On June 11th, 1999, I placed a phone order for a WorkzPro System. At $1712.95, this system with 12.9 gigabytes of hard drive, 32mb of video, 256mb RAM, and a DVD-ROM was a great bargain. I was told I would receive my system in 5 days.

On June 23rd, I made my first status call and was told that it would be 5 more days. They were having problems with one of their vendors and were backordered.

On July 5th, I made my second status call. I was told it would be another week or so. Fine, it took me many months to save up for my computer so I can wait another 5 days.

On July 13th I make my third status call. I was told that it MAY be 3 more weeks but he's not sure!!! I'm feeling really uneasy now. What am I supposed to do? According to the customer service manager, they are severly backlogged.

On August 2nd, I make my fourth and final status call. Not only does the sales rep not know how long it will take to ship my system, they have no idea as to why it's taken so long. The rep offered me lifetime internet access for free . (I just read an article that they're being sued by Earthlink -- what a surprise) When I inquired about a refund, I was told it would take about 6 weeks!!! .

On August 3rd, I called to cancel my order. The customer service rep tells me it will take 10 to 14 business days, contradicting the 6 to 8 weeks estimate I was told earlier. Much to my horror, I find a website chock full of Microworkz complaints that sound eerily like mine: ordesr placed but no receipt of merchandise, when people did receive merchandise it did not work, long waits on the technical service and customer service lines.

I am fed up!!! These people have my money, and I have nothing. I've already missed an important computer class I had planned on taking. I am relieved that I actually didn't receive the computer. I'm sure the quality of their hardware equals the quality of their customer and technical service. I have electronically submitted a complaint to the Better Business Bureau in Washington state, state's Attorney General's office, Consumer Affairs, and the Federal Trade Commission. The Better Business Bureau contacted me by letter and stated that they received no cooperation from Microworkz, and there was nothing else they could do.

On September 8, I spoke to Guy Ruffin who informed me that refunds were backlogged for 2 weeks. I still have received nothing. I have paged him numerous times with no return call. I emailed today, the 24th of September, Guy Ruffin inquiring about my refund, and he replied they HOPEFULLY would be able to process my refund within 10 days. After writing a letter to the new COO, Lance Rosen, I received a call from his assistant Carolyn Dalton on September 13. She assured me that my refund will be expedited and that she would call me back to let me know what was going on. On September 14, Lance Rosen called me to assure me that my refund was being investigated and expedited. I have left messages for Mr. Rosen, with no return calls.