I have nothing but good things to say about MacTown. The people are friendly and Mark and Ward have been great to me. In October, Mark donated a copy of Jaguar to the usergroup for a door prize. In November I bought an iPod and in December an iBook. Ward spent 2-3 hours with me and my iBook, showing me how X works, and getting me up to speed.
I've also spent time talking with Mark. I have nothing but kudos for MacTown. And tht's not to mention the time Ward devotes a lot of time to this listserve. Thanks Ward. And Mark. Harry on 1/11/03 9:32 AM, Ward Oldham at woldham at insightbb.com wrote: > Hi Mike, > > These stories constitute constructive criticism and I need to hear > every one of them. I appreciate your being polite about it. > > Again, the time frame you specified was during the transition from The > Complete Mac to MacTown and that transition didn't happen overnight. > The store finalized the change in ownership in April, 2002. Effective > March 2003, Mark Henderson and I will formalize our partnership in > running the store. It will only get better. Guaranteed! I appreciate > your willingness to give us the benefit of the doubt by coming in to > the store to meet me. I'll be happy to convey current store and > service philosophies with anyone and encourage those who have had bad > past experiences to come in and meet me. Mark and I do represent > current operating philosophy and I believe you will find it to be > radically different than in years past. > > Your scanner problems were strictly an Epson issue but it sound like > someone should have conveyed lack of OS X support at the time you > purchased it. Probably a salesman's fault. Even Jaguar didn't fix that > issue. Epson now has beta drivers that I believe work well now (Anne > Cartwright should attest to that fact). > > Also, problems dealing with the "elementary" crowd are things of the > past. That's why I'm there in addition to Mark Henderson and Mike > Wilson. I think you'll sense a radical attitude change and that change > comes from the top. It will stay that way! We don't pride ourselves > in talking over people's heads! > > Also, consider this: we have a staff of excellent technicians > including myself (on a good day!). What makes us unusual is our techs > wear many hats. They're often found out on the showroom floor servicing > customer's needs (answer questions) and selling products. These are > young, very sharp and knowledgeable kids. Some of the best technicians > around! I believe you'll agree it is not common to find a technician > who can talk and relate to you in addition to fixing your equipment > problems. Because they're young, they still make mistakes. Maybe > they're not as polite or patient as they should be on occasion. They > will learn given time. Think back to the last time a technician at > CompUSA, Circuit City or Best Buys came out from the service department > to assist you. It doesn't happen! We keep an open door policy to > allow our customers easy access to whomever they need to talk to > whether it be sales, management or service. > > Our biggest problem is being understaffed and that will be cured with > time and money. That will change but not overnight. Because of that, > we can guarantee you good personal service but it may not always happen > as quickly as you would like. Try and be patient and work with us. We > won't let you down! > > And thanks for letting me rant too! > > Ward Oldham, MacDude > MacTown > 1041 Bardstown Road > Louisville, KY 40204 > 502-485-1243 > ward at mactown.us > > On Saturday, January 11, 2003, at 02:56 AM, Mike Watkins wrote: > >> Ward; >> >> I, too, wanted to do business with my friendly local Mac dealer. So, >> after much looking at catalogs and listening to my Mac user friends, I >> ordered my first-ever computer from Mark H. at The Complete Mac. There >> were several delays in the store's receiving the merchandise; >> eventually the computer itself was shipped to me from Indianapolis >> (the new owners). >> >> I then went into MacTown to pick up the other pieces I had ordered. >> I bought the new top-of-the-line iMac, pus an Epson Perfection 2450 >> Scanner, an Epson Stylus Photo 890, an extra 512MB of memory, a book >> about OS X, and a few other little things like a Norton System Works >> package.This was over a period of a few weeks during March and April, >> 2002. I later even took a class there in beginning with OS X, which >> was also postponed for many weeks. Everything was wonderful while I >> was making purchases.....then all I could get from MacTown were pretty >> much brush-offs. My scanner wasn't able to be used except on the >> Classic mode until a couple of months ago, when I broke down and >> upgraded to Jaguar (there was a driver for that). My printer wouldn't >> work except in Classic, though I got a driver for that much more >> quickly. When I called Mac Town about the uselessness of my Epson >> machines on OS X, I was just told that they would work fine/ that >> Epson didn't know what they were talking about. Mark even told me that >> he had the same machine (I believe that was the scanner) and his >> worked great. There were no other directions, suggestions, etc. to be >> had. I had been warned that I would not get much tech support from The >> Complete Mac... my friends were right on that score. I feel some >> resentment that I was allowed to spend that much money and received so >> little follow-up service. My confidence level in MacTown is zilch. >> >> >> Therefore, when I bought copies of Jaguar for myself and my Daughter, >> when I've bought epson ink cartridges, a power strip, papers, more >> computer books, phone-jack filters, CD's, Jewel Cases, or whatever, I >> have gone elsewhere. I also ordered the i-Photo, Illustrator, and >> InDesign >> package from a catalog. If I go to any further classes (which I should >> do) I anticipate going to Ivy Tech. So, Ward, I'm one of those >> disgruntled customers you folks need to win back. You made a start >> with the free CD about "Getting Started with OS X". And I enjoyed our >> short chat. I don't know what I would have done to make any headway >> without the able assistance of Jerry Yeager. I agree with Bill Holt >> that you need to have people who are able to deal with the elementary >> crowd, of which I am a member. We're not stupid; we're just starting >> from square one.... there's a lot to learn! >> >> Thanks for letting me rant. I hope those days will soon be history. >> >> Mike >> >> >> >> | The next meeting of the Louisville Computer Society will >> | be January 28. The LCS Web page is <http://www.kymac.org>. >> >> > > > > | The next meeting of the Louisville Computer Society will > | be January 28. The LCS Web page is <http://www.kymac.org>. Harry, Harry Jacobson-Beyer Surveyor of the Passing Scene! http://bellsouthpwp.net/h/a/harryjb/ What a strange, long, trip it is! remember: it's not how fast you climb the hill that matters, it's how fast you go coming down! | The next meeting of the Louisville Computer Society will | be January 28. The LCS Web page is <http://www.kymac.org>.
