So... overclockers let me down...

[Dubbs]

After everyone telling me that overclockers have sent them dodgy kit and me telling everyone that they've been great for me - My DFI Lanparty board is DOA!!!!

Called overclockers to be told that I have to go to the manufacturer, they don't have their own returns service for DFI boards and that, in the spirit of goodwill considering my £400 order and previous orders with them, that they're prepared to do absolutely DICK ALL for me They weren't particularly polite and almost called me a fool for ordering a DFI board! "excsue me for asking sir but if it was that important for you [to have a working board] then why did you buy that one?" What kind of question was THAT!!!!

So.... This morning I've called DFI in the netherlands expecting it to be hell. They were polite, swift to respond and are even trying to get a board out to me before sending mine out DESPITE their RMA service requiring my faulty board first before shipping.

Now proof of pudding will be the rest of today and whether they walk the talk. If so I'll let you all know as it'll be a big thumbs up for customer service from DFI.

If not... you'll definitely know too.

As for overclockers.... I've not finished with them yet....

So far it's DFI - 1 Overclockers.co.uk - 0

 

[RandomBastard]

Overclockers have great service and generally pricing, until you receive a peice of broken kit. When it all goes to hell. OCuK have charged me servicing charges for replacing quite obviusly dead motherboards before now. and currently arnt returning my emails over a query over an old order i placed.

So good luck and may the oc service people burn in hell

 

[Dubbs]

Since this message DFI have sent me a mail asking for fax confirmation that I will send the faulty board back. They are arranging for a courier to bring the new board out to my specified address.

All seems most efficient so far...

I've never had any problems with overclockers before but the attitude displayed to me on Saturday was not befitting a supposed professional mail order company. Bearing in mind what they sell and how (and who too) they should have known better than to adopt the attitude they did. It certainly has dissuaded me from using them again and I'm likely to recommend other people to use alternate suppliers in future.

Thing is.... who else is there out there providing as good a solution as they purport to the PC "custom" crowd?

 

[xane]

www.tekheads.co.uk
www.kustom.co.uk
www.theoverclockingstore.co.uk (but I think they've shut down now)

Go to www.resellerratings.co.uk to vent your ire

 

[Zephirus]

I stopped dealing with overclockers a couple of years ago after two duff ibm hard drives, that i had to physically go to their shop to get replaced (which is incedentally a bastard to find) as they couldn't do me an rma form. Incedentally - it should be OcUK who return the board, it's not up to you to do it.. iirc the onus is on the point of purchase for that.

 

[Insane]

lay some smackdown on them.

you should have went back to Overclockers.co.uk and told them that its their responsability since they sold you duff equipment and you are wishing to return it within the 28 days of initial purchase for a working model.

if they are still causing trouble, tell them you'll just have to get on with trading standards over this since its a breach of the comsumer guidelines they should adhere to, by initially selling products which are not as advertised, and by whatever you can get them by the balls with.

id feel safer buying from a pc world trainee, while im blindfolded listening to thrash metal in a pair of headphones

 

[old.user4556]

Called overclockers to be told that I have to go to the manufacturer, they don't have their own returns service for DFI boards and that, in the spirit of goodwill considering my £400 order and previous orders with them, that they're prepared to do absolutely DICK ALL for me

I'm surprised they didn't tell you that you read DICK ALL on their website . It states very clearly on the DFI page that:

Important Information - Direct RMA Service on DFI LANParty Series Motherboard - On top of the of all the exciting new features that our LANParty motherboards introduced, DFI is committed in bringing the product support services to the next level by launching a new initiative called Direct RMA Request services to LANParty motherboard End-Users. Therefore all warranty claims including returns and replacement are handled direct by DFI.
RMA Procedure - This service is available online through DFI's automated facilities at http://www.dfi.com.tw/RMA/rma_request_step0_us.jsp.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/LanParty_amd_motherboards.html

and the best bit:

By placing this order you are agreeing to these conditions.

I agree with you that Overclockers do have a member of staff (Dave Hardy, I *think*) who is very, very patronising and almost rude. I suggest you perhaps write to them to feedback on it.

At the same time, and i sympathise with your problem, i suggest you read the T's and C's more clearly before you rant and rave about it here

G

 

[Ch3tan]

Whether you agree to that or not. I am almost certain that he could claimed a wfull refund from OCuk for a faulty item within 28 days. Basic consumer rights that retailers are not allowed to get around.

Can someone clarify this?

 

[old.user4556]

If you buy goods and there are not fit for purpose, you are entitled to a full refund.

See here http://www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topics1/guide/unsatisfactory.htm

However, if you purchase said motherboard and find out that it's faulty and want a replacement, there are very clear guidelines on the procedure for returning the motherboard to the manufacturer which you have agreed to with overclockers.co.uk.

I hate to be blunt, but it's bloody obvious and the original poster must have been well aware. Basically, with regards to overclockers referring him to the manufacturer, they're well within their rights.

G

 

[Krazeh]

Tbh it seems that overclockers.co.uk acted exactly as you'd expect, you agreed that all DFI RMA's were being handled directly by DFI themselves. It's not as if they just made it up on the phone cos they couldn't be bothered dealing with it.

 

[TUG]

Haha my m8s just gone to work in the OcUK returns/technical dept.

Silly boy that he is

 

[rynnor]

Actually - that exclusion clause on the Overclockers website is all puff n air - The Unfair Contract Terms act regulates this sort of thing in the UK along with the Consumer Protection Act (1987? its been a while) - basically you have a set of rights that cannot be changed regardless of any contract that you sign - one of these (which incidentally comes from an EC Directive originally) is that everything you buy must be 'fit for the purpose' - If you buy something that doesnt work you have absolute rights to get a full refund from the seller - if they start trying to give you a credit note start mentioning the Consumer Protection Act and Trading Standards.

Any company trading in the UK can be expected to know about this and be covered by it (the only exception to note is that it does not cover private sales in which case Caveat Emptor - 'buyer beware!').

 

[old.user4556]

Is there an echo in here?

That's exactly what I posted along with a link. I'm sure if you called overclockers and said "i've bought this board, it's not fit for the purpose it was bought for therefore i want a full refund" i'm sure there would not be a problem. A mate of mine with a duff ASUS A7N8X quoted this and returned the board to a successful outcome.

However, as per the original post, you want a replacement board - there is (for the third time) a very clear returns process that is handeled by DFI and not overclockers, which you have to agree to before purchase.

G

 

[Clown]

Get a full refund and then buy another one?

 

[rynnor]

Get a full refund and then buy another one?

Aye - that was my point really - if hes not happy with the service he got from them he might prefer to hurt em in the wallet and then go elsewhere with his cash

 

[old.user4556]

Get a full refund and then buy another one?

I suppose you could, I'm no expert on consumers rights. However, if what you say is true, then you could by a CPU, try to overclock it and return it if it doesn't clock as high as you want to stating "it's not fit for the purpose i bought it". Additionally, you could repeat this process until you got one that overclocked.

I believe overclockers would be covered under the distance selling act which is as follows:

If you sell goods or services to consumers:

on the internet or digital television
by mail order, including catalogue shopping
by phone
by fax
the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 may apply to your business.

Key features of the regulations:

the consumer must be given clear information about the goods or services offered
after making a purchase the consumer must be sent confirmation
consumer has a cooling-off period of 7 working days
new powers for local Trading Standards Departments and the OFT.

So perhaps stating that any faulty goods are handeled via RMA by the manufacturer and that you agree to these terms, you're caught in the loop that overclockers have clearly stated the service provided for faulty DMI boards?

Is there a lawyer about these forums that can clear this up...

G

 

[Dubbs]

I hate to be blunt, but it's bloody obvious and the original poster must have been well aware. Basically, with regards to overclockers referring him to the manufacturer, they're well within their rights.

G

Big G - Whilst I admit an amount of fault is mine for not fully reading every single bit of text prior to clicking the "buy now" button, I'm not completely at fault.

Go back to that page and look at it as though you're nipping on to buy EXACTLY what you need and you know what you want. Putting THAT set of terms after the full description and not highlighting the fact with large text or a "see below" near the main description is shoddy (in fact I think they HIDE the text by actually making it smaller than the rest)

Companies like this are always digging their way out of providing good customer service. Bear in mind my original complaint - I never said they were outright liars, I was complaining about their customer service especially with regards to attitude. My second point was about people warning me of a high incidence of DOA kit only for it then to happen to me as well.

If your gonna bitch about my post then at least get the context of it correct Big fella!

Apology accepted

 

[Xavier]

if what you say is true, then you could by a CPU, try to overclock it and return it if it doesn't clock as high as you want to stating "it's not fit for the purpose i bought it".

Not true, not unless the retailer sold it with some degree of guaranteed overclock margin... otherwise the purpose to which they sell it is simply as a processor at a rated frequency.

With regards to the motherboard, it's sold with the expectation that it's functional, where this one isn't. I'd suggest getting yourself a refund and going elsewhere, the DFI boards aren't great anyhoo.

Xav

 

[old.user4556]

Yes ok Xav, I was speculating there - but where do you draw the line of "not fit for purpose"?

If you purchase a phone with a 1 year contract (which you're tied to), but the signal coverage is poor so you can't make calls at times; can you then return the phone and terminate the contract because it's not fit for the purpose of making calls? I don't understand how it works myself.

It seems like a grey area to me. I think if you purchase faulty goods, then definitely 'yes', return them. In this instance, if a replacement is needed, there seems to be a set returns procedure to adhere to.

Companies like this are always digging their way out of providing good customer service. Bear in mind my original complaint - I never said they were outright liars, I was complaining about their customer service especially with regards to attitude

Yes I couldn't agree more, overclockers.co.uk are notorious for their hopeless, patronising service.

If your gonna bitch about my post then at least get the context of it correct Big fella!

Apology accepted

*sigh* I won't rise to that childish prod, there's no need for it here.

I think you need to be more fair to overclockers, yes they shouldn't have poo customer service, but I think you should be more accomodating to their conditions of purchase.

G

 

[Xavier]

Yes ok Xav, I was speculating there - but where do you draw the line of "not fit for purpose"?

If you purchase a phone with a 1 year contract (which you're tied to), but the signal coverage is poor so you can't make calls at times; can you then return the phone and terminate the contract because it's not fit for the purpose of making calls? I don't understand how it works myself.

Last time I checked there was a 14-day return period whereby if you bought a mobile, contract or prepaid and the network or phone didn't operate at your home (providing their coverage map showed it should work) then you could return it... Then again I've heard of people returning phones because the screens were too dim/bright ringtones 'too whiny' and buttons 'too fiddly' - at the end of the day most sales staff don't give a f*ck in the high street.

Overclockers.co.uk on the other hand have a real chip on the shoulder, question their technical expertise and they'll try and get all high and mighty, question the functionality of a product you've purchased and they'll do their damndest to stick the blame on the customer (bad installation, poor static procedure, negligence - etc etc). As I've mentioned before when a customer of theirs asked us to investigate their lack of customer support their MD only popped his head out of his posterior for long enough to try and accuse us of fraudulent claims and threaten legal action.

I could say it a hundred times more, but the best way for everyone to learn is to fall foul of their uttely abysmal customer services at least once - OCUK have to be the worst online retailer I've ever had the misfortune to deal with, and you've more chance of getting decent kit off eBay than you ever will purchasing from their shambles of a 'business'.

 

[old.user4556]

So... you're not that happy with overclockers then?

 

[Dubbs]

So, continuing on as I promised I would (and to give everyone a rest from the satirical rambling of our very own Big G)

DFI sent another board.... which didn't work! Got on the phone to them, three rings and I was answered by a techie (not receptionist) who was straight on the case and very apologetic (you'd think HE made the board! - maybe he did and they're a tiny company... )

They send me over 2... yep 2... bios chips to try and after a bit of fiddling around all is now fine and dandy. I'm now playing around to get the fastest setup I can from my 2800+ barton and Sata 160Gbx2 RAID 0 array.

Have to THOROUGHLY recommend DFI from a customer services perspective and THIS is what it's all about. I was pissed off after talking to OCuk after 3 minutes and even waiting 3 days for a replacement board (had they even bothered to offer) would have been annoying - because of their nonchalant attitude and they way they made me feel about the whole process i.e, very confontational. DFI however have actually made me wait twice as long (first 4 days for the motherboard, then weekend of waiting, called them Monday, BIOS arrived Wednesday and fitted last night) BUT I'm chuffed to bits all due to them being, polite, swift as they could (being in Holland) and veyr thorough on diagnosis and general expertise.

One could argue they fall foul due to receiving DOA kit in the first place but I'd argue that after the reports I hear about OCuk I wouldn't be suprised if they kept my particular purchase next to the radiator!

Conjecture? Maybe but I think my views are justified. Big G is right about reading the smallprint but it's these very "first impression" I'm detailing here that forge an opinion of a company in your mind.

 

[Krazeh]

For the other side of the coin I find OCUK's customer support really good, I recieved an order from them a few days ago which included a couple of SATA cables that didn't function, one email to them stating this and I got a RMA number within the hour.

 

[jakswan]

Find someone local

Well I own a company, if a punter has RMA I ask them to bring it in, they can have money back without question or bring the kit in and build it at our workshop, with help/guidance and instant RMA.

We do web orders and they are harder to handle, so try to find someone local?

Generally we're 10% more expensive than on-line but if you want it to work......

Overclockers just don't have the resources to give decent customer service due to their business model I suspect.

 

[Padwah]

For the other side of the coin I find OCUK's customer support really good, I recieved an order from them a few days ago which included a couple of SATA cables that didn't function, one email to them stating this and I got a RMA number within the hour.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but your troubles are most likely about to begin around about now! Getting an RMA number is the least of your worries it's once your broken piece of kit starts circulating around the returns department that you'll start to get annoyed with them. Fortunately for you you're only dealing with a couple of SATA cables so you should be alright.

/OcUK hater

 

[old.user4556]

I had one bad run with oc.co.uk and one good run. The bad one was the initial contact with oc about my memory, got through to Mr Patronising that time. The second time i got through to a very helpful bloke who gave me a full refund for the memory.

I try not to think too much about how shit they are for customer support, but I appreciate that they ship stock out to me in less than 24 hours. It's that prompt service that i've come to love, but pray to sweet jesus that it's not fooked.

G

 

[TUG]

I'm just lucky enough to live a few mins from there, so any probs and I can be down to kick up a fuss.

Even though a lot of peeps diss the MD, he must have done something right to be earning money any of us would only dream of earning.

It aint a small company any more and.. well word on the street is it's doing something to make customer service better... Proof is in the pudding and all that but theres plenty more shops to buy from saves sitting on forums dissing them all day long over and over

 

[Dubbs]

I hope they do as I like the whole idea of OcUK. Not just that but it feels good to be giving your money to a UK company and not juat another US-owned UK-based franchise.

P.S Typing this on new PC now - all working and DFI board fully recommended now it's all hunkydory!