Issue with online seller.

kitkat9933 · 8 Jan 2013 at 12:01

Hi Guys,

My friend recently got a Gigabyte board from another online PC retailer and paid for their self damage insurances. This board came to him looking like it had been shot by a barret .50 cal sniper rifle and the same day was sent back to them for a replacement. He was told since this wasn't due to his error it wouldn't come under his insurance but under the warranty by the seller/manufacturer.

He received the replacement board, which he damaged the socket while putting the CPU in. He returned the board and they won't replace it under his insurance, since they returned the first one under his insurance rather than as a damaged on arrival board. This means they won't replace his board even though due to their error. They don't record their calls and are denying the situation completely. They are offering to repair it for £25, even tho a nominal fee he isn't happy on the situation.

I told him to pay the £25 now since it is nominal just so he can get a working board and then chase the £25 back up by writing a letter to the managing director on the situation which I did a rough draft of (copied below).

Can anyone advise me on how best to deal with this situation? He doesn't want to go to court because for £25 it isn't' worth the hassle or the stress. But he just wants to hedge his bets by sending a letter to the managing director and hoping for the best out of principle.

-----
Mark,

Further to our conversation today, could you please confirm this is the correct mailing address for your managing director,

* insert address here *

In response to the original issue, I will pay the nominal fee of £25 now in order to get the board back as quick as possible. After the board has been received back, if the situation has still not been resolved to my satisfaction, I will pursue this matter further.

Regards,

* insert friends name here *

gillywibble · 8 Jan 2013 at 12:05

Ask for a full refund or take them to court.

The proceedings can be issued online.

https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome

Name · 8 Jan 2013 at 12:09

That is some seriously bad luck!

your friend wont be shopping there again.

kitkat9933 · 8 Jan 2013 at 12:09

gillywibble said:
Ask for a full refund or take them to court.

The proceedings can be issued online.

https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome

He doesn't want to take them to court as the time he would have to take of work e.t.c isn't worth the £25.

gillywibble · 8 Jan 2013 at 12:11

kitkat9933 said:
He doesn't want to take them to court as the time he would have to take of work e.t.c isn't worth the £25.

Fair enough but chances are they'll just pay up without him having to take any time off. Even the threat of proceedings may result in them resolving the issue amicably.

Personally, I wouldn't put up with it.

kitkat9933 · 8 Jan 2013 at 12:13

gillywibble said:
Fair enough but chances are they'll just pay up without him having to take any time off. Even the threat of proceedings may result in them resolving the issue amicably.

Personally, I wouldn't put up with it, nor would I want a damaged MOBO.

The furthest he really wants to go is respond to their e-mail offering to pay the £25 but clearly stating he shouldn't be paying it since it is their cockup, but is doing it to get it back ASAP. Then a follow up letter to the MD.

Personally i'd take them to court just as a matter of principle even for £25.

Haggisman · 8 Jan 2013 at 12:17

How much was the insurance out of interest?

If that was me, if I had to pay the £25 I'd sure as hell want the insurance charge back.

kitkat9933 · 8 Jan 2013 at 12:20

Haggisman said:
How much was the insurance out of interest?

If that was me, if I had to pay the £25 I'd sure as hell want the insurance charge back.

About the same price I think as it's about 5-10% of the purchase price.

But can't get that either as they claimed under the first one under the insurance and then denied it.

Obviously they claimed the first one was user damaged and claimed of their insurance company and then leaving my friend out of pocket.

kitkat9933 · 8 Jan 2013 at 12:22

This is the e-mail he received :

Hi,

Further to yesterdays conversation unfortunately the board returned cannot be replaced under the SCANSURE cover as the original damaged board returned has already been replaced under SCANSURE which is only valid for use once for any item purchased.

We can however return the damaged board to our supplier for a repair to the damaged CPU socket, please note the charge applicable for a repair is £25.00.

Please reply back directly to this e-mail if you wish to go ahead with this action so that I can forward you the required documentation that will need to be signed by you in order for us to return the board on your behalf to our supplier for repair.

Regards

*insert name here*

I told him to reply with this :

Mark,

Further to our conversation today, could you please confirm this is the correct mailing address for your managing director,

* insert address here *

In response to the original issue, I will pay the nominal fee of £25 now in order to get the board back as quick as possible. After the board has been received back, if the situation has still not been resolved to my satisfaction, I will pursue this matter further.

Regards,

* insert friends name here *

Do you guys think this is an ok response? Because I feel it sounds a bit threatening at the end.

TommyV · 8 Jan 2013 at 12:26

This is why you should shop at OcUK, these forums I'm sure are great to have a moan on if you'd got any problems

kitkat9933 · 8 Jan 2013 at 12:28

TommyV said:
This is why you should shop at OcUK, these forums I'm sure are great to have a moan on if you'd got any problems

I personally shop at OCUK and all RMA's have been flawless (apart from one which still got resolved very quickly)

My friend is from Bolton so shops with this company as its Headquarters is very close to him.

Haggisman · 8 Jan 2013 at 12:34

kitkat9933 said:
Do you guys think this is an ok response? Because I feel it sounds a bit threatening at the end.

I would not under any circumstances agree to pay them anything and threaten to take it further.

How much was the total purchase and did he pay any of it on credit card?

kitkat9933 · 8 Jan 2013 at 12:38

Haggisman said:
I would not under any circumstances agree to pay them anything and threaten to take it further.

How much was the total purchase and did he pay any of it on credit card?

He would rather pay to get his board back so he has a PC and then chase it up. He paid with debit card. About £300.

Haggisman · 8 Jan 2013 at 12:41

If he pays, I would say with 99% certainty he wont get a penny of it back. Is he still within the 7 days DSR period? If so I'd be tempted to DSR the lot and tell them in no uncertain terms to go **** themselves!

Amleto · 8 Jan 2013 at 12:56

do not pay them anything - it is just asking for more hassle. You should also refute their version of events in writing.

Cite SOGA, and your/his rights under it as the reason for returning the first board.

If they don't budge, demand replacement in accordance with their scammy insurance and threaten non compliance with small claims action and getting trading standards involved.

Or just pay the £25 and think how much easier this would all have been if credit card was used.

Amleto · 8 Jan 2013 at 12:57

Haggisman said:
If he pays, I would say with 99% certainty he wont get a penny of it back. Is he still within the 7 days DSR period? If so I'd be tempted to DSR the lot and tell them in no uncertain terms to go **** themselves!

that's not going to work if the consumer has admitted to damaging the product!

kitkat9933 · 8 Jan 2013 at 13:02

Haggisman said:
If he pays, I would say with 99% certainty he wont get a penny of it back. Is he still within the 7 days DSR period? If so I'd be tempted to DSR the lot and tell them in no uncertain terms to go **** themselves!

Well the original board came on 15th December sent back same night in post.

Replacement came on 21st, but they were then shut for RMA's e.t.c till 3rd Jan.

So I don't know if it is still under DSR.

kitkat9933 · 8 Jan 2013 at 13:04

Amleto said:
that's not going to work if the consumer has admitted to damaging the product!

Exactly. The actual issue here is they lied to claim money for themselves of insurance ( bet they sent the board for a refund to manufacturer as-well) And when my friend actually needed to use the scan-insurance he paid for it was no longer valid.

JonJ678 · 8 Jan 2013 at 13:10

That's hilarious. Don't pay them £25 ffs. He's a muppet for breaking the socket trying to ft a CPU, but the retailer is nevertheless acting unreasonably. You can't post someone broken **** just because they paid for insurance.

I wonder which online retailer, widely known for incompetence, might be selling scansure insurance...

kitkat9933 · 8 Jan 2013 at 13:12

JonJ678 said:
That's hilarious. Don't pay them £25 ffs. He's a muppet for breaking the socket trying to ft a CPU, but the retailer is nevertheless acting unreasonably. You can't post someone broken **** just because they paid for insurance.

I wonder which online retailer, widely known for incompetence, might be selling scansure insurance...

The point is he paid for Insurance with it that says if you break it we will replace it. Not saying it isn't his fault, but this is the reason he paid for the insurance!