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Non-Tech : Cendant Corporation (NYSE:CD) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ginko who wrote (2915)	1/25/1999 9:07:00 PM
From: go_bucks	Respond to of 3627

I've bought books from books.com many times.. guranteed lower price than barnesandnoble.com and amazon.com.. if you don't believe me go take a look yourself. one click ordering process as well. After your purchase they're rated by an independent firm.. and it got 4 stars out of 5 (highest among its peers) AVIS also reported much better than expected earnings today. Great news for CD which owns AVIS.

To: Ginko who wrote (2915)	1/25/1999 10:03:00 PM
From: Bootz	Respond to of 3627

Very poor customer experience. First impressions are everything, and NetMarket(Cendant) failed miserably IMO. Bean, You could be absolutely right and it wouldn't matter one whit. Call up Microsoft and complain about your copy of Word 97. Dissatisfied with Customer Service? Then why not sell your MSFT? Cendant ain't NetMarket, although that's part of the picture. In the main it's Ramada Inns, Motel 8, Century 21, Avis car rentals and so on. It's a dramatically undervalued blue chip cash cow, period. If you got in under $20 you ought to fall on your knees and thank your lucky stars. If you don't want your shares, tell me what you paid for them and what you want in exchange. As long as it's not market value, of course. Bootz

To: Ginko who wrote (2915)	1/26/1999 12:31:00 PM
From: Zed	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 3627

I purchased from NetMarket with no problems, quite the opposite. Needed a pair of wireless headphones. Did a search. Got a list and was able to check detailed specs, even look at pictures. Ordered and received them with no hassle whatsoever. BTW - you don't need to become a member, but members do get a better price. I found the experience painless, even interesting. Z

To: Ginko who wrote (2915)	1/27/1999 5:39:00 PM
From: timbur	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3627

NetMarket review and critique (long and not for virgin ears) THE GOOD Layout Decent layout. I don't care for all that pretty fluff on the page, and I hate those silly non-obvious graphic buttons, but since I'm running with a fast connection, I shouldn't bitch. Features The comparison shopping feature is a nice idea that needs better implementation. I decided to compare video cards, and all it did was show me the same information with the products side-by-side. I was hoping for at least a summary of features (AGP, etc). Order Processing It would have been nice if they would allow me to save my information without becoming a member, but that's OK I guess. I didn't want to order anything, but I got as far as entering my credit card number without any request to call them. Perhaps their credit card processing just happened to be down at the time? (Might explain the 30 minute hold time Bean experienced, if the problem had not been resolved.) THE BAD Prices I looked at some of my favorite video cards, and their member prices were very slightly better than ebworld.com. Since the prices on EBWorld are almost never BETTER than those at EB's retail locations, I was a little discouraged. Then I checked buycomp.com, and I became pessimistic. BuyComp's prices were consistently 10+% less than NetMarket's. And that's for members! Perhaps guest purchases come with a coupon for a free tube of anal lube? It's possible that BuyComp has some special deal based on volume which allows them to offer items for less. Still, I bet both companies use one of the Big Three (Ingram, TechData, Merisel) wholesale distributors for these products. Since Bean mentioned he didn't get a packing slip, maybe they're being dropped shipped from the distributor? Here is the difference in prices for a Creative Labs Riva TNT, retail. BuyComp Price: $102.95 Shipping: $10.09 UPS Ground Tax: $0 Total: $113.04 NetMarket (as a guest) Price: $169.00 (member price is $149.00) Shipping: $7.95 (standard shipping, shipper not specified) Tax: $9.86 -->WTF?!?!? Total: $186.81 Difference: about $73 for nonmembers and about $50 for members. In addition, members pay $69.95 per year for this privilege! (Oh, and it's automatically renewing, just like those infamous AOL accounts!) Folks, if you're gonna do Internet shopping, NetMarket is NOT the place to do, at least for state-of-the-art hardware! SUMMATION As you can tell, I am very disappointed with the prices charged at NetMarket. I was considering joining, but I definitely won't now! Cheers, Tim (Who still likes Cendant despite NetMarket)