SEAGATE RESELLERS SLAM INGRAM OVER WARRANTY DEALS

Seagate resellers who have sourced products through Ingram Micro are up in arms over the distributor's alleged failure to adhere to its returns and warranty agreements.

The accusations come just weeks after Ingram was axed by storage vendor Seagate as part of a channel overhaul (PC Dealer, 15 July).

Mike Perris, purchasing manager at Middlesex-based reseller Shannon Micro, claimed he had attempted to return faulty disk drives to the distributor, only to be told they could not be processed because Ingram was no longer a Seagate distributor.

'We did have a returns policy with Ingram Micro but that seems to have gone out of the window for faulty disk drives,' he said. 'I've honoured an agreement with my customer to take them back and I expect Ingram to do the same.'

Seamus Twohig, storage business manager at Ideal Hardware, claimed: 'We've picked up a few customers from Ingram because it is refusing to uphold any warranty.'

But Sandy Scott, managing director of Ingram Micro UK, claimed it had received no complaints from Seagate customers.

'We continue to process all genuine Seagate returns and will continue to do so until Seagate asks us to refer them to another distributor,' he added.

Martin Vine, distribution sales manager at Seagate UK, insisted: 'Seagate fully supports Ingram Micro's warranty claims, even though we have parted company.'