Advertisment

Resellers unhappy with Samsung HDD service support

author-image
DQW Bureau
New Update



Advertisment

The resellers in the Chennai local IT market are unhappy with
Samsung for its poor service support for HDD products. According to market
sources, the warranty support for Samsung HDD products is getting worse day by
day and currently, the turnaround time for replacement/service of products is
more than 40 days.

The prolonged delay is pushing many rese-llers to give up
Samsung and promote Seagate, which has improved its turnaround time to 5-7 days
and the fault rate is also low here. It may be recalled that Seagate also faced
similar kind of problem around a year ago and it appointed Accel ICIM as its
authorized national service pro-vider to offer service from 32 locations (SeaCare
centers).

When contacted, Raman Khosla, Product Manager (HDD), Samsung
India Electronics Ltd, played down the issue saying that its turnaround time is
best any day and is according to the indu-stry norm of seven days. "I am
surprised to hear this news that channel partners are unhappy with us because of
our service. We touch base with the channel partners and service providers on a
daily basis and we have never heard such news."

Advertisment

However, the reseller community in Chennai confirmed the issue
saying they can even provide the material receipt voucher (MRV) or service
challan given by Citi Service, which is Samsung’s authorized service provider
for HDD, in the city. "I have a proof of receipt for which the replace-ment
is pending over a month. We wonder how Samsung can make such a blatant
lie," ques-tioned one of the premier resellers in the city.

Even many ‘Samsung Elite Partners’ confirmed about the
problem. "We could not answer our customers who want replacement
immediately. When replacement is delayed for over a month, they suspect us and
we lose our relationship and future business with them," pointed out a
Samsung Elite Partner.

"Even sometimes we ask our customers to directly deal with
the company for service and they come back to us saying it is very tough for
them to approach Citi Service. They argue that they never bought the product
from Samsung or Citi Service directly and we have to ensure the replacement is
done at the earliest," said another premier partner for Samsung.

Advertisment

"It is more like passport dispatch where they put the list
on the notice board saying those who gave product on or before so and so date
can collect it and the rest have to wait for their turn. Even after a month, we
are not able to see our names on the notice board," remarked ano-ther
reseller based out of Ritchie Street. "The best part is even DoA
replacement gets delayed with Samsung."

Moreover the delay on DoA replacement, what concern the reseller
is the new product is not being delivered in shape. "The replacement pack
will be very dirty and shabby. We would not be able to sell it in the market as
customers think it is a old product," narrated another key reseller.

Samsung is facing this kind of problem only for the last three
months and according to market sources, the company is having tough time in
sourcing HDD components after the closure of Read-Write Corporation, a major
global supplier of components. "Read-Write Cor-poration had been taken over
by Western Digital and globally only three players–Seagate, Maxtor and Western
Digital–have the capacity to manufacture all components in-house that go into
manufacturing of HDDs. Now, the other suppliers (component) in the world have
moved to the next capacity of production, making 80 GB as the standard. As there
are not many players to produce components (platters) for lower level, Samsung
is facing great difficulty in replacing 20 GB and 40 GB HDDs. Now, Samsung would
focus only on 80 GB to make it as an entry-level product considering the
components availability (outsourcing)," said a source close to the
competitor company.

Advertisment

"I would like to clarify that the take over of Read-Write
Corporation by Western Digital will have little impact on us, as they are
America-based. We are an Asian company and we sou-rce products mainly from TDK
Alps. More than sourcing, Samsung is in technical collaboration with TDK Alps
and we work together in some cases," clarified Khosla. "As for the
replacement is concerned, only in certain odd capacities (60 GB and high-end
drives) we take few extra days. More than 90 percent of the complaints, we close
within seven days."

However, the resellers are not inclined to buy the statement and
most of the channel partners, including Samsung Elite Partners, prefer to
promote Seagate than Samsung. "We are sure that Seagate would pick up
market share considerably if Samsung’s problem persists. It will be back to
old days where Seagate held a premium position in the market."

Meanwhile, rumors are doing rounds that Seagate will announce
three-year warranty for all its HDD products. "It will be announced shortly
and presently, the company is experi-menting with it in Thailand market. If
Seagate brings three-year warranty (this is other than their Peace of Mind
program), Samsung will definitely take a back seat," said a source close to
Seagate.

Advertisment

However, Sharad Srivastava, Country Manager (India), Seagate
Distribution Singapore Pvt Ltd, clarified that the company already pro-vides
three-year warranty for certain drives and they are working out whether to
extend three-year warranty to all the products. "It is optional and we have
not taken any concrete decision on this so far. However, we are open to consider
this prurely on need basis."

S Gopikrishna

Chennai

Advertisment