Overclockers UK - Nightmare or not?

[Waynos_Face]

Who was the manufacterer of the card, as i had to RMA a motherboard and a graphics card at OCUK for a build i used for a mate, It can literally take upto 12 weeks for an RMA to the USA, it took 9 weeks for ASUS and 11 weeks for EVGA.

I think the best thing they could do is issue a replacement themselves but they don't, plus i reckon they wouldn't have a;ot of your card in stock, 4870 x 2???

 

[Ant_]

bought a motherboard from Overclockers
first one was damaged in transit by the courier two weeks ago, returned it at my own cost got a replacement sent out to me.

Installed the replacement and it wasn't performing well, kept locking up or failing to post at all giving me errors on the lcd poster.
(board was an Asus crosshair formula II),
then it finally gave up the ghost wouldn't post at all no matter what, spent 4 hours troubleshooting it, swapping in parts from working systems etc to try get it running, no joy, definitely faulty, Asus said the same after contacting them the same day.

so after that I got an rma#, shipped the faulty board back again at my own cost, also they were now out of stock for that motherboard so i asked for a refund instead of a replacement, went and bought a replacement board elsewhere and got my system up and running happily within an hour.

They received the board on the Tuesday morning last week, didn't start processing it till Friday at 4pm when i got an email saying testing would take 5-7days.
But on Saturday at 4pm i got an email saying it had been shipped back to me via dhl and was fine.

I know rightly it isn't and considering they spent less than 24hours (most of which they were no doubt closed) i can't see how they did much if any testing whatsoever, considering it was back and in the hands of the courier in such a short time.

get the feeling i'm going have hassle reclaiming my £200 :/

 

[Nobody in particular]

OcUK do not like replacements and hate refunds.

The service I have had from them was pretty good, I think that OcUK have a good side and a bad side - it's just more people seem to see the bad side lol.

People have said in reviews that their Customer Service is awful, rude and unhelpful.

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Overclockers_co_uk

 

[Ant_]

OcUK do not like replacements and hate refunds.

The service I have had from them was pretty good, I think that OcUK have a good side and a bad side - it's just more people seem to see the bad side lol.

People have said in reviews that their Customer Service is awful, rude and unhelpful.

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Overclockers_co_uk

rang customer service when i got home (well i say customer services but really it's tech support on a premium rate number)
Got some gobby technician who basically read back the same report that i had received, tried to explain to me how they managed to fully test it in 7hours...which included unpacking setting up repacking and giving it to DHL(some going).

Just going to use small claims court online and my credit card company to sort it out, I'll paste the detailed testing report i received below, spelling mistakes included.

"Motherboard was setuo,, and BIOS was updated,, Motherboard posted left running then was shutdown and started back up at random times. Motherboard posted everytime first time with No issues."

 

[Ant_]

board arrived and had been battered again in the post... 2 clips from the ram slots snapped off, bios battery floating about and the casing smashed down one side again, clr bios jumper/pins bent, capacitors beside it bent over a bit.

they can't pack anything properly

just had two of those air pockets at the end of the box, no other wrapping or padding, container was a small thin cardboard box the same size as the motherboard box.
so 6 sides to a box, 5 sides totally unprotected... good work, not even a bit of bubble wrap to be seen.

Had to email them photographs of the damage, that was last Wednesday still heard nothing from them. no doubt because i told them i wanted a refund..

really find out how good a companies service is when you have a problem.

 

[guest_9323wk]

board arrived and had been battered again in the post... 2 clips from the ram slots snapped off, bios battery floating about and the casing smashed down one side again, clr bios jumper/pins bent, capacitors beside it bent over a bit.

they can't pack anything properly

just had two of those air pockets at the end of the box, no other wrapping or padding, container was a small thin cardboard box the same size as the motherboard box.
so 6 sides to a box, 5 sides totally unprotected... good work, not even a bit of bubble wrap to be seen.

Had to email them photographs of the damage, that was last Wednesday still heard nothing from them. no doubt because i told them i wanted a refund..

really find out how good a companies service is when you have a problem.

I suggest you contact the complaints dept, this is dealt by management, say that you will give them 14 working to resolve this issue, and that you would like a refund or replacement.

 

[Ant_]

Contacted complaints even before the board arrived, giving off about the obvious lack of testing. Opened, setup then packed up and sent back to me apparently fault free all in less than 24hrs.

not heard anything back from that yet either that was on the 13th, just hopeless that lot

you have to phone tech support, even if its a customer service inquiry rather than a technical one.
webnotes get answered by god knows how many different people and no way to track them.

 

[guest_9323wk]

Contacted complaints even before the board arrived, giving off about the obvious lack of testing. Opened, setup then packed up and sent back to me apparently fault free all in less than 24hrs.

not heard anything back from that yet either that was on the 13th, just hopeless that lot

you have to phone tech support, even if its a customer service inquiry rather than a technical one.
webnotes get answered by god knows how many different people and no way to track them.

Say that you will consider further action after 14 working days if is this is not resolved. I would also address any complaint e-mails F.A.O. Thomas Lamb,
Sales and Customer Services Team Leader.


Let us know how you get on.

Regards

 

[Ant_]

after weeks of not hearing anything i posted on their forums and got the guy i was speaking to via email to chase it up.
Managed to get my refund last week, never using them again

the guy i eventually dealt with seemed fine and to get things sorted pity the rest of the people weren't upto scratch especially whoever answers the tech support phones..

 

[guest_9323wk]

after weeks of not hearing anything i posted on their forums and got the guy i was speaking to via email to chase it up.
Managed to get my refund last week, never using them again

the guy i eventually dealt with seemed fine and to get things sorted pity the rest of the people weren't upto scratch especially whoever answers the tech support phones..

Hi,

I am glad that you have now got this issue resolved did you speak to a Tech Support person or someone from complaints dept?

Regards,

 

[Ant_]

was someone who answers the rma queries so neither i'd guess.

never got a reply to the complaint i sent

 

[V_R]

Sorry to hear your story Ant.

On the flip side, I had a faulty BFG 280GTX from OCUK, sent back for a replacement but due to the deal they had and how popular it was i was looking at a long wait, i sent a web note stating i wanted a refund and it was done very quickly.

Again, i have had and sent back lots to OCUK and never had a problem.

 

[Interdiction]

Overclockers refuse my return

this is what they sent me when i sent a mb back on an rma

The product MB-277-AS on RMA****** has been returned to you. It has been rejected for the following reason.

"There are bent pins in the CPU socket. All warranty is now void on this product."


I have built a lot of pcs and never had a problem with bending pins/ Card company called and all in the process of getting my cash back of these cowboys


Do not use these people , i have spent a fortune there in the past as have 20 of my pals who will now source our components from somewhere else

 

[floppybootstomp]

A CPU socket has just that - sockets, not pins.

How they could become bent is beyond me.

It has not been past some unscrupulous folk to make one post randomly at many forums disclaiming an online supplier for reasons beneficial to themselves.

Not that I'm suggesting this is the case here of course, goodness me no

My one small prob with them is detailed earlier in this thread but I will repeat that on the whole, rma's and all, they have been excellent as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Interdiction]

A CPU socket has just that - sockets, not pins.

How they could become bent is beyond me.

It has not been past some unscrupulous folk to make one post randomly at many forums disclaiming an online supplier for reasons beneficial to themselves.

Not that I'm suggesting this is the case here of course, goodness me no

My one small prob with them is detailed earlier in this thread but I will repeat that on the whole, rma's and all, they have been excellent as far as I'm concerned.

This mb is part of a 1000 pound order of a pc i was building for my brother.

I am a tad dismayed at the way i have been treat , how much would a board cost these people ? compare that to how much custom i have put their way and it makes them look very self destructive as a company

How do you bend pins in a board ? you would have to put the cpu in the wrong way round and try your hardest to clip it in

Dodgy practice is all i can think of . all this for a crappy P5q p45 board ? its not as if i was trying to rob them of thousands

Be warned

PS there are pins where the cpu goes ? how many boards have you worked on ?

 

[floppybootstomp]

PS there are pins where the cpu goes ? how many boards have you worked on ?

Just the one or two mate

You're the one who supposedly quoted OCUK as saying 'There are bent pins in the CPU socket' not I.

I suppose it could mean some CPU pins have broken off and have been left in the socket. Is that what they meant do you think?

I rarely take notice of first time posters dissing online suppliers, there are too many other angles to consider, but I do take note of complaints against a supplier as a whole. Which is probably why I haven't used OCUK for about 18 months now.

But, as mentioned before, apart from one small complaint, they've been good, had a faulty expensive graphics card turned around in three days once.

If you look at the Hexus Forum btw, you'll notice an almost pathological hatred for OCUK and some severe forelock-tugging for Scan. Quite odd.

 

[Interdiction]

Just the one or two mate

You're the one who supposedly quoted OCUK as saying 'There are bent pins in the CPU socket' not I.

I suppose it could mean some CPU pins have broken off and have been left in the socket. Is that what they meant do you think?

I rarely take notice of first time posters dissing online suppliers, there are too many other angles to consider, but I do take note of complaints against a supplier as a whole. Which is probably why I haven't used OCUK for about 18 months now.

But, as mentioned before, apart from one small complaint, they've been good, had a faulty expensive graphics card turned around in three days once.

If you look at the Hexus Forum btw, you'll notice an almost pathological hatred for OCUK and some severe forelock-tugging for Scan. Quite odd.

I never quoted them , i simply copied and pasted their standard reply

But i can see why you wouldnt take notice of a new poster as i could just be s*it stirring

Still i am a bit miffed seeing as i was a loyal long time customer of them but hey ho swings and roundabouts time

 

[RGN01]

It seems they have got no better!

It all started in August 2010 when I spent over £600 on PC components with them. I was very happy for about 6 weeks until the motherboard died - and the torment began!

I got an RMA and returned the board. They have lied and played delaying tactics ever since - as well as being arrogant, unfriendly and unhelpful when you phone (for which they charge 10p a minute to play you hold music for 30 - 40 minutes each time)

They confirmed it faulty a week later. Then they promised it had been sent back to Asus (in an email) - but when I phoned a week later to check progress they told me it had not been sent yet! 28 days after they received it I phoned to check on progress as their Returns Manager said in an email that they were legally obliged to return it in 28 days. They said it hadn't been returned yet so I reminded them that they had said they had to return it in 28 days - and suddenly it was there "as it had arrived that morning but not been checked yet" Yeah, right!
It arrived back the next day - exactly 28 days after they received it - but all the accesories were missing! They say they can't replace them as I purchased the motherboard over 28 days ago (but they have had it for 28 days) and they specifically instructed me to return the accessories.

They are also delaying about meeting my legal right for them to pay for the postage costs to return the faulty one to them. First they agreed to pay it without a receipt (on the phone - he knew the cost to within 15p - first class recorded) then they want a scanned copy of the receipt. I have it but can't send it to them because they won't give me their email address even though I've asked twice! So over a month since returning it I still don't have a working motherboard and now am another £8.65 down.

I'll be taking this to Trading Standards.

I'll avoid overclockers.co.uk like the plague in future!

 

[floppybootstomp]

I keep reading bad crap about OCUK, to the extent that I got scared off and stopped using them.

I did use them for one component, one order, about nine months ago, no problems.

In fact, as I keep saying, I've been using them for at least eight years now and have only ever had one problem.

That problem was because they didn't have ONE item of a multi-item order they didn't ship out the rest.

This meant I stayed home all day to recieve nothing.

That is bad, very bad, and is part of the reason I don't use them anymore.

But. They did turn around two rma's really quickly, I spoke to somebody on the phone, no problems at all. Am I just lucky or are rival suppliers putting plants here to put trade their way?

I don't know.

Must admit there is so much bad crap I have my doubts about them.

But there again I can only judge by my own experiences.

Many OCUK customers complain of faulty compenets, such as motherboards. I've worked in retail and I do know ignorance is a large factor in returning so-called ;faulty' components.

I also know folks mess things up through amateurishness and then try and claim they've been sold a faulty component.

I also know faulty components are shipped and suppliers will try and wriggle out of their responsibility.

A good supplier should investigate all scenarios and unfortunately for them, their component prices should reflect this overhead.

I don't know, I just don't know, but I have to confess I now mostly use Kustom PC's; Scan; Aria and E-Buyer and not OCUK.

 

[RGN01]

floppybootstomp, I have the emails and my copies of the webnotes to prove what I've said is correct. I'll consider publishing them if necessary to prove what I've said is correct - but only after I've pursued whatever action I need to follow as I may have to take it to small claims court if I don't get this resolved to my satisfaction.

The motherboard was faulty and not my fault or they/Asus would not have replaced it.

Their problem is the way they deal with you on the phone and their attitude - and unforunately this only becomes apparent when you have a problem with a component. They seem to firmly believe that they have 28 days to turn a warranty claim arround - and that they absolutely must use every day of that 28!

Richard