From: jgd@dixie.com (John De Armond)
Subject: Re: Is Liuski reliable?
Date: Thu, 07 Jan 93 08:55:32 GMT
Organization: Dixie Communications Public Access.  The Mouth of the South.

meyers@lorenz.ocean.fsu.edu (Steve Meyers) writes:

>Anyone out there every done business with Liuski International?
>Are their products reliable? Will the company be around more 
>than a year?

Coming off a grueling day of debugging flaky Liuski hardware, I'm 
in a mood to comment.  I've been dealing with Liuski for over 5
years so I can comment with authority.


The magitronics hardware they sell is good, midline hardware that 
is reliable and compatable (runs Unix, Windows, OS/2, etc OK).
If you get a piece that works.  Though they are better than they
used to be, the odds of getting a DOA are very high.  I probably
get one in four power supplies that are dead.  At one time in the
not so distant past when they were so much cheaper than other brands
that it was worth gritting my teeth and doing it, I'd order twice
the hardware I needed, planning on RMA'ing half of it so I'd
be sure to have enough functioning hardware to build the systems with.

RMAing defective merchandise is an experience in itself.  They will NOT
ship warranty replacements without your paying for the new new part.
They require you to ship or deliver the item and wait for them to test
the part and verify it is bad before doing anything.  I've waited 
half days at a time while they futz around "testing".  Frequently I
get to argue with the parts-changer doing the testing as to the problem.
Refunds are slooooowwwww.

I drive across town to pick up most orders because I've found it to be
necessary to open and inspect each box upon receipt.  It is practically
impossible to get them to fill an order accurately.  I had a tower
case shipped over yesterday because I didn't have time to pick it up.
It was missing all the mounting hardware.

They are famous for putting used/defective merchandise back on the shelves
and selling it as new.  I've gotten several tower cases that contained 
heavy dust on the air vents from obvious use.  Yesterday I received a 
mini-tower case from them with a dead power supply.  Upon examination,
I noticed the warranty seal on the PX was broken.  I opened it up 
and immediately found where someone had snipped loose one end of a 
resistor.  I soldered it back down and the supply worked.  I don't
know if someone sabotaged that supply to speed an RMA or what but it
is obvious that no testing was done.

Payment is equally fun.  They require net-30-like three trades and 
a bank reference in order to accept payment by _CHECK_.  There are no actual
terms available as best I can determine.  I have yet to EVER get
a phone call returned.  I have also yet had them to give me a COD
total so I can have a check waiting for the UPS man.  It's always
"I'll call you back with the total".

A few years ago they were the only game in town because of price.  Now
that name brand systems such as Gateway can be purchased already
assembled and tested for only a few dollars more, it ain't worth it.
The last couple of days has been the straw that broke the camel's back.

Here's another factoid.  They are/were on Inc. Magazine's Fasttrack 500
list of the 500 fastest growing companies.  After having worked for a 
couple of other companies on the list and watched others, I've decided
that being on the list is the mark of death.  In order to qualify,
a company has to be growing so fast that effective managament is
impossible.  Something to think about.

John
-- 
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