I would like refer everyone to the front page article "Sales pass through compliance scrutiny" in the April 2000 issue of "The 3000 News Wire" for another take on HP and their distribution/pricing/VAR policies.  I'll make no further editorial comment other than what I have to say in that article.

Bob Graham
Director of AMISYS Computing Support

"Companions the creator seeks, not corpses, not herds and believers.
Fellow creators the creator seeks--those who write new values on new
tablets.  Companions the creator seeks, and fellow harvesters; for
everything about him is ripe for the harvest." - Friedrich Neitzsche,
"Thus Spoke Zarathustra"


-----Original Message-----
From: Dennis Heidner
Sent: Friday, May 19, 2000 12:33 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: HP pricing


You should probably also go back to Client Services and tell them what
has happened and ask for the name of somebody in HP.  I'm sure they
would be interested in your story.

Steve Hammond wrote:
>
> Help, I realize asking someone to explain HP pricing to me is like asking my 13-year-old to explain nuclear fusion to me, but...
>
> I am looking for a printer to replace a C30D in the computer room. I checked the HP web site and found a printer that seems to suit our needs.
>
> I contact our HP sales rep, who directs me to Client Services. Client Services directs me to an East Coast VAR (whom I will not name). I get a quote from the VAR and the price of the printer is about 10% higher than the price HP quotes on its web site. When I questioned the VAR about this, I was told that HP quotes 'street' prices on the web pages and the price on the web page is almost exactly what HP charges them for the printer.
>
> Now why is it that I can't buy the printer from HP (unless I want to put it on my credit card via the web site), I have to buy it from a VAR and I have to pay more for the printer from the VAR.
>
> To paraphrase Ricky Ricardo, "HP, you got a lot of 'splaining to do!"
>
> steve hammond
> washington dc