DABS returns policy

Just wondered if anyone else out there finds Dabs return policy unfair.

24 Oct 05 - Ordered a Plextor SATAII DVD writer
....which worked OK for a few weeks. However, it suddenly stopped
working - even the BIOS couldn't detect it?!
3 Jan 06 - Went through the Dabs returns process...
http://www.dabs.com/contenttopiclist..._and_R efunds
....to send the device back. This cost me £9.34 for their courier
collection process.
24 Jan - chased Dabs because I hadn't heard anything (despite their
promise to inform you within 7 days of whether the items can be fixed
or not)
28 Feb - received email from Dabs to state I'd get a refund of the
original purchase price: £84.50

I emailed Dabs on several occasions to ask whether they'd refund to
postage costs:
£6.00 for original order
£9.34 for return courier.
....which they've refused to pay because it's outside the 28 day return
period.

So, to summarise, if you buy anything from Dabs that becomes faulty
after 28 days & try to get a replacement/refund:
- they refuse to replace until the original manufacturer confirms it's
definitely broken
(meanwhile, you're not sure whether you should order an alternative
elsewhere)
- they don't advise you to go directly to the manuacturer, using the 1
year guarantee most products have.
- if it's faulty, you only get the cost of the original product back.

Therefore, Dabs don't care that the customer is lumbered with the P&P
costs of faulty items they send you. Is this common practice with all
internet delivery, or has anyone out there discovered a company with
good customer service???

On 28 Feb 2006 07:44:46 -0800, "jono"
wrote:

Just wondered if anyone else out there finds Dabs return policy unfair.

24 Oct 05 - Ordered a Plextor SATAII DVD writer
...which worked OK for a few weeks. However, it suddenly stopped
working - even the BIOS couldn't detect it?!
3 Jan 06 - Went through the Dabs returns process...
http://www.dabs.com/contenttopiclist..._and_R efunds
...to send the device back. This cost me £9.34 for their courier
collection process.
24 Jan - chased Dabs because I hadn't heard anything (despite their
promise to inform you within 7 days of whether the items can be fixed
or not)
28 Feb - received email from Dabs to state I'd get a refund of the
original purchase price: £84.50

I emailed Dabs on several occasions to ask whether they'd refund to
postage costs:
£6.00 for original order
£9.34 for return courier.
...which they've refused to pay because it's outside the 28 day return
period.

So, to summarise, if you buy anything from Dabs that becomes faulty
after 28 days & try to get a replacement/refund:
- they refuse to replace until the original manufacturer confirms it's
definitely broken
(meanwhile, you're not sure whether you should order an alternative
elsewhere)
- they don't advise you to go directly to the manuacturer, using the 1
year guarantee most products have.
- if it's faulty, you only get the cost of the original product back.

Therefore, Dabs don't care that the customer is lumbered with the P&P
costs of faulty items they send you. Is this common practice with all
internet delivery, or has anyone out there discovered a company with
good customer service???


I'm seriously thinking of taking Dabs to the small claims court over
this, they keep refusing to refund my postage costs and say the
'company' who make the good can't fix it excuse.

Total bollox

I've quoted the SOGA at them and even shouted at them but no use.

Maybe a few small claims cases might make them change their ways
--

http://Borg.no-ip.com

XJ900 Trike GS850 Trike


Some people are like slinkys....
no real use but it makes you smile when they fall down stairs!

"BORG" wrote in message
...
On 28 Feb 2006 07:44:46 -0800, "jono"
wrote:



I'm seriously thinking of taking Dabs to the small claims court over
this, they keep refusing to refund my postage costs and say the
'company' who make the good can't fix it excuse.

Total bollox

I've quoted the SOGA at them and even shouted at them but no use.

Maybe a few small claims cases might make them change their ways
--
My bet is the only reason there are offering a refund is they lost it

On 28 Feb 2006 07:44:46 -0800, "jono"
wrote:

Just wondered if anyone else out there finds Dabs return policy unfair.


So, to summarise, if you buy anything from Dabs that becomes faulty
after 28 days & try to get a replacement/refund:
- they refuse to replace until the original manufacturer confirms it's
definitely broken
(meanwhile, you're not sure whether you should order an alternative
elsewhere)
- they don't advise you to go directly to the manuacturer, using the 1
year guarantee most products have.
- if it's faulty, you only get the cost of the original product back.

I ran in to this 2 years ago when I had a 3 month old Linksys router
fail. It took them a month to credit me with the cost of the router,
excluding original carriage and return costs.

Eventually, I got all those costs refunded - but only because DABS
accounts department went into screwup overdrive by sending me invoices
(and demands for overdue payment) for another router *AND* because
they hadn't yet taken out the phone lines at that time.

I swore blind then that I would never deal with DABS ever again - and
I've stuck to it.

BTW - My reading of DSR & SOGA suggests that, for faulty goods, the
retailer *is* liable for the cost of delivery and return. I was
sufficiently angry with DABS that I would have gone to the Small
Claims Court for the £13.45 I was out of pocket. Fortunately, for me,
the screwup by the accounts department was sufficiently embarrassing
to DABS that they paid my costs to shut me up.

Regards,
vj

Update on the Dabs customer service. I gave them the following
feedback...

"
I recently received a refund for a faulty item (order no. 7095848).
However, you're not refunding the P&P...
£6.00 for original order
£9.34 for return courier.

So, it's cost me £15.34 to buy a non-existent DVD player from you.

I assume the customers you treat like this never come back, and you
don't care because:
- plenty of new customers use you every day
- only a small portion of customers have bad experiences like mine, so
you don't care if you don't get repeat custom.

However, wouldn't it be better for you to pass the costs of these
problems onto the vendor that supplied YOU will faulty kit? That way,
you'll keep end customers happy & encourage vendors to supply you with
good quality goods.

Your current policy protects you & your suppliers, and turns people
like me away?!
"
....and I included the link to this newsgroup :-)

Anyway, they emailed me back with the following...
"Hi,
After 28 days you are liable for the postage costs unfortunately this
is not refundable.
Regards
dabs.com customer services team
www.dabs.com"

....straight to the point if nothing else! Totally missing the point I
was making though.

jono wrote:

Anyway, they emailed me back with the following...
"Hi,
After 28 days you are liable for the postage costs unfortunately this
is not refundable.
Regards
dabs.com customer services team
www.dabs.com"

...straight to the point if nothing else! Totally missing the point I
was making though.

What utter nonsense. In the past I've had Dabs problems resolved my
emailing right to the top (David Atherton -- he even used to post here
many moons ago).

Moneyclaim.gov.uk would be my next stop, personally.

jono wrote:

Therefore, Dabs don't care that the customer is lumbered with the P&P
costs of faulty items they send you. Is this common practice with all
internet delivery, or has anyone out there discovered a company with
good customer service???

If you'd bought it from PC World and then returned it for refund would
you have expected them to pay you both your original travel expenses to
buy the thing and the cost of your additional trip to return it?

Thanks for the tip Chris.
However, that was probably a long time ago when "top dabs" chaps (David
Atherton/Jonathan Wall), e.g...
http://groups.google.co.uk/group/uk....e134a5040191d1
....used to bother replying.

However, if Dabs can send me the above response, after me sending them
the link to this newsgroup, then they clearly don't care anymore. I
only wish I'd perused this NG before I'd bought from them. Same applies
to Scan, whose customer service is equally bad!

These companies have become so big they really don't care about
customers any more. I can't understand why though. Some companies are
actually quite good at customer support. e.g..
Black Box (sent me new parts quickly when they discovered they'd made
a 'picking' mistake)
Laithwaites (they credit your account if you don't like the wine, which
is nice)
Quiet PC (very helpful and responsive advice on building yer PC)

However, it's the bad experiences we remember. All we can do is warn
everyone else I suppose :-(

Dabs are now added to the list of companies I hate:
- Allders, who I thought had gone bust, but they seem to be on the go
still (amazing)
- Scan (long story)
- Ryanair (does anyone like them? Aer Lingus shows how to be a cheap
airline AND have good customer service). the worst thing is I'm
sometimes forced to use them coz' they're the only viable option.
- Initial City Link (hopeless. They seem to wait outside your house
until you go out and THEN try to deliver?!)
- Intelligent Finance (totally inflexible & use every opporunity to
charge you £35 for a letter they've sent)
....etc, etc. and that's just my experiences. It's such a shame
companies are so inept at customer support, which quite often doesn't
cost them anything, apart from training their staff to be helpful.

I'm definitely turning into a grumpy old man. That's way I'm really
enjoying...
"Is it just me or is everthing ****"
....which I highly recommend as an antidote to our experiences with Dabs
et.al

On Wed, 1 Mar 2006 15:18:15 UTC, "peter" wrote:

jono wrote:

Therefore, Dabs don't care that the customer is lumbered with the P&P
costs of faulty items they send you. Is this common practice with all
internet delivery, or has anyone out there discovered a company with
good customer service???

If you'd bought it from PC World and then returned it for refund would
you have expected them to pay you both your original travel expenses to
buy the thing and the cost of your additional trip to return it?

Actually, yes. getting those costs back is fairly common.

--
[Davism - a condition by which the sufferer experiences an inability
to give concise answers, express reasoned argument or opinion.
Usually accompanied by silly noises and gestures - incurable, early
euthanasia recommended.

peter wrote:

If you'd bought it from PC World and then returned it for refund would
you have expected them to pay you both your original travel expenses to
buy the thing and the cost of your additional trip to return it?

Yes.