Laptops Direct are useless, avoid them at all costs

e18165

AS I write I'm still waiting for a laptop I ordered last wednesday. Yes there was originally an issue with my credit card, declined for some unknown reason, however my big problem is the time lag between each communicaiton from them. Had they been prompt in dealing with things, it would have been sorted last week. I've spoken to just about every member of customer service, including the manager "Steve", and while they are most apologetic, they will neither acknowledge any failure on their part, nor are they prepared to accept that when dealing with a 1-2 day delivery period, a day between each communication (most of which I had to initiate) is unacceptable. It is also really annoying that it is impossible to speak to the same person more than once, despite being advised to ask for them by name, and being assured that you will be put through.

Despite the fact that all successful contact has been on my mobile number, they insist that they tried unsuccessfully to contact me on my work number, which while that may be true, does beg the question. If they could not get me on my work number why did they not call the mobile? The claim this was to verify the delivery address, but this morning they tell me the laptop has been dispatched, despite the fact that they have never spoken to me on the work number.

Basically, their attitude (especially Steve) is really "well what do you expect me to do about it?", as if they worked for a different company. Be warned, they promise a lot, but delivery falls far short, and your 1-2 day delivery could turn into an expensive and long process, I hate to think of how much I've spent on phone calls to UK number to try to sort this out.

In short, avoid them like the plague, they do not deliver on their claims, their customer service is worse then useless and totally impersonal, and their tracking is a joke (despite being took on the phone that my order has finally been dispatched, it still show as awaiting dispatch on the tracking link).

misho

I can only agree. I was trying to order a laptop some time ago, however they couldn't manage to arrange a payment with me (similiar issues as you described). The last think was when one of those agents hung up on me :mad: I went for Dell then, but that's another story

e18165

I hear you, I swore off Dell a long time ago. Mush as I love the convenience (and prices) online, I'm beginning to come around to the Luddite way of thinking when it comes to purchasing online. Yuo may pay more for your Vaio in Dixons or even the Sony Shop, but at least yu odo get to walk out the door with the goods. Given the level of customer service, I really hate to think what might happen if there is a problem with the laptop when it does eventually arrive.

e18165

e18165 wrote:

The claim this was to verify the delivery address, but this morning they tell me the laptop has been dispatched, despite the fact that they have never spoken to me on the work number.

It's now wednesday 20th, 5pm and I've just got off the phone from yet another frustrating call, as there is still no sign of my Vaio.

I'm now informed that, despite the fact the Steve (remember the Customer Service Manager) had told me yesterday that the laptop had been dispatched on the 18th, my order it is in fact out of stock. This is despite the fact that they have also taken payment for it, which appeared on my credit card yesterday.

The only conclusion I can come to is that, not only are laptopsdirect incompetent, they are also not above lying to customers when it suits them, and that, in his efforts to get rid of someone who would not be fobbed off with the usual platitudes, Steve lied to me yesterday purely so that he could terminate the call. Surprise, surprise, when I ask to speak to him today he's unavailable.

Take warning from my sad tale, do not be sucked in by their promises of speedy service and low prices, laptops direct will be quick enough to take your money under any pretence, and then attempt to fob you off to sales who will no doubt try to flog whatever spare stock they have on hands.

Over a week after I placed my original order, I have demanded an immediate and full refund, and will happily pay the extra to Peats or the Sony Shop, in the knowledge that at least I will be able to walk out with my laptop the same day, and know where to find them should I have any problems. It's not so easy to hang up on a personal caller;)

All in all, I think I'm glad this deal fell through, I really hate to think of what would have happened had I received the laptop and subsequently had a problem with it, if their customer service before they get a ligitimate hold on your mony is anything to go by, I wouldn't hold out much hope for their post sales service.

BE WARNED AVOID LAPTOPSDIRECT LIKE THE PLAGUE

sasha1982

Appalling customer service,very rude and they keep on switching you from one person to another to deal with you. Delivery takes more then a week. originally ordered an Asus laptop, they've taken the money of the card, then next day received an email saying they dont have it in the stock. Ive been waiting over a week now for the other laptop to be delievered. Company is a complete joke!!!

Dont use them to purchase your laptop.

Colonel Sanders

watch the amount they charge you too. I bought a laptop from them about 2 yrs ago. price was quoted in euros. However I was billed in sterling and needless to say the rate they used to convert to euro was not the rate i got from my credit card company. At no stage was I warned that I'd be billed in sterling or told that the euro amount was estimated or anthing like that. Also got numerous unsolicited calls asking me did I want to sign up for extended warranties or tech support

Moonbeam

I bought my lcd tv from them.(laptops direct)
Delivery was expensive but very fast and I had no problems at all.

mossyd

I have to say, I have had two dealings with them, and I was pure stupid to go back to them the second time.

DO NOT GO NEAR THE APES!!!!!!!

laptops Direct are ****E! .. pure waste of time, and you never get what you ask for!!!

crankypants404

Oh god I've had to deal with them for the last two weeks.
http://www.lczajkowski.com/2008/02/21/laptop-shopping-a-word-to-the-wise/

http://www.lczajkowski.com/2008/02/22/the-saga-continues/

I'm still waiting on my refund and only getting it today to be told it won't be in my account for another 10 days. I only lose out on currency conversion TWICE!

junkster12345

i was considering buying a laptop from them, went for a dell instead, glad i did!!

chakova

Despite being warned I couldnt resist to the cheap offer of a nice laptop.

PROBLEM 1-
Website said they had only 10-6 left in stock. I paid 1,307 euro, actually billed later with 20 euro extra than I agreed to when I was filling mny form! Can they do that? NO!

PROBLEM 2-
They rang my landline and in 2-3hours and because no one picked up the phone they cancelled my purchase!

PROBLEM 3-
A woman rang to say they will deliver the laptop on wednesday i.e. the 3rd day when it was supposed to be only 2-day delivery. No one called again. The laptop was delivered on thursday! - The forth day!!!

PROBLEM 4-
THE LAPTOP THEY SENT WAS THE WRONG MODEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THE ONE I ORDERED WAS DISCOUNTINUED!They offered me to keep the one I had and get a free laptop bag - the price they gave me was the full price for that second laptop when the first one was on offer?? Why would I want a full price laptop? I can get it from anywhere?! I mean, why did they send me the wrong laptop in the first place? Could they not ring to say there was a problem? When I ordered it, they had that model??

PROBLEM 5-
I had to wait for someone to come pick up their box, wait 2 weeks for it to be analysed to make sure their laptops was ok, endure questions on the phone like WHY AM I RETURNING THE LAPTOP? They are dumb, unprofessional idiots!

PROBLEM 6-
I got my money back 2-3 weeks later with 90 euro less. And you know why - sterling rate! Why am I in loss still when I did not receive what I wanted, it was their mistake, NO ONE EVER APOLOGIZED TO ME FOR THEIR MISTAKE? I dont have a laptop now.

PROBLEM 7-
THE MODEL THEY CLAIMED WAS DISCOUNTINUED IS BACK ON THEIR WEBSITE! LIARS, LIARS, LIARS


AVOID LAPTOPS DIRECT AT ALL COSTS!!!
YOU WILL GET GREY HAIR IN ONE WEEK DEALING WITH SUCH UNPROFFESIONAL IDIOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

e18165

Hopefully some readers will get the message in time.

As an update, a couple of months ago, I bought a new latop on dabs.ie.

I have seen some mised reviews on here so I thought I'd share the experience.

First, the laptop in question, a Samsung X65 with memory upgrade to 4GB (excellent machine) was over 100 EURO cheaper on dabs than on laptopsdirect (I make the point for comparison only, I never had any intention of buying from laptopsdirect).

I ordered the laptop and memory online, and had to set up an account with dabs to do this. This is where it gets a bit nerve racking. A lot of UK companies that do business online to Ireland have to go through a credit card validation process that includes address validation. As we don't use post codes here, this can be tiresome. Also they require a landline number for validation.

First recommendation, make sure your address is exactly as shown on your credit card statement.

The validation process can take a couple of days, but once done, any further orders for the same card, TO THE SAME ADDRESS, should be quicker.

Once I was passed the credit card validation, it took a couple of days for the laptop to arrive.

Seond recommendation. If speed is more important than price, dabs.ie might not be for you.

While ordering the laptop & memory, I also ordered a USB TV Out card. I was promptly notified that this item was out of stock (to be fair it can happen) and given the option of delaying my order, or removing the item online.

This is where it is quite good. You can manage your order online fairly easily, and up to a certain point modify or cancel with a mouse click.

All in all, after some initial nerves, it all worked out well, and I'm typing this on an excellent machine bought and delivered at an excellent price.

Final recommendation: Dabs.ie do not do phone calls, all support is either by email ( turnaround can be slow), or online chat application (a bit hit or miss to get an available operator, and according to some, they are bots). If you are uncomfortable with this, don't order, there is no way around it.

So that's the recent story, a bit nervous at first, but overall a good experience, and dabs.ie is now on my recommended list, subject to the pointers above.

By the way, I still haven't ordered my TV USB, I'll got a loaner from a friend whoi had a spare, so I'll wait until I ahve a more substantial order, as shipping is all done by courier so fixed price (still cheap though).

kavgou

Folks
thanks for this tread, has saved me a whole heap of pain, have just been looking at their web site to buy a laptop

vinniemc

avoid them like the plague, they do not deliver on their claims, their customer service is worse then useless and totally impersonal,

Well I wish I had seen this earlier!!
Three months ago, I bought an Acer Inspire laptop from LaptopsDirect - the delivery was quick, without hassle, no problems...
Within two weeks the camera stopped working - but as it said it was sending a report online about the problem I waited a while - but got no result.
On some occasions upon turning on the computer, it would switch itself off during start up, but would turn on the second time.
A month ago, it would not turn on at all, so I brought it into the PC Clinic in my college, and upon removing and reinserting the battery, it started
up again.
Then 3weeks ago I was browsing through Windows media player (offline) and it all shut down and hasnt turned on since.
As the laptop is showing so much trouble already I asked for a refund or replacement,but they refuse to do either! They never answer the phone, so I have been emailing them since! As they took so long to reply I sent the email to all the adresses i had for the company - only eventually recieving two emails!
One asking to complete various procedures and obtain codes- ie. making the return very difficult,
and that I will have to return the laptop at my own expense, and
send it via registered post. One code I couldnt find so I emailed them asking where it was - to get a reply a week later that that number was no longer needed!!!!
I then asked would the laptop be collected as it was still under warrenty, so which I was told, "yes of course" to supply the details and it would be arranged. "great, I thought".
Even though the other person that had replied to me had the attitude of - "its not my problem, contact the manufacturer".
I then recieved and email telling me that the person who told me that it would be collected was "mis-informing me" and actually they have nothing to do with it!!!!!!:mad::mad:
I havn't heard a word from them since.

Acer are exactly the same, its about a week between emails, telling me to contact Acer-Ireland - BUT THEY WONT ANSWER THE PHONE!!!!EVER!!!
At this rate my 1year warrenty will be up before they do anything!