Complaint advice wanted

[geeovana]

HI

Ordered an ultra note roughly six months ago from pcs. I now have cause for concern for the laptop ( wont disclose anything on here until they have had the chance to sort it out). I emailed late Saturday night with the complaint and received an email Wednesday morning asking for more details such as order number, name on account and postcode. to which I replied and so far not heard anything back. I phoned up this morning and spoke to a member of the technical team who danced around the subject a little, after 5 minutes on the phone finding my email, he said he was unable to help as he was technical support. I asked to be put through to people handling complaints and then told that they where all away from the office so he couldn't put me through. I then got told it could take up to 18 days to receive emails back
I then asked what the number was to contact them myself to which he said there was no number to contact them and it is only by email.

Just wondering off people who have had complaints dealt with by pcs how long it usually takes and what the protocol is? Been reading around and found a few horror stories and after how it's already being dealt with I can't say I'm to hopeful.

 

[nathanjrb]

Yes emails, whilst thorough, can be quite slow to receive.

Phoning is usually the best way to sort things so I'm surprised you have been knocked back. You may have been unfortunate on this occasion, I would suggest trying them again tomorrow and talking to them. Email, in my opinion, should not be the only way to complain - I find that to be an unacceptable form of complaint handling when you're forced down that route (although it can be preferred by some people, I know) - you should always have the right to talk to someone in person to complain, especially when it involves your hard earned cash. I would give them another call soon.

 

[steaky360]

I agree with nathan's comments. You could always write a letter and send it via recorded delivery (mostly so you know they received it) but obviously this increases your costs and timescales. I believe there is a standard 10 working days sort of timescale to get a response.

Its unusual to be told you might need to wait 18 days to get a response to your mail though, only reason I can think of why this may be the case is if PCS staff are away on a trade exhibition or other event (Insomnia etc.). However I find it perhaps more unusual that there would be no one left in the office to deal with your query.

As Nathan suggested, I'd give them another call back and try to get through to a different (non tech support - cust services perhaps?) department and calmly explain your situation (which you have done very well in this thread I must admit).

My experience with PCS has been entirely positive, any issues I've had they have sorted out with no problems in the end so I would suggest this is how your situation will be dealt with in the end. Fingers crossed!

 

[keynes]

Yes emails, whilst thorough, can be quite slow to receive.

I then got told it could take up to 18 days to receive emails back

18 days is excessive, I hope it was a misunderstanding rather than the usual procedure.

I then asked what the number was to contact them myself to which he said there was no number to contact them and it is only by email.

I would call them again but not to technical support but enquiries.

I find that to be an unacceptable form of complaint handling when you're forced down that route (although it can be preferred by some people, I know) - you should always have the right to talk to someone in person to complain, especially when it involves your hard earned cash. I would give them another call soon.

I agree, I would also suggest sending a recorded letter.

 

[geeovana]

Thanks for the reply's. I will phone up again later and try and get through to a different department.

I have emailed with pictures of the laptop which I don't know if anyone else has had issues with the ultra note laptop's but it's pretty dismal. It's basically falling apart in my hands and it's the build quality which is the most shocking. As said earlier I have sen pictures of the laptop in it's current state and I have more to send of the flexing on the laptop now, which I put in my email that I wouldn't post on the site as a review, until they have had a chance to rectify the situation but they just don't seem to care :wacko:

 

[nathanjrb]

Good luck and let us know how you get on

 

[patmcg205]

I'm sure you're doing this already but each time your call or email take a note of the date/time and contents of the email and phone call.

This will mean that should the situation not be resolved you have evidence of your attempts to resolve the issue. Further to this it is generally good practise to suggest a maximum turnaround time for their response in your correspondence (typically 14 days is standard).

Should the issue not get resolved you have a number of options. If you purchased any part of the machine on credit (credit card or finance) then you should get in touch with your credit provider who have a legal obligation to help you with any disputes (note this applies even if you only put £1 on credit).

Hopefully it gets resolved sooner rather than later.

 

[Grimezy]

I think they are quite a small close-knit team which is why you aren't really seeing structured complaints/technical/sales departments in place. I'm sure they all have their own specific roles but they probably have to fill in for each other when answering phones, etc.

It's possible that a lot of people are on leave at the moment which might be why you're struggling to get through to the relevant people.. Keep trying by phone and send regular emails as at least then you have a log of what and when something has been sent.

Good luck!

 

[geeovana]

well looks like the horror stories are living up to their name!!

Phoned and got through to some arrogant phone jockey. Proceeded to give him order number and tell him what was going on with the laptop, consisting of massive amounts of wear on the case making it look years old already, keyboard unable to type properly on due to the flex now apparent throughout the entire chassis, picking it up in one corner and you can physically see the bending going on throughout the whole laptop, I can apply a small amount of pressure on the sides and get them to touch the work surface. SHOCKING honestly.

To which his reply was "Yeh we have had this before, been in touch with clevo and its just classed as general wear and tear. WTF As for the chassis flex "apparentley they have had no issues before" yet they are not prepared to take mine back and fix it unless I PAY FOR IT

He said I can give you a price on the panels as they are very cheap. Yeh I'm not fu**n surprised, and if they are that cheap YOU PAY FOR THEM

Anyway it's obviously not going anywhere so I will post up a review tonight on the entire thing and show what I mean. Not posting out of mallace to the company but to show individual's who are thinking of ordering to save their hard earned money

 

[nathanjrb]

If that's what you feel you must do then fair enough. What I will suggest though is that I recommend you don't descend into bad language or angriness like some other people have (not saying you are by the way) - it's just you will probably receive better service if you aren't a douchebag

What are you wanting them to do for you? Is it just replace the panels? Did they damage the panels? Or are you just not happy with the quality? If so you might end up with the same problem...

As to the other horror stories... well, there are two sides to every story remember. I would call them one more time and explain everything and if you're not happy ask to speak to someone higher up. PCS will help you if they can, they don't have anything to gain by not helping you, so remember that also

 

[SmokeDarKnight]

Yeah i agree with what Nathanjrb says, keeping calm and polite, ask for a second opinion from another attendant perhaps i might try that one too if you felt you weren't getting anywhere.

Personally i think photos are a good idea if you can send them to them in an email to give them the opportunity to respond first.

Keep us informed.

 

[geeovana]

If that's what you feel you must do then fair enough. What I will suggest though is that I recommend you don't descend into bad language or angriness like some other people have (not saying you are by the way) - it's just you will probably receive better service if you aren't a douchebag

What are you wanting them to do for you? Is it just replace the panels? Did they damage the panels? Or are you just not happy with the quality? If so you might end up with the same problem...

As to the other horror stories... well, there are two sides to every story remember. I would call them one more time and explain everything and if you're not happy ask to speak to someone higher up. PCS will help you if they can, they don't have anything to gain by not helping you, so remember that also

I know bud and appreciate the heads up. Sometimes you need reminding but that's what I have said it's not out of mallace but you just dont expect this sort of service after you have handed over hundreds of pounds. It's well spec'd i went for an i5 and ssd so it wasn't cheap by any means.

They where just so blunt, no you will have to pay for it sir. I will ring them up once more tonight and then take it from there.

 

[geeovana]

Yeah i agree with what Nathanjrb says, keeping calm and polite, ask for a second opinion from another attendant perhaps i might try that one too if you felt you weren't getting anywhere.

Personally i think photos are a good idea if you can send them to them in an email to give them the opportunity to respond first.

Keep us informed.

I have sent photo's and he hadn't even looked at them but he was saying they wouldn't replace anything. I even offered to drop it off at their place of work to which he replied well I can't guarantee you will be able to speak to anyone. I mean come on

I asked for the internals to be put into a different case. Would even take the cheaper 15" case just so i could type properly again on it and use it to do my work.

 

[nathanjrb]

Ok well good luck, as Smoke said, keep us updated. Give them another call and ask to talk to someone else if you aren't getting anywhere. Try to remember as well that there IS the odd case of "Sorry there's nothing else we can do" and I guess you'll just have to write your review (if you must), take it on the chin and take business elsewhere next time. It's not ideal but it's not worth getting frustrated about either

GOOD LUCK!

 

[tom_gr7]

I always remind myself that there are always at least two sides to every story. and in my personal opinion my laptop from pcs is more than solid, so I'm pretty surprised to hear that yours is flexing.

 

[SmokeDarKnight]

Just watched this, its nothing like my Vortex if true reflection of the build quality.

[video=youtube;2DDHscgdkQE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DDHscgdkQE[/video]

 

[geeovana]

Mine is worse than that

tbh I think I will make a really quick video up tonight and post it and I would like your opinions and comparisons with your laptops

just remeber that is a brand new one

 

[Corfate]

Surprising really - my 14" or whatever i got, i can't remember haha is a good 10-11 months old now, and has a rough life. Constantly transported around, has stuff left on it, dropped it onto my car seat a few times and it now has some battle scars to the lid. I can honestly say i have very little flex. I can pick it up in one corner and lift it easily with minimal flex.

Maybe you have dud plastic?

 

[geeovana]

Surprising really - my 14" or whatever i got, i can't remember haha is a good 10-11 months old now, and has a rough life. Constantly transported around, has stuff left on it, dropped it onto my car seat a few times and it now has some battle scars to the lid. I can honestly say i have very little flex. I can pick it up in one corner and lift it easily with minimal flex.

Maybe you have dud plastic?

I'm uploading a video to you tube now and will post a link. If people think i'm winging over nothing after watching it then I will happily crawl back into my corner. Just want peoples opinions.

How do you find the keyboard on yours?

 

[Corfate]

I'm uploading a video to you tube now and will post a link. If people think i'm winging over nothing after watching it then I will happily crawl back into my corner. Just want peoples opinions.

How do you find the keyboard on yours?

I'm not saying you're winging, just my little input

I found it hard at first, as i always felt it needed raising up slightly more than it is, i was missing alot of keystrokes. I'm totally used to it now though.

My main gripe is with the sharp edges to it - they hurt my hands when im typing for a long time, and with an office job, thats alot! haha