Vendor reviews?

[g00k]

Hi gang,

I've been trying to get a friend's laptop hard disk to replace one that had its hardware password set by gremlins.

I ordered part number ST94019A. When I removed it from the static bag, I noticed that the connector was different from the original disk. Then I noticed the HP tag* that said, "Replace with HP spare 319414-001". The replacement disk had an HP spare 381396-001 tag.

It was the same disk, just different connectors (the original was female, the replacement was male).

I tried to contact the vendor - left voicemails, emails went to the site to procure an RMA. I finally got through on the phone, to speak with someone who couldn't help me. Got the RMA process going - hoping that they could swap the disk for the correct one. No response, no response. Two months go by (November/December) - finally I asked for my money back. They credited my card, and that's that.

The company was ALLHDD.com just for your information.

Maybe the forum could have a vendor review section, so we could determine and patronize the quality parts vendors out there?


*Compaq laptop.


Whadya think?

[bucksfanjimj]

There should have been an adaptor on the old drive. It just slides off, then slides on to the new hdd.

As for the review section, might be doable. I would personally recommend that the review is kept as factual as possible. We
don't want to start a flame war of any kind. Not the vendor would go looking for this stuff. Basically, keep it professional.

[g00k]

I've seen enough disks to doubt that really would be the case.

As I said, the disks had an HP sticker on each of them with different part numbers. If they were actually interchangeable moving an adapter, wouldn't they have the same HP part number? Besides, there's not a lot of room in a laptop - wouldn't the oem save themselves a lot of grief by not using anything extra?

As to Vendor reviews, I'm sure that parts vendors would enjoy the boost in sales that result from satisfied, educated customers such as the fine members of this forum. Maybe they would eventually offer us discounts or other considerations when we bring them good word-of-mouth.

Of course, there are always yahoos and boobs who enjoy disrupting a reasoned exchange of ideas. It may be necessary to toss out some "flames" or the offending party. Just as well as there could be "friends-of-the-vendor" who'll try to use accolades as a sort of advertising. Reality should weed out false notes.

[g00k]

bucksfanjimj:

You were absolutely correct and I am an ass. Please forgive me.

On another forum, a respondent gave me a picture of the adapter. I looked at the disk in the laptop, and darned if it wasn't right there. So the disk sent to me by AllHDD.com was complete as sent. I admit my mistake and acknowledge the reason I come to this site: you guys know your stuff and I'm just hard-headed.

I still think a vendor review section would still be a good idea. If my vendor had communicated to me about the adapter, rather than letting me chase after them and pester them, all my frustration would never have had a chance to grow. This assumes that they even have technical saavy, as opposed to simply sales and warehousing.

Thanks.

[c_w_robinson]

I agree with a vendor review section. I'm currently waiting on a RMA PSU from OCZ. I shipped the dead one out December 6. Still haven't recieved the replacement. I called OCZ, left numerous messages at the RMA department, then finally called "Corporate Sales" department, which did answer and patch me through to somebody in RMA, who then informed me my PSU was on back order. I asked for a ball park ETA, he said he could not give me one. I said is it gonna be a month, 2 months, a year, 5 years... gimme some ballpark range. He laughed and said he had no idea. Not to mention that this is the second time I've had to RMA this PSU. The first time was quick, and it was a brand new replacement (most repair and return), and I was quite pleases, but after this experience I'll be avoiding OCZ PSU's in the future.

[bucksfanjimj]

bucksfanjimj:

You were absolutely correct and I am an ass. Please forgive me.

On another forum, a respondent gave me a picture of the adapter. I looked at the disk in the laptop, and darned if it wasn't right there. So the disk sent to me by AllHDD.com was complete as sent. I admit my mistake and acknowledge the reason I come to this site: you guys know your stuff and I'm just hard-headed.

I still think a vendor review section would still be a good idea. If my vendor had communicated to me about the adapter, rather than letting me chase after them and pester them, all my frustration would never have had a chance to grow. This assumes that they even have technical saavy, as opposed to simply sales and warehousing.

Thanks.

You are forgiven. We all make honest mistakes from time to time.

Again, I'm in favor of the idea. As I said earlier, keep it professional and do your best to not let your emotions get involved. We all have had instances of poor service. On the other hand, good service should also be acknowledged. Which is why you see me link part replacements to Newegg.com.

I also agree that AllHDD.com should have and could have taken 5 minutes to respond to you. You would be a happier customer now and more likely to return there in the future. Their loss.

Well, if Dave sees this, it will be up to him. He makes those decisions not me.

On a side note gOOK, double check the laptop and be sure that the old adapter is not still inside the bay. Once in a while they will stick. However, if you already have the new drive installed and it's up and running again. You can disregard this note.

[Dave@Bytes]

I'm just not sure how popular the section would be. And if I did do it, I think it would be a section for known good vendors. I don't like the idea of slamming companies (whether they deserve it or not) but I do think good vendors should be acknowledged.

[Bama19642]

I think it would help more people if bad vendors were exposed. Most of the regulars know good vendors already. If it's an unknown company, like chiefvalue that I wrote about before, then it might help people find a good place they didn't know about.

But if you don't allow bad vendors to be exposed we will miss a chance to help people avoid the site. I know my ripoff from a paypal vendor totally stopped me from using pp anymore. PP has a guarantee that is totally bogus. If you watch many daytime court shows you would see how little the PP promise is worth.

Just my opinion, Bama.

[g00k]

The adapter was on the original disk, but I'd never know it but for the picture I was given on the other forum. When I looked at the original, and pulled it, it came off and I could see that the original disk looked just like the replacement axcept for the HP pn sticker.

Dave, It's not necessarily the out'n out rip-off vendors we're exposing here, but those needing some customer satisfaction training. Since the only thing really wrong AllHDD.com did was to not respond reasonably quickly, all that a review would say would be "get your ducks in a row prior to buying from these folks. They do not respond to inquiries quickly." If a potential buyer reading our forum takes that to heart, and orders from that vendor, they will be pleased with the results, and AllHdd will have a satisfied customer.

I guess the vendor review section would need a ground-rule checklist:
1. Did I get what I ordered in the time specified in the initial order's ETA?
1a. Was the order complete?
2. Did the item work as expected?
2a. Were there unexpected issues, and how was the vendor responsible for it? (drivers/firmware/whatever)
3. Was the vendor responsive when you contacted them, other than automated responses?
4. Did the vendor act to help remedy the issue at hand? How?
5. In the end, did the vendor provide the goods/services they advertised?
6. Why are you satisfied/dissatisfied with your involvement with this vendor?

How's that for a start?


G00k