Simplicity Online and their broken agreements

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ari

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My company purchased a 3G wireless router from Simplicity Online for a client. It was agreed upon via email with the permission of the owner that if the unit does not work, a full refund will be given within 7 days.

Communications was sent to Simplicity within the 7 days that the unit may be faulty. Because the unit could not be returned until the morning of the 8th day Simplicity now say they can no longer give a refund.

Please guys, we are all in the service industry. I know of many suppliers that if a product is 1 day out of warranty they have made a plan.
 
I offered my client a 7 day full refund as promised by Simplicity. Even though I told them within the 7 days that the unit was giving problems they will not stick by their promise of a full refund because i could only return the unit in the morning of the 8th day.

We deal with other suppliers like Eurobyte and they have been extremely helpful, even if the warranty has been a few hours over the manufacturers warranty.
 
It sounds unreasonable to me. If you were to return an Item at 17:30 on day seven, to a retailer, then they would only be able to deliver it back to the disti the following day - day eight. They should have swapped it....
 
That's exactly what I asked Gustav. He confirmed that If I had returned it by 5pm yesterday it would have been fine but because it could only be this morning it isn't.
 
This is wrong, our company constantly deliver out of waranty repairs and upgrades, hence we keep customers for life, I wish people in SA would learn a bit how to handle customers, remember, the trick is not to gain a customer, it is to keep them!!!

A cocky attitude in the short term will burn you long term.
 
HelloPeter Response

Hello arigork,

Thank you for your feedback.

We go out of our way to make our clients happy and as you can see on Hello Peter you are the first person to complain about our service, we are disappointed that you are unhappy but we have to stick to our policies.

Unfortunately we are bound by our suppliers returns policy which is why we have our 7 day return period that is stated in our terms and conditions. We are unable to bend our terms and conditions around our customers as suppliers will not extend their terms for us. It is unfortunate that you did not manage to return your product within the agreed time frame as we would have happily refunded you.

Again we are sorry you are unhappy and if there was anything we could do to help we would but we stand by our terms and conditions.

Kind Regards
The Simplicity Online Team
Visit Link here: http://www.hellopeter.co.za/simplicity-online-repairs-servicing-[294096]
 
So if he brought it at 07:00 on the 8th day and you sent it off then, how is it any different than if he had brought it in at 17:30 on the 7th day?
It would still go out on the same day, wouldn't it?

Big thumbs down to you guys
 
The problem lies where the client actually bought the product for one of his customers. His customer was unhappy with the product and mentuioned that it was faulty. We mentioned that we are more than happy to replace the unit without charging the customer a collection and delivery fee if client requested that the unit be swopped out due to it being faulty (as mentioned by PC Direct the warrently obviously still stands).

The Client was well aware of our terms and conditions and agreed to them when placing the order however now feels that we should refund him even though the refund deadline was missed.

We go out of our way to please our clients however any business owner will understand that terms and conditions are set in place to avoid issues like these.

We are sorry that the client is unhappy and we have done whatever we can to help but the reality is that our terms and conditions stand. We again must say we are very happy to swop the unit out for a working unit if it is faulty.

Kind Regards
The Simplicity Online Team
 
And the fact that he notified you prior to the 7days holds no water then?

and is that 7 business days, or 7 calendar days?

You might find yourself in hot water very shortly...
 
yeah I gotta agree with ToxicBunny here.
I understand what Simplicity is saying in that the deal was to return within 7 days. But he did let you know within 7 days and if he had only brought it back on the 10th day or something, I'd be on your side here. But a few hours...? To keep a customer happy? To keep your good reputation? Whether he's right or wrong this will leave a bad taste in some people's mouths for being just a couple of hours late... You would've still only been able to send it back on the 8th day anyway, no one got hurt, no one lost any money, not the end of the world.

I understand that a line must always be drawn, but one must also be ever so slightly flexible to keep a customer happy - neither of you was gonna suffer if you had returned the item
 
I actually have to agree with Toxic and the others here too! I work with numerous suppliers on a daily basis, granted - they do not sell PC electronics, but their policies are similar. 7 day return, provided item is in unused condition.

Things happen from time to time, and we have had to return things up to a month of originally buying the items... you should have let the supplier know that there may be a return that may be a day late, and I am almost 100% sure they would have made an exception for you. Life happens and companies believe it or not do make exceptions, but if you took a bad attitude to the supplier like you did with your customer - I suppose it makes sense as to why they will not accept the returned item!

The only exception here, is if the product has been used - and is NOT faulty and cannot be resold. Then I could understand not wanting to refund the customer. But a faulty item, which will be replaced by a new one - and which can be easily resold, even if the supplier will not credit you (put it on special). You have no excuses not to refund....and hiding behind terms and conditions for something so petty does not make you look very good!
 
This is definitely one company I'll steer clear of in future.

I've been in this situation a few times with suppliers, and have notified them by call, and a follow up email that the product is faulty, and I will be returning on a specific date, even though its out of the 7-day window, they still accept it because I let them know with the 7-days.

Unfortunately, I work 10-12 hours a day, I can't drop everything if a product supplied is faulty, and run back for a refund - the onus should be on the supplier to accept responsibilty.
 
ToxicBunny said:
And the fact that he notified you prior to the 7days holds no water then?

and is that 7 business days, or 7 calendar days?

You might find yourself in hot water very shortly...
Click to expand...

Its generally 7-working days when time favours the suppler. e.g. If you take something to be repaired, they say 14-days turn around (working days.

If you have to return something, its generally normal weekdays (incl. weekends).
 
xrapidx said:
This is definitely one company I'll steer clear of in future.

I've been in this situation a few times with suppliers, and have notified them by call, and a follow up email that the product is faulty, and I will be returning on a specific date, even though its out of the 7-day window, they still accept it because I let them know with the 7-days.

Unfortunately, I work 10-12 hours a day, I can't drop everything if a product supplied is faulty, and run back for a refund - the onus should be on the supplier to accept responsibilty.
Click to expand...

+100
 
xrapidx said:
They've made their customer service stand quite clear - nothing more to say. :p
Click to expand...

Thats why I love this place (myBB). Things like this gets highlighted and helps everyone to avoid similar experiences.

I was planning on buying several (expensive) components for a home server from them. Guess we'll just have to go to someone else then...
 
Simplicity.co.za said:
Hello arigork,

Thank you for your feedback.

We go out of our way to make our clients happy and as you can see on Hello Peter you are the first person to complain about our service, we are disappointed that you are unhappy but we have to stick to our policies.

Unfortunately we are bound by our suppliers returns policy which is why we have our 7 day return period that is stated in our terms and conditions. We are unable to bend our terms and conditions around our customers as suppliers will not extend their terms for us. It is unfortunate that you did not manage to return your product within the agreed time frame as we would have happily refunded you.

Again we are sorry you are unhappy and if there was anything we could do to help we would but we stand by our terms and conditions.

Kind Regards
The Simplicity Online Team
Visit Link here: http://www.hellopeter.co.za/simplicity-online-repairs-servicing-[294096]
Click to expand...

-1
Im not buying from you guys again :(
Policy sucks
 
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