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dal20402

macrumors 6502
Apr 24, 2006
290
0
Never had a problem with their customer service. Unfortunately, their products are a different story.

I have two external drive enclosures from OWC, one single-drive quad-interface and one double-drive triple-interface. The enclosures have worked flawlessly since I got them, and I'd recommend the enclosures enthusiastically except for the following:

The power bricks are complete crap. I've had to replace each one once -- they eventually stop producing enough current to spin the drives up. Both failed shortly after the warranty expired. Now, the double-drive enclosure's power brick is failing again. I haven't replaced it yet because the thought of sending yet another $25 to OWC for yet another defective power adapter is hard to swallow, but the drives inside the enclosure hold several important backups, so eventually I'll have to.
 

phoobo

macrumors regular
Sep 13, 2008
192
0
Our terms of service are clearly published and written to be fair to all. Within 30 days we allow the easy exchange, replacement, or refund of products without hassle.

I wouldn't phrase it that way; I returned some non-working memory a few weeks ago and was stiffed about 25 bucks because your "price had dropped"

-
excerpt from your rep's letter:

"Per the refund terms of service that were agreed to when placing the order:
Other World Computing will allow a return for refund of most items* The refund amount will also be based on the lesser of the invoiced price or our current selling price on the day the item is delivered to our warehouse.

Todd Ramberg
Customer Service
Other World Computing, Inc."


Please don't call it a refund!

The product didn't work, and you kept 20 bucks of the original price 12 days after purchase.
 

Duff-Man

Contributor
Dec 26, 2002
2,984
17
Albuquerque, NM
Duff-Man says....I have bought from Other World a few times in the past, the last time was probably 3 or 4 years ago now. On one of the orders there was a major mixup with some of the documents/invoices as part of the order was backordered yet still showing on the customs docs (this was a cross border order) - I would have paid tax and duty on items that were not shipped! They did fix it though it took a little prodding and all was well in the end. The other stupid thing they do (or were doing at the time, can't say if it is still true) was not holding items while waiting for others to come in stock. I ordered 3 items that were all supposed to be in stock but it turned out that one had sold out, but while waiting for new stock to arrive one of the other items had sold out too - you'd think they would hold the other items and just add the backordered one when it arrived, but no. What it I had ordered about 10 items - it'd be like waiting for all the planets to get in alignment.....oh yeah!
 

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,541
941
Like so many others, I've never had a problem of any kind with OWC. However, no company is perfect and it's inevitable that some minority of their vast customer base will have a negative experience. The same goes for Apple and every other manufacturer. I wouldn't label such a well-known, well-established and successful company like OWC as "awful", but it's fair to say some have had awful experiences with a company that, for the most part, has been a great resource to the Mac community for 20 years.
 

phoobo

macrumors regular
Sep 13, 2008
192
0
It's not a matter of experiences - it's a matter of a bad policy from them

However, no company is perfect and it's inevitable that some minority of their vast customer base will have a negative experience.

Message topic says it all. They do not offer a full refund "if their prices have dropped."

And they drop a lot! Should all be close to zero soon.
 

MacDuck

macrumors member
Feb 18, 2007
69
0
Silver Spring, MD
Having been an OWC customer for a number of years, I can attest to the return policy, especially on RAM.

I have posted here before regarding OWC, so I won't rehash the return story too much. Bottom line is that some of the OWC branded RAM I received failed after about 3 months. No problem. I explained what had happened to an OWC support person, filled out the form online, and in two days I had new RAM with box to return the defective one. My Mac Mini was no worse for the wear.

When I am in the market for RAM, I always get the OWC brand, since they are guaranteed for life. Other OWC products I have bought I have had no problem with (in my experience).

I would like to thank OWC Larry for posting here as well. Sorry about the mix-up with the original poster.
 

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,541
941
Message topic says it all. They do not offer a full refund "if their prices have dropped."
And they drop a lot! Should all be close to zero soon.
It would be different if they did this without notifying you, but if you look at their posted return policy, you'll see there are no surprises. The buyer has responsibility to check things out before buying.
 

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phoobo

macrumors regular
Sep 13, 2008
192
0
yes and no

It would be different if they did this without notifying you, but if you look at their posted return policy, you'll see there are no surprises. The buyer has responsibility to check things out before buying.

Technically yes. In practical terms, when a store's policy diverges from the norm in such an unusual manner, eyebrows get raised.

At any rate, prospective buyers should be aware that the store has an odd policy - one that results in an advantage for the seller.

By the way - do you endorse a non-full-refund policy for defective products?
Would you consider this normal?
 

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,541
941
Technically yes. In practical terms, when a store's policy diverges from the norm in such an unusual manner, eyebrows get raised.

At any rate, prospective buyers should be aware that the store has an odd policy - one that results in an advantage for the seller.

By the way - do you endorse a non-full-refund policy for defective products?
Would you consider this normal?

Any buyer should make themselves aware of ANY company's return policies before buying. That's just common sense. OWC's policy is by no means unique. Many companies have similar or identical policies.
 

MattG

macrumors 68040
Original poster
May 27, 2003
3,864
440
Asheville, NC
Any buyer should make themselves aware of ANY company's return policies before buying. That's just common sense. OWC's policy is by no means unique. Many companies have similar or identical policies.

Such as?

Regardless of whether or not it's posted on the site, it's a sleazy, sleazy policy. Just a convenient way to make a quick buck.

So, if you went to...let's say the supermarket, bought some food item for $5, brought it home, took a bite and found that it was rancid/expired -- you'd be okay with it if you brought it back and the supermarket said "well, sold you something that wasn't any good, but since you took a bite, we can only refund you $4." ?

I should also mention that the seal on the drive wasn't even broken, hadn't been opened. What I sent back was in the same condition as it was when it left the factory.
 

phoobo

macrumors regular
Sep 13, 2008
192
0
Name one....

Any buyer should make themselves aware of ANY company's return policies before buying. That's just common sense. OWC's policy is by no means unique. Many companies have similar or identical policies.

....reputable dealer that will not refund the full purchase price on a defective product returned in original packing within 2 weeks of purchase.
 

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,541
941
....reputable dealer that will not refund the full purchase price on a defective product returned in original packing within 2 weeks of purchase.

By your own admission, the products were not defective. They simply weren't the right products for your Mac. You're making a ridiculously big deal out of $8. Get over it! :rolleyes:
 

MattG

macrumors 68040
Original poster
May 27, 2003
3,864
440
Asheville, NC
By your own admission, the products were not defective. They simply weren't the right products for your Mac. You're making a ridiculously big deal out of $8. Get over it! :rolleyes:

They weren't the right products despite the fact that THEIR WEB SITE SAID THEY WERE. And your comment is just a cop-out; it makes no difference whether it's $8 or $800, it's the principle of it.
 

phoobo

macrumors regular
Sep 13, 2008
192
0
you're confusing me with someone else

By your own admission, the products were not defective. They simply weren't the right products for your Mac. You're making a ridiculously big deal out of $8. Get over it! :rolleyes:

My issue was with defective memory, and it was $20.00 or so (not that this matters).
 

MattG

macrumors 68040
Original poster
May 27, 2003
3,864
440
Asheville, NC
First off - MattG - if you'd like to contact me, I am more than happy to consult with you concerning this matter. I do apologize for the frustration you have expressed.

the model you ordered:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/MCTDVDSDB8DL/

Is clearly listed for PowerBook G4 12/15/17" models (Titanium or Aluminum) which already have and existing DVD+CDRW Combo drive (burns CDs) or SuperDrive (Burns DVDs+CDs) installed.

At the top of this page, here's what it says (picture attached):

OWC MercuryPBG4 SuperDrive Dual-Layer for all PowerBook G4 'Ti' & 'AL' 12/15/17" (see description) Models that now have a CD-R/RW+DVD-Rom or other 'SuperDrive', iMac G5! Up to 8X DVD Burn, 5X DVD-Ram, 24X CD Burn.

Unless your definition of "all" means something different, this description seems to indicate that the drive will work with all TiBooks. If there's another drive you offer, then fair enough, but "all" means "all" and I didn't think to look for a different drive. You might want to think about changing that description. My current drive is a burner, and I simply wanted to upgrade it to a DVD burner.
 

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GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,541
941
At the top of this page, here's what it says (picture attached):

OWC MercuryPBG4 SuperDrive Dual-Layer for all PowerBook G4 'Ti' & 'AL' 12/15/17" (see description) Models that now have a CD-R/RW+DVD-Rom or other 'SuperDrive', iMac G5! Up to 8X DVD Burn, 5X DVD-Ram, 24X CD Burn.

Read your own quote... it's NOT ALL Ti Powerbooks... it's only those that now have a CD-R/RW+DVD-Rom or other 'SuperDrive.
 

skye12

macrumors 65816
Nov 11, 2006
1,211
2
Austin, Tx
I have no problem with OWC. They provide (imo) exceptional informational
resources and services while operating on thin margins.

If left to some consumers wishes, no businesses
would make any money.
 

pprior

macrumors 65816
Aug 1, 2007
1,448
9
Amazon has the best customer service in the business. I buy seriously everything from them (Prime member) much to my UPS guy's despise.

Ditto. I bet I buy 90% of everything I need (other than gas, groceries and clothes) from Amazon due to this. I used to price shop a lot and did a LOT of business with newegg but now I just Amazon and be done, just like they say.

Having said that, I do buy most of my mac RAM from OWC and I did have to RMA one set and was done without problem.
 

MattG

macrumors 68040
Original poster
May 27, 2003
3,864
440
Asheville, NC
I have no problem with OWC. They provide (imo) exceptional informational
resources and services while operating on thin margins.

If left to some consumers wishes, no businesses
would make any money.

I have no idea what that last sentence is supposed to mean or what it has to do with anything. No one said they don't want them to make a profit.
 

RainMeister

macrumors member
Sep 16, 2008
41
0
Matt: I wouldn't let others get under your skin. They apparently find OWC's business practices perfectly normal and acceptable. Well, they can continue to shop with OWC. The rest of us that find it questionable have now been put on notice thanks to your post, and will shop elsewhere. It's a very simple outcome.
 

betatester

macrumors newbie
Dec 17, 2008
1
0
Washington county Maine
OWC has been pretty good for me. The worst thing was having their Live Chat guy "hang up" on me because he thought I was asking too many questions.

I recommended OWC to a friend. He bought an external DVD burner there to save his internal Superdrive in his iBook. He was only able to burn 11 DVDs with it. He called, got an RMA and returned it. They sent the same one back to him un-fixed. He sent it to me, thinking he was doing some technical thing wrong. I checked it out. It would not burn, just read. I called OWC and got an RMA number. They sent the same one back to him without fixing the problem. He'll never buy from them again.
 

ChrisKnight

macrumors newbie
Mar 25, 2007
11
9
Let me start out by saying that this is the second time I've (almost) been screwed by them, and that I should have learned my lesson the first time...I'm just interested to see if anyone else has had similar experiences with them.

The first time I purchased anything from OWC, it was memory for my brand new dual core, dual processor G5. If I recall, it took two RMAs and a lot of hassles, and I eventually had to upgrade to the techworks memory because the OWC 'guaranteed' memory just wasn't working.

The second time I purchased memory from OWC it was in the middle of the above incident, at MacWorld, and I purchased more memory to compliment the memory I had so I could get my system up to 4G while I was in the middle of RMAing half of my original 4G. One of the modules sold to me at MacWorld was flat out dead. Here is where it gets really crazy... I called to get an RMA and they told me I would have to wait two weeks, because all of their sales records form MacWorld sales were still on the computer, and it was being shipped freight across the country. What kind of computer company leaves the only copy of their sales records on a computer that is being shipped freight? Haven't they heard of burning their data off to a DVD? What would customers like me have done if the computer had been damaged?

In the end, I had to swap out both batches of memory for TechWorks, and I swore to never purchase from them again.

-Chris
 

ChrisKnight

macrumors newbie
Mar 25, 2007
11
9
By your own admission, the products were not defective. They simply weren't the right products for your Mac. You're making a ridiculously big deal out of $8. Get over it! :rolleyes:

OWC guarantees compatibility, and so if their product is in fact not compatible they should accept the return without a restocking fee. When you guarantee compatibility, a failure to be compatible is in effect a defect.

-Chris
 
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