Remember kids, if you're going Linux, use an nVidia GPU (and don't buy from OCuk)

[aidanjt]

I'm not offended or anything, I know you're trying to see their side of the coin. But by that argument if the card didn't work on Windows they could turn around and say the same thing. There's nothing special about (or in) Windows when it comes to dedicated hardware, the drivers are just a glue layer between the OS and hardware, yet is important for the OS to use the card, which is my point.

At the end of the day it wouldn't have cost them anything to swap the card and stick the x1950 on B-Grade, but it cost them future business by giving out this kind of attitude.

I already emailed ATi about it and had no reply in a month, nobody wants to do anything right these days, they're only concerned with getting your money and it's 'screw you' after that. However since OC was the point of sales, they are who I need to deal with regarding product faults.

As for distros, just used Gentoo with multiple versions of X and fglrx, no point going through a heap of distros just to try different versions of programs.

Anyway, I'll be glad to get rid of this card and get this whole issue over with.

[Kumagoro]

Compared to other stories I have read about OCUK this seems
not to bad.

Anyway, I think I have read that restocking fees are illegal and they can only charge you the cost of delivery.

Heres a useful government link about distance selling and the like.

http://www.oft.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/8...3/0/oft334.pdf

[manwithnoname]

Under the distant selling act are you not within your rights to reject the goods and get a full refund with in a number of days (sorry I cannot remember how many) even if they are in perfect working order?

It might seem like you are messing the e-tailor around but they need to either comply with the law or stop trading if they don’t like the law. No one is forcing them to trade.

[aidanjt]

@manwithnoname: 7 working days is the period.

I've had it longer than that, however I didn't want a refund, I wanted to return a 'defective' model (in that the driver 'glue' required to use it in Linux doesn't work) and exchange it for another + pay for restocking fee + price difference.

I feel that it's my legal right to demand satisfaction, and even if it wasn't, OCuk should be more accommodating if they want repeated trade since they wont loose out on anything if they were.

[kalniel]

*insert usual forum legalese warning here*

I have to say that OCUK's terms and conditions do look correct and accurate. They clearly state you can give notice of cancellation of contract up to 7 days after recieving the goods, and that delivery back to them is at your cost. There is no mention of any restocking fee which they would have to have in the T&C for the cancellation terms. There is also no mention of not using the product - they infact use the same words as the regulations themselves: you must take 'reasonable care'.

Likewise you cannot demonstrate that the goods are defective - they have not made mention that it will work well on a linux system, just as they've not said it will work on a macintosh, DEC, Sun or whatever. I would guess that there is a reasonable expectation of system requirements given that there majority of PC systems are windows based - though you could always check out the requirements from the manufacturer I expect.

The 7 day right to cancel is for exactly the reasons you want - it's to allow you to evaluate if the product meets your needs (eg runs well on linux). In this case it doesn't and you should have cancelled the contract.

However, what they *have* to do is not neccessarily the same as what we think good retailer *ought* to do. Of course, a good shop will go beyond their legal responsibilities and take a loss to help the customer. However this is becoming more and more rare, especially in the e-tail market. Even people with a good reputation like SCAN are very firm when it comes to product returns more often than not.

[aidanjt]

They didn't make mention that it works on Windows either. So that implies whatever the chip supports, they have to deal with also.

Though I wasn't able to test the card for 3 weeks since I had the package delivered to my mums place to save (a lot) on delivery, my father took the package with him back down south and I stayed up there for the holidays.

Like I said, they wouldn't have made a loss since I didn't mind paying the extra for the nVidia card compaired to the current price of the card. I wouldn't expect that they foot the bill, nor implied that I would anywhere, I just wanted a hassle free swap.

Anyway, I got my Gainward 7800GS ordered last night, should be here either later, or tomorrow, Komplett are VAT registered in Ireland, so I'll have less of a problem if something goes wrong.

Now I just need to sell the x1950 Pro to pay for it and be done with the whole issue

[Nigelz]

My recent dealings with OCuk have been poor, they mis-advertised something on their site, they were happy to RMA it but wouldn't refund the postage for returning it. I don't see why I should have to pay the return postage when they sold me a product that was completely different from what they advertised. Anyway, long story short they refunded the postage after I sent them the correspondence I received from the ASA - yes I reported them!

[aidanjt]

Good for you, it's good to see people stand up for their rights. If more people did, companies might act more professional.

[Eddy396]

I can never understand a company having this kind of ethos. Every idiot knows that in retail and indeed in many other areas, say if your a tradesman for example, that word of mouth is the biggest thing you can have on your side.

Yes it maybe annoying to overclockers to effectively have a non profit sale, but surely for for every good will gesture there is a chance that the word gets out that they might be good to shop with. They really need help from some kind of guru to get rid of this shockingly poor image they have otherwise they are going out of buisiness, rightly or wrongly. And added that their buisiness is selling components to the 'reasonably tech savy' who use these types of forums its even more bewildering

[ikonia]

desitpite the many posts on this and other forums about the poor service, - there are still people on this forum willing to buy from them, so I guess "word of mouth" doesn't matter and "cheap prices" and "items in stock" do.

[Mossy]

desitpite the many posts on this and other forums about the poor service, - there are still people on this forum willing to buy from them, so I guess "word of mouth" doesn't matter and "cheap prices" and "items in stock" do.

I agree people follow prices no matter what and when aidanjt mentions thery are good when nothing goes wrong thats is because that is were they put there money into. When it comes to CS they money isnt there so you have problems.

The question is; "are you willing to pay that little bit extra, to get a lot more out?"

re/e-tailers have to look at the importance of every department eg

Sales- Product Knoledge
CS - Exactly what it says -- SERVICE
Returns - efficiency and decision making
Technical -speaks for itself

Once you have a team in each department who work together you can't go wrong from start to finish.

Money has to be put into all these fields or your just wasting your time and your customers

Am I right?

[Steve]

I think this thread has served its purpose. Time for it to rest.