Why is ASUS not selling the Prime directly? - Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime

ASUS even has their own web store, at least in the USA.
It would make it easier for customers to determine when they would actually get their tablet. It would also, at least I fell it would, put more money in ASUS's pockets since they wouldn't have to share the profits with a reseller.

they can't even handle a simple launch of a tablet and it's their second try at it. It would be a pr disaster.
I myself don't trust them enough for them to handle customer service issues that may come up with my purchase.

You cannot buy anything directly from them. They are just a manufacturer.

They do actually have a store front. Located under services on USA.ASUS.com
But they don't actually carry their products there it appears. They mostly carry accessories for their products or replacement parts.

Related

Best Buy TP Exchange Experience...

Got my TP yesterday from Best Buy, and unfortunately it had few issues, biggest being that the left side was separating (you could see the glass move and could hear a click when squeezing it....) Needless to say I was not going to keep it, so I figured I will give a local Best Buy a try to see if I can exchange it...
I walked up to the Customer Service desk and explained the problem. They said no problem, just go to the computer area and get another one, and they will do an exchange. Went back there, and asked for a Transformer Prime. Got a blank stare, then was told that they are not out yet. I proceeded to explain that I already have one and I'm just exchanging it. Another blank stare, then I was assured that what I must have is the Transformer. I finally got tired of this and asked one of the reps to go back to Customer Service with me.
Upon looking at the box, he looked up the SKU and not finding it in the system, he told me that there is nothing they can do, since it's not in their system and he has no idea how I was able to order one. I politely explained that I have the packing slip from BB.com, order receipt, emails from BB, etc. I had two other people look at it, try to pull up the SKU, then telling me the same thing. It was time to talk to somebody that might have a slightest clue, so I asked for a manager. To make a long story short, after a 25 minute discussion where I was basically accused of "doing something funny", he called somebody else on the phone, and after a short conversation told me that he will "issue me a refund, but this is just not right."
I stayed calm and got the refund, then politely explained to the guy that I can't believe how they can treat a customer in this manner. I don't remember the last time being treated remotely like this, and I will certainly let the corporate office know. He could obviously care less...
Anyway, just wanted to vent. Best Buy lost a VERY good customer, as after this whole TP fiasco I'm just done with them. It's a shame that such a large retailer has so little clue about customer service and competency...
Well the TP is not currently sold in stores yet, its an online only product. I can see why there were confused, but they should've know that though.
Dang! I hope my luck is better. I have a Grey 64GB with dock on pre-order from B&H. It's amazing how lame and helpless these sales people can be. They are slaves to the Point-Of-Sale terminal with no imagination or obvious access to resources.
The correct response would be to accept what you said as true, apologize and issue the refund since they have no units in the store to give you.
Bye.
Hmm, who would've guessed Paul Christoforo would get a job at Best Buy so quickly.
Ludikhris said:
Hmm, who would've guessed Paul Christoforo would get a job at Best Buy so quickly.
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Well obviously since his tablet was only purchasable on wwebsite as on the internet, they couldn't find it.
Mine comes in tomorrow from Best Buy. I hope I don't have any issues that I have to do go through them. Maybe I'll just contact my ASUS rep straight up if I have a problem.
jyan_osu said:
Well obviously since his tablet was only purchasable on wwebsite as on the internet, they couldn't find it.
Mine comes in tomorrow from Best Buy. I hope I don't have any issues that I have to do go through them. Maybe I'll just contact my ASUS rep straight up if I have a problem.
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True. Or he could have sold them all on ebay for $150 so there were none left.
Asus packaging really sucks(only booklets is well protected), and BB mailed it in plastic envelope..No wonder there are a lot of problems....
Sorry to hear about the lousy experience. After working in retail, I can deffinently tell you not to threaten with "going to corporate". Just as you said they probably aren't going to care.
Much better to tell the manager on site that you want their District/Regional managers name and phone number. Call the number on the spot if it's during normal daytime hours. This will get you much better results.
District/Regional managers are the normal top dog of the store area, and if you can relay your distress to them in your treatment/experience, results will quickly follow. The store themselves aren't scared of a veiled threat to someone they never directly interact with ("corporate"). But get in touch with their direct boss (the region/district), and that'll put some fear in them...
That doesn't surprise me one bit. Best Buy customer service and return policy is one of the worst I've ever seen.
Now that the competitors (Circuit City, Silo) are gone some long gone Best Buy brick and mortars feel that they can do whatever they want. "Like where else are you going to go?"
but part of this blame also needs to be shared by ASUS for half-ass launching of their product. You don't launch a product to minimum stores unless you want your product to flop.
strange ASUS never revealed the amount of Primes they shipped to US for launch. My guess is under 3,000 units at best.
I was in BB last week, doing other shopping and for the heck of it, asked if they had the dock in yet (they didn't). But all of the BB guys were insisting that the TF Prime was not even out yet and that it had been delayed until Jan. I was like "Of course it's out, I have one!!". Lol... :/
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
The Best Buy clerks at the retailer in my area knew that they were out but had no idea of when they would be in, they checked their internet computers and only saw what most online-shoppers saw the "Coming Soon" message.
Can someone explain to me again why BB stopped their TFP online ordering nearly 2-weeks before Christmas and put-up a "Coming Soon" banner? Do they not realize how many customers they lost in what I can only see as a dumb move. I mean even if you didn't have any TFP in-stock, you could have at least kept it set up as a pre-order to collect potential buyers, but leaving it as a Coming Soon did no good for anyone, not even their own brick and mortar retailers who also used BB.com.
the_game_master said:
Can someone explain to me again why BB stopped their TFP online ordering nearly 2-weeks before Christmas and put-up a "Coming Soon" banner? Do they not realize how many customers they lost in what I can only see as a dumb move. I mean even if you didn't have any TFP in-stock, you could have at least kept it set up as a pre-order to collect potential buyers, but leaving it as a Coming Soon did no good for anyone, not even their own brick and mortar retailers who also used BB.com.
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With the ridiculous amount of issues that it turns out they've had with preorders, stopping them was ultimately the right move.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
It is just truly amazing that a retailer the size of Best Buy can have basic issues like this and how unresponsive they are to fix those issues. I think the mentality here is - it is not effecting enough people, so let's just not talk about it.

ASUS Offers FULL REFUND to TF201 users ... in UK???

so i guess this confirms they really wont be issuing any sort of fix or solution?
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Asus-UK-Transformer-Prime-Refund-New-Model-TF700,14516.html
Misleading title is misleading. They're just saying if you don't like it, return it to the shop you purchased it, something you can do by Law. The only thing Asus are offering is an extension to the warranty.
Just curious... did you even read the article?
Asus is not offering refund, they are recommending people who are not happy with WiFi/GPS performance to return them to retailers.
arrrgh said:
Just curious... did you even read the article?
Asus is not offering refund, they are recommending people who are not happy with WiFi/GPS performance to return them to retailers.
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Lmao I was thinking same thing OP fails.
Has anyone rang asus to take the extended warranty? I have and they dont know anything about it!
What about us in the United States? Do we get an extended warranty? It feels like, other than in Taiwan, the US was doing a bunch of beta testing on this thing.
That article basically says that the Wifi Issues will be fixed for the UK Version, but what about versions that have already been released?
How exactly is it misleading?
the company is now offering another alternative: A full refund. The company today said that extensive checks have confirmed that no units with WiFi issues have been supplied to customers in the UK, it is willing to refund customers that are still unhappy with their device.
"After extensive checks we can confirm that no units have been supplied to the UK with a known WiFi issue. Any customers experiencing WiFi issues specifically are advised to contact our support hotline on 0870 1208 340," Asus UK said. "Any customers who have purchased a Transformer Prime TF201 and are dissatisfied with the performance of the GPS module are advised to return the unit to their point of purchase for a full refund as per standard consumer rights that apply in the UK."
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The article specifically says ASUS is offering a full refund.
The article says ASUS is asking customers who are dissatisfied, to take it back to their place of purchase.
Who says they haven't reached out to the retailers and instructed to offer full refunds, outside of the store policy?
And who the hell knows what "consumer rights as they apply in the UK" means?
I wish people would stop being so quick to judge posters. The link i posted may or may not be accurate, but no need to flame. Im not here trying to stir up ****, im trying to share info i came across.
Thank you.
PS, this article proves to me, more than anything, that ASUS has no intention of offering any solution to the weak wifi ... which pisses me off because otherwise i am in love with my tablet.
and yes, for a while i was hopeful that they would make some statement about it, offering some solution or cheap fix.
I dont want a refund, or a credit, money is not the issue .. i just want this tablet to have better wifi signal, that is all
So I just checked if there were any firmware updates available and there was one! Does anyone know what it does? Obviously I'm hoping it'll fix the rebooting issue but I'm wondering if anyone else has gotten it yet.
Edit: Whoops, I posted this to the wrong thread. I'd delete this post but I'm not sure if I'm able to.
rsarno said:
How exactly is it misleading?
The article specifically says ASUS is offering a full refund.
The article says ASUS is asking customers who are dissatisfied, to take it back to their place of purchase.
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And who the hell knows what "consumer rights as they apply in the UK" means?
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In the Uk we have a number of consumer protections.
One is the distance selling regs which give peeps who buy a new Product (excepting opened software, mucic media or things like pants (underwear for our friends over the pond) earings etc where there is a hygiene element) a minimum of 7 days to look at a product and try it out (there are expectations to keep the original packaging and to look after the goods) and decide to keep it or return it.
Another consumer protection is the Consumer Protection act which protects all purchasers of goods and this protects consumers by stating that goods should be fit for purpose, this protection should last (a very subjective) for a reasonable life of the item and if a fault is found in the first six months the consumer should have the right for that item to be treated as if the fault was present at the point of sale. (it is not always easy to force this issue but there are remedies) so for example a Television that dies after 18 months could fall under this legislation as it would be reasonable for a TV to last longer than 18 months.
Another area in which we might be different is that in The UK the contract is between the seller and the purchaser, not between the manufacturer and the end user, so that Asus increasing the length of their warranty is over and above the responsibilities of the seller.
in the UK the grey TFP is as rare as rocking horse sh*t and there are very few outlets that have been able to distribute the TFP with the silver version is as common as a dodo! Asus has in all likelihood been in contact with the company who is distributing the TFP over here and arrangements have been made for the return of faulty TFP's to be made simple.
On another level I do not mind peeps griping about the goods but I get really pee'd of with those who take over the official asus rep started threads in which Asus are looking for patterns of the faults to help them narrow down the problems to work on fixes to vent their spleen: If i was an Asus rep I would be disheartened by this and feel that (I am sure they are working their nuts off) their efforts are not being appreciated and this also has an effect on me and other users; as it makes focussing on those issues all the harder because the likes of Gary are having to wade through a lot of irrelevant posts to get to the meat of the problem, and also some of the posts have been pretty insulting and personal to the point that I have reported a couple. I think Asus are being much more responsive than Apple was over the Iphone having difficulties making calls)
(Sorry for the rant in the previous paragraph but having read the three threads earlier it just had to come out and I was going to post similar on those threads but managed to check myself. It was not pointed at yourself or any individual in particular )
Hope the info on some of our consumer legislation was useful.
As indicated many countries outside the US have customer protection programs and this drives corporate decisions for those countries to make sure customers feel like a company that is getting bad press is trying to resolve the issues. Based on what we are seeing in the last week ASUS is stepping up to the plate in many ways to resolve their problems with the Prime.

[B]If ASUS thrives to have a reputable reputation[/B]

A company who thrives to have a reputable reputation will work diligently with the customer. They will due whatever possible to fix a problem before it's too late and their reputation is affected.
I use to be a proud owner of several ASUS products in the past but now, things are very different. This is one of several bad experience with ASUS and I don't feel like the missionary who use to preach to others about ASUS products.
Don't get me wrong people, I like their products but what good is it? A company like ASUS, having good products but horrible customer service?? I use to speak very fondly about ASUS products to everyone but my mind-set has changed.
One good example: The way ASUS customer service operates, the products they sell, go hand-in-hand for an overall shopping experience for the customer. This is something they are lacking and needs to be addressed quickly.
I only hope that ASUS will change for the better and become the company most of us have hoped to rely on. In the meantime, ASUS must address these serious issues and I will not rely on them nor their products.
+1
Absolutely agreed. I had a very good experience with Asus on my G73JH gaming notebook. The customer service guys was nice and helpful. They took less than a week to replaced the graphic boards and fans when it got overheated after 5 minutes of use.
That's why I sold my iPad 2 and bought the Transformer last year. Then I got the Prime for myself and pass the TF to my wife when it came out. Wish I had waited to see the reviews before I did that... Now my friends and colleagues are teasing me for this piece of junk...
Now, on second thought, Asus seems to put faulty components in their products, like the G73JH and the TFP.
I work for a company with over 25,000 computer users. The Asus sales rep was here last year asking why we only buy HP and Dell products. I am going to tell him why next time I see him.
I think Asus Customer Service and now their Reputation is an absolute joke! Honestly, whomever is in charge of their Customer Service Reps should have been fired in January. They have zero communication with their Repair Technicians, with Engineers, with Asus higher ups.
1. Asus Prime is released, Wifi Issues are abundant, GPS doesn't work well or consistently, so Asus simply removes the spec yet charges the same price. So does that mean the GPS Chip in the unit, that they have told us is not supported, BUT IS STILL IN MY PRIME, was FREE? I know it wasn't FREE, I know the cost was passed on to me, so why is the Prime still $499 if the GPS isn't going to work or be supported? I shouldn't have to pay for it!
2. When the Serial Number Unknown issue came out, I filled out a tech inquiry explaining that this bug would not allow me to update automatically over the air. I tried resetting, hard resets, factory resets, nothing. Everyone was updating to ICS, and I couldn't. So I filled out a Tech Inquiry on Asus' website SPECIFICALLY detailing my problems and SPECIFICALLY ASKING "When will a fix be offered so I can update OTA like I should be able to?" Their Response? They emailed me 18 days later (now it is escalted as "Urgent" after 2 days. So URGENT meant I had to wait another 16 days, lol).
3. Serial Number Unknown, again, this time I call Asus. They tell me that ICS hasn't been released yet, and I SHOULD NOT BE getting an OTA Update. Meanwhile it is being promoted on Asus' Twitter and Facebook feeds. Yeah, the Customer Service reps had not idea that ICS was released like 3 days ago, and tell me I am basically crazy and the download everyone is getting OTA must be malicious.
4. Asus has announced 2 new Transformer Units (a 10 inch and a 7 inch) before I can even buy the one I already own off the shelf. Wifi and GPS problems are confirmed, Asus blames it on the Aluminum Backplate. So what do they do? They announce a new prime coming out this year with a fixed backplate. What about people with the original prime? I am not asking for a freebie here. However, I can still not go buy a Transformer Prime off the shelf at a store around me, but I know about 2 new Primes coming out this year and maybe even a rumored 3rd. Fix your current production and stock issues before trying to sell a new tablet.
I am actually embarrassed for Asus, their reputation, and their employees. Based on what I have experienced from Asus in just the past 30 days, I would be disappointed if I worked for them. I wouldn't want my name associated with them. I mean, someone tells me they work for Asus, I am going to be like "Oh, Asus? You mean the company that.........then go on for hours!)

Newegg: Evo View 4G $249

In case anyone's still interested in purchasing:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=0EJ-0009-00001
Amazing that there have been so many deals for the View. Is HTC trying to kill off its stock? I absolutely love mine. The only thing I'd ask is for it to be slightly lighter, but aside from that, the hardware is absolutely perfect for me.
I was gonna buy it, but after looking at the reviews of the marketplace seller I just cant do it.
Seems like even the 5 star reviews were saying the seller was horrible.
jacobbones said:
I was gonna buy it, but after looking at the reviews of the marketplace seller I just cant do it.
Seems like even the 5 star reviews were saying the seller was horrible.
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Probably the majority of the users here with the View purchased theirs through through that seller - 1SaleADay. Most of us got it directly from the 1SaleADay website when they had it for sale there more than once. Yes, they're very slow and may not respond to questions, but it's because their products are dropped shipped. While it's no excuse for poor customer service, the fact is that they are merely a middle man selling the product. They don't actually have the product in stock at their own warehouses. It's wholly dependent on the company with the stock to get things shipped out. Again, it's no excuse, but it helps to provide a better understanding of what kind of company they are, along with how they're able to offer things cheaper than many other companies.
That said, everyone received their Views ordered through 1SaleADay in new, as-described condition (with the few exceptions that there always are when anything is shipped from any company). Purchasing through New Egg provides an added layer of protection for the buyer that none of us who purchased directly from 1SaleADay had. So if you really want one, I wouldn't let the seller put you off from buying it in this case. Generally I wouldn't say that for marketplace sellers (feedback is a great way to know who to buy from and who not to buy from), but in this case, it's a little different. It's a good price for a great device.
bsweetness said:
Probably the majority of the users here with the View purchased theirs through through that seller - 1SaleADay. Most of us got it directly from the 1SaleADay website when they had it for sale there more than once. Yes, they're very slow and may not respond to questions, but it's because their products are dropped shipped.
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What is dropped shipped? I haven't heard that term before.
I got mine from eBay before Christmas from that one seller that sold 2000 in one day and then 3000 in one day the week after (bidallies I believe). No soft packing material, just cardboard, but mine arrived without a scratch. I'd say dealing with Newegg is the absolute best place to buy it, since you get their guarantee. It clearly says there is a 1 year warranty too, so that helps.
Paul22000 said:
What is dropped shipped? I haven't heard that term before.
I got mine from eBay before Christmas from that one seller that sold 2000 in one day and then 3000 in one day the week after (bidallies I believe). No soft packing material, just cardboard, but mine arrived without a scratch. I'd say dealing with Newegg is the absolute best place to buy it, since you get their guarantee. It clearly says there is a 1 year warranty too, so that helps.
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The all-knowing Wikipedia explains it better than I can:
"Drop shipping is a supply chain management technique in which the retailer does not keep goods in stock, but instead transfers customer orders and shipment details to either the manufacturer or a wholesaler, who then ships the goods directly to the customer. As in retail businesses, the majority of retailers make their profit on the difference between the wholesale and retail price but some retailers earn an agreed percentage of the sales in commission, paid by the wholesaler to the retailer."
So, the seller doesn't have the actual items, they ship from somewhere else, and the seller has little information on the items beyond what the manufacturer or wholesaler gives them. It definitely makes good customer service more difficult. It's not an excuse for the complete lack of customer service that 1SaleADay has however.
With the View, which ships from the U.S., this isn't so much of a problem. Pretty much everyone received their orders in a week to a week and a half. Where most of 1SaleADay's negative feedback comes from is much of the other stuff they sell, which is actually held and shipped from somewhere overseas (often China). Many of the items are sub-par, they break easily (often in transit), and it takes far too long for them to arrive. Before ordering my View, I had made two previous purchases through their site. The items arrived as described, and they worked just fine, but it took over three weeks for them to arrive. In addition to this, given the nature of how they do business, it's next to impossible to return anything through 1SaleADay or receive a refund. So, people buy cheap junk from them, it takes a month to arrive from somewhere overseas, and then when it doesn't work or breaks quickly, they're unable to get a refund or replacement, and in turn leave negative feedback (which is understandable). But sometimes, they do sell some good stuff, like the View. And I'd feel even more comfortable purchasing through New Egg because they have other customer protection measures in place.
Well I ended up buying the evo from newegg.
Im in no rush for it anyways. See how it goes
I ordered mine from 1saleaday and received it within 5 days of the order.

Worst customer service ever

Asus has the worst customer service I have ever encountered. I sent back my charger to Asus on Febuary 16. Not only was I told it would be a 14 business day turnaround, but I was also told I had to send in the cord as well. After about 20 calls to Asus, speaking to numerous supervisors, being told they had no idea where my charger was and I had to just wait, I finally recieved a tracking number a few days ago. I was beyond excitement when I heard the knock from FedEx today. I opened the box up and what do I see? A plain charger, no cord, no outlet plug adapter. NOTHING. What am I suppose to do with just the plain charger without anywhere to plug it in. Every time you call asus they tell you they have to contact another department and someone will contact be back. Which no one ever does. They also say that contact takes up to 48 hours. I just stayed on hold for a supervisor 20 minutes which never came on the phone. I'm at my witts end on what else I could do. Needless to say I will probably never buy Asus again. This is completely unacceptable. If anyone has any suggestions, I would appreciate it.
Throw it in the trash and buy an ipad. Then you can swap it out at an apple store if there is a problem or buy any number of third party accessories to charge your device.
Although a great suggestion, I would like to keep this one and not spend another $500
pudge12 said:
Although a great suggestion, I would like to keep this one and not spend another $500
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Not exactly positive.. but.. this should work with Transformer Prime.
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0367050
i honestly wish i had never sold my A500 for this tablet. i can't unload it without selling it at a significant loss. my gps still doesn't work despite asus having it for 21 days, 6 days after it came to me on dec21 ( yes i was one of the Neanderthals that thought this tablet was worth preordering for). i will NEVER buy another asus product again. I'm stuck with this tablet for at least 6 more months before I can think of getting a new one.
Found a different number which I assumed is some sort of corporate office. The nicest guy I've spoken to in this whole ordeal. He is overnighting me the parts I'm missing. Hopefully I will receive it tomorrow or the day after. Thanks
Great its resolved. Thats why I insert photos (time/date stamped) of what condition the items are and everything included, I also make sure all the components going in the package are checked off on the RMA request. Then I take a video of me wrapping all the items, packaging, and finally closing the package in case i need to resort to it.
junrider said:
Great its resolved. Thats why I insert photos (time/date stamped) of what condition the items are and everything included, I also make sure all the components going in the package are checked off on the RMA request. Then I take a video of me wrapping all the items, packaging, and finally closing the package in case i need to resort to it.
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This is good advice in general, and I do it EVERY TIME I'm sending ANY product in for service, refund, exchange, or whatever. I have a horror story like this for almost every technology manufacturer or vendor I've purchased a product from over the years, including HP, Dell, Toshiba, HTC, Samsung, and some now-defunct companies that few people here would recognize.
Pretty much the only company I never have problems with in this regard is Costco, which is why I buy everything I can from them. Although, seriously, I've found ASUS to be pretty good comparatively, which just goes to show how different peoples' experiences can be and how sweeping generalizations shouldn't be made based on a relative handful of complaints.
Oh, and since Apple was mentioned in this thread, it's maybe valuable to add: yes, they provide good customer service, at least as far as getting product replaced in-store. But, one pays for that luxury, either in higher prices (MacBooks), in a locked-down environment, or at least SOMEONE pays for it (in the case of the iPhone, that would be the cost-shifting that occurs when carriers take a loss in subsidizing the iPhone). Maybe the iPad is decently priced, or maybe it's not--but even if the iPad is reasonably priced, it's because the costs are merely shifted to other Apple products. Apple couldn't make their absolutely phenomenal profits if they weren't getting the money from someone.
Wait, if you were without a charger all this time... were you not able to charge your Prime and thus not able to use it?
Sucks lol
OH and the iPad bit-- the OOW replacement cost for an iPad 3rd gen is $299 regardless of what model. iPad 2 and original, $249.
What does this mean? Apple's OOW replacement costs for iOS devices are usually posted at a 20% or more profit. That means that Apple makes at 50% profit on each sale of its devices, and an additional 20% on each OOW repair.
Apple makes plenty of money to support each product with each unit purchased. This is not including returns from AppleCare protection sales.
wynand32 said:
Maybe the iPad is decently priced, or maybe it's not--but even if the iPad is reasonably priced, it's because the costs are merely shifted to other Apple products. Apple couldn't make their absolutely phenomenal profits if they weren't getting the money from someone.
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Shifting money from other Apple products wouldn't increase their profit. Apple makes phenomenal profits cause they do things like, sell 3million tablets in 3 days.
Cozmo85 said:
Shifting money from other Apple products wouldn't increase their profit. Apple makes phenomenal profits cause they do things like, sell 3million tablets in 3 days.
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I mean, Apple can afford to sell the iPad for lower margins (if they do, and maybe they don't) because their margins are inordinately high on their other products. Of course, ultimately, that reduces overall profit margin a tiny bit (more so as more iPads are sold as a percentage of their total sales, of course) and total profits as well. But, again, Apple's margins are already so high that they can afford to take a bit of a hit--it becomes something of a rounding error on their quarterly statements. Also, Apple makes a bit of profit from iTunes and the App Store, which also helps.
The point is, anyone buying an Apple product should expect a much higher level of customer service, because they're paying for it. Kind of like buying a BMW vs. an Infiniti--I hope nobody who buys a BMW and gets the included maintenance actually thinks that maintenance is free...
wynand32 said:
I mean, Apple can afford to sell the iPad for lower margins (if they do, and maybe they don't) because their margins are inordinately high on their other products. Of course, ultimately, that reduces overall profit margin a tiny bit (more so as more iPads are sold as a percentage of their total sales, of course) and total profits as well. But, again, Apple's margins are already so high that they can afford to take a bit of a hit--it becomes something of a rounding error on their quarterly statements. Also, Apple makes a bit of profit from iTunes and the App Store, which also helps.
The point is, anyone buying an Apple product should expect a much higher level of customer service, because they're paying for it. Kind of like buying a BMW vs. an Infiniti--I hope nobody who buys a BMW and gets the included maintenance actually thinks that maintenance is free...
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That's weird cause I paid 650 for the TFP + dock but only 500 for my iPad. You just can't match the support of physical Apple stores to call centers like ASUS. Besides, I've dealt with HP warranty a few times and they were much better than what ASUS is giving me ATM. My Prime has arrived since two weeks ago and it is not even in their system yet.
In the end, as a end user, we don't care the reason why a certain company can provide better service, we only care that one company provides better service period.
pudge12 said:
Found a different number which I assumed is some sort of corporate office. The nicest guy I've spoken to in this whole ordeal. He is overnighting me the parts I'm missing. Hopefully I will receive it tomorrow or the day after. Thanks
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Thanks for sharing the happy ending.
It's nice to know that Asus operates an environment where its employees have the latitude to be helpful if that's their nature. Perhaps the first group you talked to was an outsourced support center...
One thing I've learned is to always ask for a supervisor, and then their supervisor if you're unsatisfied. You need to get to a level where you can get their FULL name, not just a badge number. If they won't give you their full name and their direct number, you've not gone high enough. The real key here is to remain FRIENDLY, CALM, FIRM. If you start getting hot, you'll get nowhere.
Jgrimoldy said:
Thanks for sharing the happy ending.
It's nice to know that Asus operates an environment where its employees have the latitude to be helpful if that's their nature. Perhaps the first group you talked to was an outsourced support center...
One thing I've learned is to always ask for a supervisor, and then their supervisor if you're unsatisfied. You need to get to a level where you can get their FULL name, not just a badge number. If they won't give you their full name and their direct number, you've not gone high enough. The real key here is to remain FRIENDLY, CALM, FIRM. If you start getting hot, you'll get nowhere.
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Unfortunately I believe the key point in your statement is the outsourced call center. I believe this is exactly where my call would get forwarded. Unfortunately no matter how calm, friendly, firm, or insistent that i knew it wasn't the reps fault but i just needed help, none was given. I was even insulted at one point by a general rep saying I wasn't paying attention and wasn't listening because he told me his computer listed the charger as not received by the facility, and that meant they didn't have it. So when I inquired where it was if FedEx marked the package with information given to me by Asus was, he said I wasn't listening. I asked for a supervisor multiple times and more than half the times i was placed on hold for 20 minutes, told I would be called back and I am still waiting for the phone calls back. The few I did speak to said they were the highest up. Fortunately the last number I called, which was a USA number, not 1800 I spoke to someone who not only had an American accent (not trying to come off racist) but was extremely helpful. Promised he would over night me a charger over night and it was waiting for me today at my doorstep. I will call the same number tomorrow and hopefully find the same helpful individual and personally thank him. The general customer service from Asus was horrible beyond belief, but at the very least there is at least 1 person somewhere that was helpful and to him I thank.
Sorry for the long read.

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