User blasts AST support

AST is the latest PC supplier to come under fire from customers for supplying faulty products and failing to provide support, writes Sean Fleming.

The complaints follow allegations made by several Compaq customers of a drop in product quality (Computing, 19 March).

Water purification specialist Elga, based in High Wycombe, claims that 50% of notebook and desktop systems delivered by AST malfunctioned, but the supplier has refused to respond to requests for support. Elga, a long time AST customer, has more than 80 of the vendor?s desktops and notebooks.

Phil Perry, Elga?s IS manager, said there had been no response to three letters of complaint to AST last year.

?There were a number of laptops with screens and keyboards that weren?t working. PC card slots weren?t working and some machines weren?t powering up at all,? Perry said.

Clive Longbottom of CSL Consultancy Services said some quality problems can be attributed to increasing pressure for manufacturers to cut corners. ?You get to a point where there?s always a compromise. If the price war continues something will have to give,? he said.

AST announced in January that it was pulling out of the server and desktop markets to concentrate on notebooks.

More than the technical problems, however, it was AST?s lack of response that most angered Elga. One charge was that marketing manager Nick Harris was told that complaints via email would only be ignored.

No-one from AST was available to comment as Computing went to press.