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

It's a problem that I remember during days at Compusmart, both Calgary
and Saskatoon - as well as other retail/repair shops I've worked for
over the years.

I think it's a combination of the desk staff not knowing (or caring)
what the customer serving options available to them are, or don't know
(/care) to take down the relevant information - and the RMA process
itself being cumbersome and tedious for the retail level stores
(compared to end-user RMA). I'd blame the former on hiring practices
or overworked (burn out) employees. The latter is just the
frustration of manufacturers having a near 100% end-user RMA record,
but going over every order with a fine-toothed-comb for retailers.
Can't say I blame them, considering the quality of -some- (not all) of
the technicians in these shops.

All in all, I've yet to date seen a shop maintain prompt, efficient,
and customer-serving RMA procedures for more than a few years before
something changes and ruins it. Employee turn-over or promotion,
procedural or corporate/franchise changes.

On 6/6/07, Brock Campbell <lists@acceltech.ca> wrote:
> Speaking as someone who has a pretty close tie to ITV. I will say that
> OTV know's their RMA process needs work. It is a long standing problem
> that has been addressed.
>
>
> On Mon, 2007-04-06 at 19:20 -0600, Dylan Griffiths wrote:
> > 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.
> >
> >
> > --
> > I'm interested in upgrading my 28.8 kilobaud internet connection to a
> > 1.5 megabit fiberoptic T1 line. Will you be able to provide an IP
> > router that's compatible with my token ring ethernet LAN configuration?
> >
> > To unsubscribe, send a message with the word "unsubscribe" (without the
> > quotes) in the body to linux-request@slg.org
> > Archives are at http://list.slg.org/
>
>
> --
> I'm interested in upgrading my 28.8 kilobaud internet connection to a
> 1.5 megabit fiberoptic T1 line. Will you be able to provide an IP
> router that's compatible with my token ring ethernet LAN configuration?
>
> To unsubscribe, send a message with the word "unsubscribe" (without the
> quotes) in the body to linux-request@slg.org
> Archives are at http://list.slg.org/
>
Received on Wed Jun 6 09:44:27 2007