Sonnam service level

talexb-SBdzbUvMQDunS0EtXVNi6w at public.gmane.org talexb-SBdzbUvMQDunS0EtXVNi6w at public.gmane.org
Wed Oct 6 20:55:35 UTC 2004


On Wed, 6 Oct 2004, Ilya Palagin wrote:

> But:
> 1.One month of warranty;

If that for used stuff or new?

For used stuff, I figure if you get it home and it works, you're ahead. If
it's DOA, take it back and try again.

> 2.Buying ASUS motherboard in Sonnam, I asked for a compatible 512MB
> DIMM.  They gave me one with wrong speed, then replaced it with another
> one (free) which was supposed to work and didn't.  Finally I had to
> bring them the whole machine, a tech found proper DIMM and I was charged
> $25 for services.  Not sure if I had to pay for wrong stuff replacement,
> but I had no power to argue;

That's a tough one -- apart from bringing the whole machine in, which I
freely admit can be inconvenient.

> 3.Along with that motherboard, I asked for a chip videocard. One I was
> sold was a second hand ancient no-name, which just didn't work.  Again,
> I replaced it with ATI, paying the difference;

I would have brought it back and got a refund.

> 4.Network card died in two weeks, replaced with one from BestBuy.

I would have brought that back as well -- especially if it was within the
month warranty.

I had a power supply die on me -- to save time, I pulled it out of the bad
PC and brought it back to the store, along with the paperwork. It was part
of a system that I'd bought there and put together myself.

They were reluctant because they wanted to see the whole system (amd I
understood). I shrugged and said I could go and get it if they wanted --
I'd just tried to save them time. They were OK with that, and just gave me
a replacement P/S (no charge, of course) and I was on my way.

Another time I wanted to get a sound card for my Linux machine -- they had
some used sound cards for $10. When I waffled, the lady cut it to $5. The
sound card works fine. I've also bought memory at their store, and it
works fine.

For used machines I usually go down College to Hardware Direct, they have
inventory that turns around pretty fast. A few months back, I brought back
a machine that wouldn't boot from the CD (kinda important when you're
installing Linux), and they took care of me right away, even though it was
ten minutes before closing time and they had a big sign saying No
Technical Support Half an Hour Before Closing.


I agree that going back to a store to return something can be stressful,
but I've found it works pretty well if you're prepared, and you're
reasonable.

Also, consumer research has shown that if someone has a good retail
experience they tend to tell 3-4 of their friends; if they have a bad
retail experience, they tend to tell 15-20 of their friends. In Toronto,
that kind of news spreads fast, especially among a focussed community such
as this mailing list.

Today I've heard from this mailing list about two places I didn't know
existed, one near me at Coxwell and Danforth, another South of Yonge on
Eglinton .. if I find that either of them have a better store than Sonnam,
I might start going there.

Well, enough rambling. Cheers!

Alex


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