Firstshop.co.za legit?

[Conack]

Doesn't make sense. Warranty claims don't cost anything.

Bent pins are tricky, it's very easy for a customer to do it by accident and without even noticing and then lay blame on the retailer (I'm NOT saying that's what happened here, I'm saying it happens).

The hard drive though? I'd ask for escalation.

Ja I did.

It took many months, but they eventually suddenly changed tune and refunded the drive.
Was the strangest accusation / warranty avoidance scheme I've ever seen.

Agreed wrt the motherboard/cpu pins - and unfortunately it can happen fairly easily too.

 

[Conack]

Very strange - So motherboard boots and runs and installs windows 10 and Ununtu but has intermittent errors. Sent for a return - Then mother after been at First Shop does not boot at all ?
So boots - then returned - then after return does not boot ? Tricky - more like a good trick !
How do pins bend like this in arb location from removing a cpu ? Leading and trailing edges - Sure but centre of matrix ? Come on now !!!

Looks like something fell on the slot if I had to guess, but the 3 different areas makes it dubious.
I could understand a pin on the left and right, if for eg. the cpu fell on the port, but 2 on the left and one on the right? Unless something fell twice - which is unlikely I think.

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

So who bent the pins ??? Since the MB was booting up when I sent it in and will not boot with how firstshop now present the pins ???? Who bent them ???

Who really wants to document every stage of unboxing to have on record to deal with shady operators ?
Seems like to easy of a method to avoid addressing warranty issues.
This is a warning to other hapless customers of Firstshop - Be very wary !!! Very wary !!! Record the state of the MB if you have to return it to Firstshop so they cannot pull the same dirty move on others.

It's a PC parts grey area.

I had a similar problem with a board years ago with Rectron where they refused to help with a board with bent pins. It's also a bit insane as a lot of the times the boxes for motherboards aren't even sealed in any way, so you have no idea if somebody broke it before it got to you (or even if it's a customer return). It's just the risk you take I guess :shrug:

 

[a88277]

Poor delivery service that you pay for.​

I wish to share my experience regarding a recent order with Firstshop. I requested a specific courier for delivery to my location, as they provide direct service to my town and would have resulted in a two-day earlier delivery. This request was made via email to their support address.I received a response from Firstshop, stating the order was 'awaiting collection', which I interpreted as confirmation that my request would be honored. However, the subsequent waybill indicated a different courier service was used. This resulted in a two-day delay in receiving my order of laptops, valued at over R30,000.The items were held in the courier's warehouse for a full day before shipment. This delay negatively impacted my ability to conduct a client presentation, resulting in a financial loss.While I understand businesses have standard shipping procedures, I am disappointed that my specific request, which would have significantly improved delivery time, was not accommodated. I believe clearer communication and flexibility in shipping options would enhance customer satisfaction. I am sharing this experience to provide a factual account of my interaction with Firstshop's shipping process.

 

[sand_man]

Their service is horrible, period. Avoid... prices are competitive but that's where the advantages of using them ends...

Bought a mouse from them which I then decided to return as the packaging was a generic box and not the usual packaging associated with this product. I left the box sealed and logged a return.

Took them 2 weeks to action the refund... collected on the 19th March, 26th March I get an email saying the unit is under assessment. I tell them I returned it unopened. What's there to assess?

Then, to process the refund they want full banking details, a recent bank letter confirming the account and copy of my ID!! WTAF?!!

Send that on the 27th March. 1st of April I mail them asking when the refund will be made!!! The buck is then passed on to the accounts department. 3rd of April the refund is processed, in full, including the delivery fee I was charged (so that's pretty good)....

They make the process as obfuscated as they possibly can!

Compared to Takealot? Well, there is no comparison....

 

[Progenix Oj101]

Poor delivery service that you pay for.​

I wish to share my experience regarding a recent order with Firstshop. I requested a specific courier for delivery to my location, as they provide direct service to my town and would have resulted in a two-day earlier delivery. This request was made via email to their support address.I received a response from Firstshop, stating the order was 'awaiting collection', which I interpreted as confirmation that my request would be honored. However, the subsequent waybill indicated a different courier service was used. This resulted in a two-day delay in receiving my order of laptops, valued at over R30,000.The items were held in the courier's warehouse for a full day before shipment. This delay negatively impacted my ability to conduct a client presentation, resulting in a financial loss.While I understand businesses have standard shipping procedures, I am disappointed that my specific request, which would have significantly improved delivery time, was not accommodated. I believe clearer communication and flexibility in shipping options would enhance customer satisfaction. I am sharing this experience to provide a factual account of my interaction with Firstshop's shipping process.

It's not necessarily a request which can be easily accommodated, it at all. Opening an account requires the signatures of all directors, who may or may not be available. It's a lot of admin for an account that might only be used once. That specific courier might be avoided by choice based on past experience. Their GIT insurance likely won't cover it until the policy is updated, etc. It could very likely be weeks of admin for one order. Realistically, your request would likely have resulted in a MINIMUM of a one week delay, and very possibly longer.

 

[Progenix Oj101]

a recent bank letter confirming the account and copy of my ID!! WTAF?!!

I actually kinda get this, it's for account verification which prevents money being refunded to the incorrect account due to a typo, and requires:

Account Number
ID / Registration Number
Branch Code
Initial
Surname / Business Name
Cellphone Number
Email Address



Takealot might make things easier, but their QA/QC process is non-existent, resulting in the likes of this:

https://imgur.com/a/x9202FU

That was purchased by someone I know in CPT, and was sold as brand new. It wasn't a third party seller - it was sold by TAL, not just fulfilled by TAL.

 

[sand_man]

I actually kinda get this, it's for account verification which prevents money being refunded to the incorrect account due to a typo, and requires:

I don't think I've ever been asked by a online retailer to provide a bank letter in order to process a refund. Told them they weren't getting a copy of my ID either. Sure the POPI act covers that. They cannot compel me to send a copy of my ID in order to process a refund.

I've had an active account with them for maybe 4 years? 5 years? Returning stuff, not that I've needed to do it more than 3 times, is an absolute pain in the behind.

 

[Conack]

I don't think I've ever been asked by a online retailer to provide a bank letter in order to process a refund. Told them they weren't getting a copy of my ID either. Sure the POPI act covers that. They cannot compel me to send a copy of my ID in order to process a refund.

I've had an active account with them for maybe 4 years? 5 years? Returning stuff, not that I've needed to do it more than 3 times, is an absolute pain in the behind.

I've found their warranty to be on par with Evekek.
Have told the story a few times, but they hit me with a huge run-around after sending a DOA drive and claimed that I had "opened the screws" to tamper with the drive on day one and refused refund/warranty replacement.
Took many months for them to finally refund the drive

 

[Progenix Oj101]

I don't think I've ever been asked by a online retailer to provide a bank letter in order to process a refund. Told them they weren't getting a copy of my ID either. Sure the POPI act covers that. They cannot compel me to send a copy of my ID in order to process a refund.

I've had an active account with them for maybe 4 years? 5 years? Returning stuff, not that I've needed to do it more than 3 times, is an absolute pain in the behind.

I'm not saying I necessarily agree with it or it's common, I'm just saying I get it. It prevents things like this:









Human error can come in on EITHER side. We avoid it our side as much as possible by not accepting screenshots, and then confirm the message and payment match on both the entering and confirming screens on the bank using CTRL+F. HAD IT gone through, there would have been an unhappy customer, even though the fault wasn't our side.