lehpron
How are the terms defined, I'm not talking about a user agreement, I mean:
- What conditions define a member?
- How is it different from a customer?
- Do frequent or legacy members get any priorities over new members?
I ask about the latter as they are the first ones to cry foul when someone random that just signed on wins the Scavenger Hunt prizes every year. So in the defense of frequent or long-time forum visitors, random users have to be limited in what they get, unless this program is purely a money grab to help identify your baller customers' needs better since they'll be the ones to sign-on no question or hesitation...
In other words, since no one is asking, what is EVGA looking to gain out of this?
+1.... Some great points there lehpron. I'm not a big fan of membership clubs like this because usually they never tend to be worth the money in the end. Its usually more of a scam for the company to make free money while offering you all the peanuts in one package. Now, I wouldn't expect EVGA to do this because on the customer service end they are a very good company and very fair to us, but they are a business. Most of the stuff you guys are asking for we already get or have in some way and its pretty good the way it is. I was a big fan of the lifetime limited warranty because I actually keep and use my cards but since most people sell theres the same year they get them anymore I understand them going to the KR program and a optional buy in for a extended warranty, although you would think that they would be able to sell the card a little cheaper since now people are paying for a warranty for anything over three years and paying for EAR service. So if we have to pay a extra 60 bucks for the 10 year warranty on a 1080, which we used to get for just registering your card, at least split the difference and sell the card for 30 bucks cheaper!? Or give us 60 evga bucks upon registration maybe. Anyway, heres what I think on the rest so far, but what the heck do I know lol..........
1. I saw a "directline" or essentially a "redline" mentioned to reach EVGA direct which we already have, the 800 number, and the forums which work great too, sometimes better. They will never give the public Darwins or Jacobs cell numbers, so forget that guys, and that's about the only way you could get someone quicker, lol. Although, it would be funny if.............. :P
2. Availability they cant really do too much about because that's in Nvidias hands and the fabs and every partner only gets so many cards depending on how badly NVidia has worked them over in there contracts. They already have the notifications for a product if you sign up for them but they are a little slow so that part they could work on. They already split the stock for preorders and steps ups, which get priority as it is, so im not sure really what more you could do with that.
3. Premium support I cant see getting cause its not going to get much better than it is already, and to degrade someone else's customer support experience just because now youa section of guys paying money isn't too fair. Really, your stepping on something EVGA is known for across the board so I don't think they would want to mess with that and jeopardize what they've earned so far.
4. They already have the chat setup with the podcasts/twitch etc... I thought, right?!?
5. Going to evga HQ, I doubt they will ever do that. You could try though, just watch the guard towers. :P
6. LAN partys they could setup though. That's doable and pretty easy.
7. Longer step up program probably wont happen. The point of the step up was to cover you for 90 days in case another card dropped so close to your purchase. Originally that potential was there and it happened much more back then than it does today. GPU drops are pretty good at staying on a set schedule anymore. Plus for the sake of refurbishing/bstock sales/RMA's its much better to have a card come back with 90 days or less used on it, which is good for everyone involved.
8. Longtime or frequent forum contributors I think should def be considered when making a pay for membership program because without them there is no forum, help, advice etc... and EVGA's forum is quite well known which helps new builders , especially, get the correct info they need and be part of a good community. Although, I am one of those so I am def biased a little bit, admittedly. :) Evgas techs are on quite a bit but without the frequent members, a lot of questions wouldn't get answered cause they surely cant get to everyone, but you guys are welcome to try!!! I think well let ErinW handle all those, lol.
9. Shipping .....this is a big one that can def get improved in general. More options would be nice because depending where you are and what your shipping you may get a better deal with a different carrier. Not that you haven't done some things EVGA, I understand, but sometimes the shipping prices are absurd for a cheap item you may need in a pinch so a alternative carrier may be able to fix that. Im sure they've looked into this but we all need to understand that its about covering there butts as much as its about our butts. No one wants to take the hit on losing things worth more than just a few dollars.
10. EVGA NEEDS to incorporate our over seas brothers and sisters in more of the promotions and perks that the US and Canada customers enjoy. They need to put us all on equal footing and spread the joy to all! :) Seriously. They really are a very good customer service company, but that service hasn't seemed to transfer well to other countrys, since day one, which is a crying shame for the users being beat over the head by a ASUS warranty nightmare, although maybe over seas and closer to ASUS HQ its not as bad like with the US and EVGA?! They do get there own exclusive promos and perks but they don't seem to see as many of them as we do.
Well, that's all I got.... this wall of text ends now. Thank god, huh? \m/