From: dh@fncrd6.fnal.gov (don husby)
Newsgroups: alt.cd-rom
Subject: Insight/HDI: the final chapter
Summary: Beating a dead horse.
Date: 6 Jan 93 16:21:41 GMT
Organization: Fermilab
NNTP-Posting-Host: fncrd6.fnal.gov


  About a month ago, there was a thread on this newsgroup regarding
Insight / Hard Drives International and sleazy trade practices.  Here
is an account of my final dealings with them.

The story so far:
   I ordered a Talon TA-100 from Insight advertised as 380ms seek,
32K buffer plus toolworks, etc for $279.  They promised to ship it the
next day via Federal Express.
   19 days later, the drive arrived.  It was a Mitsumi drive with an
800ms/ 2K buffer.  I called them on it and the salesman said that the
ad was a misprint and that a Talon TA-100 is a mitsumi drive.  The 
salesman urged me to install it and give it a try.
   Two weeks later, I got a catalog from insight advertising a talon 
TA-100 drive at 380ms/32K.  I called, asked about the specifications and 
the same salesman confirmed the specs: 380ms/32K.  Of course, it wasn't
in stock that day, but the salesman offered a drive with similar specs
for only an extra $40.
   The next day I called to get a refund and Stephanie in "Customer
Satisfaction" claims that it was my mistake: I ordered the wrong 
drive.

And then:
  I wrote a long threatening letter to Stephanie and her supervisor, 
detailing their most agregious bogosity and hypothesising that a long 
discussion on usenet and a short talk with my purchasing department 
would cost them tens of thousands of dollars in sales.  An excerpt:

===============================
>   Now, Stephanie, the people who run Insight might believe that these
> consequences are outwieghed by the profit that they make by deceiving
> the general public.  Perhaps they are right.
>   In fact, you have said that you do not beleive that Insight
> regularly and purposfully deceives its customers.  I challenge you to
> prove it to me and to yourself.  You can do this by sending me the
> following materials:
> 
>   1) An advertisement in which a TA-100 CD-ROM with an 800ms access
> time and 32K buffer is advertised for $279.  (This is the drive that
> you sent to me).
>   2) A page from the hardware manual for the TA-100 that you are
> currently advertising which shows an average seek time of 380ms and a
> 32K buffer.
>   3) An invoice showing that Insight has orderd a reasonable inventory
> of these drives in recent months.
>   4) The names and phone numbers of three customers living outside of
> Arizona who have ordered a TA-100 (380ms/32K) and received a drive
> that meets these specifications.
=================================

  Stephanie called on the next working day and offered apologies and a
refund or exchange.  Of course she couldn't provide the information I 
requested.
  I also got a letter of apology from her manager.  One sentence in 
the letter pretty much sums up what you can expect when dealing with 
Insight:  "However, as stated in our advertisements and catalog, 
pricing and availability are subject to change without notice."
Presumably they take this to mean that even after you've ordered a 
drive and confirmed the specifications, they can ship whatever they 
damn well please if they think they can get away with it.

  I opted for the exchange and got a faster mitsumi drive.  (See
next article in alt.cd-rom)