Microdrive users BEWARE!!! (long)

[Scooter]

It was in another paper envelope just like the one I sent it in. I don't think they even opened the included envelope in which was the letter I'd written with all the info (serial number, product number and RMA number as well as the shipping address that they ignored) because it's in such perfect, folded order (I folded it to fit inside the other, bigger envelope).

I was away for a while to go to a gathering, but at it was a friend of mine, an older gentleman who is a retired IBM employee and I told him about this whole melodrama. He's going to write a letter for me. My ex-girlfriend's dad was also with IBM for 30 some years, I'm going to e-mail him tomorrow. What the heck?

yer pal™,
Scooter

Presumably they didn't care at that point what packing was used.

Of course, neither did you, since the darned thing was dead.

But now, I really want to know, why was the Scooter
packaging wrong when the identical approach was fine enough for IBM
to return it to me? It was IDENTICAL!

--
The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons
http://thewilkinsons.crosswinds.net
Photography -- just another word for compromise

 

[DavidP #28649]

Maybe. They certainly have their advantages. But remember their disadvantages:

1) usually less stuff in stock
2) usually more expensive
3) might be "here today, gone tomorrow"

I'm starting to realize something. The Mom and Pop corner store
may be making a comeback.

--
The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons
http://thewilkinsons.crosswinds.net
Photography -- just another word for compromise

 

[Scooter]

You are about to make me miss the simplicity of the darkroom.

yer pal,
me

I always avoid holding the microdrives (or CF) near where the
little holes are on the end that mate-up with the camera/drive.
And I try to ground myself before touching them, too.

before I bought it (this site rocks) and always removed the card
from the edges, never EVER squeezed it in the middle (the
paperwork with it specifically said that). It was handled with kid
gloves at all times.

--
The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons
http://thewilkinsons.crosswinds.net
Photography -- just another word for compromise

 

[DavidP #28649]

They just looked at the packaging, saw bubble-wrap around it, and voided the warranty, and sent it back.

I'd simply be totally honest with them. Which means "play dumb" (well, ignorant -- because you were). Just say that you didn't know that the bubble-wrap was not supposed to be used. Now, if you saw the web-page, I guess that won't work. And somehow "I glossed over the webpage" probably won't really come out sounding all that good -- LOL.

Their rule sorta makes sense if they typically tried to REPAIR the drives. But they don't, they just replace them.

Part of the reason for the rule might be this: they might look at the drives to determine the cause of failure. If it's shipped in bubble-wrap, then they may not be able to tell the cause . . . since static in the bubble-wrap might've zapped the drive on the trip over to them.

Really, though, they blew it.

It was in another paper envelope just like the one I sent it in. I
don't think they even opened the included envelope in which was the
letter I'd written with all the info (serial number, product number
and RMA number as well as the shipping address that they ignored)
because it's in such perfect, folded order (I folded it to fit
inside the other, bigger envelope).

I was away for a while to go to a gathering, but at it was a friend
of mine, an older gentleman who is a retired IBM employee and I
told him about this whole melodrama. He's going to write a letter
for me. My ex-girlfriend's dad was also with IBM for 30 some
years, I'm going to e-mail him tomorrow. What the heck?

--
The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons
http://thewilkinsons.crosswinds.net
Photography -- just another word for compromise

 

[Scooter]

Bottom line, if they really wanted to make me a long time customer, make sure the customer rep really educates this geek about the crucial nature of sending this thing OR AT LEAST, send me a document with a semblance of regret for the miscommunication. AND, return the item to me they WAY THEY WANTED ME TO SEND IT TO THEM!!! If mailing it that way was risky, they may have destroyed a product that I could have payed someone to repair.

I will never buy an IBM product again because of the pure arrogance. But, today I'm just a $350 guy. Tomorrow, I might be a $2 million customer. I'll never forget it.

yer pal™,
Scooter

So instead of replacing the drive, which probably would cost IBM a
few dollars, IBM's thoroughly angered the direct consumer -- lost
his business for a long time if not forever, and his horror story's
chased several other potential customers away, too. Somehow, I
don't think Scooter will stop bad-mouthing IBM on this one for some
time -- to every person who will listen. Wouldn't IBM have
preferred Scooter to brag to everyone how IBM backed up their
product? Stuff happens -- in every company, but it's how they
handle the mistakes which separate the good ones from the rest.
Too bad, I wouldn't have expected IBM to punt on this one.

If you have an IBM Microdrive and you EVER have a problem with it,
please read this.

 

[DavidP #28649]

I've never used a darkroom. And never want to. Eyuck!

At least with Photoshop, I can go take a break whenever I want to. Plus, I don't have to repeat a whole printing processing to make another copy.

Viva la digital!

You are about to make me miss the simplicity of the darkroom.

--
The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons
http://thewilkinsons.crosswinds.net
Photography -- just another word for compromise

 

[DavidP #28649]

That's a little rash. If you do become in charge of 2 million dollar orders for drives, etc., then you'll want to base your decisions on more than just one personal anecdotal experience.

I guarantee you that somewhere, sometime, all the other HDD manufacturers have shafted a customer trying to do an RMA, just like IBM did here.

Although, I don't think IBM's gonna be around much longer in the HDD business. Their last set of drives haven't had great reliability. In fact, I think they're selling off that part of the business. Which might explain their sudden callous attitude.

I will never buy an IBM product again because of the pure
arrogance. But, today I'm just a $350 guy. Tomorrow, I might be a
$2 million customer. I'll never forget it.

--
The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons
http://thewilkinsons.crosswinds.net
Photography -- just another word for compromise

 

[Scooter]

I've had a HUGE thread tonight and it had nothing to do with a very nice girl in Atlanta whom I misrepresented.

Wanna know something funny? I'd flown into Atlanta because I had just visited my sweet wife in Indianapolis. I had my D60 with me and the cf card my boss loaned me. Last night, I put the card in my reader and there's a picture of heather from the Wolf Camera Shop... from my testing of the lense I was looking at. I felt even worse. Maybe this IBM thing is a little karma catching up with me.

I must to bed, but thanks for listening to my whine-fest. This is a wonderful site with some pretty incredible folks. When are we all getting together for a party?

yer pal™,
Scooter

I'd simply be totally honest with them. Which means "play dumb"
(well, ignorant -- because you were). Just say that you didn't
know that the bubble-wrap was not supposed to be used. Now, if you
saw the web-page, I guess that won't work. And somehow "I glossed
over the webpage" probably won't really come out sounding all that
good -- LOL.

Their rule sorta makes sense if they typically tried to REPAIR the
drives. But they don't, they just replace them.

Part of the reason for the rule might be this: they might look at
the drives to determine the cause of failure. If it's shipped in
bubble-wrap, then they may not be able to tell the cause . . .
since static in the bubble-wrap might've zapped the drive on the
trip over to them.

Really, though, they blew it.

It was in another paper envelope just like the one I sent it in. I
don't think they even opened the included envelope in which was the
letter I'd written with all the info (serial number, product number
and RMA number as well as the shipping address that they ignored)
because it's in such perfect, folded order (I folded it to fit
inside the other, bigger envelope).

I was away for a while to go to a gathering, but at it was a friend
of mine, an older gentleman who is a retired IBM employee and I
told him about this whole melodrama. He's going to write a letter
for me. My ex-girlfriend's dad was also with IBM for 30 some
years, I'm going to e-mail him tomorrow. What the heck?

--
The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons
http://thewilkinsons.crosswinds.net
Photography -- just another word for compromise

 

[Scooter]

the darkroom has wonderful things about it, but I just don't have the patience to develop the film, wait for it to dry, blah blah blah.

I want results NOW!!! Oh, and I can't manipulate people to look like hobbits in the darkroom like I can in photoshop. And we all know how crucial that is!

yer pal™,
Scooter

 

[Scooter]

I guarantee you that somewhere, sometime, all the other HDD
manufacturers have shafted a customer trying to do an RMA, just
like IBM did here.

Although, I don't think IBM's gonna be around much longer in the
HDD business. Their last set of drives haven't had great
reliability. In fact, I think they're selling off that part of the
business. Which might explain their sudden callous attitude.

I will never buy an IBM product again because of the pure
arrogance. But, today I'm just a $350 guy. Tomorrow, I might be a
$2 million customer. I'll never forget it.

--
The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons
http://thewilkinsons.crosswinds.net
Photography -- just another word for compromise

 

[DavidP #28649]

just a post to get rid of a stupid software bug, I think'

--
The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons
http://thewilkinsons.crosswinds.net
Photography -- just another word for compromise

 

[DavidP #28649]

If ya really wanna test your karma, post that pic of Heather. j/k

Sometimes cr@p just happens. Like the night lightening took out my cable router AND my cable modem.

It was obvious that the router was destroyed. So, I went and got a new one. Didn't work (open box special). Went back and tried TWO more . . couldn't get them to work, either.

Finally, it was determine (by myself . . . no thanks to any tech support) that it was also my cable modem that got fried. Just not all the way.

You see, it'd work fine with the laptop plugged directly into it. But, if I plugged the router into the cable modem, then plugged the laptop in, nothing would work.

I kinda figured that THREE routers couldn't all have been bad (since I'd had a working one before the lightning).

So, I went and bought a new cable modem (which got me out of renting that one from the cable company - LOL). Sure enough, it all worked fine after that.

And the cable company got back their semi-functioning cable modem. As long as the next guy wasn't using a router, I guess it would've worked fine.

I've had a HUGE thread tonight and it had nothing to do with a very
nice girl in Atlanta whom I misrepresented.

Wanna know something funny? I'd flown into Atlanta because I had
just visited my sweet wife in Indianapolis. I had my D60 with me
and the cf card my boss loaned me. Last night, I put the card in
my reader and there's a picture of heather from the Wolf Camera
Shop... from my testing of the lense I was looking at. I felt even
worse. Maybe this IBM thing is a little karma catching up with
me.

I must to bed, but thanks for listening to my whine-fest.
This is a wonderful site with some pretty incredible folks. When
are we all getting together for a party?

--
The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons
http://thewilkinsons.crosswinds.net
Photography -- just another word for compromise

 

[DavidP #28649]

Sorry, I'm an engineer.

I try to be rational, a lens junkie, and test things to the point of obsession.
Stop being so rational! *
--
The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons
http://thewilkinsons.crosswinds.net
Photography -- just another word for compromise

 

[Richard Smith41318]

I've had some good, some bad experiences with Dell. Fortunately
it's through my job. Once I got screwed when I bought one of their
8-way rackmounts, and they just "forgot" that you have to purchase
a special power supply along with these (the power supply connector
can't work with what comes out of the wall).

Since I deal with a corporate sales rep, I was able to get her to adjust
our account, basically she "ate" her revenue because their A/R would
not make the adjustment on their end (they wouldn't agree that the order
"kit" was not set up correctly to begin with). But when push came to
shove I got an accomodation because I was a corporate client with
some leverage.

I'm old enough to remember when Dell was an aggressive start-up back
in the 80's. They were a pleasure to deal with (front-line sales reps who
knew the difference between SCSI and IDE and EIDE, why Western Digital
was better than Adaptec, that sort of thing). They even had people call
you to make sure you were happy with the service their sales and support
people were providing. Nowadays I give the edge to Gateway, but it's so
much easier when you do business as a corporate customer.

Also I think not having Compaq as a direct competitor is going to be bad
for them. I mean being better than Compaq was Dell's reason for being...

 

[Eric Bazan89646]

Scooter,

I feel your pain bro. And I'd say you've got good reason to
be upset.

However I've worked in customer service, and IBM's
attitude doesn't surprise me one bit. I'm guessing that
in nearly all cases a defective warrantied drive is replaced.
That's the nature of these gadgets - it would cost far
more to have someone troubleshoot and attempt to repair
the drive.

Considering the failure rate on these drives IBM is probably
looking for any reason to void the warranty. It's simple
economics. I used to work for att, and they had a similar
policy - basically there was a large list of conditions (some
of them quite ridiculous) which they would use the reject
warranties or repair issues on hardware (same thing with
tech support via the phone - known as 'support
boundaries').

Sadder, but wiser, eh?

-Eric

 

[Eric Bazan89646]

All,

If Scooter is unable to get a new RMA then I saw we start a phone
campaign in which everyone on dpreview, robgalbraith, fred miranda
and all the other forums calls IBM support 3 times a day until they
authorize a new RMA for him.

Who's with me?

Gotta chime in here. I used to work doing phone support
(tech support and hardware warranty stuff).

Be kind to the people you're talking to. Understand in
many cases their hands are tied, and even if they wanted
to they could not issue you another RMA. As far as trying
to get a supervisor that's a good idea, but even they may
not have the authority or know what to do. Often times
these call centers are purposely designed so there's very
little accountability. For example, the place that has the
authority to issue RMA's may be totally separate from the
phone support center. For reasons that are now obvious
IBM probably designed things that way.

Good luck, Eric

 

[Eric Bazan89646]

Another lesson here is that CF cards like the IBM MD have MOVING
PARTS and are FRAGILE. If IBM won't honor the warranty even though
it's shipped in BUBBLE wrap -- what does that tell you? Every time
you remove that MD from the camera you squeeze the package. That's
one of the primary reasons for failure. Granted IBM is holding
your feet to the fire here, but the next time you purchase a CF
card, GET SOLID STATE MEMORY. It's not a question of IF your MD
will fail...just WHEN it will fail.
jg

Hell yeah.

Knowing what I know about harddrives I would never
never use one in something that gets handled and
abused like a camera. No way. Especially considering
how large and inexpensive CF memory has gotten.

Considering, I'm amazed how well the majority of
these microdrives hold up.

Solid state is the only way to go.

-Eric

 

[Mike Fried]

One would HOPE they'd accept the drive packaged in its original
packaging. But, the website they referred him to didn't mention
that at all.

Not true. Quote the website: ( http://www.storage.ibm.com/warranty/arma25.htm )

"Drives must be returned in IBM approved packaging. If possible return the drive in the original IBM packaging."

The IBM Microdrive which I purchased (from IBM's online store) came sealed in an ESD bag.

Sorry that you voided the warranty. That really does suck. I for one will now be very careful returning any defective electrostatic sensative electronics to their Original Equipment Manufacturers (never had to do that before). Thanks for the heads up. I think I threw out my original IBM packaging for my 340MB Microdrive a long, long time ago. But then again, I think my warranty has probably expired a long time ago. Ah well, it has gone through quite some time, and if it fails, I'll have an excuse to upgrade to 1GB.
-Mike

 

[Ken Phillips]

the customer service guy said to ship it in a drive shipping package, period. I asked if I could use a competitor's box (I needed to use the computer and put a WD in it) and he said yes. It took them a couple of weeks to get me a new one, which is functioning fine.

There is NO WAY I would let them screw you out of a drive. They may have to prove that you damaged it in shipping ... and they cannot, especially since they sent it back to you in essentially the same package.
Ken

If you have an IBM Microdrive and you EVER have a problem with it,
please read this.

And please note, I have reviewed this post three times to make sure
it is as accurate as possible, considering the lesson I learned
with embellishment this week. But dang it, I’m very angry with
IBM. Please read on and forgive the length.

I got a 1 gig Microdrive about two months ago. Within a month it
started acting up and eventually failed completely. I called the
Customer Service number and spoke with a really nice guy who gave
me these specifics: 1.) Your warranty is valid, 2.) Go on-line
and establish an RMA Number (something to do with the replacement
request), 3.) Ship to this address and 4.) Be sure to include
your RMA number, part number (which is wrong on my Microdrive and I
had to get the right part number from the rep. Apparently IBM
mis-labled many microdrives) and serial number. Do NOT forget the
RMA number in your letter THAT IS MOST IMPORTANT! (He reiterated
that).

I followed those instructions, carefully packed the microdrive in
two layers of bubble wrap, placed in a durable envelope, taped it
secure and as far as I was concerned, I did exactly what I was told.

This to me is THE most important point. In the e-mail I received
once I requested the RMA number, this line appears: “Please be
aware that you may experience a delay in receiving your
replacement disk drive based on stock availability. If product is
available, your replacement order will be processed within 14
working days after the receipt of your defective disk drive.”

That tells me that typically, IBM will opt to replace the item
rather than attempt to repair it.

Well, I got a card today telling me that I had to go to UPS to pick
up my package from IBM. They ignored my shipping address. I
simply had to drive across town and pick it up. Okay, no problem.
And then, I open the package (an envelope with MY original bubble
wrap, not a box). Included is the original microdrive and this
note: Your drive failed to meet the IBM packaging requirements,
therefore, the RMA has been REJECTED and your entitlement to a
replacement drive has been VOIDED. PLEASE DO NOT SEND THE DRIVE
BACK TO US BECAUSE THIS DRIVE IS NO LONGER UNDER WARRANTY AND IF
YOU DO, WE WILL RETURN YOUR DRIVE AND YOU WILL BEAR ALL SHIPPING
COST. We will not send you a replacement drive.

Folks, please note the word "replacement"!

I’m out some $350.00 because the dead drive that I was sending in
wasn’t packaged correctly. Now, I look at the e-mail I originally
received, at the VERY BOTTOM is a note about packaging and a link
to a site that apparently will tell me what "proper" packaging is.
I fully acknowledge now, that I didn’t do this properly. But, this
is what really angers me. The returned drive? It was shipped to
me the EXACT same way I shipped it to them. They shipped it in a
paper envelope, in the same bubble wrap. The very curt letter
never uses words like, “we regret to inform you” or
“unfortunately”. It just says, basically, “we gotcha”.

Yes, I should have read EVERY SINGLE WORD of the e-mail. But am I
crazy… if they are saying that the way they will fix this problem
is by sending a new microdrive, and the fact that I took pains to
package this carefully, am I crazy for feeling a little screwed?
Couldn’t the customer service rep have given me a heads up about
the danger of improper packaging? Wouldn’t this have been a
little kind? Couldn’t the e-mail have mentioned this at the
beginning or at least emphasized this? If my packaging is the
equivalent of their packaging, is this a way for them to get out of
a certain percentage of warranties? What if I might be able to get
someone to fix this thing but it got screwed up because of they way
THEY sent it back?

I blew it, I see that now. But I feel like I was given as many
possible opportunities to blow it and IBM hoped I would. I will
NEVER do business with them again. EVER! I am so mad about this.

Folks, read EVERY SINGLE WORD when it comes to warranties, even
when it applies to “reputable” companies like IBM. If there is any
possibility of getting out of their responsibility, they will.

Ugh. Thanks for reading.

Yer pal™,
Scooter

 

[hyslopc]

Why deal with IBM directly?