Matt s.

I purchased the ASUS Republic of Gaming (ROG) Zephyrus GX501 when it came out in March of 2019, from XOTIC PC. The ticket for the machine with tax was $4,118.

From day one, the light leakage from the bezel was excessive to the point of annoying (and I paid $98 to XOTIC to verify this and they clearly did not calibrate or test the leakage). Not being a gamer but a heavy spreadsheet user with regular presentations warranted a 17" screen.

First, on the unit. The screen is very flimsy and at 17" you have to be super careful opening and closing. The pop-up bottom vent on its face is clever but it constantly gets caught and pops out of the hinges. Not good if you ever actually plan to go mobile with your laptop.

Had a number of performance issues, and of course the battery life is awful. At first I got about 90 minutes, and it steadily declined from there. And that is where things went bad.

Initially, it would just go to a shorter and shorter fully charged life, then it hit the point where it wouldnt charge AT ALL. (Does this sound like a battery failure?). After about two months of that, it then would not work even off power. I called XOTIC and then ASUS and they convinced me my 10 month old computer needed a new $200 charger (chargers apparently not on warranty!). New charger accomplished ZERO. So after almost a month of attempts to reach XOTIC, they finally responded (I had to call sales department, support at XOTIC doesnt answer). They had me send computer direct to ASUS in Texas, which I did on March 8 of this year. After a month (it is now late May), I pressed XOTIC and ASUS to tell me status and they stated it wasn't received. About four more weeks passed and Fedex showed up with the box, marked "package refused".

Package was resent to ASUS with signature receipt, and delivered and signed for on June 6. June 26, calls again out for status, and told "we didnt get package". I sent them signed copy from ASUS (marked June 6 by "Christopher") and they notified me that they received on July 11. Despite by their own signature and date completely disavowing that.

They then notified me that 'they suspect' issues might be damage - when they opened case some screws where clearly installed poorly and chassis had flaking paint. They also took a close up of mild cosmetic damage to a corner. Keep in mind, display in perfect order other than light leakage, and issue was battery wouldnt take charge or work off AC.

I suggested that if ASUS machine was poorly assembled this was an ASUS problem... I never disassembled and replaced pieces with identical crappy pieces - let's get real.

To this day, five months without my laptop, neither ASUS nor XOTIC can give me a straight answer to how this is getting fixed. PS, I also did take out the XOTIC "Damage Warranty" which XOTIC wont even acknowledge having any relevance. Light leakage is not damage, it is a "defect", and now that the 1 year warranty from factory is up (because it sat in the ASUS shop for months).

In the end there is NO solution on the table. I have no $4000 laptop, no idea what is being done, and both ASUS and XOTIC just craft lovely letters apology saying "we are sorry for your experience". I have more than 2 dozen of those letters. Not one says what they plan to do other than for XOTIC to fight with ASUS, ASUS to fight with XOTIC, and both of them to ignore me.

Both ASUS and XOTIC PC have illustrated the worst customer experience I have ever encountered in decades. As much as I dislike Apple, and in spite of that sometimes buying more than 100 laptops per year from them, I did so because they took care of me. This experience could not have been more opposite. Both companies do not deserve anyone's business, it is totally and completely unacceptable.

I am taking both parties to small claims court, first time in my life, but this cannot stand, even if just on principle alone.

I purchased the ASUS Republic of Gaming (ROG) Zephyrus GX501 when it came out in March of 2019, from XOTIC PC. The ticket for the machine with tax was $4,118.

From day one, the light leakage from the bezel was excessive to the point of annoying (and I paid $98 to XOTIC to verify this and they clearly did not calibrate or test the leakage). Not being a gamer but a heavy spreadsheet user with regular presentations warranted a 17" screen.

First, on the unit. The screen is very flimsy and at 17" you have to be super careful opening and closing. The pop-up bottom vent on its face is clever but it constantly gets caught and pops out of the hinges. Not good if you ever actually plan to go mobile with your laptop.

Had a number of performance issues, and of course the battery life is awful. At first I got about 90 minutes, and it steadily declined from there. And that is where things went bad.

Initially, it would just go to a shorter and shorter fully charged life, then it hit the point where it wouldnt charge AT ALL. (Does this sound like a battery failure?). After about two months of that, it then would not work even off power. I called XOTIC and then ASUS and they convinced me my 10 month old computer needed a new $200 charger (chargers apparently not on warranty!). New charger accomplished ZERO. So after almost a month of attempts to reach XOTIC, they finally responded (I had to call sales department, support at XOTIC doesnt answer). They had me send computer direct to ASUS in Texas, which I did on March 8 of this year. After a month (it is now late May), I pressed XOTIC and ASUS to tell me status and they stated it wasn't received. About four more weeks passed and Fedex showed up with the box, marked "package refused".

Package was resent to ASUS with signature receipt, and delivered and signed for on June 6. June 26, calls again out for status, and told "we didnt get package". I sent them signed copy from ASUS (marked June 6 by "Christopher") and they notified me that they received on July 11. Despite by their own signature and date completely disavowing that.

They then notified me that 'they suspect' issues might be damage - when they opened case some screws where clearly installed poorly and chassis had flaking paint. They also took a close up of mild cosmetic damage to a corner. Keep in mind, display in perfect order other than light leakage, and issue was battery wouldnt take charge or work off AC.

I suggested that if ASUS machine was poorly assembled this was an ASUS problem... I never disassembled and replaced pieces with identical crappy pieces - let's get real.

To this day, five months without my laptop, neither ASUS nor XOTIC can give me a straight answer to how this is getting fixed. PS, I also did take out the XOTIC "Damage Warranty" which XOTIC wont even acknowledge having any relevance. Light leakage is not damage, it is a "defect", and now that the 1 year warranty from factory is up (because it sat in the ASUS shop for months).

In the end there is NO solution on the table. I have no $4000 laptop, no idea what is being done, and both ASUS and XOTIC just craft lovely letters apology saying "we are sorry for your experience". I have more than 2 dozen of those letters. Not one says what they plan to do other than for XOTIC to fight with ASUS, ASUS to fight with XOTIC, and both of them to ignore me.

Both ASUS and XOTIC PC have illustrated the worst customer experience I have ever encountered in decades. As much as I dislike Apple, and in spite of that sometimes buying more than 100 laptops per year from them, I did so because they took care of me. This experience could not have been more opposite. Both companies do not deserve anyone's business, it is totally and completely unacceptable.

I am taking both parties to small claims court, first time in my life, but this cannot stand, even if just on principle alone.