System Builder / Boutique Service

[Rhyme]

So my system that I bought from one of the builders touted on this forum has been down for over a month as I await replacement memory.

Do I have any recourse? I've been extremely patient waiting for this memory... the replacement is on backorder from the manufacturer.

Have any of you run into similar issues?

 

[General Crespin]

Have you tried contacting the company's representative that posts on the board? You'll find the presidents/founders of several companies are active and responsive (to my knowledge ).

 

[vassalofodin]

I've heard of people having issues like that before. Specifically from Dell and Alienware--but also smaller companies too.

The problem, I think, is that these companies don't make these parts like the memory you mentioned--they have to get them in from the manufacturer. You just need to press on the company to make sure that you don't get lost in the shuffle. You may also want to contact the manufacturer even, but that might not be necessary.

 

[Velocity_Micro]

OK, is it me? I can take the heat if it means I can help you. This is not acceptable.

If it's not me, after 30 days you should be demanding they substitue something by now. There should be something that will work, even if it's an upgrade. Alternatively, can they send a loaner RAM to tide you over?

 

[AndonSage]

Regarding the company reps on this site, Randy from Velocity Micro already replied, and the other three are:

Heather from Puget
Misha from AVA Direct
Peter from Maingear

If it's one of those four, you're set. You might want to PM if they don't see this thread, or start a new topic like "Need to talk to xxxx from yyyy about my computer problem." That should get their attention, hehe.

 

[Heather Taylor]

So my system that I bought from one of the builders touted on this forum has been down for over a month as I await replacement memory.

Do I have any recourse? I've been extremely patient waiting for this memory... the replacement is on backorder from the manufacturer.

Have any of you run into similar issues?

Randy is right--it's not acceptable. If I can be of assistance, let me know...I don't think it's us, but I don't always catch everything that goes through, either.

Unless you've got something crazy like ECC memory, someone can find something to substitute, upgrade, or at least tide you over.

 

[magoo]

So who is it that built your box????

Dont be shy......we dont discriminate.

I cant believe any reputable builder isnt willing to help you out. A month is just too long to wait for something you can install your-self.
Conversly, unless they have your box hostage, buy something cheeeep and put it in until you get the replacements.

 

[AVAChris]

Hello Readers,

This memory was promised by the manufacture weekly only to be backordered yet again. I have been in touch with Corsair daily about this situation along with Misha who contacted Corsair's regional sales manager Jeff Palma who promised us immediate replacements yesterday. We are currently awaiting a reply from Jeff to confirm that the replacements will be shipping. We are fully aware and are in control of this situation and thank our customer for his patience and cooperation.

Thank You,

Chris
AVADirect
Technical Support

 

[Peter_Moeller]

Hello Readers, This memory was promised by the manufacture weekly only to be backordered yet again. I have been in touch with Corsair daily about this situation along with Misha who contacted Corsair's regional sales manager Jeff Palma who promised us immediate replacements yesterday. We are currently awaiting a reply from Jeff to confirm that the replacements will be shipping. We are fully aware and are in control of this situation and thank our customer for his patience and cooperation. Thank You, ChrisAVADirectTechnical Support

Just to Chime in here, I want to back AVAChris's claims about the manufacturing back order that is currently plaguing Corsair. They seem to be having some issues that they are trying to work through, unfortunately not at a pace the market would like to see. However, they have been working hard and I'm sure they will get their issues solved soon.

OP, in the meantime I would recommend asking for an alternative. Possibly Kingston?

 

[magoo]

Hello Readers,

This memory was promised by the manufacture weekly only to be backordered yet again. I have been in touch with Corsair daily about this situation along with Misha who contacted Corsair's regional sales manager Jeff Palma who promised us immediate replacements yesterday. We are currently awaiting a reply from Jeff to confirm that the replacements will be shipping. We are fully aware and are in control of this situation and thank our customer for his patience and cooperation.

Thank You,

Chris
AVADirect
Technical Support

That's really swell, but why dont you give the guy some memory so he can use his computer.....unless you have decided to hold it hostage.

I hate to say this......and maybe I should keep my mouth shut.....but AVA was the first company I thought of when I saw this......it just doesnt make sense to keep a guy waiting, unless on the obvious, you DID offer him something else and he turned you down.....we may not know the whole story.

 

[Heather Taylor]

I am SO not going to get into the middle of this...lol.

We haven't had problems with Corsair in particular, but then we mainly use OCZ RAM right now (and apparently it's a good thing we do).

I do remember having some serious supply issues with Corsair while with my previous company, though, so that would make sense just from the perspective of prior experience.

 

[magoo]

Dude, did you get your new RAM or what????

Do you have your computer, or is it in AVA's shop????

 

[FadedSpark]

That's really swell, but why dont you give the guy some memory so he can use his computer.....unless you have decided to hold it hostage.

I hate to say this......and maybe I should keep my mouth shut.....but AVA was the first company I thought of when I saw this......it just doesnt make sense to keep a guy waiting, unless on the obvious, you DID offer him something else and he turned you down.....we may not know the whole story.

Hate to say it but I thought the same thing. AVA is nothing like it was when [H] reviewed them... All ive seen here are horror stories. I know that the ones you see are the minority that have trouble, and the majority go happy, but this is weird. Out of every "big and fancy" AVA build ive seen, i think one has actually come to fruition.

OP, Why not ask for an equivalent replacement? If its the corsair i think it is (elpida based) then there are cheaper, better performing options soooo...

 

[Rhyme]

Magoo,

Well AVAdirect told me that they received the memory yesterday and I'll be getting it today.

I have the PC but this does me no good without any memory etc...

 

[magoo]

Magoo,

Well AVAdirect told me that they received the memory yesterday and I'll be getting it today.

I have the PC but this does me no good without any memory etc...

Why couldnt they just have Corsair send the memory directly to you????
Ive read a bunch of odd-ball stuff AVA does, this just amplifies the reason I'd think twice before I dealt with them. It just seems they do things bass-ackward.

AND I dont understand why they (AVA) couldnt supply you with something to use while they (you) waited.

I guess I just have a different slant on things......
I agree with what omega said.......a number of guys here have been driven nearly crazy by these sorts of circumstances......yes, the bad experiences get the most noise.....but there is a rather constant theme in each if you read them......things just done way differently than most other builders.

 

[General Crespin]

Or did OP even ask if he could substitute a different type of RAM? Was he fixated on one particular SKU?

 

[Rhyme]

Or did OP even ask if he could substitute a different type of RAM? Was he fixated on one particular SKU?

I didn't ask and it wasn't offered. I had to ship my memory back to them and they sent it to corsair to be replaced under warranty.

I had been emailing the service department 1-2x a week for updates. After my forum post my situation was resolved amazingly fast.

 

[magoo]

I didn't ask and it wasn't offered. I had to ship my memory back to them and they sent it to corsair to be replaced under warranty.

I had been emailing the service department 1-2x a week for updates. After my forum post my situation was resolved amazingly fast.

Go figure I hate to say it......pretty typical.

Never underestimate the power of the [H]. Look what happened at Newegg!!!!
Did you get your Ram today???
I still dont understand why you had to send it back to AVA....to me it seems simple:

AVA: hello Corsair? This guy has bad Ram on one of our systems. He did all the diagnostics at his house.
Corsair: OK, what's his email?
Later that day......
Hi: we'd like you to send us your bad RAM, we will cross ship you a replacement or substitute a different RAM as yours is currently on back-order.
You: thank you.

 

[Omaura]

Go figure I hate to say it......pretty typical.

Never underestimate the power of the [H]. Look what happened at Newegg!!!!
Did you get your Ram today???
I still dont understand why you had to send it back to AVA....to me it seems simple:

AVA: hello Corsair? This guy has bad Ram on one of our systems. He did all the diagnostics at his house.
Corsair: OK, what's his email?
Later that day......
Hi: we'd like you to send us your bad RAM, we will cross ship you a replacement or substitute a different RAM as yours is currently on back-order.
You: thank you.

The correct practice is:

OEM Customer Service to Customer: OK, we believe it's defective RAM, we'll overnight you two sticks as it's under warranty. Included will be an RMA return shipping label, please drop your RAM in the included anti-static bag and return to us within 10 business days to avoid being charged for the memory.

Customer: Awesome! I'll be back up and running the next day!

...a few days later...

OEM Receiving: Ah, here's an RMA package from Customer, I'll send this over to the RMA department.

OEM RMA Department to Corsair: We shipped you our RMA sheets with our defective RAM, please send replacements.

Meanwhile, the customer has been up and running this whole time. Any other method is unacceptable. (Except an issue so bad that you either have to send the system back for repair or do an on-site call)

 

[MrGuvernment]

^^ exactly.

you dont pay for a system for it to be down for 30 days!! i would be getting annoyed after a week.

 

[Rhyme]

Omaura, Magoo,

I agree with you. But I don't think any of the system builders on this forum have that type of fast service turn-around.. What say you system builders?

The only time I've gotten next day service on a PC was on failed systems I got from large OEMs.

 

[WhiteGuardian]

this is where I believe mainstream companies are better at than boutiques. Although ur gonna wait a long time to get someone on customer service from Dell and HP, and they might not even understand you because they're not American, but they WILL fix your problem. They picked up my PC and shipped it back to me w/in 3 days and called me again to tell me that they had replaced a bad motherboard.

 

[Omaura]

Omaura, Magoo,

I agree with you. But I don't think any of the system builders on this forum have that type of fast service turn-around.. What say you system builders?

The only time I've gotten next day service on a PC was on failed systems I got from large OEMs.

I think if you go through some of the [H] Consumer stuff you may be surprised what you find.

http://consumer.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTIzNiwsLGhjb25zdW1lcg==

Maingear, Velocity Micro, Falcon Northwest, OverdrivePC, Puget - more than a few come to mind that have done this in the past.

 

[Heather Taylor]

The correct practice is:

OEM Customer Service to Customer: OK, we believe it's defective RAM, we'll overnight you two sticks as it's under warranty. Included will be an RMA return shipping label, please drop your RAM in the included anti-static bag and return to us within 10 business days to avoid being charged for the memory.

Customer: Awesome! I'll be back up and running the next day!

...a few days later...

OEM Receiving: Ah, here's an RMA package from Customer, I'll send this over to the RMA department.

OEM RMA Department to Corsair: We shipped you our RMA sheets with our defective RAM, please send replacements.

Meanwhile, the customer has been up and running this whole time. Any other method is unacceptable. (Except an issue so bad that you either have to send the system back for repair or do an on-site call)

Ugh, I hate to say it, but that's how we'd deal with this. We try to pre-advance order RAM in these cases so that it gets to the customer ASAP, then we just suck up the disadvantages. AVA may well be in a different situation, so I don't want to cast stones.

 

[Peter_Moeller]

Omaura, Magoo,

I agree with you. But I don't think any of the system builders on this forum have that type of fast service turn-around.. What say you system builders?

The only time I've gotten next day service on a PC was on failed systems I got from large OEMs.

I know we try to. And if we are going to have a delay with an RMA, we tell you.

I am not going to preach about what should have been done in this circumstance, however, your comment is not completely true. I know that there are many boutique companies, ourselves included, who will replace just about anything within a day or so. It may not always be overnighted, like Omaura said, however, any request before 4pm EST, and the component is in our facility, goes out same day.

As, I have mentioned earlier, I can feel some of the pains that AVA is experiencing do to the Corsair situation. It has left us in many unwanted situations as well. However, we instead of waiting for a resupply from Corsair, decided to find a comparative alternative and inform our customers about it. All while maintaining the quickest turnaround time possible.

When considering why Corsair would not drop ship anything, Omaura was correct in his/her comment. They will not ship anything less than 50packages to an OEM so why would they bother themselves to drop ship one package of RAM to a random (in their case) third party customer. In the end it is our(system builders) job to maintain customer satisfaction, even if we have to break some rules (common industry practice) and try new things.

 

[magoo]

The correct practice is:

OEM Customer Service to Customer: OK, we believe it's defective RAM, we'll overnight you two sticks as it's under warranty. Included will be an RMA return shipping label, please drop your RAM in the included anti-static bag and return to us within 10 business days to avoid being charged for the memory.

Customer: Awesome! I'll be back up and running the next day!

...a few days later...

OEM Receiving: Ah, here's an RMA package from Customer, I'll send this over to the RMA department.

OEM RMA Department to Corsair: We shipped you our RMA sheets with our defective RAM, please send replacements.

Meanwhile, the customer has been up and running this whole time. Any other method is unacceptable. (Except an issue so bad that you either have to send the system back for repair or do an on-site call)

Yes, I agree.....mine was a bit simplified(I was thinking along the lines of an individual RMA, rather than a system builder I guess; Corsair has treated me very well in the past!) but still in the same spirit and essentially the same end result.....I may be looking too much for the ideal situation, but NOBODY should have to wait a month, period. the end.
Heather and Mr.Moeller are spot on.....the builder has to sometimes suck it up and do the best for the customer (I've worked with Heather before when she was with Velocity and she does what she said above, no BS.......she made me a customer for life with Velocity (although now that she changed to the Left Coast......oh boy, now what do I do???)
I just dont see AVA doing these sorts of things, at least in all the stories I've read here.........they seem to always make it hard on the customer...........but maybe I'm missing something.
I haven't seen any follow up from them(AVA) regarding this issue; so we may never know.

 

[Omaura]

Yes, I agree.....mine was a bit simplified; but still in the same spirit and essentially the same end result.....I may be looking too much for the ideal situation, but NOBODY should have to wait a month, period. the end.
Heather and Mr.Moeller are spot on.....the builder has to sometimes suck it up and do the best for the customer (I've worked with Heather before when she was with Velocity and she does what she said above, no BS.......she made me a customer for life with Velocity (although now that she changed to the Left Coast......oh boy, now what do I do???)
I just dont see AVA doing these sorts of things, at least in all the stories I've read here.........they seem to always make it hard on the customer...........but maybe I'm missing something.
I haven't seen any follow up from them(AVA) regarding this issue; so we may never know.

It's part of the reason why boutiques can be more expensive. The scenario I laid out can potentially cost a company hundreds of dollars. But if your business model accounts for that with appropriate pricing, you understand that the numbers can still work out in your favor even if you have to lose money on a customer to keep them happy. If instead your model is a parts supplier that charges a nominal build fee essentially, scenarios like that can lead to you constantly losing money - so instead you end up with something like we're reading here.

Basically you're buying an insurance/ASSURANCE policy. I have USAA Insurance and financial services - they may be a little more expensive than the midnight advertisors, but USAA has a customer service rating that is higher than the Four Seasons. I am not exaggerating. If God Himself started a company on earth to take care of His people, He would model it after USAA.

 

[magoo]

I agree again, I have USAA as well.

I do not think AVA works within that model. I think they work on the edges of the margin and never are going to give the kind of service Velocity,Puget or Maingear do.

I recall dealing with Alienware, way way back; they were/are alot like AVA. You bacically had no lee-way, no choices, it was "my way or the highway" essentially......and god forbid you were out of warranty............see ya............that's what got me into building my own.