I received a comment from Ryan Halford, a Senior Buyer for Walmart, and specifically for computers. He was commenting on my $298 laptop post. I'm including his comments and responding to them here.
Mr. Halford said:
I am the buyer for computers at Walmart. Thanks for the comments and feedback.
I have visited the factories where computers are made. There are only a handful of factories manufacturing laptops and desktops. Many make the same product for all retailers and websites. It is pretty difficult to skimp on quality of product when the same factory is making HP, Dell, Toshiba, Acer, etc. products for Walmart, Best Buy, Tiger Direct, Amazon, etc.
As for the opportunity on the return process and support you received from the store, this is something we as a company are focused on improving. With over 3700 stores in the US, when 1 customer has a bad experience from a support standpoint it makes for a bad perception of the entire 3700 stores.
Our return policy is one of the more flexible in retail (and we get taken advantage of many times because of this). Within 15 days of purchase, a customer may return the product with their receipt for a refund (no matter if the unit has been opened or not and we don’t charge a restocking fee or any other fee). There is a 1 year manufacturer's warranty with our computers starting at date of purchase.
We do suffer direct consequences if a machine breaks. Yes, we don’t fix the machines on-site as we don’t have the capability today to do so, but if you have a bad experience with a machine bought from one of our supplier partners in our store, we take the heat and get the perception of selling faulty or cheap product (as is the case here). This makes it difficult for you as a consumer to want to purchase another product from us in this space.
I hate that the customer service was less than acceptable. Please note that we are constantly working on ways to improve.
I appreciate the feedback from your post and will pass it along to some folks within our company as well. Thanks.
First off, thank you, Mr. Halford. I'm impressed, and more than a bit humbled, that you took the time to respond. I'm also impressed that Walmart allows its buyers to speak in an open forum like this about the company's products. Not all companies have that kind of candor.
Second, even if the return policy on the other computer was restrictive, it was clear. It was either printed right on the box or displayed prominently next to the computer display. So I knew the terms when I bought the product.
Third, I bought that HP computer several years ago. A lot of things can change in several years. Thank you for reminding me of that.
Fourth, saying that “customer service was zero on this item” wasn't the best choice of words. More what I meant was that the restrictive return policy (compared with other items that Walmart sells) took Walmart's customer service mostly out of the loop on this item. I'll correct it in the other post.
Lastly, on just about every other product I've purchased at Walmart, returning the product as needed has been easy, and my experience with Walmart customer service has been very good.
Thanks again for responding, and thank you for listening to my comments.
I’m going to take issue with Ryan Halford’s first point. The fact that the same factory makes PCs for a number of different retailers doesn’t mean the quality of all the PCs is the same. Why do you think some PCs sell for $300 or $400 and others sell for $2000? It’s not because Super Expensive Retailer decides to sell a PC for $2000 and Big Discount Retailer decides to sell the same exact PC for $400. It’s because the one factory uses different components for different PCs. It’s because the $400 PC uses cheaper (and probably lower quality) components and the more expensive PCs use higher quality (thus more expensive) components. So, yes, if the factory makes a $300 PC for Walmart and a $300 PC for Best Buy, the two PCs are probably comparable in terms of quality; but a $300 PC is probably not comparable in quality to a $1000 PC.
So, your original point about the HP pavilion is not negated by Halford’s point. Based on your description of the Pavilion, I’d say that your original point is probably correct: it was a cheaply made PC, and one of it’s cheap components was most likely the cause of the problems you saw.
I agree that quality that the manufacture alone does not dictate the quality of the product. Most manufacturers especially those who build laptops for various companies build or should I saw assemble based on the clients requirements. So in most cases the components inside make all the difference in quality. However an inexpensive laptop is a must to let those less cash rich to be able to join in mobile computing.
I agree on Kevins comment about quality, the manufacture alone does not dictate the quality of the product. Most manufacturers especially those who build laptops for various companies build or should I saw assemble based on the clients requirements. So in most cases the components inside make all the difference in quality. However an inexpensive laptop is a must to let those less cash rich to be able to join in mobile computing.
Of course, the fact that the same factory makes PCs for a number of different retailers doesn’t mean the quality of all the PCs is the same. Obviouly they can use different type of parts the expensive one’s for expensive computers and so, and I’ really dessapointed in general with the factory warranties that only helps you when the computer you bought died, when it don’t turn on anymore, do not replace or fix internal errors without even miss all the programs you installed on your PC.
It’s quite interesting that an officer from Walmart responded to your post. That’s a great testimony to the power of Web 2.0. It also testifies to the customer service orientation of Wal-Mart that they care what is being written about them on an independent blog. I wish more corporate organizations are like that.
I have to disagree with you Kevin M. I learned a lot about Wal-Mart in business school and Wal-Mart keeps pressuring companies to figure out ways to sell their products for less. Companies cut manufacturing costs by figuring out a more inexpensive way to make the product which may include buying more efficient machinery or robots, paying employees a lower salary, or buying parts in bulk etc. Computer manufacturers are getting much lower margins on these computers when they sell to Wal-Mart, but they are gaining market share which is why they try to please Wal-Mart. When these same companies sell the product through Best Buy, or some other store that has no where near the low prices Wal-Mart does, they are still using the same manufacturing process to produce these computers, meaning the same parts and same quality. These computer manufacturing companies are just earning higher margins and the customer might receive better customer service or some added value when you purchase the computer through Best Buy or another store that does not follow the cost leadership strategy. If you want a very high quality computer, they are probably not sold at Wal-Mart in the first place because this would deteriorate their brand image.