jeff@ndcheg.cheg.nd.edu (Jeffrey C. Kantor) (02/24/89)
This is one of those warranty horror stories. If you want just the
summary, look on the subject line.
Last March we ordered three Pro-60 CMS drives which arrived in April.
Two promptly went flakey, and CMS honored their warranty and promptly
replaced them. The third started showing lots of bad blocks over the
past few months, and its that one that has been the sore point.
I spent a friday afternoon several weeks ago calling repeatedly to get
assistance. First a clerical type says she can't help because she
needs some sort of customer code. The call gets routed in many circles,
with occasional lost connections until someone named John says he'll
get on it Monday. It took a weeks effort to finally get through again and
get the RMA number, but we did get one. Sent the drive Fed Ex. Guess what?
They returned the Drive saying its not under warranty! (Note: One year is
not up. Not even close)
So, start the cycle up again, again with repeated calls and unreturned, and
again finally get an RMA number. Send the drive off Fed Ex. Guess what?
A clerical type calls to say it's not under warranty! I call John, he says
he'll get on it and return my call. Of course, he doesn't.
And that's the way it stands. They've got my drive, and I can't get
hold of anyone on their end who can clear it up.
My advice: AVOID CMS, THEIR DRIVES ARE UNRELIABLE, AND THEY ARE DIFFICULT
TO DEAL WITH.
--
Jeff Kantor
US Mail: Dept. of Chemical Engineering
internet: jeff@ndcheg.cheg.nd.edu University of Notre Dame
uucp: iuvax!ndmath!ndcheg!jeff Notre Dame, IN 46556 USAmaryw@hpcupt1.HP.COM ([Mary Williams]) (02/25/89)
I've also heard horror stories about CMS, but the best
advice I can give is to deal with their warranties
through a CMS DEALER.
I used to work at the campus computer store at UC Irvine
(which is about 10 min. away from CMS Headquarters in
Tustin CA) and customers would always ask if they could
just take it in to CMS for repairs. This NEVER works!
From what I understand, CMS repair dept. works best
when the product is MAILED from a DEALER. If you hand
carry a drive in, it'll probably get lost.
Personally, my CMS SD60 drive died after ~9 months.
I took my drive into my local Computerland (at that
time I was ~400 mi. away from the dealer I purchased
it from) and they told me that CMS would probably just
replace it and that should take 2 weeks. Exactly ten
working days later I picked up my new drive with its
one year warranty.
Of course, I have no affiliation with CMS. I'm just
a semi-satisfied customer.
+---------------------------------------------+
| Mary Williams Hewlett-Packard |
| ...ucbvax!hpda!maryw Cupertino, CA |
| "HP doesn't even *like* my Mac." |
+---------------------------------------------+carlton@betelgeuse (Mike Carlton) (02/25/89)
In article <636@ndcheg.cheg.nd.edu> jeff@ndcheg.cheg.nd.edu (Jeffrey C. Kantor) writes: >This is one of those warranty horror stories. If you want just the >summary, look on the subject line. > [ ... details of horror story omitted ... ] While I don't doubt that you had problems dealing with CMS, people should realize that this isn't always the case. I can't say what the norm is, but I had no problems. My story: after 9 months of fairly heavy usage my CMS Pro-102 internal drive started showing bad blocks (the same symptom as Mr. Kantor's drive). I called CMS Tech Support and was told to contact my dealer for an RMA number. It was a simple matter of calling Hardware House where I bought the drive and asking them to obtain an RMA. Hardware House returned my call that same afternoon with an RMA. I returned my drive to CMS (via overnight shipping) on a Tuesday and had a new drive in my hands by 9:00 AM Thursday. I was very pleased by the speed of their response. I would hope that your example was an exception, rather than rule. I also wish you good luck. Disclaimer: I have absolutely nothing to do with CMS or Hardware House other than as a customer. Regards, mike (carlton@ji.berkeley.edu or ...!ucbvax!ji!carlton)
pgn@osupyr.mast.ohio-state.edu (Paul G. Nevai) (02/25/89)
I've dealt with CMS a lot, bought a couple of drives, and so far I have not experienced anythinh I could complain about. On the contrary they have been as reliable as most of the companies I've dealt with. Paul Nevai pgn@osupyr.mast.ohio-state.edu Department of Mathematics TS1171@ohstvma.BITNET The Ohio State University 73057,172.Compu$erve 231 West Eighteenth Avenue 1-(614)-292-5310.office Columbus, OH 43210, U.S.A. 1-(614)-292-4975.department
kwc@naucse.UUCP (Ken Collier) (02/26/89)
From article <636@ndcheg.cheg.nd.edu>, by jeff@ndcheg.cheg.nd.edu (Jeffrey C. Kantor): > This is one of those warranty horror stories. If you want just the > summary, look on the subject line. > > Last March we ordered three Pro-60 CMS drives which arrived in April. > Two promptly went flakey, and CMS honored their warranty and promptly > replaced them. The third started showing lots of bad blocks over the > past few months, and its that one that has been the sore point. > > [....story details deleted...] > > And that's the way it stands. They've got my drive, and I can't get > hold of anyone on their end who can clear it up. > > My advice: AVOID CMS, THEIR DRIVES ARE UNRELIABLE, AND THEY ARE DIFFICULT > TO DEAL WITH. When I was looking for an inexpensive hard drive for my Mac, an Apple dealer in Phoenix AZ, also a CMS dealer, told me that CMS was a great buy but the only drive of theirs he would buy is their 20 mb. He said that all of their other drives, particularly their 60 mb drive, have been nothing but trouble and that CMS has not been particularly good about honoring warranties. It should be noted that I do not know this dealer personally nor am I a regular customer. Needless to say I did not buy a CMS hard drive and I found it rather interesting that a CMS dealer was so candid with me. So, Jeff, it sounds like you are not alone in your woes. Good luck dealing with such a company. Ken Collier Professor, College of Engineering and Technology Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, AZ e-mail to: ...!arizona!naucse!kwc Bitnet: collier@nauvax
alexis@ccnysci.UUCP (Alexis Rosen) (02/26/89)
The original article was rather unfair to CMS. While I understand that the poster has had quite a bit of grief at their hands, I would like to say that I've purchased well over a hunderd units from them. Their quality has always been top-notch. This regardless of whether the drives break or not. What do I mean by this? Just like all the other companies in the Mac market (except Rodime and Storage Dimensions), they don't actually manufacture the drive mechanisms. They buy them elsewheres, and in the case of the 60MB unit, from Seagate. It is well known that Seagate has had some *serious* quality control problems over the last half year. Seagate is to blame for the drives all failing. I have nenver had trouble with CMS honoring warrantees, the six or seven times I have had to deal with them. Despite this, I would agree with the poster that you should be cautious in buying from CMS in the future. They have grown *very* rapidly, and lost lots of good people in the last year. It does not surprise me that they are making clerical errors occasionally. In the past, I have always recommended CMS based on quality and price. Now I reccomend MicroNet, for the same reason. MicroNet is run by Charles McConnathy, the man who set up CMS's mac division, and it shows. They are prompt, sell good hardware, and deliver for a low price. Much more signi- ficantly, they are honest, which is enormously more than you can say about most of the other smaller companies. They also have a special relationship with CDC/Imprimis- they are the only company selling the new Wren Runner yet, and at a price others won't match even when they do start shipping. (For those who missed it, the Wren Runner is the fastest HD you can buy for your Mac. No possible question. It's got the typical CDC transfer rate, i.e. much faster than your Mac II or IIx can handle, and a *true* average access time of 10.7 msec.) Another good pont about the MicroNet drives is that the external models all come with a rock-solid 30 watt *UNIVERSAL* power supply. You can plug them in anywhere in the world that you can find a wall socket. That kind of power supply is also naturally more tolerant of flaky power grids (which is why I like them). Bottom line is, CMS isn't as bad as it sounded, but better to buy from MicroNet nowadays. Alexis Rosen alexis@ccnysci.uucp
dce@stan.UUCP (David Elliott) (02/27/89)
In article <1331@ccnysci.UUCP> alexis@ccnysci.UUCP (Alexis Rosen) writes: > >The original article was rather unfair to CMS. While I understand that the >poster has had quite a bit of grief at their hands, I would like to say that >I've purchased well over a hunderd units from them. Their quality has always >been top-notch. This regardless of whether the drives break or not. Has CMS fixed the problem yet? If not, the original article was not unfair. The fact that other individuals have not had problems with CMS doesn't mean a thing. If so, why did they give the original poster such a runaround. Now, in reality the problem here is probably one of communication or a new employee or just plain confusion. I understand how this can happen. On the other hand, hearing that this kind of problem exists doesn't make me less nervous when the general feeling I get is that my disk is going to go bad within 7 more months of use. -- David Elliott ...!pyramid!boulder!stan!dce "Splish splash, I was rakin' in the cash" -- Eno
hgw@julia.math.ucla.edu (Harold Wong) (02/28/89)
In article <10331@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> carlton@betelgeuse (Mike Carlton) writes: >In article <636@ndcheg.cheg.nd.edu> jeff@ndcheg.cheg.nd.edu (Jeffrey C. Kantor) writes: >>This is one of those warranty horror stories. If you want just the >>summary, look on the subject line. >> >[ ... details of horror story omitted ... ] >My story: after 9 months of fairly heavy usage my CMS Pro-102 internal drive >started showing bad blocks (the same symptom as Mr. Kantor's drive). I >called CMS Tech Support and was told to contact my dealer for an RMA number. I have a simular situation. My drive crashed (no way to use it, heads didn't even move), I didn't have a reciept and the dealer went out of business. I called CMS and they gave me a RMA number and I sent it straight to them. In less than 5 working days, they sent me a new one. They trusted me on the warranty since the drive had not been out for more than a year. Take a deep breath and talk to them calmly. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Harold Wong (213) 825-9040 UCLA-Mathnet; 3915F MSA; 405 Hilgard Ave.; Los Angeles, CA 90024-1555 ARPA: hgw@math.ucla.edu BITNET: hgw%math.ucla.edu@INTERBIT
rusty@hodge.UUCP ( System Manager) (03/02/89)
In article <636@ndcheg.cheg.nd.edu>, jeff@ndcheg.cheg.nd.edu (Jeffrey C. Kantor) writes: > [all about problems with a CMS drive] > I spent a friday afternoon several weeks ago calling repeatedly to get > assistance. You are supposed to handle warranty problems through your dealer. The dealer is supposed to isolate CMS from you. CMS doesn't even pretend to want to be nice end users, it is their dealers job. Jump on your dealer. (Which is not to say that CMS is doing a good job, but there is someone else to blame). > First a clerical type says she can't help because she > needs some sort of customer code. The call gets routed in many circles, > with occasional lost connections until someone named John says he'll > get on it Monday. It took a weeks effort to finally get through again and > get the RMA number, but we did get one. Sent the drive Fed Ex. Guess what? > They returned the Drive saying its not under warranty! (Note: One year is > not up. Not even close) You probaby didn't include a copy of the original sales invoice... > > So, start the cycle up again... [etc] > And that's the way it stands. They've got my drive, and I can't get > hold of anyone on their end who can clear it up. They need a copy of the original invoice for the sale, else they base the warranty period on the date *they* sold the unit to a dealer. Send a copy of your invoice, and you shouldn't have a problem. Keep track of the RMA number, call and inquire as to the status of it, refuse to be put on hold. > My advice: AVOID CMS, THEIR DRIVES ARE UNRELIABLE, AND THEY ARE DIFFICULT > TO DEAL WITH. Actually, the drives that work well, work well. Their quality control is kinda questionable. (Very questionable). CMS can be dealt with properly. IT TAKES WRITTEN INFORMATION, because verbal skills and the ability to speak English are not requirements for customer service (or any other) positions. Make sure you choose your CMS dealer carefully. Most of the bottom-line price mail-order companies cannot support you properly. -- Rusty "No Bugs" Hodge, 1588 N. Batavia St. Orange, CA 92667 Tel (714) 974-6300 rusty@hodge.cts.com [uunet zardoz vdelta crash]!hodge!rusty FAX (714) 921-8038