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Razer. The Cult of Razer.
![[image loading]](http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs18/f/2007/153/4/2/Razer_Logo_Speed_Vectorisation_by_mflatischler.png)
Recognize this? Their symbols are all over every tournament, every player's stream. On Boxing Day, when I was browsing Amazon.com to pick myself a christmas present, I had their brand burned into my mind. I knew I wanted to become a starcraft hero, and to do that, I needed a good mechanical keyboard. I had done a little research and I knew cherry blues were the switch for me, and I knew a number of keyboard models that had them.
And then I saw it: A Razer Blackwidow for 50% off, one day only, on Amazon. Now, if I had seen this kind of deal in any other situation, I'd have been immediately skeptical. I work with computers, I know "surprisingly cheap" is almost always a red flag. However, it seemed like the stars were aligning. It was the right model of keyboard (has blue switches), the price was great, and it was the right brand. Razer. The cult of Razer. They only had about 3 left in stock, and the sale was only for boxing day. I had to decide quickly.
However I knew I owed myself at least a bit of dilligence, so I went ahead and read the customer reviews. As with most reviews, there were a large number of people who simply gave 5 stars and a smiley face as their comment, but there were a few scathing reviews left by customers too. They made points like, "Impossible to clean", "Razer has shit customer service", "Keyboard dead on arrival", "Keyboard stopped working after firmware update". I decided to look around elsewhere on the web and I found that these problems were actually pretty common. No one could say that I was uninformed of the risks.
Fast forward a week, I get my new keyboard. It's heavy, the keys feel nice. Even the packaging is cool, I actually look at the manuals and product catalogues instead of throwing them away while installing the drivers. There's Razer logo stickers, I put one on the side of my computer case. Apparently the keyboard won't work until I restart, so that's what I do.
Except, It never worked. The lights never came on. As good as the keys felt under my fingers, they sent no signal to my computer. Suddenly I remember all the reviews I read... This is exactly what was predicted! Why did I buy this piece of shit? I follow Razer's troubleshooting steps. The firmware updater of course, does not recognize the keyboard and shuts down immediately. So at this point, I'm pretty much out of options. Great. Time to look into a return.
Amazon would gladly exchange my product, but it has gone out of stock and won't be resupplied (go figure). So they offer a complete refund, however $60 isn't going to get me a new mechanical keyboard, So I basically got fucked out of my "boxing day deal" opportunity.. I could have bought something else then and I'll have to pay more now. Razer will take it for RMA, but of course I'd have to pay the shipping (another $25 cdn), and if you sum that with what I paid already I'm approaching the cost of a different product anyway.
Now, I write all this as a cautionary tale. I know I'm the one to blame here, it was my choice after all, but I can't help but feel that maybe players and teams should be more careful about who they take as sponsors, more careful about endorsing any goddamn thing for a little bit of cash without looking into the reputation of the products or the company. It's not like this is a one-off, isolated case either. As I said, a simple bit of googling is all it took to find out what people actually think about them.
At the end of the day, they get paid, the company gets advertised. But the little guys like me, the gullible well-meaning fans, get left in the rain. I trusted Destiny, I trusted Team Liquid, I trusted MLG. If not for these organizations having Razer logos all over their stuff, there is no way I would have bought Razer even with the great price. I should have put more trust in product reviews instead, they were written by unbiased people who actually used the product.
The next time someone says, "Thank X for supporting esports, buy their products" just remember that you shouldn't buy something just because someone you like tells you to. You'd be surprised how easy it is to forget this simple rule of business when you really love the player or team in question. I normally have nothing but disdain for ads of any kind, but I let my guard down. Don't join the cult and blind yourself to the facts like I did.
PS: The hero of the story is Amazon.com, who will take back a defective product they can't resell, who paid the shipping to me and will pay the shipping back as well. Upon doing research, it seems Amazon has a pretty good reputation for what they do. If anything, its companies like these which should be sought as sponsors.
Edit PPS: A lot of people are confused here, I'm not really complaining about Razer as a whole, just complaining about how I was influenced to buy their products even though when I buy computer stuff normally, I trust reviews to warn me about problems. Because they put their logo on every e-sports show I watch, I bought their shit in spite of the warning signs that this particular product has a high failure rate. And I got shipped a lemon for my ignorance.
 
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you don't need a good mechanical keyboard
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Some products are bound to be defective on delievery, especially electronics. It sucks that you got that 1/100 that is a dud, but razer's return policy is pretty standard. I've dealt with their customer care a few times and never been disapointed. I don't think that getting a defective piece of electronics is grounds to write a scathing review, it's going to happen from time to time regardless of the company and from what I can tell Razer is not at fault at all handling the situation.
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My blackwiddow works fine 
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haha  I was looking at that exact same deal on amazon. and lost out because it went out of stock before I could buy it. Make me sad that you returned your when you could have not have bought it and I could have gotten a defective one and got a rma.
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Every product has bad reviews but in this case its overwhelming. I pride myself on not making bad computer purchases, I know a lot about brands and the technology because I work in a store where half my shifts are spent as a technician, and half as a sales rep. I deal with stuff in this area every day, although we don't carry Razer where I work or any other specialized gamer gear.
Anyway my point was that I got suckered by advertising in spite of a red flag price and red flag reviews. Not that Razer is forever horrible. sorry that wasn't clear.
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Yeah all of my razer products died pretty fast (2 mice 1 headset). And yea they also have terrible customer service. They just market their products to esports and help promote esports to be able to market it =p. Kind of sucks because I like the way they market but I wish their products were better. Would pay more for a good product + esport marketing!
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I wouldn't want anyone to say that company X shouldn't support eSports, because you never know they might actually be listening. From what I know, Razer make affordable gaming gear for average gamers. It's not top of the line best quality, but it's stuff that looks cool and has some design specifically for gaming.
"My keyboard doesn't work, therefore no event should have Razer as a sponsor" seems like a tad of an over-reaction, especially since you got all your money back. There will be other sales.
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Canada13389 Posts
On January 23 2012 13:13 Medzo wrote:
Yeah all of my razer products died pretty fast (2 mice 1 headset). And yea they also have terrible customer service. They just market their products to esports and help promote esports to be able to market it =p. Kind of sucks because I like the way they market but I wish their products were better. Would pay more for a good product + esport marketing!
I have never had my razer stuff break on me and I've had quite a bit of it and for a long time. I think 2 mice, a headset and a keyboard and they all still work. Some of it is about 2 years old but I have a mouse from 6 years ago and headset from 4 and it still works. Different people have different luck I guess.
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On January 23 2012 13:11 Spray wrote:My blackwiddow works fine
Ya same here, I love my black widow! Sucks that you had a bad experience with razor, but I love my keyboard.
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I got a Tt Esports Meka keyboard for about 50% off during the holidays and it works perfectly. A cheap price certainly doesn't always indicate a bad product -- to be honest you're probably just as likely to get a DOA product at full price.
At least you got your refund in the end!
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razer has never given me problems )
i had a diamondback that after some serious abuse started double clicking randomly on single clicks
sent it back and got a new one right away
with other companies, if your mouse or keyboard breaks, you're just plain SOL
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I'm starting to wonder if I just got super lucky with my salmosa or something. I hear about all these razer product failures but my mouse has taken a beating and is going strong for its fourth year.
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Great blog 5/5 I like how you don't turn all emo-kid but bring up your message clearly.
IMHO, tried Razor stuff that my friend had (couple keyboards/mice, didn't care enough to remember the names) for about a week or so and found that the shit is really cheap. All their little features are gimmicks and don't add any value. They sponsor and advertise more than they should, and try to come up with stupid shit like "PC GAMING ISN'T DEAD" where they could've focused on their core products (peripherals line) and offered better customer service for maintaining the customer base.
My buddy had like around 5 Razor stuff and after a month or two he sold all of it for dirt cheap and went back to Logitech.
Logitech is the company that doesn't overextend themselves in ads, gimmicks, and new products. They are the company that offers fantastic customer service, moves slowly but surely with their products.
The above is just my opinion, but I want to conclude by saying that buy what works for you, instead of buying stuff just because company X sponsors team Y. It makes no sense at all. Just consumer in your best interest, to maximize YOUR satisifaction.
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This is the nature of electronics, and in general, with commercially produced products. Some are going to have issues, defects or other problems. This is also the nature of popular companies; the more products a companies sells, the greater the chance of hearing of problems or experiencing one.
Like Arisen said, the return policy of Razer (and most electronics/peripheral companies) is quite standard, and they have a reasonably solid track record of helping their customers or purchasers of their products. There are always going to be a customer posting an unrealistic review or stubborn attitude towards a particular company or product. Sure, maybe the BlackWidow has a higher number of unsatisfied customers than most, but someone with a bad review is more likely to post about it than a satisfied one.
Secondly, Amazon provided the sale. If they were looking to clear stock, and they planned on not re-supplying the product in its catalogue, they are as much at fault with shoving off poorly received products on its consumer base. This is not the fault of Razer for having a following within eSports (its primary market), or anything of the sort. Amazon provided the tempting offer, and you accepted it despite the vocal reviews.
All that said, Razer did not come out of nowhere, and they are not some company based out of a garage selling products. They're involved in the market they wish to sell their products to, and that is not the fault of the teams that accept them as sponsors.
Edit - And for transparency, I currently own three Razer products, two of which I don't use anymore. I have the Razer Carcharias headset, which I use and enjoy more than the plethora of headsets I've used over the years (I've owned about 11 different kinds off the top of my head). The two products I no longer use are the Razer Lycosa keyboard, and the Razer Diamondback mouse.
For the Lycosa, I only stopped using it because I upgraded to a Das Keyboard. I still leave it plugged in for my girlfriend because she can't use my blank keyboard. I loved the flat keys it had, and it's never given me issues.
As for the Diamondback, I only purchased it because my IE 3.0 died and at the time, they were not being produced anymore. I ventured out to try something new, and while the mouse is perfectly fine, it didn't fit my playing style or my hand very well. I went through a few other kinds of mice before the IE 3.0 made a comeback and I snatched one up quickly.
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Allocation of income stream.
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my blackwidow works but only since i know a few tricks:
dont do whats been told in the firmware updater, instead do:
1) plug in the blackwidow in some usb slot (or not, doesn't matter)
2) open firmware updater
3) hit next
4) get message "yadayada blackwidow wasnt found" - leave this window open (!) and now plug in or replug in your blackwidow and a few seconds later you should see progress in the window aka an ongoing firmware update
5) you are finally able to use your bought product
at least this does it for me, BUT only as long as i don't cut power to my pc. if i do that the whole process starts again (blackwidow isnt recognized as keyboard, firmware update again with the described method). at least feel lucky for buying it for only 60 bucks 
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Never used their keyboards, just their mice and mousepads.
The Razer mice have been a mixed bag. Overall, they are completely overpriced. A simple optical microsoft mouse works better then any Razer mouse I have had. The mousepads are something that I do like though. Hell, I still use a small Razer Kabuto mousepad, and I have a Goliathus sitting around somewhere too. Their mousepads are fantastic and I will gladly pay more for them because I know they are of better quality.
I don't really pay attention to their sponserships that much. Buy a product because it has a good reputation not just because they help support a hobby of yours.
Amazon is a good company in general. I had a package lost in transit before, just never showed up. They refunded my money np.
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I'm not uber pro at purchasing hardware but I've been following a rule which has worked well for me
1) Product specifications - not the crappy marketing/slogans but the actual specs
2) Youtube product unboxing - to see what I can expect inside the box
3) Tech enthusiast (community) website reviews - to see how well it performs/benchmarks
4) Newegg/CC/NCIX reviews - to see how happy the people are (Newegg customers help out a lot actually)
5) Google - actively looking to see if there are "known" issues (i.e. aftermarket liquid cooling solutions that buzz or something)
** Usually sick deals on hardware means for me... **
1) There is something wrong with the batch/model and nobody is buying them
2) The product is checks out but nobody wants it because there is a better solution
3) Discontinued or soon to be discontinued product
4) The retailer needs to get rid of it to make space for a new SKU (dumping)
5) MIR/hassles required
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I personally bought a razer deathadder because of some sponsorships they had, and they sponsored a certain player that husky casted whom I can't remember(this was when i had no clue about esports really, I just watched husky and then watched one tournament). I was like OMG X has this and to be as good as him and get from bronze to code s i need to join the cult. So join the cult I did, and my deathadder has actually worked fantastic for me, 100% no complaints. I think you just got a bad lemon. Did you even try to contact customer support btw?
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EPT
