Poor Customer Service at Canada Computers

Snicla wrote: ↑

Dec 3rd, 2008 3:10 pm

Why would you let him 'open the box for you'? You should have told him if he didn't open the thing in front of you it's used. You gotta smell the ******** a mile away and then rub his face in it. Or you should have inspected the damn thing right in front of him and been like, oh well, look, there's lint in the cracks, there's dirt on the back, there's a scratch on the blah blah blah. Don't be afraid, you don't owe them anything. You're the mother effing consumer. You're the one with HIS nuts in YOUR hand! Don't be afraid to squeeze a little.

Actually there is no law that requires refunds. The onus is on the customer to make sure they know what they are buying and the store's policy before they make a purchase.

CC could pull a "factory direct" and not offer refunds and only offer exchanges for the same item or store credit. The OP should be lucky they replaced it at all because most stores won't honor dead pixels under 7.

He should know it's grey market too, it doesn't have Rogers or Fido's name on the Treo's meaning they aren't from Canada.

Thanks for all your help guys!

So in case you haven't been following the posts, I called Canada Computers and demanded a refund. The guy on the phone was nice enough to meet me in person at the store he usually works at (Kennedy and Ellesmere), and personally give me a refund, so I wouldn't have to deal with their other incompetent employees. Even though I was out of the warranty period, he managed to fool their system into giving a full refund.

Trekked over to CC at Kennedy-Ellesmere in response to ad for a HDD at a good price only to find out it was "RECERTIFIED". Showed staff printout of the ad which made no reference to product being other than new. Staff was happy to offer any other NEW product at full retail prices. Smells like Bait and Switch? Needless to say, I didn't buy the Recertified product nor other products out of principle. Formal complaint to their head office went unanswered to boot. A little Customer Service could have saved the day. But instead, CC just wasted my time and cost to commute. Their competitors will get all my future business.

Blk_Rose wrote: ↑

Dec 11th, 2008 1:50 pm

Trekked over to CC at Kennedy-Ellesmere in response to ad for a HDD at a good price only to find out it was "RECERTIFIED". Showed staff printout of the ad which made no reference to product being other than new. Staff was happy to offer any other NEW product at full retail prices. Smells like Bait and Switch? Needless to say, I didn't buy the Recertified product nor other products out of principle. Formal complaint to their head office went unanswered to boot. A little Customer Service could have saved the day. But instead, CC just wasted my time and cost to commute. Their competitors will get all my future business.

Good, another unhappy customer.

tsatsa wrote: ↑

Dec 11th, 2008 2:52 pm

Good, another unhappy customer.

I think everyone who has bought something at Canada Computers is an unhappy customer

felixmo wrote: ↑

Dec 17th, 2008 7:43 pm

I think everyone who has bought something at Canada Computers is an unhappy customer

Couldn't say it better than myself.

In general, computer parts stores are horse-traders who cannot be trusted.

In my experience CC and Infonec are pretty much on par, though I too have stopped going to the Pacific Mall CC location.

Infonec with refusing to honor price labels because 'they should have been taken down last week', open box items with no reductions even when pointed out that demo models shouldn't be regular price, and all-around shrewdness.

I always insist on sealed products, I've been burned too many times on used and returned RAM that has proven faulty (at stock using memtest86+).

Nearly every computer parts store I have been to will engage in bad practices to a greater or lesser extent. I find the best way to counteract it is to find a local store that will pricematch, and have a relationship with one of the staff who is intelligent and helpful. That way you can pricematch items and also get easy returns, exchanges, and a lot less hassle.

Again, try and stick to sealed items, inspect items that are not sealed thoroughly in store, make a relationship with a local store if possible, avoid CC, Infonec, except for parts that have a high sales volume so you have less chance of getting a used/broken/returned part.

akbar_k wrote: ↑

Dec 18th, 2008 10:15 am

In general, computer parts stores are horse-traders who cannot be trusted.

In my experience CC and Infonec are pretty much on par, though I too have stopped going to the Pacific Mall CC location.

Infonec with refusing to honor price labels because 'they should have been taken down last week', open box items with no reductions even when pointed out that demo models shouldn't be regular price, and all-around shrewdness.

I always insist on sealed products, I've been burned too many times on used and returned RAM that has proven faulty (at stock using memtest86+).

Nearly every computer parts store I have been to will engage in bad practices to a greater or lesser extent. I find the best way to counteract it is to find a local store that will pricematch, and have a relationship with one of the staff who is intelligent and helpful. That way you can pricematch items and also get easy returns, exchanges, and a lot less hassle.

Again, try and stick to sealed items, inspect items that are not sealed thoroughly in store, make a relationship with a local store if possible, avoid CC, Infonec, except for parts that have a high sales volume so you have less chance of getting a used/broken/returned part.

The staff in both of those stores get shafted in their pay. It's always why they hate you in small shops with the lowest prices. You get customers who are cheap, and cheap because their jobs only require an IQ of under 50 and they are being paid appropriately. That's why they freak out at restocking fees, and don't mind drinking flouride.

If I were in politics I would make it illegal to obtain warranty or obtain refunds if you didn't have a "drivers license" of sorts for operating a computer. (Just for PC Parts, not for clothing, food, etc)

Let's be real.

These stores are often terrible but the fact is that's just the business model of these stores you always go to...there is NO margin in computers. So how are you going to provide customer service, warranty, highly trained and motivated employees?

There's the other business model, BB/FS, which is usually alot better. Then there's NCIX, which is sort of in between.