You would think that being known worldwide as the leader in its industry would mean that Wacom takes extra care and attention in producing quality products which they back with the best customer service. This apparently isn't so.
My troubles with Wacom started when I bought a Cintiq 13HD about nine months ago. I had been using a Wacom Bamboo Pen & Touch for about four years and decided it was time for an upgrade. The Cintiq 13HD costed me the best part of $1000, and after only three months of use, it suddenly stopped working.
I contacted Wacom's technical support through their website and the next day I received an e-mail reply from their Customer Support Team. The representative and I e-mailed back and forth for about a week, and by that time, I had pretty much figured out that the issue was with the USB cable. I asked the representative what he thought the issue was, and he said he wasn't sure and that I would have to mail the entire Cintiq bundle back to their company.
I didn't want to mail my Cintiq out, for fear of it being broken or lost in the mail, so I simply ordered a replacement cable to see if that would solve my issue. After receiving the new cable, my Cintiq worked perfectly (just like I thought) for another two months.
Then one day while attempting to unplug the new 3-in-1 cable from my Cintiq's port, one of the hooks that keeps the cable plugged in tightly, got stuck when I squeezed the sides to unplug it. After about a half an hour of trying to release it with a pin, I finally freed the hook, only to have it get stuck again immediately afterward. I had no other choice but to contact Wacom again.
I opened another case through Wacom's website, and explained my issues with their cables. I told them that I was disappointed with the quality of the cables and asked that they send me a replacement.
Again, I received a reply back the next day. The representative asked for my shipping information and said that since my Cintiq was under warranty, they would simply replace my Cintiq and all of its components for free, provided that I could show them a receipt.
I sent my shipping information and proof of purchase like they asked, only to have them e-mail me back later saying they had made a "proofreading error" in their previous message. He said my only options were to have only the cable replaced or to send my Cintiq in for repairs.
Annoyed, I e-mailed him back, pointing out that:
A) There was no proofreading error. He had been very clear about replacing the entire Cintiq in his previous e-mail.
B) I could literally see where the cable was made wrong, and therefore I didn't need to send the tablet in to determine the problem.
C) He was either wasting my time, or back-pedalling because he didn't think I would have my receipts to qualify for a replacement.
At the end of my e-mail, I told him that I'd like him to send me two replacement cables, one for each faulty cable I'd paid for, and he sent me a message back saying he had taken care of it for me.
I received the two cables a week later, and after that I didn't have any other issues with the cables (thus far). However, about two and a half months after I received my replacements, I started noticing a patch on the bottom left area of my CIntiq's display where the colours appeared lighter in value. Once again, I e-mailed Wacom's Customer Support, this time with a link to photo of my issue, and once again they e-mailed me back the next day.
The representative said he was unable to view the linked images, and asked that I take one photo of the Cintiq with display turned on, and one while it was off. He also asked that I send the photos as attachments.
I did exactly as he asked, and the next day he replied back and said that he didn't receive any attachments. I apologised and told him that I would send the pictures again. He e-mailed me back and said that he still couldn't retrieve the photos. He explained in detail how to send attachments, and I sent him a message back explaining that I send e-mails with attachments on a regular basis for work, but that I would try sending the images one more time.
Once again, he sent an e-mail back saying that he didn't get the attachments.
Frustrated, I sent the same images to my friends, and asked them if they were able to view the files. All of them retrieved and opened the photos without any problems.
In my reply to the representative, I told him to ask someone in his office to assist him with retrieving my attachments, since the fault didn't appear to be mine. I waited for a response, but he never replied back.
Does Wacom actually hire people who are too stupid to open e-mail attachments? Do they coach their employees to troll their customers? After ten days of waiting for his response, I opened a new case through Wacom's website, explaining my issue with both the Cintiq's display, and with their customer service.
It has now been a week, and I have not received any response to my new case, aside from a no-reply e-mail stating they had received my message. Wacom's Customer service is horrible.