Sager NP8651/Clevo P650SE - XoticPC RMA process thus far.

**UPDATE (Below)**

I ordered this laptop at the end of November of last year. Got it around the second week of December. I decided to get IPS display, and mSATA 120gb (slot 1) upgrades. During the first few days of using the laptop everything was fine except I noticed vertical lines (especially against back and gray backgrounds). I also noticed, though they were barely visible, horizontal lines moving in an upward vertical direction (white and gray background). I tried two different external displays, booted Slax via USB, and checked to see if the display's connector was loose. The same issues still persisted so I decided to contact XoticPC. After troubleshooting for a bit with a rep via email, I got an RMA and sent the laptop in for repair.

Now what's really upsetting is that I am the one who has to sit around without a laptop which I paid quite a bit for for who knows how long. Undoubtedly there are some quality control issues because I should not have received that in the first place. Now this XoticPC rep and I are playing a very slow game of tag via email; well he is slow in replying. Sager received my machine over a week ago and I haven't gotten any kind of updates about the process. Maybe I'm being a bit impatient, but surely I'm not being unreasonable. I mean, some "upgrade" that display turned out to be.

Seriously considering just getting a refund.

Would appreciate any advice, especially from those who have had previous RMA experience with XoticPC/Sager.

Thanks!

**UPDATE**

Finally got a reply and it's a bit disappointing. I was told that my IPS display is "normal" despite the vertical lines (I wasn't given much detail, so I don't know if they saw the lines or not). Can anyone else, who bought the NP8651 w/ IPS display upgrade give any input on this; or anyone with an IPS display for that matter.

http://imgur.com/a/fifxi

Above are the images that were requested before my RMA request went through; the photos are a bit overexposed.

 

My first sager, a compal jfl 92, died completely within a week. I am pretty tech savvy with computers and tried everything, including taking out all upgrades and putting in the stock stuff with a fresh XP install. BTW, this is one of the standard troubleshooting procedures required of sager. I explained to the rep everything I tried. My computer showed no signs of turn ing on. He took me for my word and had me try one more thing. I had to jump out two spots on the motherboard. Nothing. Rma'd my laptop and got it back in a week with a new motherboard. My first experience with sager had a mishap, but the excellent service, tech support and quick turnaround sold me on them. From what I've gathered, turnaround time is usually 1-2 weeks. I think you're being impatient. I would give it another week or so then start pushing buttons. It seems you are being impatient and want a play by play with what is going on. You could be slowing down the process or worse pissing off the people in the chain of command and procedure and they're taking their time. Be patient. Sager and most of it's resellers have a very high reputation for good reason. Excellent hardware at reasonable prices and good customer service. That and most of their laptops run cooler than the space heater crap you buy off the shelves like best buy. Yes you paid a lot of money and got a lemon part. Let sager do their thing. In a few days if you haven't received it back then get with your reseller and start negotiating. This happens. As of now it's a first world problem.

 

Well that's good to hear and while I agree that I am being a bit impatient, not having my laptop is a big inconvenience, and I shouldn't be "pissing" anyone off. They talk all that stuff about checking your system, making sure this is great and that is perfect, and missed something like a faulty display? If anyone should be "pissed" off, I'd say it's me, the customer. Anyways, I'm keeping my cool, not going to call/email and leave any sort of rude remarks. Thanks for the reply.

 

XoticPC and/or Sager should be able to give you a status and ETA at least. I know it sucks to get a new laptop and have an issue with it. Personally, if that happened to me I'd just order a new laptop, and return the faulty one within the 30 day window, so you'll hopefully not be out of a laptop for long if at all. Usually it's about a week or so turnaround for a repair.

 

Hi HTWingNut,

It was your in-depth reviews that helped me decide to buy this laptop over some others I was considering. Thanks a lot for doing them!

Yes, I was told I would be given RMA information "today or at least tomorrow morning" (I'm guessing status and ETA). That was 5 days ago and I still haven't gotten a reply. Sager received the laptop well over a week ago and I haven't gotten any kind of information on what's going on, so I will have to wait and see.

Thanks for the reply.

 

13 days between placing the order and receiving my NP8651 with XoticPC. They do seem to take some time processing orders and any changes. I requested a wireless card change two days before my system shipped out and XoticPC was unable to get it processed in time, at the same time I also requested overnight shipping and that too didn't process in time. However when I requested rush production that was processed same day.

XoticPC is on the slower side from my experience, but they offer a quality service and if you can learn to be patient you will appreciate their good faith attempt at exceptional customer service.

 

By whom? Sager or Xoticpc? If sager told you and didn't follow through call xotic.

 

I hear ya, I'm just going to chill and see what happens. Thanks for the reply.

 

By an XoticPC rep, same person helped me troubleshoot and set up my RMA.

 

Its only natural to want to know the status of your RMA, I would too.
We do work with Sager as a middle man for you so each time you email us, we do email Sager and have to wait for their reply before we can get you one. We do this as quickly as we can, but sometimes we are on the waiting side as well.

For the RMA time, the information provided by Sager in the RMA details do say:
- RMA processing time is approximately 5-14 business days. We make every attempt to process your repair as quickly as possible. (Saturday, Sunday, and holidays do not count towards business days).

We do try to reply to every email within 1 business day. If its taking longer then that feel free to PM me here and I can see what I can find out. You're also welcome to call our office during business hours with any inquiries.

 

Appreciate you taking part in the conversation Hutsady. This wasn't explained to me by anyone else, though I was aware XoticPC is just the middleman here. It's just that I was told I would be given certain information by a certain time, and when that time came I wasn't contacted to even be told the information wasn't available yet, it just came off as "meh" to me.

 

You're very welcome. If you were told you'd have information by a certain time you should certainly expect that. If that hasn't happened I do apologize about it. If you're still needing information feel free to PM me your order number or RMA number and I will see if there is any new info to pass along. Even if there isn't new info to get from Sager I'll be happy to ask them for you regardless.

 

Those lines are not normal.. Also you got quite a bit of light bleed.. I would press for them to replace the screen.. This is hardly normal..

 

I'm talking with our service manager Tanner to see if he can get any influence in with Sager. Can you PM me your order number or RMA number please.

 

Thought so! The light bleed I noticed and wasn't even pressing about it so much, just knew something was wrong about those lines. Thanks for the reply, Hutsady will hopefully get this properly sorted out for me.

 

PM sent, thank you!

 

Got it, thanks!
Hopefully we can work some magic.