W3v - North American Advanced Order...

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by WoWer

 

I've done some poking around today, and I think I may understand what's going on with the ASUS warranty. I could be wrong on all of this, but if not, it might help some of you to understand as well.

ASUS has two different types of notebooks. There are configurable "Built on ASUS" notebooks and there are pre-configured "Ensemble" notebooks.

Sellers that sell configurable "Built on ASUS" notebooks assume responsibility for the warranty, and instead of receiving the ASUS Global Warranty, the buyer gets the seller's warranty. You can often find this warranty info on the seller's page.

"Ensemble" notebooks are covered by the ASUS Global Warranty. These models are pre-configured, put in a box and are not supposed to be altered in any way before reaching the buyer. Any altering of an "Ensemble" model voids the warranty. Theoretically, this also means that the buyer is not supposed to make any modifications to the computer on his or her own either or they risk voiding the warranty.

So basically, it would be unethical for a seller to offer an "Ensemble" notebook with configuration options unless they are willing to assume the warranty or are completely open about informing buyers that their ASUS warranty is considered void the moment the computer is altered. Keep in mind the price of the ASUS warranty is included in the cost of the "Ensemble" notebook - so you're paying for it no matter what. If you've paid for it and it's voided before you ever even receive the computer because the seller has altered it - well you can see the issue there.

If you want to configure an ASUS on your own, you can buy a "Built on ASUS" notebook. The rub is that not all models are offered in this category. The W3v is only offered as an "Ensemble" notebook.

If you want to add more memory to the W3, you can go ahead and do that, but you take responsibility for the risk of voiding your warranty if anything goes wrong or if ASUS finds out you did it. If you ever need to send your notebook to ASUS under warranty, it has to go back to them in the exact configuration it was in when you opened that box and took it out or the warranty is void. That means, if you add another 512MB RAM yourself you better be sure to take it out before you send your notebook to ASUS. And if you upgrade to 2.0GB, you better keep that original 512MB stick that came with it. And even then, if ASUS has any indication that you have altered it before you sent it back to them, I would imagine they can void the warranty. If you really think about it, this isn't unreasonable.

I think what has happened recently is that ASUS has decided to take an all-or-nothing approach here, and that is why Justin can now only offer the W3v as-is. He is just trying to protect your warranty, which you are paying for in the cost of the notebook and he's following the rules ASUS has established, because that's what honest sellers do.

If I'm totally off base here, I'm sure Justin will correct me. But this is what I understand from what I've been reading and seeing.

I admit I was a bit shocked and dismayed when I first heard about this, but the more I look into it, the more it makes sense. I'm still buying an ASUS notebook regardless.


_{I am one escroww}

 

Yeah... this isn't any different from warranties offered by other notebook manufacturers.
ASUS notebooks are great [ ]

ASUS M6800Ne, P-M 1.5 Dothan, 512MB Ram, Toshiba Combo drive, Samsung Spinpoint M 40G HDD with 8M cache, Mobility Radeon 9700

 

I can understand them not wanting to honor warranties for notebooks that have been altered, but I really think it was stupid for them to configure top of the line notebooks like the V6v and W3v with only 512mb of RAM. I was set to buy a W3v with extra RAM, but now I'm not sure.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by augustin25

 

rnassar,

Thanks for the reply...I know the "travelers drawer" isn't functional in the way a DVD burner is...but It still has a function that I'm interested in and that's being able to carry items within the laptop that remain hidden, safe and secure...so you see, It does DO something. Being able to watch a movie while on the go AND store a few important items within the system at the same time would have been a bonus for me...that's why I asked for clearification, I was pretty sure It was one or the other...I just wanted to make sure.

Can someone still confirm whether or not the "travelers drawer" comes standard with the W3V package?

Thanks [8D]

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by augustin25

 

When we first got into these new machines, the belief was memory is ok to upgrade. That was what we were told.

And actually when we have sold the W1 and S5, the unit was covered for everything that was not altered. So the unit itself was covered, not the ram (if upgraded) or hd (if upgraded), etc (if upgraded...).

Now if that is not the case, which we haven't heard this from Asus yet, but if it is so, then we will need to offer only our warranty on configured machines then. We are looking into this with Asus. We will probably know more on Monday.

Our warranty covers parts and labor for 2 years as well.
When I hear more from Asus, I will let you all know.

Thanks,
John F.
Media Specialist / Internet Sales Associate

25 Years of Technology & Service
All our Asus laptops can be custom built to your specifications.
724-962-0566 x106
www.starpcs.net
www.stipc.com
The Unofficial Asus Laptop Forum : http://startech.proboards24.com/index.cgi

 

Over the last 6 months there has been a lot of discussion on this and other forums about the warranty offered by Asus and by those who "Build on Asus" chassis. Some of it is accurate, some of it is not, and some information is wrong only in its incompleteness. I usually don't get involved with these discussions but I feel that some clarification is needed at this time.

Senchan is correct in how he described Asus' 2 lines of laptops sold in the US. A little over 3 years ago, Asus started selling barebones chassis to larger system builders like ourselves. They were one of the first to commit to Intel’s vision of a Whitebook laptop channel similar to the Whitebox computer market. They provide everything except the Processor, Memory, Hard drives, OS, Wireless cards, etc. They warranty to the builder (us) every component that they provide. Intel warranties the processor, Corsair or Kingston the memory, and so on. Today these units are sold under a hundred different names. In our case they carry the Star logo. While we provide the warranty on these units (2 years), Asus provides the warranty to us. On occasion in the first few years Asus would even provided warranty service directly to the end user on their components as long as the customer provided proof of purchase info. Let’s face it, Asus knows what is theirs and they have always been willing to take care of warranty issues.

About 8 months ago Asus launched their own branded laptops in the US. The W1 came in only one configuration and included a 2 year Global Warranty. Then came the S5, V6, W5 and W3. Asus knew that these units would be sold through an expanding market of less technical outlets and that their Global warranty would be necessary to handle service issues. It was also necessary that these units would be preconfigured by Asus. What Asus did not fully understand in Taiwan was that the US market wanted configurable units. I think the US office understood this but the Taiwan office was calling the shots.

Now what happens when one of these units is modified? First, it is ludicrous to think that the warranty is voided if you modify the unit by changing processor, memory, hard drive etc. However, if you don't know what you are doing and you cause damage to an Asus component they are not likely going to repair any damage you caused.

Now that Asus has launched all these new Asus Branded laptops they are discouraging modification of the units by restricting the global warranty because the service centers are having difficulty dealing with components that are in the computer that are not theirs or provided by them. This is not saying that they won't warranty the unit it just means you have to return it through the system builder or reseller that sold you the configured unit. If you made the modification yourself you better be sure where the problem lies.

On all units that Star Tech sells we provide a 2 year warranty, longer on some components. Even the units that are unmodified and have the ASUS global warranty can be returned to Star for warranty repair. Not all builders and reseller of Asus laptops are in a position to offer this service. Nor are they in a position to inventory all the components that are necessary to do the customization that may be required.

The Bottom line is. You don't void your warranty by changing the configuration of your laptop as long as what you change is an approved plug in component and in doing so you have not damaged other components in the laptop.

Star Tech will continue to offer configuration on all laptops that it sells. Asus branded units that are sold unchanged will continue to have the 2 year Asus Global warranty. Units that have their configuration changed will have a 2 year Star warranty and should be returned to Star for any warranty issues. This is not usually a problem unless the customer is planning to travel overseas. These customers must understand that the unit must be returned to Star for any warranty service.

If anyone has additional questions on the Star configured Asus laptops can direct their questions to JohnF on this forum or you can call his office.

Thank you for support of Asus products.

Please excuse my rambling.

Bill Smith
President and CEO
Star Tech, Inc.

 

Thank you Bill for some clarifications on this issue.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by startech

 

Pricing isn't set at the Star Tech business yet. Once MSRP has been given to both businesses, they will reflect it on the page and notify pre-orders if they want to buy them still.

[l]ikwid.[f]uzion

 

We are pretty sure the price will stay the same.

Also, from what I understand, Proportable buys from a distributor, while we buy direct. So we probably get different shipments.

Thanks,
John F.
Media Specialist / Internet Sales Associate

25 Years of Technology & Service
All our Asus laptops can be custom built to your specifications.
724-962-0566 x106
www.starpcs.net
www.stipc.com
The Unofficial Asus Laptop Forum : http://startech.proboards24.com/index.cgi

 

John,

Please stop your BS posts. I am sick of them and so is Asus.

1. The price has been set at $2,100 and I am aware that Bill has been made aware of that as well (on Thursday at the latest). And we all know you can not sell for less than what Asus has set.

2. We have purchased the first shipment, so when you don't get your promised W3's until close to May, don't be surprised. There is only ONE shipment coming right now and that contains 100 units and thats final. Keep talking about your direct account and see how Asus feels about that.

3. Asus' new guidelines for the "Ensemble" line clearly state they will not sell to you if you contine to customize them. This now has nothing to do with losing the warranty, you won't be purchasing them if it continues. They are trying to keep the ingregrity of these systems and keep them seperate from the "built on" models. From June till probably almost December, you neglected to tell customers that they were voiding Asus' warranty on the W1 and S5 by having you customize the the HDD and CPU. Until recently when your tectics changed and slyly allow customers to customize the unit and when they do so your warranty shows "startech 2 year warranty" with out making is expressly known to the customers that you are stealing a great warranty from them and replacing it with your own. Because of that, this new rule is going into effect and it will eliminate all modifications by the dealers, period. We've stuck to the truth and will continue to do so and as policies change, we change with them.

You'll be out of this forum in a matter of weeks when your lies catch up with you. I'm not one to bash fellow business, but your tactics are harsh and I know that Asus has already spoke to your owner about this. It will catch up to you.

J

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

This must be the message that we were suppose to wait for till Monday. [:0]

[l]ikwid.[f]uzion

 

Startech
I fail to see what relevance you being direct have to do with anything. Ok so you are direct. What does that mean?? We are all resellers here. We all have about the same price here. We pay the same price whether or not you are direct or through disti. WHat does this say about your service or your policy? I am proud to say that we buy from disti and most probably do the same or more volume then you on a monthly basis. Lets keep it sivile. On a need to know basis means you dont disclose your sources and you dont make edumacated guestimations about other resellers sources. I had a few times a customer ask me "are you an authorized asus distributor". I found that question silly, until i was asked this a couple more times. I didnt understand where this term was comming from until now. It seems that a hand full or resellers are claiming they are distis and they service all the asus products. For the record. For anyone interested. Nobody here is an asus athorised disti. We are all resellers. We are all found on the asus where to by list which is their list of preffered partners. The only thing that separates us is our reputation, price and options. If you want to avoid delays and misadvertisements avoid paid pre orders. Thast just my opinion. If you want to separate your self from other vendors dont say your crap dont stink becuase you dont go through disti. Do something creative like a detailed product review and benchmarks. This tread is begining to look like a bashing tournament instead of a product discussion. By the way your forum sucks. Its not indexed on google and it has no usefull info in it. If you spend your time working on your own forum instead of posting here in an attempt to get hits and sales you wouldnt get into these confrontations to begin with. The good people of notebookreview should charge us here for posting stuff like this. For the record. Everyone here has a good reputation. There is no need for slander. If we all work together maybee we can attract customers instead of detering them. OOh and by the way. if asus doesnt allow you to add to the ensemble line of notebooks....do it anyways just dont discuss it in a live forum. Not like they have "warranty void if removed label". Add what you need and remove it if it has to be serviced. If this scares you buy the whitebook series.

 

By the end of the day Monday I should be able to put a guarantee on what I stated and if I do that, I am not only staking my repuation, but the future of my company. Because if I guarantee it and I turn out to be BSing you or Asus turns on me, all of our W3's pre-order customers can buy their units from someone else and I'll personally send that 330g that was part of our pre-order to all of them as an apology with a personally written thank you note.

Again, didn't want to say anything till Monday, but this is getting out of control. I personally apologize for you even having to read this.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

You see, I KNEW that was what Justin was referring to. That's why I was so adamant that Startech answer my questions. All this confusion is very unprofessional. Justin, you've always given us straight answers...I really hope that things are the way you've laid them out to be...I guess now only time will tell. Which is kinda sad, because someone isn't being truthful here...and as a customer who needs a laptop soon I'd like to have faith in the retailer I'm buying from.

Either way Startech, If you've already sold V6V models to customers who were under the impression that they were retaining their 2 year ASUS Global Warranty...(which you definetly should have been 100% sure about before offering as an option to customers like that on your website, It's your business to know afterall)...and come Monday ASUS has a "change of heart", you're in quite a pickel unless you do the honourable thing and notify everyone of them of your mistake and offer them all a FULL refund If they so choose.

If you announce Monday that you were wrong you'll have damaged your business rep considerably in my opinion for offering something to the public that YOU dropped the ball on and MISREPRESENTED. If however you're right, and the warranty stays intact, then I'll apologize openly and make it up to you by placing my W3V order through your company. [8D]

 

In all honesty. People may hate me for saying it. Asus will not void your warranty they just may give you a harder time. If you have a ensemble notebook that was customized make sure you ship it back in original condition if in the slight chance it needs service. As for the dates and times i am happy to say we dont sell much of the ensemble series. 99% of our biz is with whitebooks. Glad to not be in this pickle of a situation.

 

Justin
You are bocoming very popular in these online forums. You should start offering your autograph with every laptop purchase.

 

This is why I'd rather pay $100 more to get it from somebody who has given me straight answers from day one (and trust me, I ask A LOT of questions) and who has not been wishy-washy about the ASUS warranty. If modifying an "Ensemble" notebook voids the global warranty, then I take that responsibility upon myself if I choose to modify it myself - the resllers should NOT be offering to do this for the buyer if it is something ASUS opposes.

I find it completely questionable when an authorised reseller is saying, "Well, we're not supposed to customize them, but we will anyway and don't worry, ASUS won't REALLY care."

Justin, you know you have my business. I'm happy to give you $100 extra for all of the effort and honesty you've put into our transaction from the beginning - for always being straight forward even when you knew it wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear.

Thanks again.

On that note, be nice guys. Calling each other's message boards crap just makes you look petty and mean-spirited. Though any Homer Simpson reference is all right in my book. I like edumacated people.



_{I am one escroww}

 

Honesty in this forum/any business equals popularity amoung consumers...It also doesn't hurt that he deals with ASUS on a regular basis and he's willing to share his knowledge openly. So far Justin's been willing to give it to us straight, even when It's not in his best interests...and that my friend is why Justin is going to be a very successful business person in THE LONG RUN, he's got his eye on the big picture, not the easy sale. He has every ability to offer the RAM upgrades only on all the "Ensemble" notebook systems he sells and increase profits but instead he decides to err on the safe side and take our best interests into account. That honesty builds trust and equals business. So far he hasn't given us any reason to doubt what he tells us...this whole situation might change all that...but until then, no other ASUS Dealer in here has been as forthcoming and open as Justin has. If any of the other dealers in here step up in the same way I'll be just as grateful and willing to praise them.

Monday can't get here soon enough If you ask me. We need to get this issue behind us pronto so the atmosphere in here can ease up a little...and so I know what's what and can actually make an informed decision and order a damn laptop!!!

[8D]

 

Thank you for the kind words.

All in all, you all know that if the price changed it wil be changed for all pre-orders. However Asus HAS set the price and it's a moot point, but you're not going to pay more to get it from me, whether or not I put up with all your questions [ ].

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

Wow, that's 3 companies all in one thread: PROportable, Geared2Play, and StarTech... what a battle [ ]

ASUS M6800Ne, P-M 1.5 Dothan, 512MB Ram, Toshiba Combo drive, Samsung Spinpoint M 40G HDD with 8M cache, Mobility Radeon 9700

 

Hold on everybody, I think some comments are getting out of hand and down right out of line.

I was asked to respond on this forum yesterday by John because there were some question he felt that he could not answer. The post that I made was to be informative and to explain conditions that have transpired over the last several years. If you read my post and John’s post I believe you will see that we posted no personal attacks against any resellers on this forum or on any other forum. I am offended by some of the attacks that have come as a result of my post. I posted what our warranty policies are and how we offer a solution to customers who want to have a custom configured Asus laptop. Nowhere on our website have we lied or purposely mislead any customers. Have things changed? Yes, every day. Whenever Asus’ warranty policy has changed we have change with it. You have to understand that Asus has only been offering their branded laptop since late last spring and they are learning and adjusting to the market every day.

Others on this forum have made statements of what they think they know about Star Tech. Most of the statements have been somewhat wrong to totally wrong. I don’t know that they are purposely distorting the truth but more likely making statements based on bad information.

Let me tell you about Star Tech,
Star Tech has been selling computers since 1980. 25 years.
We are recognized system builder by Intel and Microsoft
We are an Intel Primer Provider
We are an Intel Education Specialist. There are only a dozen + in the US.
We are a Microsoft certified System Builder.
We are a Microsoft Authorized Education Reseller
We build not only laptops, but also desktops and servers.
Our largest market segment is k-12 education.
As a system builder we also build for other dealers from NY to GA to IL.
We sell laptops to end users through out the US and Canada via the web and our retail store..
We have a truck (our own truck) that goes into Canada every two weeks.
We are on 2 Pennsylvania contracts for government and Education sales, have been since 1987.
Our total sales are in the middle 7 digit range.
We employ 20 to 25 people depending on the time of the year.
We have over 12,000 sq ft under roof, including offices, retail store, production facilities, service department, inside sales and warehouse.
For 25 year we have had no complains filed with the Better Business Bureau.
We are rated with Dun and Bradstreet.
We have built our business by providing good service, good products and being truthful to our customers.

Our relationship with Asus has been long and is strong.
It is true that there is little difference between buying direct and buying from a disti., we buy from both. We never said we were a distributor and John only said that we possibly get our product from a different shipment than the others.

There are a lot of sources where you can buy Asus laptops than us… some larger, some smaller. That is not to say one is better than another. Heck we were all small at one time. You get big by working hard, treating your customers well and luck.

My family and staff have worked very hard to build this business and we will not allow others to belittle or spread lies about it.

I hope that his forum will give us a fair opportunity to prove that we are a quality company and our intentions are to provide solutions to people looking for a product that meets their needs, what ever that is.

Thank you,
Bill Smith

 

Then make sure your information is accurate before John or youself posts it please. I have from a first hand source that you were told the W3's will be $2,100, and that were told that we have the first shipment of them to states. Unless you are willing you admit that, you certainly won't get my respect. My respect for you ended after posts were made saying one thing after your were told otherwise.

On another note, If you you are constantly changing as well, you would have known that Asus is not going to sell ensemble models to any dealer who modifies that line. I heard about this on Thursday and our site changed accordingly. I can't be the only one who knows this. If the posts that represent your company are based on bad or misinformation, then it's your responsibility to to make that known. Not feed someone a line about a lower price and then tell them if something changes and it will be higher, they will be notified. At that point how many people are going to cancel your orders? Only the ones who feel it's unethical, and most of those people wouldn't believe the BS that manages to be posted by someone who just wants to screw with us.

As for where the notebooks come from, they can fall from the sky for all I care, but your 20+ years of experience and having your own truck to Canada mean absolutely nothing about having good business ethics and knowing a product line that has only been out for 5 years.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

NOBS, Bill, John, Startech,

The only thing out of hand and out of line is you offering an option to customers on your website that you can't confirm or stand behind. You still haven't given me a straight response/answer. I know I said I'd wait until Monday, but really, I shouldn't have to seeing as you're still currently offering these options on your website...on products you currently have in stock (V6V) that are available to anyone...while claiming the ASUS 2 year Global warranty isn't void when you're saying you really don't know If it is or isn't. I just want clearification, which I feel any customer considering buying something this expensive from you is entitled too.

The ASUS Global Warranty is crucial to me seeing as I'd be ordering from Canada. I'd really like to upgrade the memory, but not at the expense of my Global Warranty...I just want my question answered honestly...If you told me you weren't sure until Monday, that's one thing...but the fact that this option is still available and has been up until now, while you're saying you can't back it up, is unacceptable and misleading if you ask me...because anyone out there placing an order with you over the net is given the impression that they still have their full ASUS global warranty intact when choosing your option to upgrade the memory (slots) on a V6V or W3V system. Not everyone does their homework, It's these people putting their trust in your website who will eventually become victims of your mistake if infact the global warranty is void and they need repairs done while on an important business trip outside of the United States. All I'm asking is for you to back up and clearify what you're currently offering on your Website. I'm simply trying to research my options, I'm asking you this question to prevent myself from potentially falling victim to something I see as misrepresentation. I'm a potential customer, your lack of a straight answer or response to my question isn't doing a great job of instilling consumer confidence in me or doing Star Tech's reputation any justice either.

Please just answer my question so everyone can move forward on this whole issue, thanks [8D]

 

JERRY! JERRY! JERRY!!!



ASUS M6800Ne, P-M 1.5 Dothan, 512MB Ram, Toshiba Combo drive, Samsung Spinpoint M 40G HDD with 8M cache, Mobility Radeon 9700

 

Easy Guys. We love you all, but let's give all vendors a chance as the new rules take effect and everyone adjusts to them. The truth is the truth and it will show itself accordingly.

Am I unhappy as a consumer with ASUS? Yes. Why? As the new rules seem to dictate if I so much as add RAM to an ensemble I could be voiding the global warranty. I'm mad as hell that my preferred dealer can't change a product to be exactly as I want it when I order it. Aren't the dealers better qualified to be adding RAM, changing hard drives, etc... than Joe Shmoe consumer? You betcha. Am I going to do it anyway? Without a doubt! Want to keep me from changing the machine, offer it with more freaking RAM ASUS;less than 1 gig is inexcusable in this day and age.

Sounds to me like these other vendors have tried to give thier customers what they want, which is still a somewhat configurable notebook despite the fact that ASUS has labeled it as an ENSEMBLE with the global warranty restrictions. Is it wrong? Seems so in ASUS's eyes. Is it a problem? Remains to be seen as so far it sounds like these other guys are playing the gray area and honoring accordingly.

On that vein, if these other guys choose to undercut by $100 that's up to them. Good capitalists that we are we all know that the cost to the vendor isn't $2100 otherwise you'd all be out of business.

Now with the W3V especially they are making the global warranty a tricky issue as this is the ONLY configuration with dedicated graphics as the barebones appears to be integrated. SHAME ASUS for SHAME.

That said, I'm still keeping my W3V preorder with Proportable. Now hurry up and bring me my notebook.[ ]

 

Coma,

To make one thing clear - the memory issue won't be addressed until the update to the warranty is actually listed on Asus' site, which is supposed to be done before the W3 gets here. We changed out site in accordance to this policy, but technically all purchases before that is made public can't be held to it.

However, it has ALWAYS been the policy of Asus' Global Warranty that to keep that warranty the notebook must be returned in the original configuration. This is why when we offered RAM, in the case of the V6, it was in addition to what came in the unit, instead of us swappping it out. With this new policy, that won't even be aloud and we are moving with that as the person who puts it in place told me himself. This is being set it place because Globally Asus is much more strict in the way the warranty works and if it is going to be a Global effort, then they have to all be on the same page.

J

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by PROPortable

 

I appreciate you saying that...but Startech has the option to put 2X 1GB sticks of RAM into both the V6V and W3V without voiding the 2 year ASUS Global Warranty listed on their website...according to the site order form. I'm in Canada, If I buy a W3V configured like that from them and have to send it into ASUS Canada or any ASUS for whatever reason...I don't have a 1X 512MB stick of RAM to put back in there unless I go out and buy one at an added expense (an expense that I wouldn't be aware of from their website alone at the time of purchase which might have sent me elsewhere right then and there...or worse, I send it into ASUS not knowing and now they're aware I have a modified system and my warranty is void???)...but even If I did, It doesn't say I would have to do that anywhere on their site in order to keep the global warranty anyways...It simply says that I can upgrade the RAM like that or any other way I choose and still have my Global Warranty intact. From what you're saying...and pretty much everyone else on the INTERNET as I understand it, It'd have to be sent back in It's original "Ensemble" configuration and I wouldn't be able to do that the way they shipped it to me. Therefore, unless what I've just said is wrong or inaccurate (Please correct me If It Is), what they're offering directly through their website is misleading and I'd be the one with a problem on my hands to have to solve with them If ever a problem should arise...something I feel everyone should definetly be aware of at the time of purchase is all I'm saying.

I went back a read a few posts made while I was writing this...Just so It's clear...all I wanted was a simple answer from a reseller so that I can make an informed decision and order a laptop. In asking them a question, they decided to hold off on giving me an answer. Normally that's fine...but then I realized they're offering an option on their website right this second that could be voiding the global warranty for people relying on one, when the fact is they don't really know if it is or isn't and couldn't seem to care less...there's no side note or anything. Because of this and this alone I feel they're misleading customers and that's not cool. Until they know for sure and can offer their word and stand behind it, they shouldn't have the option available on their website. That's how I feel anyways. [8D]

 

dude, your smiley is dead.......

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

At first I was looking for a jerry in the forum and then it hit me.

As far as having to sell it for what Asus says... guess what, they do. Asus has a rebate program which I actually proposed to them this summer. Resellers will buy the units at basically retail, and as long as they are sold at (not below or higher) than retail, a refund in the way of a month rebate is given out. Which means, selling it for $100 under retail means a loss, and selling it for retail, means breaking even and a profit a month later. It's certainly not a surprise there is some profit, but selling under that price is absolutely impossible. And yes, since there is ONLY one line of shipments into the states, asus has complete control over what happens, there are no ways to get around it, and the only other option is actually losing money. Do you think they'd lose money to prove a point? Maybe...... but it's unlikely because they don't have the units yet and they won't get them as long as they are posting that price... If they already had them, I can see them not caring and trying to get rid of extra stock and excepting a loss... but that is unlikely.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

It should be absolutely 100% clear to everyone...And If it isn't...and a potential customer inquires in a very specific manor, It should definetly be made clear once and for all at that point. And If they fail to make it clear after all that while at the same time still continuing to mislead other unsuspecting customers on their website...well then their business license should be revoked and each and every employee of the company, along with the owner should be lined up and shot.[} ]

(I hope everyone gets the point and the humour or I'm not going to look to good) [8D]

 

I definitely agree with WoWer about the fact that ASUS is not making a very smart business choice here - especially in N. America - by not offering Ensembles with either customizable memory that will still fall under the warranty OR offer different configurations out of the box. But I also understand that ASUS has not quite established itself in the notebook market in the U.S. yet, and they might not want to throw too much out there at once if nobody is buying it. My guess is that as ASUS becomes of more interest in the U.S. (look, it already is starting) they will start having more options. But right now we're on the, er, early end of this and so we're getting guinea pigged a bit. That's ok with me. I wish ASUS would allow sellers to add memory, because they are far more competent at it than most people out there, but I look at this situation as a kink that needs to be ironed out. As ASUS gets feedback from it's N. American retailers, things will begin to work themselves out. I think they will probably have to just totally accept that the N. American market is a far different beast than the Asian or European market and adjust accordingly.

Global Warranties are probably not all that feasible if you really think about it.

_{I am one escroww}

 

Well I think this is partially the reason for the new warranty policy which will be posted. Because I think people from ALL vendors who have been customizing the units have contacted Asus for work and they send the unit back and tell the customer to deal with whoever customized their system....... so whether it was in writting or not, not everyone grasps it, then Asus looks bad because they refuse to cover it.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

You don't like me? [ ]

Oh well..... I like your approach too.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

Relax nobs. Nobody acused you of shady service or questionable practices. Everyone here knows you have a god biz. I was just pointing out that if you are going to advertise on a forum include links to sites that bring you business or have some good info. Your forums have neither. That was why i brought it up. When there are 2 resellers in one thread they usually dont agreee on much unless they met prior to the event. (Justin stop calling me i dont like you). Posting in open forums is a good way to bring extra business to your site and a great way to get picked appart by rivals as we all here have found out recently. By the way you must have a great location becuase by the looks of it both your main sites bring very little hits to you. So i do belive you have a strong local audience. No need to prove it to us. Take it easy and try not to overreact. This will only lead to a postive experience becuase in the long run you will just get hits from this forum and googles indexing engine will only give you a higher rank for having your name brought up in another site that gets indexed itself. We are all here for the same reason. If it wasnt worth it to post in open forums with your link attached at the bottom we would not do it. (Big Secret keep it d.l.) By the way having a truck that goes to computer auctions by weekly doesnt mean you have redeemed your self. Now if someone said "star sells one computer a month and works out of his basement" then your experience would be relevant. There is a dose of reality. Relax and crack open a beer and atleast pretend that you are enjoying the extra 50 hits a day notebookreview brings to your site which result in atleast of couple sales a month. People please stop clicking on my name. If i didnt get hits from here atleast i can claim i am here for personal reasons.
Disclaimer:
I have nothing in common with the name under which i post. I only work there, have lunch there, take and make sales calls there, and get paid there. Thank you and please don't visit moc.yalp2deraeg.www

 

Coma,

Here are the facts.

1. For Asus to cover your notebook here or any where in the world, it has to be given back to them in it's original configuration... take that how you may.

2. If someone offers something and then vowes to warranty it themselves... they have to do it. I'm certainly not saying anyone is going to leave you out in the dark here and offer their own warranty and then not cover that warranty that they offered.... but there are other ways of putting it, considering everyone isn't having the same understanding... and they should be, right?

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

Listen, I think companies like Startech who offer complete system customization and configuration on all models they carry are providing an awesome and valuable service to those interested...If they're willing to take over the responsibility and offer a 2 year warranty through them and customers understand that's what they're getting, then even better. I'm not against fully customizing a W3V or V6V in any way, I'm all for it, If someone here in Canada offered this service with their own two year warranty I'd do my W3V up big time and be all over it.
The thing is...because I live in Canada and no one here offers such a service on the "Ensemble" series notebooks...I'm forced to look to the US. But It just doesn't make sense (cost wise) for me to rely on a Warranty offered through a company based all the way in the US when I live in canada. That's why I'm all over Star tech for a solid answer on the ASUS Global Warranty...I really want that extra ram and I want it under the 2 year global warranty (Who wouldn't?), If I didn't, I certainly wouldn't have put as much energy into these posts as I already have. Now it all comes down to tomorrow, the big day, MONDAY!!! If tomorrow Star tech tells me the warranty would be void, then it's all over for them as far as I'm concerned because they continued to offer both options all this time...leaving people that already purchased a system (which could have been me) in a terrible situation If they really needed the Global warranty. (which they won't even realize they're in until a problem arises)

Justin, just so you know...even if you're wrong, which I don't think you will be...I still trust you because you erred on the side of the customer, right or wrong you didn't gain anything and your customers didn't lose anything. That's a pretty key difference here. Unfortunetly, If you are right, then I won't be able to get the system I want from the US, which means I'll be buying a "stock" W3V and might as well wait and buy it locally in Canada to avoid all the shipping and duty fees...unless we can get a Canadian group order together and work something out that benefits everyone.

Startech, don't let me down tomorrow night. I really still want a clear straightforward response that everyone can understand once and for all. And If the Global warranty is void by upgrading the memory from here on out, you better make that clear on your website, your customers deserve at least that much. [8D]

 

Don't worry. We approached Asus and said if you're going to let us customize the units, then make an authorized custom emsemble section for your where to buy site and make it obvious what is going on with the warranty. Trust me, if we are competent enough to build out our systems from pieces, and stock what we need for our custom systems, it'd not hard to realize it's much easier working on a system that is already together and having the know how to take care of them. If anything that Asus may say, it'd be about the memory, as even they think that is very harsh. However, even if they did allow "extra" memory, they would not allow stripping the systems current memory and giving you a lower price on different stuff.

Again, I appreciate your kind words and understand where you're coming from and what your needs are. But in the end, whether the service is continued to be offered is going to be a moot point when Asus refuses to sell to any dealer who contines to offer it. So in the end, who is really better off, who loses, and who's the reason it's being done? It all doesn't really matter as we had our cause, and we will have our effect... sooner or later.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

Nice, Geared2Play. [B)] Well, I know of one reseller I won't be buying from...

Hey Cal, I totally know what you mean. But I'm not going to wait around for a Canadian retailer to have one of these. PacificNoteooks has the V6, but you can't do anything on their site to learn more about what they are really offering except fill out a shady email form, and their more info link takes you to the ASUS website - totally lazy. Not exactly somebody I want to buy from.

We're kind of stuck with an American retailer. And you're totally right - that's why the global warranty is so important to us. I will still probably add my own RAM once I get it, but I'm not all that excited about having to do it that way.



_{I am one escroww}

 

In all this shennanigans, I blame Asus and Asus only.

WHAT IS WRONG IN A RESELLER ADDING RAM , HDD & CPU AT THE CUSTOMERS'S REQUEST?

If Asus cannot warrant its own resellers then they do not deserve retailers/resellers and should go the DELL route and sell configured systems directly to the customers.

Lets see how successfull they will be like DELL or they will just fold up like GATEWAY [ !]

Cheers
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/picture_library/dir_83/it_portal_pic_41838.jpg
http://www.booqbags.com/Detail.bok?no=98

 

Sencha
I totally feel you. I wouldnt either. We should boycott www.yalp2deraeg.com because they have terribly low prices and horribly honest support with too many damn options, and worst of all most of their warranty applies to canada as well. I cant believe what they have stooped to. Someone should contact asus and tell them what this dealer is doing.

 

Well folks here it is.
I got an email reply from Asus this morning concerning memory upgrades on the Asus Branded products. The Asus 2 year Global warranty is void if the computer is upgraded in any way, which includes the addition or upgrade of the memory. The unit needs to be returned as it was originally. They went on to say that they can not guarantee that they will service a unit that has been upgraded. That could make you think that they might. Asus is saying that their service department just can’t deal with the upgrades. No other reason.

If you could see me now I guess I have egg on my face. The problem has been from the beginning that much of what we are told by Asus is verbal. I won’t say it changes daily or that it varies from person to person but it is not the first time that I have been told something different than another vendor. I think that Asus in the US is maturing and I and other resellers are pushing Asus to straighten out their communications methods. They do seem to listen to the resellers and hopefully sometime in the future, configurations of the Asus Branded laptops will not be such a hot issue.

We have removed the option for the memory upgrade that we had for the Standard Asus Branded Laptop. I apologize for any confusion or inconvenience it has caused. We will continue to offer custom configured Asus Branded laptops with a 2 year Star Warranty. Someone else mentioned earlier that for most the Asus Global Warranty was not that big a deal. Until this year, Asus did not have a service center in Canada and the units had to be returned to the states anyway. I understand the importance to some to have the Global Warranty but as an option the unit can always be returned to us for warranty repair. Star Tech does stock some of the most used parts when a laptop reaches a certain sales level.

Thank you for your indulgence and I apologize for the turmoil this discussion has had on this forum and this thread.
Bill

 

Thanks Bill. Don't worry, we all probably have a bit of egg on our face in this thread. At least it has been clarified not only for us as buyers but for you as a seller. I'm sure this isn't the end of it and as ASUS evolves in N. America, things will change with it. It's not exactly your fault that ASUS wasn't totally 100% clear on things with you up front.

As for you, Geared2Play, the only reason I would not buy from your company is because you have been rude and even mean to your competitors in this forum. Maybe you were just joking, but compared to these other two guys, you don't look all that professional. I'm sure my opinion doesn't matter at all, but I think you could probably handle yourself better as a representative of your company. Your target market probably wouldn't give a crap, so no skin off your nose.



_{I am one escroww}

 

By the way i was not joking about the forums and the "direct with asus" statement. As for the rest. I happen to think i was very nice to nobs. Why do people confuse honesty with rudeness? You know how many times i had customers ask me "will you match startech price?" I hold no grudge. I only hold respect for a competitor that provides good service and price for the same products we sell. They give us a good name as well. Also what does me being loose speak of the way i handle my bsuiness? You act like my personality reflects the companys quality, support or anything else that matters. I can be a 10 year old kid for all you know and still provide the same level of service to inquiring minds. I understand you are spending thousand of dollars on products that we are selling. This is no reason for everyone to have the same approach. Most of our return customers ask for me by name. You know why? Becuase i dont put on a show, not at home not at work. I say what i think and what i mean with brutal honesty.

 

Sencha
Well your entitled to my oppinion. Dont take things too seriously. As for my "target market". I can only imagine what you mean by that. My target market is everyday people, firms, education, and ofcourse the locals. Being loose and open minded is not a crime its a gift. You have to read between the lines here to understand what i am saying and who i am speaking to. I have nothing against the competitors here. Infact io gave credit to startech in everyway possible. In case you missed it the first time. STARTEC HAS A GOOD BIZ AND A GREAT REPUTATION. DId i lie here? The only reason i am here is becuase i read what Justin has to say in these forums. Apparantly he knows his stuff. I did but in but only becuase i did not like one particular statement. A person that reads your comment below may think gosh this guy is right. I am behaving very loosely for a rep. FOr that one person there will be abother that says gosh this guy is uptight. Lighten up. I am here to stick my 5 cents in and provide some looseness for a place that seems really tense. Speaking of tense. [B)]

 

I definitely agree with WoWer about the fact that ASUS is not making a very smart business choice here - especially in N. America - by not offering Ensembles with either customizable memory.
Asus is ridiculous with that warranty issue.
Its the first time i hear a company avoid the warranty just for a memory upgrade.
Michael Dell is going to be happy, thanks stupid management of asus.
Shame on asus shammmeeeeeeeee
Customers should boycott that company who make infantile stuff just to avoid the warranty.
The next step for Asus, wil be selling laptops without warranty.