Re: [NTLK] Why I don't buy from Knowledge Navigator (Example #3)

In a previous message, Jim Witte vigorously typed:
" As for KN's allegedly unethical practices, I'm not familiar with
his sales or the beginning of this thread (yet), so will withhold
judgement."
Everyone will have their pet peeves and from most complaints, it sounds like
folks have had a beef in dealing with KN through eBay - I never go to eBay
to buy stuff, although I have an account (just in case I find one of the two
items I would only ever buy there since they cannot be found anywhere else
on the planet). I have looked at KN's auctions and it appears he is
changing them to respond to feedback here- This is good.

But this is not what I want to tell you about. Let me tell you my tale: I
had been trolling the web for people selling Newton accessories for my MP
2100, trying to avoid buying these items off of eBay. I found that there
were only a handful of places/people who had what I needed (including an
internal serial port for the aforementioned MP 2100). Those who claimed to
have it, were out of stock and no one had all of the accessories I wanted
(one-stop shopping). Then I found Newtonian Paradise (KN's site). I sent
an email asking about the availability of his parts and shipping. (Note
that the serial insert KN carries is not PCBMan's, but is a generic version
and it is almost always in stock - the name brand one was not in stock at
the other vendor's site) I ordered $201 (USD) worth of stuff which included
a few of his leather cases and the serial insert and some misc stuff.
Shipping from Canada to North Florida (US) was $15.

Where there one or two items that I paid more for than I would have liked? -
Yes, but isn't that always the case with anyone? He had all of what I
needed, when I needed it so I was not going to quibble over a few extra
dollars since I knew it worked out. My order shipped the next day and moved
along nicely once it cleared customs and it was coming via USPS.

And here is the twist in my story - The US Post Office had my information to
forward my address, however, they screwed up my mail big time. Ultimately,
the USPS tried to deliver the package to my old address and would not
properly process KN's package for forwarding.

Really, it was more my fault in trying to get something shipped so close to
moving, but the USPS dropped the ball in not rerouting the package or my
mail (concurred by the postal inspector). Two months later, the package
finally turned up on KN's door step. He has now sent it back out to me at
my new address at no extra cost to me. Funny thing there is that the USPS
could never tell me where it was, even though it had a tracking number.

The point here is that I had a good experience dealing with KN: I felt his
prices were fair; most importantly, he had what he claimed to have. KN also
gave a fair price for shipping and did not hit me for the reshipment of the
package once the USPS finally released it back to him.

I would definitely buy from KN again (just not around the time I move from
state to state ;-) ).

--Douglas Starnes

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