Not for the first time, nor for the second, do I find that my (from a very limited sample) recent purchase is either CFU or fails within a few months of buying it.
Why do people swear by this means of shopping
Things may be cheap(er) but if they are useless and you have limited (practical) means to get redress, what's the point?
Gimme the pound shop any day, at least I can take things back :-)
tim
I'd suggest a garden centre, if you wanted to buy a carp. I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did :-)
But yes, I think we are all going to learn to be a bit more careful. I recently got a £5 TV aerial amplifier for mum and dad. I wasn't sure if it was going to make any difference to their poor signal, so I got the cheapest I could find. As soon as it was connected to a power supply, the power LED lit up very briefly and brightly, then went out, and then there was a faint smell of smoke. Needless to say, it ended up in the bin.
Nothing I have ever sent backl to aasmazon hasnt been either replaced or refunded as a matter of courese.
Ebay? well generally iof you push you can get a refund there too.
But ebay is caveat emptor,
HOWEVER the last 2 items I got from ebay to repair the lefthand side sockets on my laptop (where it fell off onto the floor) were 100% perfect.
The thing I should have taken back was the totally crap office chair I got from staples, but that is a 45 mile round trip. Utter crap. Beyond utter crap actually.
>The Natural Philosopher expressed precisely :
Not really...
If something fails to be delivered, is faulty, unfit for the purpose - then I have always had a refund or what ever is appropriate, you just have to be patient.
For example of my last five items I had - one arrive damaged, three failed to deliver, one arrived fine and as expected. I got a full refund for the four, which leaves the three 'failed to deliver'.
The three were rather curious and I suspect something deliberate was going on. All three were new sellers, the items cheaper than normal, then after I bought there other items, if there were any, were removed. It was as if they were simply borrowing the money, or perhaps fiddling the money out of Ebay/Paypal and none of them replied to any questions via Ebay.
after 5 months?
or because it doesn't work as well as an "original" replacement when it was clearly described as not an original replacement (and priced accordingly). I was prepared for it to not be as good as an original replacement - but it performed worse that the worn out original item I was looking to replace.
Well I wouldn't buy that sort of thing untested
I did the same with a chair that I bought from Viking (long before the internet - in fact long before Staples had nationwide stores). It was far from the cheapest available but completely uncomfortable.
But they offered an unconditional returns policy, so I rung up to return it
they asked if there was a price point at which I would accept it - I said no
tim
If that is your experience, why continue to use it?
Because rather obviously it works well for the vast majority.
If you buy anything based solely on the lowest price, you might just get what you pay for.
Then why didn't you buy your whatever there?
I've made getting on for 2000 Ebay purchases. Problems with any being little if any different from buying on the high street. And never had a problem getting redress.
I buy from Amazon (direct - as in I almost always choose the "despatched by Amazon" items) because:
1) The delivery is bullet proof. If I'm out, they leave the product where I tell them to; 2) Or I can choose locker or one of the collection points;3) I can read the reviews. I've not been let down much but doing it that way - I've had more duff purchases from bricks and mortar stores;
4) Returns are simple for the first month;5) They sell things that would be impossible to get in my nearest large town and I don't have to waste all day driving and parking.
This of course does not apply to Amazon market place sellers, only stuff dispatched by Amazon. Nor ebay - who I do use for the odd weird and small thing.
Big purchases like TVs and washing machines, I do tend to go to John Lewis or a specialist Miele place as the price is usually better and I can have a good look at it first - so fair's fair.
Amazon, with Prime is very hard to beat. I do believe, once you've got it sussed, it is far more pleasant than battling through the town.
Always brings out my inner child when I see it.
Cheers
Never again will I be able to see it on the shelves without having a little chuckle :-)
Yes the problem is there is a cut off cost where the cost of getting things sorted outweighs all the need to get it working so you chuck it in the bin. Unfortunately most of the things that have failed are made in China, nearly always say in stock with a uk address but the info from amazons then says its coming from china. I get the feeling there is some hoodwinking being attempted on Amazon and the customer here. Brian
They really need to get a new idea for the cover photo!
Just delete "that have failed" and it's still true so it's hardly suprising that it's true with "that have failed" in it. :-)
True. And suggests things made in other countries like the UK are always perfect. If they had been, we'd still be making them. ;-)
I think there are some folk at Crewe who would argue they still do but - as Marcus Sieff (M&S) used to say - "the price of perfection is prohibitive" :)
price tends to infinity as quality tends to perfection.
Anyone who has worked to MILSPEC can tell you that ;-)
Wonder how much of a current Bentley is made at Crewe? And of course R-R is no longer made there. But both by German owned firms.
This isn't about delivery. It's about the quality of the product
Most reviews are posted within 48 hours of the purchase
how many sites allow you to go back and say "after six months this product stopped working"
Yep, that's why I have bought the items this way.
But I still think that I am entitled for them not to fail after 5 months.
The problem is with no-name products
I wouldn't even consider buying a no-name TV, mail order. I might just buy it in a high street major.
tim
I wouldnt buy it period without having read online many many positive reviews.
Amazon, for one.
In my case a year. I got a free upgrade on conditons Id say nice things about the new product. Its been a year and its still works so maybe I should...
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