Comments on: Don’t Hesitate to Name & Shame!

By: Bill Hely

Bill Hely — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:46:14 +0000

Hi Don. Thanks for your comment. In all fairness I should point out two things: 1. I never made any comment on, or drew any conclusions about, the LoJack technology. I look forward to investigating it further when it's available in my part of the world, as it certainly sounds like a very workable solution for now. I can certainly foresee a time not too far away when miniature, low drain and inexpensive GPS locators won't even need the laptop to be powered up. One would expect that companies already in that niche would be the first on board with such developments. 2. Subsequent to the above article I received communication from senior Absolute Software representatives. As a result of those exchanges I'm confident that the company is doing everything it can to address the failures I encountered. My follow-up article "Customer Service Is More Than a Contact Form" goes into more detail.

By: Don Moore

Don Moore — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 14:48:05 +0000

Thanks, Bill – I got LoJack for Laptops for my son’s laptop a few years ago, but he squirreled away everything that came with it, so it never got installed.
When he went away to college this past fall, we had to get him a new laptop from the school (University of Maryland) – you can edit that out if you need to, but feel free to leave it in – because their IT department offers absolutely NO support of any computer not purchased through them. There was an option for 4 years of LoJack for $70 through them, but that was only an online custom build purchase; we got ours on campus when we dropped him off, so it wasn’t available. I intended to order it for him when I got home, but for once procrastination paid off!
You saved us $70 and lots of headaches, no doubt. And now I know I can just toss out that old LoJack DVD when I come across it!

By: Zapod

Zapod — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 06:13:49 +0000

WOW, ARE YOU READING MY MIND?

I’ve just been looking around at various ways to protect my laptop from theft and Lojack for Laptops was on my shortlist to check out further. And I mean WAS on my list. Thanks for the very timely warning.

Love your work and looking forward to more on laptop security.

By: Bill Hely

Bill Hely — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 02:54:28 +0000

@Gareth Payne

Coincidentally just this morning I saw this snippet in a local newspaper:

“In the US, lawsuits against bloggers and other social networks and forums were estimated to cost bloggers US$17.6 million in 2007.”

But as they go on to point out, that a statement is “your honest opinion” or that it is “substantially true” is a solid defense.

I get my share of threats when people don’t like what I say, but they are empty threats, nothing more than sour grapes. I’m not in the business of putting people or companies down without very good reason and I can always substantiate my claims.

By: Gareth Payne

Gareth Payne — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 01:16:47 +0000

I agree with Brian, but as you mentioned in your article many substandard business policies persist because predatory lawyers have made people afraid to speak up. We need more people doing what you have done and staring them down.

I always find your articles interesting, both the technical and non-technical, as you always have something worthwhile to say. Keep up the good work.

By: Brian

Brian — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 01:10:59 +0000

Excellent Bill. I’m in business myself, yet I am 100% in favor of publicly exposing bad customer service and any sort of deception by businesses. You do your readers a service by warning them who not to do business with, as well as recommending those with good products and policies.

By: Fabian Foale

Fabian Foale — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 06:29:01 +0000

Hi Bill,
Good article. Hope it has some positive effect. Customer service is everything.
Cheers,
Fabian Foale.