Bad customer service.

{{ You dont have to! Go here http://forums.hexus.net/showpost.php...9&postcount=35 I won!}}

Hope this is the best forum to put it on.

Isnt everyone getting sick of the poor customer service we get now?

I'll give my current example, sorry if i rant at some stage.

I purchased an X1900XT from overclockers on the 2nd of november. I have trouble with the card giving me an unstable system.

I ask for an RMA (8th), saying that i'm having trouble with the card, and as i had purchased the card only 6 days previously, I would like a refund. I get my RMA number, parcel the card up, included a copy of my invoice, and a letter saying that I want the card refunding under distance selling regulations and send it on the 10th.
11th, I get an email saying that the card is being sent back to me. I’m surprised, and call them, the support guy says that it must be a mistake, a I had been refunded, and I should get the money in a few days. I tell him that if the card does arrive I’ll send it back.
14th, I check my bank account, and find a £25 charge from overclockers, puzzled I call them and ask why I was charged. I’m told that the card was not faulty and I had been given a test fee and charged for shipping.
I ask didn’t they read the letter I included as I had wanted a refund, as stated on their terms and conditions, and by consumer direct. I was told that they do not read letters on rma’s.
I was shocked, as having been a computer returns supervisor, I had always read customers letters, as they would regularly show some insight to the issue the user was having. Yes you would sometimes get rants, “you ruined my child’s Christmas I hate you all” or a page of swear words, but I read them anyway.
I contact consumer direct, and they said that I had a case, and to write overclockers stating they have 14 days to resolve the issue. I plead with them via the annoying web note system, that they should refund me, as I am with in my rights (on the 14th still within DSR). I get no where, and the responses are not what I would expect from what should be a professional company, “we don’t want the card”.

I write the letter after getting no where, including a copy of their DSR terms, the delivery note , and get no reply. I contact consumer direct, again after 14 days, they say that I should write them another letter saying they have 7 days.

After this time, the OFT call me and say that I have a case and to take overclockers to small claims court, and to write them a letter giving them 14 days to respond. I haven’t done this yet, and have “web noted” them again so resolve the issue, as OFT think it would be an open and shut case.
Overclockers reply, was that as I had said I was having an issue with it, I cannot ever return it as a DSR return...

I then called my local OFT guy, who said that they are talking rubbish and are trying to pull the wool over my eyes, it doesn’t matter if the card has been used or not, with in the 7 days I can return it for what ever reason.
I don’t want to take them to court, its just a giant mistake on their behalf, but they are not giving me any other option... :(

Lifes a Biatch

if youve got to go to court to get your money back then i would suggest you do!

hopefully once u threaten OC with court action they will relize its all there fault and just give you your money back

good Luck!

Ah the wonders of certain retailers (OcUK isn't the only one, nor, dare I say it, the worst)


Oh and if you send them a letter, make sure its sent with Signed for Delivery, otherwise they can deny they ever received it.

Its weird, i just phoned, them to see if talking to some one would make it clear to them. It seems to me that the problem is their inflexible procedures.

As i have years experiance in the field, i'm shocked at how bad their RMA procedures must be! After doing that and now working on 2nd/3rd line support for a company, i know how you have to have procedures, but i also know that not everything fits in your procedure box... so things have to be able to change.

Strangefruit, i know i have to take them to court, but its a faff and wish they would sort it out!

Hi dave 87, eveything has been sent signed for...

Dont you work for Aria?

who? hokum?

after a quick check of previous message.. yes... that confuses things a great deal

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Clunk

Dont you work for Aria?

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I did, until november 2005, and i know i would of got a refund.... which makes things horriffic as the customer service there was pants IMO...

Ah I see, well, good luck with overclockers, I sincerely hope that they dont go into liquidation before you get your money back. :)

it wasn't the IceQ veriant was it?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Clunk

I sincerely hope that they dont go into liquidation before you get your money back. :)

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If they did i'd be head hunting... :rant:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jay_oasis

it wasn't the IceQ veriant was it?

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No just the normal one why?

I bet they don't even get trained about the distance selling regulations seeing as not many people will know that they can just send it back without any reason.

If you paid by credit card you should also contact the credit card company - they should know about the DSR and might be able reverse the chanrges and put the screws into OcUK

Quote:

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Originally Posted by redsky009

If you paid by credit card you should also contact the credit card company - they should know about the DSR and might be able reverse the chanrges and put the screws into OcUK

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I know... i was a fool and used my visa debit card :'(

I had 2 X1900XT cards both HIS from OCUK and they both failed within 1 day of useage

I decided to get a sapphire one from Scan and its fine.

ocuk owe me £12, in delivery they said they would refunded me i never got it back! i hate companies owing me money!

good luck hokum, hope you get this sorted

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Originally Posted by Blackmage

ocuk owe me £12, in delivery they said they would refunded me i never got it back! i hate companies owing me money!

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£18.20 here. What they do is, send out seconds/used/faulty items as new, and then simply dont refund the postage charges either way. Its a money spinner, especially as they charge almost £12 for bog standard City Link.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Clunk

What they do is, send out seconds/used/faulty items as new, and then simply dont refund the postage charges either way.

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Would be nice if we could prove that... one of the things about my card ,which has been in my pc once (one insertion) and they say it cannot be sold as new... so I cannot get my refund... Which trading standards say is rubbish...



Why do we have to put up with customer diservice like this though?

I hate the companies that offer communication and ironically have absolute useless internal communications.

Thought i'd add a little update. I gave overclockers a final warning on the 7th of December, and have not had a reply. I begin starting court proceedings today...

keep us updated with that

Yep, good luck, and if you get as far as sending the baliffs in, could you go with them and video it for us :lol:

get footage of Gibbo crying!

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Originally Posted by MadduckUK

get footage of Gibbo crying!

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And sat on the floor.

My opinion, for what it's worth, is that unless there's something we're not being told, Overclockers will likely lose this if it goes to court.

Providing the goods in question fall with the remit of the DSR (and not everything does), and providing cancellation was made within the specified time period (usually 7 working days from the day AFTER delivery), then the right to cancel is unconditional. The retailer CANNOT insist on the goods being unopened, and in fact, cannot even insist on having hadthem back before issuing the refund. Also, they absolutely cannot make any charges other than recovering the direct cost of collecting the goods from the consumer if the consumer doesn't return them at his own cost.

However, the consumer must take "reasonable care" of the goods. What that means is not defined in the DSR, but it is usually held (except by some retailers) NOT to include having not opened the goods. Essentially, you're entitled to inspect the goods in the same way as you would if you had attended the shop and inspected them in person.

However, that opens a loophole.

If you'd attended the shop, it's unlikely that most shops would let you install the card into your PC and test it. That may be going beyond "reasonable care", if it's alleged that having done so damaged the card. However, as Overclockers claim to have tested the card and found it to be faultless, it's hard to see how they can claim Hokum's PC damaged it.

And, interestingly, even if you had damaged the card, even if you'd chopped it in half and sent back the bits, Overclockers are STILL obliged to issue the refund, if the contract was cancelled under the DSR. :eek:

Don't all plan on sending back goods in bits, though, because though they MUST issue the refund, you would have failed in your contractual commitment to take "reasonable care" of the goods, and they therefore do have a cause of action against you, for damages. So, you'd get the refund, then have to compensate them for the damaged goods.


Personally, I have some sympathy for Overclockers in this situation. They have, in good faith, supplied the goods the customer ordered. It is NOT their fault if the card won't work in Hokum's system. If they've tested the card in other systems, and it works faultlessly, then it rather suggests that the problem lies with Hokum's system .... and we all know that an incorrect bios setting, a clash with another card, a poorly written Windows driver, and so on, can cause this type of thing. So, what Overclockers basically have is a card that they bought new, that is now not new, through no fault of their own. Unfortunately for them and fortunately for Hokum, the DSR rather implies that that is a cost of doing business at a distance, and that they'll have to eat the cost.

But sympathy aside, legally (and I'm not a lawyer), I can't see that they're going to win this one and I'd say they certainly won't get away with that "test" charge - that is specifically prohibited under the DSR.

Hokum, it looks like you've done everything right. You've used the DSR, you've issued the cancellation within the time period and in a manner required by the DSR (and it's not your fault if OcUK don't read RMA letters, that won't help their case one little bit), and they've levied a specifically illegal type of charge. What's more, they have a maximum of 30 days from cancellation to issue the refund, or they've broken the law there, too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Clunk

And sat on the floor.

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in a draft, so he gets ill

Give 'em hell kid

the sooner ocuk are shown that they cannot get away with poor service the better.

Sorry to hear your having problems with them but as the old saying goes you will play with the devil or you pay for what you get for nowadays :shocked2: :mrgreen:

OcUk are a bunch of complete cowboys like that, me thinks it one of the reasons why they have stop selling XFX products as XFX say you are supposed to deal with the company you brought it off, not to mention the amount of waiting I've done on the phone lines and very bad CS but I wont go on :lol: :lol: :mrgreen:

Thats why I use Scan now :mrgreen: :p

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MadduckUK

in a draft, so he gets ill

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And a puddle.

Hi Saracen, Part of the issue, (and their charge) is the fact they say the card i working perfectly. I never said to them that the card is faulty. I've slways said "i'm having issues with the card with my system" I believe the card is 100% fine, but it does not work in my system...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Clunk

And a puddle.

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of his own tears and other bodily fluids

don't OCUK have something on their site or TAC that say it is up to the user to confirm support and compatability with their systems ?

Hi Ikonia,
They may well do so, but it doesn't stick with trading standards DSR, they could say that all customers be vertically challenged and weigh over 20 stone, but that does not effect your statutory rights.


Oh also Saracen "Providing the goods in question fall with the remit of the DSR (and not everything does)" According to consumer direct they are covered, and my local office of fair trading agree.

Ok everything is ready to file with MCOL, i'm going to phone Overclockers to give them my phone number if they should need to contact me...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hokum

Hi Saracen, Part of the issue, (and their charge) is the fact they say the card i working perfectly. I never said to them that the card is faulty. I've slways said "i'm having issues with the card with my system" I believe the card is 100% fine, but it does not work in my system...

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Yes, quite. With the DSR, you're not limited to returning faulty goods. In fact, if the goods were faulty, you wouldn't really need the DSR. That's not at all what the DSR was intended for, though it adds to your rights and if goods were faulty, your DSR rights improve a little bit. But the DSR is actually deliberately aimed mainly at exactly your kind of situation, i.e. where goods aren't faulty.

Nonetheless, it does impose a cost on retailers through no fault of their own. I can see why many don't like it, but what it comes down to is that it's a fact of life and part of the cost base for being a distance seller, and they'll either have to comply with it, or risk ending up in court.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hokum

Oh also Saracen "Providing the goods in question fall with the remit of the DSR (and not everything does)" According to consumer direct they are covered, and my local office of fair trading agree.

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Oh yes, this type of good is covered. I was pointing out that, in general, not everything is. For instance, anything that has been customised to your needs (like glass that's been engraved), or CDs, DVDs and software where any seal or shrinkwrap has been opened, or perishables like cut flowers, etc. Not everything is covered, though technology items generally would be. Even there, though, some things are a bit more complex. When you buy a mobile phone, you're likely to be buying two contracts - one for the phone, and one for the airtime coverage. The DSR protection between the two is different, as are your cancellation rights.

But, with a fairly limited number of specified exceptions, most things are covered.

I WON!

Overclockers didn't even try and defend them selves. So it was a little disappointing, but at least i have my money back. If anyone ever has a problem with overclockers (or any company) not paying for a DSR point them at this thread (not sure if its worth stickying something like this).

Don't take their "bullsh!t" i was told no one has ever taken to court over a DSR return as it's "rules and not a law". No its not criminal law, its civil law, and it was this which overclockers had broken. If trading standards has a rule about conduct and a company breaks that rule, they are breaking the law. Its that simple.

I now have my £261 back after almost 4 months of waiting, its cost overclockers more this way, why couldn't they just refund me in the first place??

This thread covers almost all areas of DSR and if anyone has a question feel free to pm me. Don't forget, consumer direct is there to help you, and the office of fair trading are there once its gone beyond that.

Excellent, and well done!

heh :D

glad it was sorted :), does seem strange that they wouldn't at least respond to your threats of small claims...?

i've never had any problems with ocuk myself, any time i've had a faulty piece of hardware, i've had a refund or another sent out (granted; never had any compatibility issues), on countless occasions they've sorted things out for me