No Quality Check and no free game?

[fejerm]

Hey guys!
I have purchased an Octane II Pro from PCS with 6700 and GTX 980 and I have 2 major problems.

1) On the UK website of NVidia (link) it is clearly stated that the desktop GTX 980 in laptop is also valid for the promotion, however on the PCS website they probably using the theme from the US website (where GTX 980 is missing from the list) and thus GTX 980 is not mentioned as a valid VGA. Just to clear thing up, I have contacted PCS on chat several times and all chat assistants ensured me that I will get the game so I made the order. After the order was dispatched I still have not received the game code in email (I was told that I wil lget it in email) so I contacted PCS again on Tuesday and again I was ensured that I will get the code and I only need to wait a few days until they process it. On Friday still no code, so instead of online chat, this time I wrote a message, however this time I received a replay saying that sorry, my order is not valid for this promotion...what the?

2) I need a 100% working screen so even 1 bad pixel would be unacceptable for me. Because of this I specifically asked them to very carefully test the screen and to make sure, I even purchased 1 year dead pixel warranty. I live in Hungary, but PCS ensured me that the Dead Pixel warranty is now valid for Hungary too.
During the building and testing process I have noticed something. I have noticed that the Quality Check was skipped and after Testing it was dispatched immediately. It went into testing on Friday and dispatched on Monday so I figured QC was probably done during the weekend.
However when I turned on the laptop after receiving it, I was rather disappointed after seeing that the screen has not 1, but 2 bad pixels, right near the center of the screen where it is easy to spot.
1 pixel is white with back background and 1 pixel is red with white background.
During testing it was probably not spotted because it was on a test bench and the tester did not spot them from a long distance.

I contacted them for an RMA, I hope the next thing I hear will not be "Sorry we were wrong, we will not honor Dead Pixel warranty for Hungarian customers)

Now I will still not have a working laptop for weeks, just because Quality Check was skipped ... my first PCS purchase but I am a bit disappointed because now they are saying that I will not get the free game and they even skipped QC and sent a faulty laptop ...


Who Worked on This Order?

Built By: Josh Marcus
Tested By: Carl Auckland
QC'd By nobody
Packed By: Ian Rose

I am now waiting for their reply.

Any one else with similar experience ?

 

[steaky360]

Cant really answer the question about the nvidia promotion. Only thing I could think of was (for some odd reason) PCS are not included for some cards... which I'd doubt. I would probably try to get back in touch with them asking for further clarification because that does seem a bit odd to me. I would have understood if they'd said 'there are none left' or something like that, but to say your card isn't valid is odd.

QC and testing happen at the same time I guess, I doubt (regardless of what you'd asked) that your laptop would get any special QC / testing unless you paid for it (which I don't think you can) - you purchased the dead pixel 'warranty' so it is odd that it arrived with a dead pixel, makes sense for PCS to double check those screens to save them having to pay for returns / new displays.

As for the dead pixels themselves and being in Hungary, the only thing I suspect they might not cover would be the postage, your screen is covered so you'd get a replacement screen. I notice from your original thread you mentioned that someone told you pick up / return had been extended to the rest of Europe - did PCS confirm that for you? If so, then I'd suggest you won't have to pay to return the laptop for the replacement screen under your dead pixel warranty.

 

[fejerm]

Cant really answer the question about the nvidia promotion. Only thing I could think of was (for some odd reason) PCS are not included for some cards... which I'd doubt. I would probably try to get back in touch with them asking for further clarification because that does seem a bit odd to me. I would have understood if they'd said 'there are none left' or something like that, but to say your card isn't valid is odd.

QC and testing happen at the same time I guess, I doubt (regardless of what you'd asked) that your laptop would get any special QC / testing unless you paid for it (which I don't think you can) - you purchased the dead pixel 'warranty' so it is odd that it arrived with a dead pixel, makes sense for PCS to double check those screens to save them having to pay for returns / new displays.

As for the dead pixels themselves and being in Hungary, the only thing I suspect they might not cover would be the postage, your screen is covered so you'd get a replacement screen. I notice from your original thread you mentioned that someone told you pick up / return had been extended to the rest of Europe - did PCS confirm that for you? If so, then I'd suggest you won't have to pay to return the laptop for the replacement screen under your dead pixel warranty.

Yes, PCS confirmed that several times on chat and this is why I choose PCS, since sending back a laptop for warranty/dead pixel cover would cost about 100 GBP from Hungary.

 

[steaky360]

Well in that sense you should be OK, only unfortunate thing is the extra time you'll be without your laptop - When you get in touch to arrange your RMA I'd ask again about your code.

 

[mantadog]

If you are certain you have been mislead over live chat then get in touch and ask them to look up the logs of the conversation.

In terms of the dead pixel cover, it was stated on a thread a while back that if any dead pixels are present then they replace the screen before sending it out. Obviously that does not stop them developing at a later date, but the fact QC was missing entirely doesn't seem right to me

 

[fejerm]

If you are certain you have been mislead over live chat then get in touch and ask them to look up the logs of the conversation.

In terms of the dead pixel cover, it was stated on a thread a while back that if any dead pixels are present then they replace the screen before sending it out. Obviously that does not stop them developing at a later date, but the fact QC was missing entirely doesn't seem right to me

On the Order page it seems that there was QC and it was done by the same guy who did the Testing.
The problem with this if he did not spot a problem the first time, there is a high chance that he will not see the same problem the second time either. Especially if that problem can only be spotted from close range.

Obviously dead/stuck pixels can develop later on (that is why I bought 1 year coverage), but what are the chances of 2 stuck pixels showing up right on the first boot? :/

 

[ubuysa]

On the Order page it seems that there was QC and it was done by the same guy who did the Testing.
The problem with this if he did not spot a problem the first time, there is a high chance that he will not see the same problem the second time either. Especially if that problem can only be spotted from close range.

Obviously dead/stuck pixels can develop later on (that is why I bought 1 year coverage), but what are the chances of 2 stuck pixels showing up right on the first boot? :/

You have dead pixel cover so your best solution is to RMA it and get PCS to replace the screen. I understand your frustration but you cannot be certain that the dead pixels were present during testing, they may have been and the tester may have made a mistake, but you don't know that's what happened. People do make mistakes, I'm sure you've made a few, and technology fails at unpredictable, and often inconvenient, times too, that's just part of life.

It's upsetting to wait for your laptop and find it has a problem, I think we all understand how that must feel, but it does no good for you to keep on accusing PCS of first; not performing the QC at all, and then; accusing the tester of not doing their job properly. RMA it and get the screen replaced, that's really all you can do.

Regarding the free game, if you can call PCS from Hungary I'd suggest that you do so and find out why your order is apparently "not valid for this promotion".

 

[fejerm]

Yea, RMA already created, now waiting for approval and tomorrow I will ask them about the game

Btw on a side note, should I be getting spare screws to install a second HDD? There are no screws in the plastic bag which was in the box. Or the spare screws are already inside the laptop (haven not checked) ?

 

[ubuysa]

Yea, RMA already created, now waiting for approval and tomorrow I will ask them about the game

Btw on a side note, should I be getting spare screws to install a second HDD? There are no screws in the plastic bag which was in the box. Or the spare screws are already inside the laptop (haven not checked) ?

No idea on the screws, I bought an SSD and an HDD with my Optimus IV. They might be in the laptop, but I'm sure if you asked PCS they'd send you some. A decent computer store will probably have some too.

 

[fejerm]

Okay, will do.
Btw, I dont care if the tester was lazy or not, I just hope the problem gets resolved fast and I wont be put on a long waiting list and wait weeks for even a technician to look at it. Anyone can make mistakes, the only thing which matters to me is to resolve that mistake.

I remember, once I had to completely disassemble again an Asus G73Jh because after repasting and changing the screen from the factory TN panel to an IPS panel, it did not want to turn on

 

[ubuysa]

Okay, will do.
Btw, I dont care if the tester was lazy or not, I just hope the problem gets resolved fast and I wont be put on a long waiting list and wait weeks for even a technician to look at it. Anyone can make mistakes, the only thing which matters to me is to resolve that mistake.

I remember, once I had to completely disassemble again an Asus G73Jh because after repasting and changing the screen from the factory TN panel to an IPS panel, it did not want to turn on

I agree with you completely that all that matters is that your problem is resolved. I am certain that PCS will get to it as soon as they can, you must bear in mind that you're not their only customer though.

 

[fejerm]

Just letting know that the missing The Division part got resolved. PCS double checked and confirmed that the laptop GTX980 is also valid and sent me the code for the game.

(They also corrected this error on their website so future customers should not be affected)

 

[fejerm]

Got the laptop back last week.
The LP173WF4-SPF1 screen with dead pixels has been swapped with a LP173WF4-SPD1. The problem is that the new screen is from an old batch (manufactured in 2014) and the EDID is outdated (=not GSync certified), thus the Nvidia driver does not allow GSync to work with this new built in screen.
RMA round #2 incomming