XoticPC.com Let Me Down, But Have Responded Well to Correct Their Error.

Update 3/10/08
Got my Force 3298 in the mail today, which is 4 days after all of this began. XoticPC paid for all of the shipping, and the system got back to me in working order with the correct OS. Just wanted to let everyone know that they came through and have really impressed me with their quick and professional customer service.

Original Article 3/6/08
I ordered a Force 3298 (Sager 2092) awhile back and they ship it to me no problem. I'm install windows fine then I go to install NVidia drivers and it tells me I don't have a 64-bit system. Sure enough, I look at the Vista CD and it says 32-bit vista. On their website under 'my account' information it says very clearly that I ordered windows ultimate vista 64-bit.

I call XoticPC's support line and the guy I talk to tells me I ordered 32-bit ultimate and transfers me over to Sales. (which I have to explain everything all over again) They tell they're no sure about the situation and that production will call me back sometime within the next 36 hours... I was just slightly curious why when the website info said one thing they were so unsure.

Fortunately Production calls me back about 10 minutes later and says sorry for the error they'll correct it immediately. Then they go on to explain that I need to get my hair dryer...(uh huh...my hair is about 2 inches...) and take off the sticker, mail it back in with the CD and then they'll mail me the correct version of windows that I ordered. I'm a little perturbed with all of the hassle. I tell them I don't have a hair dryer, or a special windows sticker removal heat gun. So now I'm mailing the laptop back in so they can do it and then mail it back... So they say they'll call me back sometime today with shipping info.

About 10 minutes later I get a call from Shipping and they're going to email me shipping info. (Not sure if they're going expect me to pay for it yet, we'll see.)

They tell me it'll take 2 days to get to them, and then 2 days to get back to me with them correcting things and sending it back out the same day they get it in. On a positive note they said they'd reload the system for me and have vista 64-bit ready to go when it gets back to me.

I then received a phone call about 15 minutes later confirming that I'd received the shipping information via email.

So, although I'm unhappy that I didn't receive the correct version OS I believe XoticPC did a pretty good job of remedying their mistake. I'm sure it could have been a much bigger fiasco. I'm also sure that others have had worse problems by far with other laptop providers.

I guess my reason for sharing this is to vent just a little, but in the end it turned out that XoticPC has responded very professionally. We'll just have to see if they expect me to pay for shipping there, I'm thinking no, but we'll see.

 

Once again, the supposedly negative merely goes to demonstrate the real positives of dealing with a committed reseller instead of a big box store, where the employees have little or no entrepreneurial investment in doing their jobs to the best of their abilities.

Having banged my head against the brick-wall of customer "service" for _Sony, _HP, and D'h'ell, all I can say is that I'd rather deal with a goof-up like the one you posted with a company like xotic that is otherwise fully committed to really supporting their customers than with the alternative.

 

sucks that you have to send the notebook in..

mixups can happen in any company. sounds like customer support was very good though.

i also bought a 3298 from them. i found out that my wireless card was missing. they said that they saw that when they tested the notebook and it was supposed to be installed before it shipped..
anyways they sent me a new one.. said it would take 3 days, it ended up on my doorstep not even 12 hours after i called!

i doubt you'll have to pay shipping for their mistake

 

Just received shipping info via email and will be dropping it in the mail today. They also will be sending me a Targus backpack for the trouble.

If everything turns out well next week when I'm scheduled to get my laptop back I will definitely have nothing bad to say about XoticPC even with the mixup.

I'd still highly recommend XoticPC, their customer service is right up there with the very best. Not to mention they make a decent laptop to boot.

 

i am having problems too, i keep on seem to be having more and more delays on getting my laptop.... makes me question...

we will see. if it still hasn't happened by next week I will change companies.

 

with the JFL92 (sager 2092)?
there are demand delays now... it's a popular notebook

 

naw, with another notebook. i just felt like venting a little.

 

Surely they could have just worn the cost of a lost Vista-32bit licence and just sent you the CD & Sticker for the Vista-64bit you ordered ?

That way you would not be sans-laptop for a week, not to mention the hassle/risk/cost of shipping it back and forth.

 

That license cost them just under $200 and would be more than they made on the sale!

 

Only if xotic (and the OP) really want Bill G's goon-squad showing up on their front doors. MS is very protective of its COAs, and they don't take "it got lost" for an answer - if MS prints a COA and sends it out, MS either gets back in return (i) money equal to the price of the license, or (ii) the COA.

In fact, xotic did offer the OP a quickie way to avoid the sans-a-laptop syndrome - use a source of hot dry air (hmm... maybe the OP should've opened his house up for an impromptu meet-your-congressman meeting ) to soften the glue holding the old COA so that the OP could simply return the CD and the COA in exchange for the correct CD and COA - with all due respect to the OP, and admitting that I don't have a hair-dryer (never have) and couldn't find my wife's hair-dryer to save my life, I think that I could have, by hook or by crook, found something that would have done the job of removing the COA without damage.

 

humans make mistakes, but they acted professionally as you said which is the difference between them and other companies.
not much else to say i guess

 

Excellent customer service!

 

Dexgo, when did you order your notebook? I'd like to know so I can have a general idea for I'm also planning on ordering from xoticpc (maybe powernotebooks, not sure yet).

Thx

 

it's been 7 days and they haven't even started to build it.

they won't give me an ETA either of when they are getting more UNITS in so I can get mine built.

most people it's up to 20+ days or more. from what I have heard and been reading.

some people get lucky. I think the fastest is RJTECH. because they cross-ship direct from sager. while Xotic and the others first order the unit. then add your stuff and re-ship it out to you.

i am kinda frustrated. I hoped for the 3-7 day thing. but I guess it won't be any time soon . escpecially because they cannot give me an ETA. that bugs me and gives me the impression that it could be way way longer and if they told me the truth.... I would Walk... --which i would. if they said another week... Rjtech 3 days and you got it.

that's it.

 

WOW. I have never heard of rjtech. I just checked it out and those are some DAMN good prices. Why are these guys so much cheaper than xotic, PN, etc.? Are they also a reseller?

 

Nevermind, I just realized their little scheme. Thats with no processor or mem. Tricky SOB's.

 

it's not a scheme buddy lol

they sell barebones.

you still get a cheaper deal if you get the processor and decked out.

they are the cheapest around.

plus you can get it fast and get it sent to you so you can buy your own parts if you want.

 

Have you tried pm'ing justin@xo***pc to see if you can get any more satisfaction from the "boss"?

Mea Culpa Edit: Oops, my mistake. Dexgo didn't order from xoticpc but from Eurocom, as justin@xoticpc so kindly points out in the next post.

My apologies to xoticpc for mistakenly suggesting that they were not fully and forthrightly attending to dexgo's requirements.

And, since I'm a forum-exhibitionist, I'm going to leave my original mistake up, although I've at least clothed its indecency in a nice veil of SILVER. I'm also going to obscure the reference to xoticpc so that no consarned 'bot picks up the reference and displays it out of context.

 

Dexgo you should be point out that you didnt order from Xotic PC , but EUROCOM. Your statements appear you paced your order with Xotic PC.

This statement is not accurate. Sager resellers such as PowerNotebooks or Xotic PC do not have to "re-ship" items out. They ship directly from Sager within 3-7 business days on average.

 

i've spoke to him, but i've placed my order from Eurocom.

most re-sellers have to send back to Sager anyways.. so if it don't work out I will got RJtech.

 

Deleted My Own Post.

 

I'm not surprised margins are slim, but if we are only talking about $200 as the cost they would lose on the 32bit licence wasted, seems a lot of hassle (and inconvenience for the OP) to reduce that $200 cost to something not much smaller.

Seriously, how much change out of $200 will they have from shipping it back and forth (would it be insured or would they be taking a risk of loss/damage?) plus supplying the OP with a Targus Backpack for his trouble ???


Anyway, it's done, and the OP and re-seller seem happy with the arrangement so good luck to all of them........ I was just surprised by the whole scenario.

 

that's what eurocom told me.

and I think thats very good.

I am awaiting my unit for 7 days now and it hasn't even been built yet.

perhaps if they cross-shipped i would have it by now

I guess because Eurocom isn't a Re-seller. they are Like Sager and are a Company that Buys and Sells a re-badged product.

I just have no patience. Eurocom is my best bet. so i suppose I will just ride it out.

 

In the grand scheme of things, keeping Ma M$ happy is probably worth the extra trouble. Misplace too many COAs, and I wouldn't be surprised if B.G. stops returning your phone calls.

 

I was never suggesting MS miss out - God forbid !
I wouldn't have been bringing MS into it all.


I was just surprised that XoticPC didn't just buy another licence from MS and send it to the OP. Sure, it would have meant they lost $200 on the 32bit licence they previously bought from MS, which is now wasted, but how much of that $200 cost have they saved with the resolution they came up with ?

Anyway, it was their call..... lucky they had a customer who was willing to go sans-laptop for a week to save them a few bucks (given the hair dryer option was a no go).

 

That's easy, just click on the link to our Customer Service record at ResellerRatings.com in my signature, and while you are there look up the record for Xoticpc.com

What fascinates me though is how you get the impression that Xoticpc has more rep Just look at my Avatar record immediately to the left, and compare it to Justin's from Xoticpc.

When you compare the ResellerRatings.com records of both companies, and compare the Avatar records, it may change your impression that PowerNotebooks.com is the "underdog".

If you do root for the underdog, then Xoticpc will be your choice.

However if you prefer the other "little guy" that has the more established Customer Service track record, then PowerNotebooks.com would probably be your choice.

 

Powernotebooks has been around along time.

Back when i got my 5680 I was looking at them but went with good o'le pctorque back at sagerfourms

 

Xoticpc and Powernotebooks are both equal in all material respects, with the differences coming out mainly as nuances and, more importantly, we're all "underdogs" and "little guys" here - the "other" side is represented (and quite poorly, I might add ) by the likes of _HP, _Sony, D'h'ell, etc.

 

I guess I wasn't quick enough in my post deletion. This is why I deleted it, along with it's irrelevance to the initiate post. I didn't mean to insult powernotebooks. 1. I didn't research 2. I based my knowledge on the posts I read in this forum. I apologize and if it's at all possible disregard that post. I have no doubt in my mind that PN has excellent customer service, and I don't need to look at your sources, I'll take your word for it.

 

No insult taken Sir, and no apology is necessary

 

One thing I have to say about both Xotic and PN is that they are both really helpful. One aspect that I admired is that although they are competing for the same customers, so to speak, they are always respectful of one another. I have seen many posts where Pn says good stuff about Xotic and Vice Versa. THey are both really great companies. My lamentation is that I should have waited the extra 1-2 weeks and bought for one of them. Dont get me wrong, PCMW is great, but PN and Xotic are, well ,AMAZING. If i was to buy another sager, it would probablly be from PN, just cus I bought my ASUS G1s from Xotic. Thank You Xotic and PN!!!!!!!!!!

Regards,
Hkman

 

This might sound dumb, but I thought when you purchased a license of Vista 32-bit you are entitled to the 64-bit version as well (the license works for both 32 and 64 bit). All you need is the 64-bit media.

 

webdtc, he "...ordered a Force 3298..." which is the same shell as a Sager NP2092, but not a Sager NP2092.

With the Force you get the better 3 Year Warranty with faster return shipping, but you only get the 32bit or 64bit media depending on what you order.

With the Sager you get both media when you order 64bit...but the warranty isn't as good.

 

Got my Force 3298 in the mail today, which is 4 days after all of this began. XoticPC paid for all of the shipping, and the system got back to me in working order with the correct OS. Just wanted to let everyone know that they came through and have really impressed me with their quick and professional customer service.

 

I learned the hard way, I got vista business 32, and now I can just upgrade to Ultimate 32.

 

paladin44 and Wirelessman, thanks, I did not know that.

I thought the 32-bit license worked with the 64-bit version and all you had to do was get the 64-bit media. I know Microsoft lets you order it from their web site for shipping & handling fees and you get get it from other sources too, but didn't know that not all 32-bit licenses let you do that.

 

That's right, I tried it before and I got a big NO. Byt it's for the best, there no many applications made for 64 platforms, plus Ultimate is not bug free, so I will just wait until the dust settle on the gorund and then decided what to do, may be then it will be the time to purchase a new laptop, more powerful, faster and with plenty 64 games and programs.

And my next laptop I will buy it at powernotebooks for sure.

 

Actually some OEMs like Sager can offer both media, and the license that will work for both, but only if you originally order the 64bit version installed. It doesn't work that way if you order it with the 32bit version installed.

 

Continuing what Paladin said: it is the RETAIL version of Vista that works standard as both 32 and 64 bit. With OEMs, only a select few actually have the ability to offer both versions with the notebook.

 

One thing I like about PCMW is that they offer WWAN broadband card. Maybe PN and xotic can do this too?

Also is there any chance that any of you guys (PN/xotic) can tell sager/clevo to offer pointing stick on the laptops ala thinkpad/latitude?