Advice needed from those in the retail buisiness

[Sniper]

Short and curlies of it goes.....

I went into a small PC store and bought a spindle (50) of DVD-R's for a rather good price I must admit. Anyway, after trying to burn and getting error messages on 2 disks, I tried a third disk on a friends PC which has a different DVD burner and software and he also got an error message.

Checking with with manafacturer of said disks confirmed that my writer would be fine with the disks as was the firmware. Ditto with the mates PC.

Now I have 47 unusable disks sitting at home collecting dust. So I flicked off a rather polite email to the company telling them I had reason to believe that I had a faulty set of disks and I would like to come in and exchange (and pay difference) on a set of different manafacturers disks. All I got in the reply was


Im sorry we do not accept opened packets of disks. It looks to be user error and we cannot account for the fact that you may not know how to burn disks correctly.

Now that got me a little bit annoyed as I paid them money, was planning an spending a few grand more through the company on upgrading our computers throughout the company and the guy I dealt with seemed OK. Anyway, so I flicked them a nice email back telling them what I did, what the manafacturer told me and what my intentions were of spending money with them. And what I got back was


Its your fault that the disks won't work. Maybe you need to have someone help you set your computer up to burn DVD's. Remeber, these are DVD disks and not CD disks, you did know when you bought them didn't you?

So instead of emailing back, I emailed the head of the company who so graciously left his email in the open on a website :innocent: And what I got back from him was


According to my staff, they say you admit to using an incompatible burner to burn the DVD's

That just pissed me off. Now Im not in the habit of getting pissed off over the small things, but Im seriously thinking about having a friend in the law buisiness emailing them and quoting a few bits and pieces of the Consumers Guarantee Act.

Would this be worthwile or should I just let sleeping dogs lie over $35 of disks?

[Blairos]

Nope - stand up for your principles here - and start sending them emails about your Rights under the CGA, and if that brings no joy, the prospect of legal action under the fair trading act... That tends to shake them into forgoing the $35 and replacing the obviously faulty goods

[Meanie]

Hell no screw them
why should they get away with that and call you a lier
tell them if you dont get satisfaction you are going to fair go that should scare them into submission
Take the discs there and ask them to write something on them
Dont let them get away with it

[Flyingpony]

Have you taken the DVD disk spindle back to there shop and asked if they were successful in burning onto them?
Obviously if they too can't burn onto those DVD's, then there isn't user error but faulty goods.

Also, the fine print on media like that says that they're covered against any manufacturing faults. You therefore should be able to get them replaced.

They're also not fit for their intended purpose, unless you're seeking to have 50 flash coffee cup mats.

[RantyDave]

was planning an spending a few grand more through the company on upgrading our computers throughout the company and the guy I dealt with seemed OK.
Well, there's your answer then. Phone the sales guy who has been trying to get you to drop $manyK's on a pile of new boxes and tell him no thanks. You've just been involved with the company's customer service on an unrelated matter and they pissed you off thoroughly. If this is the grief you get over a spindle of DVD's, the grief you're going to get from an office full of whiteboxes is a hundred times worse. It's simply not worth it. Don't forget to use the word "Dell" in your answer.

Part 2 - the disks. Fuckit. Small price to pay compared to having them hose the office network.

Dave

[GR81]

Sniper: PM me the name of the company and ill see what i can do.
chances are they will be one of our customers.

[Drunken Monkey]

If you were one of my customers, I'd just give you 50 new ones from a different brand, no extra, say sorry for the hassle and be done with it. But then, we make nothing on hardware anyway, it's all in support and service.

[BuFfY]

I work in retail.... and I deal with ALOT of angry customers about faulty goods. Although I do not work in an electronics shop, and work in a clothing shop, most of the same principles apply. We are told two rules for dealing with customers:
1. The customer is always right.
2. If the customer is wrong, refer to rule #1.

Honestly if you make enough fuss you will get what you want! But doing it through email is not the way to go (in my opinion), go down to the shop with the goods, your receipt and a hard attitude and you should get your money back.

If you do that and get treated like shit, call their head office and talk to them. They wont want their company getting a bad name. And if you tell the retailer if you are unsuccessful, they may change their mind as they could get into shit about not changing it.

Electronic shops wont give you a refund unless they know it is faulty, when I was younger I got a computer game for christmas which was faulty.... mum went in and complained in person and we got a full refund.

Good luck!

[pyrocam]

I did 3 years at ole dick smith (some time in sales some in IT support) anyway. the customer service you received is frankly appalling, It actually angers me to hear what they have said. I would continue to reply to the boss man and politely inform him that you do know what you are doing and that you find the quality of response quite ignorant.

if he does anything other than co-operate, I would highly recommend posting his email address.

I'm sure myself and a few others will write a polite
'Hi there, never using your services and telling everyone I know your a bunch of homo fagots
xxxx
pyrocam'
type letter
(pls people if he does dont call him a homo fagot, its hetrosexually limited)


edit: sample letter to the boss man



dear mr fagot boss man
I'm sorry but your response appears to show me you have little respect for customer satisfaction, I am an IT professional and am quite aware what the difference between a CD and a DVD is. I would be quite happy to send the remaining disks in for your staff to test the stack and prove me wrong. If how ever you find that the batch of disks I have received is faulty then please apologise and refund my purchase so I may take my business to another company.

if you do not comply I will use the power of INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY to post your contact details onto the WORLD WIDE WEB as well as a transcript of our ELECTRONIC MAIL conversations.

love and kisses
customer

[Storm]

Bloody oath you should stick it to them. Fair enought if you were some misguided newbie numpty, but you are the mighty 10'000 post master and an regular IT geek. They're being prick and should have thier name dragged through the mud and so forth for being so blatantly a) rude, b) unhelpful and c) dishonest

In summary:
give them hell

[Smorg]

Its definately a user issuse I cant help you..........(standard telecom reply)

sorry i work for telecom im not much help when it comes to customer service,

as far as im concerned I am always right and the customer is most definately

wrong

[GR81]

Its definately a user issuse I cant help you..........(standard telecom reply)
we get the... "it'll be your router, contact the importers helpdesk!"
i reply with "i am the frikken helpdesk@#$!#$@$"

stupidass's! :(

[sAsLEX]

Its definately a user issuse I cant help you..........(standard telecom reply)

sorry i work for telecom im not much help when it comes to customer service,

as far as im concerned I am always right and the customer is most definately

wrong

customer got some teeth today!

[Hitcher]

The customer may not always be right, but there is no credit to be had from "winning" an argument with them. Word of mouth is a powerful communications medium -- positively and negatively.

Tony's Tyre Service understands this. All staff are empowered to spend whatever it takes to resolve a customer's concerns. While this sounds like a potentially huge area of exposure, in reality it's a policy that costs that company very little. They understand the value of repeat business and the contribution that customer satisfaction makes to this.

If on your next communication you, in the words of the prophet St Michael, "Don't get no satisfaction", I would strongly recommend naming and shaming. That way some risk-averse product manager may get their botty kicked from above.

[Storm]

customer got some teeth today!

Fucking A!!!!!!:rockon:

[Street Gerbil]

I had a similar experience back in US when I was setting up a small woodworking shop (now partially relocated to NZ). I ordered approximately US$250 worth of basic equipment to get the things going and try out the market. Among the equipment were two kits, both including a 7mm extra long drill bit (worth $3 each). I chose the kits on purpose because I wanted to give one of the bits to a friend as a gift. Everything arrived in due time, except one of the drill bits. I emailed customer service and their reply was: "you already got one, you don't need the second one anyway". What could I possibly do... I ordered the rest of the equipment from their competitor and faxed them the invoice for US$3000 along with a note explaining how exactly they lost my business over a stupid drill bit. Make sure you share the contents of your order from their competitors with them. Compooper stores operate on a very low profit margin, trust me, they will cry.

[Paul in NZ]

They are a buncha cunts

Spend that money with me and that'll learn em!

Oh! Reply to the boss and ask if one of his clever shaff can show you what you did wrong because you might just be wrong? (of course if you are NOT wrong wellllll)

[pyrocam]

thing is. from experience. if you try and test a disk at their shop, it will work. its all about geek aura but basically, i would put money on the fact it would work. you are kinda taking a risk sending the whole packet to them.

perhaps since they are being such dicks. goto another IT company thats comonly accepted as trustworthy, ask them to do a test on the disks.

I worked for a little while for a company called uniway. they do computer assesments for insurance companies, I worked there and its my honest opinion after working with the workshop staff that these guys are pretty good at providing a pretty damn good assesment (the 3rd biggest personal lines insurer in NZ uses them for all their computer claims)

anyway my point is. for a small fee (ok its over the price of your dvd's) you can provide a legal document (that insurance companies use to accept or decline claims) that you can take to this guy and say HEY LOOK FAG. LOOK YOUR A BIG FAGOT

ok sorry. admitidly im a bit heated over this issue since my mate got fucked over but if this happened to me and I got these reponses. I would be fucking furious and do everything in my power to ...... for lack of better words 'seriously fuck them over'

please excuse my language

[kro]

I had the exact same thing happene to me with a packet of SKC branded CD-R's, and got the same response from the retailer, so instead I contacted SKC NZ, and got immediate, and decisive action, along with a boat load of free CD-R's

Dont mess with the retailer's, they really don't give a rats arse, go to the manufacturer, assuming there is an office of theirs in NZ.

[MSTRS]

Bloody customers.:bash: Always moaning and complaining. :violin: Never happy with the fine products and service we retailers provide for them (out of the goodness of our hearts, I might add). Just what do those troublemakers think we are here for? Them? Come on. The great unwashed should be GRATEFUL that we retailers are prepared to open our doors and let them in to breathe our air. :sick: Why can't they just realise how insignificant they really are? It makes me furious :ar15: when I think about all the time we retailers waste on our customers. And then, as if that isn't enough, they expect us to provide discounts or replacements.:gob: I think it's time that we retailers fight back. Perhaps we should only open our doors one day a week until these plebs get the message:kick: . And no more of this 'buy now - pay later' shit either. In fact, I think it's time we retailers marched on Parliament to demand our rights as befitting our position on God's right hand.
:innocent:

[R6_kid]

Heard of fair go? Put on your best geek suit and tell them how you've been hacking and burning software for years. Soon as fair go shows up on their doorsteps you will have piles of working discs arrive at your house, free of charge. :yes: least thats how it seems to work on TV anyway.

[Squeak the Rat]

but Im seriously thinking about having a friend in the law buisiness emailing them and quoting a few bits and pieces of the Consumers Guarantee Act.

Would this be worthwile or should I just let sleeping dogs lie over $35 of disks?

I've found that quoting specific sections of the act seems to perk them up a bit. Get your mate to find the specific sections that talk about faulty goods, then tell the pillocks that according to section x subsections 1,2,3 you are entitled to a FULL REFUND if the goods are faulty or do not meet the purpose for which they were intended.

Threaten to go to the Commerce Commission if they don't satisfy your rights under the Act. ( I can't remember if this is an option under the CGA, but it's worth the threat at least).

And as Kro says, you also have redress against the manufacturer. Or importer, but good luck if they're imported........

If you

[pyrocam]

Threaten to go to the Commerce Commission if they don't satisfy your rights under the Act. ( I can't remember if this is an option under the CGA, but it's worth the threat at least).
.....

If you

uuuugh i remember when people started saying 'im gonna tell the consumers rights act on you' I locked them outa my store and put these up in the windows

[Sniper]

LOL @ Pyrocam......

I walked in there about an hour ago and let them have it. Turns out the dweeb emailing me was about 18 and thought he was the shit. He also rode my favourite bike in the world...... the GN125.

Cut a long story short, I walked out with a different set of disks and a full refund.

[MSTRS]

I suppose the fact that you were 'tooled up' helped?

[Insanity_rules]

uuuugh i remember when people started saying 'im gonna tell the consumers rights act on you' I locked them outa my store and put these up in the windows

I wish I had the balls to do that!

[Sniper]

I suppose the fact that you were 'tooled up' helped?

Nope, I learnt my lesson. I didn't take the pipe in with me. :nya:

[DemonWolf]

Good stuff Sniper... I'm guessing the 18yr old 'Technician' needs some customer training done.. and a more open mind (i.e. not all customers are clueless)

[Sniper]

In all honesty. His attitude would have been effective on those that were a bit short on the intelligence stuff, but the mistake he made was continuing an argumnet when dealing with a superior being.

[DemonWolf]

Though, we all would love to hear the full story of what happened when ya walked into the shop with the pack of frizbee's

[Sniper]

Nothing much to say. Just a usual argument where I called him names and demanded I got what I wanted or I would throw a tantrum.

[thehollowmen]

Brand?
Website and your DVD burner type would be useful.

I burn a lot of my raw photos to DVDs. I'd be happy to boycot a brand.

And I use oh.. maybe $500 of data storage a year?