Disgusted with www.overclockers.co.uk

[Blitzen]

indeed, at least threaten them with a smalls claims court hearing and see what comes of it.

I tried that and they just werent interested.
About 2.5 years ago i bought an X850XT that was died 9 days after purchase (it was nearly |£200 then aswell).
When i contact them they said they would return it to Powercolor in Taiwan as i had had it a 'reasonable amount of time' in their eyes....9 days

I contacted Powercolor directly and was asked for the serial number. When i told them they admitted that it was a faulty batch of memory IC's and it should be replaced without hesitation.

I called OCUK and they also admitted it was a faulty and that out of 260 cards they sold, only 17 hadnt been returned.
Asking when they realised it was a faulty batch, OCUK informed that they knew almost 3 weeks BEFORE i purchased mine.

From that point on i will not give these people my cash. I dont care how cheap they are or how fast they deliver!

BTW...no etailer would reimburse you for other damage to different components. Either claim on the house insurance or contact the PSU manufacturer directly.

[Jay]

contact the PSU manufacturer directly.

It was a faulty water cooler.

I still don't think I should have to pay for postage though.

[Blitzen]

It was a faulty water cooler.

I still don't think I should have to pay for postage though.

Yep..sorry...meant the water cooler manufacturer.

I totally agree aswell...if the item is faulty then the postage should definitely be refunded aswell.

[staffsMike]

The postage thing is a cheek. Thats probably the only good thing about dabs RMA. They picked it up, and when it was found faulty and I asked for a refund they refunded me the initial delivery costs. Not sure if they have to or not as it was my only RMA in recent years but I thought that was quite good. It's just their communication which is shocking.

[ps3ud0]

When PSUs fail companies don't replace the other components they can take out. Hiper would have long-ago died if that was the case. What's different in this case? Are you sure the bloke on the phone didn't just say it to get you off the phone ASAP? Are there any other recorded cases anywhere else to support what he said? How do you know that the first few recorded case they had wasn't just reported 3 hours before you called?

OcUK are an easy target given their past, especially here, but would any other etailer have treated you differently? Can you honestly see Scan, ebuyer or Dabs calling you up saying they'd had a couple of faults reported so you'd best send the component in question back ASAP?

Think youve confused the point - we arent discussing just a single faulty part but a batch of them, which to me means an inherent manufacturing issue. If I bought a part for my car that caused damage to the engine or an accident then I would definitely be after the seller for costs/damages via the courts - with all claims its the ability to apportion blame and within that, that the issue was there before you got involved and the sole cause of the subsequent damage.

Im unsure what the legal ramifications are, but I think its fair to say that I would expect notification if the fault in question could potentially damage the rest of my system, something like bad memory on a GFX card wouldnt, but say a PSU with faulty power regulation would. I think its professionally inept to allow customers to buy such parts and not expect any complaints/claims to involve just the fault part in question, especially if you have made no effort on your own behalf to notify them to the risk. I doubt it will be easy and the company wont roll over (why should they) but its always a legal grey area when it comes to disputes.

I just find it ridiculous that you guys are happy to except that a water cooler that inherently leaks is effectively fine in this situation (remember water and electricity dont mix - whatever your level of education any layman knows that i.e. the judicial system doesnt need to be an electronics expert) and if it causes further damage you are expected to foot up the bill and seemingly more than happy to except that...

ps3ud0

[this_is_gav]

I just find it ridiculous that you guys are happy to except that a water cooler that inherently leaks is effectively fine in this situation (remember water and electricity dont mix - whatever your level of education any layman knows that i.e. the judicial system doesnt need to be an electronics expert) and if it causes further damage you are expected to foot up the bill and seemingly more than happy to except that...

We're not happy to accept it, more that we have no basis to challenge it, as far as we're aware. Yes it's not good if OcUK just dodged the issue, but there needs to be evidence that they did - a customer service guy who could just be making excuses doesn't give you anything.

Regarding the mix of water and electricity, you have to accept part of the risk the moment you choose to go down that route. That's not to blame anyone who uses water cooling, but every part will fail for someone somewhere.

[ps3ud0]

Which is why I caveatted my advice - its up to the customer to prove that; a) his system was in working order before the faulty part was installed; b) the part itself was inherently faulty and; c) this part was solely to blame for the damage caused.

I expect any retailer to attempt to disregard all that but its a fair way to claim and I dont think the customer is out of order in such cases (if my assumptions are correct)...

ps3ud0

[Jay]

I don't really want to complain or claim for damages to be honest. I just thought that I may ask them to pay for postage. What I as upset about was that they had a note on the system that there was a faulty batch and didn't tell anyone. A faulty CPU, memory etc is fine, it does no real damage but a faulty water cooler is a real risk!

I am just happy that there was only slight damage and the system still works. I am very very lucky.

[HaloJones]

What water-cooling part was it? If they have a bad batch, potential buyers should be notified!

And just to be really pedantic, how long was your test phase? Standard leak-testing should be 24 hours, generally speaking.

[Jay]

I tested for about 8 hours but this wasn't a leak this was a torrent of water, half a pint in under a minute from the waterblock. Total falure.

[ps3ud0]

And you only lost the RAM slots - bloody ******* lucky...

ps3ud0

[Jay]

I agree!! so so so lucky!

[m0cea]

When you consider the voltages produced in a switch mode PSU thats seriously dangerous!
What a set of muppets.

[HaloJones]

I tested for about 8 hours but this wasn't a leak this was a torrent of water, half a pint in under a minute from the waterblock. Total falure.

Please advise what block it was?

[999tigger]

If they knowngky sold you a defenctive item or were reckless about it then I'd seriously consider a small claims action. If you piad using your credit card then explore the opportunity of seeking comepnsation from the credit card comepany as well. The deal has to be over £100, though.

[oxygengiver2000]

I have had 3 items from OC in total 2 faulty graphics cards one to replace the inital RMA and now a watercooler that leaked after a few hours taking out 2 of my memory slots (could have been MUCH worse!)

I called overclockers about the faulty water cooler and they took my order number looked on the computer and said"oh yer, we have a faulty batch, sorry"

they have a fulty batch of water coolers!!!! The water was P*ssing out of the water block due to what looks like a faulty seal failing after a few hours of use (past the test phase)

I am very very lucky it didn't take the entire system out but dual channel is now a no go due to the damage to the memory slots.

Give them their dues, hey did admit it and did offer a full refund, but I still need to post it back to them.

Pretty much the exact same thing happened to me, I'll never use them again