Cruzio/The Internet Store Newsletter - Number 52, December 11, 2001
1. Second Harvest contributions
2. Try local stores on the Web
3. Cruzio specials
4. Free Brown Bag workshop on DSL this Thursday
5. How is Cruzio doing?
6. Blatant plug: Cruzio services make great Christmas gifts
7. Cruzio's holiday schedule
8. Stormy weather bad connections
9. No more Amex and Discover
10. Sign up a friend: Buddy Bucks
11. About This Newsletter
12. How to Reach Cruzio (dial-in or tech support)
1. Second Harvest contributions
Cruzio is asking you to join us in our annual Second Harvest
Food Bank holiday drive. A portion of any Cruzio service purchased
before December 25th, by new or existing customers, will be donated
to the Food Bank. In addition, we have a food barrel in our downtown
Santa Cruz office awaiting donations of cans and other non-perishable
foodstuffs. If you incur a late fee with Cruzio during this time,
you can have it waived by bringing three cans of food to our barrel.
Let's work to make this a good holiday season for everyone!
2. Try local stores on the Web
Are you doing a lot of holiday shopping online this year?
Many people are. It's convenient and quick. You may not have tried
many local stores on the Web yet, so we wanted to remind you that
yes, many local shops, artists' studios, and other businesses are
doing online sales. Check the Web Mall at
http://www.cruzio.com
If you'd like your own store included, free of charge, simply follow
the directions above the list on the site.
3. Cruzio specials
Until December 31st, Cruzio's most popular services are all on sale.
This includes:
Dialup service, 33.6 to 56k speeds............. $20 off
DSL, 768k to 1.5mb speeds...................... $10 off
Domain names................................... $20 off
ShopSite Web stores............................ $50 off
We'll be closed on December 31st and January 1st, so if you are eager
to catch the special but must make your purchase that very day, please
remember to use our order form on the Web:
http://www.cruzio.com/app
or fax in your application:
831 460-2839
or let us know on January 2nd, and we'll squeeze you in. Happy holidays!
4. Free Brown Bag workshop on DSL this Thursday
DSL: High-Speed Internet Connections at Your Home or Office
Thursday, December 13th 12:30-2pm at Cruzio
You may wonder how DSL works; how much it costs; whether your
computer will work with DSL; if it's available at your home or
office; and, just how fast is it anyway? If you or a friend are
considering upgrading to DSL, attend this free event all about
Cruzio's DSL services.
Cruzio can answer all your DSL questions. So hop in, and fasten
your seatbelt! Attend this FREE event to learn more about high-speed
Internet connections, and how you can save time and money getting
your DSL service from Cruzio. Seating is limited so register for this
event in advance at
http://www.cruzio.com/support/business/brownbags.html
5. How is Cruzio doing?
In recent months, friends will occasionally approach one of us
Cruzio staffers and, looking at us soulfully, ask: "Is your business
doing okay?" These friends are concerned about the economy, in
particular the tech economy. They worry that Cruzio must be
struggling.
Not to worry. Cruzio can honestly answer, "We're doing great."
Unlike the prototypical dot-com business, Cruzio did not borrow
scads of money, attract highly demanding investors, or merge with
mega-national corporations. We stuck to our basic business principles:
offer the best possible service at the best possible price; pay for
operations out of profits, not borrowing; and only sell what we can
support well. We are not losing money every quarter, as many huge
ISP's are. We are making a small but healthy profit, enough to fund
our growth as more customers sign up each month. Cruzio has grown
every year since 1989. We're very lucky to have a talented and
experienced staff who make our service the best in the business.
We're here to stay.
6. Blatant plug: Cruzio services make great Christmas gifts
Okay, it's Christmas Eve. It's raining. You still have presents
to buy. Grandpa. Aunt Jane. Slowly, panic creeps across your body.
You don't want to go out. You're tired.
Here's an answer. Go to
http://www.cruzio.com/app
and select a fine Internet service for each person. For Grandpa,
a domain name. You can put a little Web site up for him there. For
Aunt Jane, a dialup Internet account. So she will be able to
email her bridge partner who's moved to Miami. Write a nice little
card describing the service and listing the login and password.
Aaaahhh. Now you are done, and there's even time left to bake cookies.
7. Cruzio's holiday schedule
Cruzio offices, including Sales and Technical Support, will be closed
Monday and Tuesday, December 24th and 25th, and Monday and Tuesday,
December 31st and January 1st. Our systems engineers will be keeping
our systems running on these holidays as we always do, 24 hours a day,
365 days a year. We'll be open on Saturday, December 22nd from 10 am
to 2 pm as usual. For last minute holiday shopping, you can always use
our Web order form:
http://www.cruzio.com/app
Happy holidays!
8. Stormy weather bad connections
Some days, the weather is blustery and rainy, and it's great to go
inside and enjoy a little Internet. Unfortunately, that same wet weather
isn't good for the telephone lines on which your Internet data travels:
it's not uncommon to experience disconnects during the winter months.
Since data transfers are more compressed than voice traffic, you will
probably notice problems with your Internet connection before you see
a degradation in your voice service (although you may hear a slight hiss
or hum on the phone, too, if you listen carefully.)
For advice on how to handle this problem, check:
http://www.cruzio.com/support/info/06.html
9. No more Amex and Discover
Due to a complex reporting relationship between the bank and
credit-card clearing houses, Cruzio will no longer be able to accept
American Express or Discover charge cards as of January 1, 2002.
Those customers who make Cruzio payments via auto debit from
their American Express or Discover cards may continue without change
for the time being, but will be asked to switch to another
credit card when the present one expires. We apologize for the
inconvenience! Please let our customer service department know if
this presents a problem to you by sending email to office@cruzio.com.
10. Sign up a friend: Buddy Bucks
Are you a Cruzio fan? Our customer service staff loves hearing your
Cruzio success stories. And, of course, we're thrilled to hear when
you refer your friends and families to Cruzio! We'll add a $10
credit to your account if you refer a new customer to Cruzio before
December 31st. Just ask your friend to mention your account
(registration number) when signing up, and you will receive the credit.
11. About This Newsletter
Cruzio doesn't like to waste bandwidth with extra email, but we sometimes
have events and announcements that users need to know about. This seems
like the most efficient way to let people know what's happening. Hope
it's helpful. Please email support@cruzio.com with any comments or questions.
By the way, we would love to have a regular, predictable schedule
for this newsletter...but we simply do not send it unless there is real
news enclosed. Thus the haphazard datelines.
12. How to Reach Cruzio (dial-in or tech support)
To reach the Cruzio Information Center, for online technical and
sales information:
http://www.cruzio.com/support
To dial in to Cruzio, set your software to dial one of the numbers
below (note: we've expanded and joined modem pools, so you may be
using another number. If so, don't worry, it still works just fine).
56k: 459-9408
33.6 kbps and under: 459-6230
To call Cruzio:
459-6301............Use this number to check Cruzio's system status,
pay your Cruzio bill, find out more about our hours and location,
or to reach someone in customer service and technical support.
To send email to Cruzio, use one of these addresses:
support@cruzio.com ......for technical support
office@cruzio.com .......for billing and ordering information
Cruzio's location:
903 Pacific Avenue, Suite 101, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Cruzio's hours:
Sales hours: 10am-6pm, Monday through Friday; 10 am - 2 pm Saturday
Technical support: 10-6 pm, Monday through Friday, 10am - 2pm Saturday
System monitoring, including customer-alerted emergencies, 24 hours
per day, 365 days per year (leap years, 366 days)
Thanks very much from Cruzio:
Chris, Peggy, John, Julianne, Patton, Kathy, Mark, Martin,
Georgette, Tapati, Pedro, Brittany, Alec, Rachael, Barbara,
Stephen, Paul, Gershom, Phil, Allyson, Laura, Jessi, Ben,
Alice, Edgar, Alex, Michael, and another Kathy (the grownups);
Jake, Annika, and Carly (the kids)
Annika, age 6: "I want to be an artist or a scientist when I grow up."
Mom: "I would be proud if you were either of those things..."
Annika: "Because they make a real lot of money, you know?"
