Hello all, I don't often have time to post to this list, and, perhaps this subject has already been visited here. If so, please accept my appology.
I want to share with you, what I found out from a Humanware Customer Service representative, just in case others do not know about a recent policy change which applies to BrailleNote Empower units that were transplanted with the older braille cells. Today is the day when my service contract should be renewed for another year. I called Humanware and was connected to Customer Service. I confirmed my name, unit's serial number, and address with the Representative. Then, to my surprise, she said that she had to put me on hold for a minute. I couldn't imagine why, -- I knew my credit card would be good, and I had not even given it to her yet! So, I waited patiently for about 5 minutes until she returned. What she told me caught me completely by surprise. She told me that I cannot renew my service contract for the BrailleNote Empower that I have because under the recently changed policy, Humanware is no longer making service contracts available to those customers who have the older braille cells. Then, she proceeded to tell me that I can get a credit of $2,200 if I want to purchase a new unit that has the newer braille cells. I responded that I had updated my brailleNote to a transplanted unit in 2006, and have always kept my service contract up to date since my original purchase back in 2003. To the best of my knowledge, I have not received a letter telling me that no service contracts for my unit would be issued in the future. Needless to say, I am very disappointed. This certainly is not the way good customers should be treated. What is happening to Humanware? Humanware owes its customers an explanation. We have invested considerable amounts of money purchasing and updating our hardware and software. I have never had my credit card in hand, only to be told that I could not complete the transaction that I was expecting to be able to make. The 500 dollars that I would have spent renewing my service contract, will now be spent on purchasing a new Pacmate. Will I be making another mistake, I hope not. But in the considerable amount of time I have been doing business with Freedom Scientific, formerly Henter Joyce, I have never had a customer experience like I had this evening. I'm willing to take that chance. Humanware, you just lost another customer. You can be sure that I will not be recommending BrailleNote purchases to my clients, or especially, to my friends. To those of you on this list, thank you for listening. I have enjoyed reading the many comments that have been posted here. Best Wishes to all, -- Earlene Hughes ___ Replies to this message will go directly to the sender. If your reply would be useful to the list, please send a copy to the list as well. To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote
