grayhaze

Join Date 07/2001

Buying Online

As some of you will already know, last week I purchased a 22" NEC-Mitsubishi monitor from an online retailer called 'ebuyer . com'.

After setting up the monitor, I discovered that there were slight, but noticeable geometry problems with the picture. As a graphic designer these problems are all the more intrusive, and as a result I wrote to the company to request a replacement. Here I am almost 4 days later, and no response as yet from them.

Unfortunately the site has done away with e-mail communication in favour of a system called 'eNotes' which, and I quote, will 'ensure you receive a speedy and effective response to your query'. Unfortunately, nobody seems to even read any eNotes relating to after-sales support.

After sending a sequence of increasingly desperate eNotes to them, and still receiving no reply, I decided to give them a call instead. In the absence of any e-mail contact address, this seems to be my only remaining option. However, the only support line is a 'premium rate' line which costs around 7p (about 11 cents) per minute. So I decided to do a Google search to find a normal business contact telephone number for them.

In the process of searching for a number, I came across this website: http://www.ebuyerdotcon.co.uk

I think the site tells you everything you need to know. I've now pretty much given up any hope of obtaining a fully-functioning monitor, or a refund of the £540 I paid for it.

Why am I telling you this? I don't want other people to make the same mistake that I, and all the other people with complaints on that site, made in buying expensive equipment from the company.

Live and learn.

Note: The opinions expressed here are mine and mine only. They are not connected to this site, and should be taken as a warning rather than an outright attack on the company.

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Did you happen to pay for this with a credit card......?

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Yes I did. The money has already been taken from my card. I paid with VISA, and if I don't get any joy by the end of the week I'll be talking to the bank about getting the money back. I doubt I'll be able to though, as they delivered the item. I think you're only entitled to make a claim if you don't get the item you're paying for. I don't think that includes receiving a faulty item.

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Wrong....if the item is defective and you cannot get satisfaction from the seller you can instruct your bank to charge it back. Trust me, someone at where ever you bought it will call you ......

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I'll have a talk to my bank and see what they say. Thanks for the advice yrag.

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If they give you grief, call Visa International (UK office). The wheel that squeaks the loudest gets the grease. Hope this works out for you.

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yarg nailed that one on the head for sure

Without out a doubt the card company will play one of the most effective rolls in recovering your money, or pushing the offending company to support the purchased item.

American Express has a neat little thing attached to it that I never knew with all the travel I was doing a few years back. I happened to find this because I skipped the Rental Insurance on a car one time and was hit by someone while pulling off the road.

AM has/had? built Auto Rental Insurance when used to pay for the cars rental.

Other cards might also do this, it is something to look into when traveling so you do not end up adding the extra money which would not be needed otherwise.

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Littleboy

Join Date 03/2001

+91

Have you tried contacting Nec directly ?
(see http://www.necmitsubishi.com/css/contact/contact.htm).

They will probably replace it. One of my friend had one with a scratch. They sent someone to pick it up and give him a new one within a week.

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I've fired off a very polite e-mail to NEC/Mitsubishi, so hopefully they'll be able to offer some assistance. I'll also be talking to the bank in the next couple of days to see about getting the money back until the problem is resolved.

It's a shame that companies such as ebuyer offer such poor service, as it only serves to give online retailing a bad name.

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ama02

Join Date 05/2002

+11

I worked for a major credit card company, and as yrag said, the issuing bank has to set up a charge dispute if you ask them to...not just for merchandise not received, but also for broken or faulty items, as well as things like service(s) not received. Good luck, hope it all works out in your favor, and thanks for letting us know about this shady online company.

I *just* made an online purchase (PS7) from a company I had never dealt with before. I found them on bizrate.com, and also checked the BBB (Better Business Bureau) online, they had good marks.

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Well it looks like NEC have saved the day. I had an e-mail this morning telling me to contact them by phone for a replacement. I also had a note from ebuyer, probably as a result of my strong words in my last message to them, telling me to contact NEC.

I find it rather strange that you can buy something from a company and then it's no longer their responsibility. I have this picture in my head of the ebuyer warehouse being full of faulty knock-offs which they send out to customers so they can get a new one from the original manufacturer...

I'll be giving NEC a call later, so I'll let you all know how it goes. If they're as helpful as they seem to be, I know which manufacturer I'll be buying future monitors from.

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Let's hope everything turns out right in the end. Next time perhaps check the credibility of a company before buying from them?

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Jafo

Join Date 03/2001

+1845

My only online dealings have been with Amazon and Stardock....both totally painless...

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KarmaGirl

Join Date 03/2001

+118

grayhaze, a lot of the online stores actually have items drop shipped from the manufacturer warehouses. They then get a commission on the item sold. So, they then rely on the manufacturer to resolve any issues.

However, if they do not replace the monitor free of charge (ie: you don't have to pay shipping charges or any additional fees) I would dispute it with your credit card. Since you have adequately tried to resolve the issue, and the company did not respond with direct assistance, the credit card company would have an easy way of disputing it.

I would like to add something to this, however. Contacting your credit card company should be a last resort. Once you open a dispute, it costs the company that you are doing business with charge-back charges even if the dispute gets settled. So, unless you are absolutely sure that you don't want to do business with the company, don't initiate a dispute. Retailers can also refuse future business from you if you dispute a charge without first contacting them, so you want to be careful as to how you approach that.

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That's interesting Java, me did not know that retailers could refuse to do business w/ you if they spot that you handle a return improperly?

makes sense though if ppl order things and then just put stop payments w/o contacting the retailer first to justify it. (but I did not know they could refuse to do business w/ the customer)

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I rarely buy stuff on line unless it is something I cannot find in a store by me, cuz I want instant gradification (hate to wait on deliveries) and the biggest thing is if it is defective I have to mail it back and then wait again? plus you cannot see the merchandise and feel it and touch it etc.

for me shopping on line is constricted mainly for software d/l's and/or an adapters for my pocket pc (things of that nature only) or again something I spot that's rare and I cannot find it in a store located by me.

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NEC is all over was the price that much cheaper than going into a store to make the purchase? and the shipping cost on a monitor would pad it back up to the equivalent of buying around the corner right?

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And on the flip side of things, one of the best online dealings I've had is with Habitat Skateboards/their distributor.

A board was part of a deal for a website I recently did, and the person who's site it was for did the ordering and had it shipped direct to me.

They (Habitat) called me the same day with the UPS tracking number and to confirm my address and everything before they shipped.

Some companies know how to treat their customers right.

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KarmaGirl

Join Date 03/2001

+118

Doreen, a business in the US does not have to do business with you at all if they don't want to. They don't have to accept an order or sell you something if they feel that they are entering into a questionable sale (for whatever reason).

Take this example:
- You purchase a TV, take it home and decide that the color isn't right
- You call your credit card company and dispute the claim
- The credit card company charges a $25 fee to the store that you bought the TV from
- The store refunds your money and you return the TV
- The store lost $25

Why should the store ever enter into business with you again?

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cuz the customer is always right? (whatever happened to that) nevermind... hehe

I don't know I just never heard of a business not letting a customer purchase something cuz they may not have handled a return properly another words I've never seen a business refuse money... hehe!

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Well thanks to Littleboy's suggestion I now have a brand new replacement on the way direct from NEC. It should arrive tomorrow, as a direct swap, and it's not costing me a penny. Now that's service for you!

I finally got a reply to my message from ebuyer, although rather suspiciously only after I had contacted NEC and made a complaint about the company. All they told me was to contact NEC, just as the customer support guy at NEC had done the day before. There were no apologies or explanations for why they sold me non-UK stock in the first place.

So it looks like I won't have to get the bank involved after all.

As for why I bought the monitor mail order rather than from a store, the sad fact is that it's becoming increasingly difficult to find CRT monitors in stores such as PC World or other large retailers. There are very few 17" models, nevermind 22" ones! Apparently there is a 'lack of demand' for CRT monitors now. That's either true due to the hype heaped upon TFT monitors, or just an excuse for a poor product range. The truth is TFT monitors still have quite a way to go before they can meet CRT models in terms of price, reliability or features.

Anyway, I'll let you all know how things turned out tomorrow.

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. It's good to have a place to let off a little steam and get really useful advice at the same time.

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I just love happy endings.

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Well the nice people from NEC delivered a replacement today... and it has exactly the same defect!

So it looks like this small distortion is common in that model after all. Not the best of endings, but at least I'm free of the grasp of the evil ebuyer.

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mmm, might sound silly but is there anything close like a speaker, mircophone, wireless tablet, mouse, keyboard, a fan or some such that could be causing it with EMI?

Also you might need to install your monitors color and display settings into windows and graphics applications, might get rid of it?

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Believe me IPlural, I've tried absolutely everything you could imagine. I ended up with the monitor sitting at the other end of the room, away from any other electrical equipment, and the distortion stayed exactly the same. I guess I'll just have to get used to things stretching near the top of the screen.

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