I thought I would create this blog to document the return of my laptop I have been discussing on the forums and on twitter, more updates as they happen:

I have owned one of Novatechs I7 laptops since April and it has worked fine and in fact purchased another on this basis. I have recommended them to many people which I now truly regret doing.

Just after Christmas the unit started running hot and the fans cutting in on full power on a regular basis trying to cool it down from 87 degrees.

This was with very low cpu activity at around 26-30% and the top of it getting very hot.

This was the first time I needed to use Novatechs support.

Dropped it in to the Novatch store in Reading, as ever great service from the guys there, always keen and happy to serve.
I was advised I would get a call the next Wednesday on progress.

The Tuesday I had an echat (keen to make sure the laptop was being worked on), I was advised I would get a call back that afternoon - nothing

Wednesday I was expecting the call the guys at the shop said I should be getting  - nothing.

Thursday, another echat (with Jo) sorry about the problems someone will call you today - nothing

Friday (by now getting fed up) spoke again this time to Charlotte who advised the e-chat on Thursday was never logged so was never going to get a call. I would get a call that afternoon.

( I have now started copying all echats).

I get a call in the afternoon to say new fans had been put in and new thermal paste and is running as hot as others they have on the test bench at around 58 degrees idling.

At the time I thought this was high but put my trust in the engineer and was happy it had been resolved.

Go over to Reading and pick up, try to do a batch of photos now not only is it running HOT but after 45 minutes now smelling bad. The fans very rarely even cut in previously unless I did a huge batch process and even then it was just for a few moments.
(with hindsight I should have just kept working until the damn thing went bang).

The next day I fire up the two I7’s from cold we have from Novatech at the same time on the same surface and let them settle (both machines have identical builds).

The one i’m having problems with settles at 56 -58 degrees fluctuating and the second unit a lot lower 38 degrees, 0 cpu activity.

I create screen shots and add them to the notes to return it to Novatech.

 Another RMA and back to Reading on the next  Saturday.

I wait for info as I think I want it done properly this time.

On Friday I decided it would have been nice by now to have had some sort of feedback.
another echat and again advised I would get a call.
I get a call!

 We have just started looking at it (so its been on the shelf for a week) I will give you a call Tuesday and let you know how things are.

Tuesday - Nothing
Wednesday - Nothing

Thursday I  have to echat again and tweet and I then get a call.

Now going to be sent back to the manufacturers to try and resolve which will be up to 2 weeks, should go out today.
I point out to Richard I am not happy with this and pretty fed up with the service, I believe I should either get a refund or a replacement. He said he would speak to customer service, nothing back.

So I am now stuck without a laptop for another 2 weeks.

In total this will be 6 weeks without a laptop I need for work.

If in the first instance I was given the expectation of 6 weeks turn around then I would have accepted that. But the time I have spent chasing for promised calls that never materialize I think is a pretty shocking reflection on Novatechs customer services.

Its also a worry that their technical team do not have the tools they need to correctly diagnose an issue so why not send laptops back to the manufacturer in the first place.

The staff at the Reading store are great and who ever runs the twitter feed is also very helpful but as far as customer service goes I can honestly say it is up there with the worst of them.

More updates as the weeks progress.

Friday 1-2-2013

I get a call from Elaine the customer service manager. We had a chat and I expressed my disappointment in Novatech, she listened and promised me a call back on Monday. This is the first positive in the whole sorry saga.

Monday 04-02-2013

As promised Elaine contacted me and advised if I was happy would I accept a complete replacement. Needless to say I was and if they could get it to me as soon as possible that would be appreciated

Tuesday 05-02-2013

8.10 am, courier banging on the door with a shiny new laptop. Well done Elaine, the person who looks after the Twitter account and Novatech after all.

Things go wrong, its a fact of life. Companies get it wrong but I think you can judge a good company by the way they take control and try and resolve the issue. In the end I  think Novatech accepted things went wrong and certainly went the extra mile to put things right.

Friday 22-02-2013

A final update on this.

Elaine as promised returned my original hard drive with all my data on, again this arrived first thing in the morning.

I think Its fair to say things went wrong here and with persistence and excellent service from Elaine and the unknown agent that maintains the Twitter pages Novatech not only put it right but went that extra mile to ensure I received far better service than I was expecting. Many many thanks Novatech.

 I will be a customer in the future.