Do not use Simplicity Online

[HapticSimian]

Dryad, to put it simply
With the car analogy the dealer and manufacturer are essentially the same company, hence you can take it to the dealer.

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Eh, nope. Dealers aren't much more closely affiliated with car manufacturers than what computer retailers are with hardware manufacturers. Both just resell a product acquired from a supplier. Of course, in the case of a car, any repair work is conducted at the retailer level so the analogy doesn't translate particularly well.

As per legislation the retailer should, in a case like the OP's, take responsibility for the repair. However, if it's for exchange or repair and not a refund, I would simply prefer dealing directly with the manufacturer. There's one less point of possible complications that way, and as long as the retailer is an authorised reseller there shouldn't be any hassle.

 

[karnuffel]

First off the analogy is for a new car, so point 3 is not relevant, however usually people take it back to the dealer they bought the car and the dealer assist with sorting out resolving the warranty issue, by finding out how the warranty process work, where the car should go and help setting up appointments for having the car fixed at a relevant place that maintains the warranty. They do not charge the customer for the time they spend for the time it takes them do this, this is part of their customer service and cost of selling the car in the first place.

The new BMW you bought through a dealer of BMW goes back to the dealer and the dealer sort out the warranty with the manufacturer on your behalf, again they do no charge us for all the time they spent with filling out the necessary claim forms etc. that need to be submitted to the manufacturer. Mostly this refer to point 1 and 2 you mentioned as most car dealers are not the actual manufacturer of the make car they sell, they are just a retail outlet that specialize in a specific brand of car.

Finally yes I expect that they deliver the service of after sales customer service for free as this was a manufacturing fault on a product they sold to me even if the CPA did not states the following:
“1) In any transaction or agreement pertaining to the supply of goods to a
consumer there is an implied provision that the producer or importer, the distributor and
the retailer each warrant that the goods comply with the requirements and standards
contemplated ……
The implied warranty imposed by subsection (1), and the right to return goods set
out in subsection (2), are each in addition to— …….
(b)
any express warranty or condition stipulated by the producer or importer,
distributor or retailer, as the case may be

And no you will not change my mind on the fact that I believe that if you spent you hard earned money at a store the least they can do is provide a good quality after sales service for free when the fault is manufacturing related.

The charges were 10% handling fee (+/- R800) then 2 courier fees (80*2) = +/- R960

You are correct point 3 is not irrelevant, I tried to hammer a square peg into a round hole to try and make a point. Your analogy fails because with a NEW car, the dealer handles the warranty and claims back from the factory/importer/etc and with a laptop HP provides the warranty. Also comparing after sales service of a product of 5k to a product of 250K+ seems nonsensical. Services provided by resellers (thats why I tried the second hand car analogy) and franchises also differ.

You simply cannot claim this is a manufacturing fault.

I can understand why they charge a fee for the courier and handling, keep in mind that since they are acting on your behalf they are taking a risk, what would happen if the device gets damaged by the courier or the courier gets hijacked etc...

Last question:

What difference does it make whether you speak to the party that provides the warranty or whether they do it? Speak to HP, have them collect the device and wait for them to tell you why the drive died. Why do you insist on having a third party involved? It adds to the risk and add to the time taken to sort the issue out.

 

[Dryad]

You are correct point 3 is not irrelevant, I tried to hammer a square peg into a round hole to try and make a point. Your analogy fails because with a NEW car, the dealer handles the warranty and claims back from the factory/importer/etc and with a laptop HP provides the warranty. Also comparing after sales service of a product of 5k to a product of 250K+ seems nonsensical. Services provided by resellers (thats why I tried the second hand car analogy) and franchises also differ.

You simply cannot claim this is a manufacturing fault.

I can understand why they charge a fee for the courier and handling, keep in mind that since they are acting on your behalf they are taking a risk, what would happen if the device gets damaged by the courier or the courier gets hijacked etc...

Last question:

What difference does it make whether you speak to the party that provides the warranty or whether they do it? Speak to HP, have them collect the device and wait for them to tell you why the drive died. Why do you insist on having a third party involved? It adds to the risk and add to the time taken to sort the issue out.

I have said this in a couple of post previously as well, my issue with Simplicity is the fact they want to CHARGE for sorting out the warranty. +/- R960 might be small change for you, however it is not for me. I have NO issue with the fact that the laptop needs to go to HP or having to deal with HP. Dealing with HP was a breeze and very pleasant experience, again no issue with the HP warranty and how that is being dealt with. No I do not insist having a third party involved in the issue.

The issue is the fact that a retailer of goods CHARGES MONEY and not just courier fees but a 10% HANDLING fee to have goods repaired/replaced under warranty.

Even if the car analogy is not the best, my question is still would you be happy with the car dealer charging you 10% handling fee for repairing the car under warranty? If you do not like the car analogy replace the car with something else.

As to the fact that they are taking a risk that something might happen during couriering the item. They decided to follow this particular business module and must surely have done research into the inherent risk of having items couriered and this would form part of the cost of running the business and therefore the sale price of an item would help cover this inherent expense. But by your logic we need to pay extra for a risk they decided to make inherent in the business when something does go wrong with the item? Also can they not take out insurance when couriering the items to cover for these risks and will this insurance really cost 10% of the items price?

Also the fact that you think it is nonsensical to want the same service for any item bought irrelevant of the price is exactly why we receive such bad customer service from retailers. So if you buy a car of R 100,000 it will be fine with you to receive inferior customer service to someone that bought a car of R 110,000 because they paid R 10,000 more than you even if it is the exact same car model and specs because the level of customer service is now dependant on the amount of money you spent on an item?

 

[shogun]

Um, when I bought my Dell for example, it was warrantied by Dell. When it had problems, I contacted Dell, not the retailer I got it from. This was actually a hell of a lot better as it cuts out the middle man, and gets things repaired a whole lot quicker.

Nothing strange with this arrangement.

 

[karnuffel]

I have said this in a couple of post previously as well, my issue with Simplicity is the fact they want to CHARGE for sorting out the warranty. +/- R960 might be small change for you, however it is not for me. I have NO issue with the fact that the laptop needs to go to HP or having to deal with HP. Dealing with HP was a breeze and very pleasant experience, again no issue with the HP warranty and how that is being dealt with. No I do not insist having a third party involved in the issue.

The issue is the fact that a retailer of goods CHARGES MONEY and not just courier fees but a 10% HANDLING fee to have goods repaired/replaced under warranty.

Even if the car analogy is not the best, my question is still would you be happy with the car dealer charging you 10% handling fee for repairing the car under warranty? If you do not like the car analogy replace the car with something else.

As to the fact that they are taking a risk that something might happen during couriering the item. They decided to follow this particular business module and must surely have done research into the inherent risk of having items couriered and this would form part of the cost of running the business and therefore the sale price of an item would help cover this inherent expense. But by your logic we need to pay extra for a risk they decided to make inherent in the business when something does go wrong with the item? Also can they not take out insurance when couriering the items to cover for these risks and will this insurance really cost 10% of the items price?

The fact of the matter is they are willing to act on your behalf for a fee. Why is that wrong?

This is getting boring. You simply dont want to accept that this is a matter between you and HP. You are trying to force a third party into this process and the third party is not willing to do it for free.

 

[rubytox]

The fact of the matter is they are willing to act on your behalf for a fee. Why is that wrong?

This is getting boring. You simply dont want to accept that this is a matter between you and HP. You are trying to force a third party into this process and the third party is not willing to do it for free.

He might as well have bought it directly from HP, right?
Instead he has paid for the notebook, including the middle man's mark-up.
Why is there a mark-up? To make a profit. Why not include an after sales service into the marked-up price?

 

[karnuffel]

He might as well have bought it directly from HP, right?
Instead he has paid for the notebook, including the middle man's mark-up.
Why is there a mark-up? To make a profit. Why not include an after sales service into the marked-up price?

Because the after sales service is provided by HP? Where would you like to force a third party into this process?

 

[rubytox]

Because the after sales service is provided by HP? Where would you like to force a third party into this process?

When I bought white tiles from Builder's warehouse and after installation realised that they sold me colours that do not match, Builder's Warehouse sent a sales rep to my house to check it out. Their first response was that I used the wrong tile adhesive (grey instead of white) but then I pointed out that I used grey tile adhesive for all the tiles.
They did not re-do the tiling job but they gave me 2 new boxes and made sure there were no colour difference ... and I got to keep the left overs from the unmatched tiles.
Now if I had to contact the manufacturer of the tiles, whose factory is probably somewhere in Gauteng, how long do you think it would have taken to sort out the mess?

 

[rubytox]

Which reminds me of a similar incident a few years ago when I asked a paint sales man for white paint but not 'bright' or 'brilliant' white, he laughed and told me (with a serious look on his face), that white is white and there can never be different shades of white. :wtf:

 

[Aquadyne]

Failure within 7 days of a sold unit should be swapped out for a new unit. Sometimes this is 14 days.

After this period, the normal manufacturers warranty applies, most notably the process and procedure as dictated.

When one buys a high-value item through an online store, you should be very clear about the stipulated warranties and processes to initiate a claim. When it comes to laptops, having an on-site warranty is preferable to a carry-in warranty.

That being said, if an outlet/store/shop is selling a product at a profit they inherently assume part of the risk / responsibility of equipment failures. At the very least to facilitate the process for the client. (but not making any money out of this process... like admin fees) What is reasonable in this case is for the client to pay the shipment fees back to the seller and then the seller in turn covers the shipment fees back to the client. Both have assumed risk in this transaction.

All manufacturers have specific RMA (Return Material Authorisation) procedures that are very specific.

Then of course you have some less-than-ethical sellers out in the market that will only try and honour a portion of the manufacturers warranty on a unit or component.

Try and make your purchases through authorised & certified resellers of a product. They often have very good relationships with the manufacturers and are able to assist far more than others. Stick to official channels and know what you are buying.

With laptops it is advisable to take out extended warranties from the manufacturer (not the store) and also to try and have on-site warranties as opposed to carry-in.

 

[koeksGHT]

I dont see any problem with this as they are quite transparent and even offered to take care of the warranty repair on your behalf.

Transparency is true,

They are correct as the warranty is dealt by the manufacturer and not seller. (I stand corrected) but CPA states the seller must be able to help with warranty returns(which most do!)

I recommend not buying from them if that is their attitude as Rebeltech never had the issue, they collect with courier on their cost, repair and return(even tho they would just take to HP anyway) but that's the benefit.

 

[xrapidx]

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Have you heard of the CPA?