Re: smart words

["N. Sivin" nsivin@xxxxxxxx]

I don't believe for a moment that my experience was mine alone, and no
assertion by X that he and his friends were not cheated is counter-proof.
I am not an idiot, and do not relish being treated as one. I would be more
impressed if every time the topic comes up it isn't the same couple of NB
boosters who repeat that it couldn't possibly have happened that way
because good ole Steve, the NB guru, is such a fine fellow etc.

NB offered a money-back guarantee on v. 4 that they said in writing would
be good until they distributed full documentation (yes, it took nearly 2
years after release to provide a manual!). I had such serious problems
with the program and with support for it (which was not only negligent but
unreliable) that I finally returned it for a refund. They refused to
refund me a cent, on the basis of a ridiculous technicality: they said that
they had spent more on a printer driver they had provided me for a HP
Deskjet than the program cost. Joke 1 was that they generated the driver
automatically from width tables that *I* got for them from HP when, after
nearly a year, they couldn't get around to it. Joke 2 is that the printer
was a best seller, and the claim that this was done as a custom job for me
was absurd. When I pointed this out, the person at the other end laughed
and suggested I try suing them. If I lived in New York, I wouldn't have
hesitated for a minute.

I have been told by 3 people that they were not cheated by NB, but that
does not prove that no one but me was treated shadily. There has to be
some recourse for this kind of contemptuous treatment of users. The
current management can put things right if they want, but the hundred
dollars or so is obviously more important to them than their reputation.

Cheers,