I believe Frank is just seeking something more than the automated messages that keep getting sent out. This has been a bit of a process and his machine was working fine for literally weeks before this happened.
I see both sides of the issue here: the support team is somewhat small and has a lot going on and Frank wants his shiny laptop working again after being pretty happy with it before it decided to GAME OVER on him.
Rightfully so, as he mentioned before, he did not want to get stuck in a position outside his 30-day return window with a product that failed to meet his expectations. It is really why that window exists to make sure a product is a good fit for the consumer.
Some of this is the risk purchasing a new product with a small growing company, other parts of that is a learning opportunity for companies to identify where gaps are in their product support.
Hang in there Frank! Hopefully @Destroya can shed some insight or get a tracking number!
I am sympathetic to his situation. That does not change that the current state of affairs for the company is such that responses can take time. One can wish that that were not the case, but it does not change the fact that it is the current state of affairs. Given that, each individual must decide if that will work for him or her. If it will not work, then one should return the product.
I agree with you that it could use some optimization. I do expect that that will happen, but I have no idea on the timeline. Note that I am just an end user, with no connection to Framework other than that, so what I have to say next is just, like, my opinion, man. The reliance on email seems to be problematic - it’s easy to miss an email, for one to be caught in spam filters or blocked, and so on. It also provides no means for the end user to check on status - so one turns back to the potentially problematic email route. As you have experienced firsthand, any bumps only delay a process that is already slow (if I understand correctly that is in the process of being addressed, in terms of bringing additional staff online).
Again, I speak only for myself, not for Framework. Hopefully their processes evolve and improve. Their track record from my view has shown that they continue to work to improve, albeit sometimes not at a rate that we as end-users fully understand (for example, firmware updates). I still believe in the company and have been happy with my machines, but if one goes south - fingers crossed that that does not happen - I have another to fall back on temporarily.
I hope that everything gets sorted out for you, and soon. Have a great day.
All points agreed. I just wish that I had gotten the opportunity to experience some longevity before going through this. If @destroya hadn’t have advised via this forum that support had responded to my last enquiry, I would have completely missed it - just as you described. Fortunately it only amounted to a single lost business day and I also have another laptop I can use in the meantime but it is a work asset which I prefer not to use.
Today is the last day of my 30 day return window - I called the number listed on the “contact us” section and the recorded message that greets you immediately is:
“You’ve reached Framework. We don’t have a phone support system but you can get a response quickly by submitting a support request at frame.work/support”
Later today I’ll decide whether or not this will work out for me. Thanks for all your feedback.
We do not actually provide phone support, as mentioned in the message. I understand it may be mandatory to provide a “contact us” number, but that number is not for support.
I see that your ticket is now assigned to the correct person for replacement. You should receive an update soon.
It’s very unfortunate that you experienced this. Most of the time, troubleshooting takes some time, but the part replacement process is straightforward and rather fast. Unfortunately, we had a significantly large backlog when you contacted us, which caused delays. I definitely understand your frustration.
Please keep us updated and share your feedback with us.
Yes and I just figured out it’s not really for anything other than to advise to people that there is no phone support.
I fully understand that the troubleshooting process takes some time but this was really obviously a hardware problem that should not have taken 2 weeks to deliberate on and agree to. Be that as it may, the circumstances are what they are and after mulling it over, I’ve decided to cancel the RMA and request instructions for a return. Had the part replacement process been initiated sooner, I’d have stuck it out but I need a working unit and this experience has soured my interest for the time being. While I don’t have confidence right now that I would have a working unit in a reasonable amount of time, I am thankful that this occurred during the return window and not after.
Thank you for your support @destroya and to the rest who have chimed in here, all of you have been a real help. Hopefully Framework doesn’t decide to hit me with a restocking fee after all this. I’ll continue to provide updates for any who are interested.
I think you will find that the 30 day window is irrelevant here. That is for a ‘no-fault, just don’t want it’ money back return. This thread is about a problem, and if not resolved, even outside the 30 days, the client would be entitled to get their money back under warranty, as they regard the product unfit for purpose.
Not necessarily. “Defective” is one of 3 reasons to choose from for return and the one I selected. The other two being “remorse return” and “repair return.”. The 30 day window allows for the customer to choose vs repair or replacement only occurring at the discretion of going through the process with support. You might even get a replacement unit of equal value / performance if deemed appropriate but that’s not the customers choice.
Unfortunately that’s not been my experience I’m in a very similar boat to @Frank4 having been taken through various unfortunately fruitless troubleshooting steps, only to be left on read for 8 days by support. And this is despite my own community support thread getting picked up by Loell.
Really seems like there is a major bottleneck currently getting support tickets out of troubleshooting and into the RMA.
I see that you are still troubleshooting with the support team. If a part replacement is needed, your case will be assigned to the part replacement team, and the process is relatively easy.
To provide some additional context, we had a backlog of tickets in the general troubleshooting queue, which caused significant response delays a couple of weeks ago. The support team has worked through this backlog, and now responses are sent within reasonable times. The majority of tickets were resolved, while some were escalated internally due to requiring further troubleshooting by specialists. This has created a mini-backlog for the escalation queues, causing the delay you are experiencing.
I see that you submitted your ticket on the first of July and exchanged 12 emails until the second of July, when your case was escalated. The agent should have informed you accordingly to set expectations. I also would have expected a response immediately after such frequent communication with an agent.
While I understand your frustration, I don’t think the initial troubleshooting steps were fruitless. The more tech-savvy we are, the more we tend to skip basic steps and look for complex problems. In reality, the majority of issues can be solved with basic steps. Although that wasn’t true in your case, the agent couldn’t have escalated your case internally without first ensuring the basic troubleshooting steps were not solving your problem.
I hope this provides some context about what we are doing, why we are doing it, and why you haven’t heard from us in a while. The support team is now working on a plan to resolve the mini-backlog in the escalation queues, and you should receive a response very soon. Thank you for letting me know, and thank you for your patience.
Hi Destroya,
Thanks for checking in and updating me on the status of my ticket and (apologies for hijacking this thread). As you say, an update on the ticket upon escalation with some indication that there may be some further delay would have gone a long way. I sort of expected some degree of contact to be maintained once the ticket was picked up and started to worry my emails weren’t getting attached to it.
On second reading my use of the term fruitless came across as derogatory of support and it was not my intent. I simply meant it to convey that, after following provided troubleshooting guides, the board was still unresponsive. I completely understand the necessity of these steps to establish a baseline (and also I’d have been thrilled if the board came back to life with a reset so was happy to follow them all).
That’s good to know, every day I’m without my framework my colleagues make increasingly frequent quips about making me use a Mac, a fate worse than death!
Hello it’s me, I’m back again. This time it’s because Framework has not processed my return yet. FedEx tracking confirms that the return item was received on July 15. This is almost two weeks now.
The last communication I received on 7/18 advised that it will take 24-48 hours for the repair center to “receive the package” and then another 3-5 business days to processing of the return but we’re well beyond that now and Framework is not responding to my enquiries regarding status. @Destroya is this normal? Is there any way you can check via internal channels what the status is of my return? Just just want to put this all behind me now this.
@Frank4
Just for clarity, have you returned the laptop and waiting money back, or is this an RMA return, in which case no money changing hands?
When I did an RMA, I did not get any confirmation of receipt by them of my returned faulty part. I have just kept the postal service tracking info in case they question whether I actually returned it later.
You can find our return policy here: What is the Framework Return Policy?
If you have not received the refund after the time frame mentioned in this article, please contact support.
Ok so I’m looking at up to 5 business days after receiving the item for the service center to inspect and then another 5-10 business days after that to receive a refund. So basically I’ve got another 5 business days to reach the end of that period. Albeit I’ve reached out to support for a status already - I guess there’s just no value now in providing customer service at this stage. Will see what happens a week from now, thanks.
I agree. Always good to understand the root cause of something when you’ve invested that much time into it. However, I did disconnect the wifi card and tested that specifically. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any change in behavior.
All is good - received a response from customer support that after some delays the refund has been processed and I already see them in my account. It is a refund in full.
