Xotic PC Customer Service

I just wanted to communicate a message to the customer service department at Xotic. I did a lot of research for five laptops I need to purchase. After reading reviews and forums on the pros and cons of ordering from a Sager reseller versus Sager direct, I decided to order the first laptop with Xotic (Order Number: 48599). I placed my order on Saturday, May 12th. I understand that Xotic is not open for business on Saturday’s so the order was received on Monday morning.
My customer service rep attempted to contact me on Wednesday morning to confirm my order. I was not available so I called her back on Thursday morning. She was not available so I left a voice mail. She failed to call me back on Thursday so I called her again on Friday morning. She informed that my order had still not processed and that my laptop had still been ordered from Sager. I asked her how long it would be before I received my order. She told me it would be at least another two and half weeks. This meant I would wait a total of three and half weeks to receive my order.
Before calling Xotic on Friday morning, I called Sager directly and asked how long it would take to ship the identical laptop I ordered through Xotic. They sales rep from Sager told me it would ship in three business days (ship date of Tuesday, May 22nd for an order placed on Friday, May 18th).
So when the Xotic rep told me that my credit card hadn’t even been charged yet and that it would take additional two and half weeks before my order shipped, I told her to cancel my order. She explained that I would have to send a written request to cancel my order. I refused to waste another moment of my time with Xotic and told her to just cancel the order on her end. She told me I would have to speak to her manager.
About 30 minutes later, I received a call from her manager and after listening to her incompetent explanation for the delay in my order, I told her that I had just called Sager directly and gave her their delivery times. She told me she would call her Sager rep and try to match the delivery times I could receive if I canceled my order with Xotic and ordered from Sager directly. To her credit, she did and called me back with a commitment to have my laptop shipped next Tuesday, May 22nd. She asked if I would keep my order with Xotic. I agreed however, based on my experience with Xotic’s customer service I will never do business with your company again.
I am leaving on a business trip on Friday, May 25th and need this laptop before I leave. That is why I placed my order with Xotic on May 12th. As is now stands I may not receive it on time. Furthermore, if I had originally placed my order directly with Sager I would already have my laptop. In the end I had to call customer service and pay an extra $44 for 2nd Day Air shipping to compensate for Xotic’s subpar customer service.
I would urge anyone considering buying a Sager Laptop to avoid Xotic at all costs.

 

I think xoticpc and sager are backed up, with the np9270 debacle, and the influx of np9170 ordered because of it imho. They've been kicking keeping everyone informed of the 7970m release. Totally think you may have just ordered at the wrong time...

 

@mcmullen: Almost everyone who has dealt with Xotic, myself included, have had the opposite experience and think they are a great company.

I know others are going to chime in and agree.

 

I'm not 100% sure Sager would meet that deadline that they suggested. (3 business days) Just take that with a grain of salt.

 

Sucks that you had a bad experience but in my experience xotic pc has been very professional and helped me through any issues that I have had with my laptop.

happens sometimes, happens to all companies but xoticpc customer service has been wonderful for me. They are also very active on these forums from what I can tell.
If any potential buyers see this thread I wouldn't read toooo much into it.
No offense to the original poster.

 

I dunno, I think you are being unfair because you cut that timetable way too fine. You want build and delivery of a system in 10 business days. I don't know many places that can guarantee that. Dell doesn't, we ordered an XT3 stock config for the department head like 3 weeks ago and it just got here.

If you need something on less than a month's notice, I would say prebuilt is the only way to go. Lenovo, MSI, and a few others sell prebuilt laptops to places like Amazon. You know they are in stock, since Amazon does realtime stock and there's no delay in shipping as it is just a box. You can have those on a couple days notice normally.

When you get something custom to order, you need to allow for delays. Hell, even had they met your target you could still have been in a bad way because what if it was broken? You'd have no time to test it, or have it sent back for repair.

When I ordered my 9170 it was with a month deadline. I let them know up front that June 11 was the date I needed it by and to please let me know if this system couldn't be there by then so I could change my order to something else. Thus far, it looks like it will make it, I'll probably see it week after next, maybe the week after that.

Also June 11 isn't the day I leave, it is the time I determined would give me enough time to get the laptop, customize it with what I want, shake it down, test it, and then have a couple weeks to send it in for repairs, should I need to.

If you want a custom system, you have to be willing to wait for some time while it is produced, even if it isn't brand new hardware which these Sagers are. As it stands you are still hosed if anything is wrong with the Sager you ordered, if Sager has a problem with production, of if the shipper misses a delivery point.

 

A month ago I originally ordered through Xotic but ended up cancelling. They couldn't have been more courteous and professional, even when I was cancelling.

I think your experience with them is rare.

 

Although it was over a couple of years ago, I second misterhobbs experience. Got what I wanted, when I wanted.

 

Are you seriously complaining that xotic gave you a 3 week estimate on delivery? This is a launch month, bro. If I got it that fast I'd be spouting praise all over the place. Sager customer support is notoriously poor and probably not taking that into account- you could get it shipped that fast only if there were no payment hangups and no backlogs. Now, before you call someone's reasons incompetent I advise you pay attention to what they actually said and not just what it meant for you. Could you post this "incompetent explanation," so that we could see if it was actually incompetent or just misunderstood? There's only one thing I have against xotic and it has nothing to do with their customer support, delivery times, or anything that you've been talking about.

As for failing to call you back immediately, this is a launch month and everyone's very busy. What did you expect?

 

They have been thoroughly professional and considerate at the same time for both my orders, thus far. Your experience is indeed one of a kind!

 

If you peruse these forums, your experience it atypical of ANY of the Sager resellers with the exception of a vendor in the UK (which ran into issues as money ran out near the end). My suggestion for new buyers would be to work personally with a human (including those from Xotic) rather than ordering on a Sat. off of the web, and then follow up on Monday, not until after missing a call on the fourth business day.


I would urge anyone considering buying a Sager to do more research. Call and talk to a sales rep. Get commitments dates*before* placing your order so there are no surprises. Going into this with expectations set correctly will make your experience a pleasant one.

I'm sure doing so w/ Xotic would've avoided any problems.

 

I know. It's getting out of hand. After all, give this some serious due consideration. Most people know what they're doing...

 

My short interactions with them and those of a friend of mine were the exact opposite. If you wanted your laptop in a week, then either pay for rush or buy from a store. The entire 7970m (probably more than 1000 orders) pre-order queue is being processed right now, so a 3 week turnaround is amazing.

 

Thanks for the advice jclausius. I agree; I should have done my homework. It was a huge mistake to order from Xotic. I should have called them directly and I probably would have sensed their incompetence.
I just want to urge anyone thinking about buying a Sager to go to custom gaming laptops - Welcome to Sager Notebooks and consider buying it direct as opposed to going through a reseller, especially Xotic.

 

Just for the sake of posterity, I ordered my laptop with 7970 from xotic on April 30th and it has currently been shipped and is being delivered on May 21st. Almost a 3-week turnaround exactly. On launch month. And I am so incredibly psyched and thrilled and happy and impressed that I find myself unable to stop singing xoticpc's praises.

And in any case, try and have a little grace, even when complaining. If you complain and do it politely and considerately and with respect and restraint, you might actually wind up getting somewhere.

 

What the above poster is saying is there was no need whatsoever, regardless of your discontent, to post multiple threads and bloat the forum! Secondly, I doubt anyone would consider your advise and buy from Sager direct as all these resellers, inclusive of and especially XoticPC provide better communicability and support than Sager itself, not to mention the standard 3% cash discount, which is not available through Sager direct.

 

Let me chime in and provide some details:

Saturday 5/12 Customer Ordered Laptop
Monday 5/14 We emailed customer advising of it being processed
Wednesday 5/16 (McKenna in Order Verifications) Emailed and left a voice mail with the customer to confirm order but was unable to reach the customer
Wednesday 5/16 Customer returned call to our verification staff and left a voicemail which they could not return that same day.
Thursday 5/17 Customer called back before our verification staff (McKenna) called him and the order was verified. Customer stated he was upset because he needs the laptop by the following Friday for a business trip.
Friday 5/18 Order was put into production @ Sager and customer was complimented with FREE Rush Production.

Laptop is expected to ship on Monday 5/21 and meet the customers deadline for his business trip.

We apologized to this customer he didn't get a call back the same day he left a voicemail, for this we complimented him with Free Rush Production and to also help attain his target arrival date for his business trip.

 

I just received a message from the Admin at the Xotic forum informing me that they are removing my posts. Xotic’s decision to remove my posts should speak for itself.

 

Wow that is definitely faster than when I'm getting mine, not to complain.. but I placed my order on Saturday May 5th with Reflexnotebook, my order wasn't even processed and placed in until Monday May 14th , hows that late for yeah. Now apparently my laptop won't be shipping until "realisticly" as they said, until the end of this coming week so I'm guessing May 24th-25th. Then I'll have to wait for it to be shipped here. I don't get OP's post.. there are other people in the same boat. Chill out a bit?

 

I think someone should learn to apologize right about now..

 

A piece of advice: keeping a level head and staying calm and polite takes one a long way, whether it's dealing with support or any other human being.

I've merged all the duplicate threads and removed unnecessary comments and/or replies with personal attacks. Y'all know better than that.

 

^ No kidding right? lol This is a big month, think about ALL of the orders for just the 7970m's they all have been put on hold until those gpus came in, he ordered mid-May what did he expect? The NP9150 is one of those new-age sorta deals, and the hype for them has grown, therefore large amount of orders = more time needed to fill orders. simple as that. Not to mention all of the reseller companies on top of those being ordered from Sager directly.

 

I read through the thread in the Xotic forums and they only deleted a few posts from a few different users due to personal attacks. That's standard forum policy. You're making it sound like they deleted all of your posts, but in reality your original grievance is still there as well as any other posts that weren't personal attacks.

 

I too ordered my Sager N9170 with Xtotic PC. I believe my order was on April 30th, the 1st day Ivy bridge came out. And I got my PC built and delivered at my door step on May 11th. For a custom built PC. I say that's really good. My experience with Xotic is very positive.

 

Uh, sir? Nobody here agrees with you... And everyone except you agrees that buying directly from Sager is stupid... And you can't base your opinions for all the resellers off an experience you could have avoided with one if you knew how to set reasonable expectations, or nobody will pay attention to you.

Also, it counts as trolling to take someone's words and twist them around to mean the opposite of what they meant. He was saying that if you had done some research beforehand, you would have known that build times are taking a while right now, not that you shouldn't have gone with xotic. I no longer have any sympathy for you, because this is obviously your fault and you're being a troll. And I still don't believe that xotic gave you an incompetent response.

 

Wait, wait, so let me get this straight: XoticPC kept your order and upgraded you to rush processing to meet your deadline, they are going to get you your laptop before I get mine, despite the later order date, because of your close date, and you are still mad at them?

Tell you what if I ran their store, I'd probably cancel your order because you sound like you are going to be a problem customer. The whole point in a business doing what they did was to try and make it right for you so you wouldn't complain about them and hurt their image. Privately they probably think you are being a jerk but they'll do what they can to try and make you happy.

However despite them doing that, despite them giving you uncommonly good treatment you still do what they were trying to avoid and you try to hurt their reputation. Me? I'm vindictive enough I'd say "Oh no problem, we've canceled your order, reversed the charge. You are free to take your business elsewhere, please don't call us again." Looks like they aren't going to do that, which is probably why they run a successful small business and I don't (and won't try).

I saw far too many customers at my parents business like that: Who would threaten to raise hell if they didn't get satisfaction, when the issue was one of their own making.

For shame.

 

Really seems like Xotic went out of their way here despite being snowed under with orders. That's why so many have rushed to their defence. I just hope that anyone reading this thread when trying to decide which reseller to use understand why.

 

I'd be a horrible business owner because I'd tell guys like this to F off. They upgraded your order for free and you're still crying?

 

XoticPC has been great about my order so far, I have bugged them a lot, made changes to my order after having placed it and have received great customer service along the way. I placed my order on 5/7 and am patiently waiting for it to be completed (though it is killing me), understanding the whole time that they have to work on my order during a time when they now probably have to fill hundreds of other orders placed before mine. I can't say enough about how good they have been to me so far. It does grind my gears however that this clown can cry hell or high water about his order and get free rush delivery while being a DB the whole way and will now get his order before mine. Such is life.

 

Lololol, this guy made the topic to flame resellers and now it has turned into an xoticpc fan club. Even people who didn't buy from them (like me) are here right now.

 

I haven't even bought from Xotic PC and I can say that Xotic PC's customer service is amazing! Their representatives (Hutsady mainly) answers all of my emails and questions promptly. Even when I feel they are too much. :L

The OP is a troll imo.

 

Actually, if you would've talked to them, you would have found out how friendly and helpful their staff could be (at least from my experience), and if you would've given them your timeframe, they would have told you up front if they could make the deadline or not. The result would've been your expectations would've been set correctly.

In the end, it looks like they threw in some extras from a customer service side, and you will have the laptop when you need it. I don't think there's much left to say here, except Xotic went out of their to make things right. I also think this goes for customer service of most Sager resellers.

@ E.Blar - Thx for summing it up correctly.

 

Sorry to see everyone is so upset over my post about my experience with Xotic’s customer service. It seems like I’ve hit a raw nerve. Either that or all those Xotic employees have plenty of time to reply to posts. Anyway, don’t let the facts of my experience get in the way of your opinions. Seems strange that the general tone of everyone’s replies is “how dare you criticize Xotic” instead of providing facts.
FACT: 3-1/2 weeks does not equal 7-10 business days.
FACT: A quick visit custom gaming laptops - Welcome to Sager Notebooks and a phone call to Sager’s sales department will settle the matter for anyone considering purchasing a Sager laptop.

 

if you thought Xotic PC was bad...

Sager is even worse...

 

Hi E.Blar. I don’t care if anyone agrees with me. The opinion of others does not change the facts of my experience with Xotic’s customer service. My goal in writing my post was not to receive sympathy from anyone. I just wanted to warn people who are considering a Sager to avoid Xotic. That’s all.

 

Justin, thanks for the details. Here are a few you left out.
Wednesday 5/16 – returned Xotic's call
Thursday 5/17 – no return call from Xotic (all day)
Friday 5/18 – I called Xotic again and verified my CC information. I was informed that my order had not yet been placed with Sager and that it would take an additional 2-1/2 weeks.
I can appreciate that Xotic is very busy. But please understand that I had to inform your customer service rep of Sager’s lead time for a direct order and threaten to cancel my order. As long as your acknowledging this as an acceptable customer service practice at Xotic, I will drop it and let the record stand.
By the way, Sager also offers free shipping for orders placed directly with Sager

 

Honestly now. You make a case as to why one SHOULD do business with XoticPC.

I'm going to give it to you straight with no chaser; your complaint is a non issue. When I saw the thread title, I was thinking this would be an interesting read. Instead what did I find? An ant hill being made out as if it were mount Everest.

I'm closing this thread on the grounds that it's an exaggerated non-issue that serves no purpose.