Order an Intel BOXDQ45EK Mini-ITX = Free AOpen S145A Mini-ITX Chassis 91.90G20.A010

Intel currently has a promotion on called Now’s the Time (Intel’s Promo Site). If we purchase an Intel vPro enabled BOXDQ45EK Mini-ITX motherboard then a freebie chassis will be thrown in at no cost to us.

Here are some of the promos available to us in Canada:

Here in Canada, no one has stock on any of the promo codes except Ingram Micro Canada.

• Ingram Micro SKU 11914L includes:
• Intel DQ45EK Mini-ITX vPro Enabled Motherboard
• AOpen S145A Mini-ITX Chassis

Finding an image of the S145A via search was not very easy to do.

The other distributors have In-Win or Winsis Mini-ITX chassis but no ETA on stock for either. Ingram happens to have a lot of the AOpen S145As so we took a risk.

Here is a side-by-side with an In-Win BM639 series Mini-ITX chassis we have been using to date on the left and the AOpen on the right:

The AOpen is slimmer but longer than the In-Win. Thus, we need to keep that in mind when it comes to the workstation’s desktop footprint.

Folks like the height of the In-Win because an LCD monitor sitting on top of it is actually at a pretty comfortable level for a broad spectrum of users.

The promotion is a good deal, but, for the cost conscious among us it is important to note that the AOpen chassis only accepts slimline optical drives. The AOpen, however, does include a slimline SATA to standard SATA adapter cable which is a nice touch.

The typical slimline DVDRW drive is about $60CA or so from our local sources. A quick check with the larger distributors may yield a much better price.

Another plus on the AOpen’s side is the larger power supply. At 160 Watts we can look at a 150GB or 300GB VelociRaptor (2.5” standalone version linked) for a more robust disk subsystem and not worry about taxing the PSU.

The Ingram promo SKU needed to be ordered via phone as the online card had the SKU listed under the motherboard’s SKU, but would not allow us to place it in the cart.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

Ingram Micro Canada Has Picked Up the Ball …

A while back, we had a lot of grief with virtually any order we placed with Ingram Micro Canada (IMC - blog label search for Ingram Micro).

Now, there are times where we need product as soon as possible, so we have had no choice but to deal with IMC.

Lately, we have been pleasantly surprised that any orders we have been placing with them have been coming through successfully. The principle reason we have been seeing more successful orders is due to their Web interface being greatly improved when it comes to the Check Out process.

We have still had to call in once or twice on those end of day orders to chase them up to release the order in their system for whatever reason, but for the most part things seem to have improved markedly.

The one area that IMC can still improve is in their RMA processing, or lack thereof. Obtaining an RMA for product can be very tedious at times.

For now, we give Ingram Micro Canada a B Minus for our overall experiences with them and their vastly improved customer relationship management.

We can be a pretty tough customer at times, so the improvement we have experienced says a lot! Way to go IMC. :)

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

Ingram Micro Canada drops the ball ... yet again :(

We have mentioned in the past that we have had some difficult dealings with Ingram Micro Canada.

Well, a client of ours ordered some Lexar 1GB JumpDrives that were only available from Ingram.

All we needed were 5, so we placed the order online last Wednesday afternoon with the confirmation email for the order coming through shortly after that. We made sure to phone in and verify a number of times via the sales rep we were speaking with that the order was good to go and they assured us that it was.

We had already committed to our client that they would see them today as yesterday was a holiday here in Canada.

We received a call last Friday afternoon from another Ingram sales rep indicating that our order was still on hold and required approval.

We indicated to the Friday sales rep that we had done all of that with the previous Wednesday rep. They even indicated that our credit card was indeed associated with the transaction and that it should have gone through.

So, then began the "negotiations" to have that shipment overnight to us so that we would receive it today. After a successive amount of, "Please let me place you on hold" by the Friday sales rep, they received the go-ahead to get the shipment to us today by UPS overnight at no extra charge.

Guess what?

The transaction was still on hold this afternoon! This was found out because our regular UPS driver had not shown up by lunch. A quick check of the status for the transaction turned up today's date for the transaction being released.

This was after the Friday sales rep assured us that the product would reach us today, after the Wednesday sales rep had assured us that the product would be here by today, and now today the Customer Service rep letting us know that the product will be here tomorrow.

*Sigh*

So, now we are in the position of having to apologize to our client for the product delay all the while providing them with an ETA for tomorrow. In the mean time the delay has caused a production issue with our client, so we will end up needing to compensate them in some way as a sign of good faith.

We are only as good as our word. If a client cannot count on our word, then what else is there?

Under promise and over deliver.

That motto takes on a while new meaning when it is our reputation and the food and shelter we provide our families on the hook for a client's lack of confidence in our word. They certainly would not be our client once they have lost that confidence in us.

We have certainly lost confidence in Ingram Micro Canada as a reliable source for product. It is disappointing, but true. :(

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

Ingram Micro Canada - Frustating - Infuriating - Downright Obnoxious

NOTE: Frustration induced post...

Up here in Canada, we have essentially the Big Three suppliers for purchasing IT stuff at jobber/wholesale:

• Synnex
• Tech Data
• Ingram Micro

There are a couple of others that we have dealt with from time to time.

While we are not a large I.T. business by any means, our sales do make a difference.

Here is our breakdown for purchases:

1. Synnex 70%
2. Tech Data 24%
3. Other 5%
4. Ingram Micro 1%

There are reasons we only give Ingram Micro Canada less than 1% of our business:

1. Try getting an RMA within the alloted time frame for that product
2. Try getting product recovery that was damaged in shipping
3. Try getting the RMA credit back.

Today, we came across a situation that absolutley dumbfounds: We were issued an RMA for a DOA laptop in January where the credit is still not reflected on the credit card.

So, we called up the customer service folks at Ingram Micro to find out why there is a credit sitting in their bank that belongs to us almost 3 weeks later. Apparently the credit needed to be processed manually!

Not only that, we were the ones that needed to chase them down in order to get that credit issued. No phone call from their customer service people to say, "Mr. Elder, there was a hang up in our system and your credit will be processed as soon as we clarify things" around the time the original RMA credit transaction happened.

The kicker is this: Checking our Ingram online statement while talking with the customer service representative showed another credit from quite a while ago. Upon requesting clarification on that credit, it too had not been issued!

Folks, want to really insert expletive here off your clients? Hang onto their money for a little while with no explanation or initiative to give it back.

When looking back across the transactions we have done with Ingram Micro over the last number years, less than 10% of them were trouble free. To rephrase: Over 90% of all transactions we have ever done with Ingram Micro Canada had a problem.

Folks, just because a company is the cheapest on the block, doesn't mean that we are going to buy from them. The extra point or two that we pay at the other guys is justified when we need to turn to them for anything and they give us the red carpet treatment.

And believe me, the extra service from phone calls from our sales representatives, to product promotions calls, to "how are things going" calls from the various Synnex and Tech Data people makes a whole world of difference to us.

That same standard we hold to those we deal with in our day to day business life is the one we hold against our own business: Our clients and their business come first.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.