Zepto - POOR UK Customer Service ?

Hi.

I was just wondering if anyone else in the UK has had problems with Zepto.

I e-mailed Zepto back in late september asking them when the zepto 6214 screen would be back in stock and told them I needed a laptop ASAP. Somebody from Zepto e mailed me back telling me;

"Many thanks for your interest in one of our notebooks.

This panel has arrived in stock today, and will be shown as available latest tomorrow. We will be able to deliver in a short period of time."

Once I read this response I was very happy as it was the laptop I really wanted, and "a short period of time" sounded perfect as I needed it ASAP due to having to have a laptop for my college course.

I kept checking the website to see when the screen was in stock, and it didn't show up as available for a very long time, almost a month I believe. As time passed I began to look for other laptops as I needed one ASAP, i was about to buy an Asus laptop the same day when the part finally came in stock so I decided to stick with Zepto as the laptop really appealed to me.

I placed my order and the expected delivery date was the 31st October. This was quite a wait but I decided it would be worth it, as long as it did arrive on that date. I asked the guy on the phone if the expected delivery date was very accurate and he told me it usually was and I should expect it on that day.

I waited those few weeks for the 31st to come, and I took the day off work (I work 2 days a week, and i'm at college 4 days a week, my only day off is sunday - the only days someone is in our house to take deliveries are wednesdays and saturdays) so that i could take the delivery.

I had not recieved a phone call from Zepto about delivery so I assumed it was definately comming on the 31st, but i waited and waited and nothing came. I e mailed Zepto about this and got a response simply saying

"Your delivery date is currently showing up as 7/11/06."

I responded to that e-mail asking why the date had changed and told him why i needed to get it ASAP, but received no response to it. I decided to call Zepto and ask what was going on and spoke to someone and told them the situation, I asked if it was possible to bring the delivery date foward to Saturday the 4th November as I was getting desperate for the laptop as I needed it for college. He said he would try and arrange for this to happen and if that failed he would change the delivery date to the 8/11/06 (a wednesday so someone could take the delivery). He told me he would ring back and let us know what was happening.

Guess what, noone called. Nothing arrived on saturday, and received no contact whatsoever.

I E-Mailed zepto on Sunday to ask them if my laptop was definately comming today (wednesday) and told them it was important that someone contacted me to tell me what was happening.

Monday passed ... no response. Tuesday passed ... no response.

By this point i'm getting worried as i've paid for a laptop and not even recieved any contact from Zepto (except that one response that simply said my delivery date was now the 7th).

Anyway, today I wake up nice and early and wait for the delivery. I get a little tired of waiting and decide to ring up Zepto and ask if it's definately comming today. I get put on hold and then I am told "your laptop is being delivered on the 14/11/06"

When I ask what on earth is going on and explain how long i've been waiting they mention something about waiting for a big shipment and how he's sorry. I then ask why the delivery date has been changed to a TUESDAY, when I clearly told at least two people that I could only take deliveries on a wednesday or a saturday. He told me he would e mail them straight away and arrange for it to be changed to the 15/11/06. I've also asked to be contacted to let me know what's going on, though I highly doubt i'll hear anything.

I've been wanting this laptop since about the 28th of September and I still don't have it. Since when was 48 days "A short period of time". I'm struggling at college without a laptop and i'm not keeping up with the work, i need a laptop NOW. I'm getting sick of Zepto changing my delivery date and not contacting me to tell me.

Also, I bet it wont even be delivered on the 15th as if someone like parcel force is delivering the laptop, they take ages to post a letter to you asking you for payments, like handling fees, and they wont deliver your item until you pay them. If this happens i'm going to be furious, why should I pay extra fees when i've waited this long for something ? If i've got to pay fees like this, i expect the product to arrive ON TIME, not weeks after i was told i'd have it.

I'm considering cancelling my order with Zepto as this is getting really pathetic, it's the worst customer service i've ever come across.

Sorry to rant, the point of this topic was to find out if anyone else has had similar problems with zepto in the UK or am I just unlucky ?

Joe.T

 

I dont think you are the only one. I have heard from a few on this forum that they have had some bad experiences.

About the rant, hehe, its also very therapeutic letting it all out. It worked for me. That was about an Acer laptop though.

Hope you get your laptop soon.

Cheers

 

I also thought Zepto UK were poor, and I didn't suffer as badly as many others here.

However Zepto Denmark are extremely good, and do have representatives on this forum. I sent a personal message to MKJ Zepto and he was very quick to help.

Give it a go, it worked for me.

RB

 

JoeT, this is exactly the same problem that I had with Zepto/nusystems - continually giving false delivery dates. I had no less than 5 wrong delivery dates quoted to me over the time it took for my laptop to be delivered, and not once was I contacted to say that the delivery date had been changed (I had to phone their premium rate number myself each time to find out). You can find my delivery story here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=77497

To make matters worse, just 2 weeks after receiving my laptop, the screen backlight started randomly switching off at certain intervals. When I phoned up zepto/nusystems, they said that the backlight could just be replaced and it wouldn't take too long, and a few days later a courier was sent to pick up the laptop.

It appeared though that the whole screen had to be replaced and they didn't have any in stock! So now I have been waiting at least 2 weeks for the laptop to be fixed and there has been no word on when I will see the laptop again.

So in conclusion, yes Zepto do have very poor customer service in the UK. I would certainly advise against anyone purchasing a laptop from Zepto in the UK if they need it quickly or need good, quick support if something goes wrong with it.

 

Oh man, that sucks. Hope you get yours back soon, you must really need it if your at uni, i need mine for college so i know how you feel.

I just recieved an email saying it will be with me within the next two or three days. Have they just completely ignored the fact I've told them at LEAST 5 times that I can only take deliveries on wednesdays and saturdays.

Well once it does come they better hope it's all in working order or i really will loose my patience with them on the phone.

Do they pay for the delivery when you have to send your laptop back for repairs ?

Oh, and does anyone know the call charge per minute that the number we have to keep calling is ?

Joe.T

 

I would just like to say that naturally we are aware of the issues you guys are seeing, and we are working to solve them.

We do know that people fell the feedback from nusystems is very poor, and we are in no respect blind to this issue, several options are being weighed to solve this.

We have no interest in having people who fell poorly serviced. Naturally i can only apoligize to those already affected. However i do fell that in cases where we talk to the customers directly that they are running quite smoothly....

 

So is the Zepto supplier and supporters in the UK, these NU systems?

Its a bit sad really. That Zepto suffers for something that another company is doing wrong. Bad costumer service can kill a brand easy.
Even if the product is good, you'll still get killed if you cant handle the problems your costumers run into (Reliable ordering information, tech support, speedy repair and return and feedback letting you know if something isnt going as planned).

I hope that the zepto reps, on this forum use the threads here to improve the quality of service they provide.

Anyway, have a great weekend. Best whiches to all having difficulties with Zepto UK, thankfully im still super happy with my 6615.

Cheers all

 

And i see that they do, Cheers to MKJ

 

Yeah, you guys at Zepto offer really great products, it really is a shame that you're let down by nusystems customer service. I think it's great that you come on this forum and try to resolve problems that we are experiencing.

Anyway, I got back from college today at 2pm and found a note under the door from TNT delivery service saying they have a package for me...

I'm not sure if it's the laptop though since I was told on the phone by nusystems that my delivery date was showing up as the 14th. And yesterday I recieved an e mail telling me they have been told my laptop will be with me in 2-3 days.

Well, all i can do is hope it IS my laptop waiting for me at the depot. I'll try get it re-delivered for tommorow.

I'll let you guys know if it comes.

 

MKJ just called me and confirmed it was my laptop they tried to deliver. Thanks for calling, I really appreciate it.

I love the way nusystems decided not to tell me it was comming today even though I asked them twice to tell me the day before it came.

It's kind of annoying how it's taken so long that in the time i've been waiting they've released the 6314 and it's on offer for just £799. If i'd known i was going to have to wait so long i would of held on till the 6314's release and saved myself a few quid, lol.

Well at least I know it's comming now thanks to MKJ, thumbs up to Zepto Dk !

I can't wait to recieve it, been looking foward to getting it for so long.

Thanks again for the phonecall Morten.

Joe.

 

Overall I'm very unhappy with Zepto Customer Service in the UK. I placed my order on the website then phoned them to ask a question about the Windows Vista Free upgrade if I chose to buy the operating system MCE. I was told he would get back to me with the answer but he would put my laptop order through in the mean time. 2 days past with no contact, I phoned them on Friday and asked them again, they said they would get back to me Monday at the latest. Finally I get an email on Wednesday stating I would get the free upgrade if I bought the operatin system, but that because my order is now built and awaiting dispatch I cannot add it to the order. They suggested buying the operating system seperate on the Zepto website.

O.k

If they hadn't forgot my query then perhaps It wouldn't have been too late, but anyways I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. No problemo anyways because I dont mind installing the OS myself. So I goto the website to order.....shock...theirs no option for it, I phone them in the morning. I phone the person who emailed me specifically and just asked him where on the website I should look. He put me on hold, 10 minutes past and he agreed with me it was not on the website, and told me he would contact me that day with the solution. No contact from them, and its now the weekend, not open till monday?


I've bought from Tiny Computers before and I've suffered at the hands of bad Customer Service then the company going BUST!, admittedly my problem is not as huge as faulty product. But receiving bad service before the laptop is even delievered is no encouraging sign. They dont phone you back when they say, and they dont seem to be well informed about the product they sell, most my questions went unaswered. I bought a 3 yr warranty, I'd hate to think about phoning them up with a problem under warranty, hopefully the build quality is better than the service!

Maybe I should just have bought an HP or Sony, at least you know what you get with them.

 

Zepto UK do seem to have a problem returning emails and phone calls.

When I placed my order, I rang the following Monday to find out a delivery date. The guy thought it would be Friday but would email me to confirm. The laptop turned up the next day, but had to be redelivered on Wednesday as on one was in and he never emailed.

Unfortunately the laptop case was broken, so I rang them on Thursday to arrange a replacement. To their credit they arranged to pick it up on the Friday.

Since then I've tried to find out when I'll get it back. Originally told a few days. When I heard nothing I phoned back but couldn't get hold of anyone that could tell me what was going on. They promised to phone back but didn't hear anything so phoned again on Friday. Again the couldn't tell me what was happening and said they will phone Monday. We will see if they do.

They have had the laptop now for 2 weeks and can't tell me when i'll get it back.

 

Under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 and the additional acts and regulations you have certain rights when you received your laptop in a faulty condition. First of you did not have to accept a repair of your item, you could have simply asked for a replacement or refund. Might have turned out to be faster.

Because your unit is being repaired, and you phoned for a time frame as to when you will get it back, they have gone over the "few" days stated. 2 weeks is rather a long period of time I'd say, that would inconvenience me. I'd ring consumerdirect 08454 04 05 06 and seek advice. I'm pretty sure you can get some compensation from them for taking more that their sweet time with it. If it goes into 3 weeks, then you will have a stronger case.

 

Yeah that is their main problem, NEVER calling back, it's so frustrating when companies do that.

I re-scheduled the delivery for saturday (today) and I'm not a happy bunny right now, it's 4;45 and my laptop still hasn't arrived. I think they stop delivering at 6pm. Hmmm ... 1 hour left, fingers crossed it comes.

knightsfield, that's awful. That's good advice chrisjmiddleton has given you, maybe you should call the number he gave you.

My advice for you would be send MKJ a private message on the forum and ask him if he knows what's happening with your laptop, i'm sure he would be more than willing to help you.

Joe.

 

5;35. Not arrived.

Sigh, I give up, I really do.

 

I'm really sorry to hear about all the troubles that certain folks have been having here. But i have to write here with my own experiences of the whole "NuSystems" setup in the UK..... and they are highly favourable.

I live in France most of the time, and as i was coming over to the UK on a weeks visit & had already decided that i would "Pre-Order" a laptop, i went to the NuSystems website a couple of weeks before my visit, decided on a 6615WD (with a 100gb Hard Drive, 2Ghz Core 2 Duo CPU & 2Gb of RAM) and ordered the machine. Then made my phone call the next day to pay for it, and that was that.

I can't remember the exact delivery date, but it ended up arriving a few days before the due date, which was a pleasant surprise. Nothing wrong, works great, and the few things that i phoned NuSystems about were dealt with very well.

So, all in all, a very favourable experience & no problems whatsoever. So, much as i'm sure that they do make mistakes & get things wrong etc, (As many companies do, especially with such a sought after product) they also get a lot of things right.

I just wanted to add some perspective to this thread. I hope that those who are having problems with their respective machines get some resolution fairly quickly. The machines are great, and really well built.

DJiNN

 

If there is one thing I can compliment nusystems on is their quick help when I origonally rang up, i'd ask a few questions about ordering and bits and bobs about the laptop, and they would put me on hold for very short periods of time and then come straight back with the answer i wanted (except on delivery questions!!!!). So yeah, short 'hold' times were nice.

TNT (the delivery service) never did show up today, despite promising me they would re-deliver today. Is it REALLY that hard to do their job properly ?

Joe.

 

As you could have probably guessed Zepto UK didn't phone back today as they said they would on Friday.

Having just spoken to them, they now say they are still waiting for the replacement part. Gave the guy on the phone a hardtime about it and he promissed to find out more information on why its taking so long and phone back. Maybe me threating to cancel the order helped, we shall see.

Does anyone know if there is a short supply of Zepto Znote 2425W or a problem sourcing the case to replace my broken one.

 

@Knightsfield

For having had the laptop 2weeks or more and they STILL not received the spare parts required to fix it, kindly state that you were in fact informed it would take a few days maximum before you got it back originally.(I believe you said they said that).

It is unfair that you should have to wait, what could be a month to receive the goods back after a repair, when it was out with your control as to how it broke in transit. You could either ask them to drop the order, replace the notebook with a newly built machine (Not the repaired one) or ask them for compensation for all the inconvenience suffered, made worse by Zepto's poor customer service and lack of contact and fulfilment of promises made.

Ask them to throw in something Free, if they can’t suggest something then ask for money off the original purchase or preferably read below. Remind him that you’re within your right to ask this under the Sales of Good Act, if he is unfamiliar with the law that governs all good bought in the UK, then ask to speak to a supervisor or ask for a contact number for someone who can authorise this from Zepto headquarters.

I would kindly state to them you would be prepared to wait for the repair if you received a free 36 months warranty, as you have reservations about receiving a faulty/substandard laptop and this would by some means alleviate your distress and would be an show of goodwill on their behalf for inconvenience suffered.
(I personally favour this approach as apposed to money off, as technically Zepto wont suffer a loss of profit unless you actually claimed under it, and if you did have cause to claim then that is down to poor quality of product and is deserving. Both the consumer and business walk away without sacrificing too much)

If you do decide to take my advise above, please phone consumer direct the number is on the website for free and check with them your legal status for claim of compensation under a repair job that’s taking ages.

Tell me how you get on. I'm picking my Zepto up from TNT tomorrow, hopefully it will be in better order than how you got it . For the record I'm not Anti-Zepto yet, I just think the customer service in the UK is under par with that of its competitors.

 

Good post Starbuck.
Hope Zepto UK gets with the program.

BTW. im not anti zepto either. I just ordered my 4th zeppi, a 6015 for the inlaws. Sweet.

 

Thanks for the advice StarbucK.

Just to recap from my earlier post, I originally ordered my Zepto laptop at the end of August. I was given a delivery date of 5 days, but this continually got pushed back at least 5 times without Zepto/nusystems ever contacting me and I ended up getting it 3-4 weeks later. My laptop screen backlight then broke down just 2 weeks after I received it and I had to return the laptop to Zepto. I have heard nothing useful since then, so this means that since 10 weeks ago since I first got my laptop, i've had it working and present with me for just 2 weeks.

I have still not received any information from nusystems/zepto regarding when i'll receive the laptop back again, and its coming up to a month since they received it from me. They promised to get in contact with me last week but this has obviously not happened. Now every time I phone up they mysteriously "don't know" when I will get the laptop back again.

It has got to the stage where I cannot deal with this company anymore - they continually lie and break promises to me regarding everything from the delivery date of my laptop to returning calls/emails. It is complete 100% incompetence. I have therefore asked them for a refund, since they have broken nearly every agreement in their terms and conditions related to delivery and warranty, and because I cannot face dealing with this company if my laptop breaks down again (if of course I get it back again). Although I probably won't receive one, I will definitely try to get one or at least some cash compensation.

I will certainly be contacting consumer direct/trading standards regarding this issue as I have got in contact many many times since I ordered the laptop at the end of August and Nusystems/Zepto have almost never been helpful or have tried to sort out even one of my many complaints.



P.S: If Zepto DK can please inform me of the status of my laptop via PM and get NuSystems to sort themselves out then I would be grateful.

 

After not getting anywhere (and they didn't ring back as promised) I managed to speak to a guy who was fixing the laptop. He promised to phone back once it had been fixed, and a few hours later he did and it was delivered on Friday.

Spent Friday night installing OS etc. Shut the zepto down before going to bed but turning it on the next day the screen wouldn't come on. Works fine with an external monitor.

On closer examination the lcd is on but it looks like the brightness is right down. You can just make out the windows desktop.

Using Fn-F5 and F4 to control the brightness makes no differnence.

Anyone any ideas what could be wrong. Doesn't look like Zepto UK work on a Saturday.

 

Maybe the LCD backlight is broken. I had that with my desktop LCD. You could barely make out the image but you could see it when you looked from a very large angle...

 

Doesn't look like the backlight is totally broken. If I toggle the video between the monitor and lcd the lcd does sometimes try to turn fully on. It starts in the bottom right corner and spreads across the screen but then goes out. Probably not the best explanation so I posted a short video (250K) at http://www.brech.co.uk/video_00001.mp4

Looks like its going back to zepto for a 2nd time.