Overclockers = cowboys

pxl8

pxl8

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Andy Jones
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Early last week I ordered a Dell 2408 from Overclockers, decent price, in stock, arrived next day.

As reported in another thread the monitor was faulty, very bad backlight bleed on the left and colour casts all over the shot. I took a shot of the screen to check how bad the problem was. Here's the desktop with a mid grey background:

web_1773.jpg

The shot straight out of camera, shot OOF to avoid moire, etc. from.


web_1773a.jpg

The same shot but with auto levels to highlight the effect of the backlight bleed.

web_1773b.jpg

The first shot but with the saturation maxed out to show the difference in colour.

I requested an RMA and shipped it back to them, they received it on Monday.

Tuesday the RMA status said they were waiting for delivery. I called and they said it would be booked in later that day.
Wednesday, still not booked in. I called again and got the same reply.
Thursday, still not booked in. Yep, I called again and this time they promised it would be booked in and checked that day.
This morning, guess what? Not booked in. This time they went and looked for it, couldn't find it. Asked who signed for it, went and ask him and eventually found it. Promised it would be checked and refunded that day.
5:10pm I got an email, no fault found and it's being returned.

I called them. I asked them to look at the photos, they said they meant nothing, could be flash or sunshine on the screen - they'd checked it and it was fine. I said ok, send it back and I'll have Dell check it - if they say it's faulty will you refund it then? No, we've checked it and it's fine, it doesn't matter what Dell say, we're right and they're wrong.

Ok, then I'll have a refund under DSR please.
No, you've got a company email address therefore you can't claim under DSR.
But I ordered this using my personal bank account as a private buyer, I'm entitled to return under the DSR.
Nope, company email means a company order.

etc...

Bottom line, they have shipped an obviously faulty monitor back to me, I'm surprised I wasn't asked to bend over and grab my ankles at the same time :eek:

Haven spoken to the bank and explained everything they said wait for it to be delivered, check it hasn't been replaced on the sly and then call them. The bank will contact Overclockers and give them a chance to refund, if they don't the bank will do it anyway and Overclockers will have to arrange collection.

The moral - never, ever order anything from these muppets. :bat:
 
Bend and spread for payment .....now for cheaper postage you can have it dry or full postage lubed......either way its gonna hurt
sorry but hope you get it sorted its not nice being shafted
 
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A bit of an update on this one.

I received the monitor back this morning. Checked it as instructed by the bank and remarkably it's fixed. Hmm... did I get the same one back? The box was the same so I compared serial numbers on the box to the back of the monitor. They matched but I did notice the sticker on the monitor wasn't laying flat and had a bent corner. Could they possibly have swapped the serial numbers from a working monitor?

I've just taken some more snaps of the screen and on checking the saturation (like the 3rd shot above) I think they've pulled a sneaky swap on me.

Cheeky little so and so's...
 
:lol:
i would send them a email to find out if the manufactures 3 year warrenty still stands now that they have changed serial numbers and i thin the monitor itself has a memory of what its number should be!?
 
pxl8 said:
A bit of an update on this one.

I received the monitor back this morning. Checked it as instructed by the bank and remarkably it's fixed. Hmm... did I get the same one back? The box was the same so I compared serial numbers on the box to the back of the monitor. They matched but I did notice the sticker on the monitor wasn't laying flat and had a bent corner. Could they possibly have swapped the serial numbers from a working monitor?

I've just taken some more snaps of the screen and on checking the saturation (like the 3rd shot above) I think they've pulled a sneaky swap on me.

Cheeky little so and so's...
Click to expand...

I don't understand...are you saying that rather than saying "no probem, we'll fix it or replace it" they have refused and then fixed it anyway and sent it back as being unrepaired? :thinking:

Surely that would be totally counterproductive :shrug:
 
Flash In The Pan said:
I don't understand...are you saying that rather than saying "no probem, we'll fix it or replace it" they have refused and then fixed it anyway and sent it back as being unrepaired? :thinking:

Surely that would be totally counterproductive :shrug:
Click to expand...

You'd think so.

I suspect that rather than refund as faulty and lose the sale plus delivery costs, etc. they have simply swapped it with one from stock (having checked) it and returned the faulty one to stock hoping the next person to get it doesn't complain.

It's not an uncommon trick for rogue traders to swap serials like this, tip of the iceberg really. Of course they've now put me in a position where the "fault" I reported no longer exists hoping I'll let it drop.

Here's the 100% saturated shot from panel I received this morning.

web_1803.jpg
 
Isn't it difficult to remove the serial number sticker without damaging it, not that I have tried it, aren't they not meant to be removed so therefore are really stuck down.
 
The serial sticker isn't one of the ones that will break when tampered with, it's more of a thin piece of plastic. As I say it's got a bent corner, probably where they tried to remove it to start with. It's also got an air bubble where it's not been laid flat.

Of course I can't say for sure that's what they've done. I would say hand on heart that it's a different panel though as the shots above demonstrate.
 
Usually if I have any concerns about something getting switched on me I place a "secret"mark on it somewhere before shipping and document it ;)
 
Ok, the plot thickens.

Maybe I did get the same one back after all... it's been on for a few hours now and look what's happened...

web_1809.jpg


Taken in a dark room, no flash (of course). That's the same backlight bleed I saw before.:(
 
looks like you need to go to trading standards ;) they normaly get the job done
also get you bank to sort out the money
 
I hope you get on OK.
I had a similar problem 2 years ago that took 4 months to sort out. Check your credit card the cheeky bast**** tried to charge me £21 to check the monitor that I returned. I lodged a complaint with the credit card company who in the end had to advise me to start court proceedings against Overclockers and they then reimbursed me and took over the proceedings against them.

I had also registered a complaint with Trading Standards and about 3 weeks later I was telephoned by an inspector, who in the course of the conversation, told me they were looking into the trading practices of the company and asked me for more details.

I've never used them since and never will again.

Kev
 
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Overclockers is owned by a completely self-obsessed monkey (Spie)! (Who apparently thought buying the top of the range camera made him a photographer).

Get your money back and shop elsewhere and don't ever use them again. EVER.
 
cwinhall said:
Overclockers is owned by a completely self-obsessed monkey (Spie)! (Who apparently thought buying the top of the range camera made him a photographer).

Get your money back and shop elsewhere and don't ever use them again. EVER.
Click to expand...

To photograph his dog no less :D OcUK are "good" if you don't have to deal with them after buying the product. If you do, you're screwed. They're not huge fans of giving money back.
 
when my dell (24" as well) hada a problem i got in touch with dell not overclockers. when you buy dell from overclockers you have 3year bussines warranty..that means door to door. even when you buy straight from dell you wont get this warranty;)
So my advice is...Call Dell :)
good luck
 
petemc said:
To photograph his dog no less :D OcUK are "good" if you don't have to deal with them after buying the product. If you do, you're screwed. They're not huge fans of giving money back.
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I still remember them being in Watchdog in PC Zone and instead of just doing the decent thing and replacing a part that'd probably have cost them virtually nothing, they just threatened to sue PC Zone and the customer if the story got printed.

Awful, awful company.

Flash In The Pan said:
I don't understand...are you saying that rather than saying "no probem, we'll fix it or replace it" they have refused and then fixed it anyway and sent it back as being unrepaired? :thinking:

Surely that would be totally counterproductive :shrug:
Click to expand...

If they admit something is wrong, they have to stump up for some postage and have to replace for free.

If they claim it is fine, then the customer is liable for all postage and has to pay a testing fee. You could make a nice little earner out of testing fees by doing this I reckon.
 
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divine` said:
If they admit something is wrong, they have to stump up for some postage and have to replace for free.

If they claim it is fine, then the customer is liable for all postage and has to pay a testing fee. You could make a nice little earner out of testing fees by doing this I reckon.
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Ahhh....gotcha.....nice little scam indeedy :nono:
 
I have never had a problem with OCUK in all the years I have been dealing with them, hope you get sorted.
 
:agree: used them for years never had a problem but there is always the first time..................... ;)
 
I've never had a problem with any kit they've delivered and because of that can't critcise them but I've heard a lot of bad things about their returns. May start looking elsewhere for my next upgrade as they're not bargain basement cheap either. Good forums for help though.
 
I can't say I've ever had a problem with kit I've ordered from them. Including off-catalogue kit they have sourced for me.

The only problem I did have was an AMD :spit: cpu turned up one day, unannounced and most unwelcome.
 
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I Avoid them at all costs following a similar incident with a graphics card return. I'd rather pay more (sometimes a lot more) than go back to them and line his pockets.

Hope you get the monitor situation sorted matey. Can it not go to Dell direct?
 
I've spoken to Dell and they're happy to do a straight swap if I want, but I don't. I want a refund as I don't want the Dell - aside from the wide gamut issues there are other problems with the 2408 such as the backlight bleed, non-uniform colour wash, input lag from the frame buffer, sharpening artifacts, etc.

Dell so far haven't managed to get Rev.01 into the UK which fixes some of the issues and I don't fancy getting into a game of lucky dip.

Bottom line, I got a faulty monitor and I'm entitled to a refund. The bank aren't being much help either now. They say that until OC have had the monitor back for 30 days they can't issue a chargeback, of course OC will just keep returning it to me and if I refuse delivery they'll win too. Bit of a loophole in the Visa chargeback regs :(

So I'm sending OC a letter rejecting the goods and giving them 14 days to refund. At that point I'll consider my options of a) take legal action or b) get a replacement from Dell which I'll sell on and take the loss - it's a case of weighing up the costs of time over money really.

Who knows maybe the threat of legal action will be enough to spur them into a refund, maybe it will happen when the court papers appear in the post, maybe never. They've not done themselves any favours though as I have already offered to have the monitor checked by Dell but OC refused saying they didn't care what Dell said, as far as they are concerned there's nothing wrong with it. :nuts:
 
Weird, I have used overclockers a number of times and had no problems, even RMA'd some items and had no trouble even felt that they dealt with it really quickly and efficiently. Maybe I have just been lucky?
 
Hmm, another £19.54 charge has appeared on my statement. No doubt they'll claim this is their testing and carriage fee. Unfortunately I did not authorise or agree to any such payment, in fact the email they sent when they returned the monitor clearly said the fee was £0.00

Looks like I'll be phoning the bank again in the morning ;)
 
pxl8 said:
I want a refund as I don't want the Dell - aside from the wide gamut issues there are other problems with the 2408 such as the backlight bleed, non-uniform colour wash, input lag from the frame buffer, sharpening artifacts, etc.

Dell so far haven't managed to get Rev.01 into the UK which fixes some of the issues and I don't fancy getting into a game of lucky dip.

Bottom line, I got a faulty monitor and I'm entitled to a refund. The bank aren't being much help either now. They say that until OC have had the monitor back for 30 days they can't issue a chargeback, of course OC will just keep returning it to me and if I refuse delivery they'll win too. Bit of a loophole in the Visa chargeback regs :(
Click to expand...

lol had no idea that there are problems with new 24"... mine is fine as well as few of my mates...and thats including few 30" as well.
At the moment only monitors I would go for are Samsung,Dell(using Sungs LCDs, and Eizo

And yes, you have complete right to send it back :D

Good luck and I hope you will sort it out before X-mas :whistling:
 
EdinburghGary said:
Spread it on their forums. Dunno what else to suggest. Attack the head honcho directly, sounds like an egocentric k******d.
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You can't do that, thread will get removed straight away, it's against their rules you know!!

Tara

I've used them for years and when I have rma'd have never had a problem with them.
 
pxl8 said:
Hmm, another £19.54 charge has appeared on my statement. No doubt they'll claim this is their testing and carriage fee. Unfortunately I did not authorise or agree to any such payment, in fact the email they sent when they returned the monitor clearly said the fee was £0.00

Looks like I'll be phoning the bank again in the morning ;)
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Oh dear......
 
Surprising, I always thought OCUK had a good rep! After reading this thread and then looking at the owner's name I couldn't help but laugh; Mark Stephen Proudfoot and Claire Louise Proudfoot! lol Proud my ass. More like the foot being in there.

You've got a PM pxl8 ;)
 
Nope.

Ordered a full PC in bits a few years back, all expensive good stuff.

List of items that arrived DOA or died within a few days:

Tagan power supply
ATI 9800 Pro video card
Seagate 300gb hard drive
1gb GEiL DDR memory stick

Had a bit of bother returning it and getting a refund but eventually did. They constantly spam the **** out of me with their amazing special offers where they take 4 quid off a 300 quid item and shout about how great it is.

Now use a local place thats a bit more expensive but actually supply good stuff (E-WOC in Glasgow) plus EBuyer and sometimes Big Pockets or SCAN.

Only good thing about OCuk is their forums are quite busy.
 
hmmm sounds like an episode i had with Dabs, they caved in under the weight of a nice legal letter though. Good luck.
 
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