No in-home service under warranty - Problem?

Hi BGMcG.....Alot of us, at least myself, probably went through the same doubt.  What does win one over is knowing that DS will work with you as long as it takes, either phone or email, to get the problem resolved and the part installed.  Quite a number of customers with the thought of changing the power supply, ram stick or graphic card, especially the power supply,  have come here to the forums and we've put their mind at ease at how somewhat easy most parts are to change.  I agree that the motherboard would be alot more involved, with cpu, ram sticks, and cpu cooler needing to be swapped.  But, again, DS will spend hours if necessary, to help.  And it is just a careful, methotical procedure.

Thanks for the feedback. Good to hear again that DS provides the phone support needed to get their customers through the repairs.  This seems to be backed up by the exceptionally positive comments on the CS dept.  Still, a bit disapponting about the warranty.  Like a lot of people, I think, I've purchase PC extended warranties in the past not so much to save a few bucks on parts but to avoid repair hassles and to get up and running again asap.  I considered the warranty to be a big part of the justification of the additional cost of buying from DS instead of building it myself and now that I understand the warranty, I will have to decide if the remaining benefits (not having to build it, testing before shipment, excellent CS, etc.) can justify that cost difference.  

Thanks, Tidgxor (is there a story behind that name?).  I enjoyed reading the recap of your DS experience.  I've spent a lot of time the past few weeks on the DS forum and couldn't agree more with your comments on what a great resource that is.  I'm back to leaning toward going with DS, but have a few questions I need to get answered tomorrow before I pull the trigger.

Excellent statement OP!

If I may address the other side of the coin?

I have an Alienware M18xR1.
It's brand new.

I had all kinds of crashing issues.  All kinds.  (to the point it would loop boot to BSODs)  So Dell, once I got through the accent/language barrier in Costa Rica (no disrespect intended - some great mountain climbing there) and over -80- documented hours on my cellphone with Alienware tech support, which only exists in Costa Rica - they decided to fix my Hard Drives by sending me new ones, they would not send a technician.  The drives arrived, I had to look up on youtube on my phone, how to take apart this laptop.

I finally replace the drives, setup raid, and install.  I call Dell for help with the drivers and the technician tells me because I installed windows without their permission I voided my warranty.  (at this point I had 175 days left on the warranty)

After some hassle - they help me install the drivers, which are all named (for example) HJUUS3.EXE and not Nvidia 560M drivers or whatnot.

Anyway - the tech gets the drivers installed, installs the wrong ones and we being getting BSODs again in loop.

Speeding the story along, they send a technician.  He arrives at my barracks room (I was still in the Navy at the time) at 11PM.  He brings parts including a motherboard, GPU, etc to replace.  The technician stays until 1 AM, repairing this laptop.  During the repair time, not only did he fall asleep at my desk, he proceeded talking about "Charlie" and having miniature flashbacks of 'Nam, he even showed me the bullet hole scar in his head and talked about being buried alive and all kinds of other colorful imagery. (I am also, a combat veteran)

He leaves.  I go to sleep.  I wake up 2 hours later for work, come home laptop BSODs in loop.

6 weeks go by.

I finally get permission to send the laptop in (that no longer boots).

I send it in.

2 weeks later I get it back.  It runs I update windows and only install absolutely necessary things - such as SP1.  It begins to BSOD in loop.

A week passes - they agree to REPLACE the laptop for a brand new one.
I send in the computer.  They send me one.  They lose the ability to provide me a tracking number.

I get the laptop, except it isn't new - it is someone else's -referbished- laptop.

It is sitting on my counter.

Sometimes, just being able to tap a company like Digital Storm that has proven their customer service is worth all the warranty in the world - not to mention I know they will do everything they can to keep your system in your hands before asking you to send it back.

Thank you so much for posting, sorry for the long response, it is my longest ever and sadly - I left a bunch out.  You have my word all the above is true.

Regards.

Xii

@Frank - exactly why I have a small business where we go out and fix, install and train about computers - these businesses are a joke.

DS certainly has the most supportive customer base I've ever seen!  I guess I've been relatively lucky with in-home repairs the couple of times I've needed it.  Not perfect mind you, but much better than some of the horror stories recounted here.  Bottom line is that I've decided to go DS.  I appreciate the feedback from all who took the time to respond.

I am currently having problems with my DS rig now. Power Supply is failing after 2 months...which does happen. I personally would like to see a 50/50 split on shipping for replacement parts covered under the warranty. Right now you are expected to foot the bill both ways. Where as most big names and parts manufacturers will pay to send the parts to you as long as you get them the defective part first. I am disappointed in the warranty in that regard. Just something to consider, but chances are you will never experience any issues.

I really dont expect both way shipping from online providers unless like you say a premium warranty. I do however think it would be more than reasonable for the company to pay half. The cost of sending the replacement item, while the customer is responsible for paying to return the defective item. I am actually getting that level of service through corsair on the item. I understand thats your policy, but maybe something to consider in the future.

No - I hear you they gave me a "new" laptop willingly.  I had an M17xR3.  They gave me an M18xr1.  Good deal?  Sadly it was refurbished and the case had structural damage lol.  I just kept it - Id rather not go through the nightmare.

Needless to say it is going in the -garage sale- in September.

Originally posted by Alex I understand, we do offer a 30 day time-frame in which we cover shipping both ways. Afterwards, we cover parts and labor but not shipping. With our current pricing and support, etc... we can't financially make it possible for us to cover shipping both ways once a customer is out of the 30 day time-frame, we do offer a discounted rate, usually 40%-50% off compared to what FedEx/UPS normally charge. Perhaps in the future we could offer a higher rated, and premium warranty plan for customers that want shipping costs covered both ways, I would imagine that option being an extra $150 to $200 on top of a system price.

Alex, in all due respect, I am not sure how that 40-50% off is accurate. In a recent incident I had with a dead HDD, I was quoted at 13.50$ (each way, so 27$ in total) for DS to send me a new HDD. As I mentioned in my system thread, I went straight to Western Digital to save some money. To ship the HDD, with insurance, cost me 6.38$ (I only paid for return shipping, not both ways). That's a 7.12$ difference from what DS wanted to ship me the same thing. Since it was the same shipping  company that DS quoted me with (FedEx) I am not sure how you are claiming to offer 40-50% discounts, when I shipped the same item for less than 50% of what DS quoted me, with insurance.

I am a very happy DS customer, and will continue to recommend you, but I do believe that the shipping situation is the "weakest" part of your coverage.


Edited by Tidgxor - 12 Aug 2012 at 9:09pm

Tidgxor,

Thank you for sharing your feedback, all feedback is welcome, which allows us to improve the business for our customers. I will definitely share all of your feedback, as we do value the input.

I can give you examples on how our rates can be a discounted rate versus normal retail prices. I'm sure Western Digital gets even better rates than us, which allows them to offer even better shipping prices.

I'll share your feedback, thank you as always and thank you everyone for being so active on our community!

Bobby,

Great points all around, had I used the Western Digital RMA label I would have definitely taken that into consideration. However, this was entirely done via a FedEx location with a marker-on-the-box address and the RMA number written on each side of the box. I suppose its possible that somehow I got a deal based solely on the fact that I sent the package to a specific address, but unless FedEx knew that that address was Western Digital, there was no indication that WD was involved as they don't provide return postage and I didn't have access to a computer to purchase a shipping label through their website. All that being said, your other points about various rates is likely spot on in my case. Thanks for the informative post.

Again, very happy with DS, and I was happy with their technical support during the process of getting the new HDD. I was just sharing my own personal experiences with shipping. Anyone considering DS should see my 1500 other post praising them heartily

Everyone of us has gone through this kind of doubt.What gives us relief is that DS will work as long as it takes to get the issue resolved.