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What to do When Technical Support Fails?

Posted by Cliff on from the cutting-the-red-tape-around-your-hardware dept.

trifster asks: "At this year's Comdex I purchased a Buslink USB 2.0 Cardbus adapter for my laptop. It was a good price and a partial impulse purchase, however it was defective out of the box. Before Christmas 2003, I set it back via Buslink's RMA process. It will be 2 months tomorrow, and I have not received my replacement nor have the 3 phone calls or 4 emails been addressed. What can one consumer do when he is on the East Coast and his hardware is held hostage on the West Coast? What have your experiences been in resolving these support SNAFUs?"

4 of 72 comments (clear)

  1. Court? by sporty · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Small claims court might be an answer. Seeing as it is across states, you may need to do more research.


    Check with a lawyer.

    --

    -
    ping -f 255.255.255.255 # if only

  2. skip the first tier customer support by YaRness · · Score: 3, Interesting

    tell whatever drone answers the phone that you need to speak to his/her supervisor.

    keep moving up the ranks until someone takes action.

    your phone calls produce nothing because the people you are talking to have no authority to take any action.

  3. This is why credit cards are a good thing by mpechner · · Score: 3, Interesting

    When you did not get a response, you had 30 days from purchase for full protection and 60 days for partial protection to have the CC company challenge the charge.

    They would have given you the refund and backcharge the reseller.

  4. Re:Don't do it that way by alienw · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I don't consider it morally wrong or fraud if you buy the exact same card from the exact same manufacturer. All you get is a working card -- which is what you were supposed to get in the first place. You don't make money on the transaction. The store doesn't lose money on the transaction. The manufacturer only loses the money it would have lost if it shipped a defective product to the store. I don't see anything wrong here.

    Of course, it IS fraud if you put some other product in the box or return something that was out of warranty or abused. It's also wrong if you knew the item was broken before you bought it. But if you got screwed by a manufacturer, why not strike back?