Expansys - totally useless?

reflux

reflux

reflux

Soldato
Joined
15 Nov 2007
Posts
13,192
Location
Hertfordshire
Short version: Expansys provides terrible customer service. They refuse to respond to emails and don't return calls, leaving customers waiting indefinitely for refunds. Do not buy from Expansys, and certainly never try and return anything to them.

I ordered an HTC 8X from Expansys on Monday 5th November. Decided the day after getting it it wasn't for me and I couldn't afford to keep it. It then took me a week of trying to get them to arrange a return under DSR - they couldn't process my return over the phone, and then totally failed to call back or reply to my emails.

I returned the phone on Tuesday 13th November via RMSD, and since then have had nothing. No acknowledgement of receipt, no refund.. zilch. Inexplicably their site says a refund can take 10+ days from receipt.

I wrote Expansys a formal complaint and sent it by email, but surprise surprise no reply. How can it be so difficult for them to process and refund a return in 2+ weeks when OCUK and others can do it in just a few days?? At the very least they could tell me they've received the item.

Has anyone else had any trouble? Seriously unimpressed with Expansys right now. I won't be shopping with them again if this is how they treat customers.
 
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They're not even that cheap :(

A quick google reveals lots of negative reviews... "expansys doesn't reply to emails" "expansys staff are evasive and rude" etc. etc. Definitely wishing I hadn't ordered from them now. What a load of cowboys.
 
Yeah sounds like a good idea. I will try that from now on.

I managed to get through to them on Friday and they said that they were "moving premises from France" and had an enormous backlog of orders to get through. He said the [email protected] email address is wrong and no-one answers emails sent to that adddress (!) I asked him if he could confirm whether or not the return was received - he said that it was not on the system (still!) and asked me for an RMA number. I was able to dig it out but he said that if I hadn't had one or had lost it, they wouldn't have been able to do anything. Crazy!!

He said he couldn't process the refund over the phone and couldn't tell me when it would go through, but at least I managed to get him to send me an email saying they had it and were going to process it.

Total joke tbh, moving premises or not there's no excuse for such bad customer service. Given the other reports from across the web I think the lesson here is - don't buy from Expansys!
 
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Wow... the sheer level of ineptitude going on there is pretty scary. I really hope Expansys don't mess my refund more than they already have.. it's a lot of money at stake.
 
OK, update:

I rang Expansys on Wednesday to chase up this sorry mess, and they said that they were still having problems (surprise surprise), that there was a massive backlog of returns (heard that one before), but that they'd "escalate" my refund and have the money back to me by today.

Obviously "escalate" to Expansys means "sit on backside scratching ****" because I have still not had my money back.

I will ring them on Monday and give them hell. It will be nearly 3 weeks since I returned the phone. The lesson here is NEVER BUY FROM EXPANSYS. EVER. And certainly never try and return anything for a refund. They are unbelievably bad.
 
Might do, their TrustPilot reviews are almost all as bad as mine so their "customer service" is clearly a trend.

http://www.trustpilot.co.uk/review/www.expansys.com?r=3132999&ref=tp

Definitely gonna get some big guns soon, sick of being fobbed off

Interestingly, the Distance Selling Regulations say that the seller has a period of 30 days to return monies owed for a refund, from the date of the notice of cancellation. Since it'll be 30 days in a week, if they hold off any longer they will actually be breaking the law. Idiots.
 
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koooowweeee said:
not looked at the dsr laws but does it apply to company's abroad. can anything be done?
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They are based in the UK, no? http://www.expansys.com/contact-us/

Marvin said:
They might just hold off for as long as possible. A certain OCUK competitor always does this with DSR (and RMAs, anything customer service TBH), takes 28 days to do anything.
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That might be what they're doing; if that's the case it's very frustrating but at least I might get my money back soon.

_ST said:
I have also had problems with these fools. I am foaming at the mouth thinking about them and the hassle they cause. You never get any response from these idiots. I scoured the internet looking for emails, got myself one of the chief sales staff emails and got it sorted in 2 hours, previous to that I was on phone for 25 minutes a couple of times with no answer. My advice is please stay away from them they will make it hell for you.
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Would you mind sharing that email address if you still have it? I am getting nowhere with the "customer service" staff.
 
Still haven't got anywhere. I've phoned them twice so far this week and can't get through to anyone. So far they have cost me about £12 in calls.

I sent them a very angry email today asking what they're doing and for a firm ETA on the refund. Doubt they'll reply, but felt like I had to do something.
 
Ah right, yeah I've had the backlog story too. It very well may be the case but 3 weeks is stupidly long and shows they've got some serious deficiencies in management/staffing.

I'll option 4 it next time, I've been option 1'ing it to speak to generic customer services but maybe 4 is the way to go, ta :)
 
Right so I just got through to them instantly via option #1 on my house phone (decided to give it a go in case they were blocking my mobile number). Told the bloke that if they haven't done this in a week's time they will actually be breaking the law, and he said I was due my refund "in the next few days". I got him to email me confirming that, so we will see if it actually happens! I'd quite like my £400 back, yes.

Interesting that when you do actually get to speak to someone they're quite pleasant and polite - it seems to me that it must be the returns department causing the problems here, rather than customer service, but who knows.
 
I rang them today - because, surprise surprise, still no refund. I told them that if they couldn't process the refund today they'd be breaking the law as it has now been 30 days and according to the DSR they must issue a refund within that period. I said I would be contacting the authorities tomorrow and they promised that they'd "speak to someone in returns and get it sorted".

We shall see. I expect I will be talking to trading standards tomorrow. Expansys' returns department is absolutely shocking - it is no surprise that you're having a similar experience.
 
Just for future reference, this is the section of the DSR that stipulates the refund window:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2000/2334/regulation/14/made

(3) The supplier shall make the reimbursement referred to in paragraph (1) as soon as possible and in any case within a period not exceeding 30 days beginning with the day on which the notice of cancellation was given.
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And the notice of cancellation can be taken as the day in which the item was posted back to the supplier.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2000/2334/regulation/10/made

(b) sends it by post to the address last known to the consumer and addressed to the supplier or other person by name (in which case, it is to be taken to have been given on the day on which it was posted);
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I just rang Natwest and asked them what they could do about it. I got put through to the Visa Disputes team, who put me on hold and rang Expansys. The woman came back on and said they'd got put through to France, and they needed to find someone to translate, so put me on hold again for a bit and then put me straight through to an English speaker in Expansys HQ France.

I explained the problem and she said it would be no problem, the item was received yesterday (!!!!!!!!!) and that they'd issue a refund today or on Monday. She also muttered some excuse about their offices moving from France to the UK.

So we will see if this refund actually appears... if not, back on the phone to the bank on Monday and Expansys will get a proper kicking.

Hopeless bunch of idiots. Hopefully they'll listen to the bank and get this sorted.
 
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I FINALLY GOT MY REFUND!!! YAYYYYYYYY!!!!

5 weeks after I returned the item and 6 weeks after I asked for a refund, Expansys has finally given me my money back. It took £20 of calls and getting NatWest involved, but they have finally done it. I thought I would never see that £400 again.

The lesson learned here is that Expansys doesn't care about customer service, and Expansys doesn't care if you're unhappy with their service. They don't reply to emails, fail to phone back and they will only do something if someone bigger than them (ie a bank) goes knocking on their door.

I will certainly never shop with Expansys again. It's a shame for them, because if they'd processed my refund promptly or actually given a **** at any step of the process, I might well have purchased something from them in the future.
 
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Yeah, from my experience as soon as I got the bank involved Expansys started taking notice. It's a shame that's the only thing that gets them moving but there we go.
 
^Yeah worth a shot anyway. Did you speak to your bank/payment processor?

I would like to reiterate to anyone reading this thread... NEVER BUY ANYTHING FROM EXPANSYS!!!
 
Ahhh damn, that sucks. Are you out of your 30 day refund period now? When I rang Visa Disputes at NatWest they just dealt with it straight away.
 
Glad you got it sorted out mate. Ridiculous that both of us had to take it so far to get back our money.
 
OK so just an update to this - I got a phone call from a woman claiming to be Expansys' customer service manager last week, saying she'd read my review on TrustPilot and wanted to see if I was still having problems. She said she'd been brought in to address all the negative feedback about Expansys and to reassure customers that the problems they had experienced were just as a result of an office move.

I told her that I had finally received my refund after getting my bank involved, and she asked me if I'd consider shopping with Expansys again. I said no, but she said as a goodwill gesture they'd send me some vouchers to say sorry.

Surprise surprise, no vouchers have ever appeared in my inbox. But hey, at least there IS someone listening to customer feedback!
 
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