Conference 7.286::digital

    Chris,
         The part number is correct. I would suggest talking to your local
    MVS folks (Field Service) about having them get you one from Field
    Service Logistics. That's where I got mine.
    
    /gew

>If you have questions or issues, we're just a phone call away.

Great punchline!!

Perry

    You might also want to check out VTX DIAL.  I don't know much about the
    specific part you are looking for but there appear to be two batteries
    available.  Also if you enter part number PCP1H there are lots of
    "related parts" also available.
    

    Appreciate the pointers, and I certainly will be taking some of your
    advice.
    
    I wouldn't want the point of .0 to be lost though.  I wasn't really
    looking for answers to solve a problem (although that's been an
    unexpected bonus!) so much as pointing out what appears to be a flawed
    system that perhaps could be improved upon.  (i.e. Getting the
    runaround when trying to order a spare part.)
    
    Thanks!
    
    Chris

    Wait - the saga continues!  Just got a phone call from the organization
    I'd sent the e-mail off to.  Turns out they only handle internal (cost
    center) orders.  They suggested call 1-800-PCBYDEC!
    
    Ha ha ha!!!!!  Too much.  Way too much!
    
    
    - ACC Chris

    Heck, I called the PC order number yesterday to buy a hard disk.  Got
    put on hold for 15 minutes, and I finally got a recording asking me to
    leave my name and number so they could call me back.  WE DON'T HAVE A
    CLUE AS TO WHAT IT TAKES TO BE IN THIS BUSINESS.

(Many forwards removed)

From:	NAME: John Paget @MRO               
	FUNC: U.S. MCS                        
	TEL: DTN 297-2029                     <PAGET.JOHN AT A1 AT USCTR1 AT MRO>
Date:	24-Nov-1993
Posted-date: 24-Nov-1993
Precedence: 0
Subject: PC PARTS PROGRAM - PLEASE FORWARD                                      1
To:     See Below
CC:     See Below


                              P C   P A R T S
    
    Quick access to parts for other vendor's hardware, specifically the 
    prolific PCs, has been, what some view, as a show stopper to realizing 
    our vision. Not any more. 
    
    MCS has just negotiated a major league breakthrough agreement with 191 
    local PC parts suppliers across the U.S. that puts the Federal Express 
    and Domino Pizza idea behind materials management. We're now plugged 
    into a network of 164 stockrooms that can give us same day delivery of 
    parts for all the major PCs when and where we need them.
    
    This is a first for Digital. And what it means to our customers is no 
    excuses, quality delivery. For Sales it means a credible offer of true 
    multivendor break/fix support on all the popular PCs for customers with 
    4-hour or same day contracts and a real proof point for our ability to 
    service PC LAN environments. 
    
    For Delivery, no more scrambling for parts, no delays in turnaround, no 
    complicated translation of part numbers and more. Logistics will accept 
    and use the vendor's part number you provide and meet same day 
    obligations delivering the part to you on the customer site if need be. 
    
    This program is now in place and fully operational. Communications and 
    training is currently underway throughout Service Delivery. District 
    Managers will be discussing this with their Units shortly.
    
        
    Regards,
    
    
    John Paget

Unfortunately Chris, this is not uncommon. It happens to our customers too.
If someone calls and doesn't quite know what they are ordering or have a part
number then they will have to talk to at least 2 reps minimum. I say minimum
because if they press the wrong number at the prompter or don't listen to it 
thru they will end up in the wrong group. 

The chances of talking to 5 or 6 reps is not uncommon at all. The problem you 
ran into was that the people doing the transfering sent you to the wrong depts.
Plus your ordering a spare part for a retired product. The 320p has been 
replaced by two generations already.

I work here in the technical consulting center and although you probably could
have called here for that info it may not have been any easier depending upon 
who you talk to. I can't speak for the ordering process because we don't have
anything to do with that portion but many of times when I get a customer and I 
start to ask the many questions I'm required to ask when I receive a call 
like name, number, address, and so forth I get a very exhausted and irritated 
customer on the other end. As for the 800 lines. Well lets just say they range
in double digits. Least that's what one of the 120 or so VP's PROUDLY told us 
in a meeting.

Why has this mess of a system been created? Well there are many reason's IMHO.

    Improperly trained and very overworked,tired phone reps.
    Complexity in the phone prompters themselves.
    Short product life cycles and discontinued support for their options.
    Lack of product support. Mainly because product groups keep getting TFSO'd.
    Too many 800 lines.
    Internal turf wars on who handles what.
    Managements inabilty to present clear direction of call procedures.
    Some phone reps in certain groups are sales coded so budget comes first
    mentality is prevalent.
    The list goes on and on but one things for sure. 

NOBODY AND I MEAN NOBODY BETTER TELL ME WE ARE BECOMING MORE CUSTOMER FOCUSED!


Moe 
    

A customer I know bought DEC laptops with active color matrix because of
their 'promise' of 24 hr. turnaround time to fix problems...



Took a number of weeks to get his swapped for a new one. So much for
the '24 hr' promise...

Lee

    
    Multiply .0 by the amount of transactions and then you will know why we
    are losing money.
    
    If I need to buy something in computers, it will be from a store. On a
    shelf, with a customer service dept nearby.
    
    Dave
    

    
    You should be able to get a battery pack for that laptop from Radio
    Shack.  They made the damn things for us in the first place.
    
    

    I've been in touch with a local field service rep and they've been
    EXTREMELY helpful.  Basically they can get me a battery pack.
    
    Note that, according to F/S, the 320P notebook is compatible with a
    PANASONIC CF380 notebook.  (I always thought this was a Tandy product,
    but I guess not.)
    
    Chris

    
    Well, Tandy sold a box identical to it so I assumed we OEM'ed from them
    but then again, RS tends to OEM a lot of stuff from other folks.
    
    Regardless, they would batteries too.
    
    -Ed_whose_NiCads_are_dead_too_but_does_not_care_anymore
    
    

>    I've been in touch with a local field service rep and they've been
>    EXTREMELY helpful.  Basically they can get me a battery pack.
    
  I'm glad to hear you can get a battery pack from Digital. But what if you had
left the company 6 months ago? You would probably still be getting the run-
around.
  I agree with several replies; if I buy a PC, it will be from a computer store
with a nearby service dept. 
  Russ Doane's idea of turning Digital into "Wealth and Freedom Associates"
is sounding better all the time!

    WHAT IF YOU WERE A real CUSTOMER!
    
    You know what I mean.
    
    
    This stuff STINKS, but is the key to the problem. Anybody home or still
    re-couping from Hawaii.
    
    
    'bout had enough
    rr                                                                      

Fwiw, the 320P was, indeed, manufactured by Panasonic (and Tandy actually
happened to be selling the same system under their brand too ;-).

...petri

O.K.  Time to clear up some things here.

Tandy manufactured the 320P and the equivalent Panasonic laptop in Fort Worth,
Texas.  There was a story in the Dallas Morning News about a year ago about how
Panasonic wanted Panasonic labeled batteries in all their electronic products
and how Tandy had to scramble to make sure no Panasonic products went out the
door with Radio Shack batteries inside.  Now obviously, that wasn't a problem
for the 320P since its ni-cad battery pack is in the grey shell.

Bob

    re: base note
    
    Chris,
    
    	I suggest you take your concerns and send them to the appropiate
    managers responsible for these groups.  You could start at the top,
    with Ed Lucente or just call back the group(s) you originally called
    and ask to talk to a manager.  
    
    Regards,
    
    Tony

    I sent a note to the President of our PC business unit a week ago
    detailing an experience that I had being routed to three different 800
    numbers, with the end result that nobody was able to help me order a
    part (even though I had the part number).  I never received a response.

    Anyone actually bought the battery pack at Radio Shack as suggested 
    in this note?
    
    I need a couple new batteries for my 320P
    
    Just wonder'in...
    
    Curt

    My own experience with this has not been a good one either.  I bought
    a PC through EPP last year for the most part out of loyalty to this
    Company.  Even with the 20% discount I could have done just as well
    at Radio Shack, but I figured I keep the money in the DEC family.  Well
    when I use to call 1-800-PCBYDEC if it was before 5:30 and you
    identified yourself as an employee they got off the phone as soon as
    they could with you.  This didn't really bother me, I'm willing to
    reschedule my call for the overall good of the Company.  What bothered
    me was when I called the 800 customer support number down in Atlanta. 
    They told me at that time that there was no support for employees.  I
    pleaded for some sort of help, and they gave some number in Pittsburgh
    (none 800).  I called this number and the guy had no idea what I was
    talking about, but gave me a number in Littleton (again none 800). 
    Finally, having had enough of this Company loyalty stuff I called back
    Atlanta and this time resolute explained that I was not going to
    tolerate no for an answer and that my money was as green as anybody
    elses on the outside.  I put in touch with a supervisor that said whoever
    told me employees could not get help was in error.  After which an 
    engineer helped me.    
    
    Even though I got it resolved, I was upset with having to make a stink
    to get help.  If I had bought a PC from IBM, HP or Compaq they would be
    bending over backwards to help me for they value my business.  My
    opinion now is, that when you buy something from DEC you become a
    customer and deserved to be treated as such.  If that means you call
    during lunch at 12:00, they should take your call.  It pains me to say
    it, but I don't think that my next PC will be from DEC.
    
    Mike Lyons         

Had to be the devil's advocate after reading this note.

I just purchased a PC through the EPP plan and paid for
it via a credit card. Being computer illiterate, I did an
informational survey and and decided on a particular model
and the associated hardware (ie; modem, etc, etc) for what
my particular usage was going to be.

Well, the system was received roughly 1.5 weeks after placing 
the order. Not too bad considering it is Christmas time and
UPS is starting to get bogged down.

The system worked fine with the exception of the Modem. I couldn't
get it to operate correctly. So, thinking it was me, I called the
technical assistance number (yup, the 1-800-PCBYDEC). Unfortunately
the person I was connected to was of little help and suggested 
bringing it to the field service office. I didn't want to do that unless
I was sure that the problem wasn't due to my lack of knowledge. So,
I brought the modem board into work with me, had it tested out, and 
in fact, it tested to have a sporadic malfunction. 

So, after reading this note on Digital's post sales support, I 
naturally, was concerned.

I called the same number, spoke to a lady regarding my problem,
and she was able to ship a replacement out to me that very 
afternoon. Not only that but they (Digital) will arrange to 
have a carrier pick up the bad board the next day. Basically,
it's door to door service.

I'm not sure that this caliber of service is usual and after reading
numerous other people's reports on thier interaction with post sales
support personnel, I'm sure it's not, but I  thought I should share 
this with the conference to show that yes, in fact, sometimes the 
system does work.


Regards,

Steve

    Both DECdirect and PCBYDEC contacted me this afternoon and I've
    submitted an order for a NiCAD Battery Pack for my 320P Notebook at an
    EPP price.  Whew!  Some interesting things I've learned along the way
    include:
    
    * If you've purchased a PC via EPP you should be using 1-800-PCBYDEC,
      PERIOD.  
    
    * DIGITAL employees no longer have to wait until after 5:30pm to 
      call 1-800-PCBYDEC!
    
    * 1-800-PCBYDEC made some mistakes.  They should've known about the
      "Spares Department", whose purpose in life seems to be to provide
      parts like this.  They should not have stumbled over the fact that
      the original part number (FR-PCP1H-BB) had been replaced with
      a different number (12-37727-01).   They should've been able to 
      place an order for me right on the spot, at an EPP price.  ($110
      list; I'm being charged $66.)
    
    * Supposedly some communications have been made to the 1-800-PCBYDEC
      group so this type of mistake will not occur again.  
    
    Thanks for everyone's help!  I've established a plethora of contacts
    who've all been *extremely* helpful, so if you're getting the runaround
    using 1-800-PCBYDEC (or DECdirect for that matter) let me know and I
    can point you to some good people.
    
    Chris

    
    Should have...would have...could have...supposedly!?!?! Sounds
    like there's still a problem to me!!!
    
    Marc

    Marc,
    
    Points well taken, but like most things in life all ya can do is try to
    learn from your mistakes and move on.  
    
    Hopefully PCBYDEC has learned a few things.  As a person who does
    Customer Support for a living (DECwindows Support) I know I've learned
    a few things about what it's like to be on the other end of the wire!
    
    Chris

    (You may wish to re-read my reply .20 before reading this reply)
    
    This morning, I received a call from Maureen Sullivan in Enrico
    Pesatori's office.  Maureen had seen my reply .20 and called me to tell
    me that she had never received my memo.  I checked my files, and told
    her that the memo had been sent on November 18.  She checked her files,
    found the memo, and remembered having seen it and printing it.
    
    She did not know why I had not received a reply, and promised to follow
    up.  She also encouraged me to document another recent experience I had
    in which I called the 1-800 number and was put on hold for 15 minutes. 
    (I finally got a recording asking me to leave my name and number so
    that my call could be returned).  I have sent this second memo, and I
    will keep you noters posted on any reply I get to either memo.
    
    Alan

    Chris,
    
    Yeah, I know whatcha mean. I've been around DEC for almost 18
    years now and just need to vent sometimes, ya know???
    
    Hopefully, PCBYDEC has learned something...I am still amazed
    though at what has happened to the level of concern, committment,
    and accountability around what I used to consider a leading-edge
    company. Sad days...hopefully things'll brighten up soon. One
    can only do their best and hope other will do the same.
    
    Marc

    Just to let you know, folks, things haven't changed one bit at
    DECDirect or 1-800-PCBYDEC:
    
    On Tuesday, at 5:45PM, I called DECDirect.  I'm in the market for
    upgrading my DECpc 420sx from 4MB to 8MB.  With credit card in hand, I
    get a 'gentleman' on the phone, identified myself as an employee and told
    him what I wanted to order.  After discovering "oh, this is one of
    those TANDY PCs we used to sell", he said spare parts were not
    available.  I asked him what he would have done if I was a customer and
    he said "Referred you to the 800 # for Field Service."  I asked if
    there was another source within Digital since I didn't think that "FS"
    was the right place for me to upgrade my memory, he said no.  We ended
    our conversation and I was shaking my head.
    
    After reading this file yesterday evening and seeing the pointer about
    1-800-PCBYDEC, I called them last night.  Same run around - "Digital
    doesn't support the old TANDY line!"
    
    As much as we may hope for, some things never change.  I think this
    company definitely is one of them!

    
    Unless there's something special about the Tandy, I would think you
    needed to simply ask for 4 2MB SIMMS at whatever speed is recommended
    for your system. If your documentation isn't clear on what you need,
    try asking in the IBM_9x Notesfile. Any mailorder house should be able
    to sell you these.
    
    Of course, I read an article recently where an irate customer
    complained that she could not get the foot pedal for her PC to work
    properly.  :^)

    
    
    RE: .30  Well if you have the part # for the memory and give them the
    part #, on e would think that that would be all that you would have to
    do.
    
    
    Mike (who is familiar with this situation)
    
    
    P.S.  Wonder how many external customers bought these things and are
    getting the same answer.

    
    I bought one of the last Tandy 486 machines on the zero interest
    employee deal ~18 months ago.  When I bumped the memory from
    4 to 8 meg, I just called Zeos and ordered the SIMS.  Got
    them 2 or 3 days later, popped them in, and it was done.
    
    I understand the issue is one of Digital support, but I figured
    I'd pass this along in the hopes of helping you achieve your
    objective.
    
    Glenn

        There are two issues here:
        
        A) We  are  concerned  customers  may  be given an unprofessional
        response when calling with questions about the old Tandy laptops.
        I suggest someone calls  the  800  Field  Service number and asks
        what a customer would be  told.   If the response is unacceptable
        in your view elevate the issue.
        
        B) Employees are treated differently than  customers.    That's a
        well-known fact and is its unacceptable to us, we should take our
        business elsewhere.  I believe from reading earlier notes that we
        are  informed  when  purchasing through EPP.  If this  isn't  the
        case, we should complain.
        
        Anker

Upgrading the Tandy machines from 4MB to 8MB is no problem.
Going above that requires an additional board (called a
0K memory adapter) which we no longer stock.  It sounds
like the DECDirect rep knew about the latter problem but didn't
understand or take the time to explore the first possibility.

   Gary

    	I bought one of those Tandy machines and was wondering if I'd have
    a problem putting in a larger hard drive.  The one that came with it is
    only a 52MB and I'd like something bigger.

    Joe

    A gentleman from PCBYDEC called me up and we got the mess straightened
    out.  Technical, DECDirect is correct when "THEY" say we, as in
    DECDirect, no longer support the tandy.  But PCBYDEC does support the
    Tandy and my problem is now a DEC #.  Hopefully it'll ship?!??!