{
  "id": "1992-july-buyer-beware",
  "slug": "1992-july-buyer-beware",
  "url": "https://dwillis.github.io/uplink/article/1992-july-buyer-beware.html",
  "year": 1992,
  "month": "July",
  "monthNum": 7,
  "headline": "Buyer Beware",
  "kicker": "Bytes, Bits and Nibbles",
  "author_name": "",
  "author_title": "",
  "affiliation": "",
  "summary": "A startup journalism company struggles to recover a $2,000 down payment after canceling an order for a used computer tape drive from a vendor who applied unexpected restocking charges despite never delivering the equipment.",
  "keywords": [
    "journalism",
    "negotiation",
    "payment"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Technology",
    "Business & Economy"
  ],
  "technologies": [
    "magnetic tape"
  ],
  "full_text": "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.\n\nAdam 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.\n\nIn 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..\n\nBerliant 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.\n\nA 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.\n\nBerliant 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.",
  "provenance": {
    "extracted_by": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6",
    "extracted_at": "2026-07-05",
    "verified": true
  },
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  "html_url": "https://dwillis.github.io/uplink/article/1992-july-buyer-beware.html",
  "json_url": "https://dwillis.github.io/uplink/article/1992-july-buyer-beware.json"
}