A word of warning to those of you looking for partnerships with computer hardware manufacturers.  MPC Computers, LLC (formerly known as Micron) leaves a lot to be desired regarding their questionable business practices: bait and switch, failure to deliver goods ordered, unauthorized credit card charges, and outright fraud.  Read the details of my experience below where I name names and provide intricate details of my involvement with them.

The humor of this situation is that MPC is once again calling me out of the blue to set up a meeting to explore the possibility of partnering with them for our customers.  I am apparently easy to forget after this situation.  William Teevan himself will be coming on Tuesday with the director of MPC to discuss this opportunity.  I intend to present them with this blog article at that time.

William Teevan of MPC contacted me in January to meet and discuss the potential of utilizing them as a preferred vendor.  I was originally excited at the prospect of being able to purchase notebook computers with modular components that could be serviced and adapted quickly.  As William claimed, we would not be required to purchase preconfigured machines where we would be locked into the specifications that the manufacturer had selected.  We would have the ability to select a base model and a la cart select the display, hard drive, memory and port configuration.  This was an advantage over the HP and Dell configurations where everything was already bound together in one package.

After some discussion with our financial controller, we decided to pursue the potential of developing a relationship with MPC.  As a test, we would order two laptops.  One for the controller and one for myself.  William Teevan put us in touch with William Marcum to process our order.  We were very specific about the equipment because I primarily use my portable device for computer forensics and penetration testing.  I needed specific hardware to meet the goals of those projects.  The most important specification was the size of the hard drive.  We wanted 160GB so that forensic images could be easily stored and processed.

Upon requesting a quote, we were provided with the following quoted specification.  Note the size of the hard drive on the third line.  This will be important later as it was a non-negotiable feature of the product.

Intel Core 2 Duo processor T5500 (1.66GHz, 2MB Cache, 667MHz FSB)     
Memory  1024MB 667MHz DDR2 (1 SO-DIMM)
40GB Serial ATA-150 9.5mm Hard Drive (5400RPM)       
DVD/CD-RW COMBO DRIVE.TRANSPORT T2400
128MB ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 Video Graphics
15.4” WXGA Active Matrix Display      
NBK Optical USB Mini-Mouse 2 Button Scroll    
Symantec Antivirus Version 10.90-Day Introductory Offer-.Download only
Active Management Suite Notebook System Manager       
Genuine Windows XP Professional (T2400)       
Modem   Integrated 56K v.92 modem     
Integrated Biometric Fingerprint Scanner      
Integrated Bluetooth  
Intel.Pro Wireless 3945ABG 802.11ABG.WLAN     
Integrated 10/100/1000 Ethernet LAN   
TransPort T2400 Bios  
1st-3rd Yr.On-Site Exchange
NB.1st Yr-3rd Yr.Manufacturers Ltd.Warranty.Tech Support & Parts      
Primary Battery (6-Cell) Transport T2400      

Total price  $3,515.74 for both laptops.

Upon reviewing the quote, we noticed that the size of the hard drive was wrong.  We asked William Marcum that it be corrected.  William responded on February 2, 2007 with a corrected quote and the message “Here is a quote for the same T2400 with a 160gb HD and in a total quantity of 2, with taxes and ground shipping.”  We attempted to order the laptops the same day on the corporate American Express card.  William did not respond to the order request until the following Monday with the excuse that he “literally had to run for a doctor appointment and then the airport minutes after I emailed you this quote.”  After some hammering back and forth on whether MPC would prefer a PO or credit card (we preferred the credit card), the order was apparently placed.  We never received confirmation.

Finally on Wednesday February 7th, I got tired of waiting to see if the order had been processed by William that we began the previous Friday.  I sent the following email to check on the status.

“I have not heard any updates as to whether this was ordered or not through your system.  We likely have another laptop purchase that we will need to make.  I am hoping that there is a speedier processing system in place for orders subsequent to this initial one.  HP has historically been able to have equipment in our hands within three business days and are priced lower.”

The order had just been processed.

By February 19th, I was starting to get a bit concerned.  We had been unable to reach MPC and had still not received the laptops that were ordered.  I sent the following email to find out what was going on with the order.

“Any idea on an anticipated ship date for those two laptops we ordered from you on February 2?  We ordered 8 additional laptops from a different vendor and have received and deployed them and have been using them in production for a week.  These two that we ordered from you for 50% higher price are still outstanding nearly 3 weeks later.”

The only response I received was in the form of delivery of the equipment the following day.  The only problem was that it was not the equipment we had ordered.  The laptops were supposed to have 160GB hard drives, but they only registered as 93.1GB.  I immediately question William Marcum via email concerning the discrepancy and was met with the reply “I never had any information about a 160gb HD.”  Ironically, his reply was pre-pended to his original email which is stated above where he clearly mentions the new quote with the 160GB hard drives.  

I contacted William on the phone where I voiced my concerns over the failure to deliver the ordered equipment.  William informed me that he had called some random person in our company that he could not name and received authorization to provide lower capacity hard drives at the same price.  He could not remember the name of the individual and could not even tell if they were male or female.  He went on to insist that though these hard drives were much smaller, they were better.  The vendor apparently had problems with the lot of drives from which our stock was pulled and it took them time to find suitable replacements.

Admittedly, my frustration was unleashed.  I crafted and sent the following response to William.

“The email that I forwarded (the original quote below) was from you stating that the quote was for 160GB laptops.  “Here is a quote for the same T2400 with a 160 gb HD and in a total quantity of 2, with taxes and ground shipping.

“Did someone send us this quote on your behalf and without your knowledge?“These laptops were for use by the Controller and myself.  My laptop in particular needed the higher capacity drive as I do computer forensics and need mass storage for images of other hard drives.  I specifically recall the discussion with the Controller that we might as well go ahead and buy the larger drives from you if the price was right rather than buying them from a third party vendor.  He concurred, we asked for the 160GB drive as per the price sheet provided by William Teevan and thought that was what we were ordering based on your above quoted statement (see also below in your original email).

“Being a consulting company, we need to remain responsive to our customer’s needs.  Sometimes those turn on a dime and require rapid delivery of equipment.  We have been successful in the past with ordering equipment from PC Connection and from HP directly that is custom configured to meet the customer specifications.  They have been more than responsive in getting the equipment within 5 business days.  In fact, the 8 additional laptops that we ordered from PC Connection exceed the specifications of the machines we received and cost 50% less.  They even had DVD+DL burners rather than just DVD CDRW.  They were ordered one week after the order for MPC and delivered one week before the MPC equipment.  That is a three day turnaround on custom laptop purchases.

“This purchase was intended as a test to see if MPC was a viable alternative to our previous purchasing habits.  We were hoping that we could find a reliable provider of equipment that could provide excellent customer support that would help us make our customers happy.  It took 16 days to get a follow-up from the initial order.  We did not get the equipment that we thought we were purchasing.  Contacting the sales associate was impossible.  I shudder to think how bad support could possibly be based on every experience we have had so far.  I don’t care if you talked to Joe Schmoe.  I was the contact on this order.  Information should have been communicated to me.  Yet I received nothing beyond the initial sales pitch until I called to ask the status of the order request and was told it was an 8 day build cycle.  When I emailed yesterday, I got no response.  When I called today, I was told it was a 14 day build cycle.

“Rather than answering your question ‘What do I need to do to get this straight, and get you back in the fold as a happy customer’, let me ask one of my own.  If roles were reversed and you were the customer, how likely would you be to pursue any future ventures with a vendor that had given you the same initial impression?  What would you expect from the vendor?”

William provided no avenue for us to receive the correct equipment.  If we wanted 160GB hard drives, we would have to purchase them on our own, install them and void the warranty that we had paid for.  I explained the situation to my controller and the decision was made to return the equipment.  It did not meet the purchase requirements.  Another vendor had to step in and provide equipment that did meet our needs.  The controller sent the following message to William.

“At this point I would like to return the laptops. The drives were specified for our needs. I appreciate that they are faster and quieter … they are also smaller.

“Please process the necessary paperwork to return the laptops and issue a refund to the American Express card.”

William was in immediate contact to try to repair the situation.  The only problem was that there could be no meeting of the minds on how to repair the problem.  William was firm that we would have to live with the equipment received and that there would be no discounted price or partial refund.  We were not going to provide concession and purchase equipment that we did not order.  Eventually William recognized the impasse and told us to return the equipment for a full refund.  He told us that they would provide shipping and have UPS come pick up the equipment.

When I contacted William (again via email) to get an RMA number and ask about shipping, William cryptically responded three days later with a question of his own: “For return purposes….what exactly is the reason for your return?”  Apparently our repeated discussions had either not made an impression or William simply forgot which one of his customers was dissatisfied.

The controller replied:

“Laptop delivered did not match quoted laptop. "Technically" you shipped the incorrect item ordered... we are rejecting the order based on non-conformance and cancelling the order.”

It was not until February 26th that I heard anything back from William.  Not realizing that the controller had been party to all of the conversations previously or that the controller was including me in all of his conversations, William attempted to directly shift the blame back over to me when he sent the following excuse.

“Your company will need to pay for shipping and there will be a 15% re-stocking fee. I was asked to tell you, since you had the quote showing two notebooks with 120gbHD and it was explained (to [Antimidas] on my return call about the quote)  that 160 was a typo "BEFORE" you purchased, to carefully look over the quote (which states "120gbHD's"...[Antimidas] THEN transferred me to you to have you pay by CC for this order.“I tried at the beginning to have my return(s) people just sent out a label to get these systems back...but as I asked to provide a direct reason for your return....it has become apparent that there is no direct reason other than the time to receive the systems and the other issues are secondary.

“***You could have refused the order the day it arrived.***

“[Antimidas] told me that he had not received the order and that he was concerned that our company had committed internet/phone fraud.

“[Antimidas] stated that he was confused with the APE (Advanced Portable Exchange) my AE Will Teevan told him about, and that he NEVER knew that we custom build each and every order....we do not have pre-configured systems nor sell them.

“[Antimidas]'s biggest issue was the TIME in which it took to get the order "Stating that he ordered 8 pc's from PC Connection in 3 days and does not want to deal with a company that takes so long...since you are a consulting firm and need to have an expedient return for clients."  This is why in one paragraph from [Antimidas] I was asked to play a role as a customer and look at it from his side.

“Please lets just work together...agree that this is not a fit and return the systems.

“Thank you for your time.”

There was obviously no point in continuing to argue who was right and who was wrong even though we had recorded phone calls and emails clearly showing that MPC did not meet their end of the agreement.  The controller sent a final email to wash our hands of MPC and the problem.

“William,

“The order is lost. You can issue an RMA or I can call American Express and start the dispute whichever way you would like to do this. I have a clear email chain stating 160gb.. and a quote showing 120gb and I received laptops with 100gb.

“You can issue the RMA or I can start the dispute process with American Express, those are your two options.

“End of conversation.”

It was over a month before MPC decided to have the equipment picked up for return.  Only upon us threatening to consider it abandoned equipment and charge them a disposal fee did they finally act and retrieve the packages.

The credit charges were still put through however by MPC.  We filed a dispute with American Express and had the charges removed.  MPC put the charges through a second time.  When we disputed it as credit fraud, they charged a 15% restocking fee for the equipment on their third charge against the credit card.

This coming Tuesday should be interesting.  I will report back on the meeting and might even provide a transcript if I remember to bring my recorder.

8/7/2007 Update:  Five minutes after the scheduled meeting start time, William Marcum called me to see if we could reschedule the meeting as William Teevan is no longer working for MPC effective immediately.  William Marcum requested that he go over the information with me over the phone in order to save us time and inconvenience us less.  I stated that I preferred a face to face meeting as I had other parties who wished to be involved in the meeting.  Marcum gave no indication that he recognized either my name or voice.  He will call me back later in the week to try to schedule something.

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