Seagate & Samsung - Excellent Customer Service

[RhoXS]

I have not purchased many Seagate drives in recent years but I recently purchased a Seagate 2.5" 1Tb "Backup Plus Portable Drive". It is really a nice product and, except for the lack of hardware based encryption, I highly recommend it. It is fast with the 3.0 USB interface and the Seagate backup software suits my needs perfectly. It is also small and very convenient to travel with.

I just had a significant problem with it that was self imposed but nevertheless I needed help getting it to work again. Although the telephone wait times were long, almost 30 minutes, the tech support was as good as it gets. I needed to call twice, both times the techs were very knowledgeable, very friendly, and very effectively helped me. Even better, they were in New Jersey and communicated perfectly in English without any accent.

In my opinion, tech support and associated customer service are every bit as important as the hardware itself.

Also, I recently had a problem with a Samsung 128 Gb 830 SSD. Samsung also uses tech support in New Jersey (I think the same sub-contractor as the one Seagate uses) and it too was excellent. I spoke with them in the afternoon and the next morning my replacement drive was at my door.

 

[Kodongo]

I think it's little things like these which make you recognise the type of company you're dealing with. Without saying names, certain companies try to fob you off but a lot of them realise that they should treat their customers with respect and in return, people with hold their name in high esteem.

Personally, I have been rather fortunate in my dealings with Asus, Corsair and Seagate post purchase support. Each time, they go out of their way to minimise the downtime for a customer.

 

[RhoXS]

I think it's little things like these which make you recognise the type of company you're dealing with.

Not to belabor a point but I could not agree more. I always strongly gravitate to the business that is known to provide excellent customer service, even sometimes at the expense of hardware features.

One support issue that causes me to avoid a vendor is when they are known to use Asian support centers. In my opinion, that significantly negates the value of the hardware. There is a big difference between speaking English fluently and being able to communicate in English fluently. Although there have been a very few notable exceptions over the years, it is almost impossible to have meaningful conversations with the Asian support centers. HP, for example, uses Asian support and we now will not purchase an HP product, primarily for this reason.

BTW, Corsair has also provided outstanding support in the past.

 

[tommo123]

i recently had to deal with seagate and western digital. i don't have the packaging for the drive so asked seagate for an advanced RMA. they refused. warrantys good till sept so will try again and buy packaging off ebay or something (probably have a new drive by then)

WD - clicky death. got in touch 6 weeks after warranty ran out. they checked, extended the warranty for me and are now doing an aRMA

never dealt with samsungs warranty for HDs (TV was very good though) but seagate own their HD division now no? i'll be buying WDs unless there's a good seagate sale. i hate keeping packaging around just for crap like this

 

[raildogg]

Not to belabor a point but I could not agree more. I always strongly gravitate to the business that is known to provide excellent customer service, even sometimes at the expense of hardware features.

One support issue that causes me to avoid a vendor is when they are known to use Asian support centers. In my opinion, that significantly negates the value of the hardware. There is a big difference between speaking English fluently and being able to communicate in English fluently. Although there have been a very few notable exceptions over the years, it is almost impossible to have meaningful conversations with the Asian support centers. HP, for example, uses Asian support and we now will not purchase an HP product, primarily for this reason.

BTW, Corsair has also provided outstanding support in the past.

The tech support I've received from the so-called Asian support centers has been as good as the one from the US. Maybe their English has an accent or their name may sound different but other than that, I don't see the issue. A lot of Americans seem to complain about the outsourced tech support, but really, what is the big issue? If you have some problem with your hardware, for instance, are they less likely to issue a return if necessary? All the support I've dealt with have been very kind and understanding.

Maybe I'm wrong but I don't really care whether HP or anyone else has tech support in other countries. Other than the accents and maybe the need to repeat some words, it is not a big deal.

 

[Elixer]

i recently had to deal with seagate and western digital. i don't have the packaging for the drive so asked seagate for an advanced RMA. they refused. warrantys good till sept so will try again and buy packaging off ebay or something (probably have a new drive by then)

WD - clicky death. got in touch 6 weeks after warranty ran out. they checked, extended the warranty for me and are now doing an aRMA

never dealt with samsungs warranty for HDs (TV was very good though) but seagate own their HD division now no? i'll be buying WDs unless there's a good seagate sale. i hate keeping packaging around just for crap like this

You do know that if you don't call, but fill out e-RMA that both seagate & WD offer, you can do advanced replacement once you cough up $10-15.
Well worth it IMO.

BTW, yeah, seagate bought sammy's HD division.
They are now only doing 1 year warranty on pretty much all HDs, and I think that is pathetic.

 

[Coup27]

The tech support I've received from the so-called Asian support centers has been as good as the one from the US. Maybe their English has an accent or their name may sound different but other than that, I don't see the issue. A lot of Americans seem to complain about the outsourced tech support, but really, what is the big issue?

I don't have a problem with Asian people but I do have a problem with Asian call centres, but the majority of it isn't even their fault. Firstly, I never get a clear line. The person on the other end is always very faint no matter how many times you ask them to speak up. I also get the impression they use crap headsets so they never sound very clear anyway coupled with some agent's very poor grasp of English. Any person who is dealt this card is going to struggle to have a decent call with you.

These problems are not just for Asian call centres. I recently had a long winded issue with Microsoft Office 365 and their support centre was in Romania and it was a total nightmare to deal with for the reasons above.

I too go out of my way to ensure support is dealt with either in the UK or a native English speaking country on some products or services I buy.

 

[tommo123]

You do know that if you don't call, but fill out e-RMA that both seagate & WD offer, you can do advanced replacement once you cough up $10-15.
Well worth it IMO.

BTW, yeah, seagate bought sammy's HD division.
They are now only doing 1 year warranty on pretty much all HDs, and I think that is pathetic.

i never call, i always do econtact with online companies. seagate still said no to my aRMA request. WD did not which puts them above seagate IME and far more likely to get my business in the future

 

[Elixer]

i never call, i always do econtact with online companies. seagate still said no to my aRMA request. WD did not which puts them above seagate IME and far more likely to get my business in the future

I don't follow, You go here, http://www.seagate.com/support/warranty-and-replacements/#2 (click begin a return button) you fill out the serial numbers, then do Premium Advanced Replacement give them your CC number, then sit back and wait for the refurbished product to come to your door.

 

[tommo123]

I don't follow, You go here, http://www.seagate.com/support/warranty-and-replacements/#2 (click begin a return button) you fill out the serial numbers, then do Premium Advanced Replacement give them your CC number, then sit back and wait for the refurbished product to come to your door.

i know how to do aRMAs, that's what i did with WD. seagate on the other hand -

"** Excludes "Advanced Replacement" orders (U.S.A. only)."

no reason to go with seagate now IMO for a non US resident. even if you save money, you lose out on convenience and some finances if/when the drive fails.