WTF? No online retail for Matrox?

[red2]

Ant just posted a message about it. Seems like a VERY poor decision to me if it is true. Matrox online store only is just a tad bit too expensive unless they are going to cut their prices by like 25% or so.

[Joel]

No! What it really is, is that the online stores can't buy them from Matrox and sell they to you at the price promised without lossing money. And instead of telling you that they will blame Matrox, cancel your order and then later have them at a higher price, which you won't be able to do anything about since your order was canceled.

Joel

[DuRaNgO]

absolutely, they get a bunch of pre-orders at a low price then try to pressure companies like Matrox to drop the cost to them
jim

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PIII-500mhz @ 620 ! with an Abit BE6 mobo
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Game 1 - Race 65.07 FPS
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Fill Rate 268.79 MTexels/s

[Helevitia]

I have a hard time believing that it is the fault of the online retailer. This is a clear cut case of monopolizing at it's finsest. Matrox continues to amaze me on how crappy their marketing folks treat customers. Sometimes I wonder why I continue to buy their products(other than the obvious). In reality, they don't really deserve our business.

Dave

[jhalada]

Not selling people who want to buy your product at price agreed on previously is just another nail in Matrox's coffin.

How can you sell more product if you refuse to use dealers who are willing to sell it for you? The answer is: Matrox will sell less product, make less money (or lose more) until eventually Matrox becomes irrelevant.

If there is no desire on part of "computer enthusiasts" (term computer vendors use for suckers) to buy Matrox products, there will be less desire for box makers to sign volume deals with Matrox to use Matrox cards in their more expensive lines.

Matrox has been unable to sign any motherboard maker to bundle Matrox chips on motherboards for less expensive lines. There is one system out there by FIC that includes G200 chip on the motherboard. It is called Neptune. It is on their web site, but I have not seen anyone selling it.

If Matrox continues moving in the direction they are moving, there will be no Matrox in 2 years. You heard it here first.

This is a company in a tailspin. The yields on the G400 chips must be so terrible that Matrox is faced with a decision to either sell at a loss, or to hike prices. They decided on a sneaky price hike. The result is that they sell a small fraction of what they used to sell at some nominal profit.

There is a limit to how much you can do to screw your customers before they all leave. Nvidia has a new generation of a chip ready, while Matrox is still struggling with the last generation.

At this point, the only thing I hope for is that Matrox delivers adequate drivers for Windows 2000 before they self destruct.

[IceStorm]

Two of the rules of online ordering:

1) Never order a product that is "on backorder".

2) Always call the next day to verify shipment.

As for the product being available only at Matrox's store, who cares? It isn't like the G400 and G400 MAX aren't priced competatively. You try finding another card out there with the functionality of DualHead.

And I don't think Matrox has a yield problem if they're OEM partners with the likes of HP and Dell.

[LAMFDTK]

Hey I hate to say this but there is no way I'm payin' 250.00 for a Max, no way And I'm lookin for one. I can get a GEEEEFource at the Comp-usa here in NJ right now.(not that I want one) But I can't get a MAX unless I pay up? Its called price Fix. One place to buy, one place that sets price. Big Problem.

Hey SOMONE hook me up with a MAX !

[This message has been edited by LAMFDTK (edited 26 November 1999).]

[Himself]

This is a soap box thread.

I agree, Matrox comes across as sneaky and underhanded in general and it's all because they never say anything. They need to go to the NVIDIA school of marketing, even if I hate it, just look at the stock price of NVIDIA to see how well it works.

Then again, if they can't supply demand, what do they care about marketing?

[rylan]

Yep, Matrox pulls another customer relation fiasco. G400 and MAX searches on pricewatch and shopper.com are returning about 1/3 the results they used to. I contacted some of the retailers that are listed on the Matrox site as places you can buy their products from, and they said they are no longer selling Matrox products because they cannot get product. Of the few remaining places that do sell the MAX, they are all saying Feb. 2000 as a "possible" shipment time.
Looks like Matrox is trying to pull a Microsoft and monopolize the G400 and MAX sales. Except they forgot that we do have a choice for other cards, since many of us feel that $250 for 6 month old graphics tech is a ripoff.

Another interesting note, I saw Compaq manufactured G400s on the net for $155, but no Matrox G400s. Interesting that another manufacturer using the same components will ship, but Matrox refuses to. Guess I'll wait a couple weeks until some of the new stuff comes out. And I wanted a MAX too.. oh well. Guess I can thank Matrox sales & marketing for driving me off.

Yeah, this probably does belong in the Soap Box thread :P

[jhalada]

I did buy eventually my MAX from the Online store, after about 4 months of BS from Matrox about ETA of shipment. But the whole experience left such a sour taste in my mouth that it was probably the last Matrox graphics for me.