# MacDoc



## MACdonald (Jan 23, 2005)

I just bought a iBook G4 from MacDoc and i dont think i can be any happier with the sevice and help. Not to mention how happy i am with the machine.

thanks guys
jeff


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## RicktheChemist (Jul 18, 2001)

.


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## Chealion (Jan 16, 2001)

Moved to a more appropriate section of the site. (From ehMac.ca Feedback to Anything Mac and iPod.)


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## MacNutt (Jan 16, 2002)

Never bought anything from Macdoc directly. But I have heard that he is pretty trustworthy.

In all honesty...during my three years and more than six thousand posts here, I have NEVER heard anything even remotely bad about him as a Mac dealer. Only good.

But there have been times when I honestly felt like hopping on a plane and going out there to give him a good SMACK...just to knock some sense into him.

And I imagine that he has often felt the very same way about me.

So it's probably a draw. If I lived anywhere near the Toronto area I would feel completely safe buying pretty much anything from macdoc. More than safe, really. In fact..I'd probably do all my Apple shopping at his store, truth be told.

But I might still deck the silly prick upside the head, on my way out the door. Lay him out real fine.

Just for good measure.


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## MannyP Design (Jun 8, 2000)

> But there have been times when I honestly felt like hopping on a plane and going out there to give him a good SMACK...just to knock some sense into him.


Irony.



> But I might still deck the silly prick upside the head, on my way out the door. Lay him out real fine.


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## Fink-Nottle (Feb 25, 2001)

Given that the thread is simply titled 'Macdoc', I don't think Macnutt has knocked it off the tracks...

Anyway, I am somewhat to the right of Macdoc and the left of Macnutt, but as I live in Toronto and have purchased stuff from Macdoc for myself and others, I am most happy to vouch for the excellence of his service.

Cheers!


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## MannyP Design (Jun 8, 2000)

If it was in the everything else forum, I'd agree with you.


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## 2063 (Nov 9, 2003)

MacDoc bought a G4 tower from me, great store!


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## a7mc (Dec 30, 2002)

Sorry to crash the happy party...

Anyone that does not reply to my emails does not deserve my business. Been over a week since I sent my email... no reply. Of course, I'm expecting "the email was lost" response to that. Funny how every other retailer got my email and responded.

As a student, I have very odd hours and can't always afford to take time to call someone. So I use email as a way of communicating when I can't call (like at 2am for example, or when I'm on campus). If you have a posted email address, and have time to post on ehMac, you should make time to respond to a customer's email.

With that said, he does appear very knowledgeable, and has been a good resource on ehMac.


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## TroutMaskReplica (Feb 28, 2003)

a7mc, macdoc's a great guy, but he does have an email problem. try PMing him instead, or using the phone. he always picks up the phone when i call him, which in my mind is more important than whether he answers his email or not.

Digital Prototypes is also a great outfit, on Brown's Line in S. Etobicoke.


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## a7mc (Dec 30, 2002)

As I said, I can't always call.
"As a student, I have very odd hours and can't always afford to take time to call someone. So I use email as a way of communicating when I can't call (like at 2am for example, or when I'm on campus)."

Not to sound mean, but if he has an email problem and can't fix his own issue, that does not give me a whole lot of confidence in his troubleshooting abilities. So whether he has poor customer service or poor troubleshooting skills... either way it's a bad thing.


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## highapostle (Apr 21, 2004)

To throw in my experience, I've sent him a couple of emails over the past couple of days, and received prompt and helpful replies each time.


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## lindmar (Nov 13, 2003)

Nothing but good things to say about MacDoc..

Has haggled with me for hours constantly eMailing back and fourth only for me to leave undecided due to my crazy mac buying schedules..

My first mac came from him, although I then sent a nasty eMail about two months later as this was my first mac (b/w g3) and I had no clue what I was doing, no manuals, no real software ect ect... but all in all. I would buy my mac from him again anyday..

I recommend macdoc to everyone in the Windsor area.


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## maximusbibicus (Feb 25, 2002)

TroutMaskReplica said:


> a7mc, macdoc's a great guy, but he does have an email problem. try PMing him instead, or using the phone. he always picks up the phone when i call him, which in my mind is more important than whether he answers his email or not.
> 
> Digital Prototypes is also a great outfit, on Brown's Line in S. Etobicoke.


Thats weird. I find him to be the complete opposite.

I can NEVER get him on the phone, but he always responds ASAP to email. And the few times I have gome to his place, he is "never" there. Even though i spoke to him 5 minutes before arriving.

Good pricing though.


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## used to be jwoodget (Aug 22, 2002)

Aha... methinks there are in fact two macdocs. One whom answers email and one whom answers the phone. I wish I had that ability..... The question is, which one will macnutt choose to physically assault?


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## simon (Nov 2, 2002)

maximusbibicus said:


> Thats weird. I find him to be the complete opposite.
> 
> I can NEVER get him on the phone, but he always responds ASAP to email. And the few times I have gome to his place, he is "never" there. Even though i spoke to him 5 minutes before arriving.
> 
> Good pricing though.


That's the Macdoc I met too ...


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## GratuitousApplesauce (Jan 29, 2004)

*MacNutt resorts to threats of violence*

*Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.*

- Isaac Asimov, US science fiction novelist & scholar (1920 - 1992)

*Opinions founded on prejudice are always sustained with the greatest of violence.*

- Francis Jeffrey, Scottish critic & jurist (1773 - 1850)


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## steadfast (Jul 23, 2004)

I had the same e-mail experience with no reply but after the second try things went better. I do have one question for him though, what is the business address?


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

Last first - it;s "By appointment only" - so you gotta make a time before your get the address.

eMails com ein about 100 a day - some do get missed - some don't get to me at all hence the PM is greatly appreciated.

My doppleganger is sometimes in for repair 

I'm QUITE sure many are not aware of how much email gets scooped or lost in tranmission. We see it because of the volume. It's one reason forums are growingin importance for communication purposes.


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## MACaroni and cheese (Dec 24, 2004)

I did recently buy an Imac G5 20" from him and after about 100 emails back and forth we finalized the transaction. I do agree he is very busy with emails as some he responded to and some he didnt. After all that he was very nice to deal with and I felt like an A** for bothering the heck out of him(Impatient students) Left over $3000 with him with barely any receipt and YES I did receive my product in top notch and was very trustworthy to deal with(Unfortunately I must sell the computer I nearly died over). I will definitely deal with him again and recommend anyone and everyone!! 

Danny


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## a7mc (Dec 30, 2002)

> I'm QUITE sure many are not aware of how much email gets scooped or lost in tranmission. We see it because of the volume.


I'm curious... exactly how does email get "scooped" or "lost in transmisison"? I wouldn't mind a technical explanation, since my 10 years of IT experience and Computer Systems degree seem to be failing me on this. I used to own a computer store myself, and I own 5 domains, so I am quite used to a large volume of emails, yet, my email never seems to get magically "lost".

What astonishes me is that I would have expected a better response. If I still had my computer store, and someone told me they couldn't reach me to give me $3000+, my response would have immediately been "I'm sorry for not responding to you. I would be happy to help you out if you could kindly resend the message or call me at xxx". THAT would be customer service.

A7


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## mightyscoop1 (Sep 2, 2004)

a7mc said:


> I'm curious... exactly how does email get "scooped" or "lost in transmisison"? I wouldn't mind a technical explanation, since my 10 years of IT experience and Computer Systems degree seem to be failing me on this. I used to own a computer store myself, and I own 5 domains, so I am quite used to a large volume of emails, yet, my email never seems to get magically "lost".
> 
> What astonishes me is that I would have expected a better response. If I still had my computer store, and someone told me they couldn't reach me to give me $3000+, my response would have immediately been "I'm sorry for not responding to you. I would be happy to help you out if you could kindly resend the message or call me at xxx". THAT would be customer service.
> 
> A7


You're annoying. You're a know-it-all. You're sarcastic. You're confrontational. You've got it all! You're like the Perfect Storm of customers!


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## a7mc (Dec 30, 2002)

> You're annoying. You're a know-it-all. You're sarcastic. You're confrontational. You've got it all! You're like the Perfect Storm of customers!


LOL. That's pretty funny... especially if you actually knew me.

MacDoc is ignorant. He is lazy. He is making lame excuses. He is self-promotional. He's got it all. He's like the perfect storm of retailers.

Look, I'm not so naive as to think that what I just wrote about MacDoc is true. I don't know him, so I would never say those things about him. I was genuinely interested in hearing how his email just gets "lost". I am not impressed when people spread misinformation about how the internet works... it just serves to confuse and worry those who may not be able to understand the real technical details. Admittedly, I used a sarcastic tone, and I appologize. But the fact is, I am quite annoyed with how the retail industry treats it's customers. Service just seems to be getting worse and worse, and everybody is just sitting back and taking it! Come on! Someone has to stand up for customer service! And if I look like an a$$hole doing so, then so be it.

A7


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## MannyP Design (Jun 8, 2000)

After seeing how one of my co-workers work on their computer (moving the mouse, interacting with the interface, etc.) I can see how some people miss e-mail, heh heh. One instance that happened recently is when she inadvertantly moved her Entourage data folder into a separate folder... she called me in a panic that she lost all her important e-mail. After troubleshooting her problem for all of five minutes, I told her to try to keep the mousing/clicking below 55 mph. 

That being said, I have witnessed first-hand e-mail messages that get chewed up, mysteriously vanish, or delayed (days on end) by a wonky mailserver... it happens.


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## andreww (Nov 20, 2002)

Yes especially people that use free e-mail accounts like yahoo, hotmail, etc, etc. I've sent stuff to people i'm chatting with over yahoo and it can take DAYS to get there! Iand when I say days I mean days. Anyway, if you want low prices, expert advice, and a genuine leader in the mac community, MacDocs the guy for you. If you are more comfortable with retail bull****, theres a little store opening in Yorkdale...


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## mightyscoop1 (Sep 2, 2004)

« MannyP Design » said:


> After seeing how one of my co-workers work on their computer (moving the mouse, interacting with the interface, etc.) I can see how some people miss e-mail, heh heh. One instance that happened recently is when she inadvertantly moved her Entourage data folder into a separate folder... she called me in a panic that she lost all her important e-mail. After troubleshooting her problem for all of five minutes, I told her to try to keep the mousing/clicking below 55 mph.
> 
> That being said, I have witnessed first-hand e-mail messages that get chewed up, mysteriously vanish, or delayed (days on end) by a wonky mailserver... it happens.


Of course it does. With all of the variables of the ISPs, Hosts, DNS, etc., emails do disappear for mere mortals like us.


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## highapostle (Apr 21, 2004)

Don't forget spam filters, either on the individual or ISP level. I don't know how much legit email is caught by these programs, but you got to figure that there are at least some false alarms.


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## Mantat (Aug 22, 2003)

How email can be lost:
- ISP filters. I couldnt get alot of email from friends in asia because of this
- filters on my computer: well.. thats when I used a pc
- ISP problem: I dont know 'how' but I can attest that my university web adress missed a lot of email for a while without any patern/reasons. 
- magical internet bug: nothing is perfect ;-)

Seriously, I lost a lot of email in my short internet life. Some very important ( like a date with a celebrity, potential contract, etc...). Actually, not all were 'lost' most of them were seriously late, as in days and month late, which made the thing even more cruel to me... 

Anyways, I dont think that I lose email anymore, but a few years ago, it was possible and happened a few times. 

Oh and something funny that happen the other day: i received an email that was targeted to someone else. At first I thought it was SPAM but after closer inspection, it was a legitimate email that had a receiver who had a name close to mine. If someone could explain to me how this could have happen, I would be very interested...


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## nxnw (Dec 22, 2002)

mightyscoop1 said:


> You're annoying. You're a know-it-all. You're sarcastic. You're confrontational. You've got it all! You're like the Perfect Storm of customers!


That's a really foolish comment. 

I agree with A7MC that business people should apologise, not make excuses. "I get 100 emails a day", is a lame excuse for failing to send a timely response to a customer. If he can't manage his email load, he should not use email for business communication. He should just say, "I'm sorry I didn't respond promptly" and find a way to communicate effectively with his customer. Anyone losing even a small amount of business email due to filtering or carelessness (as misguided apologists, not MacDoc, have suggested) has a serious issue that should be fixed pronto. I, frankly, can't imagine that this is the problem.

There will always be customers who make unreasonable demands, but expecting a reasonably prompt return call or email is not unreasonable. If MacDoc is leaving some customers dissatisfied for this reason, this thread can be a valuable opportunity for him to take this concern to heart and make an effort to get his ducks in a row.

The apologists are not doing him any favours if they persuade him otherwise.


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## gmark2000 (Jun 4, 2003)

Macdoc, you're clearly qualified and knowlegdeable about all things Mac, but I was wondering why you haven't tried to be an 'Apple Authorized Reseller' and why your technicians haven't gotten their Apple Certified technician certifications?

Just curious about your business model...


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## RicktheChemist (Jul 18, 2001)

.


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## monokitty (Jan 26, 2002)

gmark2000 said:


> Macdoc, you're clearly qualified and knowlegdeable about all things Mac, but I was wondering why you haven't tried to be an 'Apple Authorized Reseller' and why your technicians haven't gotten their Apple Certified technician certifications?
> 
> Just curious about your business model...


a) AAR's sell new computers, not heavily, custom-configured Power Macs with special deals and accessories like MacDoc.
b) There's no point of being an AAR if there's already 5 or who knows how many already in the same province - MacDoc is offering something "different."
c) It costs money - and a lot of it - to become an AAR, which MacDoc either doesn't want to, doesn't need, or can't afford, to purchase.

Re: Certified Technicians

a) Being certified doesn't necessarily mean you know anything; certification is only required for AASP's, which MacDoc isn't, so it doesn't matter either way. He knows more enough without certification. 

Re: Not responding to e-mails and apologizing 

I don't think you can expect MacDoc to apologize to everyone he doesn't respond to if he receives a few hundred e-mails per day -- apologizing to so many freakin' people is a waste of productive time and people who complain about this should understand his situation and business. If every single e-mail needs a reply, then MacDoc should hire someone who does absolutely nothing but respond to e-mail 8 hours per day -- but I'm sure MacDoc does more than just sit on his computer all day reading e-mail. For all of you who complain about a lack of response to e-mail, go suggest he hire an "e-mail accountant."


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## ArtistSeries (Nov 8, 2004)

a7mc said:


> I'm curious... exactly how does email get "scooped" or "lost in transmisison"? I wouldn't mind a technical explanation, since my 10 years of IT experience and Computer Systems degree seem to be failing me on this. I used to own a computer store myself, and I own 5 domains, so I am quite used to a large volume of emails, yet, my email never seems to get magically "lost".
> 
> A7


A7 I have a server farm with 100 domains and a daily volume of almost 100 000 emails daily and I'm called to find out how emails get lost. 
When a client calls to complain that "x" is trying to send emails and if there is a bounce I ask that the bounce be forwarded. 
In about 75% percent of the time it's because there is a problem on the senders side. This could be as easy as bad email address, they are not connected to the internet, improper configuration of the email client causing malformed host-header information (flagged as Spam), an ISP problem (more than you think) and there can be a block between point A and B where the email will not be delivered..
If a server in this chain flags an email as Spam it can get lost.

On the server side we do our best to stop all Spam. This involves blocking IPs, blocking domains, blocking usernames, blocking certain key words in the title of the email or body. Those emails fall into a Spam trap where they get deleted at the end of the day. We do not send out error messages if mail fails to be delivered. 

We also have various accounts on different networks to help us test for email problems. We often send ourselves mail as test and with certain ISPs find that a large enough % of our mail does not even reach us.... Strange but true.


Add to the mix other problems such as computer clocks not being set properly (we look at send dates to ascertain if email is valid), mail being flagged as Spam and even accidental deletion.

I receive 200+ emails a day and will by instinct delete emails with no subject, first name only as a sender - so you can see how email can get "lost".


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## ArtistSeries (Nov 8, 2004)

a7mc said:


> But the fact is, I am quite annoyed with how the retail industry treats it's customers. Service just seems to be getting worse and worse, and everybody is just sitting back and taking it! Come on! Someone has to stand up for customer service! And if I look like an a$$hole doing so, then so be it.
> 
> A7


This looks like it could be the start of another Thread.
Customer service is dead in Canada and this is so true of Montreal.
My retail experiences in the USA have been quite good as of late.

In Canada, I can write, email, phone and not get a response. So I do understand your frustration.


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## iPetie (Nov 25, 2003)

MacDoc is a "very busy guy". He has been very good in my transactions with him and I would recommend him anytime. I would also let anyone I recommended him to that he is a "very busy guy".
Email or call, the expert advice and deals are worth it. That's why he's a "very busy guy".


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## PosterBoy (Jan 22, 2002)

Lars said:


> I don't think you can expect MacDoc to apologize to everyone he doesn't respond to if he receives a few hundred e-mails per day -- apologizing to so many freakin' people is a waste of productive time and people who complain about this should understand his situation and business.


 Or, he could set up a rule in his email app that auto-responds to incoming emails which says "I get a lot of email, I will reply as soon as I can" or something along those lines. It would take about 5 minutes to set up.


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## imachungry (Sep 19, 2004)

a7mc said:


> Sorry to crash the happy party...
> 
> Anyone that does not reply to my emails does not deserve my business. Been over a week since I sent my email... no reply. Of course, I'm expecting "the email was lost" response to that. Funny how every other retailer got my email and responded.
> 
> ...



Me too. I know MacDoc is a good guy from waaaaay back (magic days) but I sent him an important email the other day and no reply. Bad form. 

At the same time, he's sent me helpful emails, so he's forgiven (but I really, really needed an answer at the time!).


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## RicktheChemist (Jul 18, 2001)

.


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## hmto (Jul 4, 2003)

Let's face it. It is what it is. Dave will at times respond promptly and at other times seem like he's away on vacation. This is what many of us have experienced and should accept it for that. He does not run your typical brick and mortar store. The man works from his home and has so for as long as I can recall. If you want retail store customer service then perhaps you should seek it elsewhere. But there is no guarantee it will be any different there or better for that matter. Depending upon the day, month or any occasion, I have had crap service and attitude at any and all retail locations in the GTA bar DPI.
I get my stuff from both Dave and Gary. Trust them completely and will continue to do so.


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## ArtistSeries (Nov 8, 2004)

RicktheChemist said:


> Also, I think it depends on your definition of good customer service...
> 
> 
> RtC


I hate shopping, so if I go to a store it's because I need something. The whole shopping experience leaves me cold - not there to be pampered.

Last week walked into Walmart to pick up some windshield washer. Went to the auto section. Waited 5 minutes for service - no one around. Went over to the next section - found a salesrep. She found someone in auto section. Told me to wait. After 10 minutes, no service. Went to see the "greeter" to lodge a complain and ask him where the windshield washer was. He told me they were out of fluid (why could'nt any of the other clerks to that?). Left my basket full us stuff and went to complain to the manager. Received blank stares from him. Well, I will never set foot into that Walmart again...

Last year, I bought a Martin HD-28. Went into Steve's wanting to place an order. They told me it would take 6 months before getting the guitar - and needed a the full deposit - and they gave me the impression that they wanted to sell me what they had on the floor. Same day, I went to Italmelodie - placed the order and received the guitar within 2 weeks - it's the bloody same distributor in Canada.... Ital will take my special orders - 

When Bmac was around I would have to tell the staff where the items that I wanted to buy where.... 

It's the little things that make a difference. Small shops don't always offer the best service. I tend to buy quality items - some shop owners almost seem to look at you with distain. The stores that have given me good service get my repeat business. The same applies to online purchases. Chapters has been great. Indigo, well poor. CDplus is great, archaumbault, less than steller.


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## PwrBookG4 (Jan 30, 2005)

Well he may be the nicest guy in the world, and he may know Macs like a book. But these days with Apples manufacturing problems there is no way I'd buy anything from anyone I could not return it to for a prompt exchange.

Why should I have to send something back to Apple that I bought a week ago? That's nuts.


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## Loafer (Jan 7, 2004)

ArtistSeries said:


> Last week walked into Walmart to pick up some windshield washer. Went to the auto section. Waited 5 minutes for service - no one around. Went over to the next section - found a salesrep. She found someone in auto section. Told me to wait. After 10 minutes, no service. Went to see the "greeter" to lodge a complain and ask him where the windshield washer was. He told me they were out of fluid (why could'nt any of the other clerks to that?). Left my basket full us stuff and went to complain to the manager. Received blank stares from him. Well, I will never set foot into that Walmart again...


And that is why I don't shop at Walmart.
Go local baby, go local!....don't feed the corporate machine!

As for MacDoc...he seemed to offer some good deals to me, got back to me quite promptly.....except once I never got a reply, but oh well.
Ended up going to Carbon because it was just down the road and I was in a bit of a hurry to get set up.


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## The Librarian (Apr 11, 2003)

Artist Series,

you shouldn't be anywhere near Steve's if you want to buy quality stuff. it's Songbird on queen, or Capsule futher west on queen, for this guitar player. i don't think you'd see Steve's carrying a '63 strat one week, and a 66 SG the next. 'nuff said.


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## ArtistSeries (Nov 8, 2004)

The Librarian said:


> Artist Series,
> 
> you shouldn't be anywhere near Steve's if you want to buy quality stuff.


There is very little choice in Montreal for guitars and even less competition. 
One store has G&L, the other Fender...

I'm more of a collector now, don't get much time to play.

We do have good Luthiers -


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## gordguide (Jan 13, 2001)

eMail does "just disappear" in transmission; I've experienced it myself. Sometimes you have no feedback at all; thus they are lumped in with the ones that really did work from the sender's perspective. In other words, eMail is less reliable than we think it is.

I've also had "message undeliverable" bounce notices from mail I forwarded from one perfectly good account to another; some messages worked and others didn't, even though they were forwarded at exactly the same time with exactly the same destination address, and were small plain text messages. Resending it worked flawlessly.

It's not life-or-death reliable, or even as-good-as-a-telephone or as-good-as-the-Post-Office reliable. Look for it on the most-things-computer list, and it's a shining beacon of reliability. Which is to say, it isn't truly reliable but compared to the debit card machine at your grocery store, it's top of the class.

The only way anyone could consider a digital device or data reliable is to lower your standards. Which we've all been somehow convinced to do, probably to avoid driving ourselves crazy with worry.


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## RISCHead (Jul 20, 2004)

Hey what the hell! Its a free-for-all thread with Macdoc unfortunately as the motd (message of the day for the non Unix initiated)

To add one last point to everything that's already been said about email delivery:
The most commonly used e-mail delivery systems today are based on SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol). SMTP is not a guaranteed delivery protocol; unlike TCP/IP for example that includes error recovery as part of its protocol. 
SMTP works on a 'best-effort' basis and most of the time is amazingly reliable in practice. Unfortunately, since it doesn't guarantee delivery, the fact that you didn't get an error when you sent someone a mail doesn't mean that they recd it.

Now what else can we talk about on this thread? and keep it tortured and alive for longer, totally hijacked and mutated from its original purpose


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## TroutMaskReplica (Feb 28, 2003)

some of our newer members have exhibited a real lack of class in this thread.


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## Macaholic (Jan 7, 2003)

I really didn't want to post in this thread. But others who have had problems with MacDoc PM'd me about this thread and I then felt compelled to post.

I have a love/hate relationship with MacDoc. The hate part has been well covered in this thread, that being an undependable response record to emails. This, where he has even specified that the best way to contact him is via email rather than by phone. I understand his reasoning that email allows him to better organize his workflow and keep track of customer relations, but this is negated by too many of my and several others' emails "falling" into the cracks of his Mac. There is more to this story of my dealings with him that I'll not go into, but the bottom line is that I can't trust that he'll be responsive to communications I or others I may refer to him will initiate. And the spam filter/email loss reasoning does not hold enough water to act as a defense. Also, I know that everybody needs a life/hobby, but him posting at ehmac and Magic while I'm waiting from hours to days for (or never getting) a response burns my britches. If MacDoc wants to hang out and argue with MacNutt, then he should have someone there handling the overflow. Yes, you can email him at 10pm and you might get a response, whereas every other mac seller will be closed. But, WILLYOU get a response at all? It seems to depend on _something_. Wish I knew what. but I';d be happy with a 10am reply, or a reply within a few hours, even if only to say "I'll get back to you".

And -- beyond the folks criticizing him in this thread about his lack of communication -- _I know several folks_ who experience the same thing who have not spoken here. When you get people complaining to ME about it via PM out of the blue, you know you're not alone.

And, although he gives "good email" when he does reply and he "gives good forum posts", he's actually not quite as jovial in person. That's no big deal though, despite my preference for dealing with people who are a bit more outgoing.

Now, the love part is that I really do respect his knowledge of the platform. Sure, he was wrong about my power supply being incapable of supporting all the upgraded stuff in Frankenmac (specifically, when I recently added the RAID and ATA133 card in), and that it in fact turned out to be a defective ATA card. But hell, NOBODY's perfect, it could have been anything, and his batting average is still impressive. And Lord know I'm far from always right. I also appreciate his specialty of tweaking used hardware into viable and current feature sets.

The bittersweet part of this is that he HAS come through for me a couple of times quite heroically. In fact, I bought Frankenmac off him when Frankie was a wee 450Mhz Sawtooth of a gaffer. When the job I had previously landed -- and the entire reason for me replacing my 8100+G3/266 for -- fell through, I had to scramble for about a week to pound the bucks out of the client for the system. This, after the client emailed David TELLING HIM that the job was mine. Then, a few weeks later -- and before I got my deposit from them, it fell apart. David was very cool about it and gave me the time to get it all hammered out.

When the CDRW in my Sawtooth died, MacDoc's main tech guy, Geoff, lent me HIS OWN LaCie external CDRW to continue some crucial work at that time while the RMA for my internal CDRW was processed.

And finally, when my sister was looking to buy a 15" G4 iMac, he was so bent on steering her away from the poor video resolution on such a small display that he offered to let us use one of his for a few days to find out for ourselves.

I think that the above examples are pretty impressive... but it pisses me off on the occasions when I get no response from the guy; not even an "I'm sorry, but I'm too busy at this time to tend to your needs" email. David, you really should at least fire one of those of if you're unable (or tacitly unwilling) to deal with somebody. In any line of business, I believe that you have to treat the customer with courtesy -- whether you feel like it or not. Lord know I've been there, ranting at the phone upon concluding a call. And -- like many people's line of work -- sometimes what starts out as an answer to a question or possible sale winds up as a dead-end and the customer has gone elsewhere. That happens regularly. Jeez, just before Christmas I paid two musicians and a rapper $150.00 each for *a speculative* demo I composed to land a series (always at the clients request)... and haven't heard from the production company yet! Am I pissed off? You ****ing bet. But **** happens, and even though I'd appreciate a callback, I'd probably submit for another series of theirs if I wasn't that busy at the time. I'd still call them to say that I appreciate the call but Im' too busy, however. But, this is a little different: I want to BRING business to MacDoc.

Anyway, I doubt that MacDoc will change about this. He will tell us that he still has his first customer from 1985 (or whatever) and he'll surely think that his customer response doesn't need changing. He has been at it for A LONG time. And yes, I find it difficult to say this given David's heroics as I stated, above. Despite me STILL referring some people looking for a good used package to him on occasion (but with a warning of possible communication difficulties framed in a more innocent way about David "being REALLY busy"), frankly it can be frustrating and a hassle and, in the customer/vendor relationship, it should be the vendor dealing with the hassle and not the customer (in my opinion). To those of you who still gain a response from MacDoc, that's great. Meanwhile, just today I ordered a Mac Mini for the family (and to act as a demo DVD duplicator) with Gary Smythe at Digital Prototypes (1.25Ghz, 512Mb, 80Gb, DVDRW). MacDoc crossed my mind, but I KNOW Gary will respond and be pleasing to deal with. To me, that's important. At least my call was heard and I can trust Gary to reply promptly.


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