🚀 go-pugleaf

According to the latest issue of COMPUTER ENTERTAINER newsletter, Atari
is taking a very strange and disturbing stance on defective units.  This
can adversely effect distribution of the 520ST.  I hope they change it
fast!  I quote from the article:

	"Atari has just taken the stance that they will acept NO returns from 
	distributors and or retailers.  Instead, they will offer 4% 
	discount to the distributor/retailer which is supposed to cover
	any losses due to defective returns.  As a result, unless a retailer
	feels they can move large quantities, they simply cannot take the
	risk involved as mark-up in the computer area is traditionally
	very slim, especially in competitive markets such as New York
	and Los Angeles.  Imagine the luckless dealer who has five units
	on his shelf and one is defective.  Any other company will take
	the computer back and provide another one that the dealer can
	sell.  Instead, that defective unit must be "junked!" and the
	dealer must "eat" the machine under his 4% discount.  Dealers we
	have spoken to simply will not deal with a policy like that and
	if they do, they plan to price the 520ST above the retail 
	of $999.95 for CPU and RGB monitor to protect themselves.  And
	we have had confirmation that due to this policy, at least
	one major distributor has dropped the ST line before it
	reaches their warehouse."

With the competition that the ST line will be getting from AMIGA, Atari
can ill afford such an inauspicious start to distributing the ST line.
They need to have distributors knocking at their door, not the other
way around.
 
					Kit Kimes
					AT&T Information Systems
					Montgomery Works
					Montgomery, Il. 60538-0305
					..!ihnp4!mgweed!kek