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IO's at CC Web (modified 0 times) They're Back As of this posting Circuit City's web site reports IO's available for direct shipment. Don't know how long they will last. 07-12-2000 21:03:46

RE:IO's at CC Web (modified 0 times) not too long As of now they seem to be gone.... 07-12-2000 21:19:45

RE:IO's at CC Web (modified 0 times) *SF* I just ordered one ! (Your product is IMMEDIATELY available at your selected store and may be picked up at your convenience.) Thanks for the info * StarFish * I Hope it is the Version 5 ?!?!? 07-12-2000 21:43:39

RE:IO's at CC Web (modified 0 times) ---- I did it that way, but the direct shipment way was n/a. I was being lazy and didn't want to goto the store! 07-12-2000 21:53:06

RE:IO's at CC Web (modified 0 times) New I/O Owner Profile I ordered one last night and when i went to pick it up in MIDDLETOWN, NY it came out on the belt and the ####ing OPS/manager wouldn't release it. He said it was being recalled!! When I called the 800 number for their web orders all the guy said was I can't believe they didn't sell it to you. When I talked to the manager today all she could say was SORRY!! Dumb Asses at C/C should get all there brains into 1 shoe. 07-13-2000 01:10:46

RE:IO's at CC Web (modified 0 times) They're Back New I/O Owner, When you talked to the manager, did she admit that they were wrong not to sell it to you? Did she offer to get you one? If you talk to her again, you might point out that the sale was completed when you placed your order on the web. I got my Amex statement and noticed that one I bought via the web was charged at that time rather than when I picked it up. Also, info on one of their web pages indicates that they cannot cancel / refund your money until you pick it up (and presumably return it). This suggests that they consider it to be yours at the time it is charged to your credit card. You might also tell the manager that if they won't sell it to you, your only option appears to be to order it from Netpliance for $399 and take CC to small claims court for that amount. A complaint to the New York State consumer protection folks would also be in order. Document the fact that CC continues to advertise it on their web pages even after they refused to sell it to you. In most states, this type of behavior is illegal. 07-13-2000 06:19:47

RE:IO's at CC Web (modified 0 times) GotOne They disappear fast from the website. Available at 8 AM. By 9AM they were gone. The issue is that sticker on the box. If CC does not forward the information which they got from your credit card ( required for on-line purchases ), there should be no problem. Also, if Netpliance goes bankrupt, there should be no problem. 07-13-2000 07:38:33

RE:IO's at CC Web (modified 0 times) ---- I just picked mine up. That website is kinda screwy since one minute it says there are none and then check back and it says they have some and then an hour later they don't again. Also, on one page it says you can get it shipped to you, but then the next page says they don't have any available. Oh well, I got mine without a problem. I am going to use it as a table next to my bean bag because I don't want to break the seal! HA 07-13-2000 12:48:41

RE:IO's at CC Web (modified 0 times) ----- For those of you who ordered online and picked up at CC.... This is a reply I got from an email I sent them asking a couple questions. Hope someone finds this useful. Subject: I-Opener From: SuperStore@circuitcity.com To: xxx@xxx.xxx Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 19:59:39 -0400 To: xxx@xxx.xxx Subject: I-Opener Dear Matt, Thank you for visiting our website and submitting your inquiry on-line. We provide Netpliance with limited contact information for customers who purchase the I-Opener. Circuit City has not provided any credit card information to Netpliance. Please be assured that Circuit City is sensitive to your privacy concerns, and we will only disclose limited contact information to our business partners when we believe that it is of substantial benefit to you that we do so. Sincerely, xxxxx xxxxxx CircuitCity.com Consumer Affairs Internet Specialist http://www.circuitcity.com 07-13-2000 17:17:37

RE:IO's at CC Web (modified 0 times) ***** Nope, not very useful. Seems sort of evasive. Only mentions that credit card numbers are not provided. I think it's illegal for them to pass credit card numbers. Everything else is fair game. Sounds almost like "I did not have sexual relations..." 07-13-2000 18:05:38

RE:IO's at CC Web (modified 0 times) I+Don't+Want+It! Thanks for posting the e-mail from Circuit City. I guess that there are two ways of handing contact from Netpliance. One could ignore it like many other solicitations one receives. Alternatively, or if they persist, one could say that all one did was purchase an I/O for $99.00 from Circuit City (not from NP), that the purchase was not conditioned upon signing up for Netpliance's service and that while surely their service is very nice, it isn't needed or wanted. If one takes a firm stand, they are likely to go away once they realize that one has no intention of either signing up or paying them anything. 07-13-2000 18:29:39

RE:IO's at CC Web (modified 0 times) Idris2k Just to add to the thread: I fired up the web browser and searched CC's page for Gurnee and Vernon Hills IL and they both reported having IO's "in stock." Calling both places reported (at 8:30pm tonight mind you) that they did in fact have one IO at each location. The gent at Gurnee (about 30 mins away) said that since "it's so close to closing, just call in the morning and tell them to reserve the IO for you." I then made a quick call to the Vernon Hills CC and the gent there said he would be willing to stay until 9:15pm if I wanted it tonight. So I made a quick jaunt to Vernon Hills CC (which is about 10 mins away) and now I have my second IO sitting here in front of me ready for hacking this weekend. There was no quibbling about TOS, CC numbers for NPLI, or any of that rubbish. Just $99.00 + tax. Thank you very much! 07-13-2000 20:27:14

RE:IO's at CC Web (modified 0 times) broke you are stupid if you give them real info. you know they will get the info. pay cash and you don't have to tell them anything. Push it and quit being such a whimp about your rights as a customer. Land of the free and home of the brave? Whimps are screwing it up for everyone. 07-14-2000 04:38:23

RE:IO's at CC Web (modified 0 times) No_Whimps Remember, it is Cicuit City and Netpliance that may be the bad guys by trying to change a transaction after it is completed. You are not a "whimp" if you insist on your rights. You are also not a "whimp" if you manage to pay cash and take steps protect your privacy. The only "whimps" are those who sign up for a service they don't want due to pressure (real or imagined) from Netpliance. As for spoiling the situation for others, by the time Netpliance figures out that they have screwed up again, everyone should have had the chance to buy a dozen I Openers each without a valid TOS. 07-14-2000 06:40:32

RE:IO's at CC Web (modified 0 times) By-Tor I bought the last two in my 3 state area (NC/SC/GA). There were two available in Anderson, SC. I bought them online with my American Express. I've got to go pick them up tomorrow. I'd love to see Netpliance ATTEMPT to charge more to my AMEX. The AMEX guys are REALLY good about being on the customers side. 07-14-2000 12:51:30

RE:IO's at CC Web (modified 0 times) Me_Too I also used AMEX for mine. I doubt that Netpliance and/or Circuit City want to hassel with AMEX. Judging from some postings in the general I/O forum, it sounds like Netpliance is trying to buy back "unused" I/O's -- perhaps because of supply problems. I bet that the most that will happen if Circuit City turns over the info and you don't sign up is that Netpliance may contact you and offer to buy it back. 07-14-2000 13:31:39

RE:IO's at CC Web (modified 0 times) silver944 Gak! Right now there are 42 i-opener auctions on ebay. Can you say saturation? NPLI is just dumping money down the rathole sending these things to CC. Thats about $130,000 of losses on their part just for the ones that are up there. Doesn't count all the rest that folks are buying, hoarding, etc. O well, their problem, not mine. However, given the market at ebay, folks should think twice before they imagine that they will make a vast profit on the CC-ebay arbitrage. $25->$50 when all is said and done. Given the amount of time it takes to get the i-opener, list on ebay, hassle the sale, etc. you might be making minimum wage when you count it all up. 07-14-2000 18:47:15

RE:IO's at CC Web (modified 0 times) Me_Too Ironic that at one point Netpliance was apparently talking about some type of business relationship with ebay! Silver944 is right that no one is going to get rich selling those things on ebay. The way CC sells them, there is no reason to buy them on ebay unless you are out of the country or otherwise can't get one at CC. 07-14-2000 19:22:12

RE:IO's at CC Web (modified 0 times) oider Make sure you call the store and check stock too. They have the ability to check other stores in the area too. Is everyone broke and going backwards? If you don't even have $100 cash around you should be working harder to get yourself out of the lame ass DEBT hole you got yourself into instead of playing with new toys. PAY CASH! 07-15-2000 05:01:37

RE:IO's at CC Web (modified 0 times) Middletowner New I/O Owner: I live in middletown, and the circuit city site didn't show any available, so I picked up one with no hassle at the Palisades mall store. I didn't even pre-order. I looked at the web site, and drove in on my way home. The sales kid told me he didn't have any, without even looking at the computer, so I told him the computer said they did. He confirmed it, and after waiting for the SLOOOW folk at the merchandise pickup counter, I was walking out with it. 07-15-2000 05:32:38

New Version I/O? (modified 0 times) Me_Too There are some of us who use credit cards to order on line because our jobs don't let us run around to distant stores during the workday. This is not to flame those who might be on vacation or have a more flexible schedule. Having said that, it may not matter whether you pay with cash or credit card anyway. In the general I/O forum, there is a post from someone who says he bought one at CUSA last night w/o a TOS. He said that CUSA told him the chip had been "fixed" so that the I/O could only be used with Netpliance's service and that there was no longer a need to require signup in the store. Don't know if this is a real "V5", an error at one CUSA store or whether CUSA believes Netpliance's old press releases. It also could be that they have just been told to say this and the "fix" is the sticker designed to scare "hackers" off! Certainly a low R&D cost to the latter! If anyone gets one of these units -- apparently with a July date on the box -- please let us know of any changes, gooped bios, etc. 07-15-2000 07:00:14

RE:IO's at CC Web (modified 0 times) strange strange thing I checked stock, went there and ended up with a 5/11 mfg date, no torx screws, has bios glued, no sticker on box, was prob a customer pick up that didnt - watch out there is always a "open box" in stock, it's the demo 07-15-2000 12:12:13

RE:IO's at CC Web (modified 0 times) dos_zilla Profile hi all, been following this board for a few weeks. i've been interested in www.ltsp.org for a while, and when i found iopener could be a thin client, found you all. i'm interested in just a tiniest practical terminal for my home network (hey, i'll put it in the bathroom, no more stacks of magazines). i went to my local CC (columbia, MO), and they are just starting to carry them. they have two "in back". the sales guy was moderately aware of the hardware hacking. he kind of gave mixed info as to how it worked... he said you are 'fined $400 if you drop service before the two years are up' (credit card charge, i guess). he also implied that it is only $99 up front. this is a pretty rural part of the world, so the whole CC could well be behind everything. as per some postings i saw here, i went in looking for returns, or open boxes. he also volunteered that he had heard that CC "was turning in names of people that broke the TOS". i didn't mention what i wanted to use it for to him... thanks for the info, i'll keep following. ebay has some inflated ones, as usual; watched a one sell with no bids, to two bids in the last five minutes, went for $155. 07-15-2000 21:40:58

RE:IO's at CC Web (modified 0 times) silver944 Hey dos_zilla. Pay cash. Even if all the above is true (and it isn't). They have to let you buy it for those funny green peices of paper. 07-15-2000 22:07:44

RE:IO's at CC Web (modified 0 times) Me_Too dos_zilla, Look at the various threads on this board for discussions about what happens if there is no TOS signed at the time of sale as seems to be the case with Circuit City sales these days. It sounds like the CC manager does not know what he is talking about. How exactly does CC "turn in" people who break the TOS? They are out of the loop when you pay your money and walk out the door with the I/O. Even if they pass along your name, address and phone number to Netpliance, CC has no way of knowing whether you sign up for the service, cancel it or what. If you are being presented with a written TOS, that is one thing. If all they are doing is selling you a box with a sticker on it, that is quite another. 07-15-2000 22:21:18

RE:IO's at CC Web (modified 0 times) dos_zilla Profile hi all, thanks for the info. i would *never, ever* do plastic at CC. they are not above (below?) selling your info to "marketers". since i enjoy alternate OS's, when i read that iopener ran QNX, i ran to http://www.qnx.com/demodisk/ and checked it out.. boots to a floppy, all runs in RAM. you have to enter DNS/gateway stuff (but that's pretty easy). i enjoyed a few minutes of pretty safe browsing.. no cookies, no virii, no trojans. ahh. plus, one of the extensions was TELNET, so what more could we ask from a client? 07-16-2000 00:36:15

IO's at CC Web (modified 0 times) XolodnoePivo This ii how I did it. Yesterday I checked CC Web Site and found that two stores in my area have them. Didn't by it over the web. Today I drove to one of them and asked for IO. Manager said that they don't have it. I showed him printout from web. He checked inventory and here you are they have two. So I bought both of them. Paid cash. No TOC. Gave bogus name. If you leave in New York area the other store which has it is in Yonkers. 07-16-2000 12:31:02

IO's at CC Web (modified 0 times) XolodnoePivo I opened one of them. No Epoxy. All IDE pins OK. 07-16-2000 15:39:18

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