[Coco] A warning to readers regarding Roger Taylor

[Bill Loguidice]

As a serious collector (you can see the systems I have here:
http://www.billandchristina.com/vgamecomp/systems.htm) and supporter of
homebrew activities across every conceivable system, I can say this is
nothing particularly unusual. I've gotten burned several times and it has
been beyond frustrating, be it putting a deposit towards something that has
taken YEARS to actually be released (and some things I'm still waiting on),
to paying full price and waiting well over a year to receive the item.
There have even been times where I've put in quite a bit of money and only
gotten something partially functional versus what was hoped for/assumed.
There's a point where you should have understanding, then there's a point
where you're a sucker.

I actually had a similar experience with Roger Taylor, waiting well over a
year to receive my Drive Pak. I kept in as good communication as I could
have that whole time. Would I have gone through the experience again? No.
Would I necessarily bad mouth him? No. I've come to realize that there's a
certain risk you assume when dealing with individuals and trying to be a
supporter of this hobby. Naturally, that has tempered my enthusiasm and how
willing I'm able to turn over money of late, but it still comes with the
territory.

One thing both sides have to understand though - both the purchaser AND the
creator - is that once money becomes involved, you do have a certain
responsibility for delivery. At minimum, there should be clear and open
communication, which is all I think 99% of the people who want to own these
things really want. There are some high profile examples of homebrew
creators going into radio silence mode for long stretches of time, which
there is NO excuse for. Having a blog/Website is trivial to update people
(the public, I'm not talking one-to-one communication even) even once a
month on a status (we ALL have time for at LEAST that, no matter how busy),
and other alternatives like mailing lists like these. In today's world,
there's no excuse for lack of communication.

Finally, when it comes to something on eBay, yes, if it's for sale on eBay,
it better be ready to go. There are very specific rules in regards to
timely delivery. That's obvious and there's no excusing that. Whether Roger
deserved to be bad mouthed on Blake's blog is debatable, but even a modest
business transaction is still a business transaction, and eventually you do
pass the point of courtesy and good will.

-Bill


=================================================
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director; Armchair Arcade,
Inc.<http://www.armchairarcade.com>
=================================================
Authored Books<http://www.amazon.com/Bill-Loguidice/e/B001U7W3YS/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_1>and
Film <http://www.armchairarcade.com/film>; About me and other ways to get
in touch <http://about.me/billloguidice>
=================================================



On Wed, Jan 11, 2012 at 11:01 AM, Robert Hermanek
<rhermanek at centurytel.net>wrote:

> Well, the timeline is believable...
>
> What gets lost here is that very few people can design and build things as
> clever as the Taylor products.  And then, there really is no reason for him
> to share these things--he could be sitting on his own one of a kind
> drivepak and we'd never know.  Instead he is basically volunteering to work
> a rather stressful job in marketing, building, and delivering these things.
>  And I'm sure the goal is to net out a zero when the parts are out the
> door--not much of a reward for being exposed to criticism along the way.
>
> If a mistake has been made, it is that all "orders" should be considered
> and explained as pre-orders for parts.  No doubt refunds are not an option
> because the whole point of collecting the funds in the first place was to
> be able to place the order for the parts.
>
> I'd guess Roger is reading all if this.  If I were him, I'd give the
> squeeky wheel the grease in the form of a drivepak+refund for second unit.
>  And perhaps eBay cannot be used for sales, it is very goods delivery
> oriented, and when I use eBay I fully expect to get whatever I bought (most
> recently a part for a lawn mower of all things) immediately.
>
> If we want to keep Roger's assembly queue intact, I'd say 60 of us here on
> the list should paypal this guy $3 each, fill up his inbox and "refund" his
> two purchases... Ha!
>
> -Robert
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Blake Patterson" <blakespot at gmail.com>
>
> To: "CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts" <coco at maltedmedia.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 11, 2012 7:24 AM
> Subject: [Coco] A warning to readers regarding Roger Taylor
>
>
>
>  I wanted to share my experience to protect other potential customers of
>> Taylor's.
>>
>> http://www.bytecellar.com/**2012/01/10/a-cautionary-tale-**
>> for-the-tandy-coco-community/<http://www.bytecellar.com/2012/01/10/a-cautionary-tale-for-the-tandy-coco-community/>
>>
>> FYI
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> bp
>>
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>>
>>
>
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