OC3D Article: Overclockers UK - Swish New Website, Same Shoddy Service?
- Thread starter JN
- Start date
I keep meaning to sign up, but seeing this, I couldnt resist.
I have had a few bad experiences with Overclockers, here are a couple of annoyances.
The left a £25 item out of an order, then accused me of trying to rip them off. It took several phone calls before they sent me out the missing item, and then that took 10 days to arrive and was b-grade. That was about 2 years ago.
Last year, I bought an MSI 975 motherboard from them as they were the only place with stock. The motherboard arrived on time with the motherboard box inside a large cardboard box with no packing, it had clearly been bashed about a bit.
The motherboard was DOA and had obviously been out before as it was covered in fingerprints and some of the extras in the box were dirty and had ripped packets, and yet the main box itself was sealed in plastic with an ocuk sticker on the box underneath.
I rang up, around an hour passed on the phone at national rate, I got through to Mr Arsey pants, who informed me that I needed to speak to technical support. He flatly refused to put me through, so I rang the tech support number and waited almost another hour before "Rob" answered. He issued an rma number without any fuss but sounded rather puzzled when I requested that citylink pick up the DOA motherboard at oc-uk's expense. He explained that they dont do that, but they do refund the postage charges if the item is found to be faulty, at this point, I did mention that almost every other decent retailer do this, even micro bloody direct!, but he wasnt having any of it, so I nipped out and posted it, £8.50 special delivery.
They received it the following day and emailed me to tell me as much.
It was about a week later that I received an email saying that the rma had been completed and that a refund had been issued.
Around a week after that, the refund hit my account, minus the £10 they charged for city link to deliver and minus the £8.50 that I payed for special delivery back to them (that I was promised would be refunded).
So after another hours wait on the phone (at national rate), I spoke to "Rob" again. He said that they had just implemented a new refund system where no postage charges are refunded unless the customer asks, and that the refund system for RMAs is on a completely different system to postage refunds. So I requested the refund, he said that he couldnt do it as the bloke that does the refunds is on holiday, so I rang back a week later.
Spoke to "Rob" again, he promised that the refund would be done by friday (it was tuesday). Friday came, no refund.
Rang one last time, this time I tried sales and was greeted by a seriously unhelpful berk, who put the phone down on me, right after I explained that I had been waiting an hour.
So I spoke to my bank's card services dept, they advised that I email them with a demand for payment, and also a recorded delivery letter with a demand for payment, so I did. I never did receive a reply to the webnote/email thing, and the letter was signed for and they never replied.
My bank refunded the money in the end.
It is doubtful that anyone from overclockers will reply to this in an official capacity, but I'll put money on it, that you get a flury of new posters defending them.
In my opinion, Overclockers.co.uk are THE worst retailer in the UK.
I have had a few bad experiences with Overclockers, here are a couple of annoyances.
The left a £25 item out of an order, then accused me of trying to rip them off. It took several phone calls before they sent me out the missing item, and then that took 10 days to arrive and was b-grade. That was about 2 years ago.
Last year, I bought an MSI 975 motherboard from them as they were the only place with stock. The motherboard arrived on time with the motherboard box inside a large cardboard box with no packing, it had clearly been bashed about a bit.
The motherboard was DOA and had obviously been out before as it was covered in fingerprints and some of the extras in the box were dirty and had ripped packets, and yet the main box itself was sealed in plastic with an ocuk sticker on the box underneath.
I rang up, around an hour passed on the phone at national rate, I got through to Mr Arsey pants, who informed me that I needed to speak to technical support. He flatly refused to put me through, so I rang the tech support number and waited almost another hour before "Rob" answered. He issued an rma number without any fuss but sounded rather puzzled when I requested that citylink pick up the DOA motherboard at oc-uk's expense. He explained that they dont do that, but they do refund the postage charges if the item is found to be faulty, at this point, I did mention that almost every other decent retailer do this, even micro bloody direct!, but he wasnt having any of it, so I nipped out and posted it, £8.50 special delivery.
They received it the following day and emailed me to tell me as much.
It was about a week later that I received an email saying that the rma had been completed and that a refund had been issued.
Around a week after that, the refund hit my account, minus the £10 they charged for city link to deliver and minus the £8.50 that I payed for special delivery back to them (that I was promised would be refunded).
So after another hours wait on the phone (at national rate), I spoke to "Rob" again. He said that they had just implemented a new refund system where no postage charges are refunded unless the customer asks, and that the refund system for RMAs is on a completely different system to postage refunds. So I requested the refund, he said that he couldnt do it as the bloke that does the refunds is on holiday, so I rang back a week later.
Spoke to "Rob" again, he promised that the refund would be done by friday (it was tuesday). Friday came, no refund.
Rang one last time, this time I tried sales and was greeted by a seriously unhelpful berk, who put the phone down on me, right after I explained that I had been waiting an hour.
So I spoke to my bank's card services dept, they advised that I email them with a demand for payment, and also a recorded delivery letter with a demand for payment, so I did. I never did receive a reply to the webnote/email thing, and the letter was signed for and they never replied.
My bank refunded the money in the end.
It is doubtful that anyone from overclockers will reply to this in an official capacity, but I'll put money on it, that you get a flury of new posters defending them.
In my opinion, Overclockers.co.uk are THE worst retailer in the UK.
c3d: stick around,enjoy your stay:wavey: FarFarAway
New member
Rubbish experience Clunk 
Welcome to the forums though mate
Welcome to the forums though mate
Maturity is not Opportunity
As a tree grows, to remain balanced, its roots will have to mature too. As a restaurant expands, to maintain its effectiveness as a viable business, it will have to have more tables, waiters and above all, experienced chefs/cooks. As such, where do the likes of OCUK, the companies that grew too quickly, stand?
Humans are mere messengers and not the principles for humans come and go but the principles remain. The reason why only the principles are valid is because humans can change and it is humans who conduct businesses. As the human change, so too will the business/principles of operation. A business can be based on kleptomania or it can be a service and the way a business evolves/slides from one to the other depends on the maturity of its operator/s. The way things are going with commerce, it is hard to evolve unless the business gets too big and they then have to look/become moral/responsible, whether they like it or not.
The online business model have given immorality a free reign. People who have little grounding in maturity [ie morality and not moralising, or the maturity based on copulation, corruption and ralitonalities/justifications] are suddenly being held responsible for defining what is correct or incorrect, i.e morality [and morality is NOT sermonising, religion, halleujah nonsense. Morality is that which promotes Evolution for the benevolence for all, not just the individual/business operator].
It is immoral to look at businesses as an opportunity to plunder and not a service in exchange for a comfortable living. This is how commerce should be judged. Almost without exception, those who grew too quickly will soon learn what morality is all about and when faced with the truth, they almost invariable shed their cloak/disguise and reveal their true self. Very few get to sample this opportunity but those who do, usually take the "land of the free/land of opportunity" route and that is to accelerate the rate of their kleptomania even though they know that they can only screw one whore at a time.
Again, commerce is an opportunity to serve not to screw. Those who do not maintain their service by offering excuses like, "Do you know how big we are?"/"We are trying our best", need to go back to basics. Grow up before you learn how to screw for then, it will not be a matter of size but technique/maturity. Yes, 80-year old juveniles are the norm, not the exception. The motto to buying in the modern era, especially online, is, have no loyalty but be promiscuous and treat each purchase as your very first & last. Loyalty [or blind judgement] is not the giving of your heart [for the heart is not ours to give], but the giving of your balanced/weighted judgement, much like that showcase of loyalty, the dog, does. Most people are not only blind but immoral for the simple reason that most do not know what morality means. They think that morality has something to do with the ninsense that is religion/blind faiths/beliefs.
As a tree grows, to remain balanced, its roots will have to mature too. As a restaurant expands, to maintain its effectiveness as a viable business, it will have to have more tables, waiters and above all, experienced chefs/cooks. As such, where do the likes of OCUK, the companies that grew too quickly, stand?
Humans are mere messengers and not the principles for humans come and go but the principles remain. The reason why only the principles are valid is because humans can change and it is humans who conduct businesses. As the human change, so too will the business/principles of operation. A business can be based on kleptomania or it can be a service and the way a business evolves/slides from one to the other depends on the maturity of its operator/s. The way things are going with commerce, it is hard to evolve unless the business gets too big and they then have to look/become moral/responsible, whether they like it or not.
The online business model have given immorality a free reign. People who have little grounding in maturity [ie morality and not moralising, or the maturity based on copulation, corruption and ralitonalities/justifications] are suddenly being held responsible for defining what is correct or incorrect, i.e morality [and morality is NOT sermonising, religion, halleujah nonsense. Morality is that which promotes Evolution for the benevolence for all, not just the individual/business operator].
It is immoral to look at businesses as an opportunity to plunder and not a service in exchange for a comfortable living. This is how commerce should be judged. Almost without exception, those who grew too quickly will soon learn what morality is all about and when faced with the truth, they almost invariable shed their cloak/disguise and reveal their true self. Very few get to sample this opportunity but those who do, usually take the "land of the free/land of opportunity" route and that is to accelerate the rate of their kleptomania even though they know that they can only screw one whore at a time.
Again, commerce is an opportunity to serve not to screw. Those who do not maintain their service by offering excuses like, "Do you know how big we are?"/"We are trying our best", need to go back to basics. Grow up before you learn how to screw for then, it will not be a matter of size but technique/maturity. Yes, 80-year old juveniles are the norm, not the exception. The motto to buying in the modern era, especially online, is, have no loyalty but be promiscuous and treat each purchase as your very first & last. Loyalty [or blind judgement] is not the giving of your heart [for the heart is not ours to give], but the giving of your balanced/weighted judgement, much like that showcase of loyalty, the dog, does. Most people are not only blind but immoral for the simple reason that most do not know what morality means. They think that morality has something to do with the ninsense that is religion/blind faiths/beliefs.
say your going to take them to the small claims court, if it comes to that, it will cost you about £80. After every phone conversation, get them to email you what there action is, even better, get them to do it whilst on the phone. That way you have some come back as to what they promised.
name='Doddsy' said:
In fairness, the problems with scan are the only ones Ive had in a while, but depending on how they handle it, should be a lesson for anyone buying motherboards from them, that are sold as overclocking motherboards, like the commando, striker, etc
And yeah, I'm cursed
This free delivery bait is hard work !!! Better than our Stokien friend's demand of £8.++ for a pair of dimms. And Scan's system of stock report, at one time, did put Goebbel's propaganda machine to shame. But the boss seems a genuine person....
The transition from paddling in the pool to rowing for the club is a dangerous time for the "upgrading" trader. On the one hand, they have to find the right personnel but the piggy bank says, "No can do". So they have to make do with "the pimpled crowd" [no offence meant to kiddies everywhere], not forgetting that most of the money is either the distributors' or the banks'. One reason why most who don't make the grade, and most don't, ends up doing "deals" with bent receivers and even the biggest names [traders & receivers] are bent. Without exception, for their MO is, "Don't get caught". And the cycle restarts with the same outfit, bought back at, say, 10% [surely not that high !!], nudge-nudge, wink-wink. Like Social Security/Nat heath Service, it's the tax payers who really foot the final bill. One reason why prices here are always twice that over the pond.
The online business game have changed quite a lot of that though because it really brings in the volume if you hit the right formula, [which for OCUK, it's their "forum", an euphemism for grooming blind loyalty] and it's easier to leave "trails of carnage" with online sales too. But those who play the numbers game well, i.e ensuring profitability is maintained and ploughed back to engender loyalty, good times or bad, will reap a bounty harvest. Branding is the name of the game in big business and nothing else and successful branding can turn a greedy thief to an honourary member of the elite. That's "Turning the Trick", every kleptomaniac's dream of redemption. Don't believe it even if they do for they have no option. Honourable businesses seldom go mega because greed is not their dream. Service and fairness is. There is no such thing as trusting others. Only fair play for others and trusting one self [to do the right thing].
The transition from paddling in the pool to rowing for the club is a dangerous time for the "upgrading" trader. On the one hand, they have to find the right personnel but the piggy bank says, "No can do". So they have to make do with "the pimpled crowd" [no offence meant to kiddies everywhere], not forgetting that most of the money is either the distributors' or the banks'. One reason why most who don't make the grade, and most don't, ends up doing "deals" with bent receivers and even the biggest names [traders & receivers] are bent. Without exception, for their MO is, "Don't get caught". And the cycle restarts with the same outfit, bought back at, say, 10% [surely not that high !!], nudge-nudge, wink-wink. Like Social Security/Nat heath Service, it's the tax payers who really foot the final bill. One reason why prices here are always twice that over the pond.
The online business game have changed quite a lot of that though because it really brings in the volume if you hit the right formula, [which for OCUK, it's their "forum", an euphemism for grooming blind loyalty] and it's easier to leave "trails of carnage" with online sales too. But those who play the numbers game well, i.e ensuring profitability is maintained and ploughed back to engender loyalty, good times or bad, will reap a bounty harvest. Branding is the name of the game in big business and nothing else and successful branding can turn a greedy thief to an honourary member of the elite. That's "Turning the Trick", every kleptomaniac's dream of redemption. Don't believe it even if they do for they have no option. Honourable businesses seldom go mega because greed is not their dream. Service and fairness is. There is no such thing as trusting others. Only fair play for others and trusting one self [to do the right thing].
I registered here just to post in this thread. I have had incredibly bad service from Overclockers UK in trying to RMA a faulty 6 month old 7900GS. You can read about my experiences here if you're interested:
http://heedsblog.blogspot.com/
http://heedsblog.blogspot.com/
name='Heed' said:
Hi there Heed and thanks for registering at OC3D. I've had a read of your Blog and it all sounds very familiar. I'm really surprised the OCUK haven't had trading standards threatening to shut them down - I can't believe they can have such bad service and still be in business.
WC Annihilus
New member
I say we take em over and have our own OC3D store!
Who needs money?
Just do like overclockers alledgedly do, and have one faulty motherboard that is sent out to everyone using city link at vastly inflated prices, and make around £8 profit on that, keep a working version of the same motherboard to show any unsuspecting punters that come to the shop, and then charge them £30 for testing and postage.
£38 profit for doing nothing.
You would be surprised how many loyal fanboys this creates, and you will make huge amounts of profit, while they all worship you.
Just do like overclockers alledgedly do, and have one faulty motherboard that is sent out to everyone using city link at vastly inflated prices, and make around £8 profit on that, keep a working version of the same motherboard to show any unsuspecting punters that come to the shop, and then charge them £30 for testing and postage.
£38 profit for doing nothing.
You would be surprised how many loyal fanboys this creates, and you will make huge amounts of profit, while they all worship you.
name='XMS' said:
Thanks for the welcome. Yeah, unfortunately it's the old story of "they're fine if nothing goes wrong". So, there's a number of people who haven't had this type of experience and think the service is good. I certainly fell into that category before, but when you think about it all you're judging them on is if they can put the correct items in a box, get it shipped and charge you correctly. It's not a very high standard to meet.
Incidentally, if anyone wants a shorter version of my dealings with them (I know the blog on the whole situation is getting a little long), you can just quickly see all the raw corrrespondence at this page:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/kbyiers/7900gs_106686.html
Have a good one.
