From the cache of Tom Spielman <tomspielman_at_mac.com>:
> I think there's still room for that kind of service, but the way he's
> promoting it is out of line.
While I am no fan of Ferdi (had a very *thinks* questionable auction with
him over stylii) I have to say that his promotion is very inventive. Not
out of line at all. He tells people the truth in the auction - that he is
selling information only... and of course simultaneously picks up the
address of a potential customer (esp once they realise what a trick it is to
do the job themselves). Kinda like when you fill out an online offer for
some freebie (they often charge s/h) and they get your info for it... There
is nothing out of line here.
> Frankly, he should credit you and point people in the direction of your
> site as the source of his information. Although I suppose he's not
> obligated to pay you anything, he could of at least asked you if cared
> if he charged people to perform that service for them.
It would be lovely if Ozguner would give credit. Certainly David deserves
credit. However, noone has purchased the information and therefore no one
actually knows whether credit has been given... However, what Mr.
Humphrey's posted can hardly be called "intellectual property"... and Mr.
Ozguner can easily justify the measly $3.00 for the packaging/shipping/and
presentation materials he assembles... Perhaps his info is more detailed?
> There are lots of folks who would rather pay somebody a *reasonable* fee
> to fix their backlight than attempt it on their own, so he could still
> make money while showing some integrity.
If the fixer was trustworthy, $129 would not be so bad... wouldn't some of
us send it to Apple for nearly $200 over a bum backlight?
> On Monday, August 13, 2001, at 07:53 AM, Humphreys, David wrote:
>
>> What is disturbing to me is that at the same time this guy was
>> advertising his "service" he emailed me to thank me for my
>> excellent instructions for backlight replacement on my sight
>> and that he "couldn't have done it without me".
>>
>> This doesn't exactly inspire confidence!
David, I don't understand why this doesn't inspire confidence? Are you also
offering this service? Are you in competition with Mr. Ozguner? What
exactly has he done that is unethical or shows a lack of technical expertise
that would lead you to this conclusion?
>> I have had an email discussion about this subject with him.
>> I questioned the price of his "service".
>> He broke it down like this:
>>
>> Material: $30
>> Labor: 4hrs @ $25/hr = $100!
*thinks* when I worked for a jeweler, we charged triple the actual hours it
took to complete a project. This is a pretty standard practice... it's
called profit. The smith gets his hourly, the store gets double for
overhead and profit etc... now, a certified technician might get upwards of
$60 an hour... regardless, prices usually move towards market value... so
if he gets not customers at 129... price moves down... and if he get's too
many, price goes up... also, that four hours will include time to
correspond with the customer and time to pack and ship the product...
especially since he is most likely a one man operation total turnaround on a
unit may take four hours, and he may not have 10 units at a time to split
costs between.
>>
>> FOUR HOURS TO DO A 20MIN JOB!!!!
*thinks* I have looked carefully at the instructions and think that 20M
could only be done by the guru's of voodoo like you... Most low level techs
I know that would be performing this task for a company would not be able to
do such a task in under an hour
>> What made me suspicious of this guy was that, prior to this, he
>> bought a SER-001 and when he ordered it, my website said $8.50
>> for international postage and handling.
>> He paid this and then saw that I had revised this to $5.
>> Then I get an email from him stating that the postage was clearly
>> $5 on my webpage so please refund the difference.
>>
>> I laughed in disbelief and PayPal'ed him $3.50!
I can't say that I have never been confused over something like this. Since
I don't know how much correspondence/communication took place, I find it
really hard to make a judgement against Mr. Ozguner in this respect.
Instead what I can say is that Mr. Humphreys, you are more than fair in your
dealings with customers... makes me confident that if I ever do business
with you I will be satisfied... as to Mr. Ozguner, it just makes me feel he
is human like the rest of us.
>> Anyway, I am not going to tell you that you should not deal with
>> him. I do, however, want you to make an informed decision.
All this hogwash is in the same spirit of informed decision making :)
>> Regards,
>>
>> PCBman
Lastly, David, you should consider getting a coupla techs and starting a
shop. Refurbishing, making components, tech support... there are lot's of
us. More than on this list... Noone want's to give up there MP... someone
with your capability could easily work towards a small empire built on the
Elephant Graveyard :)
Thank you for taking the time to read my post.
b|indwo|f
"Now are you going to do as I say and become a fine person?"
-from the cache
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : Sun Sep 09 2001 - 19:47:07 EDT