Overclockers.co.uk - The Saga Continues.

[Stewart]

Indeed, but it would also have to be a compatability error in 7 other set-ups as well. Remember - it is not just me who can't get these parts working, no-one outside of the Overclockers test lab can.

Anyone from these boards who is in the Preston \ Withnell area, is welcome to try and get the parts working. There are several working systems around to be tested on, and plenty of spare parts. If you can sucseed where all others have failed, then there's a drink in it for you, if you can save me having to fight Overclockers for £400.

I should appologise actually, I'm trying to stay calm and collected, but I saved up for nearly 2 years to buy that system, and I can't afford to get 3 weeks use out of it, before kissing goodbye to it all.

I should mention, that the engineers report from Legend mentioned that the graphics card may have developed a fault causing the motherboard to fail. In effect, it went, and took the motherboard with it.

Apparently, they tested the graphics card in one of their own motherboards to double check, and it broke their motherboard! Lucky they can't charge me for it.

As I said, I'm not looking to cause trouble, or to slander anyone, I am just trying to get the parts replaced, or a refund. Overclocksers can sell the parts on, should they so wish, although of course, for that to happen, they'd have to be working as they claim, which in my opinion, simply has to be an engineers mistake.

Vaul.

[Yosh]

Apparently, they tested the graphics card in one of their own motherboards to double check, and it broke their motherboard! Lucky they can't charge me for it

Should have said this earlier

Basically all you have to do now is get hold of ocuk tommorow, let them know all the items youve told us. Post/Fax copies of the test reports to them from these other stores.

Give them a couple of days to mull over the problems, while there doing that contact a trading standards and your solicitor and explain what has happened.

If its proved that the video card has caused these issues then your entitled to either a replacement of the parts or your money back. If you go for the replacement be sure to try a different brand of video card, after all it could be a dodgy batch.

Your hardest struggle now is sorting it with ocuk.

Good luck

[Stewart]

Yeah, I should have done, been trying to get every detail out in the open.

I'm not sure how, or why it broke Legends test board, but it did. This makes testing it myself tricky, as you can imagine, as my mates are not prepared to risk their own boards, on this dodgy graphics card. That's why I had to go to the second repair firm, as I needed a pro to do it, so I didn't get hit for the cost of the board it killed.

It killed my board, it killed one of Legends boards, it has been certified as not working by a large amount of people. Surly, they can't refuse me a replacement or refund?

Of course, they claim that it works, which is the major sticking point. We can't discuss replacing a broken card, if they don't accept that its broken.

[jack]

While im not going to enter in a OCUK bash, isnt this just them!!


Someone pays 400 squid on item's from them and has problem's what do they do slap a 30 squid charge on the bugger! and offer no customer support!

If the graphics card killed the test centre's mobo then im gathering it did the same to your's how did that test ok by OCUK

IMO when this does get sorted Dont get a replacement from OCUK get a refund and shop else where, or you may be sorry in the future if 1 item needs RMA'img as other's have found out!



My final bit is about OCUK lack of customer service, most of its customers are ppl from these boards and other's much like this place and the amount of hostile feeling towards the store is amazing! and it all boil's down to IMO someone from OCUK to just take a step back/relax and look at the bigger picture, everyone can be wrong and make mistakes from time to time even there own staff and while its not nice to admit your wrong,with such a public audience watching for business its better too

But 2 days after me buying this stuff if i was in your position i would have drove there demanded a result and told spie to kiss my rectum, but then again i wouldn't have brought from OCUK

guess your another peep that wont buy from OCUK

[Yosh]

I was going to say in future use somewhere else

i.e.

Tekheads, Kustom, Overclock, all highly recommended and used throughout the community.

[jack]

My first option would be tekheads! had nothing but goodness from these guys!

[Saracen]

Originally posted by jack
Someone pays 400 squid on item's from them and has problem's what do they do slap a 30 squid charge on the bugger! and offer no customer support!

Margins on hardware supplies tend to be fairly tight as it is an aggressively competitive field. Any company is entitled to refuse to take back, or replace, items that are fully working, and they are quite within their rights to charge for testing should returned items prove defective. There are always a small number of people that will seek to take advantage of hardware suppliers (and I' not saying Vaul is doing this).

Originally posted by jack
IMO when this does get sorted Dont get a replacement from OCUK get a refund and shop else where, or you may be sorry in the future if 1 item needs RMA'img as other's have found out!

That depends on whether OcUK are prepared to offer a refund. From what I can see of the situation, it is not something they HAVE to offer under these circumstances. They can simply repair or replace. As repair is not likely to be a cost-effective option, they may simply replace the items - assuming that they do eventually accept that there is a problem.

Originally posted by jack
My final bit is about OCUK lack of customer service, most of its customers are ppl from these boards and other's much like this place and the amount of hostile feeling towards the store is amazing!

How do you know that?

I know Spie quite well. I've spoken to him on the phone a number of times, and was even invited to his wedding (which ill-health prevented me from attending). This point has cropped up in conversations (both in the Dons Room on OcUK and, once, on the phone), and he assured me that such was not the case. I have no reason to suppose he was lying about this, or that he would have any reason to do so. It is a commonly-held opinion, but I'm far from convinced it is actually true. As for the amount of hostile opinion, well, there you got me. But there are a lot of people that have a hostile opinion because of a run-in with either Spie or various don's on the forums, and at least a good part of that hostile opinion is actually nothing to do with 'OcUK-the-store' ..... it's about forum disagreements, bans, and so forth.

Originally posted by jack
and it all boil's down to IMO someone from OCUK to just take a step back/relax and look at the bigger picture, everyone can be wrong and make mistakes from time to time even there own staff and while its not nice to admit your wrong,with such a public audience watching for business its better too

As I've said before, we have not had OcUK's point of view, or reasons, for this. Just perhaps they know something we don't. Maybe, once this comes to Spie's attention, they WILL admit to a mistake and the whole thing goes away. Maybe they have reasons for their stance. We can't really say any more, or read much more into this, until Vaul hears back from them.

Originally posted by jack
But 2 days after me buying this stuff if i was in your position i would have drove there demanded a result and told spie to kiss my rectum, but then again i wouldn't have brought from OCUK

I'm sure Vaul feels like that too, but the odds are it would be counter-productive. Suppose you drive up there and "demand" your result, and they tell you the same thing: the goods are not faulty. Then what?

There is still the chance that there is a mix-up going on, and getting aggressive in this kind of situation is largely bluster, and is likely to eliminate any chance of them acting in good will, and if overdone, is likely to result in you getting thrown out of the shop. What can you do if they simply refuse to change their minds? Threaten the bloke? Firstly, have you seen the size of him? Secondly, they'd just call the police. Now you have a problem with the police and STILL no result.

In my opinion, Vaul has done this just right. He couldn't actually has proceeded in a better or more controlled way, from what he's said here.

Now, he just needs to wait and see what response he gets. Maybe the problem will be resolved.

[G4Z]

Difficult situation, but I think the suggestion about making an appointment and taking all your kit up there may be an idea. Try to keep your cool ( I know its difficult, I had to RMA a brand new HD couple of months ago witha different store, made me wait 6 weeks whilst they sent it back to manufacture. they didnt listen when I told them that as the seller they are responsible for replaceing it, not the manufacturer). The worst thing you can do is be abusive as it will be counter productive (they will dismiss you as some stupid rubbishrubbishrubbishrubbishrubbishrubbish who doesnt know what he is doing).

Really hope you get this sorted, must be a nightmare to have your dream machine go tits up.

[jack]

Originally posted by Saracen


How do you know that?

I know Spie quite well. I've spoken to him on the phone a number of times, and was even invited to his wedding (which ill-health prevented me from attending). This point has cropped up in conversations (both in the Dons Room on OcUK and, once, on the phone), and he assured me that such was not the case. I have no reason to suppose he was lying about this, or that he would have any reason to do so. It is a commonly-held opinion, but I'm far from convinced it is actually true. As for the amount of hostile opinion, well, there you got me. But there are a lot of people that have a hostile opinion because of a run-in with either Spie or various don's on the forums, and at least a good part of that hostile opinion is actually nothing to do with 'OcUK-the-store' ..... it's about forum disagreements, bans, and so forth.

First hand! returned a mobo to them took 3 months for it to be RMA'd it was along time ago has to be said though!

Had a few emails from the staff there and instead of them actually helping they where more concerned on making me look a fool/ or proving i was wrong !! - which i wasn't

As for the forum part yeah i do believe some ppl out there are miffed in regard's being banned dont really bother me much about this! my only concern is that from a store point of view the forums are a form of income for them as the more members the more there site get's hit! but treating ppl like kids will only add feul to the fire and them customers away! but like ive said dont bother me much i know that if i ran the store the forum would be a much easier place to be at

I wish the company all the best i really do, id hate for any computer retailer to go the way of OCS, but this kind-off thread has been talked about far to many times in my 4 years online

[Planetside]

phone them on monday and if thay still dont wont to no go to a Solicitors and take it up with them thay will send a letter to ocuk and take it from there and if what you say about the 2 othere place's and you have the letters from them then i think you would win in court

[Stewart]

UPDATE ++ UPDATE ++ UPDATE ++ UPDATE

Alright then lads, we may have a bit of light at the end of the tunnel.

Basically, some people (Me, Legend, various other computer pros) say the parts are faulty, others (Overclockers engineer) say they work. Logical conclusion - sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.

I've just had a call from Dark Blue Computer Services (http://www.darkbluecs.co.uk) who were looking at the items, and they have reported an intermittent fault.

Sometimes it boots, if you take the power supply out, take out the graphics card and plug it back in, and sometimes it refuses to boot no matter what you do.

Now, Overclockers may have gotten lucky, tested it once, it booted, and decided it was fully functioning, which it is not. Now, I'm a little disappointed with Overclockers, as they can't have tested it for very long, as getting it to boot twice in a row is almost impossible, and this would have been very obvious, had they put the effort in.

The email telling me that the items have been processed by Overclockers was in my inbox 24 hours after they received them, so it appears that they tested it once, got lucky, it booted, and they stamped them as working items.

Why did Legend report them as totally broken rather than an intermittent fault? Well, perhaps the opposite of Overclockers, they didn't get lucky, and never got a boot during testing.

So, this should be sufficient for a refund or replacement now. We can explain why the items need replacing, and also explain why the Overclockers test engineer could have reported them as working.

Apparently, there is no pattern to it, it just works sometimes, and not others, with the majority in favour of not working.

So, hopefully that's it lads. I'll call them tomorrow, explain everything, and if they are are being reasonable, we can sort it out.

This clears Overclockers of any sort of deliberate attempt to diddle me out of £400, not that it was a suggestion of course, but it does mean that their testing process isn’t as thorough as it could be, and it does mean that they still wrongly charged me £30 for returning working items.

Fingers crossed for a quick solution now we have solved the mystery of why they say it works, and everyone else says it’s broken.

I'll let you know what happens.

Vaul.

[GT3_GOD]

I agree sometimes their testing isn't as thorough as it should be but I didn't get charged a £30 fee or charged for return postage... strange.

[TooNice]

Get the cabling if you get the chance as well.

I had a very similar problem with a HD once.
It'll work fine, but after a while it'll just randomly crash/corrupt my files.

Reformating would sometime fail as well right in the middle of it.

I assumed the HD was to blame, but it turned out to be the SCSI cable.

Fortunately, my warranty was onsite. The engineer missed it the first time and was going to replace the whole motherboard (since the new HD he popped in had the same problem)! But just before he did that, he decided to swap the cable just in case.. Bingo.

(Had my warranty not been on site, I probably would've been charged or something.. The HD was perfectly fine, and how often does one think the cable may be the culpit?).

[jack]

Long post removed by Saracen.

Sorry, Jack, but that article is copyright. Quoting small bits of it would probably be OK, but to quote the entire article is a copyright no-no. We very much appreciate the effort you put in in formatting, etc, but we can't abuse someone else's copyright like that.

For reference, the article can be found on the Trading Standards website - here





I like these bits

The first thing to do is to act quickly. Tell the trader about any problems, either by going back to the shop, by telephoning or writing. You should stop using the goods. Technically, it is the trader's responsibility to arrange to collect faulty goods that you have rejected, especially if the items are large. However, with smaller, more portable items, it may be more practical to take them back to the trader yourself.

Note that if the fault happens within six months of you buying the goods, the trader has to prove that they were not faulty when you bought them. After that, you have to prove it.

Sale goods


Again, you have full rights under the Sale of Goods Act. However, if the goods were reduced in price because of a fault that was either brought to your attention at the time, or should have been obvious to you on examination, you would not be able to have your money back later for that particular fault- so check sale goods carefully before you buy.

That interest's me considering online store's say only 30 days warenty

"I bought a computer that went wrong after two months - I went back to the trader, but they said it was OK when they sold it to me, so they won't do anything about it. Is this right?"


No. As the fault occurred within six months, they have to prove that it was OK when they sold it to you - that probably means having it tested or sending it back to the manufacturer for a second opinion. If they cannot prove it was OK when you bought it, you can choose a free repair, a replacement, a reduction in the price or ask to rescind the contract (they may reduce the amount they refund to you to allow for the month's use that you have had).

Might help ppl out

[Saracen]

Originally posted by jack
First hand! returned a mobo to them took 3 months for it to be RMA'd it was along time ago has to be said though!

Had a few emails from the staff there and instead of them actually helping they where more concerned on making me look a fool/ or proving i was wrong !! - which i wasn't

As for the forum part yeah i do believe some ppl out there are miffed in regard's being banned dont really bother me much about this! my only concern is that from a store point of view the forums are a form of income for them as the more members the more there site get's hit! but treating ppl like kids will only add feul to the fire and them customers away! but like ive said dont bother me much i know that if i ran the store the forum would be a much easier place to be at

I wish the company all the best i really do, id hate for any computer retailer to go the way of OCS, but this kind-off thread has been talked about far to many times in my 4 years online

Ah. When I said "How do you know this, I was referring to your remark about "most of its customers are ppl from these boards and other's much like this place". That's was I've been led to believe is not actually the case.

The same point can be made about the forums being a source of income, though. We don't know (though I've a pretty good idea) what the forums cost to run, or what income they actually generate. Are they a net benefit or a net cost? People assume that they are a net benefit, but again, from what I've been told, in confidence, that is perhaps not the case. At the end of the day, I suspect Spie, and probably only he, could actually confirm if they bring in enough business to create the profits necessary to justify the money they cost to run. Maybe they do, maybe they don't.

As for your own experience with their customer service, it does sound lacking indeed, but to counter that, my own experience has been good, so it's diificult to draw a conclusion from either. You'd need a much bigger sample. It does very much sound, though, as if they don't get everything right, and could certainly improve some aspects of customer service.

As for the contents of emails, I accept what you say about the tone but, from my experience with running a support environment (albeit MANY years ago), it is quite an art form getting the tone of customer communications just right. You can't afford to assume what level of knowledge a customer has. If you are too technical with a customer that is not technically orientated, it looks like you are trying to befuddle them with jargon. If you are not technical enough with a computer-savvy customer, it looks like you are being patronising.

Most support departments tend to ASSUME a relatively low level of knowledge, and work up. A good instance is the patronising
attitude I've had from tech support at places like NTL. You can tell them that you have more than 20 years experience in the computer field, yet they still ask idiot questions. The reason .... some people will SAY they have lots of experience when in actual fact, that statement is little more than a personal ego trip. It is VERY difficult, sometimes, to know what level to pitch a response at on the phone, and at least there, you can get direct feedback from the customer. When you have to do it by email, it is that much harder - compounded by the fact that clear and concise written comminucation is an art form, and not necessarily a skill possessed by the people in tech support.

Without knowing exactly what you emails actually said (and no, please DON'T quote them on here ), I have no idea whether this relates to your particular situation, but it is often the case that mails that might seem patronisinig or condescending are not actually meant to be that way.

[Saracen]

Originally posted by jack
That interest's me considering online store's say only 30 days warenty

Yeah, but you have to remember that warranty and statutory rights are different.

A shop may only be offering a 30-day warranty, but that does not mean they can avoid their statutory rights. Warranties are optional, and additional.