XOTICPC Worse laptop purchase I ever made

I'm going try to make a fair assessent on this with my frustration.

Pros: Fairly quick response after purchase
Relatively easy to reach customer service via live chat
Probably the best prices you can find on the internet with the specs and quality of parts you want.

Cons: Poor followup
Poor Customer service
Failure to follow up or act on it's word

Computers I purchsed or owned in the past

DELL XPS 1710m
2x Macbook Pros
Numerous custom Desktop PCs I built

My JOB: Soldier that works on the ARMY IT infrastructure

I placed my order on July Friday the 13th (I guess that gave me a hint how this order was going to end up) on a Sager 9170 with advice from Roland via Live Chat.

On the 16th Roland contacted me via email and advised me that my order would take a little longer because of the heatsink (i figured I was about to go to Afghanistan and the Desert and I couldn't be bothered with the modification myself). The email also specifically said it needed to be shipped to Nebraska for modification from Sager due to the modification. I replied via live chat that I needed the laptop by the 2nd week for of August because I was leaving the country. I asked if there was a way to expedite the order. He told me no. I then checked the Sager site and Sager had expedited service and I asked him to cancel my order. He said give him a few hours and see if he can expedite it. He explained to me it will cost me an extra 50 dollars. I received an email a few hours later and he said he could get it expedited and asked me to call him. I tried calling him for the next 3-4 days and couldn't get through to him at various hours of the day. I had to go the field and couldn't bring my cell phone afterwards. On the 30th according to my email I received a message saying it has entered phase 2. I figured my order was being processd and being built by sager at this point.

On the 3rd of August I received another email saying it was in phase 3. I tried caling Roland again and I could not get through. On the 4th I sent Roland an email asking him to see if I can get to changed to 3 day shipping since I was worried that regular ground shipping would take too long. I tried regular customer service and I believe I reached a gentlemen called Derek or Justin and told him I needed the order by next week Thursday. He told me he'll have to relay the information to Roland. I waited till friday before I tried calling him again. This time I was able to get through to him. I explained my frustration to him that I never received any confirmation from my email and the message that was relayed to him. He also said he doesn't know why he never replied to my message. He assured me that my order will be shipped on Monday the 13th via 3 day shipping. Today around 630 EST I contacted him via live chat and he told me my order was not shipped. He asked me to contact him tomorrow before 1200 CST. Now I technically have till Friday however I also had plans with family and friends before I get sent overseas to Afghanistan. I'm extremely disappointed with the level of professionalism and customer service that XOTICPC has provided.

All said and done from the time I ordered the computer till now its been 1 month and the computer still hasn't been shipped. My Dell XPS took only 1 1/2 weeks for it to arrive..... My Macbook Pros 5 days. My parts from New Egg 48 hrs.

This is by far the worse computer purchasing experience I ever had. Considering I spent 2100+ dollars on a computer I expect to receive good quality customer service and satisfaction from a company that prides itself in that regard. I would probably never purchase another computer from XOTICPC again no matter how much I would save and I would never recommend anyone to purchase a computer from them.

 

I am sorry to hear your emails and phone calls have not been being taken card of as quickly as they should. I can see what i can do to help make sure you get the comptuer by this Friday. Since you have less then 5 posts you cant send/receive PM's but if you click on my name in my Signature you can send me an email directly. Please do include your order number and i'll check on the computer tomorrow morning once we're back in the office.

 

As per your request I have sent you an email.

 

I am also sorry to hear of this. From the notes I see we tried reaching you from when the order was placed 7/13 we have been waiting to confirm details on your order. I show emails from our Billing staff and Roland going to you with no reply until 7/30 when we heard back from you confirming the details on your order. At this point (7/30) your order went into RUSH production. Your order shipped within 4 days at Sager and transit to our location is 4 business days for the added modifications. Your machine went into immediate Rush Production here once it arrived and is undergoing testing and was ready to go last night for todays shipment.

I have reviewed your voice mails left for Roland and I see your calls in on:
8/6 @ 13:03 CST
8/7 @ 15:43 CST
8/10 @ 16:47 CST

However I show you did not leave a single voice mail on any of those calls to Roland. I show you spoke to Derek on 8/6 @ 13:05 CST about order changes (Confirming RUSH) and then spoke to Hutsady on 8/10 @ 16:49 CST(Hutsady confirmed the machine just arrived to us from Sager and was undergoing the custom modifications). Communication is very important and we return any voice mails we get along with emails, to which I show Roland has replied to any emails came from your email address on your order. I don't know where the confusion is on all of this but we return any voice mails left along with emails.

I understand you are on a tight timeline and it can be frustrating working with such a narrow time or when you can't receive calls due to being out in the field. It sounds like we will get it to you by Friday as you had originally specified.

 

The email Roland sent me was to call him asap and speak to him about rush production. I thought he had to speak to me and explain something so I rather spoke to him directly rather than leaving him a voicemail. Yes I might be part to blame for not leaving a voicemail. I rather speak to the person than rather leave a voicemail so there would be less confusion. However making a claim that you return emails isn't an accurate statement either. As per my email account on August 4th I sent an email to Roland at 0813. I reckon that an email would be fine. I just got out of the field and lost track on the date it was and once I realize it was a Saturday I decided to wait till Monday for a reply. It was on the 6th that I called to make sure Roland got the message but I couldn't get through like usual so I decided to just speak with someone from regular customer service queue. Derek insisted that he pass the word onto Roland instead of making the changes for me. I don't understand why he was so adamant about who makes changes for my order. When I didn't get a confirmation or a reply on my email after a few days I tried calling again and yes I believe I did speak with Hutsady and he was able to transfer me to Roland.

What you said might be true but it doesn't change the fact that

1. I tried to get in contact with Roland on multiple occasion via phone and was unable to reach him before and after my order was sent to Sager.
2. My email was never replied to
3. My message via Derek about possibly removing the copper installation and getting it 3 day shipped so I can get it quicker was never confirmed.
4. When I spoke to Roland he admitted he dropped the ball on the email and apologized for it. He then said it will be shipped on Monday because UPS has already came by.
5. Your timeline neglected to show that I made attempts to call Roland on the day he contacted me via email and voicemail. He ask me to give him a call back asap.

In all fairness you guys have been trying to fix the situation to the best of your abilities. I did receive an email from Roland saying my order will be shipped today so I'm crossing my fingers on this.

 

I just spoke to Roland and confirmed everything. Seems like everything is set. Thanks again

 

worse case scenario, you could always just have it shipped to your APO when you get here. From what you said your job is, I don't foresee you being out at some dirt COP with nothing but hescos around you. I'm in the Kabul area and I get packages in about 5-7 days on average via USPS.

Nonetheless. Hope it all works out, but if not... There are other shipping options to get it to you once here.

Be safe brother... S**t is getting crazy here.

 

Thanks for everything you guys are doing there!

 

Looks like you got it worked out.

 

This thread exemplifies the one thing I have learned in all my years of customer service and of course being a customer myself. Almost never is one side totally to blame, and most often it is a shared issue. How ever, cudos to XoticPC and all resellers here to come into such a thread and instead of hurling blame and retoric, they work *with* the poster to solve and essentially defuse the sutuation. Well done XoticPC.

One of my very early bosses once taught me, do not worry about the problem, fix the client, the rest will attend to itself. Best CS advice I ever got.

 

Thanks I'm going to RC South area and I heard things are going crazy there too. I never been to Afghan and I heard its very different from Iraq. Hopefully things goes well. Take care and stay safe!

 

Yeah man. Nothing to discuss on a public forum. Hit me via PM and I can fill you in on all that happy-happy-fun-times going on!

Side note... If you can, be sure to set up a proxy on a home system before coming here otherwise you likely won't be able to purchase any games through Steam, Origin, or any other online service. They all read us as being in Singapore from the Sniperhill internet servers. Thus, when you go to buy a game, it will not recognize a US credit card. You have to ping off a US server in order to purchase.

Cheers!