Trouble ahead at OCZ?

[Andle Riddum]

OCZ is what Oakley does in marketing. Make something ordinary look like sci-fi.

I remember their "specialty" ram aimed at overclockers, had that uber mesh heatspreaders that supposed to aid in cooling. It got debunked by Corsair and others...

 

[thelastjuju]

10 years ago OCZ wasn't king of anything. They did cater to OCers, but that's a pretty small group overall.

I'm starting to think the reason OCZ RAM was suggested so often in message boards everywhere a decade ago, was because OCZ hired employees to create accounts making those suggestions in as many "help me pick parts" threads as they could.

OCZ just gives off that shady vibe like nobody else in the business.

 

[reynoldsjrmy]

Hi,

I feel OCZ has been a positive influence in the SSD market driving technology forward and prices down for a number of years; I feel the anti-OCZ bandwagon should back off (it's all a bit 'ho-hum' now).

I've been a member of the OCZ support forum for a number of years and I can tell you that the value system and ethics practised by the OCZ staff is first class.

I suspect OCZ will get a strong corporate parent in due course and right now I feel OCZ must be looking like a 'snip at the price' to a number of potential acquirers. Vertex 4 is a great product and Barefoot 3 is around the corner - we'll soon see.

Regds, JR

 

[jwilliams4200]

I do not know why anyone should care about your "feelings" about OCZ.

The fact is that OCZ is a company that has put out many low-quality products and has a long history of dishonesty and deceptive marketing practices.

Just because you have a crush on OCZ does not change the facts.

 

[reynoldsjrmy]

I do not know why anyone should care about your "feelings" about OCZ.

The fact is that OCZ is a company that has put out many low-quality products and has a long history of dishonesty and deceptive marketing practices.

Just because you have a crush on OCZ does not change the facts.

ho-hum

Do you know the facts? Should I respect your objectivity?

 

[jwilliams4200]

Do you know the facts? Should I respect your objectivity?

Yes, I know the facts. Anyone who has read the forums and done a little research also would know the facts.

The second question is not for me to answer.

 

[reynoldsjrmy]

OK jw

I'll respect your objectivity, please consider respecting mine.

I respect the OCZ folks that I know - and I dont believe for one moment they would knowingly be party to any underhand misdirection.

Regds, JR

 

[jwilliams4200]

I'll respect your objectivity, please consider respecting mine.

No chance. The facts are stacked against your rose-colored-glasses touchy-feely claims.

Let's behave, gentlemen. This isn't the "I hate/love OCZ thread". I think we get enough action on that elsewhere.
-ViRGE

 

[bradley]

OCZ *started* their shifty company by lying to investors.

They claim to have major manufacturing facilities, pictures they ripped from another website, instead of the small warehouse where they slapped their name on pre-fabbed pcbs. And then they create some outlandish harebrained story to cover their tracks. Remember the story? This press release almost reads like a movie

One day maybe someone should compile a complete list of all OCZ's misdeeds, it's pretty long.

OCZ Exposed - A Bogus Company? Update!
Posted by NewsFactory, 05/17/2002 11:39 PM 1 comment(s)

There is a fiery thread running at the MadOnion forums. Apparently OCZ is making their customers believe to be a major company with own manufacturing capabilities. According to Mr. Natural the author of the threat and article OCZ is nothing more than your neighbourhood computer shack. Very interesting indeed. He backs up his conclusions with photographs and registered businesses information.

Well it looked like OCZ were guilty, didn't it? Well maybe not just as OCZ now issued a press release trying to explain what lies beneath the story Hit read more for OCZ Technology Responds To Outlandish Internet Claims...

On April 30th a post was made by Timothy Sanders on the MadOnion.com internet forum, and various other hardware related internet sites. This post included pictures of the retail storefront for Central Computers, a small retail computer part outlet serving a local community of 35,000. It is located in a strip mall, the perfect location for a small retail store. These pictures were obviously taken when the facility was under renovation, as noted by the condition of the facility. The roots of our organization began with this division of the company and commenced operations in 1994.

In this forum post, claims are made that these organizations are ?shell companies?. It is hard to comprehend this when the companies referenced are more than 3 and 8 years old, respectively. While the corporate structure of these companies is not broadcasted, it is public information. We have never been contacted by anyone or any organization to outline this information, either prior to, or after, this internet posting. Other negative claims are made regarding the manufacturing division.

By no means do we wish to offend any of you; however, we must note that it would be impossible for anyone to manufacture products in this type of facility. We find the claims that products are manufactured in that retail environment to be preposterous. The vast majority of the OCZ Technology product line is manufactured in California and Taiwan . Various facilities are leased or rented to build products to our exacting standards. Due to the level of quality we demand for our products, not every facility can handle the levels of quality we expect for each and every product.

OCZ is not the only major memory manufacturer that leases production lines for assembly. One major difference is we employ both engineering and quality control staff at the facilities we lease. There are only a small number of memory production facilities in the world; the same is true for CD-ROMs, monitors, video cards, televisions, VCRs, and conceivably every electronic product produced. By keeping expenses low, we are able to offer products at lower prices to consumers. We lease equipment, the same equipment that other major memory companies use to build their products.

We will not release information regarding our competitors, and whether or not their products are manufactured on the same lines as ours.
OCZ Full Press Release Thanks to Brownie!


Here's OCZ's the full official press release regarding the matter, thanks to the Wayback Machine.

OCZ Technology Responds To Outlandish Internet Claims
May2002
http://web.archive.org/web/20020604090029/http://www.ocztechnology.com/press/2002/may/16.asp

 

[geokilla]

Guess we now know why so many people hate OCZ.... I better get my $15 mail in rebate! I'm not going to buy OCZ again. Well not anytime soon anyways. Wish I found out about this earlier... and submitted my MIR earlier...

Not likely. If they do go bankrupt (read: restructure) that will still be handled. They`d probably be bought out if Seagate is still interested and warranty would simply continue under Seagate. Worst case, they disolve entirely and certain rights, licenses, etc are bought by some other company and warranty work would transfer somewhere else. I highly doubt you`ll end up with millions of peices of gear out there that`s warrantyless.

What makes you think they're be restructured and not outright bankrupt? Look at Nortel and Lehman Brothers...

 

[balane]

Years and years ago; didn't OCZ have some snafu with their supposedly silver based thermal compound? Some end user or review site sent it to a lab to be tested and it had no silver content what so ever even though OCZ stated it did. They denied it with no explanation yet all the resellers had to pull the inventory from their shelves because it was just grey colored typical white paste.

Also, was it them who got into hot water for over sending power supply quantities to resellers and then billing them for it, refusing to allow them sent back for credit even though it was more than what they originally ordered?

 

[Railgun]

What makes you think they're be restructured and not outright bankrupt? Look at Nortel and Lehman Brothers...

Nortel's telecom and networking assets were largely purchased by Avaya so keeping in context of my post, from a warranty perspective you're still good. Apple bought their cellular patents.

Lehman is a whole other issue altogether. We're taking about tangible products here, not just money.

 

[blastingcap]

Do warranties transfer if the entity goes bankrupt, DISSOLVES, and the assets are purchased by another entity? I don't think so.

 

[Railgun]

So Eagle, Plymouth, Pontiac, Saturn, Buick, Oldsmobile and Hummer owners were sol when GM and Chrysler closed them down? I don't think so, but generally know that it wasn't the case.

When a furniture company I bought from many years ago went insolvent, the remaining warranty was automatically transferred to another company.

Give a specific example of a company that had consumer products that would still be warrantable that went under and screwed everyone.

 

[Hellhammer]

At least here in Finland the seller is responsible for the warranty, so if you buy from NewEgg, they are the ones giving the warranty. If the manufacturer goes bankrupt or something else, the actual warranty is still on. The seller can then replace the product with something equivalent if it cannot be fixed.

That's why buying from a reputable seller is important. They rarely go bankrupt or get bought by someone else. Of course, I don't know if this is the case in US.

 

[benwood]

So Eagle, Plymouth, Pontiac, Saturn, Buick, Oldsmobile and Hummer owners were sol when GM and Chrysler closed them down? I don't think so, but generally know that it wasn't the case.

When a furniture company I bought from many years ago went insolvent, the remaining warranty was automatically transferred to another company.

Give a specific example of a company that had consumer products that would still be warrantable that went under and screwed everyone.

First off all those names you mention were simply divisions of a larger corporation. As long as the corporation which they were a part of survived the warranties would usually be honored. But OCZ doesn't have a larger corporate parent. And Chrysler and GM only survived because of a US government bailout. Do you think the government is going to bailout OCZ?

As for your second point do the names Smart & Friendly, Cendyne, and MadDog ring any bells? If you don't know who they are they were all companies that sold computer peripherals; optical drives, USB floppy drives, etc and add in cards such as sound, video, multiport cards, etc. They all went out of business leaving customers with no warranty. I personally got burned by Maddog. First when they wouldn't pay a rebate until I got the Better Business Bureau after them. Then when the external optical drive I bought from them broke in only 70 or so days after purchase I tried to get it repaired or replaced. Maddog offered a "Limited Lifetime Warranty" on all their products but since they had gone out of business I was SOL.

Indeed now that I think of it OCZ is a lot like MadDog, etc. They don't actually own anything. No factories, no engineers, no nothing. They provide a marketing face for contract manufacturers in Asia who want to keep their factories running and who do all the design and manufacturing. Maddog, for instance turned out to have only 3 employees and was owned by a guy whose sole business asset was a $100,000 line of credit from a Chinese factory.

 

[blastingcap]

So Eagle, Plymouth, Pontiac, Saturn, Buick, Oldsmobile and Hummer owners were sol when GM and Chrysler closed them down? I don't think so, but generally know that it wasn't the case.

When a furniture company I bought from many years ago went insolvent, the remaining warranty was automatically transferred to another company.

Give a specific example of a company that had consumer products that would still be warrantable that went under and screwed everyone.

Not sure if you're serious or not.. but those are just divisions of a bigger car company, and actually I think Hummer was sold to a Chinese firm as a whole, anyway.

There is a difference between Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 bankruptcy. If another company picks up assets, they owe you squat. If they buy the division as a going concern, they may pick up warranty liability as well. Apparently that is what happened with you and your furniture company.

In this case, if OCZ manages to find a buyer before Chapter 7, I suppose you may retain warranty rights vs the new company. But I don't see any company stupid enough to want to buy OCZ right now. Buy assets from the company after it files Chapter 7? Sure.

 

[Railgun]

Can't be selective in making your points. Point is that their assets were transferred to another company. Regardless of a parent company existing or not, the process is the same.

 

[ViRGE]

Can't be selective in making your points. Point is that their assets were transferred to another company. Regardless of a parent company existing or not, the process is the same.

Ultimately there are different forms of bankruptcy. OCZ is in a death spiral towards Chapter 7 due to the securities issues, which is the kind of bankruptcy that can lead to a loss of warranty coverage. It doesn't mean it will happen, but the possibility is absolutely on the table.

 

[tweakboy]

Thanks for the info, always like to stay up to date. Too bad. I remember 12 years ago OCZ was the popular RAM amongst OCers and system builders. Things change I guess.

 

[Puffnstuff]

Performing a google search for ocz securities fraud tells the story folks.

 

[randomrogue]

Wow down 78.21%?! Wasn't OCZ one of the stocks highly touted in the stock thread?

Interesting read. I had no idea that's what "customer incentives" meant.

 

[bryanW1995]

Not likely. If they do go bankrupt (read: restructure) that will still be handled. They`d probably be bought out if Seagate is still interested and warranty would simply continue under Seagate. Worst case, they disolve entirely and certain rights, licenses, etc are bought by some other company and warranty work would transfer somewhere else. I highly doubt you`ll end up with millions of peices of gear out there that`s warrantyless.

Yeah, that would never happen (cough, bfg)

 

[bryanW1995]

My view of things is that OCZ is preparing themselves for getting sold. That's why Ryan "resigned" (from what I've heard, he was more or less forced out) because he was the one blocking the sale. If negotiations are already underway, these recent stock drops don't really mean much.

How could a huge stock drop and terrible news not affect a sale? If nothing else, they could be sold for a lot less money, perhaps even pennies on the dollar.

 

[Meghan54]

I'm with Virge on this one. I think interested parties will wait for absolute bankruptcy and pick the bones for choice morsels.

Why? As a writer put it a couple of days ago:

Think about how other technology companies might benefit from acquiring OCZ. First, OCZ has no brand value that can be unlocked. Yes, it is widely recognized for selling the cheapest product to the community. But why would a potential acquirer want to associate with that kind of brand?


Competitors -- who are the potential acquirers -- would rather see OCZ fail because that means they will not have to be undercut by its prices anymore.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/928241-ocz-technology-it-s-do-or-die?source=msn