By Lawrence I. Charters, Vice President, Community Affairs
Washington Apple Pi Journal, Vol. 14, no. 10, October 1992, p. 21.
Washington Apple Pi is a computer user group and not a consumer affairs agency. Nevertheless, every once in a while situations arise which merit attention from the group. Such a case took place in July and August concerning Mac Warehouse, a mail order hardware and software supplier.
Rather than rely strictly on phone-in orders generated by their magazine advertisements and catalogs, MacWarehouse has started a direct-mail program, called MacShopper, sending out letters offering special deals on various software packages. One letter, dated June 24, 1992, written on DeltaPoint stationery (but with a Mac Warehouse address and phone numbers), offered a special $95 price for DeltaGraph Professional 2. 0 and a DeltaGraph T-shirt, plus $5.50 for overnight delivery. The offer included a pre-paid MacWarehouse return envelope, but also a Mac Warehouse 800 number for placing orders.
Pi member John Swartz called the 800 number and told them he’d like to take advantage of the DeltaGraph offer. After a short discussion on the other end, he was told that “no, that is wrong,” and was disconnected. Surprised, he called back a couple more times, and was told, again, that he was “wrong.” Finally, after insisting on talking to a supervisor, he was told, “Well, we canceled that offer. It isn’t valid anymore,” and was again disconnected.
John mentioned this to me a few days later, and I asked to see the material mailed out by Mac-Warehouse. The letter clearly stated the offer was good until August 30, 1992, and also contained a wealth of other guarantees and assurances. I then wrote to MacWarehouse, reviewed John’s experiences in trying to purchase DeltaGraph, and made two requests:
- Contact Mr. Swartz by phone and, if necessary, by mail and make good on the offer; and,
- Please send a response to this letter to Washington Apple Pi for possible inclusion in our magazine.
Roughly a week later, John was contacted by a representative for Mac Warehouse, who apologized for the “misunderstanding” and said the package would be shipped immediately via overnight delivery service. The representative called again a few minutes later, said it was too late for overnight delivery and promised the package the following weekday.
Thinking the problem resolved, John stayed home during the promised day of delivery to sign for the package. But no package arrived. When he called to ask about the delay, he was told (to the sound of laughter in the background):
“What’s the problem? Were you planning to wear the T-shirt to a barbecue over the weekend?”
Eventually the package was delivered, and at the advertised price.
While not displaying the same degree of rudeness and insensitivity, there have been a number of recent messages posted on the Pi’s bulletin board, on GEnie, and other user group boards commenting on problems with deliveries from MacWarehouse. None of the messages mention refusal to honor published offers and prices; they seem to deal mostly with incorrect shipments or delayed delivery.
MacWarehouse did not comply with my request to send something for inclusion in the Journal, but a representative did send John a letter that said, in part, “Please accept my sincere apologies for the difficulties you encountered when you tried previously to place this order and be assured that the service you received was not how we normally do business.”