipping options. I could choose (a) Standard (USA without Alaska and Hawai) and (b) Express (USA including Alaska and Hawai). Unfortunately I don't live in Alaska, I don't live in Hawai, and heaven thanks, I don't live in the US. All attempts to get any answers from anyone in the company were I could place my order were left unanswered.
So this is the future of e-commerce: Companies so arrogant that they can not smell a customer when diped with the nose into. There are some rumours that Hanspring might sell stuff to people not living in the land of the free in the near future. I can tell you, I don't want their shit any more, I don't want alms, and if my money is not good enough for them, fine. It already went to Psion for one of this nice Psion 5 mx pro. Highly recommendet.
I was thinking of buying a handheld for my wife for her 30th birthday coming up in a few weeks. Of the Palm's, I'm looking at the Vx, pretty much the top of the line, except for the wireless connectivity of the VII (which she doesn't need.)
Then, along comes the Visor, with what looks like pretty much the same specs as teh Vx, except a little heavier, but for nearly half the price. Seems almost too good to be true.
So, my question is, aside from the ordering problems, and potential new-product-troubles, is there any reason not to get a Visor instead of a Vx?
Stupid people will be persecuted to the fullest extent allowed by law.
Be fair. They say in several places (well before the ordering process) that they aren't currently set up to ship outside of the US, but that they expect to be able to do so some time around the start of next year. They're a start-up. They don't have a world-wide distribution system set up yet.
If you have ever heared of UPS or FedEx then you know that no company in the world needs to build up a world wide distribution system from scratch when they start. The point is simply that they don't want to sell to people outside the US and Canada - these are not worthy to experience this genuie "Made with Proud in USA" device.
I ordered a DVD from them next day air, and they said it would ship in 24-48 hours. Two weeks later it gets to my home, unfortunatly i was in San Fransico at the time and Fedex shipped it back. I was fairly pissed, when I e-mailed them about it they said they had to wait until they got it back then they would reship. By this time I was completely pissed that they didn't even offer a refund so i sent them the standard, the least you could do is refund my money, send me another, close the store, and shoot the manager speil. They refunded my money and sent another free of charge.
Non gratis rodentus anus
this is atest of the national broadcast system.
Hope it submits
Pants are still optional, but recommended for you.
this is atest of the national broadcast system.
Hope it submits
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Pants are still optional, but recommended for you.
Actually, that's not true at all. The shipping blurb says that they do ship to Canada. I had the same experience. I went through the painful ordering process only to be cut off at shipping. Now, I'm going to sit back and wait for them to sort out this whole mess. But, I'll probably still order one eventually.
I just got word from the Handspring folks that the source code package is available on their Web site, same page as the binary package. Problem solved.