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Do not use Laptopsdirect.ie

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  • 22-03-2006 1:04pm
    #1
    Pollynumber2
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6 ✭


    Hi there,

    Just to let you all know I ordered an acer aspire from Laptopsdirect.ie last monday, giving my work address in dublin for delivery address. It was meant to be delivered thursday, but no sign on the day, with the bank holiday on friday it meant monday was meant to be the day, again no sign. Rang them up and they said it'd be out on tuesday (yesterday). Yesterday evening still no sign and rang them up this morning saying it'd definitely be out today. Got a call from the delivery driver there a while back wondering where i was in my home county (which is a good three hours away)... basically they had delivered it to my invoice address not my delivery address, though I had contacted my bank with work address, told the company twice I wanted it delivered to my work address and confirmed this address with the customer service people.

    Am soo annoyed. now it looks like it won't be delivered until friday, which is an absolute joke. I got the laptop because i needed it, I need it for work as of this week and am absolutely furious it's taken this long. Not to mention the fact it is brought around Ireland in a van prior to it getting to me.. grrrr...

    has anyone had similar experiences with laptops direct? Or do you know if there's anywhere I can complain about them to? Obviously I will complain to them directly. I have just found them very flakey to deal with, the customer service team are pretty vague and not very helpful and overall the experience has just been horrible. If you're loooking for a laptop please do not go near them. Their irish website is only a con anyhows because you have to speak with the English branch, there doesn't seem to be any Irish staff.


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Comments

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    #2
    RE*AC*TOR
    Registered Users Posts: 7,482 ✭✭✭RE*AC*TOR


    this sounds strangely like GLS....

    who do they use for delivery?


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    #3
    Pollynumber2
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6 ✭Pollynumber2


    What is GLS? They wouldn't tell me who they use for delivery..


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    #4
    Yerac
    Closed Accounts Posts: 235 ✭✭Yerac


    Just to say, I recently purchased from them too, didn't have any problems but it does sound like a courier problem.

    Not sure who they use, but they definitely resembled GLS, unmarked white van etc.


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    #5
    Tom Dunne
    Registered Users Posts: 23,212 ✭✭✭✭Tom Dunne


    Same here. I ordered on a Wednesday and had the laptop by the following Monday, without problems.

    Check your PMs.


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    #6
    chalky
    Registered Users Posts: 732 ✭✭✭chalky


    I haven't had any problems with them. I ordered mine on a sunday, was told I'd have it on the following thursday, It came on the wendsday morning.


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    #7
    b0bsquish
    Closed Accounts Posts: 459 ✭✭b0bsquish


    I bought an acer ferrari from them a few weeks back, delivery was quick, no complaints....well except for the several thousand euro extra they tried to charge my credit card, it was an exchange rate error apperently, but they sorted it the next day after a quick telephone call :D


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    #8
    center15
    Registered Users Posts: 786 ✭✭✭center15


    I also would never use Laptops Direct again. After getting a laptop as a gift I decided to return it for a higher spec model and pay the difference I asked the person on the phone could I buy the new laptop now on my credit card and get the credit for the laptop being returned put onto my credit card. This would speed things up as I wouldn't have to wait for them to get the laptop being returned and process it . They agreed with no problems, to ensure there were no issues I enclosed a note with the laptop being returned with the details I had agreed with the person on the phone.
    Yet a few days later they refunded the old laptop to the card it was bought on and not my own card, I rung them and after a long fight on the phone they agreed to send a cheque. A week later received nothing and I rung them and they said they could now not send a cheque and could I prove that I was told that it could be refunded to my card, they still refuse to sort it out so my card now has about €1700 in debt and the other card is has the €1500 credit on it. I found anyone I spoke to really rude and couldn't care less about the customer, Also the site is more expensive now that when we could use the .co.uk site
    What is GLS? They wouldn't tell me who they use for delivery..
    I think they use nightline I remember seeing their name on the box


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    #9
    Peteee
    Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 2,432 Mod ✭✭✭✭Peteee


    Bought an Acer aspire of this crowd last year.

    Ordered sunday, and was here on wednesday.

    Have recommended to 3 other people, one of whom had to return his laptop, and while that took a bit longer then it should have, it was all sorted fine.


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    #10
    wingnut
    Registered Users Posts: 1,939 ✭✭✭wingnut


    center15 wrote:
    I buy the new laptop now on my credit card and get the credit for the laptop being returned put onto my credit card.
    Surprised they agreed to this, I wouldn't have though it possible but I could be wrong. In order for a company not to be liable for the 5% visa charge they must refund it to the same card as far as I know.
    center15 wrote:
    Also the site is more expensive now that when we could use the .co.uk site

    The prices for the .ie and .co.uk site are the exact same, just buy in sterling from the .ie site. I test bought 2 laptops and they were the same price on both. The only problem that may arise is if they twig that you are sending to an Irish address and buying in sterling. They may call you looking for the Irish vat (21% in Ireland as opposed to 17.5% in uk).

    You can still access the .co.uk using a free proxy server. Never bought off them so I can;t comment on that regard


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    #11
    Saruman
    Registered Users Posts: 11,389 ✭✭✭✭Saruman


    To be honest you are buying from a UK company.. not your local PC world.. there will always be logistics problems for some people so im not surprised... If you want things sorted out immediatly the only way to go is a local supplier! You will pay more but.. well less hassle.

    How about http://www.thelaptopshop.ie/ website not runnint right now.
    they in fact have a shop in stephens green! I heard them advertised on the radio and mentioned in news papers.


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    #12
    Capt'n Midnight
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 90,978 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    Saruman wrote:
    To be honest you are buying from a UK company.. not your local PC world..
    Then again your local PC world is a UK company too.


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    #13
    LaptopsDirect
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2 ✭LaptopsDirect


    Hi,

    As some postings note, on a few occassions we have had some difficulties with the courier. We also had an issue with our system where deliveries were initially going to the invoice address rather than the delivery address.

    Both of these problems have now been resolved. We can now offer an overnight service from our UK warehosue to Dublin and a 48 hour service to the rest of Ireland. We cannot yet guarantee this but with the vast majority of orders, the goods are now arriving next working day. We have also been able to reduce the price from UK£39 to UK£14.95 (ex vat). This means Irish customers are now paying the same delivery charge as UK customers.

    The other advantage is VAT. As we are a UK Company, we only need to charge customers the UK vat rate - 17.5%. For non vat registered consumers, this is a good saving, especially on a highly compeitive product such as a laptop. And for VAT registered businesses, as long as you can provide us with your VAT number, we can sell to you free of VAT, helping your cashflow.

    Prices are identical on both laptopsdirect.co.uk and laptopsdirect.ie. The ie simply defaults to Euros which you can change to sterling in the top right hand corner. At present, the final transaction takes place in sterling and then will be converted back by your credit card company. This is something we hope to change over the next few months.

    I am so keen to sell more to Ireland and to improve our market share. I have made many trips to Ireland and have found a disparity in prices of computer equipments which in these days of European harmonisation cant be justified. Consequently I feel that by offering Irish customers access to a wide range of products at low prices, we will be able to significantly grow our business.

    I am really interested in any feedback about how we can improve our service to our Irish customers so please email me your comments directly to nick@laptopsdirect.co.uk

    Many Thanks

    Nick Glynne
    Managing Director
    www.laptopsdirect.co.uk


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    #14
    Tom Dunne
    Registered Users Posts: 23,212 ✭✭✭✭Tom Dunne


    I for one think it is great you decided to join us, Nick. Other companies who have engaged the customer on Boards.ie have generally found the interaction to be benificial to both parties.

    On that note - have a look at the Interaction fora here. These are company specific fora where customers can sort out problems and ask for help with specific items, hopefully avoinding the need to start threads such as this. You would need to contact the Boards.ie admins to get started there, I believe.


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    #15
    Paddyo
    Registered Users Posts: 414 ✭✭Paddyo


    Hi Nick

    I think you may now have the revenue commissioners calling to your door if you are only charging 17.5% vat to consumers in Ireland.

    The VAT rate you should charge is 21%, the Irish rate!!
    http://www.revenue.ie/services/bus_cust4.htm


    Paddyo


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    #16
    justsomebloke
    Registered Users Posts: 10,407 ✭✭✭✭justsomebloke


    That import tax is on items being imported from outside the EU, laptopdirect are based in england so that doesn't apply.

    I have just checked with my accounts department and yes once your company have a tax number you can get it less vat once they import it outside of the UK

    I think the word "score" things readily yo mind


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    #17
    LaptopsDirect
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2 ✭LaptopsDirect


    Hi,

    You are right - VAT is chargeable at just 17.5% on our sales to Ireland as the transaction is EC to EC. Also, there is now a field on the checkout of our website that allows Irish businesses to add their VAT number and obtain their goods net of VAT.

    Someone has emailed me about offering finance- just to re-iterate, it is our intention to offer consumer finance to Irish customers but as yet we haven't found a finance companay that fits our business model.

    One issue we have now dealt with is fraud checking. In the UK, banks subscribe to something called AVS which allows us to check credit cards against postcodes. With the lack of Irish postcodes, we have to use other methods and until recently these have slowed down the orders as each had to be manually checked. However we have now implemented a new system which will allow us to deal with the orders in the same way as we do UK credit card transactions. Please bear in mind though that the checkout confirmation will still occasionally say there are address match problems with the credit card. We will be rectifying this over the next few weeks.

    Thanks
    Nick


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    #18
    katyk
    Closed Accounts Posts: 27 ✭katyk


    Hi Nick
    Maybe you might be able to help me seems you are the MD of this company. I have tried calling your company and am left hanging on for ages being told I am queue position 4, then 3, 2 etc and when it finally rings, it just rings out. I cant get in contact with anyone, so ive decided to post to this forum instead. Anyway, this is my problem, if you want any further information I can email you directly:

    Last Monday (14th) I rang your company Laptops Direct (website www.laptopsdirect.ie) to order a laptop. I wanted to buy a product Id seen on your website and also add some extra memory to it, which is why I had to call as I couldnt order the double memory online. The sales person told me the total cost would be 940euro to which i agreed and gave him my credit card details. Later that day I got an email with a link to my order details. I noticed that what I was being sent didnt match what I had ordered, so I contacted the company again. After many calls to different departments with everyone giving me different information, I told them to cancel my order as I wasnt getting what I had ordered and as it turned out, I was being charged more than the agreed price due to the sterling conversion. It turns out your company are an English company and I am being charged in sterling, which was not explained to me on the phone (it was an Irish phone number I called and a .ie website I was looking at). So they told me I would need to call back the next day to organise a refund, as your customer service department was now closed. The next day I called asked for a refund, and they said they would process it and it would take 3-4 days to clear. I told them I didnt want to incur any charge for this and they confirmed that i wouldnt.
    By the end of the week I had received no refund, so I contacted the company again by email. I got a response telling me that my refund would be processed on Mon 21st (not Tue 15th as I was earlier told) and that it would take 3 days to clear. Today I checked and my refund has been processed but for €909 not €970. I called the company and was told that this was due to the sterling conversion. I find it very hard to believe that the exchange rate has changed that much in a few days, plus this refund was due to take place when i first cancelled the order on the 15th of Aug and the exchange rate wouldnt have changed much at all between the 14th and the 15th. They wouldnt let me speak to anyone in accounts and told me they would contact them to have the remainder of the money refunded to my account in the next 24hrs.
    Suprise suprise, no refund and now I cannot get in contact with that same person again. I am calling your company everyday, hanging on for ages and getting nowhere. Can you help??


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    #19
    cornbb
    Registered Users Posts: 6,790 ✭✭✭cornbb


    The guy hasn't posted here since March, I think it might be unlikely he'll read that... Try emailing him on the address he provides in the post further up: nick@laptopsdirect.co.uk


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    #20
    WillieDH
    Closed Accounts Posts: 425 ✭✭WillieDH


    Saruman wrote:
    To be honest you are buying from a UK company.. not your local PC world.. there will always be logistics problems for some people so im not surprised... If you want things sorted out immediatly the only way to go is a local supplier! You will pay more but.. well less hassle.

    How about http://www.thelaptopshop.ie/ website not runnint right now.
    they in fact have a shop in stephens green! I heard them advertised on the radio and mentioned in news papers.

    The Laptop shop in Stephens green is great, you get to see what you are buying.


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    #21
    WillieDH
    Closed Accounts Posts: 425 ✭✭WillieDH


    LaptopsDirect wrote:
    Hi,

    You are right - VAT is chargeable at just 17.5% on our sales to Ireland as the transaction is EC to EC. Also, there is now a field on the checkout of our website that allows Irish businesses to add their VAT number and obtain their goods net of VAT.

    So Nick, what you are saying is that Irish people buying from your site are putting money in the UK government coffers to pay for your schools, hospitals etc.

    And that you make no contribution to the Irish economy, you are just taking !!!

    If you were really committed to the Irish market you would set up here and contribute.


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    #22
    TempestSabre
    Registered Users Posts: 4,142 ✭✭✭TempestSabre


    WillieDH wrote:
    The Laptop shop in Stephens green is great, you get to see what you are buying.

    The quality of any retail outlet is shown by how well they treat you if theres a problem. A lot of the web outfits seem to have dropped the ball in this area lately. There aftersales support seems to have degraded over recent years.

    The retails shops don't tend to be much better, indeed I know of one guy having a problem with his laptop bought from that shop. I await to see how well they deal with his problem before I pass comment. I see theres another place opened up on bachelors walk beside O'Connel Bridge. Prices of most high street shops tend to be dearer then the web though.


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    #23
    kinaldo
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,563 ✭✭✭kinaldo


    Service is a joke. I'm trying to order an Acer Ferrari but I have to place the order by phone to avail of the extra memory offer. I've spent all day and the last hour on the phone trying to get through and all I'm getting is a fcuking ringtone. Still no luck. I even emailed them as well telling them to get in touch with me but no reply as of yet. I'm this close to taking my business elsewhere.


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    #24
    kinaldo
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,563 ✭✭✭kinaldo


    arghhhhhhhhhhhh! answer the fcuking phone already!

    screw it, they just lost a customer.


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    #25
    kinaldo
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,563 ✭✭✭kinaldo


    Would a UK Bank Holiday affect the Irish sales line? I'd go somewhere else except I can't find the same laptop for anywhere close to the price they're offering apart from ebay sellers with very little feedback.


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    #26
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 16,720 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    I'd say that it'd be very likely that it'd be effected. Let us know how you get on.


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    #27
    voxpop
    Registered Users Posts: 2,800 ✭✭✭voxpop


    its an english company - the irish number just charages you a local rate to talk to the english sales guys. They dont trade in euros either.


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    #28
    Pacifico
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,115 ✭✭✭Pacifico


    No, they have a sales office in Dublin...


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    #29
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 16,720 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    Ireland
    For Sales and Administration only -
    not a collection or return point
    Dublin Office Centre
    Suite 3,
    Herbert Hall
    16 Herbert Street
    Dublin 2
    Ireland


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    #30
    b0bsquish
    Closed Accounts Posts: 459 ✭✭b0bsquish


    another horror story for the list (to add to my own, see first page for details :D) mate of mine orded an acer aspire, firstly they wouldnt give him details of who was delivering it, then told him it had been delivered, and signed for when he still recieved the laptop 2 days later after thinking someone had signed for it and nicked the thing.
    Then of course the bleeding thing shuts itself down randomly (looks to be overheating problem) doesnt even work long enough to try a restore on it, took another 2 weeks of trying to get in contact with them to get an rma, waiting on a repair or replacement at the mo.
    The prices are good, but they'd need to get there act together.


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    #31
    WillieDH
    Closed Accounts Posts: 425 ✭✭WillieDH


    Myth wrote:
    Ireland
    For Sales and Administration only -
    not a collection or return point
    Dublin Office Centre
    Suite 3,
    Herbert Hall
    16 Herbert Street
    Dublin 2
    Ireland

    Guys this place is justa mailing address, you pay a few bob every month and they redirect you post to whereever you want it.

    So you could set yourself up as

    MING THE MERCILESS COMPUTERS
    Suite 99999,
    Herbert Hall
    16 Herbert Street
    Dublin 2
    Ireland

    and get your post redirect to the planet zorg

    English companies leeching off Ireland, and providing crap service by the sounds of it.


This discussion has been closed.
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