barneyt

From Mandrake:

Paris, May 19.

Quick update on the payment problems with Mandrakesoft

1. Natexis, our payment platform provider, is responsible for the software bug that essentially multiplied the amount due by 100 for some orders.

2. The bug is fixed now and the platform is once again safe and operational since Monday May 17.

3. To our knowledge, this bug affected about 250 customers who paid by Visa card essentially in North America during the month of May 2004.

4. At no point, was the wrongfully debited amount credited to Mandrakesoft, we always received only the correct amount (which partly explains why it took us some time to notice the problem).

5. Natexis gave us yesterday (Tuesday, May 18) a set of files from which we have identified the affected customers. The information provided by Natexis in those files is not of great quality (they were not able to provide us the transaction number). So it is possible that some customers we believe affected are not (which would be good) and that some customers we do not know have been affected (which would be bad).

6. Natexis tells us that they have contacted Visa and your bank on Monday the 17th. They will credit the amount wrongfully debited from the customer account, then will debit again the correct amount. This process should happen ?within one or two days?.

7. We have sent an e-mail to all the customers we believe have been affected. So if you had billing problems and did not receive an e-mail from us, please write to us at sc.uscan.misc@mandrakestore.com, with information about your order.

8. We apologize for the inconvenience suffered by our customers and will keep working on this untill all problems are solved.

Mandrakesoft Team

Barney

I use OpenOffice also. I use Windows for my wireless network (no PCI card that I have works with Mandrake 10) and for WMV files. I also use Money 2004 for my finances since I do on-line banking....... That's it!!

Barney

if you buy a windows OS for $99, thats all you get. just the OS. XP came with "word pad". no office. the "firewall" in XP, i wouldnt trust. the cd burning in XP doesnt do iso's. its a verry limited burner. no antivirus. just the OS. if you buy all this stuff, the prices add up and fast. cd burning software.....$50. macaffee or norton suites ......$100 (aproximately). firewall......$50. Microsoft Office......$500.

 

linux on the other hand, includes all this standard. even on the download edition. the reason the packs are so expensive are a few reasons. 1) product support. 2) manuals. 3) comercial software (like vmware. granted vmware is a demo, but vmware runs $300).

 

 

btw XP at $99 is XP home edition upgrade. the XP home edition full, is $199. the difference between the two? upgrade requires you to have a previous version of windows. if its on the harddrive, fine you can use that. but, what happens if you need to format and reinstall? the upgrade will ask for a previous version of windows and the manufacturers restore cd's wont work.

I totally agree. For the price you pay (if you do not download it free... which is entirely legal) you get so much more for your money. Multiple picture or video viewers, MP3 players, Office-like productivity apps. web browsers, file managers, utilities, the list goes on and on..............

The hassle factor is the steep learning curve when you are a n00b. It can get frustrating. I started with Red Hat and dumped it almost immediately. Came back to Mandrake and spent some time getting to kno wthe system, reading books, etc. Now, it is the system that I use almost exclusively. The only reason I turn on Windows (and I have three computers with Windows XP on them) is that I have to use it to write in a similar file format as stuff at work. That's it.

And with all of these freakin' viruses and trojans gong around, Mandrake fits the bill nicely.

Barney

Hi Everybody,

I agree with all of your positions. I must say that I got my money back almost one week to the day after it was taken out. As you read, there were 261 people who lost a substantial amount of money through this transaction (albeit temporary).

I do not blame Mandrake, but my statement shows the money went to them, so since they have received it in their account, they need to be the one to return it, and then go after the accounting firm that screwed it up.

As a result of this error, I had to cancel my debit card (it was not just a credit card), get it re-issued by my bank, repay all of the overdraft charges from bills that cleared since the money was taken out, and halt my bank's investigation that has been launched because of this.

Mandrake wrote to me and said once my money was returned (all $6.600 of it) they would then turn around and re-debit the $66 from my account. Somehow I do not think that this is really a good business practice (from a customer relations point of view).

Anyway, I still love Mandrake (the software) and will continue using it. I also appreciate folks on this board coming to my help even though I know it is only a community forum. I had no where else to turn, and you all helped me a lot!

Thanks so much again!

Barney

Thank you everyone!

Barney

Hi All,

I looked in hardware manager, but I can not find where I can see how much free space is on my hard drive. Can I do it in the terminal? Or is there another app?

Thanks!

Barney

Moved from Hardware by spinynorman

Thanks Pzatch,

I want to thank everyone for your input. I really appreciate it.

A suprise to me was the letter copied above from Mandrake. I got the exact same e-mail letter with only the $ amount and name changed (mine switched for his). Oh Brother!

Barney

Thanks, Anon.

You've been a great help!

Barney

BTW,

the USA phone number listed above simply has a recorded message about the VISA problem and then hangs up. Very unprofessional.

Barney

Ya know........ I fully support Mandrake and think that it is the best thing since sliced bread. I use it all of the time. But, the fact that $6,600 was removed after I authorized $66 is quite unnerving. This is especially bad since my family is expecting a new baby next month and I have no money at this point................

Barney

Thanks so much! I did not ice the note on the website about VISA transactions, but that doesn't help me get my money back...........

I appreciate all of your help!

Barney

I hope a mod will read this and forward it to someone at Mandrake Linux who will help me fast!

I gladly joined Mandrake Club for the regular price of $66 US dollars. Yesterday I used my debit card (same one I used for the Mandrake Club transaction) and it wouldn't take. I went to the ATM machine today and it stated that I only had $50 in my account! Mandrake had taken out $6,600!

I could not believe my eyes! I phoned the bank and now they are investigating. I wanted to call for support, but there is no US phone number (or any other number for that matter) on the Mandrake website. I sent three different e-mails and yest to hear what they are doing. In the meantime I have no funds to pay bills.

PLEASE HELP IF YOU KNOW A PHONE NUMBER TO CALL!

This really upsets me as I was trying to support Mandrake.

Barney