General / Off-Topic Bad experiences with eBuyer.com anyone?

[adoredtv]

glojo, if you can afford to lose another 25 quid, use moneyclaimonline (it's a government website, not some dodgy thing). The threat of legal action is normally enough to get them to back down. I've used it previously, just get your facts in order and tell them you've contacted various experts on the issue. They will have to pay the 25 quid if you win, so you'll get a new card and lose nothing.

Contact eBuyer first and tell them of your intention to do so unless they immediately offer full repayment for your card.

https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome


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Can you get the card back and do an RMA to whoever produced the card. It seems a long time after purchase to be going back to the merchant with a fault.

That's what a 3 year warranty is for. The manufacturer will only provide 1 or 2 at best normally, after that it's in the hands of the seller.

 

[glojo]

glojo, if you can afford to lose another 25 quid, use moneyclaimonline (it's a government website, not some dodgy thing). The threat of legal action is normally enough to get them to back down. I've used it previously, just get your facts in order and tell them you've contacted various experts on the issue. They will have to pay the 25 quid if you win, so you'll get a new card and lose nothing.

Contact eBuyer first and tell them of your intention to do so unless they immediately offer full repayment for your card.

https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome


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That's what a 3 year warranty is for. The manufacturer will only provide 1 or 2 at best normally, after that it's in the hands of the seller.

Thank you very much indeed for that link and this is the reply I received from the seller about my card being examined by a third party: we will require a fault report from a qualified technician before we can raise an rma for the item.

The fault report must include the following:

• Your full name and address.
• Details specific to the item (serial numbers etc so we can identify the product).
• Full details of the suspected fault.
• Full explanation and evidence to show why the suspected fault is due to the manufacturer and not to over use.
• Full details of all tests carried out on the item.
• Reasoning behind the final conclusion.

Testing/diagnostics carried out to provide this fault report, must not permanently damage or alter the item in any way, as this will void all warranty covered by the manufacturer or under the Sale of Goods Act 1979.

Please be aware that all providers of fault reports must first be agreed by us the seller. Fault reports will not be accepted that have not been prior agreed in writing by us, and all relevant qualifications will need to be produced by the technician before the fault report is completed. Please email details of your preferred technician to ******** before instructing them to complete a report.

If the product is deemed to be inherently faulty due to a manufacturing defect, we will reimburse up to £25 towards the cost of the report.

 

[adoredtv]

This fault report stuff is just pure designed to blow you off. Contact them and tell them that you want a full refund for the cost of the card or your next contact with them will be a claim through HM Courts & Tribunals Service for the full cost of the card including expenses and interest. Then you have to decide if it's worth going through with it or not.

Note that if it gets this far you might have to get this expert that they demand, however if you win then they will have to pay the full cost which will be a lot more than "up to £25". Tell them this also.

From what I can tell you have a couple of things in your favour - the fact that you contacted the thermal paste company and the fact that they did not claim that the warranty sticker wasn't invalidated - without seeing the card however it's hard to say exactly what they are claiming the issue is.

 

[glojo]

This fault report stuff is just pure designed to blow you off. Contact them and tell them that you want a full refund for the cost of the card or your next contact with them will be a claim through HM Courts & Tribunals Service for the full cost of the card including expenses and interest. Then you have to decide if it's worth going through with it or not.

Note that if it gets this far you might have to get this expert that they demand, however if you win then they will have to pay the full cost which will be a lot more than "up to £25". Tell them this also.

From what I can tell you have a couple of things in your favour - the fact that you contacted the thermal paste company and the fact that they did not claim that the warranty sticker wasn't invalidated - without seeing the card however it's hard to say exactly what they are claiming the issue is.

Hi Adore,
I think we are on the same track here.

I have indeed wrote to Ebuyer and requested a report that stipulates the EXACT CAUSE of the damage,the parts that were damaged and then I have further told them that Ihave sent the card away to be examined.

It will cost far more than the £25 and I will be holding them fully accountable for all my costs, my time and incidental losses should their claim of 'silver based' thermal paste not be responsible. I will not post images but there claim that there is silver based thermal paste on the card is complete tosh. A comsumber representative from the BBC has expressed an interest, plus the editor from a computer magazine, but both have said they have hundreds of cases to consider and they will 'get back to me!'

I'm afraid that when someone calls me, or my family a liar... then they had best supply proof or apologise.


Ebuyer are totally out of order, they are trying to bully us into submission and it will not work.

To folks wishing to buy from that company, I simply say, 'Think long and hard' before parting with your hard earned cash.

Finally you are 100% correct regarding the warranty. We have an ASUS card and we have been told by the manufacturer that our claim is the the retailer!!

 

[Zetta]

That's what a 3 year warranty is for. The manufacturer will only provide 1 or 2 at best normally, after that it's in the hands of the seller.

That's not correct. The manufacturer is the provider of the warranty from start to finish, not the seller (except in cases where an extended warranty is purchased from the seller). Perhaps the seller is an authorised service provider which handles RMA requests, I'm guessing this is the situation here with ebuyer.

Finally you are 100% correct regarding the warranty. We have an ASUS card and we have been told by the manufacturer that our claim is the the retailer!!

It's not as clear cut as that, a quick browse on ASUS' site shows the following on their warranty page:

Returning a Graphic Card to your Purchase Site or an Asus Authorized Service Provider during the warranty period does not automatically mean that it will be repaired free of charge. Upon receiving your product, the Service Centre reserves the right to check the validity of your warranty and your request for warranty service.

So it appears ASUS want to avoid dealing with end-user requests/RMAs and puts the onus on sellers or AASPs.

Anyway, good luck getting it sorted out

 

[glojo]

That's not correct. The manufacturer is the provider of the warranty from start to finish, not the seller (except in cases where an extended warranty is purchased from the seller). Perhaps the seller is an authorised service provider which handles RMA requests, I'm guessing this is the situation here with ebuyer.



It's not as clear cut as that, a quick browse on ASUS' site shows the following on their warranty page:

So it appears ASUS want to avoid dealing with end-user requests/RMAs and puts the onus on sellers or AASPs.

Anyway, good luck getting it sorted out

Hi Zetta,
I have to be 100% accurate with what I write on this public forum and I am NOT nany type of expert when it comes to consumer legislation. I am however someone that takes great exception to being called a liar, or any member of my family being called a liar. These comments are aimed solely and squarely at Ebuyer, a company I will not recommend to anyone and a company I am now in dispute with.

My son first contacted ASUS regarding this issue but it was ASUS that stated we must go through Ebuyer.

We contacted Ebuyer and they insisted the card was only 'covered' for 12 months. My son dealt with them and my terminology might not be accurate regarding the refusal.

We then went back to ASUS who insisted that Ebuyer were bound to honour the three year warranty and they then spoke with Ebuyer.

We were then contacted by Ebuyer who sent out a courier to collect the card. Since receiving the card Ebuyer have done nothing that was helpful and instead they make reckless allegations that as soon as we prfove are incorrect, they then change their wording and still insist we are to blame??

The latest twist to this return is that we should have clinically examined this card and returned it within 28 days if there was any signs of residue??

I an only guess what might have happened if we had seen this small item.....

Ebuyer would have still accused us of putting it on the card...

Bottom line here is our card suffered heat damage.

The heat damage or visible signs of what looks like heat damage, is nowhere near the alledged site of contamination. The card is being examined by engineers hired by me, at my expense and we will get satisfaction.

By this time I had read an article that claimed ebuyer rates its employees based on how many returns they reject.

 

[adoredtv]

That's not correct. The manufacturer is the provider of the warranty from start to finish, not the seller (except in cases where an extended warranty is purchased from the seller). Perhaps the seller is an authorised service provider which handles RMA requests, I'm guessing this is the situation here with ebuyer.

The first year of a warranty (sometimes only the first 30 days) is generally handled by the seller (their returns dept) on behalf of the manufacturer. The 2nd year is almost always sent back to the manufacturer. 3rd year manufacturer warranties barely exist (there are exceptions obviously) except on CPUs and memory which is generally lifetime warranty return to manufacturer after the first year.

Basically though, the seller will rarely deal with it after 1 year *unless* they have offered an extended warranty or have some deal with a specific manufacturer, which is clearly what this is given what Asus said.

In this case, had it failed before 1 year, the warranty was on Asus but handled by Ebuyer. After 2 years both the warranty and handling would be done by Asus but after the 3rd year it's all on Ebuyer.

 

[Zetta]

Hi Zetta,
I have to be 100% accurate with what I write on this public forum and I am NOT nany type of expert when it comes to consumer legislation. I am however someone that takes great exception to being called a liar, or any member of my family being called a liar. These comments are aimed solely and squarely at Ebuyer, a company I will not recommend to anyone and a company I am now in dispute with.

Spoiler

My son first contacted ASUS regarding this issue but it was ASUS that stated we must go through Ebuyer.

We contacted Ebuyer and they insisted the card was only 'covered' for 12 months. My son dealt with them and my terminology might not be accurate regarding the refusal.

We then went back to ASUS who insisted that Ebuyer were bound to honour the three year warranty and they then spoke with Ebuyer.

We were then contacted by Ebuyer who sent out a courier to collect the card. Since receiving the card Ebuyer have done nothing that was helpful and instead they make reckless allegations that as soon as we prfove are incorrect, they then change their wording and still insist we are to blame??

The latest twist to this return is that we should have clinically examined this card and returned it within 28 days if there was any signs of residue??

I an only guess what might have happened if we had seen this small item.....

Ebuyer would have still accused us of putting it on the card...

Bottom line here is our card suffered heat damage.

The heat damage or visible signs of what looks like heat damage, is nowhere near the alledged site of contamination. The card is being examined by engineers hired by me, at my expense and we will get satisfaction.

By this time I had read an article that claimed ebuyer rates its employees based on how many returns they reject.

My apologies if I was adding to your situation, that certainly wasn't my intention.
I guess I am/was just expecting ASUS to stand up for their goods. I feel there's only so much a retailer should have to do past a certain date before things should be handled solely by the manufacturer offering the warranty (not saying I'm correct, just what I feel is fair) and if ASUS are willing to offer a 3 year warranty then they should really honour it instead of pushing the buck back into the seller's court. If they're willing to do that then one can only wonder why?

 

[glojo]

My apologies if I was adding to your situation, that certainly wasn't my intention.
I guess I am/was just expecting ASUS to stand up for their goods. I feel there's only so much a retailer should have to do past a certain date before things should be handled solely by the manufacturer offering the warranty (not saying I'm correct, just what I feel is fair) and if ASUS are willing to offer a 3 year warranty then they should really honour it instead of pushing the buck back into the seller's court. If they're willing to do that then one can only wonder why?

Hi Zetta,
I certainly do not disagree with your wise words and we have have dealt with both parties.

Once ASUS communicated with Ebuyer, they then accepted they were responsible\liable?? for the inspection of the graphics card, That was not an issue and Ebuyer sent a courier to collect our card, all at their expense and IF.... if we had tampered with the card, put any type of paste, liquid or residue onto that item at any time during our ownership, I would hold my hands up and accept their observations.

To accuse a customer solely on a casual glance at a product, without testing the card, without listening to the customer, is just plain wrong.

My thoughts on this is that Ebuyer inspect any returned item and if in their opinion it is a legitimate claim, they then return it to the manufacturer?? No idea is this is correct but it is just me thinking aloud.

I have asked Ebuyer several times for a written copy of the technician's report regarding our card and all my requests have fallen on deaf ears. I would like to think I am at all times polite when writing to that company and cannot understand why they have refused to explain what tests were carried out. They were quick enough to turn down the claim. They were quick enough to make their demands regarding the notification regarding any type of inspection work carried out on my behalf.

I appreciate any advice and apologies if I come across as being 'short tempered' In my defence, all I can say is... I am miffed, annoyed and extremely angry by the actions of Ebuyer and find it frustrating to have to prove my innocence

 

[glojo]

Apologies for 'taking over' this thread but hopefully what I am saying is relevant to the author's query and maybe it might be a warning for all forum members of what might happen to them should they have a need to return a defective item.

It now looks like we are reaching a conclusion as Ebuyer have agreed to accept my card as a legitimate return, plus they have also apologised over the way they treated me.

Although the apology is most welcome, I have had to jump through hoops to obtain it.

These are just some of the points that really frustrated me as they are 100% false (I am as usual trying to be polite regarding my wording)

1. I was told quite clearly that I had smeared a specific brand of silver based thermal paste.

2. I was told that by doing this, the paste acts like a piece of silver paper or solder being placed across the electrical components. (these pastes are actually non conductive although there is a small risk of causing slight damage)

3. After I had sent numerous reports explaining how these silver based thermal paste are not conductive I was then told that this alleged thermal paste that I was accused of using would build up heat which then
caused the damage. (I am assured that thermal paste is designed to allow heat to flow freely through it. In other words it does NOT insulate the item we DO apply it to, instead it allows the heat to flow more efficiently.)

4. ASUS do NOT use thermal paste, they only use pads. (They were adamant that this was a fact even though I had sent them both images of my specific model of card that showed it was paste being used. I also sent them a Youtube clip of a review of my card which included showing the heat sink and the paste being clearly visible).

It was bad enough my receiving these untruths which they obviously hoped I would accept at face value, plus they also told me numerous other things we had done, or should have done.

But.....

This is the real kicker and why I am not willing to simply forgive and forget.

I was required to get a report that had to prove their engineers were wrong and this report had to include the reasons why they were wrong and where the actual damage was located, if it was not where Ebuyer had said it was. They would only pay £25 for that report and prior to getting this report, Ebuyer had to approve the company, they needed to know the details of the person carrying out the examination and their qualifications before they would allow any inspection to take place.

I was not prepared to jump through their hoops and also told them the report would cost what it would cost. I cannot help but wonder how many customers are intimidated by this type of atitude?


Stand by for the nitty gritty.

I then asked for a copy of their report so that the company I was about to use would know exactly what was being alleged and the details of the parts I had allegedly caused to burn out....

Ebuyer wrote back to me and stated they HAD NOT EXAMINED THE CARD!!!! I do not joke.

I had the card examined and was informed in writing that from images supplied by Ebuyer, they could find no signs of heat damage anywhere near the area of this alleged residue. They then went into detail describing the clear, visual signs of heat damage located in a totally different area. They talked about how the card had an acrid smell in that area (I had previously told Ebuyer about that smell and suggested they look at that area as I was certain this was where the damage could be found)

The heat sink was removed and on inspection there was only the original thermal paste in that location. (In other words if we had applied further paste, this company would have reported it and note how they found paste even though Ebuyer stated ASUS did not use it)

They went on to say that it was highly unlikely that the residue was thermal paste and suggested it was probably excess flux applied at the time of manufacture.


It was only after Ebuyer received this report that they graciously offered some sort of apology but so far they have only agreed to accept the card as an RMA and pay for my report. I want to be paid back all the monies I have spent getting this issue resolved. I am not going to say how much I have asked for, but it is a nominal sum and once agreed I will indeed put this behind me, but until then, I have a number of interested parties that are advising me.

For the information of the moderators, I have all this information in writing and I am more than willing to supply my full details to the owners of this site as what I have said here is documented and agreed by all parties.

Would I recommend or use Ebuyer ever again?

 

[adoredtv]

Good on ya!

 

[Ian T]

eBuyer appalling customer service

I purchase a zoo storm desktop pc from them for my business. The computer arrived within a short time and I set it up.
I turned it on after pressing the front button a few times, but the next day it would turn on every now and again as the on button seemed faulty. Contacted ebuyer within 2 days as I had a new member of staff starting and was despirate for the machine. I was advised the quickest option was to buy another one whilst damaged one was returned for refund. This I did. New machine arrived and works great.
Some time passed and as we are a fledgling start up company and I spend my time running around like a headless chicken, it dawned on me that I'd not received my refund for the damaged machine. I chased ebuyer, 2 months after they received the machine, and they informed me that there was no refund due as I had not informed them of physical damage to the machine, of which they sent a photo showing a damaged corner of the machine case.
I acknowledge the machine arrived to me in perfect physical condition and it was sent back to them in the same perfect physical condition. They acknowledged that it was sent back in the same box so the packaging was satisfactory and no damage had been caused by the courier.
How do I stand legally though if someone in there depot, over the 2 months it had been kicking around, had damaged it and didn't want to admit to it?
Is this some sort of sharp practise scam that I'm experiencing?
This will probably go legal, with a cost way more than that of the machine, but there's a principle here. I didn't damage the machine and I don't believe the courier did either.
Any advise would be great please......

 

[glojo]

I thought I would let folks know how my saga finally ended regarding Ebuyer...

After multiple exchanges between myself and Ebuyer, I eventually resolved this issue to my satisfaction but what an awful experience which I fear tested my patience and I confess that I was about to give up trying to resolve the issue myself and was on the verge of taking them to the small claims court.

I get the impression that they try to wear folks down and hope we will go away and simply do not care about customer relations or goodwill.

I should feel some sympathy for this company as I am sure there are thousands of customers who might have had a first class service from that company but to accuse someone of damaging a graphics card with no proof or any evidence and then dig their heels in when presented with clear evidence they were wrong just baffles me.

I fully support any company that tries to prevent fraudulent claims, I fully support any business that takes steps to stop customers that reckless damage equipment and try to get the item replaced free of charge but to accuse someone of smearing thermal paste onto a card without checking what the substance was or.... without even looking to see where the damage was... is woeful.. Ebuyer alleged the paste caused the damage but if they had checked the card, they would clearly have seen the heat damage was located in a completely different area from where this so called thermal paste was located.

if they had looked closely at this so called thermal paste, they would have seen that it was simply an excessive amount of flux that was used at the time the card was built and was completely harmless.

Yes Ebuyer eventually gave me an apology, but not before I had jumped through multiple hoops and not before I had obtained a number of technical reports detailing how there so called technical 'experts' were 100% WRONG .

Would I recommend this company?

This sad saga is being featured in a computer magazine.

To Ian I will simply say be careful and please feel free to pm me if you want some moral support but try not to let your dealings with this company 'get to you'

Good luck,
John