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The original was posted on /r/framework by /u/evo_zorro on 2024-09-19 12:47:25+00:00.

I’ve left a couple of comments here in the past lamenting my terrible experience with support. Last time, though, someone from FW reached out to figure out what actually happened, what if anything went wrong etc…

I was raised that you’re nobody if people can’t take you on your word, so I feel compelled to post somewhat of a correction to counter my comments.

1. I didn’t check up with my initial support request, I got an automated response stating that support was enjoying thanksgiving holiday weekend, with some links to the community forum and guides. I probably took that as a “if you want someone to look at this ASAP, try the community forums”, I incorrectly have claimed that I was told to create a thread there. This is false. It did take 4 days (because of the holidays), but someone did reach out asking for pictures and further details. Based on the timeline, when I received that email, I was (mistakenly) under the impression that the issue had been fixed
2. The second support request was indeed extremely lengthy, and just going by the response to the first issue I reported, I still maintain that it was comparatively inefficient. The first email asked for more information in a single email, whereas the second time around, it took a couple of back and forth emails to ask for the same pictures. It is worth mentioning that this was in February 2024, FW13’s were still shipping, there had been delays, and the FW16 was probably not making things any less chaotic. As a lot of the FW13s had just shipped, the fact that support was extremely busy and new issues (because new hardware) needed to be accounted for, the support/diagnostic processes are probably changing all the time, and often are incomplete or sub-optimal. From a consumer point of view, when you’re dealing with a problem, that doesn’t count for much, but looking back, it’s contextually important (or at least relevant).
3. Overall, though annoyed, I kept things civil but towards the end of the 20 emails back and forth I snapped in a way that I shouldn’t have. I have apologised unreservedly both in a follow-up email in that exchange, and through various other means, and think it’s only right that I apologise to FW support for my outburst publicly once more. I understand that support is a hard job, you often are the first point of contact dealing with disgruntled customers who take things out on the people who are trying to resolve the issue. I’m sorry for being that person. The only redeeming aspect here is that at least I didn’t direct profanity at anyone directly, FWIW.
4. I’m not without blame. I did provide the pictures, information, and video when asked, but once I got the replacement part, I initially refused to send it back. My justification at the time was that because the laptop shipped with a broken display, and because the support process was inefficient, it resulted in my having to open the laptop far too many times, putting undue stress on the captive screws in the bottom cover. I asked for a replacement screw, but this damage was deemed Customer Induced Damage (CID), and I was told to buy a new screw instead. I disagreed with this assessment (and TBH, I still believe support made the wrong call here), and said I’d only send the display back in exchange for a screw. This obviously is not the right way to go about things, and violates the waranty agreement/ToS stuff, so I was just told that I had to send it back, or pay for the display - I sent it back.
5. Months later, when changing the SSD, I was reminded of the stripped screw, and wondered just how realistic it would be to re-use this laptop once that screw became effectively a rivet. I figured that I’d re-iterate my point in a new support ticket, explaining that I still disagree with the conclusion that the screw thing was CID etc… I promptly got a reply saying that a replacement part was on its way, and that there would be no need for me to send the old one back because emissions are a thing. This experience was perfect. Without checking, I believe I’m right in saying that I received the reply within 24h, no questions asked, and I feel like things were made right.

I hope that anyone reading this can see that mistakes were made on both sides, that based on my recent experience (and what others here have reported), things are a lot better now, and that that is something that should be acknowledged. Without going in to detail too much, I do maintain that back in February, the support experience I had was sub-par, but my reaction to that was just as bad. I’m not the sort of person who normally replies to support with expletives, The fact that I was able to create a new support issue and have it dealt with indicates that my outburst and other mistakes clearly aren’t held against me indefinitely, so it seems only right that I set the record straight, and not depict FW support based on the way things were in February 2024, if just over 6 months later, the experience I had can only be described as “impeccable” or “perfect”.