Amigakit and their customer service...

[kolla]

I think it would make sense to put a disclaimer on the page. Something like...

"Note that these are modified PC floppy drives. They fit original A600 and A1200 cases, but might not fit all tower solutions. Contact us if you are unsure."

Personally I have no clue on how to modify a PC drive to work as amiga drive, and have two kylwaldas that I use . is it a simple operation?

[amigakit]

These drives are not advertised for use in a tower system.

Before completing checkout, we ask customers to confirm they have read this message displayed:

"You must decide before ordering if the goods are suitable for your needs and the product is fit for the application that you are using it for. If you need further detailed information or have general queries about a product, contact us before placing an order. Check compatibility of the product carefully. We do not exhaustively publish product compatibility details on the website, so you may email us to check compatibility against individual configurations."

I don't believe we should go into exhaustive details regarding products as it confuses some customers.  We have to keep the correct balance between keeping the webstore factual and not making descriptions overly complicated with information.  Please take into consideration, that this query/complaint is the first that has transpired since we started selling the product in 2004 - that is the true barometer for how clear the description actually is to customers.  If you look at other Amiga dealer's websites, they adopt a simple/factual approach to product descriptions, entirely consistent with our webstore.

[ffastback]

dannyp1 wrote:
The point of the story was that someone eventually didn't understand the description and if adding a sentence to the description will fix the misunderstanding, why not fix it?  

If I were Amigakit I would modify it at this point slightly.  I've agreed with some of the suggestions given already.  BUT to say it needed fixing is to say it was broken.  First it was not.  It was more than reasonably sufficient.  I'm all for it being even beyond that and agree that its probably in Amigakit's best interest to do so (why not improve something if it can be).  But its not my business, nor anyone elses.  Its one thing to give friendly suggestions.  And we can all vote with spending our money at other vendors.  But its another to blame the victim in a public attack.  And in this case Amigakit is the clear victim IMHO.  He got cursed at for no good reason (and granted was apologized to and that particular attack did occur in private).  But beyond that he has been attacked in public as if he has a dishonest listing on his site.  Which is simply not the case.  And the person who is the disgruntled customer has gone way out of his way to cloud the issue and misplace blame. The fact is if it said it was made from a PC drive it would not have stopped his order, as he has admitted several times that he thought any drive that fits in an A1200 fits in his custom case.  If one really reads all he has written that become pretty apparent.  His real sour grapes is that he dosen't like how its built.  And build quality is to some degree a matter of opinion.  That is what he should have addressed with Amigakit.  If he has been honest from the get go, who knows, he might have even gotten satisfaction from Amigakit.

But I am also willing to acknowledge that I live in the US and it's very possible that customer relations here might be very different than in the UK.

I'm in the US too.  And we have been as a culture excusing the need for personal responsibility for decades now.  Its a wonder anyone wants to run a business these days at all.

[Painkiller]

Maybe I was the first customer you had that knew how to mod PC drives and the others didn't feel the need to complain because of that.

I hope people don't get me wrong, these drives are well worth the money for some who doesn't have the know how and the tools to modify a PC drive.

I was simply expecting "original" A1200/A600 floppy drive and this product isn't one. Simply wasted 43 euros.

[ffastback]

@Painkiller

amigakit wrote:

Before completing checkout, we ask customers to confirm they have read this message displayed:

"You must decide before ordering if the goods are suitable for your needs and the product is fit for the application that you are using it for. If you need further detailed information or have general queries about a product, contact us before placing an order. Check compatibility of the product carefully. We do not exhaustively publish product compatibility details on the website, so you may email us to check compatibility against individual configurations."

You failed to mention this extra bit.  This really put the last nail in the coffin of your argument.  :rtfm:

[Painkiller]

The fact is if it said it was made from a PC drive it would not have stopped his order, as he has admitted several times that he thought any drive that fits in an A1200 fits in his custom case.

Just where did you get this fact. I have always stated that I wouldn't have ordered these if I knew these were modified PC drives. Never have I said otherwise.

What I said was I taught any A1200 drive would fit case, in which point I didn't recall that they made different A1200 floppy drives.

What I also said is that I knew that no modified PC drive would fit the case without further modification.

[ffastback]

Painkiller wrote:

What I said was I taught any A1200 drive would fit case

Well you thought wrong, as evidenced by these A1200 drives not fitting.

in which point I didn't recall that they made different A1200 floppy drives

Thats unfortunate, really.  But has nothing to do with the store you bought from.  Worse, it was a store known for good friendly customer service, but you didn't even bother with that ahead of the purchase.

Its pretty obvious you are really eaten up about this 40 something euro.  Its sadly not coming back to you.  You learned a lesson hopefully.

What I also said is that I knew that no modified PC drive would fit the case without further modification

 The fact that some original A1200 drives fit this description makes your assertion dubious at best.

Anyway this is going in circles.  If you don't get it by now I hope you one day will.

[amyren]

I agree with AmigaKit in this matter.
Just browsing a bit on random in their webshop, I would say that their item descpriptions are above average when comparing to many other webshops out there.
When it comes to the issue if they should modify the description on these floppy drives or not, I would leave it up to AmigaKit themself to decide.

But after giving normal customer service and getting named a***ole, and then the same customer close to demanding that they must admit their fault and make a better description.... who can blame they for simly not wanting to  "give in".
But if they do it, they will have my respect for being far more generous than expected. I recall some well known story about "turning the other cheek".

But after all, the story ended quite well. The customer found use for his purchase, and in my eyes AmigaKit came out stronger. After reading this thread I feel even more assured that AmigaKit is a serious dealer that can be trusted.

Maybe I will order a Sam board from them soon. The Sam will replace my old A4000. I asume that this board will fit inside my Elbox tower and use the same psu without any modification, no need to even ask about that. After all they dont mention anything about that in the ad.
 :-P (sorry couldnt resist)

[Zac67]

Actually "Brand new and guaranteed. Drive mechanism may vary." gives it away completely.

"Brand new" excludes the possibility for original C=, AT or AI stock and "Drive mechanism may vary." explicitly states that without asking beforehand it's impossible to tell what exact drive you'd get mechanical wise. The checkout note even reminds you of double-checking and asking before ordering, so only when ignoring all that can you have that kind of problem.

[A1260]

is it really that hard for amigakit to write and include in the text, that they are selling modified pc floppys? IS IT REEEAALLY THAT DAMN HARD1!!!!!! :-x JESUS CHRIST HOLY MARRY!!! 10 SITES OF DISCUSSION OF THIS BS.

[Lorraine]

/

[Andeda]

Amen

[ffastback]

A1260 wrote:
is it really that hard for amigakit to write and include in the text, that they are selling modified pc floppys? IS IT REEEAALLY THAT DAMN HARD1!!!!!! :-x JESUS CHRIST HOLY MARRY!!!

Obviously they didn't feel it was necessary.  Hard or easy had nothing to do with it.  If you bought toothpicks that you later found out were made from unused wooden chopsticks instead of logs of wood does it really matter if the seller specified such ahead of time, or is it extraneous information?

[AmigaHeretic]

Painkiller wrote:

What I also said is that I knew that no modified PC drive would fit the case without further modification.

That doesn't remotely make sense.  A further "modified" modified drive???  How do you know I couldn't have a modified PC drive that fits an A1200, but also works in the tower like "some" NOS drives do?

[A1260]

@ffastback

its clearly here that IT IS necessary and amigakit is pissing in the wind... amigakit should layflat fix the text and move on, its as easy as that. you dont start a 11 pages discussion about it, period!

 

[Everblue]

I was checking Amigakit's site, and it says:

"The floppy drive is compatible with various revisions of Amiga motherboards and fits into any standard 3.5" bay."

If your tower isnt a standard 3.5" bay, then obviously wont fit.

This is how an infinitiv tower looks like in the front:



and this is the floppy drive's picture on amiga kit: