Can people comment on the quality of Framework technical support?
I ask because the quality of their sales support is not good. I have tried over the last several days to purchase a laptop, but due to what appears to be a glitch in their website, I cannot complete the purchase. The responses I’ve received from communication with Support are worthless.
I’m trying to decide whether to continuing pursuing this purchase, but won’t bother if the technical support is as bad as their sales support.
I can’t relate to that, even though I’m using privacy-focused browsers. Did you try to complete the process using different browsers? Did you add screenshots to your support requests?
If you could add a screenshot showing your issue here, the community might be able to provide hints in case it’s not a server-side issue.
Afaik Framework makes use of spoc (single-point-of-contact), so I can’t determine, if the responses I’ve received were from the sales support or not. Nevertheless from the responses I’ve received to far (4 in total) I can definately determine, that they’ve been written earnestly and well-meant.
I have tried not only multiple browsers, but multiple computers.
The error I get is that my credit card is declined. However, on contacting my credit card company, they indicate that it was not declined by them. They suggested that the problem is likely an issue with Frameworks processing. In addition, this credit card is in constant use without problems at any other site or store.
I have had several email conversation with Support and include all details and a screen shot. The last response I got was:
“Given the information provided by our payment processor on these purchase attempts, we are unable to allow this order or other payments proceed. We are unable to provide additional details about your payment attempts.”
The response included no information on options I have for completing the purchase.
I had only two exchanges with support. One during the time when the AMD laptops shipped and they were pretty overworked. I can say that I could resolve the issue, but support seemed to not really read the mails I sent, for example at first I sent them a mail with a problem description and a photo of the failed part, in the next mail they asked for photos again without specifying any details why the first photo wasn’t enough.
Then (trying to be helpful and not knowing what they need) I sent them additional photos including one of the general mainboard area (just for reference) and after that they sent me a message asking for a shipping address to send the replacement mainboard to. Note that I only had a damaged SSD screw and some other minor issues, so there was no need for sending a whole new mainboard. I assume they just looked at the photo and said “he took a photo of the mainboard, so he needs a new mainboard” without reading or understanding my messages. Otherwise I have no explanation.
After a further mail exchange I managed to request the correct parts, and they were quickly shipped without any issue, but in general I wasn’t too happy with the support quality.
The other message was an earlier question if the German keyboards still had the mislabelled Ctrl key, or if that error has been fixed since (the mistake has been known for a long time now). Support basically answered “thanks for the improvement suggestion” and closed my ticket. Note that the AMD laptop I bought later still had the mislabelled key.
Thanks for your input. I wonder too if my emails are not really read. In any case, my experience is that Support doesn’t seem to bring a problem to a successful solution.
I can only speak to my specific experience. I’ve contacted support a few times over the last few years, though only for simple matters. I’ve always had courteous and helpful responses.
Is there any chance your card is based in an unsupported country?
Payment processing usually is outsourced, especially by small companies like Framework, so they are at the mercy of the information provided by their payment processor, which for some reason is unavailable or unhelpful in this case.
I suggest to set up an alternative payment method like Google Pay or Apple Pay, if possible.
The accepted payment methods are listed in the following knowledgebase article:
United States
Honestly, companies like Framework have to be very careful about fraud and other schemes. I don’t work for Framework, but I can understand their position. I’m sure they would love to help you further, but if their payment provider is saying they have legitimate reasons to decline the card, there are reasons for this.
Your best bet is to use a different form of payment.
Framework is an excellent company with top notch support. (I do know this, as community moderators work with them across their social media outlets.) I highly recommend them, as their products are also excellent.
I had a similar problem with another website. It kept saying my credit card was declined. It turned out the website was misidentifying my credit card. It was a Visa card but the website thought it was a JCB credit card, which is from Japan.
I had to switch to Paypal to complete the purchase.
Hugh
PayPal isn’t listed in the knowledgebase article, even though that one is dated “January 16 2024 8:25pm”. Are you sure you paid using PayPal? If so, then it looks like PayPal support got cancelled recently.
They had same the problem on another shopping website and fixed it there by using Paypal. Framework doesn’t support Paypal.
I appreciated everyone’s responses. I did not switch to another form of payment as my VISA card would have doubled the warranty on my purchase.
I wish Framework much success in their venture; the concept of what you are doing is exciting. You get nice reviews in multiple publications. However, given the difficulties I’ve had trying to purchase a laptop and communicating with Support, I’d anticipate difficulty getting help with any problems that might arise with the laptop after purchase I’ve decided not to buy one.
Thanks again for everyone’s input.
My problem with a misidentified credit card occurred on another website for another company, not Framework. I apologize if I didn’t make this clear.
Hugh
These threads are wildly out of touch. I would be curious to see someone reproduce this issue with direct purchase from HP, Dell, et. al., and report back on their findings.
Furthermore, the notion that any of these companies are going to provide anything like the support/RMA process at FW is frankly laughable.
I wish the OP best of luck, they are likely to be quite dissapointed by mainstream competitors in the market.
My experience:
ASUS RMA: 6-8 weeks with no replacement and no guarantee of an actual RMA (that’s 6-8 weeks to diagnose and inspect, possibly sending it back and saying “sorry, time for a new laptop” - this despite making clear that I need the laptop for school, going without is not an option).
FW RMA: 3 days email communication, 3 days shipping. Full core replacement. The same representations were made to support wrt the necessity of me having a working machine.
Frankly I’ve been so impressed that I considered starting a support/sales appreciation thread.
My bad, I misread. To be honest, I was kinda surprised, that Framework doesn’t support PayPal. Although that’s actually a good thing, as PayPal deserves to be boycotted ever since they froze the assets of Wikileaks.
I’ve found this community to be more than helpful and a great resource. This, alone has been a big reason I’m confident buying Framework products. I’m confident that if I ever have a serious issue, I’ll find earnest, helpful folks on here who are willing to offer assistance (as am I, in the few instances where I can).
As for support from Framework themselves? My experience has been the opposite to yours. My experience with FW support has made me more comfortable buying from them in the future, not less. Hopefully, whatever you ultimately end up with works for you. Cheers!