Ultra-highend shipping option? :)

[Mauler]

First of all, I'd like to thank Xotic PC for making available an option for CA customers to have it shipped to NE then back to CA in order to avoid sales tax. Definitely a welcome option to CA residents.

I'm currently in between Phase 2 (build/test) and phase 4 (shipping), or put in another way, "phase 4a," as my laptop is already on its way to Xotic PC's plant in NE. Since I chose overnight red option on shipping, I know that as soon as it arrives in NE, it will be a matter of very short time before I receive it. But I can't help thinking that it would really add to the fun and excitement of the purchase experience if I could also keep track of the shipment between Sager and Xotic PC every step of the way! In this day an age, that's part of what makes internet shopping experience fun. :laugh:

Anyways, this got me thinking about the demographics of the Xotic PC customers (of course, I have no idea other than what I can glimpse from forum participants). While there are those who shop for "entry level of highest-end latops," looking to squeeze performance-per-dollar, surely there must also be those who want the absolute best, all options maxed and then some (by any means necessary). And such customers might expect such a standard in every aspect of the experience, not just the product itself -- a concept that Xotic PC is already well aware of and has demonstrated in practice.

It could very well be that only one or two orders entire year might fall under such category, but the fact that such an option is even available to begin with would further set Xotic PC into a league of its own! Staying on topic of shipping, imagine after you chose all the ordering options, you go to the shipping option page and see this:

Ground shipping: $x
2-day shipping: $xx
Overnight shipping: $xxx
Personal Courier: $xxxx

Wouldn't that make you, an "average" ultra-highend laptop shopper go, "Holy batwings? What have I gotten myself into?" :eeek2:

The "personal courier" option could mean anything. I envision, just as the order is finalizing its Phase 2, Xotic PC charters a performance-motorcyle-riding courier who expedites the package to a local airstrip where, another chartered courier (fixed engine or helicopter pilot, depending on accessibility of destination) continues the delivery process -- Mission Impossible style. Everything GPS-tracked, of course. :biggrin:

Localized to CA, it would be easier to price the service (at no loss to Xotic PC, of course). I work in Silicon Valley area, and some of the clients I dealt with have Maserattis rotting in driveway because it's yesterday's fashion!

Just think, Xotic PC leads the industry by being the first in the business to offer such an option!

[Anewbus]

Hey , be careful. Don't let that CA Tax secret out all over the place.;)
(I did that when I got my lappy from Xotic. I didn't care if it came by pack mule 4 weeks later. I was just happy avoiding $100 in unneccessary tax).

This idea would also curtail reliance on UPS who seem to delight in kicking packages around for sport or losing them or both. It's a crap shoot with UPS. Sometimes your package arrives in great shape, other times your afraid to open it or it's already half open due to damage.

Now about those fancy cars rotting in driveways: "Give" them to XoticPC as courier vehicles and they can do car wraps with the XoticPC logo and what not and.....uh, I think I've gone too far.:laugh:

[Mauler]

My laptop arrived as scheduled. The whole purchasing experience made me learn more about UPS than I ever wanted to know (including the "internal games" they play, routing software bias against left-handed turns, etc). It turns out they also have a high end service catering to those who need their package delivered ASAP, whenever, wherever. ***

Google-mapping the cities the package has traveled from Sager to my doorstep: City of Industry, CA -> Lincoln, NE -> Omaha, NE -> Louisville, KY -> Menlo Park, CA. That's 4,600 miles in transit!?! California-to-California! I'm somewhat of a fan of excess. So this will add to my stories whenever someone asks about the NP9280 -- in particular, why the power brick is bigger than their netbook! :laugh:


*** Clarification: I haven't experience any problem with the delivery of the laptop. I was talking about things I learned while waiting for it! :) ***

[Anewbus]

Ah, you notebook arrived in good shape because if you didn't notice it was not marked "Fragile" anywhere in the box.
One of the internal games UPS likes to play is with marked packages. They like to take packages marked fragile and such and play "package olympics" such as kicking across floor for distance, "conveyor shute drop" (seeing how far they can throw a package down the conveyor shute until it hits the belt), etc.
How they get away with this is the mystery, but they do it all the time. We learned this because my job uses them all the time and whenever a packaged was marked it would arrive at the client busted in a hundered pieces.