RE: IBM Supportline Woes! -- MIDRANGE-L

You forgot one other common type of IBM billing error.  They
occasionally DON'T bill you for something that you fully expected to be
billed for (I know personally of several occasions when this occured).
And because of all the other billing problems you have had with them in
the past that were not in your favour, not telling them of their
omission doesn't usually create any great moral dilemma or inability to
sleep at night.  Maybe it would for IBM shareholders like Dean !    :-)



Neil Palmer                                AS/400~~~~~      
NxTrend Technology - Canada   ____________          ___  ~     
Thornhill, Ontario,  Canada   |OOOOOOOOOO| ________  o|__||=   
Phone: (905) 731-9000  x238   |__________|_|______|_|______)   
Cell.: (416) 565-1682  x238    oo      oo   oo  oo   OOOo=o\   
Fax:   (905) 731-9202       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
mailto:NPalmer@NxTrend.com    AS/400  The Ultimate Business Server      
http://www.NxTrend.com

> -----Original Message-----
> From: DAsmussen [SMTP:DAsmussen@aol.com]
> Sent: Saturday, March 28, 1998 9:58 PM
> To:   MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com
> Subject:      Re: IBM Supportline Woes!
> 
> Jeff,
> 
> In a message dated 98-03-26 15:06:53 EST, you write:
> 
> > Wow!  Did I just get blasted by IBM Supportline!
> >  
> >  I've been on an hourly supportline contract for probably 18 mos. or
> so. 
> >  During all that time, every problem I reported resulted in 1 or
> more
> >  PTFs meaning I wasn't billed.  Or so I thought.  Today I got the
> >  following 7 (!) invoices, all dated March 23, 1998:
> <<snip>>
> 
> Unlike other problems, which are recent occurrences (and most of which
> have
> been fixed), IBM's billing department has had problems since the
> company's
> inception.  OK, perhaps _THAT's_ a little much.  AFAIK, Billing has
> only had a
> problem since 1978, when I first started working with the S/3 M10.  DO
> NOT PAY
> this bill!  It will probably take you a decade or more (again, a
> _slight_
> exaggeration) to straighten it out, but get your documentation
> together and
> keep calling until you _FINALLY_ find someone that can resolve this at
> headquarters -- when he answers, tell Lou I said hello ;-).  IMO,
> _every
> single_ invoice from IBM is suspect, and should be regarded with the
> same
> consideration you'd give someone that "sent you the information you
> requested"
> over the Internet.  IBM is _far_ too comfortable with people paying
> their
> bills just because of the name on them, and frequently mis-bills,
> double-
> bills, or sometimes even triple-bills their customers.  Keep track of
> what
> charges you incurred, and what you have already paid.  Double-payment
> refunds
> usually come only to those accounts that ask for them.  I think that
> they must
> be using their own old versions of either MAPICS or DMAS to track
> A/R...
> 
> JMHO,
> 
> Dean Asmussen
> Enterprise Systems Consulting, Inc.
> Fuquay-Varina, NC  USA
> E-Mail:  DAsmussen@aol.com
> 
> 
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