Staples Reviews

Approximately 3 weeks later I received a call stating that my file cabinet had arrived. I told them that I would come over during the weekend and pick it up. Unfortunately, during the week I had a water leak in my place and had to take care of that over the weekend. My parents came over to help clean up and "moved" some things around. I couldn't find my receipt for the file cabinet and asked if they remembered where they put it. They didn't remember and I figured it wouldn't be a problem since I was assured that I didn't need the receipt when I picked up the cabinet. I called them and said I would pick it up the following weekend.

When I went to pick it up, with a borrowed pickup, I was told that they couldn't check the computer for verification. I asked to speak with the manager; after waiting for an hour for him I had to leave for an appointment. I came back the next day and told by another salesman that they couldn't check the computer. Again, I asked to speak to the manager. This time I was able to speak to him, after 30 - 40 minutes of waiting. He told me that he would check on it and I never saw him after that.

I'm out $299 + tax and no one seems to be willing to help.

After couple days, the store called me to go pick up the 3 items. But when I got to the store to pick up my items, I had to wait more than 30 minutes and I was only able to receive the other 2 items but not the webcam that I had already purchased. The store representive told me that they had ran out of stock at their warehouse. So they said that they had already remibursed my credit card, and there is nothing they can do about it. I asked them if they can give me another webcan to compensate for the same price, but they said that they can not do that, and once again, they told me that there is nothing they can do about it.

I feel as though I needlessly lost $900.00

I have e-mailed tech support, they say they didn't get them. I've called customer service. They say they either can't help me and refer me to someone else or they put me on indefinite hold. I call tech support and they send me to someone else or tell me to do something that AGAIN doesn't work. No one keeps track of my numerous calls, nor do they treat me like a human being. When I tell them that I no longer can even get onto the start-up screen on my computer because it is so bad, they have an excuse. It is like they have wiped my name off of any type of complaint.

Once in a while, I get someone who tries to help, but then I'm told to do this and call the next day or try that and let them know. I didn't spend a lot on this computer, but it was all we could afford at the time. We are trying to survive on one income so I can raise my 4 small children. We have prayed for a computer for so long and finally the opportunity presented itself for us to get one. Now, it won't work and my kids are heartbroken. No one even cares at Proteva. They just want me to get lost. I want a new computer that works! My kids and I deserve that much from them!

We absolutely cannot afford another computer. I t will takes us years to be able to purchase another one. My family bought my kids educational programs for their new computer and they have excelled in school because of it, and this took place in just the short amount of time we were able to use it. Computers are an asset for children as far as their learning goes, as it makes learning so much fun. Now, we are back to square one with no computer and no money to buy another one. My children don't understand, and I don't either!

Shannon of Danese, WV, writes: I had bought my Proteva computer on February28,1999 at Staples in Beckley WV. When I bought the computer I bought the 3 year extended warrenty for $169.99. I was told today that it is no longer any good as of February 28,2000, and that is whan the warrenty starts. I am wanting to know how I get my money back for the warranty?

Now the CD/ROM is not responding and my Windows software is having an error message that needs to be fixed with the original Windows CD. These problems happened at the same time. I am completely unable to get a PROTEVA technician on the phone and get stuck in there automated system. So again my computer is not working properly. Since the Hardware is suppose to still be under warranty till Jan. do I have any possibility at getting this fixed at their expense?

In calling Staples, the place where I purchased the computer, they were completely unaware that Proteva had filed bankruptcy.

This is not the first problem that I have had with Proteva. When I sent in for my rebate, Proteva refused to honor my request. I once again had to contact Staples to help me with this problem. So as you can tell, I am not a happy camper.

Rebates of $170 were never received. The student used the computer for less than 2 months when, in April, there was a total system crash with no ability to start Windows or even get a Bios screen. Neither the student nor I have a car. With great inconvenience, the system was brought back to me in Manhattan to resolve the problem.

After several fruitless phone calls, I was told it had to be the result of the Chernobyl virus, a problem not covered by warranty. Many unpleasant calls later with inordinate waits on hold, I was referred to Time Space Software who offered to sell me a "12 incident package" of repairs for $120, even though the technician estimated that a complete software cleaning and reinstallation would require only 4 or 5 incidents. (I was assured the credit for the rest would be in my "bank" for future off warranty repair needs.) Declining this offer and not convinced that this was a virus problem, since the student had just connected to the internet, but had not participated in chat rooms, received any email, or downloaded any programs, I persisted in trying to get technical help, calling every customer service and tech support number I could find.

In exasperation I finally arranged with customer service to have them send a new C drive for which I was to be charged only the $39 fee for pre-loading the original software. This arrived with a bill for $288.95 to be charged to my credit card. I immediately called Proteva and my credit card company to refuse this charge and returned the C drive unopened. Proteva then suggested I hire a private computer repair service at my expense. Calling around in New York City, I was given estimates of $200-$300 if I brought the computer in and more if I wanted it serviced in my home.

Since I own a computer from a different manufacturer, I called their technical support people, who are superb, and found a sympathetic person who in 20 minutes walked me through diagnostic tests and cleaned the C drive of all software in order to reinstall Windows, which I then did on my own. I was told I must then reinstall the video, modem, and sound drivers. It was now September. Many more calls, transfers, and 1 hour waits on hold took place before I finally spoke to a Technical Support Supervisor. I seems the drivers had not been sent on the CDs or disks accompanying the machine. He said I would have to download the drivers from the internet and then reconfigure the machine to use them. I do not know how to do this. Instead, he convinced me once again to accept a pre-loaded C drive for $39, which Tech support would help me install. I was given a reference number and a specific phone number to call to get back in touch with him personally. He said I would be charged the cost of the drive only if I did not return the old one within 10 days.

The drive arrived this week with a bill for $234. Over the course of 5 days, October 18-22, I called about 20 times, waiting on hold an average of 45 minutes each time without ever once reaching a human being. At the end of the week, I was puzzled to find that Proteva numbers were answered with a recording by Time Space. I do not know how to install this drive and consequently cannot return the old one. Today, Saturday, October 23, a recording on one of the Time Space numbers informed me about Proteva's August 30 bankruptcy filing. Another call connected me to a Time Space person who told me there was no record of my Proteva reference number, and he had never heard of the Technical Support Supervisor I was supposed to contact.

Further, this past Wednesday, an Illinois court [editor's note: It's a federal bankruptcy court in Illinois] had declared all Proteva warranties null and void. This was confirmed by another Time Space technician who offered me an assumption of the original Proteva warranty and 3 year extension for $199.99. Without that purchase they could not help me install the C drive, even though I was told the installation was a simple procedure.

Nine months after purchase I still have an inoperable computer. This purchase has been a colossal nightmare from the start. Money was paid for a system that the student could use for less than 2 of the 9 months since purchase. She is required to use a computer for all class work and that has meant many late nights at school trying to gain access to the school's computers to do her papers. Her 50 minute subway ride home is thus often in the dark, which causes her mother great anxiety. The student is exhausted and distressed by this entire experience.

First issue: No software. The computer came with no video drivers or modem drivers. Staples came to the rescue again supplied me with the software needed to get the machine up and going. Second issue: Bad memory chip considering that Staples was helping me alot I brought the computer in becasue it was having a memory dump all the time. Staples tech told me that I needed to get that chip fixed. (Considering that I did not have a Staples warrenty they could not help) I called Proteva technical support, They told me they could help as long as I had a serial number. Third Issue: No serial number. With the help of Proteva technical support we found out that no Serial number was given on the Proteva computer. Staples has tried but failed in helping with the issue on trying to get me a serial number. fourth issue: The computer will turn on on every now and then. And shutting down fails, restart fails, booting fails. Staples can't seem to help me. I don't know what to do the computer is practically useless -- the second computer from Proteva (the correct one).

Within three weeks of having the PCs installed on our network, one of them failed. After several hours on the phone, being placed on hold for long periods, and going through a lengthy diagnosis process on the phone, Proteva's customer service representative determined that the problem was with my motherboard. This took place on March 11, 1999.

After a wait of over a month, on April 15th, 1999 we received a visit from a technician with BancTec, which is Proteva's warranty company. After installing a new motherboard, the technician determined that this was not, in fact, the problem. The technician, Larry Spicer, left me a Service Activity Report stating that he had ordered a new processer (or CPU chip). Nearly a month later, on May 10, I have heard nothing from BancTec, Mr. Spicer or Proteva. Calls to BancTec Customer Support have been met with the response that they have no record of this part being on order from Proteva. Calls to Proteva's customer support line result in waits of 30 minutes or more on hold, then the response that they have no record of this part bieng on order.

In order to get the problem taken care of, they tell me, we have to go through the process of telephone diagnosis again before they can contact BancTec to send another technician to our office. When Proteva's representative attempts to go through this diagnosis process again, we are cut off. This has happened three times in succession. Representatives of both Proteva and BancTec have been rude, impatient and uncooperative. Five months after purchasing this computer, it has been in operation for only about two weeks, and attempts to solve the problem are met with a stone wall.

We have also received no response from Proteva regarding hundreds of dollars' worth of rebates that were sent to them at the time of purchase.

Days spent trying merely to contact someone to help woith this problem. Hours on the phone waiting on hold. Documents on the hard drive of the inoperational computer may or may not be lost. We are a small, non-profit organization, and the loss of one of our computers adversely affects the operation of the whole office. This computer is covered by both a manufacturer's warranty and an extended service plan through Staples.

To make a long story short, I bought my Proteva computer in Jan '99, it was "dead on arrival," more than a half dozen calls to Proteva tech support resulted in many promises to repair the computer but no action, so after TWO FULL MONTHS of having a DOA computer, I returned to Staples and asked for their help; multiple telephone calls from the store manager, Jay Audis, to senior company officials of Proteva, resulted in many promises but no actions, sufficiently angering Mr. Audis that he finally agreed (after two weeks) to have his senior tech repair person repair my computer at no cost to me--Thank heavens and Mr. Audis.

Be aware that Proteva is at least the third incarnation (same product, different name) by a Taiwanese parent company called Arima--Proteva in the USA has been previously known as Micro Professional Computer and Cavistar Computer. Seems the company just continues to manufacture defective products until the complaints drive them out of business, at which time Arima just assumes a different name and continues to shovel out defective product. Perhaps it is time to "nail" Arima to the wall!

I then called the Customer Service Center where my computer was built. I spoke with a lady named Debbie, who was the rudest and cruelest lady I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with. I finally wised up and called Staples Tech-Support and they were FANTASTIC, it took three hours but at the end of that time, the tech. named John told me to bring the computer back and demand a different one. I took the entire system back and Staples was AWESOME, they had already had four other built-to-order Protevas returned and weren't at all surprised. They set me up with a Hewlett Packard with all and more of the software I had ordered in the Proteva. I hate the Proteva computer and think their staff and associates should be fired for their careless, rude, and combative attitudes towards the customers that keep thier sorry fannys working.

$100 equals one week of groceries, or three months of telephone bills or a month and a half of electricity, Further, I expected a nationally known company, such as Staples, to live up to its promises. I still have the Staples salesman's hand written estimate of final cost AFTER the rebate. What a deal! I wonder if Staples has a "sucker" detector attached to their entry door.

I took the Proteva to a local computer tech and he found the $30.00 mother board they use to be defective. I will spend about $200.00 to fix the problem. … I plan to let Staple's know they should drop Proteva before they alienate any more customers.

Next, I had resolution problems that progressively got worse, and eventually my display defaulted to 16-color mode and could not be changed. After several days of attempting to install a different driver I went to the internet for advise. It turns out the video display driver board had a "worm-like" defect, and by installing a specific chip accelerator found on Proteva's utilities disc the problem was instantly fixed. Again, no big deal, but I wish Proteva or Staples would have sent out a notice to their customers. It would have saved dozens of hours of frustration. I still have freeze-ups every once in awhile, and still get kernel errors and other stack faults, but I'll eventually work them out. Again, no big deal.

What is a big deal is that we were chumped on our rebate. We sent them everything that was required and well before the expiration date, and after a month Proteva sent a letter saying the offer had expired. What's worse, they kept the coupons, bar codes, and original sales receipt so I can't resubmit it. I was going to e-mail them when I came across this site, and from what I've read I would probably be wasting my time trying to get my money back.

Finally on May 17, I called the Proteva company, who promptly gave me an 800 number to call for the rebate processing company. The name of the processing company is Continental Promotion Group in Scottsdale, Arizona, and their phone number is 1-800-340-0108. I spoke with a gentleman who informed me first that I was denied the $70 rebate because all of the bar codes required were not included with the request. He informed me that I had failed to send in the bar code for the printer. When I told him that I had a copy of everything I had sent to the company, he decided to check further and came back with the statement that a check for $70 was being cut that very day.

Then we began to discuss the $100 rebate. Again, he told me that I had been denied because of failing to comply with the terms of the rebate coupon. When I asked what I failed to do, he told me I had not included the bar code from the bottom of the monitor box. When I reminded him that I had made copies of everything I had sent, he reconsidered and said that he was entering a reversal in the computer regarding the original decision and that I should have a check in a reasonable amount of time.

My next contact with Proteva was on July 9, 1999, when I called to complain that I still had not received the $100 as promised. He said that he has a contact person, named "Julie", at the rebate center in Scottsdale, Arizona, and that he would email her that very afternoon. He said that it may take a few days to get back to me, but that he would personally follow up on the matter. Trying to give the man the benefit of the doubt, I waited until July 28 to hear from him. When no call or letter came, I telephoned Tom to find out what he had learned from "Julie". He fumbled around with his words for a few seconds, as if trying to decide what story to tell me. When he finally became coherent, he told me that he still hadn't heard from "Julie" and that he would send her another email. I assured him that this was totally unacceptable and that I felt that I had waited long enough to received my money. He said that there was no more that he could do, other than to recontact "Julie" because the rebates were handled strictly by the processing center and they alone made the decisions to pay or not pay, not Proteva. …

I finally gave up with trying to talk any sense with this person, Tom, and called the rebate processing company. I spoke with a representative, named Rosa, who told me that the rebate had been denied. When I told her about the call to the rebate center in May and that the representative at that time had assured me that I would be receiving the $100 check, she said to give her a moment to check further. After "checking further", she said that the hold up was the fact that they were waiting for "approval" from Proteva. I explained to her that "Tom" at Proteva had told me that the total and final decision was made by Continental Promotion Group solely, she said that all she knew was that the computer showed that they were awaiting approval from Proteva. I asked numerous times regarding the person, "Julie", and Rosa just ignored me each time and said that she was sorry, that I would have to contact Proteva.

By this time, I am so angry, I am about in tears. I called Tom back and told him about my conversation with Rosa and he told me to hang on while he tried to reach "Julie" direct. He came back on the line a few seconds later and said that he had Julie on the other line and that for me to please wait while he discussed the matter with her. Finally, when he did come back on the line, he told me that we had a problem. Guess what? I had failed to include the bar code from the monitor. We were right back to square one. I reminded him that I had copies of what had been sent and he said he was sorry, that the decision had been made and there was no more he could do for me. I asked him to give me his name and address and allow me to send him a copy of what I had right in front of me al along. To this he said that it was too late and that the rebate processing center allowed customers five months to resolve any differences regarding their decision and that my five months were now expired.

I asked him how that could be, when I had started the process on May 17, well before any five month time limited could have transpired and he said he was sorry, there was no more he could do for me. This is where the story stands to date. I read the story of M.B. of Oxford, NJ. I had to laugh because they had her address to send a post card to tell her that they could not honor her request for the rebates because she had not included her street address. How in the world did they send her the post card?

Since I had the computer it has not worked properly. The first problem it had a bad memory board it. It took them 5 weeks to fix to this problem. However, after the memory was replaced it still did not work. The C.D. rom was not working then and I could not load my software on to the machine. It also would frequently freeze on me preventing me from using it. Every time, I would call Proteva I would be on hold for hours at a time. It was very upsetting to me that the computer did not work. I would spend hours crying over it.

I still question myself for buying a Proteva. It has been very nerve raking. I have lost sleep, and I no longer trust computer companies. Staples where I order the computer has been no help either. They refuse to take it back, and tell me my service contract can not help me either. I am deeply hurt by this whole situation.

Now I'm having a problem with my computer locking up. I know that i am not the only one being burnt by Proteva and now they want me to pay for customer help to solve what they should be standing behind anyway.Add me to a mad-as-hell list. I'm lucky I only spent $1100.

Matthew could go to Small Claims Court, assuming the Statute of Limitations hasn't expired. He would need to check local laws.

Emotionally, I feel I have been taken advantage of. Economically, I am down $80. I could have purchased the unit somewhere else. By the way, now it's only $299 and it's been offered by Staples also with a $80 gift check.

In total my money would be tied up for over 6 weeks. I could have walked in another store and walked out with a computer in hand had I known this would take so long. They (Staples) keep referring to the order and a "specially made system" however I was not given any options or choises in the matter. The system was listed on their in store computer as a package deal. I have called the Presidents office (10-18-02) for assistance and was again told that there was no way to cancel the order although the item has not yet been shipped to the store. Joe Tomaski also refused to put me on hold so that I could wait for his supervisor to assist me. "Their system will not allow me to put you on hold" I was told.

Additionally, I was also informed that I would still have to pay a $75.00 the shipping charge and a 15% "restocking charge" -- can they charge me for that even though I do not want to accept the merchanise? This sounds rather illegal to me. I called far enough in advance to cancel the order before they had shipped it and even if I refuse delivery I still have to pay to "restock" the item? AND have to wait another 4-6 weeks to get my money back!!! Can I charge them a service charge for holding my money for so long?

I have been without a computer-- that I use in my investigative work as an investigator for the Juvenile Court of Fulton County, GA.-- for over 6 weeks already, my money has been tied up way too long already and I can not get any help from Staples.

As well, considering wireless/remote means convenience, I don't understand why any packages comes with they keyboard without volume control, I think that defeats the purpose of REMOTE. What's the point of having a remote when you have to get up and control the volume?

2)5.1 speaker system, I thought the 5.1 speaker system comes with 5 satellites and 1 subwoofers as do most other speaker system does. What came with mine was 4 satellites and 1 subwoofer. 3)This is just a suggestion, I actually wanted a different colour computer other then the typical whitish tower, I wanted black, and now, considering my optical combo is black, they don't really match, but that's not too important.

You bought a computer from a mail order company and THEY are responsible for its service. When you buy a new car you don't bring it back to the dealer for service nor do you harrass your real estate agent when your toilet won't flush. I am sick and tired of customers who are too lazy to do the work to get their machines serviced. You bought a machine and are therefore responsible for its upkeep, just like a car or house.

To address your complaints regarding rebates, here are a few tips.

All manufacturers WILL honour their rebates provided you follow a few simple guidelines and keep a few rules in mind. 1) Read ALL the instructions - if you send the rebate request to the wrong address you will not get your rebate. If you fail to include the ORIGINAL UPC (cut out from the box) and a REGISTER PRINTED copy of the receipt (ask the cashier for one) you will not get your rebate. Most importantly... PRINT NEATLY. Do you honestly think any company is going to hire a handwriting specialist in order to decipher your hieroglyphics so that they can give YOU money? I think not.

Here is a foolproof procedure for receiving your rebate:

Cut out the entire UPC code from the box (If there are more than one as is usually the case, cut them ALL out or ask your Sales Associate which one to include... He/She might even circle it for you.)

Write the mailing address and your address NEATLY on an envelope and place the appropriate postage on it as well. Then put the receipt, UPC, and completely filled out photocopy of the rebate form into the envelope.

Mail it. Wait 2 - 8 weeks for your rebate to arrive in the mail and you should be pleasantly surprised. Consider this your recipe for a speedy rebate return. Follow the recipe carefully just as you would any other recipe.

No real damage was incurred through the injustices caused towards Staples' Sales Associates except the constant harrassment we recife daily from people who refuse to read manuals or forms. Staples continues to be the largest and fastest growing office supply retailer in North America and will continue to be so despite the misdirected complaints found on this webpage.

Let's assume that Trevor is just a naive and pompous young man and try to look past his bluster. Some of what he says has merit and it certainly is a good idea to write clearly, etc. However, he is dead wrong when he states that filing the rebate request properly will always result in receiving a rebate. There are many documented cases of companies willfully -- even gleefully -- failing to pay rebates.

We're also puzzled by Trevor's assertion that a purchase at Staples is a "mail order" purchase. Gee, we would have thought it was a retail purchase. We'll bet Staples management would too. We're similarly perplexed by Trevor's odd claim that we don't take cars back to the dealer for service. On what part of the moon does he reside?

Personal note to Trevor ... If you plan to make a career of setting others straight, you might want to look up the proper spellings of "receive," "courteous" and "decipher," just to name a few. Maybe you could try the spell checker on one of those mail-order computers you guys sell?

I am a self-employed businessperson that could better spend my time working than trying to collect a $20 rebate. Companies that rely on rebate gimmicks that frustrate customers never seem to lose because most customers either will fail to submit the rebate or grow weary or give up trying to collect on the false rebate promise. I will urge my congressional representatives to legislate against this dubious marketing tactic.

We went through this last year for a $15.00 rebate on a toner cartridge, They need to be looked into. We live in the foothills of the Sierras and it is a ways to a complete store like Staples but their rebate service is the pits.

There's probably a disclaimer somewhere in the Staples brochure but if William really wants to make trouble, he could file a complaint against Staples with the state Attorney General and also with the Federal Trade Commission, which regulates truth in advertising regulations. Staples should stop being petty, swallow hard and deliver the safe.

After at least a forty five minute wait a technician came on and read a scripted response. The tech stated the reason I was suffering hang time [freeze up] when I attempted to connect to the internet was my internet providers fault. I found that amazing since I service my internet provider with technical support { my brother happens to own the Internet Service. I have literally had Network Administators and Program Engineers baffled at my inability to stay connected to the internet. I suffer from hang time and frequent disconnects and cannot seem to get any assistance from Proteva.

I have to depend upon my PC for my ability to access the internet for my work. If I cannot connect or when I do stay connected for more than a few minutes - I lose countless hours of work.

When I called back, I had to give them all the same information because they claimed they had no record of my previous call. There were several things tey wanted me to "try" to get the problem resolved. Nothing worked. I made several calls to them and on Feb. 22, 1999, I started to keep a log of every call I made, who I talked to and what we done.

On 3-15-99, they told me that it was the RAM set that was causing the problem. on 3-25-99 a tech came to the house and installed the Ram set, and before he left, the computer again locked up and the vidieo card dumped. The tech was here for 3 1/2 hours and got the vidieo going again but did not resolve the original problem. At that time, the tech told me that a new processor was needed.

When I called customer service once again I got the run around. Finally they told me that I would have to ship my machine back to them and that I would have the paperwork within 2 days. Two days later with no word, I again called and was told that I was told wrong and it would be another 7-10 working days to get the paperwork and when I send my computer in I would have it back in 7 days.

10 days passed with no word. I packed up my system and took it back to H.H. Gregg and told them I wanted my money back. I was told that the only thing that they could do was to send it to their service people and I would get it back in 5-7 working days. Two weeks passed and I called about the status and was told that they just got the parts from Proteva and I would get my computer within 2 more days. They put in a new processor, heat sink, and fan. I picked my computer up and took it home and hooked it back up.

I'm still having the same problems and then some. I again called Proteva support and got the same routine. I was told now that I should try to re-install my Windows 98 and they needed my Certificate of Authenticity. When I asked what they were talking about, they told me that in was on the book I got with my system. The only thing I got was a CD in a cardboard sleeve. I was given the number of Proteva software support and explained the situation to them. I was more or less told too bad. There is nothing they could do.

I called Microsoft and explained to them what I was goining through. I was told by the Microsoft people that I should have received a book with a 25 digit code on it along with a registration card and a cd in a plastic jewel. I was also told that this number needed to be entered before the system would run. The first time it booted up. it went straight to Windows. I did not have to enter anything. Microsoft told me that my only resolve was to buy a retail Windows upgrade. ( $89.00-$100.00) Why should I have to pay more money to get something that I should already have?

I bought this system with the intent to bring extra income into my household and for my children to use for school. Microsoft also told me that I should report Proteva to the Piracy Hot Line. I have had it with a system that I can't use without problems. It took me 5 attempts to write this because of system problems

The consequences have been lost work time, 20+ hours on the phone in under three days, being treated like a child, doing the work of the sevice contractors, paying internet service fees while not being able to log on, and a machine that no longer works at all.

After they have sent technicians from two companies, Tech Force and BancTech, to repair my computer, as of today, March 24, 1999, my computer is still not operational. The modem and video card were replaced and three different motherboards installed.

The last technician, George, from BancTech came on March 4, 1999 and installed a motherboard and video card. Upon completion of the installation, it still would not boot up the mouse. George said he needed a manual for the VA-502 motherboard, com1 & com2 cables, and a mouse. I had this same problem when the other technicians who replaced the motherboard, but they all said the new motherboard was DOA.

George said there probably was nothing wrong with the others but the jumper settings weren't set correctly. He needed a manual to set the jumpers correctly. He called Proteva to order the parts needed and was given a reference ID # TS6006. As occured everytime I've called Proteva's Technical Support, Time Space, nobody knows anything when I reference the service ID #. I am then told to call BancTech, and they say they can't do anything because Proteva never sent an authorization to do the repairs.

When I call Proteva's repair department, 1-800-800-9059, all agents are busy. I leave a message and nobody ever returns my call. Also, I have sent three e-mail messages from Proteva's web site since Feb. 1, 1999, but I have never received a reply.

On the morning of March 23, 1999, I talked to a Home Shopping Network representative, Tom, and he said he would e-mail a manager at Proteva and call me back the same day, but I have received no reply. I have tried to get an address for Proteva to send a certified letter, but nobody can give me one.

I purchased the computer for my 12 year old son to use for school and also for me to do some work for my job at home. It has been inoperable since the start of my sons school and he hasn't been able to use it. He took a computer keyboarding class, and was unable to practice at home. He as had a spanish class, and unable to study the Spanish program on CD at home. Also, I have an encyclopedia on CD that can't be used because of the malfunction.

Have not received rebates from Proteva for a total of $170.00. I called HSC and they told info and said someone would contact me. As of today I still haven't heard from anyone. I asked the rep. if this has been a problem and he said "It has been an issue"

They sent me a card stating: "Dear Consumer: Thank you for participating in this promotion.unfortunately we could not honor you request because of the folling reason: we cannot honor your request without your street address."

On my mail-in rebate it has (my address). I took copies of everything before I mailed it. I've been down this road too many times and have had enough from certain companies , living up to their end of the bargain.

$170. may not be a lot of money to some people. But that would feed my family for a week. I would deeply appreciate anything you could help me with. I have certified return receipts.