WidowPC Gaming Computers - Quality Process - The Widow Way

"Last year, to discourage people from calling at all, Dell removed the toll-free service number from its Web site... It put the number back a few weeks ago."
- BusinessWeek, June, 2006

The Widow Way is a quality process that reflects our dedication to treating our customer like a special friend. We really are fanatical about support and here is the process we use to make sure we give the same level of positively outrageous support to each customer.

A. We only use the best, brand name parts in the business. There are no generics here. If you are shopping around for a gaming computer and have checked other vendors, be sure you notice what brands they use. If they dont specify a brand -- for instance, just list "DDR RAM" instead of "Crucial DDR RAM" -- you can be certain they are using lower quality, generic parts.

B. Once you have placed your order and our Microsoft Certified engineers receive your work order, we follow a strict assembly check list to make sure each computer is a perfectionist's dream come true. Follow along below:

1. Every custom gaming computer configuration is reviewed by one of our experienced technicians for total system appropriateness. For example, a dual video card SLI configuration should have at least a 600W power supply.

2. Assemble the parts in your custom computer configuration into a assembly basket and cross check the parts against your order for accuracy

3. Certify each part with custom built eletrical probes to be certain that each part is eletrically intact

3. Format drives and install the operating system

4. Test the power supply on an amp meter checking for adequate and consistent power flow

5. Install the operating system on hard drive 1 without any "bloatware" (no adware or software tries to sell you something you didn't ask for)

6. Connect the hard drives, CPU, RAM and power supply to the motherboard and check for successful BIOS post

7. Connect the rest of the parts to the motherboard

8. Turn the system on and make sure every part is recognized by the system.

9. Install the most up-to-date, manufacturer recommended drivers

10. Tweak motherboard settings for optimal performance
- Turn off all unneeded motherboard devices (ie, turn off desktop motherboard sound in order to enable the best performance from the advanced sound card you ordered).
- Boost CPU speed
- Enable fan management
- Set boot order to 1.floppy - 2.Optical drive 1 - 3.hard drive

11. Install the most up-to-date, manufacturer recommended drivers and motherboard BIOS

12. Place any extra wires, software, drivers, games, CD keys in the motherboard box to be shipped with the computer to you

13. Wire Management
- Organize and group the wires so that they are not tangled with each other and are out of the way
- For those who select advanced wire management, we take wire management to an extreme level by wrapping the wire groupings in a tight bundle with custom colored, ultra violet reactive plastic tubing and tie off loose wires with wire ties. This adds an "oooh" factor to the inside view of the case that really makes your computer stand out as a work of art and also allows air cooling to increase the performance and reliability of the system.

14. Exothermic System Cooling
- For those who select the advanced Exothermic cooling, we replace the default 80mm fans with quieter and more effective 120mm fans and place a high performance CPU fan on top of the AMD certified CPU fan we use in each of our standard systems. Then, we install custom lighting inside the case to highlight the professional wire management work and the high performance hardware visible from the transparent side panel.

15. Install temperature monitoring software to measure and display temperature performance data [WidowPC customers may download it here]

16. The most rigorous testing in the gaming computer industry:
- we certify each part with custom built eletrical probes
- CPU and video card GPU "burn in" with industry standard applications
- we certify that Doom 3 properly identifies the system hardware and runs smoothly
- we run 3DMark03 on a loop over night tracking the scores as the system warms up under heavy load

17. Install Mozilla Firefox and make it the default browser to protect the computer against spyware and web snooping

18. Install ZoneLabs Zone Alarm and make it the default firewall. This is a much more effective and user friendly firewall than the Windows XP SP2 firewall.

19. Install custom WidowPC animated desktop background

20. Register and activate Windows as a courtesy to the customer and pack Widows XP SP2 disk, registation code and manual for delivery to customer

21. The gaming computer is packed using custom molded foams to ensure that the system arrives in prestine condition

22. Upon shipment, the customer is emailed the tracking code along with warranty and technical support contact information

Fanatical support for every customer means:
- Every WidowPC system is covered by an 30 day money back guarantee.
- Every WidowPC gaming computer ships with a one year parts and labor warranty. In addition, if you live in the Los Angeles area (where are laptop assembly plant is located) we ship the laptop to you via same day elite courier at no extra charge.
- Every customer has toll-free, expert technical support based in the U.S. and staffed with real system builders for as long as they own the computer

A Note From The Founder

Positively outrageous support is random and unexpected acts of kindness and trust, out of proportion to the circumstance. It invites the customer to have fun (and pass it on) and creates compelling, almost unbelievable word-of-mouth. In my opinion, the lessons from reading Positively Outrageous Service and the resulting vision for "Fanatical Support" is the insurmountable competitive advantage that is the real secret behind WidowPC's rocketing growth and success. Check out our blog, Backstage Pass, where we talk about specific daily examples of these random acts of kindness and other ways we use creativity and kindness to overcome impossibility.

Any company can adopt this level of customer care if they are willing to put the effort in. Competitors reading this are welcome to contact us from their corporate email address and I will send out a free copy of Positively Outrageous Service.

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