🚀 go-pugleaf

Robert Cassidy (rmcassid@uci.edu) wrote:

[lots deleted]

: I think the difference between Netscape possibly getting information off
: my system and MS getting information off my system is that I have never
: questioned that AOL, Prodigy, Netscape, Apple, IBM, NCSA, etc. had any
: interest in my system other than the one which they advertised. There
: aren't too many people out there that haven't been bitten by MS at one
: time or another. How many people get regular faxes from MS after they've
: disclosed their fax number in a registration process? How many people get
: faxes from Apple, IBM, etc. after providing the same information? 
This reminds me of what happened to me some years ago.

I went to the Ifabo (Computer fair in Vienna, like comdex, but a lot 
smaller) and tried to get information on student's versions of Windows 
compilers. At MS they told me that they don't know the prices, don't have 
a price list for that and that they don't know how I can order it at the 
moment but I could fill out a form and they would send the information to me.

Ok, so I complete the form and write on it that I am interested in a
student version of MSC. Then, for a long time I didn't hear anything from 
them. But weeks later I start to get letters over letters offering MS 
software to me, I get invitations (which must be paid for, of course) to 
presentations of software and offers for trainings on MS software.

BUT: never, ever was a student version offered to me, I even never got an 
offer for MSC!!!

Then it seemed to me that they had given (sold?) my adress to some 
distributor / dealer of theirs and I got really angry. Usually it helps 
to just put the letter back into the mail, stating "delivery not 
accepted" on it to get advertisers off your back (they have to pay the 
postage and a fee in Austria, so they usually remove you from their 
adress list) - but not with them.

After getting this stuff for more than 1 year, I finally sent them a *REALLY*
 angry fax - and since then I never heard of them again.


Bye,
     /|/|artina :)

EMail: e9026329@stud1.tuwien.ac.at             Fido:  2:310/81.81