† „dþ ÿýK ÿ ÿ2/13/89 ÿ ÿDear Atari user, ÿ ÿ As president of Micromiser Software I wish to respond to Kenneth Gilbert's letter (irate customer) which appears in Atari8 Roundtable, Category 12, topic 2. ÿ We charge extra for shipping to Canada because there are several added expenses for us. First, due to the volatile drug situation, the Post Office sometimes enforces the requirement of a customs declaration, even to Canada. Since this seems to vary from day to day and among different package sizes and types, at least at our Post Office, and because we have no shipping department, we go to the Post Office with every foreign shipment to make sure there will not be a problem. Secondly, mail delivery in Canada is not as reliable as it is in the United States--many Canadians have told us so. The delays and undelivered products increase our average support cost, telephone calls, etc., to Canada. Since we send free update disks, product updates, and support disks to our foreign customers, this multiplies the expense. One of the biggest problems is the Customs inspection. They variously open mail, handle it, bend it, X-ray it, etc., though we stamp it with the "FLOPPY DISK" message. On average it costs us more than $5 extra per sale, though we billed Kenneth only $3.80 extra. Due to this some retailers refuse to ship to Canada period, for instance Horizon Computers, who are the largest 8-bit Atari distributors. We usually minimize the value declaration to save our customers import fees, for which Kenneth, in apparent ignorance of this, takes us to task. ÿ Other than Kenneth, all 200+ Canadian customers have understood the shipping charge with no explanation required. We think it is obvious to anyone and that it does not require lengthy explanation. His rationale about the legal requirements of advertising is irrelevant, not to mention unfair. The entire extent of our media advertising for Turboword to date has been one line in 7 pt. type at the bottom of our (already too wordy) Turbobase ad, "80 Col word processor $49." and this is in U.S. magazines only. He sent us the price without shipping, and, not to cause a 20 day delay for him, we provided an unusual service, sending the program and billing the shipping. He is right that he is not legally obligated to pay the shipping, and he can legally take advantage of our trust. ÿ His "error 168" tells us exactly what caused his various "bugs," since it is a device command error, and in that function the command is contained in the programming--it is not entered by the user. No others, including us, have had this "bug" or his other disk I/O "bug." So his disk had to be damaged in shipping; most likely by the Customs inspection. The logic: it is the customs inspection that causes the shipping charge, it is the shipping charge Kenneth refuses to pay unless we add new features for him for free, we can't add new features for him for free, therefore we cannot support his application. ÿ Incidentally and unnecessarily, double-spacing is not an "assumed feature" since many word processors don't have it and most printers do. We wrote the first version primarily for our Turbobase customers, who do not need double spacing, and all have good printers. We never implied otherwise in ads or on the package. Kenneth saw our feature list. Double spacing wasn't on it. He never called to ask. Seems strange since it's so important to him. By the way, any word processor can be made to double space on most printers just by setting the dip switch to add a carriage return to the Atari return. I received a letter from one customer compaining that Turboword would ONLY double space--she didn't change the dip switch when switching to the parallel port on the XEP-80. ÿ His suggestion for more "intuitive" printer instructions would destroy the WYSIWYG feature, which is why we wrote the program. ÿ Turbobase, grudgingly acknowledged even in it's most critical reviews as the most powerful productivity product for 8-bits, is written in BASIC. This offends almost everyone's OPINION about BASIC, but it is a fact easily verifiable by anyone. I wonder if Kenneth also gives his doctor such technical hints. ÿ Because of Kenneth's diatribe, which is the most illogical we have ever received, and that I have ever received in 30 years of successfully operating four businesses, I knew that a logical explanation would have been useless. ÿ I therefore sought a quick reply that would be productive to someone--anyone. Since Kenneth's letter had upset my wife, who sorts the mail, the "space" letter cheered her up a bit. But mainly, it was designed to attract attention and to be entertaining. Obviously many have found it so. When logic does not apply, one defaults to an alternative method, and entertainment is equally as bad as any. I thought it would get good play around the dorm, necessarily causing Kenneth to show his letter to other students. Hopefully, that would provoke one of his friends to suggest to Kenneth that, perhaps, his letter was not a model letter for a support request. Well, it worked too well, as you know. ÿ Kenneth's letter was designed to waste our time, which is now accomplished. There are two unopenned packages containing disks in my support file from serious customers who will now have to wait another day. ÿ Some sympathize with Kenneth and this response won't change those minds. To those: Why must you write such letters, use the the "legal eagle" standard, and the "guilty until proven innocent" standard? What do you gain? Who are you punishing? Me? For what? Writing Atari software, being imperfect, making mistakes? Or because you can't get someone else's hardware/software to work? Who knows in a particular case? Why is my desk your philosophical garbage dump? Because I'm accessible, answering the phone and responding to mail myself? Please buy products from our competition. They have plenty of hold buttons, elevator music, form letters and $4/hr "support technicians" to solve problems like Kenneth's. It has been proven redundantly that it is not profitable to do business with you, and that you ruin a good thing for everybody. Next time you're in a disco and a drunk starts a fight, don't ask the "greedy proprietor" to throw the guy out--remember, you are on the side of the "customer." ÿ We'll continue to serve and support to the best of our ability those who consider a business transaction as a constructive enterprise with fair responsibilities on both sides, designed to reach a common goal. 98% of the market is profitable enough for us. We thank those 98% of our customers who have made our endeavors so rewarding. I hope you will continue to send suggestions and inform us of any difficulties you are having. And, as always, we will do our best to help you. ÿ ÿSteve at Micromiser ÿ ÿ