Z70va notebooks are being received

Well, If I were Asus, I wouldn't want to piss off the reseller at this point. They are still fairly new in the notebook market. They are still trying to establish their realm here. While they have been around for years in the motherboard world, they are fairly new to the notebook world. People have gone through growing pains with them back when they are doing motherboards.

I worked as a Manager for a major distribute back in college who had dealth with Asus, M-Technology, Shuttle (though they don't seems to be doing motherboards anymore), and other major motherboard manufacturers.

Asus is trying to promote their esemble brand, so pissing off the reseller now wouldn't be a good move for them.

All I could say is, sit back, grab some popcorns, and wait for the feature presentation....

:asus:

 

Thanks for the warm welcome Justin. I would expect nothing more from a "premier partner", and it just inspired me to stay here and not “crawl back under the rock they must have came from”. That was a very nice post on trying to explain the situation, I especially like the last part, “it’s a matter of what and when”. I think you nailed it right on the head there. Before saying ISTNC is performing illegal actions, we should wait and see what happens.


What did you delete your post for? All of a sudden I feel not so welcome anymore [/sarcasm]

 

All the other resellers are just mad that Rick got the Z70va`s and none of them got it. Okay, I would be mad too, but business is not always fair and some get lucky and others dont. Rick probabely sells the most Asus notebooks online and if Asus had to chose who to send it to, it would make sense to send it to the one that sells the most, no?


I guess the other resellers have the right to be mad, but not at Rick and removing Asus notebooks from their stores will not hurt Asus...It will hurt them

 

No wonder I didnt see any trigger happy thread closers lately on Notebookforums.
Welcome back, I was in SB also, a nice clear weekend wasn't it?

 

First off, it's 2am and I did try edit out some of those double negatives and harsh comments instead of keeping it all matter of factish, but somehow deleted the post instead. Since you quoted me there's no sense in fixing now.

Basically If Asus has told us the same thing they've told other dealers, it's Asus' legal battle to pick. On our side, which is what I was referring to, there are many reasons for legal action against Asus by their partners for this and other situations on the plate right now.... I refuse to limit this conversation to just one person or problem when other issues are just adding salt to the wounds. So, I know that what has happened is actionable for us and possibily for other dealers as well. All we have to go by is what Asus has told us and although it's he said/she said sort of stuff, Asus is too big of a company to knowingly thumb their nose at those they actually have direct accounts with and with that, direct agreements, which make situations like these the last thing Asus would get into... especially over 35 units........ and to bring in the whole ebay thing with their marketing guy, a genius he may be..... but he's sold 21 notebooks on ebay when an employee is only supposed to be allowed 2 purchases a year. I guess the fact of the matter is we don't need to know how many units we're dealing with... it could be 1, it could be 100,000.... It puts Asus in the same position, but obviously if it were for a larger number of units they could have at least made something off of it before they had this sort of backlash.

 

By the way, you probably don't know this but you're welcome for using an avatar I created....

Our own competition can back us up on this one, but being a "premier partner" means that the company I represent is part of the top 10% of Asus' authorized business partners. That's about 4-5 deep on a good day and there company certainly can't lay claim to that. It's a good assumption on your part though and would make sense if that were the case and that were legal.

 

Ouch... someone needs a nap

we alll need to loosen up...

 

Thanks for the avatar...But seeing your attitude, it doesnt look like Mr.Premier Partner wants me to use his avatar.

 

Go with the flow dude... use it all you want.

 

Agreed Bahama...let's remember our manners.

 

just curious.. but if ProPortable follows other resellers in withdrawing Asus from their lineup.. what notebooks will they sell? I noticed P1 has also taken Asus out of their selection, with the exception of their custom ones like MX series.

 

Its kind of getting out of hand...

*Shuts up*

 

Most people know we sell Asus through our site and exclusively Asus for a reason. At the same time, "providing" and not so much "selling" was always the primary objective. I'm not saying we're going to stop what we're doing with these products as we've more than just helped Asus to get to this point. However Asus notebooks is far from our lifes work... it was a calling of sorts, but for me and the group i've put together, "retail" was and is the last thing from our minds. We're in industrial and architectural design and have seperate careers in that way but also get to connect with clients on another level with these laptops and future projects that are going to be coming from our work with these laptops....... as well as the work we've done with seperately designing, machining and distributing liquid cooled enclosures with our partners in Germany. The point of the matter is we've come to a moral crossroads with Asus and if they can't handle the situations that face them today then we'd be foolish to believe they'd handle things differently down the road. Asus makes a great product and that's the only reason why we offer and stand by them. It'd be a shame to have to part ways but the clients and businesses we've made along the way have helped us in various ways professionally and those contacts have helped us spread in our other fields and we're going to do alright for ourselves regardless.

 

NO! It does not make sence and if you think that is true you have been misslead. Llama you think he heard this from the same horse you did?
Think of it this way. There is the first pop quiz of the new semester. The teachers pet averaging 100 points on his last quiz gets advanced notice and advanced preview just becuase he is so smart. Fair?. Now i am not equating anyone to the teachers pet that was your analogy. Rick is not and neither is he top reseller. Pretty far from it. We are far from it and i am glad to admit it. There is no honesty in making up numbers. Llama you should not speak to horses. They are either imaginary or lying.

 

Llama
Did not see your first post to me. You need to talk to your horse and get some numbers straight. If your going to shoot empty shells dont acuse people from making up numbers. We get em from your horse and the bunnies prancing around on the pasture. 400 too high? You did not think so a few weeks ago when you told me you speak to horses? Am i embelishing? 200 does seem correct no??? The horse did tell you he had 200 preorders before the 15th right? Or are we talking about different horses now. 200/400 preorders. Either case the horse wants to be a hippo.

 

Leaving IST out of it for a minute, the bottom line seems to be from what's been posted here that Asus made or allowed a deal that estranged some of their US resellers (including at least one of their top resellers). So out of curiosity, here's a question for the resellers that have been posting here (Geared2Play, Power Notebooks, ProPortable): what will Asus have to do to earn back your business/cooperation?

 

djembe,

Asus is going to have to follow through the punishment on both cases and make a press release explaining both issues because reputations are at stake on both counts. If that happens and I believe I'm not alone in saying that's what we've all called for, then little white lies will not be the only thing that is exposed here. If Asus doesn't have to follow their agreement, then maybe we don't have to follow ours. Imagine a world where contracts meen nothing......... oh wait, we're in already.... so much for that.

 

I have a question... you said Rick claimed the notebooks he shipped were for educational purposes. Would it be considered legal if the person receiving the notebook (ie me) needed it for school, and it is therefore for educational purposes? Just wondering, even if I dont quite believe your claim

 

Bean - No, but this isn't an issue of yours. It's not like they can take the notebook away from you. This is not a claim, this is what Asus told it's dealers when the story came to the boil over. If we asked Asus to help us bid an EDU project they would not only give us quantity pricing but they would also give cut their margins to make sure the we got the bid. Asus has told us that this bid price was based on an EDU PO and for a number of more units than was actually recieved. This means that the pricing of these units is MUCH better than pricing that would be given normally on 35 units headed for retail sales. Once Asus shipped the initial shipment, they found out this PO was no longer valid. It's their fault for not checking into that again, but as a business partner you also don't want to tick off the horse that feeds you. There are laws against doing stuff like that, or we'd tell Asus we have a large job like that and give them a PO and then only accept 10% of them and make a killing selling that 10% while no one else has them. If nothing else, nothing like that will ever happen again... but that's not quite the end all in this case. Business practice has rules and it's not just every person for themselves. That's where this instance is far from over.

 

Bean
That was already addressed your not the first one to ask. No was the answer. A bid is a sale to an institution not an target audience. Asus would not agree to sale for students they agreed to a sale for an institution which they will do for any reseller with a sizeable bid. We all sell to students. If asus wanted my respect back they have to level the playing field.

 

Actually SB was very nice. Got a few nice pictures of the USRR docking near bay. Afterwards, went up to Solvang and stop by Cumash Casino eheheh

When I got back to the LA Basin, **** hot...so hot you could torch your shorts in them.

ahahah

 

Hmmm since my rep is tarnished as being G2P bias....I might as well post this here and be discountlaptops, powernotebooks, and PROPortable bias as well. Heck, if StarTech post in this thread, I'll be bias towards them too then. ahhaha.

I am curious of the fact why IST have not post in this thread yet. He flat out called me G2P bais in a public forum for deleting his (IST) post and showing side/favor towards G2P. I am interested to see his post, now that I have no control how this thread goes. LoL!

By the way, to make it clear, I did not purchase from G2P. LoL. I think G2P need to take some tactfulness courses though ahahhahaha

Someone toss me some popcorns, so I could sit back and watch the fun

 

ahahahha. Which one? I have to say, Santa Barbara was sweet over the weekend. Nice clear blue sky with a hint of breeze. Walking down the pier at night to see the gleeming light from the US Ronald Reagan at a distance. To top it all of, it was a full moon too! A full moon reflecting upon the calm sea water, casting a shadow against all the sail boats floating by the pier.

LoL!

 

In a month from now this will be all forgotten with. And i have a feeling that most resellers will be still selling Asus products or at least not too long after.

 

Exactly, you bought from us and have been very open about that..... don't want to hide that here or someone might call you on that.

 

I'm an unsure moderator here , I was pretty close to locking it, but I was thinking.

We all know what happened with ASUS and IST from the outside point of view, but nothing official. Should we just leave it at that, let everyone cool down a bit, and hopefully, wait until the fog dies down?

I don't want this thread to go out of control or anything - and I've seen the threads at NBF and they sure weren't pretty.

 

Um, I think you deleted almost everyone's posts- (mostly G2P).... closed a lot of threads... and locked them too. That's why I called you "Trigger Happy".
It made everyone think G2P was a rambling fool, but it seems that this issue was a major blow to many. There are a fan base who are pretty loyal to these resellers. I'm sure they would like to hear it and I'm sure they're willing to follow... even if it means buying something else. I've even seen people deciding to buy from someone else instead of ISTNC due to their "cut-throat" tactics. Their own little boycott.

 

So many accusations yet there is hardly any proof... Just because IST may have recieved the notebooks does not mean all other resellers should bocott selling Asus products just because they are unhappy with the business practices of another reseller.

 

I don't know about that statement. While I have yet to see proof myself, I would think it is rather stupid of the resellers to go public with this. I think there are more to it than we know and they are holding back information until the right time.

If it was one reseller doing it, than yes I would tend to agree with you. But when the major players are involved, I would have to disagree, even with the fact I myself have yet to see proof as well.

When you ask anyone on the internet about Asus notebooks, you will hear these people...

PROPortable.com
ISTNC.com
Geared2play.com
Discountlaptops.com
PowerNotebooks.com
Starpcs.net (Star Tech)

and recently you have

c9tech.com

Among these guys you have rjtech.com, mwave.com, and velocitymicros.com.

You've noticed the major big boys all have post on this thread, minus Star Tech and ISTNC (aka: IST). I think this issue is bigger than we all know it. We only see the surface of it in my opinion. Even "IF" there is an explosion, I wouldn't be surprise Asus will try to keep it under wraps and offer an incentive to the other resellers to compensate, thus we might not see the explosion, though it happened.

I am still waiting to see the fireworks...ahhhehehe

haahah, but I've been accused for deleting mostly IST posts and favor G2P eheheheh...Which is funny....


Note: If you notice, G2P and PROPortable was on each other throat just a few months ago, now they are on the same side of the fence. That should at least signal something.

Disclaimer: I am not siding with anyone, just curious and as interested as ya'll. All of my assumption are based upon the same info you and I read on the forum, no more, no less. I do not IM anyone of these resellers for additional info.

hehehe
:asus: :asus: :asus: :asus: :asus:

 

proof is a debateable thing. what one person considers absolute proof another considers weak. That's why some in this thread have made up their minds that (exaggeration warning) Rick should be doing hard time and Asus is an accomplice to the crime, some have made up their minds that Rick is the next incarnation of Christ and can do no wrong, and the rest are somewhere in the middle.

there's an interesting marketing technique that states that one should first make the people hate you, then change it around so they like you. By doing this, you get more attention from the bad press, and then the turnaround from bad to good creates a greater brand loyalty. I can't help but think that Asus is going to see some serious sales increases when this all gets worked out...

(gets some more popcorn for smilepak and sits down to watch the fun)

 

Maybe i'm pouring salt on wounds here, but I don't entirely agree.

From what I've seen, the majority of Asus notebook consumers are the people who do weeks/months of research before finalizing their decision. MOST people on the Asus forum came across it while researching a laptop. They're not very common. And I think the reason why so many people on these and other forums buy Asus is because of the wealth of information that is available from the resellers and their commitment to service. I'm not really taking sides with resellers or anything, and I have no idea who's allegations are correct right now.

But you can imagine that if 3-4 of the biggest names in notebook sales drop out of the picture, there's not going to be as wide of a communication channel for consumers. The remaining resellers will have to try to cope with all the current and future sales AND service. The sales are probably the easy part... but customer service will get well out of hand if only a few less experienced resellers are available to meet the higher demand to their businesses....

just my two pennies...

@G2P... lol... maybe I've been away from these forums for way too long, but where did this magical kingdom of narnia with talking horses and bouncy bunnies suddenly come from????

 

Do the people in the middle see any proof? I see absolutely nothing. And if this "source" that some of the resellers claim to get their info from is the same one that told them no one would have the refresh in August, well then I guess we know what to believe.

 

Surly I can not be concidered to be one in the middle... however doesn't change the fact that I see no proof.

 

Well, let's see. Most all of the tried and true resellers who have been associated with ASUS for the longest period of time all sing the same song while there's one lone voice in the valley that's unusually silent. Who inspires the most confidence? Hmmm. Some of you come up with a conclusion that boggles the mind. Oh, it must be a vast conspiracy, then. Yeah, that's the ticket! Everyone's just mean spirited and jealous.
C'mon guys, give us a break. I can see if you choose to withhold judgement but to blindly (yes, blindly) believe the lone silent voice it can only be because he's done something good/nice for you personally which is fine but please think with your heads, not your emotions, and realize there's something foul afoot here.
Give it a bit more time and the truth will out. Much of it has already. Anyone who has followed this story from it's inception can clearly see that what the resellers have been saying over the past month has by and large come to pass. Their honor is publically at stake here and I, for one, am glad to see that they have the balls to stand up for truth, justice and the American way! It may hit them in the pockets in the short run but at least they're doing what they believe is right. Hopefully, ASUS will do the right thing and settle this matter (or, rather, matters) in a way where no one loses face or too much cash. Basically, they have to own up to their actions, come clean and mete out whatever sanctions the transgressors deserve.

Now, if I'm completely wrong and have been duped by The Great Reseller Cartel Conspiracy then I will (figuratively) prostrate myself before you all and apologize profusely.

*** As an aside, maybe they'll charge Rick more for the remainder of the stock he needs to fulfill his preorders bringing the total cost up to what it should have been initially. I guess he might just have to eat the difference. (humor, hehe)

 

But see... I have been following the events... and so far everything Rick has said to me has happened, while the "delays" claimed by the other resellers did not. Thats how I see it.

 

Cool. Then if you're in contact with him why don't you invite him to post a response to all the allegations that have been made here? If he's virtuous and pure he should have no problem doing that to help clear the air.

Delays??? It seems that the "official" release of the now infamous z70va is right on the loose schedule that all the resellers here didn't want to be pinned down to. Rick's (and yours) would also have been delayed if he waited to receive his official "for retail sale only" pieces. Isn't it pretty apparent to you by now that these guys have pretty much known what was going on piece by piece all along but didn't want to blab it out on the forums. They've been hinting at it for weeks. Once the cat was let out of the bag they had little choice but to get involved.

 

I consider myself to be relatively in the middle. Although I am an IST customer and I believe what Rick has directly told me, I do see some proof that Asus made a bad move by letting Rick sell the notebooks before anyone else. Justin stated earlier in the thread that Asus had given him similar exclusives in the past, and, as is the case now, several of the other resellers got upset because it happened. In my opinion, Asus should have learned their lesson from this and not estranged their resellers by repeating this mistake. It doesn't matter whether the exclusive is given to ProPortable, IST, Geared2Play, Power Notebooks, Discount Laptops, or any other reseller because Asus had a proven track record that they would tick off their resellers if they gave one an exclusive. So in this respect, I do see some "proof" or justification for the resellers to be upset at Asus.

 

If I recall correctly, it was the W3 he was referring to. Then again, I can't remember either. LoL!

 

Djembe... let me first correct you as what you stated isn't what I said. I said that Asus had tried to set certain promotions up on purpose with us in the past. Before hand they did tell other dealers what they were doing and why. Doing a promotion that Asus would actually promote (as in giving a customer a plasma screen) is one way to get out the news of a new product. All but one company understood but didn't want a part in it..... another company didn't want a part in it because it would cut their margins... but didn't want it to happen in the first place. Now that is quite different than this situation. Asus did not (and this will be apparent shortly we're told), want to do this as some sort of promotion.... if they did the z70va would be all over their site and they would have used this time to say the product is out and you can get it where ever...... On all of the cases that involved us, it was actually ensemble models which Asus does have a lot more control over and could legally run some promo like they wanted to run with us. With the built-on line, they don't have that power even if they wanted to because it's really not "their product"... it's stated as much of a product of the dealers...... That might not make total sense but basically as it's written right now, they couldn't do that even if that's what this was. Asus also wouldn't have a reason to deny doing something to it's other dealers if it were infact the truth. They told all of us the "truth" and we've all told them unless they release this "truth" no one is going to believe it because it's just that far out there.

I presented a proposal to Asus that they set up a rotating group of online dealers to unveil each new product....... give them a months worth of exclusivity along with dedicated advertising on Asus' homepage to push that new model....... next model, another company would get it and everyone would understand they'll have a spot in line and they'll benefit when they're turns comes around...... anyone who wants to complain about it can get tossed from the group and forgotten about.......... well, I can tell you this much, this is not the case of the first "unveiling" ........ It's simply a case of a botched sale by one dealer and a botched shipment by Asus who forgot to make sure everything was legit. Trust me here, Asus has taken weeks worth of criticism and this just so happened to be while all the big wigs were on vacation.... In one case you have someone who provides "confidential" emails with Asus to their customers.... emails which certainly aren't supposed to be shared to begin with..... but, I think I learned how to make a fake forward by time I was 14..... It's not hard to do and I guess you can either believe it or not, especailly when you can't personally talk to the source and verify it. So with that if we dropped to the level of providing emails from Asus, what's to say they're real and who's to say someone wouldn't call them a fake anyway?

There's one way out of these troubles for Asus and for them to dig their way out a couple heads are going to have to roll just to save face. It's going to be interesting to say the least but it will change business practices on many fronts for the future...

 

That was one too... but again, ensemble and Asus has room to play there...... the point there being that others were told of it... it wasn't supposed to be some backstabbing event.... With the W3's we pre-purchased about 100 units and then were told only 100 units were going to come in. What happened in the end more units came in and it didn't really change what we were able to sell but it did make more available for other people..... we're on a completely different level with this and it really shouldn't even be compared. Asus did not have a marketing scheme to get the z70va's out on the market.... the "release date" hasn't even been set yet and Asus hasn't told anyone that it's on sale anywhere...... that sort of thing would normally be what one would want to do if their intentions were to support one company and announce a new product.

 

Sorry Justin, I didn't mean to misquote you.
As to your take on what happened, I see that as one "side" of the issue. I have also heard Rick's take on it, and I choose to believe what he told me. But from your perspective, I understand what you're saying and your anger seems legitimate. Thus, my position on the issue is "in the middle", which is what I was trying to explain to Beantown.

I have nothing but respect for you and all the other resellers who take time out of your lives to talk work with lots of people on forums when you'd probably rather be doing something else.

 

Well i think my job is done here. I no longer look like a rambling hater. Einsteins law of relativity says:
One who lacks tactfullness makes up in straightshooterness.!
Smile you better stop sweating me, the fan club is on to us. Try to play favorites in a more discreet manner please. I dont think its fair that i have a personal goon on n.f.

Sorry for talking in riddles. Let me better explain. In the hierarchial pyramid of asus. The horse is Rick. I am a donkey (well some think so). Eeehaw. The pasture is the market. The bunnies are the customers. The fertilizer used to make the grass greener is the bulli$ht and right now its smelling very bad. My question is who makes the fertilizer and if it would be posible to leave less of a stench?? This way if the donkey dont smell it he will not poke his nose in it.
I did proof what i just wrote. I am good :buyIBM:

 

I think they caught on to the fact we are bothers..ahahhahaha

 

just got an email... lappy is in the mail... Nice job so far Istnc!!

Now to see the package....

 

I couldn't have said it better...or agreed with it more.

 

Okay, so there are a lot of ASUS haters out there now and the retailers are ranting and raving about how they got screwed. Guess what? They did get screwed I am not questioning that at all. However, I am confused at one little detail in this whole matter. Is it the retailers' main goal to make enemies with brand name companies and drive off some of their customer base OR is it their main goal to take care of their customers and provide them with the best product they can?

I would love it if the retailers that have dropped ASUS could come up with another laptop manufacturer that can compete with the quality, price, and features that ASUS offers, but I have yet to find one that does business in the US. I feel bad for the retailers who got caught on the sidelines when they should of had first claim to the z70va's too, but hasn't this all gone a little far. I can understand why some retailers want to drop ASUS, but for a minute step back and think about the customers that are loyal to your companies AND to ASUS. I do not own an ASUS laptop yet (I am waiting for the dual-core P M's), but I will soon. When I decide to get one I would like to it be an ASUS, but I will not buy ASUS unless I buy it from a decent retailer (for all of you who have dropped ASUS I just called you decent retailers, so don't be hatin' me).

So all I am saying is have a little patience and let this situation pan out. And for PETE'S SAKE don't abandon the customers in their time of need!!!!!!!!

-Kyle

 

Kyle
You pretty much summed it up. You forgot one part. The only reason asus stands out is becuase of the resellers. We (most of the resellers you have heard of) give the perception of better standards. Without us the name is just another name. Can anyone take our place? Sure probably but not without tarnishing the name.

 

You are absolutely right. Which is why it is better for everyone if there can be some solution to this whole mess and we can all have a big retailer/ASUS/consumer picnic where I will own everyone in CS:S. HAHA

Seriously though, I hope this all gets resolved quickly and everyone comes out on top (wishful thinking).

 

counter strike source?. You think you can own me? Serious that game sucks. Get a good computer and get some of the new stuff. Try amercias army its relatively low end but its free and way better game play. I frequent weapons cache.

 

Kyle your comments are accurate but what you may not understand is those who have been with Asus the longest don't exactly have the same moral standards someone in sales usually does...... When we started to import Asus' notebooks it was simply because of their quality and design. We saw a better product out there and we thought everyone would like them if they could get their hands on them. It wasn't (and certainly isn't now that our margins are squeezed to the hilt), about money. That's what drives the sales industry. What you're forgetting is that's not what's important to us. Yes, our customers are but getting out of sales doesn't mean our customers are left out to dry. The next product they want they can go to Asus and find someone else if that is what it all came to. Personally, I know this situation is going to get worked out shortly but Asus is dragging it's feet and this is a really bad time of the year for them to get into this position because everyone's on vacation.........

It comes down to ethics, really... If they refuse to address the situation then we have a legal claim to both go after them for what they've let happen, and also stop selling their products. As long as they address it like they should, they'll continue to grow in the market. If not, for us to continue to sell their products would simply be against our better judgement because if it happened once, it'll happen again....