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I placed an order for a Gigabyte P35w v2 on July 25th this year. The laptop at the time was on back-order and was slated for build/shipping sometime in early August (I believe the website said 10th when ordering). I didn't mind the wait as they had the laptop I wanted at a very reasonable price. It was shipped on the 18th of August and I finally received it nearly a month later on the 21st. No big deal; again, I didn't mind the extra wait.I unboxed the laptop, placed it on my kitchen table, and immediately noticed something wrong. The entire front end of the laptop was bent inward. Not dented, bent. The front left foot did not contact the table and hovered a centimeter or two above it. If you rested your palm on the keyboard, like you'd do if you were typing, the entire laptop wobbled.
Pictures of proof are here: Album
I honestly can't fathom how something that glaring made it past quality control. The shipping box was not damaged in any way, as was the box the laptop itself came in, as were the foam supports it was held in. I had the laptop for all of two seconds before I noticed it. If anyone had even placed it on a table they would notice it. Laptops don't wobble, and one as thin as this one with every part packed into that tiny frame would have internal damage with this kind of defect in the casing. Nevertheless, it was again, no big deal, I'd just have to wait even longer to actually get a chance to use it. I don't even think I turned it on. I took it out of the box, placed it on my table, and put it right back in. Same packing materials and everything. I immediately called for an RMA and had it shipping back to them the same day I got it. It arrived at their store on August 28th where I received an email about the RMA process and expected repair times. 5-7 business days and more waiting. A week passes. Then two weeks. Now three weeks later after several phone calls to my service rep and the RMA department, they are still waiting on the manufacturer to send them parts and haven't even started the repair process. At this point I've had enough, and decide to just cancel my order and get a refund. I called today to get this process started. Getting the refund was easy enough, but now I'm being expected to pay the original cost of the shipping label they sent me for the RMA, which is $50.00. I'm currently trying to fight this, as I don't believe I should be paying for this at all. The laptop I was sent was defective, and after waiting for three weeks for any progress at all on my repair, I did not want to be going through this process anymore. The manager I spoke to was very adamant about having me pay for the shipping cost, as per their policy, and even offered to meet me halfway and cover the original cost of shipping the laptop - which was already part of my return agreement even before I talked to him, and free, as part of the order initially! It looks like I will be down 50 dollars and two months without a laptop at the end of this.
Let this be a warning to anyone considering this retailer for laptop purchases. Though they blame the shipping process for the damage, I don't believe there was any way this could happen during shipment. I wish I had gotten pictures of the box as proof of this. I sent it back to them in the same exact packaging, there was no external damage to either box. This leads me to believe that their quality control department is not up to par. In addition, the long waits and weeks without notice give this retailer a very bad review from myself.
My experiences may not be representative of their overall quality, but the fact remains I was sent a defective laptop straight out of the box and will have spent 50 dollars and two months of my time to just be done with this entire experience.
Horrible Quality Control and RMA Process
Discussion in 'Other Manufacturers' started by Coolant, Sep 19, 2014.
