Sleeping on this discussion, I do have one observation to add: I do understand GWMicro's policy regarding the cost of shipping and insurance on the pcs under discussion. Having said this: perhaps a distinction needs to be made. There are really 2 kinds of WE issues at stake here:
(1) issues that customers experience and they consider important. (2) issues reported by customers that GWMicro deems important to solve but cannot quite duplicate the problem. The first kind is a simple one to resolve. If I deem a problem personally so important to solve and wish a tech to look at, then I take my chances on the shipping/insurance matter. I too have experience this sleep problem on some pcs but hardly consider of such importance to bother shipping a pc for investigation given the loss of the pc for a time and the costs involved. When this sleep thing appears, I just live with it -- no big deal. On the other hand, and I doubt that this sleep issuefalls into this category, there are matters that, from a business standpoint, GWMicro *must* get a handle on and needs samples of units showing a given behavior. In those cases, to encourage such pcs in the shop, GWMicro has to pay customers costs if they wish my co-operation. And for all I know, they may do just that quietly behind the scenes, without announcement, without fanfare, or inclusion in a policy statement. GWMicro must, as a business, hold to the announced policy. If they didn't, they would be bombarded with pcs sent to them with every issue under the sun many of which would have no involvement of WE as a culprit in the problem. The cost would be enormous; and the waste of employee time might become considerable. Before going and lambasting a business for what they do, try placing yourself in their shoes for a moment. How would you, if you ran the place and had to pay the bills and feed a family, look at it. GWMicro has survived a good long time; and part of the reason is a combination of producing or selling quality products, using good business and financial practices, and keeping employees around who have very specialized skills. Doug and Dan likely have families to feed, house, send through school, and the insundry other costs that make up life. So do their employees. So does the business including, and this is something we seldom think of, the considerable costs of showing up at all those conferences and conventions. You don't get exhibit space gratis; you pay for it. It costs much money to procure transportation, feed employees, house them, etc when on the road. It takes skilled people to know the inns and outs of the rehab business so as to tap into its pipeline of sales. Given the economic downturn of the last couple of years, businesses such as GWMicro could be hit quite hard not only due to paying customers being more frugal in their expenditures but states not having money to fund equipment purchases for their clients. GWMicro, as the rest of the adaptive equipment industry, is probably having its issues in getting orders from rehab agencies and, just as vital, getting paid. So before hurling stones, place oneself in the shoes of the business and think how you might respond both publicly and privately. I am certain that if something came up that was deemed essential to solve, and they couldn't produce the issue, GWMicro would do handstands to get the machines showing the problem to be in the shop. This particular sleep issue, however, isn't such a show stopper. And as it is so random, the cause could be a whole variety of things including the speech synthesizer used by the customer. Too many variables here I am afraid. The Holy Spirit is nothing more than God in motion. Ray Pritchard, Keep Believing Ministries from the sermon "The Wind Blows Wherever It Wills http://www.keepbelieving.com/podcasts/HolySpirit1-Final.mp3"; If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original sender only. If your reply would benefit others on the list and your message is related to GW Micro, then please consider sending your message to [email protected] so the entire list will receive it. GW-Info messages are archived at http://www.gwmicro.com/gwinfo. You can manage your list subscription at http://www.gwmicro.com/listserv.
