Life out of the fast lane

Friday, last week, my Netcomm ADSL2+ modem died on duty. After an investigation, the cause of death was the adapter which had been grilled during the hot day (around 32 degree Celsius, I think). There also were some traces of melting on the adapter. Anyway, the modem is still working. I knew because I tried plugging in another adapter from another modem and the green LED light on it appeared but couldn't connect because of its under voltage and current.

This problem should be easily solved by just finding a replacement adapter. However, the one that was used was 15V, 1.33A which is not a very standard output. I tried to find it in almost electronic stores that I recognised but had no luck. Most of them are 12V or 15V, 1.5A and $40+ in price. After consulting my friend, his friend who is an engineer said that the one that should be used must have an exact voltage with equal or greater current. That means you can use an adapter that has 15V and 1.33+A (1.5 or 1.6A is OK). Alright, that makes things much easier and we decided to buy a new adapter, even though it will cost us $40+.

Why do we have to find a replacement quickly? Because we couldn't connect to the internet and that we couldn't find out many many things, for examples, couldn't find how can we get the replacement or couldn't find where to buy or where is the shop and couldn't access to emails. OMG, our everyday lives depend on the internet. So we decided to use the internet from our friend's house :P in Baybrook, when we went to have BBQ pork (Mongolian style) at her house on Sunday. After some researches (by Boss), she found that somebody in Whirlpool.net.au webboard could get a replacement from Netcomm for free. So we decided to call Netcomm to get a replacement (working hours are 9-5).

Monday, I called Netcomm Tech Support in the morning. It took me around 20 minutes waiting time to get to the Tech guy. Although it seemed quite a long time, Netcomm call centre made me feel better than other support lines that I've ever contacted. It informed me which queue I got now and moved up. This made me feel waiting was ending soon and I'd like all call centres or tech support lines to be like this. Okay, after speaking to a Tech guy, he gathered some of my information, modem's model and S/N and my name and address, for instances, and tell me that the adapter will be sent to me within 2 days (free of charge, of course). Wow, the adapter had been sent and I received it yesterday. Back online again!

I was very impressed with Netcomm service. Its tech support line has got customers in mind. They know that customers don't want to wait long and that they need to know when they will be served. Queuing system is a clever move and it relieves customers' frustration. Additionally, I can get a replacement adapter for free from Netcomm even though it is stated in the warranty terms and conditions that power supply is not included in the warranty. This saved us $40 for the adapter.

I would recommend anyone I know who want to buy network stuffs (in Australia) to buy Netcomm as its quality and service are very impressive. Thank you ... Netcomm.