In Praise of APC
Leonardo
Wake up and smell the glaciersEagle River, Alaska Icrontian
Hey guys, thought I would share a customer service request experience with you. In short, APC's customer service should serve as an example for the rest of the tech hardware industry.
American Power Conversion (APC) has just elevated the high respect I already had for them. I've been using their UPS's for nearly ten years and have always thought their products to be worth the price premium. Well, it turns out APC's customer service is just as good as their products.
Last Thursday evening, 11/23, I restarted one of my computers, which I had been working on. At the same instant I turned the PSU switch to on, the UPS to which it was connected sounded an alarm and the "Overload" LED started flashing. About one half second later the computer completely lost power. The UPS unit, an APC BN1250 (1250VA/780 watts total battery backup) was only one year old and the battery fault LED had never lighted. I figured right away that something with the internal circuitry had failed. I performed a number of tests and discovered that none of the battery backup ports worked any more, neither with battery power nor with wall current. The next day I submitted a problem form through APC's website. Within 20 minutes I had an email message acknowledging receipt of my message. Within four hours I had an email message from a technician with additional troubleshooting steps for me to take. The same day I followed APC's instructions and emailed the results. The next day following I received an email from the same technician informing me that: based on the data I provided concerning the problem and the results of the troubleshooting, APC considered the problem to be an UPS internal fault and would send me a replacement. The email requested my shipping address and telephone number. They did not require me to ship the old UPS back to APC first.
I don't recall ever having RMA service that efficient before. In addition, the APC tech was professional and courteous. I was impressed.
Yesterday, just seven days after I reported the faulty UPS to APC online, I received the replacement. It arrived at my doorstep in perfect physical and working condition. It was not a factory refurbished unit, but new! Seven days total, and that included shipment from Rhode Island to Alaska - 4000 miles. That is simply amazing service. APC has kept my business.
It gets better. Inside the shipping label pocket was a pre-addressed, prepaid shipping label. All I had to do was pack up the bad UPS in the shipping materials that the new unit arrived in and take it UPS.
There are so many tech companies that could charge a premium for their products if they had customer service like this.
American Power Conversion (APC) has just elevated the high respect I already had for them. I've been using their UPS's for nearly ten years and have always thought their products to be worth the price premium. Well, it turns out APC's customer service is just as good as their products.
Last Thursday evening, 11/23, I restarted one of my computers, which I had been working on. At the same instant I turned the PSU switch to on, the UPS to which it was connected sounded an alarm and the "Overload" LED started flashing. About one half second later the computer completely lost power. The UPS unit, an APC BN1250 (1250VA/780 watts total battery backup) was only one year old and the battery fault LED had never lighted. I figured right away that something with the internal circuitry had failed. I performed a number of tests and discovered that none of the battery backup ports worked any more, neither with battery power nor with wall current. The next day I submitted a problem form through APC's website. Within 20 minutes I had an email message acknowledging receipt of my message. Within four hours I had an email message from a technician with additional troubleshooting steps for me to take. The same day I followed APC's instructions and emailed the results. The next day following I received an email from the same technician informing me that: based on the data I provided concerning the problem and the results of the troubleshooting, APC considered the problem to be an UPS internal fault and would send me a replacement. The email requested my shipping address and telephone number. They did not require me to ship the old UPS back to APC first.
I don't recall ever having RMA service that efficient before. In addition, the APC tech was professional and courteous. I was impressed.
Yesterday, just seven days after I reported the faulty UPS to APC online, I received the replacement. It arrived at my doorstep in perfect physical and working condition. It was not a factory refurbished unit, but new! Seven days total, and that included shipment from Rhode Island to Alaska - 4000 miles. That is simply amazing service. APC has kept my business.
It gets better. Inside the shipping label pocket was a pre-addressed, prepaid shipping label. All I had to do was pack up the bad UPS in the shipping materials that the new unit arrived in and take it UPS.
There are so many tech companies that could charge a premium for their products if they had customer service like this.
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Comments
APC ***** 5 star satisfaction!
The PC store I bought my first one from had the same experience. They ordered 50 units for a college and one turned out dud. The local APC agent drove all the way to the premises with a new one and swapped it out. No Questions.
Problem was after a few months the replacment did the exact same thing. Since APC didn't restart the warranty period for the replacment, he was stuck with a dead UPS.
Which as you all know can wreck havok on our pc's!
I have used APC units during my 12-14 yrs of pc experience.
That was one thing I got from the begining for safety factor with my pc's.
The only thing I ever ran into as far as problems, is the battery got too low to hold a charge after a few yrs of use.
Just ordered one online. Got it a few days later and it's back saving our pc's from all power problems.
Wouldn't buy anything else.
Oh, And I have 4 of APC's backup power supplies setup for all my pc's.
A 1000W, 2- 700W's, and a 500W.
It's real nice to know they have customer service that rivals their product.
Thnx for letting us know Leo.
Always good to hear cudo's on good businesses.