Subject: Consumer concerns
Date: Tue, 31 May 1994 08:36:56 -0400
From: "amanda l. osborne" <alo@shore.net>

John Foust writes:

>I wholeheartedly discourage the use of public message systems as a
>new way to throw a temper tantrum, or as a way to blackmail a vendor
>into giving you what you want.  It's not fair.  You get to present
>your side of the story, and when and if the vendor tries to respond
>in public, they have little chance of satisfying you, and a great
>chance of starting a flame war.  That's why this isn't the Impulse
>tech support line or the sales department.

I disagree pretty strongly here. A consumer needs as much information
as possible when making a buying decision: part of that information is
indeed how people are treated once they make a major (to them, certainly)
decision such as which Tracing and Animation program to choose to buy,
learn and invest lots of personal time and energy in. I bought Imagine
because it offered me a great creative tool at a great price. However,
since that time I've seen them fail to gain my trust (I placed my order
for 3.0 last October and was told it was "a few days" from shipping), 
fail to listen to the very real worries of their customers (bugs go 
unfixed, minor changes that would make lives' easier get pushed aside). 
I also have rather grave worries about Impulse's attitude about the 
whole thing. I consider myself a beginner with their product and, though
the new manual is an improvement over the old one, it is still unclear 
and rushed where I most need it to be crystal clear and concise. I've
had no luck phoning Impulse: they were abrasive and rude on all but one
call. Frankly, the posts of Halvorson to this list are abrasive and rude
as well (if you want temper tantrums, look there first). 

>If you've communicated with a vendor using conventional means (post,
>phone, fax, direct contact e-mail if available, etc.) and *then*
>they've screwed you, then please speak up, tell the list about your
>experiences with a vendor, and please try to present both sides of
>the story  - but don't expect "Hey, come on" postings to the Imagine
>mailing list to do anything except make you feel better for ten
>minutes.

Nik's post did more than make her feel better for ten minutes, it will
help me make my decision about Impulse's support contract. But, in 
mentioning communication, Mr. Foust reminded me of something that I 
looked over my notes to confirm. Many weeks ago I was attempting to 
garner as much information as possible about 3d object converter programs
and Syndesis was one of the numbers I phoned. Whomever answered the 
call took my name and number and told me to expect a call in a couple
of hours ... Well, actually I'm still waiting and it's been months now.



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