The System76 Experience
This story begins with a tax return and the itch for a new computer. My trusty MacBook Pro hadn't failed me yet, but it was now out of warranty and I've been in this boat before -- and let's just say I didn't make it to shore without getting a little wet.
When it comes down to operating systems, Linux ranks at the top for me. I can never truly escape the grasp Windows has on the world, but I do my best. Mac OS X served me well, in fact, our relationship was great! But maybe it was more lust than love. I could stare at that screen all day!
Since I knew I wanted to go Linux, I had one name in the back of my head from discussions with the Ubuntu community: System76. I headed over to their website and started to drool over all of the options they offered that were promised to "just work" with Linux (more specifically Ubuntu). After a couple of days of comparing options and deciding what I thought I needed, I picked a configuration and submitted the order. Now here is where the story gets interesting. System76 states that desktops, notebooks and servers all should ship within 10 business days of the order being submitted. I did the math and figured I should expect my computer to ship out and maybe arrive late the following week. Since this was to be my new "main" computer, I didn't have a use for my MacBook Pro anymore. So, I did what any individual would do: I cleaned it up, threw it back in the box it came in and listed it on eBay!
The computer was close to selling later that week, and I was using my 11.6 Acer netbook to do all of my computing on. It's a great little machine, but it didn't take long for my fingers and eyes to hate me! Feeling sore and also impatient, I sent off an email to System76's customer service department. I wasn't asking for much, just a better estimated ship date. I explained my situation and admitted I was just trying to ease my mind. If I knew it was going to take another week to ship, I would at least know and not have to run back to the website every hour to see if the status changed. If their servers went down that week, it was probably me and I apologize! I had received a reply letting me know that the status was still stating 7-9 days until ship on their end, but I was free to check in another day and they would try to have a better estimate for me.
Flash forward to another day...
I sent another email to the customer service representative I had been communicating with. The reply I received this time was filled with bad news: they didn't have the parts in to complete my order, and the ship date had been delayed for another three weeks. I'm patient, but I didn't think I could deal with my netbook that long. My MacBook Pro had already sold and I was getting ready to ship it out. What was I supposed to do? Well, I thought choosing another model would fulfill my computing needs quicker. I sent another email to customer service asking if all models were affected by this delay, and if not, would I be able to change my order? She told me only my original choice was being delayed and I could absolutely change my order if that's what I wanted to do. It was. I figured I could go with my second choice and be just as happy. I sent her the configuration details and she had everything changed in a matter of minutes.
I was know set. I was told my new ordered could probably be fulfilled within a few days and there was not reasons why I couldn't have it by the end of the next week. Everything was looking like it was working out just fine -- until I visited the System76 forums the next morning. I happened to come across a post about two Pangolin notebooks for sale. This was the original model I tried to buy. They were notebooks that they found in inventory and they were selling at a discounted price. I knew I had to hop on this offer. One of the notebooks was essentially maxed out as far as hardware was concerned, included a three year warranty and was still cheaper than the first model I had configured myself. I once again contacted customer support and asked if I could once again change my order. I completely experted them to tell me they did it once, but were not going to do it gain -- I was wrong! They changed everything around for me, allowed me to have it shipped Next Day Air Saturday Delivery and were completely kind during the entire process.
That next morning I had a knock on my door and was staring the UPS driver down as I waited for him to hand me my package!
This story has a happy ending. System76 has great employees working for them that go out of their way to make the customer a happy camper! I'm writing this on my nice, new System76 notebook right now, and I could not be happier! A review of the actual computer will follow soon, but I thought this story should be told first!