Updated, seller complied: Seller wants to charge for repair/replacement within warranty period!

[Black Panther]

So I deleted the previous thread because most of the info there is no longer relevant to the way this case has twisted out.

Here's what happened, I'll try to keep it as short as possible:

Spoiler

I had bought a tablet from dx.com on the 14th of September 2015. It was shipped on the 22nd September and I received it some 3 weeks later in mid-October. A couple of weeks ago this tablet died and I contacted dx.com. After various correspondence where they asked for photos and even a video of the tablet, they kept insisting that I should accept a €35 store discount ''to save me the hassle of returning the product''.

I contacted the manufacturer cube-tablet.com directly and they replied that all their Cube tablets have a 12 month warranty which should be honored by the reseller.

They insisted that I should contact the reseller, which I did again, telling them to give me an RMA ticket because the item was still in warranty, and sending them a screenshot of the manufacturer's reply.

After insisting again on a €35 store discount which I did not accept, they replied saying that I will have to pay shipping both ways and also pay for the cost of repairs.

But what kind of a warranty is it where you have to pay for repairs before the warranty expires?

So although my 12 months warranty are not yet up, I received this reply:

I'm pretty sure this is blatantly illegal.

What I'm asking here is what can I do? I bought this from China and I'm in the EU.
Is there some watch-dog authority I can report this to?
Perhaps even some online forum or something?

 

[redeye]

Which company is it... That makes all the difference. (If it is a large company, check in with CS, and talk to a high level supervisior)

From china, you might be SOL.


OTOH, the shipping feel is acceptable, but not the repair fee.

 

[Black Panther]

@redeye The company is www.dx.com which seems to be quite a large company but based in China.
I don't mind paying shipping both ways, but paying for repairs when the item is still under warranty is illegal. I'm always free to repair the item against payment, with anyone, even locally, but after the warranty expires not before!

What do you mean by ''CS'' and ''SOL'' please?

 

[revin]

Yea seems like they tossed in the "repair" fee to see if it would go unnoticed to try to get more $$ for the issue
edit
CS= customer service
sol= shit outta luck

Go back to the manufacture telling/Show them the seller wants YOU to pay repairs, and that is breach of the 12 month warranty

 

[GreiverBlade]

@redeye The company is www.dx.com which seems to be quite a large company but based in China.
I don't mind paying shipping both ways, but paying for repairs when the item is still under warranty is illegal. I'm always free to repair the item against payment, with anyone, even locally, but after the warranty expires not before!

What do you mean by ''CS'' and ''SOL'' please?

DX ouch ... i ditched that one quite a while ago, i use more Aliexpress than DX since Ali's seller are most of the time cheaper and i never got an issue with pieces i ordered there (unlike DX )

altho .... i doubt if i had an issue with a AE seller and under warranty they would have not done the same to me ... altho what i order from them is so cheap that i just reorder the same piece for cheaper than "ship to/ship back pay repair" or i seek another alternative or piece from a 5* seller (sometime user review are too good to be true )

 

[Sasqui]

What do you mean by ''CS'' and ''SOL'' please?

"Customer Service" and "Shit out of Luck" - the morals of any Chinese company is suspect. They can make up the rules as they go.

As for any remedy, it's all about enforcement. Don't know if the EU enforces out of country warranties. I know that here in the states, pretty much any item shipped from China makes warranty return shipping cost quite prohibitive, not to mention the turn-around time.

Bottom line, if you buy anything from China, don't spent a lot and don't expect any "warranty" to be worth more than the electrons used to download it.

 

[Nosada]

Most chinese companies selling overseas are fairly honest towards their costumer. You however, are not Chinese, and thus not a real human being, which excludes you from rights. Welcome to the beautiful world of blatant racism and extreme xenophobia

On-topic: there is no law protecting you when you buy from China, none at all. Even multinationals get caught with their pants down occasionally, despite their army of lawyers. If you ever wanted to be a cowboy growing up, well, this will probably be the closest thing you'll ever get to the old wild west.

 

[thebluebumblebee]

I assume you paid with a credit card? They might be able to help.

 

[Black Panther]

I assume you paid with a credit card? They might be able to help.

I had paid through PayPal using my Visa.

 

[Nosada]

I had paid through PayPal using my Visa.

Paypal is very forgiving if you request the reimbursement within 30 days I've found, after that it gets a lot more difficult. In this case you might be out of luck, but it never hurts to ask

My prediction is that they'll ask why you waited so long after the payment to ask for a reimbursement and as soon they hear it's concerning an RMA, they'll tell you to handle it directly with the seller.

 

[95Viper]

I had paid through PayPal using my Visa.

See if you can file a complaint with either/or both. I know my Visa has purchase protection and it covers stuff like this.


I would take the matter up with Cube, as it says nothing about having to go through the seller for support and warranty requests.
Any way, Cubes Return and Refund policy states:

One Year Free Repair Warranty
Unless otherwise noted on the product page, product warranty is one year counted from the date of purchase.
Within one year of the purchase date, buyers can return items for free repairs. Buyers pay the shipping fees for sending the item back, while we pay for the shipping fees for sending the repaired item back to the buyer.
How to request warranty (return, repair and refund)
Only faulty items can be returned under warranty for a full compensation.
If your item has an issue,please submit a ticket to our Support Center
1.Please describe the problem with your item in details（what happened and when?)
2.Please tell us what steps you have already taken to solve the issue.
3.Please give us the item code indicated on the outer package.
4.Please send us clear picture of defects in good lighting.
PS: Ideally, the photos should be clear and focused, under good lighting conditions, and taken at close and medium distance. We will do our best to help you.

However, since it died within 30 days... hope you kept proof.
It states:

30 Day Money Back Guarantee
1. In the unlikely situation that your product is faulty, you can send it back for a refund within 30 days of receiving it. Return shipping reimbursement is unavailable.
2. If the product works (but you do not wish to retain it) you can also send it back within a 30 day period for a refund. A 15% restocking and handling fee will be charged. Return shipping reimbursement is unavailable.

I would explain this to Cube and explain that the seller is being in-cooperative.

This is from their Facebook page:

NOTICE：For all the aftersales problem, Please try to contact the reseller you bought from , because if you try to delivery to CHINA to repair, it costs too much ,if the reseller don't solve the problem or give you feedback then send us the message , we will hire a people to solve the questions .
For the upgrade or update, we tried to request the engineer department, but apparently , it doesn't work. we will tell our boss for this problem and your request, we are still waiting for their feedback also.
Thanks for your comprehension

They, also, have a couple of different sites:
AlldoCube and Cube-Tablet

You, probably, have all this info; however, I hope you get it work out to a, somewhat, satisfactory conclusion.

 

[Black Panther]

See if you can file a complaint with either/or both. I know my Visa has purchase protection and it covers stuff like this.
I would take the matter up with Cube, as it says nothing about having to go through the seller for support and warranty requests.

I contacted Cube and they referred me to the reseller.

However, since it died within 30 days... hope you kept proof.

I showed dx.com the screenshots from this forum as proof, I even posted again so as to confirm my identity. They ''ignore'' it completely.

I would explain this to Cube and explain that the seller is being in-cooperative.

Done that, and they ignored my email.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________


I told dx.com that what they're doing is illegal and that I will be placing a complaint on https://www.econsumer.gov about this if my warranty is not honored.

And you won't believe their answer... they said that I must still pay for repairs because by the time I ship the tablet and they ship it to Cube the 12 months would have passed!!!

 

[thebluebumblebee]

they said that I must still pay for repairs because by the time I ship the tablet and they ship it to Cube the 12 months would have passed!!!

That's just malarkey.
Don't you have some government agency to go to? Some consumer protection agency? Here in the US, this is the job of the State Attorney General's office. Back in the early 80's, I ordered a camera through the mail, while in the military. They screwed up the address label so bad that it got delivered to the wrong place. It took a long time to actually connect to the N.Y. SAG's office, but once they figured out what had happened, it only took 2 weeks to get my money back in the mail.

So, let's get down to the truth. There's no warranty on this item, at least they never intended for there to be one. They're going to give you the run around in the hope that you'll get frustrated and go away. Those kind of people get my undivided attention. It's time to nuke these people. First, inform dx.com that you are going to tell VISA and Paypal about your experience and suggest that they refuse to process payments to them. Secondly, find out what government agency is responsible for this and tell dx.com that you're going to contact them as well. And don't forget social media. A nice, detailed FB post, with screen shots of your correspondence with them might just do the trick. (I wouldn't be surprised if they don't just give you your money back and tell you to keep it)

Edit: What they're doing is fraud. Even the local police department might be able to point you in the right direction.

 

[95Viper]

I told dx.com that what they're doing is illegal and that I will be placing a complaint on https://www.econsumer.gov about this if my warranty is not honored.

And you won't believe their answer... they said that I must still pay for repairs because by the time I ship the tablet and they ship it to Cube the 12 months would have passed!!!

It is not the way it is suppose to work legally. However, it seems they probably have gotten away with this before.

It is a shame that they do not follow their own policies at Deal Extreme:

Return Defective Item

We will try our best to make sure the products shipped to our customers are in the best condition. If your product (only for items without Special Warranty terms in the product description and physical damage or incorrect use excluded) turns out to be defective:

Within 90 days (from the date of shipment) [**]

Policy: Upon being returned, the defective item will be refunded or replaced for free. Return shipping fee reimbursement is 35% of the item's price up to a maximum of $40.

Detail: The products get damaged (physical damages and damages caused by incorrect usage excluded) within 90 days after shipment (The order shipment date and order notification are provided to you by email). Customer may mail the products back to us. Full refund or replacement plus shipping cost reimbursement will be issued to you upon receipt of shipping proof (available tracking number or a screen shot of shipping receipt).

Note for return:

Return the item(s) by ordinary mail (the least expensive way) with tracking number to the nearest Product Drop Off Box (see details below); If the mail service with tracking number costs more, you may choose the one without tracking, please be sure to keep the shipping receipt with you after return. We will process for you upon receiving the screen shot of your receipt.

The return shipping fee is less than 35% of the defective item(s) value, and also less than $40(USD). We will cover the actual postage (according to the receipt you provided). If the return shipping fee exceeds the limit above, please contact our CS department for further confirmation.

- After 90 days and within 150 days from shipment

Policy: Upon being returned, the defective item will only be replaced. Return shipping fee will be sole responsibility of customer.

Detail: If the product turns out to be defective after 90 days and within 150 days from shipment, Customer may mail the products back to us. We will still try to exchange your defective products for a brand new one where possible. Please notice that the return shipping costs will be on your sole responsibility, we will pay all the necessary shipping fees for the replaced products that we ship to you.

- After 150 days and within 365 days from shipment

Policy: Upon being returned, the defective item will be forwarded to the factory for repair. The shipping cost both ways will be covered by customer.

Detail: Should the item become defective after 150 days from shipment, customers will still be allowed to send the unit back to us. We will help by forwarding the item to the manufacturer for repair or replacement. Until the product arrives at our warehouse, the shipping cost both ways have to be covered by the customer. Any cost incurred during the process will be at customer's expense as well.

- After 365 days from shipment

Policy: Refund or replacement for any item will be rejected after the 365 day period has expired.

After returning the defective product, please kindly provide us with proof as below:

• Photos of the front and back of the packaging envelope or box
• Partial shipment slips (if applicable)
• Photo, video, screenshot, or description of the defective item
• Photo, video, screenshot, or description of the defect or defective area

All customers should contact us by Customer Service Express before returning any item(s)/product(s).

I would contact Visa, and Paypal, and see if they can help.
I would post a comment about the pitiful customer service, and, not honoring their warranty, on their facebook page. Also, file complaints with any agency I could possibly find.
Never, ever do business with them again. Never refer anyone to them and direct people away from them.

I don't know about courts in your country... but, I you have a small claims court, or something equivalent, file a claim with them. With all your paper work and their ridiculous replies... sounds to to be a win.
Just keep all your copies of communications, copies of warrantees, etc.
A lot of times they are a no show and the judge will give you a judgement against them.

I do believe Visa and/or Paypal would be the first choice.

Also, looking around both companies seem to have a lot of, not so nice, complaints and sell some cheap (as in quality) products.

 

[Black Panther]

Finally, after threatening them with econsumer.gov, Visa and Paypal they seem to have accepted to honor the warranty. The reply is not that clear, however they only mention the shipping expense this time (which I'm ok with) and actually gave me an address where to ship.

 

[hat]

50 euros shipping fee? Are they shipping it to the moon?

 

[redeye]

50 euros shipping fee? Are they shipping it to the moon?

Don't forget the handling part. (Probably going one-day DHL return shipping)

 

[thebluebumblebee]

50 euros shipping fee? Are they shipping it to the moon?

Another ploy to discourage the end user from using the warranty. THERE SHOULDN'T BE ANY "HANDLING" CHARGE FOR A WARRANTY.