overclockers.co.uk and UK consumer law

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GlimmerMan
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overclockers.co.uk and UK consumer law

Post by GlimmerMan »

Two weeks ago today my trusty (until then) 19" CRT decided to die and leave me in the position of needing a new monitor. So I hop on the net get reading the reviews etc and decide on the DELL 24" Widescreen 2407 WFP.

I order it from overclockers.co.uk and it arrives a few days later, Thursday. Within minutes of turing it on I've noticed two major faults.

1) There is horizonal banding almost constantly in games.

2) The fixed scaling options of the monitor are greyed out at 1600x1200 so any game that doesn't support a native 1920x1200 is strectehd horizontally by 20% and there is no option to fix it!

I fill out web note on the ocuk site Thursday Night explaining these problems and that I'd like for them to arrange to collect it back as faulty goods and I'd like a refund or the chance tyo pay the extra £100 to get the Samsung 244T instead.

They reply Friday afternoon that this is how wide screen monitors are supposed to work.

I reply right away politely pointing out that yes it will stretch, but every monitor under the sun has fixed aspect ratio options to correct it, including this one but they're broken.

They reply on saturday, contact DELL about a replacement.

I reply again that it is a design flaw and that the DELL support forums are lit up with people having this flaw and dell saying it's a bug that there is no fix for, so a replacement won't do anything for me. (see this: http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums ... e.id=64176)

Wednesday comes, no reply so I phone them on the 10p / minute line as sales say I need to use that line. £1.50 worth of holding later I get to speak to a chap and I explain the issue to him, he says he's not sure this qualifies as faulty, he'll need to speak to the manager about it and call me back when he's in the office later today. I wait all day, no call back.
I decide f**k it, this is aheadache, I'll just send it back under the distance selling regulations (2000) mentioned on their site: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/support.htm

So 9:00 AM Thursday I send a note from their website saying I'd like to return it under the distance selling act (I'm still within the 7 working days here, plus I consider my first request on the thursday night the first indication that I'd like to return it anyway). They respond on Friday at 6:00 PM:

"Dear David Rozenski,

This is not a design flaw in the monitor sir. We can not accept it back, please refer to Dell

Regards,

Matthew Street
Technical Support
Overclockers UK"

I respond that tonight saying I'm no longer after an RMA as indicated by my last communication (the one I sent Thursday morning), todays message:

"Hi,

I'm no longer trying to get an RMA. I want to do this that is specified on your site:

"Under the Distance Selling Regulations (2000) you have the right to cancel the contract relating to your order at any time up to the end of 7 working days after the goods are delivered. To exercise your right of cancellation, you must give written notice to Overclockers UK by letter, fax or WebNote giving details of the goods ordered and date received"

I am trying to do the above, I hearby give you notice that I am cancelling this order and returning to goods to you at my expense for a refund. Will you please acknowledge this request?

This matter has dragged on ever since I took delivery of the monitor last Thursday, all I want to do is excerise my right under the afore mentioned regualtions. I don't want to invole a third party, please don't force me to so.

I've been a loyal customer for years and frankly find this treatment baffling!

Thanks,

David Rozenski"

...and now I wait for thier reply. If they again refuse to accept it back for a refund or replacement with a different monitor what can I do, do we have any legal experts here or anyone up to speed on consumer rights?

Cheers.
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Post by Seahorse »

I've bought loads from them over the years, pricey, but they always have the newest stuff in stock.

The one time I had a component problem (dead mobo) they were an equal pain in the arse and gave me the run around. At the time I was based in Italy, so the phone costs were crippling and they were NOT helpful at all even when you could talk to them.

I resorted to letters preparred by our legal officers in the end.

In their defence, I guess muppets return a lot of kit that is NOT broken in any way at all and incompentence is the issue.

In your case you have a cast iron case. I suggest you also contact your local trading standards for help/backup... 8)
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Post by GlimmerMan »

Well they again refused in their reply so I got right on the phone to the manager, who was inclined to agree that it was a fault after a lenghty discussion and issued me an RMA number to send it back for a refund.

It's pity their customer service is so crap, because like you said they always have the newest gear before other suppliers. Plus I've always found them to be competitivley priced too. I've spent thousands over the years with them and the first time I need to return something, and for a valid reason, they cause me so much hassle. :?

Anyway, now that that is sorted I've got to decide whether to go for the Samsung 244T or wait until next month for the BenQ FP241W to be released and see what the reviews and people who bought them have to say about it. However, can you guess the only place I've seen the BenQ offered on sale so far?... You guessed it, ocuk. :(
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Post by Seahorse »

I'm always tempted to import this stuff from the states they are literally 1/2 price...
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Post by GlimmerMan »

You're right there, I had no idea what the difference was until my issues led me to check the DELL support forums which are full of people saying the expected less glitches from a $700-$800 monitor (Talking about the 2407)... It's ~£620 in the UK! Like you said almost double the price. :?
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Post by GlimmerMan »

Now they're being real cheeky bastards.

I've been looking at the 2407 on their site (was looking to see if they listed the BenQ with a price so I'd know what it was going to cost roughly and just happened to see the 2407 every time I looked) every day since I ordered it and it's been the ~£623 I paid for it. Today they're showing the list price as £705, but have a bit saying "special offer, reduced to £629 for this week only!"

Isn't it illegal to advertise a price reduction when then the price they quote as the previous price is a bullshit lie!? Seems to me they're trying to make it look like a bargin to get shot of their stock of them.
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Post by GlimmerMan »

Argh! It continues!

I get home from work today and find an email from them saying your replacement order has been shipped. NO NO NO!

I get right on the phone to their customer services line and after queueing for ages, get to speak to a chap who tells me that to discuss an RMA I need to call their technical support department (the 10p / minute line) and wait in a big queue again.

So I do and I wait again, finally I hear a human voice and I explain it was agreed with their manager previously that my RMA was for a refund not a replacement because a replacement would suffer the same issue. He asks me to wait while he reads their system. Then he says they found nothing wrong with it that's why its being sent back to me. I explain that in fact there is a problem and it is cearly outlined in the letter I enclosed when I returned it to them. I'm about half way through explainging the issue in a kind and polite manner and the tosser hung up on me. I call back and the second the phone is answered it's hung up again (must have recognised my number). So I call the sales/customer service line again and wait another 15 minutes to get back through and say I've tried to discuss an RMA issue with their technical department, as asked, but they saw fit to hang up on me, I'd like to speak to the duty manager. They say he's not inand he can;t do anything to help me, he eventually takes the details and says he'll get the manager to call me back when he's back in later tonight (Yeah, that'll happen).

I guess it is time to call trading standards. :?
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Post by Seahorse »

Yes - make sure you diary it all up. Bastards... :evil:
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Post by mid_gen »

Cut out the middle-men, go straight to the MD. Write a snail-mail letter to him rather than email though.
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Post by rib? »

mid_gen wrote:Cut out the middle-men, go straight to the MD. Write a snail-mail letter to him rather than email though.
attach the snailmail to a brick and hand deliver it mortar stylee through his stoke on trent window :D

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Post by GlimmerMan »

Been in touch with trading standards, who says they had no right to refuse to let me return it under the distance selling act. The act is designed to give you 7 working days to decide if you want to keep the goods because you're buying them without seeing them. So when they told me the act doesn't allow me to return it under that act because I'd opened and used it they were talking bullshit.

Also, the faults with it make it unfit for purpose and not of satisfactory quality, so under the Section 14 of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 I've got them for breach of contract and have the right to reject it for a refund.

They told me to report them to the police and my bank for illegally taking a payment of £22 from my bank account on Saturday without getting my authorisation (I guess they took it to cover the cost of shipping it back to me).

I sent OcUK two and a half sides of A4 by recorded delivery earlier today outlining this and demanding a refund within 14 days otherwise I'll take them to court and claim costs against them too.

Their move.
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Post by Seahorse »

Slap em down... 8)
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Post by GlimmerMan »

Well they ignored both my letters and I just filed suit today. However, I just hope they stay operating long enough for me to get my money back...

I get home from work today and there's a letter with a Stoke-on-Trent post stamp on it (That's where OCUK are based) for me. It's a letter from their local Trading Standards office. I previously complained to my local branch and they must have passed the details on. Anyway the letter says that they're currently already investigating OCUK and would be grateful if I could fill in a short questionaire about my experience and send it back to them.

I just know they're gonna fold/be closed down and I'm gonna get nothing. :evil:
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Post by Seahorse »

They are just crap when kit goes pop - last incident I had was 4 years ago when I spent a grand with them. Mobo was DOA - they wouldn't budge.

Shame really - as they do have decent kit first.

Keep us updated... :arrow:
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Post by GlimmerMan »

They really do defy belief, despite the fact that I filed a legal claim against them, they've tried to send the monitor back to me at least half a dozen times!

The good thing is that they failed to respond to me or the court within the 28 days they had to file their plea after their orignal acknowledgement. Since they failed to respond I was able to request a default judgement against them, which was accepted yesterday by the court and issued to them, ordering them to make full payment to me immediatley.

Knowing them they'll still ignore this and force me to get a warrent issued. :roll:
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Post by Seahorse »

/me Crosses them off of uber PC potential suppliers list...
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Post by GlimmerMan »

After months of messing about its finally over, got a cheque from them today for the full refund, the illegal transaction and also covering court fees.

Now assuming it doesn't bounce the saga is over! :D

It'd have cost them at least £120 less if they didn't fuck about in the first place, guess they were gambing on me not seeing things through.
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Post by GlimmerMan »

Pissups and brewerys...

The Cheque cleared over a week ago, I now have all my money and costs etc back. What happens today? They've only gone and sent the monitor back to me again! Clearly the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing at OcUK!

It'd be interesting to see how many more times they try to send me this monitor that I now essentially haven't paid for, but I think it'd be more enjoyable to phone them tommorrow and tell them how foolish they are being!
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Post by Seahorse »

Deny it was delivered ... :twisted:
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Post by BoredAtWork »

Glad to hear it was resolved!

On another note Chris sucks for breaking the forums :P
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