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    My horrible experience with Malibal

    Discussion in 'Reseller Feedback Forum' started by Xeno43, Jun 23, 2012.

  1. Xeno43

    Xeno43 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Update with the rest of the story on page 2

    First, at everyone who might order from Malibal, I'd be careful with what you say about their laptops! Apparently someone (probably one of their staff actually) told Malibal that I was upset with how they were treating me and lots of other stuff I said, and then I got my order cancelled and this email back! (which they happened to not put the usual do not share message, so here it is)

    Oh well, time to go buy from Xotic! At least they have customer service.

    I ordered on May 1st and was upset with them because multiple people who ordered the same laptop as me in June have received their laptops, and all the people who ordered the 17 inch version up to about the second week in June have their laptops or they are on the way. And besides the 7970m, everything else on my laptop is standard, not even an OS installed.

    Hope this helps you make your decision on who you buy from.
     
  2. Sykopat

    Sykopat Notebook Enthusiast

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    I'm sorry but by judging with the email you got, I clearly do not see any problems here. I believe that Malibal was in their right to cancel your order, since you seemed to be determined to give them bad rep.

    I understand that seeing other people getting their order before yours can be frustrating, but that's definitely not what I call bad customer service, more like something that will happen at tons of companies, from time to time. Not getting any updates about my order, receiving the wrong one, not being able to get a hold of someone, receiving an untested unit, getting back a defective and/or repaired one, to me, these are serious issues.

    Thanks for your input, but I do believe that their answer was well written, straight to the point and without being disrespectful. To me, this is already a lot better than what I've seen from a lot of other companies.

    That's just my 2 cents.
     
  3. Mr_Mysterious

    Mr_Mysterious Like...duuuuuude

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    I have to agree. I'm sorry that you've had a bad experience with Malibal, but that is no excuse to get determined to badmouth them. That's making it personal, and that's not what this is about. Sometimes life is just tough, you have to roll with the punches and get back on the horse. It was a difficult time for them (for the industry, really), and you got caught in the wrong place and in the wrong time.

    In my experience, they have been professional, courteous and helpful. I stand by my recommendation of them.

    Mr. Mysterious
     
  4. surjl0827

    surjl0827 Notebook Enthusiast

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    I agree with this. Their letter to you shows no signs of disrespect or derogatory statements. You can inquire them about the delays and such, but the complaints sound rathe personal. And yes I did see a hint of insults there as well.
    By the law they have the right to not provide you with their services.
    Everyone had to go through the delay and I doubt thu intentionally did that to you.
     
  5. Ancientbarb

    Ancientbarb Notebook Geek

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    They are right about newer orders shipping before the older happening often from different companies. Chances are, same thing could have happened even if you ordered from somewhere else. I think you have the right to be upset about what happened but its kind of unfair that Malibal is taking such a heavy hit when things like this happen in many other places. You can complain but claiming that you would do anything to drive other customers away seems a bit offensive to me. I honestly don't see anything wrong with what they have wrote. Its hard to say something like that in the most pleasant way.
     
  6. JMCD23

    JMCD23 Notebook Geek

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    I've worked in the service industry through highschool and university. I had one boss at this restaurant with the attitude that if someone is in the wrong and being unreasonable, toss them out - you don't need their business. This is what Malibal did from what I can see and rightfully so. You clearly have no respect for their privacy, you have malicious intentions without even having received the product and are being unreasonable.

    As others have had, things happen and sometimes it's out of their control. The customer isn't always right, and it's nice to see a company that has no issues rejecting unwanted business anyway. Just want to add that some people actually evoke poor customer service because of the way they treat people via phone, e-mail or in person. If a customer treats me like crap, is short or just generally rude - I am MUCH less motivated to do anything to help them beyond the bare minimum. If a customer is pleasant and polite, I will absolutely go the extra mile. Karma for consumerism.
     
  7. Exposed88

    Exposed88 Notebook Consultant

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    I think Malibal was in the right on this one.
     
  8. Sorbus

    Sorbus Notebook Geek

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    I'm rather interested in knowing what - if anything - Malibal did to verify that it was indeed Xeno43 who wrote the posts in question. If they asked him (or otherwise confirmed it was him), then that's fine; Malibal is free to fire a customer if they feel that the customer is being abusive (although the way they did so wasn't exactly professional). If they did not, then the issue is both with Malibal and much larger (being able to get Malibal to cancel an order merely by posting vitriolic comments on a forum under the proper name, and then ensuring that Malibal's CS people find them).

    Personally, I expect that it's the former (that Xeno43 admitted to writing the posts in a part of the conversation we're not seeing), but it's still a question worth asking.
     
  9. aduy

    aduy Keeping it cool since 93'

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    i agree with malibals verdict, haha at least they didnt send you a gimped card or something, with a stock underclock haha that would have been hilarious.
     
  10. blewis540

    blewis540 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Based on the information from malibals email I would say that it was out of their control.. and seemed like they attempted to make you whole....

    However, as a company I wouldn't have wrote such email and would have ignored it to the best my ability. Kudos to Malibal though for providing compensation for AMD's defective/backordered product
     
  11. angrykenji

    angrykenji Notebook Consultant

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    lol.
    don't mess with people who make your food. have you seen the movie Waiting? :D

    but, yeah. wonder if Xeno will reply back here :p
     
  12. clintre

    clintre Notebook Evangelist

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    Wow, if you intention was to make Mailibal look bad you missed the mark badly. This really makes you look bad.

    I really did not see anything in that email that was bad on their part.
     
  13. Xeno43

    Xeno43 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Sorry, I'm on vacation right now so I didn't take the time to type up the whole story.

    You see, my parents had originally ordered me a laptop with a 670 in it on May 1st, with the promise that it would ship in 5-7 days, in time for my birthday on May 12. Then on the 8th, they notified my parents that they had a shortage of 670's and I would have to wait a couple days. So come May 12, the laptop still had not shipped, so my parents just gave me the order comfirmation. On May 14th, it still had not shipped, and I decided if I was going to have to wait I would change to the 7970.

    So after all those initial delays, I had to deal with the huge 7970 delay, which was fine because I knew that was out of control. However, during that entire time we were kept in the dark about when the cards would arrive until they actually were in their hands. Still fine, they promised to work hard to fill all the back orders. Yet they didn't tell anyone until a week later that they were only building the 17inch version and the chosen few 15 inch versions.

    So almost everybody who had ordered the 17 inch version has theirs in the mail, and some of the chosen few have even received their 15 inch versions.

    Plus, just as those chosen few orders were starting to come out and people were starting to ask questions on THEIR forum, their forum mysteriously went down.

    And their reps have been being rude to lots of people nowadays, before the forum went down one member was talking about how the rep was trying to teach him a life lesson on patience because he was asking when his laptop would arrive.

    Mine simply was way to snippy to a customer who is only in this situation because after 13 days they still had not shipped the laptop they agreed to have out in 5-7 days on the first, and said a 'couple' more days on the 8th.

    And in my opinion I thought this might interest people who have their warranties. Be careful what you say on the forum as I wouldn't be surprised if you send your laptop in for service and the part they need happens to be on backorder for... three months.

    They didn't really give us much free... This is already the only company I know of that charges you shipping on $1500, so upgrading to two day shipping is good, but we had to pay $50 shipping already. Then apply IC diamond is almost free, the stuff is like $7 for a full tube of it. Color calibration is quite simple as well.

    And that email was sent on the 18th of May, I have no idea what delay they were talking about their


    Hello All,

    Again, the 18th of May, and seeing how they were promising to ship the laptops within a week I'm not sure what delay they were talking about.
     
  14. Zymphad

    Zymphad Zymphad

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    I don't think Malibal was in the right and I don't think customer should be so adament in discouraging others from buying from them either. Considering they are supposed builders, they have full control in which what orders go out first, unlike Sager, unless Malibal is admitting someone else is building and shipping theirs. How hard is it to run a query and see who ordered.first, it's unacceptable.

    Since Malibal was in the wrong and behaving like a child.instead.of trying to win your business back by shipping your order, who cares about the free icd7 or calibration if your notebook delayed 2 months and they chose to process someone else's order first.


    Sent from my G73JH using KeyBoard

    XoticPC if get a bad review on forums or review site, no matter how belligerent, they always try to resolve the issue and win back customers respect. They know one unhappy customer can do far more damage than 100 happy customers to fix it. I recommend them.

    And very sure Larry at LPC would be happy to win your business as.well and be upfront and honest the whole way through with info on processing and discounts.

    No matter how busy Larry is and no matter how many times I contacted him, Larry never sounded tired, never rude, always polite, prompt, patient and thankful for my business. Even at 2 am. And he dies it all, its a 2 person operation at his place , so no doubt he is far busier than anyone at Malibal....


    Sent from my G73JH using KeyBoard
     
  15. Xeno43

    Xeno43 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks hula, thats exactly why I was so mad. I believe that seeing how they take the orders and build them at Malibal I should be given production dates like, "Your laptop will go into production by the end of next week", I should know exactly what day and hour it will be being built. Sager simply receives a list of orders from all its resellers everyday and decides what it wants to build. That's why I'm a lot more lenient with Xotic, they literally have no control over whose orders get built first, but somehow keep their customers 10 times more informed then Malibal does. Malibal gave one update during the entire time the cards were being repaired, while Xotic was constantly posting updates on this forum.

    I know its theoretically slower to build laptops by ship date and not by model, but how much slower could it possibly be? Like 5 or 10%? I think that would be worth not upsetting every single one of their customers. Its common knowledge that customers would rather wait longer than find out someone who ordered after them has received their product ahead of them. Especially when people who have ordered in June have received their 15 inch versions.

    Sager has the luxury of not having to support their customers :p
     
  16. awakeN

    awakeN Notebook Deity

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    That was before the defect was found in the 7970M's I believe. The bad news arrived somewhere around May 20th or something like that. From there it was out of control. They have been flooded with orders, especially since IB had just came out on the 29th, which is around when you ordered. They build these laptops themselves, so they can't necessarily reach their timeframe all the time. For resellers such as Xotic and PNB it is a lot easier to reach their estimated timeframe because Sager manufactures the laptops, not Xotic. I think it has been confirmed that Malibal builds their laptops.

    Also, there is the "edit" button. You can use that to avoid triple posting.
     
  17. Zymphad

    Zymphad Zymphad

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    I do think it was immature to post on public forum you will dissuade all from buying from Malibal. Just post your experience and let potential customers.to decide for themselves.

    Though I do think it was incredibly rash and inappropriate for them to send you that email and then to complain of their profit margin loss, as if to make them a martyr when they prioritized someone else's order from June when you've been waiting 2 months? Its stupid is what it is. Just bad behavior fro. Them no matter how justified they may be, take the high road, be the better person.

    And it seems to me Xeno is just a kid. Why send a scathing email? Just realize who you are relating to adjust your responses. ...

    Sent from my G73JH using KeyBoard
     
  18. misterhobbs

    misterhobbs Notebook Evangelist

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    What happened to the Malibal forums?
     
  19. Mr_Mysterious

    Mr_Mysterious Like...duuuuuude

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    They're down.

    To me, what I see as a problem is that your parents (who don't come off as computer-savvy, but I could be wrong) made you a promise they couldn't keep: Getting a brand-new, cutting edge, laptop right on launch time in only 5-7 days. If Malibal made that promise (not sure if they did) then: 1) They shouldn't have made that promise in the first place, and 2) You shouldn't have believed them, should have done your own research. Buying a laptop is an entirely different process than buying most things, because it's such a personal product. Due diligence must be paid and proper research must be done before such a big and important purchase, especially if it's online. If you can't do that, might as well join the masses who flock to Best Buy and buy the "crapbooks" displayed there.

    I hope you understand my position: I have known Malibal far longer than I have known you, I have interacted with many of their reps, including the head honcho, and I have seen numerous satisfied customers. I barely know you, and while I do place some validity in your words, it's hard to believe a lot what you're saying. But your words are heeded and I will think about them.

    Ultimately, this is a conflict, and I'm reasonably sure both sides made some mistakes and misunderstandings. I think that we should just move on from this. You don't have to buy from Malibal, and Malibal does not have to service you. Why should you be so intent on badmouthing them? They know that if they're a bad company, they'll hemorrhage customers. So if you are right, you'll see them go out of business. But no one can predict that. And I personally hope that doesn't happen. I trust and have faith in them.

    Mr. Mysterious
     
  20. Xeno43

    Xeno43 Notebook Enthusiast

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    No. My father says I can't speak about what he does for a living, however he does have a masters degree and a degree in Computer Science. Before ordering the laptop with a 670, NOT a 7970m, on May 1st he was told that the laptop would ship within 5-7 business days. Then somehow, even though they build the laptops, Malibal ran out of 670's and on May 8th, said that it would take a couple of days for them to arrive. Come May 14th, the cards still had not arrived, or at least my order was never built, so I had my card upgraded to a 7970, and knew I would have to wait. I even understood that the problem with the cards was beyond their control.

    The only time I became sick of them was when other peoples laptops started shipping out before mine. They came up with the idea to ship out all of the 17 inch laptops and the chosen few 15 inch laptops before starting the rest of the 15 inch laptops. The chosen few weren't even orders from May or April, they were from June, June 6th and June 14th are two examples. The one who ordered June 6th has posted on this forum, the June 14th one was on the Malibal forums which are now conveniently down.

    All I'm trying to do is spread the word on what Malibal does, if you read the email they sent you will see they never once denied any of the things that I had said.
     
  21. GaresTaylan

    GaresTaylan Notebook Consultant

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    Ive read and re-read the 1st post multiple times. Still believe Malibal was in the right here. I also feel that they compensated you pretty well. Applying thermal paste may only be $7 a tube and color calibration may not be a big deal to you - but #1 there is the cost on someone's end to do that additional work (product + labor) and #2 if you think about the additional expense it would be on your end to purchase the kit to do a calibration then its not such a small deal.

    I would be upset if other machines with the same build under orders placed after mine were going out before mine, sure. I certainly wouldn't bash the company on a public forum like this, especially when they seemed to go out of their way to try and make you happy. It sounds to me like unless the machine was in your hands immediately, nothing would make you happy.

    My 2 cents
     
  22. Hubmaster

    Hubmaster Notebook Enthusiast

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    P150Ex came out about 2 months ago so there's bound to be delays in production when you're the one of the first ones to order. It's how the business is when you get flooded with orders for a particular laptop. 2-3 weeks sounds about right for building and shipping a laptop. (I got my Dell Vostro 1500 in 3 weeks when I ordered it 5 years ago) As for the excessive wait times, there were people waiting for over a month on their orders (because of the 7970M issue), but they didn't complain because they would rather wait for a laptop that works instead of getting a laptop that doesn't. People complaining about a laptop not working right is worse than people complaining about wait times. This wait time wasn't exclusive to Malibal, it's EVERY reseller as well. You (likely unknowingly) chose the worst time to upgrade your order to a 7970M.
     
  23. Xeno43

    Xeno43 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Okay I'm just about done here. Read my 1st post and the post I made on the second page, and you will know where I am coming from Gares. Plus people with the same build were receiving their laptops before me, and when I contacted Malibal support they were being snippy to me and telling me I was wrong.

    And please. My original order was on May 1st, and after 13 days( when they promised 5-7), my laptop had still not sipped, so I upgraded on May 14th, and people who ordered in June were receiving their laptop before me, I have a right to be mad. Those people who were not mad ordered from other companies where at worst people who ordered a week after them were receiving their laptops before them, and those were truly different models. Malibal went all the way up to June 14th with the other 17 inch models, and shipped a random number of 15 inch laptops that were ordered in June before me. If you read through the other threads about the 7970, you will be hard pressed to find anyone who is happy with what Malibal has done. I know of at least two different people who said if they don't receive a tracking number on Monday they are cancelling their orders, and thats just on this forum.

    Like I said before, I was fine waiting, I knew I would have to wait. What I was not okay with was people receiving their laptops who had ordered after me.
     
  24. Morey

    Morey Notebook Guru

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    Not sure if this helps any at this point, but when you had the order placed on May 1st, was the credit card payment authorized? It is a process you have to do after you place the order; mine was easy to do, but I had to call the card company to auth the initial payment as it was for a large amount and they flagged it as potential fraud because it was outside my normal spending routines. If you had done all of that, I also suspect that any orders that went past 30 days would automatically expire, so you would have had to reauth the credit card payment on or around June 1st in your case, or else go to the back of the line.
     
  25. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    Wow, fault on both sides here. Neither of you come out looking good. Malibal your email was extremely childish and short sighted =/ same can be said for the ops response.
     
  26. Xeno43

    Xeno43 Notebook Enthusiast

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    They have held my money since May 1st, they just refunded it when they canceled it.

    Sure maybe I shouldn't have said I wouldn't give them a positive review even if the laptop I received was made out of gold, but its true. The 'customer service' and people receiving their laptops who ordered in June was enough to ensure that, and I'm sure a lot of you would have thought the same thing. Just wouldn't have said it lol
     
  27. Morey

    Morey Notebook Guru

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    I get where you are coming from, and like I said in the other thread, I was suprised when I got the confirmation email as quickly as I did. I was fully expecting not to hear anything until late June or early July at the soonest. I don't know why it worked out like that, especially if orders like yours were already submitted, but it was probably just a perfect storm of new tech, delayed shipments, buggy cards, missing parts and communication breakdowns. The few times that I have contacted MALIBAL directly (a few emails, about four PM's and one phone call) they were fine (and the guy on the phone was great). I don't think anything was done intentionally in your case, but that doesn't change things now. If the roles were reversed, I'm sure I would be unhappy as well, but in any case I hope that you have good luck with whatever reseller you decide to go with.
     
  28. Xeno43

    Xeno43 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks, I'm going on vacation for the next two weeks, which was one of the reasons why I let my self go and vent on forums. Even if I would have received my laptop next week, it wouldn't have mattered to me.

    And I hope you enjoy your laptop :D There's a very nice review with pictures in the owners sub topic if you feel like looking at what your about to get
     
  29. Zymphad

    Zymphad Zymphad

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    Agreed.

    After waiting 2 months and I knew someone got their machine even they ordered a month after me, yeah, screen calibration or ICD7 would mean nothing to me, except having the laptop in my hands immediately, and most preferably before someone who ordered a month after me.
     
  30. GaresTaylan

    GaresTaylan Notebook Consultant

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    Absolutely, and this is my point. At that stage, nothing was going to make the OP happy. In the end, Malibal didn't technically owe him anything. They were gong out of their way to provide compensation. Would I want my laptop at that exact moment too? Yes. Would the compensation have made the situation perfect? Not in the slightest. Would I recognize what they have done, realized it was above and beyond what they needed to do, and reevaluated the whole mess? Yes.

    I absolutely think that Malibal's email could have been worded differently. From an outside source that wouldn't know the ins and outs of the issue, to me the response seemed formatted like something a jealous g/f would have posted on Facebook. However, if I was still in the midst of building the equipment for the OP and was pretty much told that no matter what happens they will be going out of their way to tarnish my name, then why put any more effort into it? I already know they won't be a repeat customer. Unfortunately that's the way of the world.

    Someone on page 2 said it best. "Don't mess with people that handle your food." Apples to apples they hit the nail on the head.

    I did. Sorry, still agree with Malibal.

    There's no reason to get upset and throw a hissy because someone disagrees with your point of view or assessment. You have to expect when you come on a public forum to voice your opinion and state your case that people will have different opinions when they look at things from multiple perspectives.

    If you would also go back and read my post against the one point you noted in bold above, I agreed with. I would be upset too. However, I do believe they provided more than generous compensation. It sounds like you're trying to make a point, which you have, but you're getting upset when others are looking past that and at the big picture.

    When I ordered my first gen iPad, it was delivered DoA. At that point, I couldnt get a replacement because Apple was backordered. So I had to wait 4 weeks before they shipped a replacement. Guess what? The replacement had a section in the corner with about 10 dead pixels, so I had to wait for another replacement. Was I upset? Sure. Did I want to voice my opinion to people who would listen? Absolutely. Apple made it right by providing me with a free case and a free 2nd AC adapter. That was about $70 worth of compensation.

    Did I think that was enough? Not when I was heated up about the whole mess. In the end, did I feel it was ample compensation? Once I stepped back, looked at the big picture and thought more about the little in's and out's of everything, I realized it was, because they never owed me anything. They never had to give me anything. With the numbers they were going to sell, one person wasn't going to make or break their product launch.
     
  31. V1R4G3

    V1R4G3 Notebook Geek

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    Xeno, I am having the issue of not receiving my unit prior to others who placed their order after mine with Xotic PC, as well. Sounds to me like it's more on Sager, than on the reseller. But yes, I am also quite annoyed.
     
  32. HTWingNut

    HTWingNut Potato

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    I am removing this post because I (and others) have been threatened with a lawsuit for libel against Malibal due solely to this post that I deleted. Despite the fact what I had written was true to the best of my knowledge, some of it hearsay through third parties verbally and written (based on my recollection), it is not worth my well being to even be threatened with such litigation over a forum.

    I'm sure there are some good people that work at Malibal, but Malibal as a company, presence, or existence are dead to me.

    Take it for what it's worth. Their bully tactics worked. I'm not going to fight the fight, because it just isn't worth it to me.
     
  33. Andycinoz

    Andycinoz Notebook Consultant

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    I've got to say that I had nothing but good experiences with Malibal. From joining their forum (directed and recommended from here), placing my order, adjusting it several times, all the way through to finally getting impatient and canceling, they were nothing but prompt and courteous.

    Having read the whole thread, Malibals email seems to be an immature response to an immature protagonist. I doubt they realized that they were dealing with someone who is probably in their teens, if they had done I hope they would have been a bit more patient. But working in a restaurant I know that there's good customers and bad customers, and because of the way the OP responded to delays that were out of Malibals hands, they responded in a way that was both immature and as posted above, holier than though.

    When they contacted me to say there was a delay, and that they were compensating me for it even though it wasn't of their doing, I've got to say I was impressed. And having seen several companies moaned about for not sending machines out in the order that the orders were placed, it's obviously not an issue with Malibal alone.

    I'd not hesitate to go back to them when my shiny new Alienware finally goes to the great LAN party in the sky!

    Ironically, the aforementioned AW machine arrived today - I probably should have hung on in there with Malibal!!!
     
  34. aban714

    aban714 Notebook Evangelist

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    I wonder what responses would be if xeno was in malibals place? hmmmm.....
     
  35. HTWingNut

    HTWingNut Potato

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    Very well said. And very good point about them having control over the order since they say they are builders and not resellers they should have 100% control over the orders and not dependent on another vendor. If they are builders like Mythlogic, they would have all the Clevo shells and components available to build at their set schedule not someone else's.

    I do agree it's not good to divert business away from a company based on a personal experience, however it is good to share this information to let other users make an informed decision. I'm sure Malibal has satisfied many customers, when the orders go smoothly. But what really defines a company is how well they respond to rocky waters. And this is one of many examples I've read or heard about that aren't handled well.
     
  36. clintre

    clintre Notebook Evangelist

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    Honestly the best thing to do is file a complaint via the BBB. That is a formal process and allows BOTH sides of the stories in a formal manner.

    In public forums it is too easy for emotions to come into play.

    Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2
     
  37. fenryr423

    fenryr423 Notebook Evangelist

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    I ordered from Malibal and i couldnt be happier. They were always prompt in responding to my emails (usually within 10 minutes) and they always were kinda and courteous (im a pretty demanding consumer). Id order from Malibal again in a heartbeat
     
  38. V1R4G3

    V1R4G3 Notebook Geek

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    This wouldn't be nearly as big of a deal, it not for people saying this isn't the first time this has happened with them. Sounds like the management at Malibal are some pretty emotional dudes.

    I could never run a company like that, because I would get just as angry, as easily.
     
  39. boukyaku

    boukyaku Notebook Consultant

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    I think there's more going on behind the curtain than we know. Why would MALIBAL purposely delay the order of the OP and complete other orders before his? Or accidentally forget his order? Come on. Perhaps the importer they ordered the chassis from had a problem and they switched to another importer for the new orders.

    Just saying, there's always two sides to the same coin.
     
  40. V1R4G3

    V1R4G3 Notebook Geek

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    I find that transparency is the way to go, in business. If that is indeed the case, they should have just been straight.
     
  41. vellonese

    vellonese Notebook Enthusiast

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    wow, just coming back from a long weekend playing with my new Satori. This whole thing is quite sad really. On my end I got nothing but good words for Malibal.

    My experience with them was awesome. Of course I can to some extend understand the frustration of felling like people are skipping ahead of you in line.

    But then again you always have to remember that unless you know for sure all the facts( we almost never do) you can't judge a situation with such radical way. And please don't take for granted everything you read on forum posts.
     
  42. Energyo

    Energyo Notebook Enthusiast

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    I have not personally dealt with Malibal, well maybe once and they were nice but based off of several things I have seen come up in these forums and the op's post in my opinion Malibal is ultimately in the wrong.

    Of course the op didn't need to say the things he did but for Malibal to send an email like that shows the immaturity of the company itself.
    The problem here, for me at least, is that we're dealing with high dollar machines and small companies that when first going in to this you know relatively little about you want to see the best customer service you can get. You're placing an online order to a company that may be unknown to yourself, an order which is a high dollar amount. That's a scary thing to do and I remember when I was first ordering a Sager laptop, I was nervous that if something went wrong that I would get screwed.
    When a company like Malibal chooses to attack its former/current customers (yes it is an attack) then it just makes them look terribly unprofessional.

    The best thing they could have done was dealt with him in the most pleasant way they could have and asked him if they would like to cancel his order. If he wanted to cancel the order then they could have easily followed that up with a "sorry you couldn't do business with us" "We apologize for any inconvenience" etc. The reply they gave him makes it sound like they are less of a company and more of an individual which is a little scary.

    I'm not trying to bash Malibal, I hope that they do change some of their tactics in dealing with customers though. It will help them out in the long run.

    I'm basing my views on the subject only on what I have read in these forums. Obviously there will be two sides to the story so take what I saw with a grain of salt.
     
  43. soxamaca

    soxamaca Notebook Consultant

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    That was actually a very professional and well-written response from them... I don't necessarily agree with their decision to cancel your order (especially if you didn't try to tell people to avoid them; if you did, I can see why they would cancel it).

    I hadn't even heard of Malibal until I randomly read this, but after reading their reply to you, I agree with them.

    I think you just had a really unfortunate set of circumstances that probably had a lot more to do with timing and Sager's inability to fill orders because of malfunctioning hardware during that time.

    I might be wrong on this but, the resellers have nothing to do with orders from Sager outside of specialty stuff like custom painting, skins, or installations, right? Mine was built directly in the Sager facility and is on the way from CA right now. It was never even in the hands of anyone from Xoticpc. I would assume Malibal works the same way. If not, ignore this last paragraph.
     
  44. MKEGuy

    MKEGuy Notebook Evangelist

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    I have to say Malibal just earned my respect to the point that if Myth ever falls off the face of the planet... they will be my next phone call.

    They obviously went above and beyond and no matter what they said or did short of giving you the laptop for free - you still wouldn't be happy. Thus they are correct. The commitment that comes with you purchasing a laptop from them, would have put them in the red financially on the transaction. I totally respect them for realizing that and putting an early end to a bleeding situation.
     
  45. HTWingNut

    HTWingNut Potato

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    And what about them threatening libel lawsuits against forum posters for telling the truth?
     
  46. saturnotaku

    saturnotaku Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    They don't. Like Mythlogic, Malibal is a builder, not just a reseller. XoticPC and a few others basically act as a middleman, processing your order and assisting with RMA work. Aside from a few specialized things in Xotic's case (custom skins, monitor calibration), they never see your machine. You correctly point out that your order ships to you directly from Sager.

    Myth and Malibal get the shells from Clevo (or even Sager) and build the systems in-house. While you would still interface with them for technical support, any RMA work goes to them, not Sager. Personally, that was the reason I went with Mythlogic for my Clevo buy last year (I ultimately returned the systems because 1) they were a bit much for what I needed and 2) I needed a Mac for work). Myth gave me a highly personalized experience and complete confidence that any issues would be handled with care and the utmost expertise.

    Normally I would recommend Malibal for the same reason, and while I might agree with the company's sentiment here, the way they appear to have handled this situation doesn't sit well. Further, their "packing up the ball and going home" thing with creating their own forums and not participating here any more was a pretty lousy move. As such, whenever someone is looking at Sager/Clevo machines, I will always recommend Mythlogic first, followed by Xotic, Powernotebooks, and LPC-Digital. The latter three are equally as good, so take your pick.
     
  47. HTWingNut

    HTWingNut Potato

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    Didn't realize they packed up. Part of that may have been influenced by NBR management considering Malibal's abhorrent behavior towards members. I just checked and their forums don't seem to be working either. That is just a lousy move on their part anyhow. I'm sure a decent amount of influence for purchase of a lot of their machines came from NBR.

    In any case, Mythlogic is a great builder and are very fair and offer great services. I've been to their shop a couple times as it's only about 45 minutes from me. I've personally dealt with LPC-Digital and XoticPC with purchases from them and both were very professional and courteous and prompt in answering questions and resolving issues.
     
  48. Xeno43

    Xeno43 Notebook Enthusiast

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    I spent $20 more to buy from Xotic. If their profit margin on the laptop was $20, then they have bigger problems. Plus, no company would ever sell at a loss (at least not a niche as small as gaming laptops). There would be nothing in it for them, and they usually don't run margins big enough to do so.

    Sorry I had to rez this after seeing that someone believes cancelling another customer's order is a something deserving of respect.
     
  49. alucasa

    alucasa Notebook Evangelist

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    I've had purchased a clevo laptop from Malibal previously. I was very satisfied the way they worked. Unlike other builers/resellers, they even had a Canadian office for RMA issues. I had an issue with sticky keys on its keyboard and they told me to ship it to a Canadian border address for a quick keyboard swap.

    So, Malibal is up there for one of better, or should I say organized ones, builders for me.

    I didn't have exactly good experience with Xotic PC however, so I guess everybody's experience is different.

    After reading the first post, I am kinda on Malibal's side. It never works well if you threaten or post negative views while your rig is still in their hands. Life doesn't work that way unfortunately many times. You don't anger off your feeders until you get what you want at least, lolz.