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I would post the original message, but CompuServe's Terms of Service says I "may not reproduce, distribute, transmit, permanently store, publish or otherwise transfer, or commercially exploit, any software, file, information, communication or other content received or accessed through CompuServe.com". By the way, my Terms of Service for this site state that you "must strip naked, paint yourself blue, and go outside and quote Shakespeare to passing pedestrians. No warranty expressed or implied. Not to be taken orally." No, really. You agree to that when you read this site. Hey, remember back before the DMCA when fair use was allowed and citizens had more rights than corporations?
But I digress... Suffice it to say that the sender was unhappy that
I
had made it public that Toshiba was replacing the machine, because, you
know, then everyone is going to want one. I'm pretty sure Congress
still allows me to publish my own works though, so here's my response:
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XXXXXX,
I do appreciate your position, in fact better than you might realize. I spent a lot of time at a manufacturing company and I've been up to my ears before in equipment sent back under RMA. And in my dealings with Toshiba I have done my best to be nothing but polite to every one of the reps I have spoken to, which is far more than many of my old customers did for me. But if I may be perfectly blunt, all I have done here and on my website (http://thurien.visar.com/toshiba/) is to report honestly and openly my dealings with Toshiba regarding this case. Including what appears to be a successful, if delayed, resolution. You'll notice that in my public log I have left out names, extensions, case numbers, and phone numbers. I did not even reveal the method I used to circumvent the system and contact Customer Relations directly. I do not bear ill-will for anyone in the organization. It is the organization itself I believe to be the problem. I appreciate that some customers are apt to call up and whine for a new machine because of minor problems. The answer is to tell them "no", to tell them what your policy on replacement is, and why their case does not meet your criteria. The fact that Toshiba is willing to replace a machine when the situation warrants it should not be a secret. In my case the machine had 6 days of use, for all intents and purposes a new machine, and repair was taking over 30 days with no end in sight. My understanding is that under the Uniform Commercial Code and in the absence of other contracts, manufacturers have 30 days to make good on defective products. That is all I requested. When I responded publically to you on the Forum it was to thank you for your efforts and so that anyone following the thread would see that my case had been resolved. In my opinion it is this very policy of secrecy that made this process so frustrating. No person that I spoke to seemed to be entrusted with enough information to answer my questions. Instead I was forced to discover for myself the necessity of calling Customer Relations and being extremely persistent in demanding action. I honestly believe that if I had not been so vocal that I would still be waiting. Please consider being open with all of your customers, even and especially when it is bad news. The ones that are determined to be unhappy will always be, but the rest of us would greatly appreciate it. I believe that many times throughout what should have been a routine repair I was put off or ignored. That, more than the time this has taken, is what I found so disheartening. Once again, I do thoroughly appreciate your assistance in resolving this issue, but I must respectfully state that I feel it is within my right to make public these dealings as I see fit. I want others, including and especially Toshiba, to learn something from all this and I feel this sort of public feedback is the best way for me to be a happy Toshiba customer again some day. -D |
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