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No Spare Processors for Dell Server
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By Ed Foster, Section Gripes
Posted on Tue Jul 20, 2004 at 12:32:10 AM PDT
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At what point does a manufacturer's obligation to provide spare parts for a system cease? Consider the experience of one reader who recently found he could not get a processor for a two-year-old Dell server, a system still covered by a Dell same-day onsite service contract.
(155 comments, 606 words in story) Full Story
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A Cingular Sneakwrap Experience
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By Ed Foster, Section Gripes
Posted on Mon Jul 19, 2004 at 07:50:10 AM PDT
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If there's one industry that can trump the sneakwrap practices of software companies, it's the cell phone business. Once you've parted with your money, you are just at their mercy, as this recent reader gripe about Cingular demonstrates.
(78 comments, 393 words in story) Full Story
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Reduced Runtimes
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By Ed Foster, Section Gripes
Posted on Mon Jul 12, 2004 at 08:44:42 AM PDT
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Are free runtimes in danger of extinction? A long-time user of Crystal Reports recently wrote to lament the licensing requirements Business Objects keeps adding to new versions of the venerable report generator.
(335 words in story) Full Story
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Yahoo PayDirect Starts Charging Monthly Fees
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By Ed Foster, Section Gripes
Posted on Mon Jul 05, 2004 at 12:16:48 AM PDT
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It's becoming all too familiar a story in the sneakwrapped world in which we live: an e-mail or a credit card statement arrives and you discover that you're being charged for a service you don't even use. That's what happened to one reader recently when Yahoo started charging a $5 monthly fee on its PayDirect Professional Accounts.
(31 comments, 344 words in story) Full Story
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Compaq's Halfway Warranty
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By Ed Foster, Section Gripes
Posted on Sat Jun 26, 2004 at 12:24:39 PM PDT
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Either your computer is under warranty or it isn't, you'd think. But one reader recently discovered that only dogged persistence could get HP/Compaq to give him a halfway warranty.
(91 comments, 771 words in story) Full Story
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Checking the Rebate Fine Print
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By Ed Foster, Section Gripes
Posted on Sat Jun 19, 2004 at 12:07:04 PM PDT
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As if we haven't already heard enough lame excuses from vendors and their fulfillment houses for not sending out rebate checks, it appears they may have another out. The fine print of their rebate form allows them to cancel the offer at any time.
(13 comments, 221 words in story) Full Story
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CompUSA Can Retract Extended Service Plan
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By Ed Foster, Section Gripes
Posted on Sat Jun 12, 2004 at 11:09:18 AM PDT
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There are many arguments about why you should never buy an extended service plan, but one reader recently spotted another while getting a laptop repaired at CompUSA. If they decide they don't want to fix the product, they can just refund the money you paid for the plan.
(85 comments, 412 words in story) Full Story
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Tech Industry Should Clean Up its Own Spam-like E-mail
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By Ed Foster, Section Gripes
Posted on Mon Jun 07, 2004 at 12:34:51 AM PDT
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Does the tech industry's own communications practices make it too hard to effectively filter spam? One reader who has been studying anti-spam solutions says the industry's communicators have to pay more attention to the spam-like characteristics of their own e-mail.
(28 comments, 802 words in story) Full Story
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Comcast Seems Clueless About Blacklists
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By Ed Foster, Section Gripes
Posted on Mon May 31, 2004 at 12:02:15 AM PDT
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An increasingly common experience is to discover that some of your e-mail is being blocked because your ISP has you sharing a server with a blacklisted spammer. What can make it all the more frustrating is when the ISP won’t do anything about it, as in the recent experience of one Comcast cable modem customer.
(88 comments, 338 words in story) Full Story
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