[Semi-OT/Computer Store Community] OTV and RMA.

        So I had been a long-time customer of OTV for a few years now. Even
back when Techtronics was back in town, undercutting everyone with
suspiciously low pricing, I went to OTV because of the strong customer
satisfaction that they had managed to show. They were able to sell at a
reasonable price, and deal with returns, as well as tell me about other
relevant things.
        I purchase RAM which has a warranty because, well, I like to be able to
exchange dead RAM for working RAM (even if it costs more initially).
OTV's RAM policies were normal: on all lifetime warranty RAM, you get 1
year in-store replacement, and then after you get manufacturer. No
problems, right?
        Well, last fall I had a 512mb DIMM go bad on me. It was purchased
through OTV, so I double checked, and they pointed me to Transcend. I
contacted Transcend, and they said that in Canada, all RAM RMAs were
done through the retailers. It's odd that OTV would point me to them
when OTV was supposed to do it, but I figured it was an easy mistake to
make.
        I went ahead and phoned OTV again and explained this all to the service
manager, who figured it was news to him. He said they'd take it, and
let me know when my RMA was in. This was on the 2nd of January.
        I phoned in early February to ask where my RAM was, and they said they
hadn't RMAed it yet. This was also what they told me when I phoned at
the start of March. I contacted Transcend and let them know that OTV
had been holding my RAM for 3 months, and they told me they had phoned
OTV and explained that they needed to RMA it. I didn't bother calling
at the start of May, being too busy with the change over of finals and
whatnot.
        Last week I phoned OTV again and asked them where my RAM was. After a
10 minute hold, the service guy I spoke with told me the RAM was going
to be RMAed on the following Monday (4th of June) because they finally
had enough to RMA.
        "You've had my RAM RMA for 6 months. You could not have given me an
alternate 512mb DIMM and then taken the comped one from Transcend and
sold that?" I was very angry -- RAM prices had taken a huge nose dive
in 6 months; I had wanted to sell the pair of 512mbs and get larger modules.
        The OTV service tech put me on hold for another 10 minutes. "Ok, you
can come in and get another 512mb module. Just tell us your name, and
you can pick it up." -- which I did later that day.

        I guess the real question is, are they really so bad now at customer
service, that it never occurred to them to exchange my RAM? Not in HALF
A YEAR of having it? Giving me an alternate module would've been a
great solution in 1 or 2 months from when I brought mine it. At 6
months, they have lost me forever as a customer. I encourage everyone
to no longer shop with OTV due to this.
Received on Mon Jun 4 19:21:00 2007