UPDATE: Complaints against Protac grow, despite MD's denials

Protac has insisted that the distie is changing its business model and not closing down.

But resellers have contacted CRN with eyewitness accounts of a nearly empty warehouse and showroom. As of yesterday Protac staff were refusing to honour warranties, said one reseller.

Gary Jeng, managing director at Protac, said any rumours or comments that the company was winding down were inaccurate.

"I think there are a few competitors out there spreading rumours about the company and about us not servicing products under warranty, but it's not true," he said.

Jeng told CRN in an interview yesterday that warranty services were being honoured. He said problems servicing warranties were because there were less staff manning phones.

"We have less people on the phones. Customers need to be patient and if they are trying to contact us on a Saturday then email would be best," he said.

However, yesterday one reseller was told over the phone that there were "no sales staff, no replacement parts and no technicians" at the distie to help him with a warranty claim but was told he could buy the part again.

The reseller, who asked to remain anonymous because of the outstanding warranty issue, said he travelled to the Silverwater warehouse to pick up the part but that staff refused to sell it to him once he had arrived.

"They have absolutely nothing in the place. I went into their office and what used to be their showroom to see if there was anything worth buying but it was all junk going to the tip. There was a couple of hundred dollars worth of stock on the floor, but that was it."

When the reseller asked staff if the distie was closing down, he was told "the boss hasn't decided what we're doing yet". "None of the people I've dealt with in the past are there," he said.

Jeng said yesterday the distributor will only sell products in bulk quality.

"Since March we no longer take orders for individual products, but we still email our resellers if we get a shipment of certain products in," Jeng said.

"We only sell in bulk quantity and we no longer sell one or two graphic card or motherboards because it's getting harder in the IT market."

However, the reseller said there were no deliveries in the hour that he was there and he was told by staff that the only pallets in the warehouse were going to the tip.

"All I got was bullshit from them," said the reseller. "I would have appreciated some honesty" and be told that the company was closing down.

Jeng said fewer products meant he no longer needed the space from the distributor's warehouse.

"I own the warehouse, which is 2800 square feet, and I'm currently looking at either selling or leasing [it]," he said.

"How many distributors can say they own their warehouse? The company isn't in debt and we owe money to noone."

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