Cisco Memory Degradation 'Groundhog Day'

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Well, on the 19th of September we had two of our 1801-M devices fail to restart after a power-cycle due to the documented 'memory degradation' issue documented here: http://blogs.cisco.com/news/ciscos-commitment-to-customers/

Fortunately Cisco have decided to stand by their products and honor the fact that there is a genuine manufacturing issue, and replace the faulty components... on the day after "Groundhog day".

We bought the ex-lease devices from a small non-Cisco used equipment provider (as we have with most of our Cisco kit), so we didn't have a Cisco Account Manager.  Everything was fine until we power-cycled the devices, at which point they fail to restart so we have a panic attack and rush to replace the dead devices with two others that we had in stock.

So do we scrap the old ones or get them fixed? Well, since Cisco hack acknowledged the issue, I thought "OK, let's just ask if they will replace them".

I call Cisco the support line, who after 30mins+ of transfers and holding inform me that the devices are covered and will be replace.

I then get a message from an engineer requesting screen-shots of the errors, which I supply.

I then receive an email from the engineer telling me they are not under warranty

I respond and explain that I understand this, and please refer to the 'memory degradation' posting

I receive an email saying I need to have signoff from my Cisco Account Manager

I respond, saying "I don't have one, so what do I do now?"

There's a response of "Contact the company you purchased from and ask for their Account Manager"

"OK, I don't think they are still in business, so what are my options?"

"Contact Cisco Customer Support, explain the situation"

OK, so I email them, and start receiving emails addressed to the Financial Times in San Francisco saying they are replacing my memory modules (I'm in Australia)

After a few days I respond, asking what's happening, and why am I getting these strange emails?

Response "We've created a case for you and our team is working to resolve it as quickly as possible...", followed by "Thank you for contacting Cisco.
Unfortunately the system advising you would need to speak to Account Manager regarding the issue if the device is not covered under a support contract."

I respond "We've been through this before..."

Response: "The serial numbers FHK*** and FHK*** requested not associated to a valid Cisco Contract or warranty.
As this request is for the APAC regions please contact your Cisco Account Manager and ask them to follow the APAC Approval Process."

And we've finally achieved a fully phase locked loop that Steven Hawking (or Bill Murray) would be proud of!

Has anybody managed to get anywhere with Cisco over one of these support issues, or is it more that failing to have an active Account Manager means that Cisco avoid resolving hardware faults through a process of bureaucratic delaying tactics until we lose the will to live?

I've spent many times the value of these devices in wasted time now, and am still no closer, plus I'm left in the scary situation that I have no backup devices for the two running systems and I dare not touch them in case they reboot and die forever.

Just one of the many joys of conversing with hardware suppliers...

Regards,
  Jason

[Leo Laohoo · Accepted solution]

We bought the ex-lease devices from a small non-Cisco used equipment provider (as we have with most of our Cisco kit), so we didn't have a Cisco Account Manager.  Everything was fine until we power-cycled the devices, at which point they fail to restart so we have a panic attack and rush to replace the dead devices with two others that we had in stock.

So do we scrap the old ones or get them fixed? Well, since Cisco hack acknowledged the issue, I thought "OK, let's just ask if they will replace them".

If a "straight answer" is what you seek then its:  No maintenance contract = no replacement.  Period. 

Take my case, we have >200 wireless access points sitting in our storage room.  They are dead and all affected by the same issue.  When purchased maintenance contract up until two years ago.  In Cisco's eyes, we don't have any Maintenance contract.  NONE.  So now, I have 200 dead weights.  

I tried contacting our AM/SE but they sang the same tune.  

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Damn, accidentally clicked "Correct Answer" instead of Reply...

So are you saying that the WAP's you own all died of the same RAM degradation problem that Cisco have agreed to address and they have refused to do so, or are you talking about something completely unrelated to this issue?

[Leo Laohoo · Accepted solution]

Exactly.  Cisco says, "we'll replace them" but on the proviso you've got a valid Maintenance Contract. 

If you don't have a valid Maintenance Contract, you're stuck.  

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This might be your experience, but this does not reflect the content of their public announcement:

Despite many of these products being out of warranty, Cisco has decided to take a charge of $655m related to the expected cost of managing these issues. We are taking this action to support our customers and partners.

So, their public posting says they DO cover this, meaning either your AM was unaware of this, or their internal process conflicts with their public announcement.

I would guess it's the former in your case.  My problem is simply that we don't have a Cisco AM, and I get the runaround when I ask them for options.