Disappointed in Kobalt Computers

I have foolishly defended Kobalt Computers based on their reputation for making good products. There is no question that they do make good products my problem is with their service! I read all the threads on here about how bad their communication was and how long people had to wait to get their computers and you know what I believed those people were just a small minority. I believed that it would be highly unlikely that something like that would happen to me because apparently what had happened to those people was in the past now that’s what they keep telling us anyway. I could not have been more wrong!

The day I decided to buy a Kobalt G150/Clevo P150HM from Kobalt Computers was the day I made one of the worse decisions of my life! I wish I had gone with my gut instinct and bought from somewhere else. I was quoted 2-3 weeks for build and shipping and they failed to deliver on that promise. I even gave them 6 weeks to make something happen because at the time I was sympathetic to their situation with all the delays and such.

I really needed this computer for work and could not afford to keep on waiting on them to do their job. I know I was not being scammed but I have to admit that all that time waiting with a lack of response on their end did make it seem that way to me which I find unacceptable. I spent the whole time in a build queue they never even got around to my order whereas other Clevo resellers have less than a month lead time. I got so fed up of reading about people who had got their computers within 2-3 weeks from other resellers it was like rubbing salt into the wound.

I even worked it out that the time I was wasting with Kobalt Computers I could have ordered two different Clevo computers from another reseller two weeks apart from each other and I still would have got both of them before my order from Kobalt had even been built! I ordered in April and waited all the way till the end of May for them to do their job which never happened so I cancelled. It’s now June I have been without a computer for 3 months thanks to them. My work is going down the drain and I still have not received my refund! So because of them I have wasted 6 weeks waiting for a computer and about 2 weeks waiting for a refund! That’s 7 weeks and counting! This kind of service is unacceptable nobody should have to go through this!

My last computer was a Dell XPS M1730 and at the time Dell had a lot of delays and part shortages which meant I had to wait well over two months to get my computer which was not a good experience in general. I thought nobody could do any worse than that but Kobalt have taken things to a whole new level! At least Dell informed me of delays and told me what was going on with my order and if I wanted to cancel or change my configuration. With Kobalt you are left completely in the dark. If you don’t ask them what’s going on you will not find out, and even if you do ask them something you can expect there to be a delay on that too it seems like everything they do has a significantly long lead time.

On some occasions you may not even get a response. It turns out that one of the reasons why it was taking so long was because the graphics card was out of stock. The whole time I believed they were building and shipping computers and that my time would come soon I had no idea the whole process was at a standstill. Now if I had known I would have understood the situation because things like that happen. I probably would have kept waiting but it is also well within my rights to cancel if I decide to. I don’t believe it is right to hide things from your customers just to stop them going to a competitor we all have the right to decide what we want to do.

Under DSR (Distance Selling Regulations) they have 30 days to give me my money back but their refund process is well documented and notorious for delays. A bank transfer should take no more than a week but on average people have being waiting well over a month which is in breach of this contract.

So to all of you out there considering buying from them right now thinking that their backlog is gone and that they are back to normal beware! They are still telling customers 2-3 weeks even though it is not true! If you don’t believe me go and look on their forums there are many customers asking the same questions about ETA so I don’t know how they can say it’s only a small minority of unhappy customers, don’t assume that just because these people don’t post in forums that there is not a problem.

I guarantee you that every single one of their customers that has bought a computer within the last few months has at some point got annoyed with the constant delays in their order. Every single one has had to wait well over a month this is not speculation this is fact just look at the recent Kobalt threads that have been on here. Why is it that almost every new user has something negative to say when they talk about their experience with Kobalt.

Let’s not forget about the user who thought they were going out of business! He had his facts wrong of course but that goes to show how frustrated people are with them right now. I feel sorry for anyone who buys a computer from them in their current state because they don’t know what they are getting themselves into. How long will it be before we see another anti kobalt rant thread? Based on current circumstances I would say not long.

All I wanted was a computer I did not want all this trouble. Now I want my refund so I can get over this nightmare and move on. Reputation means nothing if you can’t deliver a good service, product is only part of it.

 

I also posted a similar thread a short while ago, although it was locked before I had a chance to reply to any of the comments on it. It really surprises me how many unstatisfied costumers (including myself) there have been in the past while with Kobalt Computers. When I bought my system a few years back, I searched the internet very thoroughly for anyone who had had bad experiences with them and found none.
Despite the (in my opinion) ridiculous treatment I got from them when my laptop needed repair, I have to say that all of my initial experiences (and the ones following in the next few months after the purchase) were very positive and Kobalt Computers seemed like an excellent retailer for Clevos in Europe, also price wise. I even posted on this forum, recommending them and praising their amazing costumer service. Based on my current experiences (taking eight months to schedule and process a repair and then forgetting to actually repair anything, even twisting the story in my thread), I would not recommend them either though.

 

It’s a shame that things have gone so downhill with them they used to have such a good following. Now you hear more negatives than positives these days. I was planning on doing a full review on here of Kobalt and the computer which I hoped I would get because there don’t seem to be any I hoped to reassure people but that’s not likely to happen now considering all that has happened. I feel completely let down and I won’t be recommending them to anyone either. It only takes one bad experience to put you off something for good and now like many others before me I have a story to tell also.

 

I can't see how the admins on this forum can defend having a sticky for the thread "Fair legal..." which is basically anti-eurocom when they close threads about Kobalt (which there have been too many of)

Someone start a "Kobalt breach of business practice/complain"-thread and STICKY IT, so we don't get hundreds of threads like these. It's only fair.

No offense, I have never dealt with Kobalt, and I've no opinion of them, but obviously they are not doing what they should be doing.

 

TBH Many of these cases could be solved with communication and from what I've seen many of the people don't talk to Pman directly. I'm not trying to take any side but some of these threads were closed due to a reason, one of them which was a new account created for the sole purpose of sending a hate - rant on kobalt which was just unnecessary

 

You are right Iris,

and on top of that people post a rant, and we have no idea who they are...we then have to spend time tracking them down to figure out who is posting and see what is happening.

Something we cant do over the weekend.

Looking at the bigger picture it is a small number of our customers who get frustrated by either delays in supply or something else. 99% of our customers are more then happy and we have a very high repeat customer rate.

I can only help if people make me aware of things.

Posting like this is not the way to do it really as I cant tell who it is...and we have stated before that we cant really discuss order queries in public (hence why we have a private section on our forum)

People are of course entitled to a refund at any point during the order process all they have to do is email us or update the order tracking, our sales guys will do the rest.

Im not going to get into a public debate with people who want to rant, if the OP or others wants to contact me they can and I will look into it for them. As always you can PM me here, on the other forums I frequent, our forum, email or ticket...

Pman

 

I don't want to take sides either, but buyers shouldn't have to hunt down a specific employee to get communication about their order status.

 

All I'm saying is that this is getting really old, fast. I've yet to see this number of threads/posts complaining about other resellers on this forum. The number of threads started stating problems with kobalt have flooded the forum though. And not all have been first time posters.

I guess what I'm trying to say is this:

- If there is nothing wrong with the way kobalt does buisness, why so many threads?? Are Kobalt customers especially whiny?

- Why is there no sticky about this? The only difference between, say eurocom (which also has a lot of satisfied customers) and Kobalt, is that Kobalt have active reps on the forum. Is this the reason threads criticizing Kobalt are so quickly "policed"?

- Why do we need 10+ threads like these instead of one?

 

I think in most threads I've seen, it is explicitly stated that they have tried other means of communication and received no reply. Most people don't want to take their problems to a public forum, but when you can't get a reply in any other way, this is better than nothing. Here are a few topics turned up by a quick search:

April 2010
July 2010, and same guy again, August 2010 (note that he has more than 500 posts)
September 2010
January 2011
May 2011

So while there are a few threads from newbies, many of the complaints are from people who have been posting on these forums before. Also note that in some of those threads, multiple means of communication were tried and got no reply and in others, there were replies, but so consistently inconsistent with reality that the poster believed they were being scammed.

From what I can tell, Kobalt is a legitimate company (most people in those threads got their machines and the ones that didn't got a refund), but they're not very good at estimating how long an order will take. Because they take the money of their customers almost immediately, when getting the product out takes significantly longer than usual (in some of those threads months longer), they're effectively helping themselves to a nice, interest-free loan courtesy of their customers. Not the most honest way to do things, but in the grand scheme of things, not that bad. I would definitely refrain ordering from them if you need your laptop promptly though.

 

@ Pman

I disagree with your 99% statistic there is no way any customer can be fully satisfied when they are receiving such a poor service. Maybe you are referring to the products you make if so then yes I agree but if you are talking about the service that you are providing then I cannot agree with that statement. There is nothing wrong with me posting my story all I want to do is inform people of my situation and how I see things everyone is allowed to interpret it in their own way.

No offence but I was not satisfied with the level of service that I was receiving, I never once felt like I was a valued customer at all. Like I said all I wanted was a computer, you as a business are expected to inform customers at all times what is going on, do not expect them to come to you with queries. If there is a part shortage like in my case with the graphics card being out of stock you must inform ALL customers who have ordered a product with that configuration that there is going to be a delay and you must offer them an alternative or an option to cancel because that is what is expected of you.

It might be a long tedious task to inform every customer but it has to be done no matter what. I think if you had a system in place to do this then you would have far less complaints. With regard to your refund process in my opinion it is severely flawed and needs a serious rethink! You can get a refund from companies like Amazon within a few days but yet with Kobalt you are looking at a month plus lead time this is madness. I don’t know what kind of process you have going on but maybe it would be better to not take the money up front until the product is ready for dispatch that way if someone wants to cancel then there is no tiresome refund process at all.

And I don’t believe it is only a small number of customers that get frustrated no disrespect, but I think if you put yourself in our shoes and see it from our perspective you will understand that there is definitely a problem with the current system you have in place right now. We have all had to put up with the constant delays and ETA’s being pushed back so I think that more than counts as someone getting frustrated don’t you think.

Maybe Kobalt have spent so much time working on creating a good product that they have forgotten that providing a good service for customers is just as important too.

@ oan001

I completely agree with you this whole thing is turning into a farce we need a sticky thread for this ASAP.

@ Althernai

There is another thread too October 2010

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/531986-kobalt-computers-lead-times.html

And what’s interesting is that these threads can be found on google too so no offence to Pman but I don’t know how he can say that there are a lot of happy customers because clearly there are not and it only takes a simple search for someone to find out the darkside of Kobalt Computers and then just like that they have lost another customer.

 

Happy customers don't start threads in forums like this, telling everyone how happy they are with the products and the service they got. It's very very rare. However, disatisfied customers often do.
Think about that for a minute.

I don't know if Pman's claim of 99% happy customers is true, but I'm prepared to take his word for it, untill it's been proven otherwise.

Half a dozen threads by unhappy customers are in no way proof of anything at all, and I'm guessing that if you took up a vote amongst all of Kobalt's past customers, the picture would not be as bleak as some of you would have it.

Not a Kobalt customer, never has been, probably never will be.

 

I have no doubt what response I would get from past customers but don’t forget to take into account that times change and Kobalt are no longer the company they used to be. The reasons for this are well documented my problem is that the way things are now is not what we have come to expect. I have talked to a few past customers I’m not going to name people for obvious reasons but some of them are surprised at the way things are now because they used to be so reliable.

Sure back in the day they might have had a good product and service I remember when they used to stick to their ETAs and deliver within the 2-3 weeks they quoted. That is no longer the case however. They are the architects of their own demise they have done well to make a good product and increase their awareness but in doing so they have created a situation in which they are no longer capable of dealing with the huge demand they have in front of them. This is why their service has gone downhill and this is why you will find that repeat customer rates have fallen too.

 

You obviously never have read my review, lol. I'm quite happy with my machine.

Mr. Mysterious

 

I read your initial review when you posted it I had no idea you updated it with new pictures and video I will definitely check it out. And yes I don’t think it is as rare today to see customer reviews kobalt have them on their forum and there are many on here you just have to look for them.

 

AGAIN you have resorted to pure insults!

You are not helping anyone here! You CANNOT logically disagree with a statistic!! LOL

If you are an EMPLOYEE of Kobalt THEN you can disagree with his statistic!

Have you ever thought for a second that the systems they have in place are already far more advanced than you can imagine, and they are successfully dealing with 99% of customers which is also more than you can imagine (obviously)?

You are expected as a customer to get to know a business and take their services or leave it!
You cannot tell a business what they should or should not be doing unless they are clearly doing something illegal, in which case this should be reported it to the authorities, NOT posted here!

To post such extreme accusations here is almost like asking people not to take you seriously!
What do you expect anyone here to do about it?
WE ARE NOT THE US GOVERNMENT, THE POLICE, OR THE BBB.
We have no direct affiliation with Clevo, Sager or any reseller. Take your posts elsewhere!

If they are "architects of their own demise" then why aren't you sitting back quietly and enjoying it in silence, since you hate them so much?

 

@ niffcreature

Why is it that every time you post in Kobalt threads, you try to incite hate? How do you expect anyone to take YOU seriously when you act like a troll? You must take people on here for fools because we can all see from the way you talk that you do not have good intentions. I have said no insults I’ve only given my opinion there were no insults on this thread until you posted on it. I am entitled to my own opinion just like everyone else on here this is a public forum and you have no right to start a fight with anyone just for your personal amusement.

 

Chill out dude. The guy has just related his experience, rather eloquently I might add. I for one and no doubt others (forum members or not) are interested in what he has to say. Stop being a thread assassin, and trying to get the thread locked.

 

One thing I think people sometimes miss is that Pman is not just someone who works for Kobalt, he was a prominent poster here long before he joined them and has been a customer of kobalt as well, and if his experience was awful its unlikely he would have joined them.

I'm willing to give him benefit of doubt, not only because I have spoken to him before he worked for Kobalt, but also as someone who has gone through the usual seminars on internal and external customers myself, I'm well acquainted with the generally perceived variation between happy and unhappy customers who speak out, and the number difference.

It's one of the things that can make customer facing roles so taxing.

 

You do not have to believe a word I say if you do not want to, if that is the case then so be it.

5/6 threads on a forum is not a symptom of a pandemic and that is a fact.

While we do our best to please everyone, we realize that it is not possible.

Without looking into your case there is nothing that I can do, and as you have not contacted me with order details etc then there really is nothing that I can do to help you, for example without that information I cant even confirm that you are a customer...

We do have a high % of repeat business, for example just this week we had someone order their 5th laptop from us in 2 years...along with people order 3+ machines in one order after buying one of our laptops.

Need I remind you regarding contacting a specific person, First off we are a small family run company and secondly, why do you think we are on these forums (and others)

I could quite happily just log off (and so could the others here) on a Friday and ignore everything over the weekend, but its not uncommon for me to be answering posts (like this one!) on a saturday night.

As I said, cant please everyone, Ce la Vie

Pman

 

Thats true, I was a customer for over 2 years before I joined Kobalt and a poster here (in both the Clevo section and AW section) long long before I joined them. I even started the M980Nu owners thread when I brought one!

Pman

 

I just sent you a PM with my details you can verify everything. I was going to wait till Monday because nothing gets done on weekends.

 

Hiya,

I have replied.

Regards

Pman

 

Your post is just ridiculous dude. "You cannot disagree with a statistic"? I doubt Kobalt has ANY statistics about customer satisfaction at all.

Sure, Pman is, and has been, a great contributor to this forum. Still, that doesn't say anything more about Kobalt than testimonials from dissatisfied customers, does it?

This is the real issue at hand IMO, which Kobalt has to take into account. Alot of threads have been started on this forum because their customers cannot get a hold of them otherwise. Therefore I propose a sticky. This is a problem which Kobalt have, but not many other resellers.

Sorry, I am just tired of these threads. They are always the same and it seems (in most cases) that Kobalt's lacking customer support is at fault.

 

The reason I post in these threads is because I believe there is a huge miscommunication going on with all internet businesses and their customers.

Its not anything anyone who has not tried to run or work for a small internet business can understand, especially if they don't want to understand it.

Its been a legitimate paranoia up to a point. When you are dealing with a large company its certainly valid but most of these clevo resellers are fairly small.

The biggest problem I have with the members posting here is the fact that they relentlessly imply the worst.
Its not possible that Kobalt is entirely a scam. It just isn't. They have been around for years.

Regardless who is at fault, the motive for these threads is not legitimate. NBR does not have any power. If kobalt honestly thought they would lose most of their customers because of a bad reputation on NBR then they would be doing more about this.

I just don't understand why people post these threads. I don't understand what they think is going to happen at all as a result of posting.
Its not that all of this is unwarranted, its that its misplaced. The way people are acting and their opinions seem more suited for conversations with an officer of law enforcement.

In the end it is the customers decision.

For every one of these threads, the next will be more misplaced because the customer should being doing research. And if they care a lot about ETAs, perfect customer service or whatever then they don't need to post about how they got themselves into the situation that they did.

I just don't get it, overall.

Its not anyones responsibility but the customer, the reseller and official agencies put in place in your country for protection against online fraud etc.

 

The motive for these threads are just as legitimate as a positive review thread. But I agree that we don't need duplicate threads about this company.

 

@Niffcreature again, both sides clearly have issues and both sides have there reasons, but similar to how your posting here to express your concerns on the matter to the public everyone else like Rebel have just as much reason to post so please don't go overboard. It literally just seems like you wan't to start up a debate unnecessarily.

@Rebel: Hope it works out, but to be honest I'm sure this is just one of those odd cases where things just didn't work out and was out of anyones hands to fix before it could escalate. This forum has (as this thread has mentioned) only 7 issues out of the Hundreds of the cases Pman and kobalt has and if you examine it closely people who are happy with services usually don't post and are silent because their busy playing around with it. If you have a huge concern, express it here and take the issue to the proper authorities there's absolutely no reason to continue on a rant that will lead no where and will only bring about debates which are Also unnecessary.

 

Ah, but NBR does have power. Try entering "kobalt computers" into Google. If you have auto-complete on, Google gives you the following choices (in the order that I see it):

kobalt computers uk
kobalt computers review
kobalt computers forum
kobalt computers bankrupt
kobalt computers problems

The fifth link (the first not affiliated with Kobalt) is a list of 5 NBR threads 4 of which are negative and the 5th is positive. These move up to the first link if you select "kobalt computers problems". No business likes it when Google shows 4 bad reviews out of 5 on the front page.

That part is pretty obvious: they make these threads because it is a proven way to get Kobalt to pay attention to them. It's cheaper for Kobalt to do whatever it takes to quiet them down than wait for the threads to gather more attention from Google.

Just to be clear, there were more threads on the subject than the ones I posted -- I just don't have the time to link them all (I've never dealt with Kobalt so this is not my fight; I was just trying to clear up some misconceptions). Also, if you look at those threads, some of those have several pages with multiple people complaining about the same problem.

 

this is where google gets very misleading.
the search results posted by Althernai can be very damaging especial if the readers dont actually click on the link and read it.
just for example the 4th one down (im not going to type the word) if its read it says this: "Don’t worry not from Kobalt.
My tale of woe starts with Rock but ends happily with Kobalt."

google is a great search engine but times the headers put across the totally wrong message.

 

@Iris

I started this thread because I wanted to talk and express my feelings on what was happening. It’s actually a good release to talk to people about something like this. It’s much better than stressing out at home thinking that you are the only one and that nobody cares, at least this way I can relate to other people too. And I think debates are beneficial as long as they stay on topic and add to the discussion. Anyway I think I have accomplished what I set out to do my story is out there and I have got a good response.

 

Good news everyone I finally got my refund today my 7 week nightmare has come to an end what a relief! I still can’t believe the lengths I had to go through just to get them to take some action and acknowledge me. I should not have been forced to do an investigation, but it’s done now I’m not going to say anymore. It’s time to buy a computer from a reputable company. Thanks for your support everyone!

One more thing… Admins either make this thread sticky or make a new one. We don’t need any more duplicate threads like this I think we can all agree on that.

 

I would not be so sure about that at all, satisfied customers leave feedback in forums too just as often, or more. I have been reading through the kobalt cases at my leisure and it seems blatantly obvious that their service is terrible and i can tell that everything Rebel has said about them is true. I thank him for sharing his experience with for others to learn.

I am very new to these forums and am currently going through my first experience ordering a laptop from a reseller. The reseller i am referring to is Logical Blue One (LBO). Now let me tell you how i came across this reseller and finalized my decision on which laptop to get and keep in mind LBO was not mentioned anywhere in the sticky of resellers at all. I discovered LBO through a thread of praise from a happy customer in Lowyat forums. He was so happy with his service that in writing his review he dedicated the first section to describing his wonderful service with LBO. Not only that but through a quick Google search you can find many other similar stories, particularly on the Whirlpool forums where LBO frequents. However the exact opposite can be said about Kobalt from everything i gather.

Now let me tell you about the reputation of LBO which i think lies in stark contrast to that of Kobalt and is a prime example of how a reseller should operate. The first thing you hear people mention about LBO is they are really friendly to every individual purchasing from them and a pleasure to deal with. They have a thread for sager/clevo laptops on Whirlpool in which they respond to customers queries whether it be about their product options, order status or upcoming news of new stock and in addition they have a Facebook page which has all their information and provides another way to contact them. Best of all they will respond to you on Whirlpool or on Facebook even after hours and on the weekend!

I should just add that i am getting this both from my own personal experience with LBO and from what i had learned from them previously when i was checking them out before i made my order.

Anyway, aside from those communication methods which are really a side point that shows how they go out of their way to service each customer individually, let me talk about their main communication channels through email, phone or leaving order messages. LBO operates between 9am-4pm as stated on their website and i have made several emails to them, left messages on my order page and contacted them over the phone. Every single message/email i left them was responded to between 20mins-1hour of store operating time and when i called them it only took 2 seconds for someone to answer. Both over the phone and through email they are extremely friendly and you feel like you are cared for and that you're needs are their first priority. I have also gathered that their after purchase support is just as excellent after hearing stories of other people sending laptops back to get fixed. LBO even sends a box of chocolates with their orders (I have seen pictures and heard this from 2 sources)!


Labeled HDD screw lols . Borrowed from this review: http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/1794588

So there you go. Customers with happy experiences, like my own thus far, leave evidence of their service in forums. I have done so myself right now! Not to mention i will compliment them fully when i receive my order, which is taking an extra week due to the fact that i ordered a new screen which they just ordered from their supplier about which i must note they contacted me about and kept me up to date when they arrived, without me even having to ask them (edit: my order has just been shipped, on schedule, and i am tracking it through a consignment number provided - it should be here tomorrow, edit my laptop is here ). I have also complimented them before this on the initial service which was exactly as i had heard it would be before i ordered from them.

I agree with everything Rebel has written about Kobalt's service being unacceptable to business standards and it sounds to me like they are poorly run; nobody should ever have to go through such an experience and i am glad that you got you're refund to end the 7 weeks of lacking communication. As Rebel said, having a quality product is only half the cake and is inexcusable in todays competitive markets regardless of the fact that it may be a small family run business; Bad service = less customers. Personally, even if i lived in the UK, i would never purchase from them.

As a final note i want to say that while there exist many negative Kobalt reviews out their which is a clear indicator that something is wrong with their customer support i still acknowledge that they are a legitimate company 100% and that at the end of the day they deliver a good product. I see positive signs that they are trying to do their best, i just think they need to realize they need to step it up a few gears. Also, i thought it appropriate not to leave out the fact that i have just been browsing through both sides of the argument at my leisure and i write this as an objective viewer; this is what any person with half a brain would discover when 'googling' Kobalt Computers.

Whew, i apologize for the length of this post

 

Unfortunately I too am having problems with kobalt, I think it gets you worried when you get no response after a week of waiting asking them a simple question about realistic ETAs, and you can't even phone them! Im sure loads of people have had great experiences but they should warn consumers before any purchases, rather than predict the standard 15 working days. I had to remind them a week after my purchase that I had put an order through!
They are great value and no one is perfect, but as a consumer you cant be expected to wait a week for them to respond to a simple question regarding when you can expect to recieve the product when you have already given them £1000 [the fastest part of their service was taking the money out of my account].
My eta was last week, during the days leading up to it they didnt contact me to tell me there would be a delay, nor have they responded to any of my emails last week asking whether there would be any delay.
You can be understanding of a companies situation (small workforce, family run, etc) however when you are given no prior warning to any problems and there is rediculous delays in just getting replies, then you start to feel disrespected as a consumer, one of the things you would least expect from a small company.
I was informed of illness after reminding them about my purchase. This must have hit them hard as on another thread dated 11/10/10 they refer to staff members being ill then, they even predicted that they could only see this effecting their business in the short term. 8 months on and it is still causing a problem. I appreciate that these staff members are also family members so it must be tough, but after 8 months they also run a business and if they are still willing to take peoples money then they should still provide the service that is expected of them.

 

Unfortunately I too am having problems with kobalt, I think it gets you worried when you get no response after a week of waiting asking them a simple question about realistic ETAs, and you can't even phone them! Im sure loads of people have had great experiences but they should warn consumers before any purchases, rather than predict the standard 15 working days. I had to remind them a week after my purchase that I had put an order through!
They are great value and no one is perfect, but as a consumer you cant be expected to wait a week for them to respond to a simple question regarding when you can expect to recieve the product when you have already given them £1000 [the fastest part of their service was taking the money out of my account].
My eta was last week, during the days leading up to it they didnt contact me to tell me there would be a delay, nor have they responded to any of my emails last week asking whether there would be any delay.
You can be understanding of a companies situation (small workforce, family run, etc) however when you are given no prior warning to any problems and there is rediculous delays in just getting replies, then you start to feel disrespected as a consumer, one of the things you would least expect from a small company.
I was informed of illness after reminding them about my purchase. This must have hit them hard as on another thread dated 11/10/10 they refer to staff members being ill then, they even predicted that they could only see this effecting their business in the short term. 8 months on and it is still causing a problem. I appreciate that these staff members are also family members so it must be tough, but after 8 months they also run a business and if they are still willing to take peoples money then they should still provide the service that is expected of them.

 

Accidently posted previous comment twice

 

Seems like one of the biggest problems is simply communication. If you don't communicate to your customers properly and timely its not a good sign of company management. Communication can be the easiest thing to do and to neglect it will only spawn hundreds of problems.

 

Pman,
Can you please chase up my refund?
I've tried to get help through the usual means but cant get any reply.
many thanks
Chris

 

Same old story with the refunds again I hope it all works out for you ive been there. I don't know how long you have been waiting but if its over 30 days do a visa chargeback with your credit card company and make sure you have evidence to back up your case. I ended up buying my computer from else where it came yesterday 15/06/11 and only TWO weeks for build and shipping. Might put a review on here later.

 

Hi m8,

Yeah thanks for the wishes

Was hoping to not have to do a chargeback through credit card company tbh.
Why oh why dont they reply and sort things out amicably?

I only want to order another laptop from a reputable company, Kobalt have had my money since March !!

It's really not on.

 

I obviously can not comment on individuals on the this forum regarding refunds other then what has been said before

Under DSR regs we have 30 days from the confirmation of cancellation to process a refund. One of the reasons we have our procedure is that in the past people have been refunded from us almost immediately and then attempted to put a chargeback through, so now we have our process which we have to follow.

Post in the correct places, I can not entertain this kind of post in public.

Pman

 

Pman,

Posts were made in the correct places but were not answered.
Nobody wants to resort to posting in public but what is one supposed to do when all other avenues are being ignored.
I feel I have been more than patient with Kobalt over the last 3 months but more incorrect information being given to me now during the refund process is starting to feel like a bit of an insult to my intelligence to be perfectly honest.
I wouldnt even have thought my case falls under distance selling regs does it? Dont you have to actually receive something in the first place? Either way I was told the refund would take 7 -10 days, not 30, so have I been told even more incorrect info?

Chris

 

My refund is still pending, just a heads up that it seems there's a problem between Kobalt's merchant bank and paypoint refunds, it doesn't help that the company seems somewhat understaffed on the sales front and is unable to cope with the customer volume at present.

 

Yes it does as soon as your order is placed and it is UP TO 30 days.

As I said, I can not and will not be drawn into a discussion/debate about refund procedures in public.

Go through the correct channels. This is not one of them

Pman