You won't believe this from Abit!

[Chad]

A copy of Abit and my email correspondence. Freaking incredible! Either Donna';s is the most incompetant employee on the planet or she just doesn't care. Mind you, read it all, I have left two voice mails on her machine and this is my second email correspondence. The first one she just ignored, along with my voicemails.

I WILL NEVER EVER EVER EVER buy an Abit EVER!

Donna,

No offence intended here, but did you actually even read my email? I cannot believe your response to my email I sent you! If you had even read the first line you would have known I have already sent you the board and have been waiting for nearing a month now for it back.

I HAVE ALREADY SENT YOU THE BOARD!!!!

My shipping receipt shows that you got the board on Feb. 1st. Taking that today is the 23rd, that means you have had my board at your plant for 22 days! So that kind of throws out your ten day promise.

I wold just be happy if someone could at least acknowledge you have the board and are working on it and give me an estimated time I could expect it back.

Your email to me is like a slap to the face, and I am totally offended!

Donna, please, can you find out where my board is and make sure it is repaired and get it back to me ASAP and let me know (calling me or emailing back)?


Chad D. Sparks
WorldCom Inc.
EMS Administrator/Developer
(918) 590-8137 or VNET: *22-590-8137
chad.sparks@wcom.com
----- Original Message -----
From: Donna
To: chad.sparks@wcom.com
Sent: Thursday, February 22, 2001 6:45 PM
Subject: Re: Can someone please contact me about my month old RMA?


You could send your board to us for repair/replacement, but there's a $25
shipping and handling charge (per board) unless you have a copy of the invoice
from your vendor. If you have decided to send your board to us, please fill out the
attached form and e-mail it back to me for a RMA#. After you have received a RMA#,
please send a copy of the form with the board and a $25 check (or your invoice) to
the address on the form. The turn-around time is about ten working days
after we received your board.
> My fax number is: (510)623-1092
> E-Mail: donna@abit-usa.com
> Thank you very much
Donna







----- Original Message -----
From: jeffrey
To: Donna
Sent: Thursday, February 22, 2001 11:26 AM
Subject: Fw: Can someone please contact me about my month old RMA?



----- Original Message -----
From: Chad Sparks
To: technical@abit-usa.com
Cc: sales@abit-usa.com ; technical@abit.com.tw
Sent: Thursday, February 22, 2001 9:34 AM
Subject: Can someone please contact me about my month old RMA?


Dear Abit,

I have followed all of your instructions and sent my bad Abit BX-133 RAID motherboard back with the filled out form and RMA number as per instructions. My shipping printout shows that you have picked up this board at 9:26AM on February 1st, 2001. I have left 2 voice mail messages in "Donna's" mailbox on more than one occasion asking her to contact me and let me know the status on you returning a good motherboard to no avail.

This is my second email attempt to at least get ANY word from Abit about this situation. As it stands now, on February 21st, 2001, I am out a motherboard, out an additional $25 that you have charged me to fix your bad motherboard and have absolutely no clue as to what is going to happen.

To me, this is unacceptable service! I pleadingly ask once again, can someone at Abit contact me and let me know what is going on and when I might get a working product back? Your website has no way to check the status on RMA's, and apparently you knowingly are ignoring me on this issue (considering).

What is most frustrating to me is that when I call, nobody ever answers the phone, no matter what time I call. I have called *AT LEAST* 50 times, and half of those times I get the standard "please leave a message after the tone, sorry, our mailbox is full, goodbye" message from your answering machine, and the other half I get "We are only open Monday thru Friday from 8AM to 5PM, please call back when we are open" and I am calling during these appropriate hours! I've tried at 8AM, 9AM, 10AM, 2PM, 3PM, 4PM, and 5PM on every single workday, and still I get that message. And I have never EVER had an actual person pick up the phone. The only two times that the mailbox wasn't supposedly "full I left two very kind messages to a "Donna" asking her to call and inform me as to what my expected turnaround time would be, but I still haven't heard a word from anyone. This is so frustrating that it is maddening!

After some research, I have concluded that I am not alone in this regard, as I have seen on many message boards that this is your MOS concerning RMA's, and from the people that have talked to me about it, there was a common theme... "this is typical Abit". Well this is downright poor customer service in my opinion, and I don't appreciate it. We have very expensive and critical equipment on hold waiting for this part.

Once again, this is my final attempt to get satisfaction from your company. Please respond.

Thank you for your time, and have a nice day.

Sincerely,

Chad D. Sparks
WorldCom Inc.
EMS Administrator/Developer
(918) 590-8137 or VNET: *22-590-8137
chad.sparks@wcom.com

 

[Adul]

Ouch. I hope it gets cleared up for you. Try contacting someone else in the company.

 

[Pederv]

Sorry to hear about your bad luck. I did notice one thing though, you didn't include your RMA# in any of your corespondence. How is she going to find your board?

 

[madthumbs]

Your letters and correspondance are too lengthy. Stick to the point. They are a busy company and probably don't have time to filter out the point of your message.

 

[ToBeMe]

Just a FYI.......I'm currently going through basicly the same problem with MSI, and also had a disastorous RMA with Asus about a year ago! Yeah, Abit has problems, probably more than others it seems, although they have been better for me than any other manufacturer and I really like their products! IMHO!

 

[loosbrew]

i dont mean to crap your thread or disagree with you, but my experience with abit has been good, if not great. i called them when i first got my kt7raid board about some issues, and they answered and helped me out for an hour on the phone. they even called me back to make sure things were running smooth. i guess i was a lucky one? other than having a little bit of a hard time understanding the oriental accent(no offense to anyone orientals, i have a hard tijme with all accents)it was a great service.

loosbrew

 

[SiliconVandal]

Every RMA I've done with ABit has worked out great, it helps to actually provide the RMA#....

SV

 

[jagr10]

Sorry this happened to you. Were you calling the main head office number in the US or did you call a more specific number? It seems that maybe you got a miserable employee at that location. Contact the main number and ask customer service how to go about complaining and I would write a letter about your situation to the complaints dept. THey do get read and usually they give you some compensation like a new Mobo or a discount.

 

[LordSandMan]

I'm really sorry to hear that. I ussually don't try to return things to the manufacturer, just because it's a big hassle. Anyway, there is absolutely no excuse for the way they treated you. I would try to contact someone else at the company if that is even possible. I have owned 3 Abit boards, and had the HPT controller die on one. Personally unless Abits reputation changes, or they come out with a really kick @ss board that nobody else can come close to I'm not going to buy from them again.


Edit- it also makes a huge difference who you talk to. Some people are very good at not dropping the ball, others don't care if they even come to work the next day.

 

[Motero]

Man, sorry to hear about that. I hope it all works out in the end. Good Luck!

 

[MattCo]

At least you got a dumb response, most of my Abit letters and e-mail are never returned. I have never received a valid answer from them.

-MC

 

[DaddyG]

Chad, remember, honey attracts more Bees than gasoline !!. Customer Service people, in general, respond much better to a 'friendly' Customer. A little BS goes along way. NEVER quote negatives to them if you want quick responses. Is this 'faking' it , sure but your goal is to get the mobo returned and fixed. You should tell them how great you have found ABIT products to be (choke) and you know that this is a rare problem but are confident that such a good company supports all their customers. A little 'smooze' goes a long way

 

[madthumbs]

Most of you who have problems getting correspondence with companies just need to learn how to properly write a buisness letter or converse on the phone. Other than basic form and layout stick with the point and remove all that whiney-ass fluff that has no place there! I try to help people in forums but if I see a bunch of fluff especially f! this and f! that, I stop reading and move on. If you want help, don't waste our time when we could be helping others. Cover pertinent details and that's it.

On another note; insults, threats, and whining are less apt to get you help than being understanding and thankful. If they feel they've lost you as a customer already, they don't care if you come out satisfied. They also don't need to be harassed when they person you are contacting is probably not responsible.

 

[Overman]

Customer Service:

Year 1950: ..."you are correct sir.....of course we can mam'....we will send/fix/replace OUR defective product at no charge...the customer is always right"...

Year 2001: ..."you're too ignorant to own a computer....that is not our policy...we will fix YOUR problem with our product if you pay us....the customer...what have they done for me lately"....


Just a general observation to mull over....kinda sad that you have to kiss *ss to get anything done...what ever happend to people taking pride in their work. Now ya gotta "schmooz" to get simple things accomplished....

And corporations wonder why they are losing billions to theft, fraud, etc....

 

[Rudee]

Abit and Plextor support rank as some of the worst support I have ever dealt with.

I feel your pain.

 

[Chad]

Perhaps you didn't read my e-mail, but as I said in it, this is not the first time I have been trying to contact them.

My two voice mail messages left for Donna (who is THE person you have to deal with) were VERY kind and gentleman like. I never received a response from either of those. My first e-mail that I sent to her was also a very kind and gentleman like, still I received no replies from it either. So being sweet did not work as you are saying.

Every other attempt (as was mentioned) either couldn't get through because of the mentioned problems or was ignored. Figuring they were just busy, I gave them some time (being kind and generous).

This was my most recent attempt, and my frustration shows admittedly, but I AM frustrated! To me this is just downright neglectful on Abit's behalf, and they deserve no excuse.

So, I DID use honey on the bees, but the bees don't give a darn toot about honey. So yes, I was not AS pleasant as one could be in this latest attempt, but that is because I don't feel all yummy inside about Abit right now.

They have had my motherboard almost a full month, they have had my $25 almost a full month, and the only thing I have received is this latest e-mail which acts like I haven't even sent my motherboard in at all, in which if she would have just read even my first sentence in my e-mail...

"I have followed all of your instructions and sent my bad Abit BX-133 RAID motherboard back with the filled out form and RMA number as per instructions."

...she would have known this!

This tells me she didn't even START to read it AT ALL! So it's not because I wasn't brief. Brief no brief, is it to much to ask to read my first freaking sentence?

As far as not including the RMA #. I did include it, I just took it off this e-mail. It was also included on the sheet she sent me to fill out that was sent back to them and also on 4 sides of the box written in big giant bold black permanent ink! So that's not it.

I refuse to accept that ANY of this is my fault, I have been cordial and kind and gotten no response, and I have been direct and forthcoming in my displeasure with them and all I get is THAT freaking unbelievable response which acts like I haven't even sent it in!

::throws hands in the air::

 

[Noriaki]

<< You won't believe this from Abit! >>

You need a new title. This is perfectly believable. First of all they produce sh*tty motherboards. I know some people that own a local store, they also refuse to use an ABit motherboard unless it's specifically asked for. Once I asked Jim why, and he estimated they sell 8-9 times as many Asus boards as they do ABit, and they still get more ABit RMAs than Asus.

Secondly, this RMA fee is bull, their motherboard breaks so you have to pay them to replace it! How's that for warranty.

I'm sorry man, I feel your pain. I flat out refuse to deal with ABit. You are by far no the first to have customer service problems, and ABit is by far not the first company to have bad customer service. But your chances of needing ABit customer service is too high, and the chance of getting it too low.

I hope you get something worked out, but don't ever deal with ABit again.

 

[Rand]

Unfortunately in my experience this is customary of Abit.

 

[Aruba]

It just occured to me while reading this thread how useful it would be if someone, even a company insider, would make available the names of people that are really in charge of RMA's, or at least overseeing operations.

When I want action from a company in my state, I call the Corporation Commissioner in Salem and they gladly tell me the principals of the company.

The first letter goes to the generic company heading but if it is serious and I haven't received a timely response, the next letter goes right to the top and I always cc: my attorney at the bottom of the letter.

Ninety nine times out of 100 I get swift action.

Some of the previous posters were correct, you've got to get past the front desk to get action.

 

[Overman]

Aruba....great idea about the cc to an attorney at the bottom....gotta remember that!