Old Commodore Story

SubM00nS · 10 May 2010, 21:11

When I was about 10 years old, I used to read Amiga World all the time and looked forward to one day owning my very own Amiga. The only computers I had access to at the time were PC compatibles and the one at my parents business was a TeleVideo XT, 8088 I believe. I would attempt to play flight simulator on it's green monochrome monitor but it was pretty lame to be quite honest. Finally, after some years of wishing for an Amiga 500, I spotted one on sale at a small electronics store called McDuff on a family trip to Houston. I begged my mother to buy it for me and I suppose since she knew how much I loved Amigas, she finally agreed. There was a problem, however, when the store clerk could not locate any of the peripherals or software that were supposed to come with it(it was a display model and the last one in the store). He looked around the store for awhile and then said if we bought it, he would find the extra things and ship them to us. He gave us a 1680 Amiga modem to go with the A500 for the trouble so I thought that all would be well if I were patient.

So I returned home with my lovely new Amiga 500. My family had a Thompson RGB monitor floating around that was from a neighbors yard sale that I hoped to use with the Amiga but I had no mouse, software or cables of any kind to connect the Amiga. I had to sit and look at it and dream about using it just like all the times I had looked at Amigas in the magazines. I waited and waited but nothing ever arrived and finally we called the store. They said they had been unable to find any of the Amiga's peripherals and we were basically stuck with the Amiga but couldn't use it without spending more money. I was a kid with no money to put into anything else so I was devastated at that point, having realized my dream of owning an Amiga but being unable to do anything whatsoever with it.

It was then that either my parents or I decided to look into calling Commodore directly about our situation. Upon calling Commodore and explaining exactly what happened and how the store did not honor their agreement, they said they would send the software and accessories to us, free of charge....and they did! Not more than a week later, a package from Commodore arrived with a mouse, system software and A520 TV VIDEO MODULATOR. Then another week went by and a second 520 arrived. I guess they mistakenly shipped 2 of them to us. I am still thankful to the people at Commodore back then for the action taken to help my family and I. I guess this memory is one of the reasons I still adore Amigas today. I suppose that when you want something for so long and have to be patient for it, you appreciate it more.

Djay · 11 May 2010, 19:20

great story... i wonder if a company would do that these days?

link to my story here

Frog · 11 May 2010, 19:59

I got some good contact with Commodore too.
One time, i was watching some Amiga computer in a shop and one of employee of the store let in the view of all one goes shopping Commodore intended for the professionals only. It contains information about Commodore, its politics, projects etc....
I found that so interesting that i wrote a letter to Commodore France showing my high interest asking them if they could send me those information bulletin too.
Some time later, i receive a loose-leaf file with a big Commodore Logo on it and all the previous magazine spread previously. You can imagine my smile

Recently i got some problem with a Cherry Keyboard so i contact Cherry France asking them about the procedure for returning the keyboard. After explaining via email the problem, one of the persons of the technical center called me. Ater a very friendly discussion he say he sent me by post free of charge the faulty part. I did not even need to send back the keyboard. Saving of time a human contact, a real consideration of the person. It is so rare nowadays on behalf of a technical service or a hotline to put itself in direct contact with the customer
He showed me that there were even nowadays companies which took their customer for human beings and considered them!

Djay · 11 May 2010, 21:33

good job it wasnt a HP keyboard, you wouldn't of been able to type an email

Frog · 11 May 2010, 23:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Djay

good job it wasnt a HP keyboard, you wouldn't of been able to type an email

hehe... i used another keyboard to wrote the email

10 May 2010, 21:11	#1
SubM00nS Registered User Join Date: May 2010 Location: Nacogdoches, USA Age: 49 Posts: 18	Old Commodore Story When I was about 10 years old, I used to read Amiga World all the time and looked forward to one day owning my very own Amiga. The only computers I had access to at the time were PC compatibles and the one at my parents business was a TeleVideo XT, 8088 I believe. I would attempt to play flight simulator on it's green monochrome monitor but it was pretty lame to be quite honest. Finally, after some years of wishing for an Amiga 500, I spotted one on sale at a small electronics store called McDuff on a family trip to Houston. I begged my mother to buy it for me and I suppose since she knew how much I loved Amigas, she finally agreed. There was a problem, however, when the store clerk could not locate any of the peripherals or software that were supposed to come with it(it was a display model and the last one in the store). He looked around the store for awhile and then said if we bought it, he would find the extra things and ship them to us. He gave us a 1680 Amiga modem to go with the A500 for the trouble so I thought that all would be well if I were patient. So I returned home with my lovely new Amiga 500. My family had a Thompson RGB monitor floating around that was from a neighbors yard sale that I hoped to use with the Amiga but I had no mouse, software or cables of any kind to connect the Amiga. I had to sit and look at it and dream about using it just like all the times I had looked at Amigas in the magazines. I waited and waited but nothing ever arrived and finally we called the store. They said they had been unable to find any of the Amiga's peripherals and we were basically stuck with the Amiga but couldn't use it without spending more money. I was a kid with no money to put into anything else so I was devastated at that point, having realized my dream of owning an Amiga but being unable to do anything whatsoever with it. It was then that either my parents or I decided to look into calling Commodore directly about our situation. Upon calling Commodore and explaining exactly what happened and how the store did not honor their agreement, they said they would send the software and accessories to us, free of charge....and they did! Not more than a week later, a package from Commodore arrived with a mouse, system software and A520 TV VIDEO MODULATOR. Then another week went by and a second 520 arrived. I guess they mistakenly shipped 2 of them to us. I am still thankful to the people at Commodore back then for the action taken to help my family and I. I guess this memory is one of the reasons I still adore Amigas today. I suppose that when you want something for so long and have to be patient for it, you appreciate it more. Last edited by SubM00nS; 10 May 2010 at 21:16.

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11 May 2010, 19:20	#2
Djay 95th User Join Date: May 2001 Location: Brighton/UK Age: 48 Posts: 3,120	great story... i wonder if a company would do that these days? link to my story here

11 May 2010, 19:59	#3
Frog Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: France Posts: 1,385	I got some good contact with Commodore too. One time, i was watching some Amiga computer in a shop and one of employee of the store let in the view of all one goes shopping Commodore intended for the professionals only. It contains information about Commodore, its politics, projects etc.... I found that so interesting that i wrote a letter to Commodore France showing my high interest asking them if they could send me those information bulletin too. Some time later, i receive a loose-leaf file with a big Commodore Logo on it and all the previous magazine spread previously. You can imagine my smile Recently i got some problem with a Cherry Keyboard so i contact Cherry France asking them about the procedure for returning the keyboard. After explaining via email the problem, one of the persons of the technical center called me. Ater a very friendly discussion he say he sent me by post free of charge the faulty part. I did not even need to send back the keyboard. Saving of time a human contact, a real consideration of the person. It is so rare nowadays on behalf of a technical service or a hotline to put itself in direct contact with the customer He showed me that there were even nowadays companies which took their customer for human beings and considered them!

11 May 2010, 21:33	#4
Djay 95th User Join Date: May 2001 Location: Brighton/UK Age: 48 Posts: 3,120	good job it wasnt a HP keyboard, you wouldn't of been able to type an email

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