Cooltechnica Concerns

WildCard · Jul 14, 2003

Hello everyone. I'm just one of those newbie lurkers, but I got a question that has been bugging me...

How is Cooltechnica in terms of service and customer care? The reason I ask is because I ordered a WW a few weeks ago and I got the email saying it was delayed and would I like a poly top when it does arrive. I sent a reply back saying yes I would and my order status was updated to reflect that choice.

Now this weekend, I sent an email out to them asking if I can add one more item to my existing order and upgrade the shippiing to overnight. I got my reply today. The reply basically says this:
Are you sure you want the aluminum top WW? We have poly tops now, but no aluminum tops.

So, you can see my concern after waiting for a few weeks to get this WW block. The email I got from them today completely ignored my request for change of my order. It also ignored my previous reply asking for a poly top.

Right now I'm wondering if this is typical of Cooltechnica and is this a sign that my order will either get botched or get delayed.

Any comments or experience with Cooltechinca will be greatly appreciated so I can call/write them tomorrow and try to straightnen things out.

Top Hat Theater · Jul 14, 2003

Speak with Bruce, he's great. Cooltechnica is the place where I get ALL of my watercooling supplies as they are very reliable and trustworthy. I think the WW bum rush is the reason why they dropped the ball with the aluminum/poly top.

~THT

WildCard · Jul 14, 2003

Funny things is, the email I got today was from Bruce. I'm going o give them a call tomorrow and send them an email of what is going on. Hopefully I can get my shipment this week.

altec · Jul 15, 2003

I just got my shipment, and I changed to a poly-top too, but I got aluminum top. Oh, well I'm still happy.

Romebaby · Jul 15, 2003

They've been great to me 3 times in the past. It's not their fault about the delays on the WW. Just imagine the amount of email Bruce is getting on this subject. Reselling the WW has probably been more trouble so far than it's worth.

WildCard · Jul 15, 2003

Whoops. I feel like an @SS. I just got another email from Bruce explaining the mix up with today's email asking me if I wanted a poly-top. He is going to ship my stuff out tomorrow fedex overnight. He is also throwing in the tubing adapters I added for free.
If you are reading this Bruce, thanks!

thorilan · Jul 15, 2003

Reselling the WW has probably been more trouble so far than it's worth.

lol yeah right . do you have any idea how valuable it is for them to have so many customers . so far though i have only had 1 thing im angry with them about .

when i asked them if they had fixed the problem with the pci relay cards not being shielded and haveing lots of bare areas that can lead to shock , they said yes but when i recieved the card they where not

bigben2k · Jul 15, 2003

thorilan said:
when i asked them if they had fixed the problem with the pci relay cards not being shielded and haveing lots of bare areas that can lead to shock , they said yes but when i recieved the card they where not

They were not what?

Bruce is a great guy. He's helped me with my rig.

rmonster · Jul 15, 2003

bigben2k said:
They were not what?

I think he means they weren't idiot-proofed; eg if you were to touch a contact on the ac-side of the card while in operation you could receive an electrical discouragement from repeating the exercise

Sorta like a finger-guard on a fan, they serve a purpose for some folks, I suppose. They look okay, but I never needed to stick my finger in a fan to see if it was on

lrlucas · Jul 15, 2003

I am surprised they sell a product that can kill people and don't provide some kind of warning or better yet put a cover over the 120 VAC. Bad design.

rmonster · Jul 15, 2003

lrlucas said:
I am surprised they sell a product that can kill people and don't provide some kind of warning or better yet put a cover over the 120 VAC. Bad design.

Kill people? Not likely with 110 ac... Still, a cover and a warning to prevent noobs and the accident prone (like myself) from receiving an "electrolyte realignment" might not be a bad idea.

wormwood · Jul 15, 2003

Touching 120V with dry skin will hurt. But...

Springing a leak could cause you to loose your computer, your home, or even your life. A hair dryer, for instance, is 120V and is quite lethal in the shower.

I would also verify that GFI circuits are compatible with a UPS. Because the output is isolated from the input, a GFI may not be able to detect it correctly and may not save a life. That is, of course, assuming you have a GFI in your computer room at all.

wannaoc · Jul 15, 2003

lol yeah right . do you have any idea how valuable it is for them to have so many customers . so far though i have only had 1 thing im angry with them about .

As a reseller I can say that it is true that getting hundreds of customers at once is very, very valuable but when the cost of sending out the products, the time spent on fixing orders, and answering emails and phone calls causes your profit per sale to drop too low its not worth it. In the long run it will be a good thing to be the only reseller selling this very popular wb but when customers are getting bad sales and possibly not coming back because they ordered the block it may hurt them. There is alot more than just getting sales involved in making money than just selling the popular block.

This is not to say that Cooltechnica isn't a good reseller as I think they are great and I use them often for my purchases. People just need to realize that the people at Cooltechnica are trying very hard to get through this and just be patient. If anyone is to be blamed for this mess its DTek for not having enough ready by the release date, but what can you do.

The reason they are offering the poly top is because it usually costs more and is considered a free upgrade. I would expect the top to be sent out after the initial rush is over.

rmonster · Jul 15, 2003

wormwood said:
Touching 120V with dry skin will hurt. But...

Springing a leak could cause you to loose your computer, your home, or even your life. A hair dryer, for instance, is 120V and is quite lethal in the shower.

I would also verify that GFI circuits are compatible with a UPS. Because the output is isolated from the input, a GFI may not be able to detect it correctly and may not save a life. That is, of course, assuming you have a GFI in your computer room at all.

I dunno about all that... It seems to me as though things are being blown out of proportion. A plastic cover over any bare contacts should be plenty, after all, none of the other components in a pc (such as the power supply) are expected to be watertight.

There are other electronics that should be given more respect than they commonly are, such as a monitor or television, they commonly push 20K~30K volts, yet I've serviced plenty of both that were malfunctioning due to liquid spills...

Generally speaking, ac current from a standard home outlet (10~15a) is rarely life threatening (alternating polarity throws one away from the source of contact), but can definitely get one's undivided attention. It's high-amperage dc that's a killer, once it grabs you, you can't let go.

dacooltech · Jul 15, 2003

PCI relay?

when i asked them if they had fixed the problem with the pci relay cards not being shielded and haveing lots of bare areas that can lead to shock , they said yes but when i recieved the card they where not

lol thorilan is confusing us with another company, probably the makers of that PCI relay thingie.
Thorilan FYI CoolTechnica never offered that PCI relay card to its customers because of the very same reasons that you mentioned.
We only offer these Relay Switch Kits (Click here!)

OK before you guys crusify me, I'm going back to your orders, pre-orders and e-mails

Bruce

wannaoc · Jul 15, 2003

Wow did this thread get off topic or what.

thorilan · Jul 15, 2003

lol thorilan is confusing us with another company, probably the makers of that PCI relay thingie.

OMG you are right i owe you an appology .
i made 3 orders that day .
1 to cool techinca
1 to criticool
1 to performance pcs

im very sorry . when i saw the statement i double checked the credit card statement to see that i mixed up the criticool and cool technica companies .

WejRepus · Jul 15, 2003

wannaoc said:
Wow did this thread get off topic or what.

not too bad, we are still discussing the first topic which is cooltechnica's reputation...

camel · Jul 15, 2003

WejRepus said:
not too bad, we are still discussing the first topic which is cooltechnica's reputation...

Welp... I can add to that. I placed an order the weekend before the 4th of July. After looking at my order the following Monday I decided 3day shipping wasnt good enough, because there would be no delivery on Friday the forth. I called to upgrade shipping, and had no problems. EVERYTHING I ordered showed on Thursday, and I was very happy to have the 3 day weekend to play with my new toys!

Nice to sorta meet you Bruce, and Thankyou.
I will be using your service again!

Justin

Imacrzyprsn · Jul 15, 2003

I heart Bruce...but he doesn't know me so it doesn't matter

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