As journalism enters a new information age, reporters who use computers to assist them in reporting must not only negotiate the price of a reporters' notebook with a Wal-Mart clerk, but also learn to negotiate the price of a tape drive with a computer hardware salesperson. The negotiation process, not to mention the price, is quite different.
Adam Berliant, co-owner of Electronic Public Information Consultants, a company geared towards obtaining, analyzing and reporting on electronically stored government records, will be the first to say that government bureaucrats are not the only obstacles to a database reporter.
In October of 1991 E.P.I.C. founders Berliant, Tom Braden and David Hinchman began operations in Seattle. A top priority was to buy a tape drive. The fledgling company wanted a Cipher drive, known for its high quality and reliability. However, a new Cipher drive can cost up to $14,000. E.P.I.C. could not afford a new Cipher, so they decided to buy one used for $6,000 from Contech Computer Corporation of Wilmington, N.C..
Berliant negotiated the financing, which included a $2,000 down payment. He says he was told by Contech's president Robert Conti that E.P.I.C. would be spinning tapes within a week after ordering the drive. But after a month of waiting they were still without a drive. Berliant was tired of waiting and decided to cancel the order.
A few weeks later he received just over $600, less than a third of his down payment. He was told by Conti that all of Contech's written purchase agreements include a restocking charge if an order is canceled. The charge, which covers the reconditioning of a drive when the customer sends it back to the warehouse, amounts to 20% of the purchase price.
Berliant contends that E.P.I.C. should not have to pay a restocking charge because they never received the drive and had only paid 30% of the $6,000 purchase price. He has contacted the FBI and the Better Business Bureau but has not received his money back.