Systemax Hellcat Evaluation @ [H] Consumer

Systemax Neil said:
trick ..... I couldn't agree with you more. eTalk means nothing. If [H] give us another chance then great. If they don't then that's fine as well. From the general negativity of these posts on this forum we have more to do then just gettting a good review here and there. I'm not just a face for the company. I'm a real person like you. And like what Rich did I have no problem posting my phone number here and am willing to address any concerns you or anyone else may have. If I didn 't have any confidence in what we do and what our PC factory is about then I can tell you with much honesty that I would not be working for them and posting on these forums right now.

If we do nothing to contantly improve our products and internal processes then we'll continue to deserve the beating that I know you all will give us.

Neilson Hixson
Field Applications Engineer
937-615-1715
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Thanks for the honest approach. It takes a real adult to address these problems and be up-front about shortcomings. Maybe your guys had a bad day??? From my experience reading and following the reviews since their inception, you will no doubt get another chance ( see PC Club, Gateway,ABS). I hope you can find the answers, obviously you have been in business a long time selling components, I have many friends who have purchased stuff and are very happy......I'm a NewEgg guy myself.....But you have to admit, that computer was disgracefully built and the support was sloppy AND the way the RMAs were handled LOST you money in the long run. :eek:
I use the HotHardware review and photos as direct comparison.
I know you will improve things.....thanks for the posts. :D
 
magoo .... it was built the way it was built. We can't take that back. We have to step up and fix what went wrong ... and that's the bottom line. I can't fix perceptions by only working "this" forum hard for the next few weeks and then just disappearing. Some of the posts give advice about having a consistent presence on this site and other reputable sites. Trust me, I'm hearing you. We can change perceptions by achieving real results and letting our product quality speak for itself. We build a lot of systems every year, a large variety, but we can't take "anything" for granted. Because as I said before, our decisions, good or bad, affect real people in real ways.
 
I'm certainly impressed by Neil showing up and talking about the issues on this forum. Rich said essentially all that he was expected to say and little that he wasn't (it may not have been a form letter, but it was a standard sort of banal response to such a thing as happened here), and I don't blame him. 'Tis his job. But yeah, Neil actually taking time to respond to posts, that says something good.

I hope to see another review of a Systemax computer, but only if it's done the same way. Hopefully a few months in the future, when the initial furor over this has died down and business has returned to usual, and obtained again through retail channels. You guys sending in a system for review is as useless as has been mentioned enough times already here, but my primary concern is that this will bring out the whips to get builders and techs doing higher quality work in the short term, while falling right back off in the long term (thus why I would hope a second review would be months away, so we can see if Systemax is doing anything differently, if this was a fluke, or if it truly was indicative of the expected customer experience).
 
Systemax Neil said:
trick ..... I couldn't agree with you more. eTalk means nothing. If [H] give us another chance then great. If they don't then that's fine as well. From the general negativity of these posts on this forum we have more to do then just gettting a good review here and there. I'm not just a face for the company. I'm a real person like you. And like what Rich did I have no problem posting my phone number here and am willing to address any concerns you or anyone else may have. If I didn 't have any confidence in what we do and what our PC factory is about then I can tell you with much honesty that I would not be working for them and posting on these forums right now.

If we do nothing to contantly improve our products and internal processes then we'll continue to deserve the beating that I know you all will give us.

Neilson Hixson
Field Applications Engineer
937-615-1715
Click to expand...

I do appreciate the reply and the offer of phone numbers. I never said that my opinion was set in stone. If it was, then I would still bash Intel even after they clearly stepped up the game with the core 2 duo, but I dont because that is just dumb. Your second chance will come, and I look forward to seeing how you perform.
 
Systemax Neil said:
trick ..... I couldn't agree with you more. eTalk means nothing. If [H] give us another chance then great. If they don't then that's fine as well. From the general negativity of these posts on this forum we have more to do then just gettting a good review here and there. I'm not just a face for the company. I'm a real person like you. And like what Rich did I have no problem posting my phone number here and am willing to address any concerns you or anyone else may have. If I didn 't have any confidence in what we do and what our PC factory is about then I can tell you with much honesty that I would not be working for them and posting on these forums right now.

If we do nothing to contantly improve our products and internal processes then we'll continue to deserve the beating that I know you all will give us.

Neilson Hixson
Field Applications Engineer
937-615-1715
Click to expand...

The fact of the matter is that Systemax will get a second review from [H] Consumer...whether you want to or not. I think it is in our best interest to follow up every "bad" review we give. This gives our readers a second look and will prove that we get more of the same, or possibly just got unlucky the first time, or at times whether or not a company has made improvements in their processes that we identified on our initial review.

As for the negative attitude towards Systemax, that is 100% Systemax' fault. You delivered a fairly high dollar PC that was nothing like the review system that was delivered to Hot Hardware. That simply stinks, probably constitutes a breach of ethics, and deserves the negativity that it has earned. Had we gotten a good or even great value for the money we spent, I think things attitudes would have been very different.

The people here with the negative attitudes are real people as well, with real money, and we want to make sure it is well spent.
 
The whole review game can be a joke. I'd be lying and so would every other system builder if they told you they don't massage review units they know about. Some go way further they we even do. We dabble in the enthusiast market, we're new to the game, we've got a lot to learn. And now we have to live with the fact that we have recieved pehaps the "worst" ever [H]OCP system review (though notice the performance numbers after the dust settled - not horrible right?). At least now we have an opportunity to show all of you that we're not a joke.

I hope this staff does keep reviewing systems in the manner in which they do. We review our competitoion's systems that way, only difference here is we don't write about them. And I hope if they do another SYX PC they be sneaky 'cause I'm going to gonna watch for every box that ships within 100 square miles of that facility :D ...... ok ... I won't ..... :rolleyes:
 
Kyle, you are absolutely right. We deserved what we got. And people here with bad experiences in the past have every right to express their frustrations as well. I'm not on this forum to defend ourselves, but to learn and listen, and offer any help if someone needs it.
 
I was dissapointed by the review but with the way these guys handle the problem I do not find systemax to be a bad company.
I look forward to a new review.
Allthough in honesty I would love more Video card review!!!
Ill quit my whining.
 
Systemax Neil said:
Kyle, you are absolutely right. We deserved what we got. And people here with bad experiences in the past have every right to express their frustrations as well. I'm not on this forum to defend ourselves, but to learn and listen, and offer any help if someone needs it.
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I don't know what other people are thinking right now about Systemax, but right about now I'm starting to have some renewed faith in the consumer enthusiest PC market.

Yes, the PC and the process sucked in this review, and because it was a real world review (not a designated review system) it was raw truth. The fact that these guys came in here, acknowledged that fact and owned up to it, kudos. I'd like to see some of the bigger names stand by their integrity when they make a mistake like that.

As long as this isn't a smoke sceen and these guys have the backing of their company behind their words (a problem too often encountered when the PA mouthpieces aren't kept in the loop about the company's true intentions) I'd definitely be interested to see what happens on the second round of reviewing.

My only humble word of advice for the enthusiest market is to make sure you only have the best people on your tech support lines, and that they have a concept of customer service. Have the tier 1 people follow a basic script for troubleshooting, and if the customer claims they already tried everything do not hesitate to send them to tier2. Long call wait times are not an issue when you're going to get quality service once someone answers. Wasting time talking to someone who isn't listening to you is equivilant to waiting on hold, except it tends to incite greater disdain for the company serving you.

CSR/tech support having physical access to the machines you sell is a must, and cheaping out on this basic tool for your service technicians is a greedy move that will cost you more in the long run. Tier1 should be the ONLY people with target talk times, and there should be no repercussions if they exceed those times within reason if they are serving the customer's interest.

If quality is maintained and each system is built with a system of QA control, tech support should be limited to only the real problems (DAO/damage during delivery, etc) and triage of problems created byt he user (willfully installing viruses/spyware, etc) should be a much easier task.

And for pete's sake, dump that BS eTrust AV suite! Enthusiest gamers want a fast system, and at ~$2500 for a system, offering a range of more reputable and more configurable security products to choose from (Eset, Kaspersky, etc) would be a nice departure from the token AV offering jsut to say you offer some kind of security solution.
 
To be fair, I've ordered/bought a fair amount of stuff from TigerDirect (mostly throught the local bricks and mortars here in Toronto) and never had any problems... but I've never bought a whole SYSTEM from them before either.
 
Take the constructive criticism, improve your processes, and consistently deliver and support a good value product. This will lead to success in the high-end high-margin boutique business. If you don't want to do that, continue building $300 staples/officemax PCs in bulk at a razor thin margin and leave the boutiques entirely to those that understand their market. Of course then you're competing with dell instead of velocity micro, but if you understand that market better, stick with it.

We're playing on internet time, people have short memories. If you do right for six months, you can save the systemax brand. I would distance myself as far as possible from tigerdirect, though. They're way past redemption.
 
You need to see what enthusiast gamers really want, and keep yourself open to feedback on all levels (forums, email, phone, etc.). Constantly improve your products, learn what fads enthusiasts/gamers are interested in, improve quality and keep the PCs affordable for a wide variety of customer. Provide well-trained and helpful tech support that will go through the necessary steps of ensuring the computer is functioning as it should be, with as little waste as possible (both money and time for both the customer and Systemax). It's a lot of work, but pays off in the end so long as you stick to this.
 
Why was the Hellcat reviewed when it says at the bottom of the first page of the review: "* Note: The Hellcat has been replaced by the Warhawk. Systemax currently does not offer the AMD Athlon X2 processors in its gaming line."?
 
Lazer said:
Why was the Hellcat reviewed when it says at the bottom of the first page of the review: "* Note: The Hellcat has been replaced by the Warhawk. Systemax currently does not offer the AMD Athlon X2 processors in its gaming line."?
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In-depth reviews take time, so there's always going to be a delay between the authors' use of the system and the publishing of the review.

In this particular case, due to tech support issues, this review spanned close to 2 months' time. Given the pace of technology, that's plenty of time for a vendor to completely change their offerings.


As has been stated over and over and over again, these reviews are as much about the purchasing and tech support experience as they are about the hardware.
Anyone can buy and assemble the hardware. The difference comes with the rest of the experience.

So regardless of the actual hardware reviewed, the rest of the picture is applicable.

[H]'s note at the bottom was to alert you, the reader/consumer, of that change.
This prevents you from plummeting to the depths of despair when you excitely navigate to Systemax's website with your credit card in your hot little hand, only to find that your dream machine has become unobtainium.
 
gathagan said:
In-depth reviews take time, so there's always going to be a delay between the authors' use of the system and the publishing of the review.

In this particular case, due to tech support issues, this review spanned close to 2 months' time. Given the pace of technology, that's plenty of time for a vendor to completely change their offerings.


As has been stated over and over and over again, these reviews are as much about the purchasing and tech support experience as they are about the hardware.
Anyone can buy and assemble the hardware. The difference comes with the rest of the experience.

So regardless of the actual hardware reviewed, the rest of the picture is applicable.

[H]'s note at the bottom was to alert you, the reader/consumer, of that change.
This prevents you from plummeting to the depths of despair when you excitely navigate to Systemax's website with your credit card in your hot little hand, only to find that your dream machine has become unobtainium.
Click to expand...

Yes it does. I know motherboard reviews can take quite a bit of time to complete. I can only imagine how long the full system evaluations take to finish.
 
I cannot believe this guy "Neil" is making these posts here, especially in the eye view of the VP. Usually with big corporations of any size, the lower staff are not allowed to talk to the media. I'm not sure if this is a usual situation, aside from the unusually low score. I personally am interested in how all this pans out, and if they make real changes in the way they suggest.

One other thing that caught my eye was Neil commenting about how they are new to the enthusiast market?? WTF? What does that have to do with the problems in the review? Perhaps the non-enthusiast machines don't have a door on the front of the case which can be made so cheaply. That wasn't the worst part of the review.. I could be wrong and am completely human, but it seems the problem is much larger than just the fact this is an "enthsiast" machine. I would go as far as saying that the practices in your place of business are not geared toward the customer being your main interest. Thats how unreturned phone calls, not offering a cross ship before it is asked for, and then not doing it anyway happen.

my 2 cents, hopefully I don't need change:)
 
Again another good system review. The RMA procedure and tech support department sure showed the greatest weakness of a decent computer (component wise). Hopefully your second review system will give us readers more insight on how/if Systemax as a whole changed from this time around. Can't wait to read that one.
 
I signed up solely for this post. This is the one that did it. I've been a lurker, reading my daily [H] in the shadows til now...

This post is for the [H]ardcore readers out there, who read H's "worst" reviews and die a bit inside everytime. In this review's case, we have a special treat; the VP made a post and another employee is actively posting to help their bad review. This is a step in the right direction.

But now I must gather and summarize the only (IMO) valid points that have been said in this topic so that none of it's readers may be left blinded by the new presence of Systemax on [H] forums. I may be harsh, but I believe I am entitled to my opinion now that I've read every word in this topic (up to now, including some sigs).

The machine reviewed is 2300 or 2500$ USD. Their profit margin can be whatever but poor handling/assembly/fixes and "return to customer time" on what is essentially VERY expensive hardware is unforgiveable. Especially given the highly realistic (simplistic also) problems [H] had. I can't find any excuse for support telling [H] they'll call and not doing so, sending one vid card when [H] tried to make sure to be sent two, etc. So many breaches of ethics... makes me wonder why the VP didn't declare "we have now have new employees". :(

That being said, I remember seeing in an official Systemax post in this topic something about "deserving this review" and "not trying to defend ourselves". Well, Neil just about lost my respect as quickly as he gained it by signing up here and then proceeding to try and defend. [H]'s review is completely deserved, and as shy as Kyle (Benett) may be from telling him off (getting as close as he can get politely), I'm not, so here are some quotes that truly disturb me.
These are taken from Neil's mouth. As many say, I am human and am affected by mis-wording so I'm sorry if I understood these wrong.

"The members of the forum who have negative views of the Systemax family of organizations are completely entitled to their opinions"

Thank for letting us know.

"From the general negativity of these posts on this forum we have more to do then just gettting a good review here and there."

Yes, you deserved it, although I'm sure -every- OEM who has done well in an [H] review didn't need to be shown this before-hand. [H] reviews have a way of weeding out the bad apples, by considering the actual service (which is the only reason OEMs exist). OEMs aren't here to provide the cheapest or fastest systems after all...

"And like what Rich did I [...]"

Whoa, Neil referring to his company's VP by short name, not Richard or Mr. Wallet... Small boutique maybe? (in which case I think they would put more effort into support since they would rely on word of mouth)

"We build a lot of systems every year, a large variety"

Oh, so a not-so-small boutique... do you mention this so that your service quality maybe perceived as acceptable?

"We dabble in the enthusiast market"

There's no responsible way of 'dabbling' in the enthusiast market. Enthusiasts are essentially the people who care the most about their machines. This is also not a valid excuse for any service quality. Please stop defending or say you will defend and go back on your word. Just don't do it confusingly for the readers.

"I hope this staff does keep reviewing systems in the manner in which they do."

I do too, if it keeps even one well meaning enthusiast from spending their hard earned 2500USD on a mediocre machine from a company whose Field Applications Engineer dares justify inacceptable service quality with "We dabble in the enthusiast market". Good thing this is not your case since you can build your own pc.


"We review our competitoion's systems that way [same as H], only difference here is we don't write about them."

Maybe you should, since you lead the way in OEM service. Or maybe you could learn from your company's reviewer person.


"And I hope if they do another SYX PC they be sneaky 'cause I'm going to gonna watch for every box that ships within 100 square miles of that facility ...... ok ... I won't ....."

Excuse me, that's not your job? Engineer your field apps so you at least get most, and I hope you fare well on the next review because twice is a rare coincidence. And also, it's NOT just the hardware, YOU exist as a company based on service (OEM), anyone can build pc's irresponsibly.

"I'm not on this forum to defend ourselves, but to learn and listen, and offer any help if someone needs it."

Learning doesn't make you talk, neither does listening, no one asked for help yet, this is your third post... so you MUST be defending! Heck, you ARE! You're defending against defending. You are simply lost, I hope you stop confusing all of [H]'s respected readers soon. Apologize for doing what you said you wouldn't do and move on, it's the right thing to do.



Here's one from the VP:

"We are taking steps internally to understand what went wrong in the case of this review and will use what we learn to improve our customer service as we continue our quest for excellence."

What went wrong in the case of this review? Nothing went wrong, since this review is to replicate customer experience, normal problems arose (happens with any OEM). It's how you handled it; you guys potentially messed up ALL your customer's experiences. THAT's where the real problems that affected your review score occured.

"Will use what we LEARN" [from internal investigation]? Not LEARNED, from this review?
Since [H] can't/won't provide you with exact details of their experience, you can't even internally investigate to find the exact culprits, so why say you will do so?
You should maybe monitor support calls (yes, it costs, but a good investment), inspect to see if your repair techs are playing BF2 instead of fixing vid card problems, and the list goes on.


Also, [directed to both Systemax posters on here], putting your phone numbers on these forums may help your lucky customers that find or know of [H] but why can't we get this support on your company's website or phoneline? Not asking for you to put these numbers there but why give special treatment to the tech-savvy when the most needy are the less-savvy? So far no one has asked any help, maybe because of this reason.


So as you loyal [H] readers (you read til here, didn't you?) have seen, lack of logic and speak-before-you-think in a company is very bad for PR and bullshit is hard to catch when it's spewing infinitely. Here's to hoping someone respectable from Systemax will respond and save SYX' face for me as I will buy a pc soon.

[To Neil: You may have my respect back when you stop defending and tell us what actual changes you make in your field applications so that these majorly support-related issues are fixed. If field apps can't do that, then get me a cookie and say you're sorry.]


Some final soothing words from [H] officials to put my mind at ease SOMEONE is looking out for me and you:

"We'd be happy to look at another system in the future. We're ready whenever you are." -DNA Doc

"The fact of the matter is that Systemax will get a second review from [H] Consumer...whether you want to or not. [...]
As for the negative attitude towards Systemax, that is 100% Systemax' fault. [...]
The people here with the negative attitudes are real people as well, with real money, and we want to make sure it is well spent." -KB

This is why I *LOVE* the [H]!


NOTE to Admins: If I've said anything that is inacceptable, please email me, let me know, I will edit, as I want [H] readers to realize how Systemax really fares in my opinion. I spent quite some time writing this as I find it matters to the ultimate goal of [H] which is to stick up for average Joe (including a bathroom break). Thank you.
 
Systemax Neil said:
And I hope if they do another SYX PC they be sneaky 'cause I'm going to gonna watch for every box that ships within 100 square miles of that facility :D ...... ok ... I won't ..... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...



[H] can always circumvent that by designating someone here at [H] to actually receive the system and deliver it to the [H] office incognito if need be. :D
 
Daftie .... Thanks for taking the time to write that. I respect your opinions and input. It's not my intention to be pre-defending .... and if taken that way by any of you my apologies. Sometimes it's hard to convey points and intentions electronically in the way you mean too, I have no subliminal or alterior motives here. Some of the forum members wanted a responce and we heard you.

.... more action less talk. There is my phone number, any specific questions feel free to PM me. [H]OCP can choose to review another PC anytime they would like. We'll do better.
 
xappie said:
To be fair, I've ordered/bought a fair amount of stuff from TigerDirect (mostly throught the local bricks and mortars here in Toronto) and never had any problems... but I've never bought a whole SYSTEM from them before either.
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Me too i ordered and E6600 and a giga mobo, CM centurion case, and an X-Fi from them and it got to me timely and i'm enjoying my new system but it's not really related to a whole system from tigerdirect (since i always build my own) and the tech support that an OEM system would receive. They should actually have a dedicated gaming SYX team that is only for the SYX high end systems that are built in-house - i notice that they also sell (and have a a long time) other brands of gaming systems as well and i dunno if those systems are supported by SYX or by (for example) Cybertron. They also should definitely have some type of restore CD's and perhaps a basic SYX binder with the SYX name on it and a testing printout to show that the system was burned in and who it belongs to (for personalization) and a 'rea'l systemax box to ship it in (little things mean alot). But, i was a bit taken aback about the comment that these guys were gaming 'only' in BF2 on the system when the game issue was with another game totally. It would have sounded better if they had said they gamed in BF2 for and hour, tested FEAR for an hour or two on a few levels, and loaded up prime95 and 3Dmark 03-06 and looped it for 8 hours and all was ok.
 
Isn't it kind of telling that Systemax responded to their poor review, and the company that sent [H] "beige bezels on a black chassis" didn't (AFAIK)...
 
Thank you Neil, for you prompt response.

"Some of the forum members wanted a responce and we heard you."
You did indeed and I respect that, but did you in fact read the (at least) 3 long posts from other people who explain exactly what your company can do to improve your Support, even [H] gives you invaluable tips in their review. Your posts so far have been short and defensive, they shouldnt necessairly be long... but since you said you will, take the time to discuss with these intelligent people these great points they bring up.

If you admit Systemax cannot implement these reasonable changes already mentioned by readers, you've already lost the battle so why invite [H] to waste their time on another review? If you did implement some of these changes to Support, please let us know.

As far as problems other than Support in Systemax' case (the biggest responsibility of an OEM), I don't think there was anything extreme you wouldn't run into even with Dell... (though a cheap case on a 2500USD machine makes me cringe).

You want to learn? Note these down and note the support changes suggested by others in this very topic, as if you succeed to do these (as any reasonable OEM would from the beginning), your company will have no reason to receive any negative reviews/comments.

Learning and implementing what has already been suggested to you would suffice. You could even call it off on these forums, if you made these changes to your company (though I want you to stay here for other possible suggestions).

Thank you.
 
General Crespin said:
Isn't it kind of telling that Systemax responded to their poor review, and the company that sent [H] "beige bezels on a black chassis" didn't (AFAIK)...
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They responded to us directly and chose not to involve the readership.
 
This is my reply to a PM that Neil sent me. I'm posting this so you may all know my current thoughts of Neil, though I believe my initial reactions were also just.

I initially thought you still hadn't gotten it but well done Neil, you've proved to me that you have gotten it.

I'm hoping your company will follow in your footsteps.

Thank you very much for doing what some similar companies refuse to do, that is spend time to listen to your customers.

However, I hope you understand that I will not be ordering from Systemax nor recommending your services until [H] or someone as comprehensive in reviewing Support gives you at least acceptable ratings.

Thank you very much again Neil for being exceptional as a person, having the gusto to put your direct contact info and for giving me that cookie. ;)
 
I can say I'm impressed that [H] has not only been able to write a review to benefit the consumer but also the company that produced the product (provided Rich and Neil can fix the problems that have been addressed).

Systemax would NEVER have been a company I would suggest before today. But because of their response here and given favourable reviews I too would think again about that recommendation.

As an aside to the couple of people who commented on Neil being allowed to talk to media, or that he is a low level employee you might want to rethink his position in the company. The two "Field Engineers" I know personally, albeit in telecoms industry, are senior engineers with bigger offices than some of the VP's of the company. This is yet another reason I am pleased with Systemax for getting involved regardless of Neil's true level in the heirarchy of his company he probably can affect more change, hopefully.
 
While I know that a lot of people here have a dislike of tiger/systemax(including myself after tiger tried to screw me over a few years ago) I must say that having not one but two people come in on behalf of them after such a bad review is a great start. I would hope that you(systemax) keep someone around that checks these forums(and others) willing to help out on issues with any products forum members may have like some other companies do. With any luck you as a company can fix some of the issues that [H] had overall and make the experience better for the customers. I'll be looking forward to another review.
 
The first topic I'll tackle here today is that of pre-sales customer service and expectations.

The [h] reviewer placed their order online at the TigerDirect.com website.

1) The lead time on the system order by [h] was set to 5-7 days and that's what displayed on the website. It is extremely important for us to set proper expectations for our customers so that we don't let them down. Our policy for Systemax PCs that are built-to-order is that 95% of our orders must be shipped within the maximum number of days that we list. We've discovered that hasn't been the case consistently. So we are increasing the lead time that is quoted on the TigerDirect.com website for gaming systems. Additionally, we have a procedure for contacting the remaining customers whose systems are going to be late in order to make sure they understand what's going on. I want to note that our average ship time for BTO orders is actually just under 4 days.

We maintain a huge inventory of items that are made available in configs. However, the reality is that parts do go out of stock from time to time. Most recently we've been suffering very frustrating shortages on video cards due to the rapid changes in technology and constraints on new products. We need to just communicate better with customers regarding the time it takes to ship, regardless of whether it's within our control or not.

2) TigerDirect's customer service staff has access to all the information that they needed in order to answer the questions [h] had about why the order hadn't shipped yet and when it is expected to. The agent could have looked at a tool we have online and determined what the hold up was or (during business hours) they could have called a hotline that Systemax has set up for them to talk to an order management person about what the deal is. In addition to having access to the information, they are required by policy to follow up with customers as they promise. If somebody says they're going to call you back then they darn well better do it.

I'm going to ask one of TigerDirect's call center managers to respond on the forum about the issues [h] had with his department. They have some pretty sophisticated call tracking technology and they're trying to trace the calls [h] made to find out what agents were involved. And I'm guessing that there's going to be some re-training involved as well for all call center agents. TigerDirect has an aggressive policy of call monitoring and ensuring that customers who call are treated with respect and get all their questions answered properly.

Again, it comes down to setting expectations properly, exceeding those expectations, and communicating effectively when we can't. We strive for greatness. When confronted with instances when we have failed a customer it is humbling.

And another note on the shipment, Systemax PC and TigerDirect are actually separate companies with separate ordering systems. Unfortunately that means when a TigerDirect order for a Systemax PC ships from the Systemax PC factory, TigerDirect isn't able to send out the shipment confirmation email (with tracking) until the day after it leaves the factory. In some cases, that means the ship confirm will appear the same day the order does in the customer's hands. Our IT teams have been working on how to handle this in more real time, however, it's a bigger project than just this one issue and will take some time.

I would be delusional if I came on here and said that we're perfect and we never make mistakes and that we are beyond reproach. But by and large, our people are good people with lofty customer satisfaction goals and the best of intentions. Furthermore, every manager in this company has dedicated themselves to the ultimate satisfaction of every customer with every purchase--it's not just me blowing warm air. I really hope that when we get tested again we offer a much better experience--which is really what a vast majority of customers get--and we're going to do everything that we can to make sure of that. We get tested every day, all day long, by customers who don't write reviews. I sure hope the next review is more representative of that.

We'll still address the other issues on this forum. But this is what I have for now.

Richard (or Rich) Wallet
Executive VP
305-415-2441
 
swatbat said:
I must say that having not one but two people come in on behalf of them after such a bad review is a great start.
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You may see more than two. ;)

swatbat said:
I would hope that you(systemax) keep someone around that checks these forums(and others) willing to help out on issues with any products forum members may have like some other companies do.
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We actually do that. Many managers are assigned to specific websites to monitor and address complaints on. In doing so, they're supposed to respond to specific complaints and turn them from angry to happy. But this hasn't been one of the monitored sites.

I'm pretty confident somebody's going to keep looking at it now, though.
 
Bravo Rich & Neil!

You both have successfully understood the changes that must occur to right the wrong.

You've proved as exceptional employees, addressing the issue (of Support) directly (they have proved it to me through PM, not entirely in this thread). It will take some effort, as I understand, to pull through these changes, and my thoughts are with you. You are truly remarkable people who actually want to better your company.

Here's a GOLD AWARD for [H]! (Sorry, I can't photoshop :p)

Bravo to you both and to the [H]!
 
I think enough browbeating has been done and in the interest of offering some constructive criticism I'll just say this:

I've built dozens of computers and I was proud of the work I did on all of them. Whether that is putting MDF behind the mobo or Dynamatting the case, all of them looked like they had been put together with care and attention to detail. That is the general impression you get when reading the review from OverdrivePC (cable management, start menu, installation of Prime95, etc.) and that is what enthusiasts here at the [H] expect.

Systemax has said here that the lead time on their builds is ~4-7 days - OverdrivePC's is ~30. Perhaps what is needed most here is adequate time to build a computer that Systemax can be proud of. That and some attention to the use of components in your build (i.e. selecting a PSU/case combo that doesnt leave you with wires dangling onto the GPU and looking like a rat's nest).

I'm a getting ready to finish grad school so if you need some help along these lines, PM me ... ;)
 
As my final words in this topic, I'd like to quote for absolute truth a part of [H]'s VM ProMagix E2200 review that should be every OEM's mantra. (Tim Roper wrote this article too.)

Keep this in sight Systemax and you'll do fine.

They realized that the time to provide good support to us had passed, but their concern was making sure that they were taking care of their current and future customers. In their words, “If you guys give us a bad review, it’s not going to break us. If we consistently give bad support, that will.”
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Quote in quote from Velocity Micro.
 
kydsid said:
I can say I'm impressed that [H] has not only been able to write a review to benefit the consumer but also the company that produced the product (provided Rich and Neil can fix the problems that have been addressed).
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[H] Consumer is very much a double-edged sword, but it can be a great tool for both the buyer, and the seller. To put it simply, it would cost Systemax tens of thousands of dollars to get a consultant to give them the same feedback we have given them here today. Some company's are grabbing onto this "free" consultation and using it to strengthen their position in the industry and others are not. Any company that curses [H] Consumer is not seeing the light or simple does not want to better itself. There is no doubt in my mind that consumers deserve more than what they are getting currently overall in this industry. Hopefully we can help fix that, and at the very least provide solid information to our readers about where exactly they need to go to get the best value for their hard earned money.
 
TO JOHN H (who follows the forum and left me a message):

Thanks for the voicemail last night it gave me a big smile when I came in to work this morning.

I'm confident that you're going to love your new PC when it comes. You can be confident as well. We appreciate your business.

Rich.
 
Systemax is fairly new in the enthusiast gaming pc market. We are striving to provide the highest quality of performance components in our gaming systems. We have implemented additional stress tests for components and platforms during qualification to ensure system stability is not compromising system performance. New steps have been added in the build process to provide the customer with a better user experience by implementing more extensive benchmarking, system analysis, and component diagnostics prior to shipping. These actions, as well as others, are a part of our continual improvement effort. Customer feedback and criticism is extremely important in our efforts to improve. We have accepted our downfalls and shortcomings as a challenge to better our services and overall customer experience. The voice of our customer is a basic foundation of being successful.

Michael
 
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