Written by neilencio

I recently sold my Neo Basic B3300 netbook, less than a month after buying it.

It’s not that I wasn’t satisfied with the performance or that it’s cruddy and prone to breakage; I got the thing for a whole lot less than other branded notebooks with similar specs so it gets a free pass for being poorly made, which is a moot point because the netbook was NOT substandard.

The B3300 performed as well as a netbook should, and I used it for work nonstop for an entire week – no crashes or freezes, only intermittent lags caused by the underpowered processor.  Never had any problems whatsoever, except that one time when the battery died on me.

I could have kept on using the netbook while plugged in, but what would be the point when I already have a better desktop PC that doesn’t force me to squint my eyes? I wanted something that is portable and usable even during power outages.

The biggest reason why I sold it is that I don’t have the time nor the patience to navigate the complex system they have in place when it comes to getting parts replaced. It’s not totally BAD customer support: the people I’ve dealt with were very nice and gave me the impression that they’re very sincere about wanting to help me with my problem. A certain Ms. Jenny even went out of her way to keep me updated on the status of my trouble ticket, using her personal number instead of their toll free line. For what it’s worth, I would like to buy all of them dinners.

It’s not a problem with the service centers’ accessibility either, since there are two of them that are just one jeepney ride away from my house. The real problem is that there are no parts available for my netbook (which I found odd, because it’s a fairly new model and they’re just starting to market it)  in both of the service centers I went to. I have to personally visit their main branch and bring the unit itself. This is the important part. I still need to bring the unit itself so that the tech guys from that branch can test if it’s really a factory defect and not the fault of the user, even though the tech guys from the other center have already verified that it’s a defective part and not broken through misuse.

They can’t assess the unit in one of the branches close to me and just notify the tech guys from the other branch that yes, the battery that this guy will bring is defective, he doesn’t need to bring the netbook unit along. I am not being obtuse, their main branch is located in a place where bringing an expensive electronic gadget (or a cheap electronic gadget that looks expensive) is akin to pointing at every shady individual you come across and shouting  “HEY, YOU! Please stab me in here and take every valuable thing you will find on my person!” while using your other hand to gesture suggestively at your neck area.

The funny thing is, I SO didn’t want to deal with the complex and dangerous steps I had to take just to get a free replacement that I just asked them if there’s any store that sells a new battery for the model and I will buy one, but no luck.

So yeah, I sold it for a loss (the final price, after haggling, was 7k). I basically said to the buyer that I am selling it as defective (and priced as such) but it’s under warranty and if she can get it repaired, she’ll have a brand new netbook for half the price of one on the shelf.

I’m not mad at the tech support people who handled my case, they’re doing their job well under a system that’s broken, and anybody who’s ever had gainful employment knows (or should know) that you never blame rank and file employees for hitches in the system that they have neither power nor authority to fix. I don’t see myself buying another product from them in the future, though.

(Also, I am aware of the fact that I bought a cheap product and I just got what I paid for.)