Update. I got this e-mail: > Dear Donor, > > Please accept my apologies for the delay in receiving your XO > laptop. Give One Get One was such a phenomenal success that we > over-taxed our order processing and payment systems. Demand > exceeded supply. Additional XO laptops are being built now and > will be delivered in 30 to 45 days. If you wish to reconsider your > contribution in the face of this delay, we will issue a refund to > you. We have set up a dedicated phone line for these requests. > The number is 1-800-201-7144. In the meanwhile, please know that > laptops are in the process of going to Mongolia, Cambodia, > Afghanistan, Rwanda and Haiti as part of the "give one" side of the > equation. Fortunately, OLPC's mission of getting laptops to the > children in these countries has not been delayed. In Mongolia, the > children are already enjoying themselves and learning new things > with their XO laptops. Please see: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/ > Ulaanbaatar. Eliminating poverty through learning is gaining wider > acceptance thanks to support like yours. > > Sincerely, > > Nicholas Negroponte > Chairman > OLPC Foundation
So far I've been told that I'd have the laptop for Christmas, by the middle of January, by the middle of February, and now maybe by April 1st (how appropriate). I don't believe them anymore. So, I called the 'dedicated' number they set up to get a refund and got their standard voicejail. After I got disconnected once I called back and was connected with a (nice enough) person who was unfamilar with this e-mail and had to go get approval for a refund. Googling finds that this number is the same one they've had forever. There is no 'dedicated' line, that was another lie. Then she tells me it'll take three weeks(!) to process the refund request. I'm not even sure I believe that they'll do that. OLPC is behaving just like many of the scams out there, that try to string people along with un-sent hardware and un-processed refunds. I asked them politely to expedite my refund and that I'll be looking into PayPal's Buyer Protection early next week if they can't. I don't want to have to do that, but I also can't be out the money either. I feel stupid for buying into this quasi-governmental/quasi-academic/ quasi-charity project in the first place. I'm going to get an EeePC for my daughter instead and I expect NewEgg can get it here 3 days after I get the refund/place the new order. It'll still have linux and with actual availability quite a community is growing up around them. I'd like to learn about how I might be able to help local schools use them, and this situation is only driving home the point for me that the market is best suited to solve this need. Plus they come in pink. Rule #1 of any charity I've been involved with: treat your donors well. -Bill ----- Bill McGonigle, Owner Work: 603.448.4440 BFC Computing, LLC Home: 603.448.1668 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cell: 603.252.2606 http://www.bfccomputing.com/ Page: 603.442.1833 Blog: http://blog.bfccomputing.com/ VCard: http://bfccomputing.com/vcard/bill.vcf _______________________________________________ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
