 |
| Author | Post |
|---|
marco
Member
|
Posted: Mon Apr 17th, 2006 09:53 pm |
|
Gary invited me to post my experience here, so here I am.
My recent Pismo XLR8 G4 upgrade wasn't a pleasant experience. I don't mean technology-wise (this will take time to observe); I mean service-wise. I'm sharing this experience here hoping that Daystar can see how little ignorance make customers feel. I also hope that this can help to make Daystar better. After all I'm very willing to support an innovative company.
I first found that I can upgrade my Pismo at Geek Culture:
http://www.geekculture.com/blurbs/reviews/XLR8G4Pismo.html
It got me very excited. New life to my good old Pismo! Awesome! So I started a bit more research:
http://www.macopinion.com/columns/roadwarrior/04/02/10/
http://www.powerbookcentral.com/columns/hildreth_moore/upgrades.shtml
Looked like upgrading my Pismo fitted my needs and my little budget. So I emailed Daystar for the details. Gary replied my questions promptly and detailed. I thank him for that.
In the first email I sent him (Feb 23), I specifically asked him: From reading your web page, I know that you will return the hard drive. But how about the G3 chip & RAM? His answer was We do return everything.
In the following email (Mar 1), I also asked about trade-in: Do you accept old parts trade-in? I realized that I only have 128 + 256 RAM on my Pismo. If I get two 512 RAM, would you offer some discount if I trade in the 128 & 256? His answer was Yes, we can provide a small trade-in allowance. I suggest ordering the normal upgrade and what you need via the website. Then we can refund any trade-ins.
So I placed my order (Mar 5) and waited for shipping instruction and checklist to send to me. (I didn't order a box, I packed the computer myself... Tight budget sucks...) Unpleasant experience started here.
Shipping instruction wasn't sent to me until Mar 15. In the meantime, I emailed twice (to Gary and then to Diana at Daystar) to asked whether there would be a shipping instruction sent to me. No answer until Mar 15. An email shouldn't take 10 days to send. This got me a bit worried, but I still had good faith in Daystar. They might just be too busy.
So I shipped out my Pismo on Mar 17 via Canada Post Express. Canada Post did save me quite a bit on shipping cost. I emailed Diana on Mar 18 to let her know that my Pismo is on its way.
Canada Post Express to US should take less than a week. I waited another 10 days and emailed Daystar (Mar 27) to see if my Pismo arrived safely. Got reply on Mar 29:
We started to check in your system a few days ago but then backed down until today. Your OSX software has issues. The only way for us to fix your software is to take everything off and then put everything back on. We just had a system here with the same disk utility error as yours and this was what had to be done. It's an hour and a half labor so $142.50 extra to fix your software issue. Once your software is fixed your system will work like a dream but right now we can't even finish a permissions repair and can't upgrade the CPU card.
We are sorry for the hassle the software on this machine is corrupted some how.
Thanks and please let me know what you would like us to do.
One other option is for us to install OS 9.2.2 and test the upgrade that way. We can do this at know charge but you won't have OSX working correctly so you will still get erros on it. When you get your machin back you can always try an archive and install on your OSX it may or may not fix the issue. Most of the time an archive and install will bring some software issues with the install.
Why didn't they inform me when they receive my Pismo? Snaggy at Geek Culture said, "Throughout this process Daystar keeps you informed of the status of the upgrade, which I found very reassuring." But Daystar did not keep me informed. It has always been me who made the phone calls and wrote the emails.
This OS X issue didn't sound right to me either. I erased the hard drive and reinstalled a clean OS X 10.3.9 and OS 9.2.2 before I shipped out my Pismo. It ran perfectly fine then. Saying they need to "install OS 9.2.2" was strange too... I have OS 9.2.2 installed on my Pismo already.
These things made me wonder... Maybe this market is too small and they don't care about it anymore. Maybe it's because my US$627 order was too small for them, and therefore I was treated differently...
It may be just my worst scenario imagination, but I believe anyone in this situation would have the same doubts.
Again, my budget was tight, option 2 was the only way. So I emailed on Mar 29 (and made a follow-up phone call around this date too):
I'm not sure why you need to work on the software in my Pismo to install the upgrade. I think you can observe from my hand-made shipping box that I'm on a really tight budget. I would save even $15 (using Apple container for shipping). So you see, $142.50 is obviously way over my budget. :'(
Therefore, I'll choose the second option -- "install OS 9.2.2 and test the upgrade that way with no charge". But I don't think you need to install OS 9.2.2 on my Pismo. I installed it already. Just before I sent it out to you, I erased my hard disk and reinstalled both OS X and OS 9.2. There's nothing to be archived on my Pismo now.
I will be using OS X when I get my Pismo upgraded. If you think this second option will make OS X unusable of diminish the performance greatly with the 550 MAChSpeed G4 inside. I think I'll cancel the order. I'll just live with G3 for the time being. It's much slower than the G5 at office but my Pismo has been working perfectly fine for me so far.
Please let me know your advice on this usability/performance issue.
By the way, this may not be relevant if I decide to cancel my order, but you forgot my question about trade-in. Please give me an estimate on how much discount I can get if I trade in my 128 + 256 RAM chips. Let me know, so I can decide whether I want to trade them in or not.
Looking forward to hearing from you asap. Thank you for your time and assistance!
No updates on the upgrade process from Daystar after this. No answer to my usability/performance question. Not a word about my trade-in inquire either. I felt neglected... Well, I was neglected.
And then I got a FedEx Shipment Notification on Apr 6. It was a little hassle to get FedEx to have the shipment ready for me to pick it up. Anyway, I finally picked up my upgraded Pismo on Apr 12.
My feeling was a mix of excitement and worries... Opening the box, I found only the Pismo, the 2 old RAM chips, and a installer CD. The XLR8 G4 sticker wasn't too attractive graphically speaking. But my dear Pismo looked fine. Turned it on. Start-up seemed faster. Took a look at the hard drive. The OS X and 9 I had installed were gone. Only the OS 9 installed by Daystar was there.
No sign of the G3 Chip that Gary said they would return.
So I phoned Daystar. Diana told me that they don't return the replaced G3 chip and stuff, that these parts would be just scraps, and that I have to pay extra postage if I want to have it back. This contradicted what Gary told me.
I guess I'm just too mild. I wasn't too mad, and even agreed to pay US$4.50 (or 4.35) to have my G3 chip sent back to me. I emailed Diana a photo of the original chip so they won't send me a wrong one. In the email (Apr 12) I complained:
I'm sending you a picture of my G3 chip, so you can find the right one. Please return me the correct one. I double checked Gary's e-mail. "We do return everything." is his answer to my question "From reading your web page, I know that you will return the hard drive. But how about the G3 chip & RAM?" So I'm not very happy that I have to pay for the postage. I believe you wouldn't be happy if you were me, would you?
Gary wrote back (Apr 12):
The G3 Chip, resistors and cache which are changed and discarded are not returned. As is, not the dirt, old heat sink foam, dust and other scrap pieces.
If you want the G3 chip, we can mail at the cost quoted. You do realize, that the G3 chip is the de-soldered ceramic unit inside the "two screw" black CPU doughnut?
No offering to send the G3 chip back without charge. Not a word of apology for the wrong information at the beginning. US$4.50 is not much. I was just very disappointed.
I expressed my disappointment in the reply (Apr 12) to Gary:
It's the chip that have accompanied me for the last 5 years. Of course I want to have it back. Emotional attachment is one factor. (Emotional factor is part of the reason why I want to get this upgrade and keep my Pismo up-to-date.) The other thing is that, a friend of mine who is interested in computer hardware is asking about it. He might be able to give my good old G3 chip a new life (though I'm not sure how). I do see that this upgrade didn't simply use a new processor board to replace the original one. But in any case, I would like to have my G3 chip back.
"We do return everything." (regarding my question about the G3 chip & RAM) is the knowledge I learnt from you about Daystar's upgrade service. If you were in my position, I believe you won't be happy that you have to pay extra to get something you expected to be return to you in the first place. It's understandable that sometime information was passed incorrectly, and I was just unlucky to get wrong information from you. US$4.50 is not much. I would pay. But I hope you know that Diana's earlier response on the phone -- "We will just put the chip in an envelop, put stamp on it and put it in a mailbox, and that's it." -- though said in a mild tone, made me very disappointed at Daystar's service. In fact, anyone in my position would be very disappointed. I had good faith in you at the beginning...
And I got a decent reply from Gary (Apr 13):
Thanks for the note on your new product. I appreciate the feedback very much.
We will mail it free. Priority mail.
If you get a chance, you can help others by posting a short review at:
http://forums.xlr8yourmac.com/post.cpureview.lasso
Or post a note in our forum at:
http://www.daystar-forum.com/category3/
I'm glad to see this friendly gesture. Postage is not much, but earnestness is priceless. This is more like the Daystar I know through those reviews. If little things in the process have been treated with such earnestness, my experience would be totally different.
Hope sharing this experience can be helpful to Daystar. Best regards.
|
Current time is 03:48 am | |
|
|
|
|
