Some interesting tidbits from Greenberg's columns today ....
Morning Column:
You tell me, should I call the regulators? In a recent column I mentioned how I bought a coffee maker through Shopping.com on Dec. 30. I chose Shopping.com because its appeared to pride itself on selling products below cost, and its price on this product was sharply lower than I could find anywhere else online or off. It was supposed to be delivered within seven to 10 working days. It never arrived, so I worked myself through the company's inept customer service department and finally, after trading a few emails, I received this email from a customer service representative with the initials K.B.: "We are currently researching the status of your order. The appropriate vendor has been contacted and we are awaiting a response. We will email or call you within 24 hours with the exact status of your order."
I wrote back: "The clock is ticking."
A few hours later, K.B. wrote: "I am pleased to tell you that after talking with our vendor, your White 12-Cup Water Filtration Coffeemaker will ship no later than Thursday 1/28/99. But it may ship earlier. If you wish to receive this product, do nothing and it will arrive by Friday 1/29/99, as we have made arrangements for overnight shipping."
I wrote back: "I've marked my calendar."
You can see this one coming many miles away: Friday was Jan. 29. It has come and gone, but my coffee maker hasn't arrived.
This time I wrote: "Should I start calling attorney generals offices?"
So far, no reply.
Meanwhile, Shopping.com has had the use of my money for one month without ever delivering on its end of the bargain. And based on emails from others, I'm not alone. (Maybe that's why Compaq (CPQ:NYSE) really lowered the price of its deal to acquire Shopping.com. Maybe they took a look at the books!)
Afternoon Column:
Shopping.com, update: This column's morning dispatch included an update of my experience with Shopping.com (IBUY:Nasdaq). I mentioned the company has had use of my money for a month. However, my wife, who handles our family's checkbook, tells me Shopping.com didn't show up on the December statement -- so I have no idea whether they've charged me yet. Let's hope they haven't, for their sake: Federal rules ban charging for products until they're shipped.
Also from the afternoon column:
Dinging Dell: Last week JJC made some offhand comment about how much money guys are making betting against Piper Jaffray's Ashok Kumar, who has been sounding an alarm about weakening sales growth for PC makers. This morning he's out with another warning on Dell's (DELL:Nasdaq) slowing top-line growth. The company doesn't report earnings until Feb. 16. While most of Wall Street is likely to focus on year-over-year growth, Kumar will be shining the spotlight on sequential growth, the appropriate measure of a growth company. He estimates Dell's sequential growth for the quarter ended Jan. 31 was a sluggish 11%, which would trail competitors' growth rates. What's more, according to his comparisons, Dell's market share is dropping.
As for Wall Street making money by betting against him, you can hear Kumar's shrug over the phone when he says, "These aren't numbers I'm making up." Put another way, Wall Street doesn't want to let the facts get in the way of a good stock.
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