From: stormreaver
Written: 2010-12-19 11:15:53.444098
Subject: BigBoxStore Review
Written: 2010-12-19 11:15:53.444098
Subject: BigBoxStore Review
After returning the Augen Gentouch78 piece of garbage, I found a reference to the Haipad (I know, I know...-hangs head in shame-) being a great, low cost tablet (under $200). I did a little more research on the Haipad, and thought it sounded like a decent tablet; so I bought one online from bigboxstore.com.
Big mistake.
At first glance, the Haipad seemed halfway decent. It had WiFi (which worked well) a camera (front-facing and low resolution), and an accelerometer (so it could detect its orientation). Its deficiencies didn't seem too bad for a device that I was intending to use almost solely as a software development system, so I wasn't too bothered. It turned out that I was wrong about the camera, though. Having only a low-resolution, front-facing camera was a big deal, but I was willing to live with it.
The tablet arrived with a dead battery, so I plugged in the charger and waited a few hours. I then unplugged the charger, and watched the device immediately go dark. I then plugged the charger back in, as well as plugging in the USB cable. The device showed a battery charging icon with an indicator of zero percent charged, so I thought, "Aha! This is how the thing needs to be charged. Odd, but whatever..." So I left it this way for sixteen hours. When I unplugged both the charger and USB cable, the device once again went dark. Upon plugging in the USB cable, I saw the same battery indicator, and the same zero percent charged message.
At this point, it was obvious to me that the device was defective. I emailed Big Box Store, and told them the battery was defective; and that I wanted a replacement. Incredibly, this was their response:
This item can be used its charger to be charged. Please fully charge it at the first time. And we would like to tell you that we have tested it before shipping, everything works well, please try it again. We will try our best to help you. Regards
Use the charger. Really? Truly? Wow, why didn't I think of that? Oh wait. I did. Needless to say, the useless response was aggravating. However, I wanted to stay civil, so I allowed for the possibility that I was perhaps using the charger the wrong way. So here's what I told them:
That's what I have been trying to do, but it will not charge. I left the
device plugged in for 16 hours . While the charger is plugged in, the battery
shows 100% charge. The moment I unplug the charger, the device goes off. When
I then plug in the USB cable, the battery icon is red, empty, with a red line
through it. The device says to plug in the charger, and shows "Charge 0%" on
the front.
I'd be happy to find out that I 'm just following the wrong procedure for
charging the device. If so, please tell me what I 'm doing wrong. Otherwise,
I need to exchange it.
I then got a response once again telling me to plug in the charger:
You just need to use its 100-240 V adaptor to charge it. Please try it again. We test it before, it can be charged. Regards
At this point, it became clear to me that they had no intention of being helpful, so I told them that I wanted to exchange it. A few minutes after I sent that reply, I sent another one telling them that I no longer wanted an exchange. I wanted a refund instead. I told them I was going to package it up, and send it back.
Before waiting for a reply, I packaged up the defective tablet, drove to the Post Office, and mailed it back to China. Several days later, the Post Office tracking web site showed that the package had arrived in China, but several attempts to deliver to the return address failed. I can only presume that the company tried to refuse delivery, but the message didn't make it to all employees. After several failed delivery attempts, one finally made it through.
Shortly after I mailed the package, I got this message from Big Box Store:
Sorry to hear that, but we tested it for you, it works well. In this case, If it does not still work well, please return it to us, we will repair it or change a new one for you. But please read our return policy carefully....
You may return most new items (must be in original condition and contain all original packaging and accessories) sold and fulfillby BigBoxStore.com within 30 days since shipment date for a refund or replacement....
Almost a week after the US Postal Service delivered the device, I told the company that the US Postal Service confirmed delivery of the package, but got no response from the company for about a week. Then they confirmed that they received the device, and would get back to me.
A little more than a week after that, I got this message from them.
Dear customer,
Thanks for your email.
So sorry that the trouble brings to you,we are afraid that it is not our policy to give you refund,we have repaired your item,and will
send to you,please confirm your shipping address:
So they repaired the item that they insisted was not broken, and then wanted to send it back to me. By this time, though, I had already ponied up $600 for the top of the line Android tablet from Best Buy: a Samsung Galaxy Tab. The Galaxy Tab is fantastic, and I can't recommend it highly enough. It's worth every penny. I replied with this:
Keep it. I don't want it. It is junk. I will be contacting my bank, and telling them that you are being very uncooperative. I will get my money back through them. I will not accept delivery.
At this point, I called my bank (Commerce) and told them what had happened. About a week later, I noticed that the full purchase price, including shipping, had been returned to my account by Commerce. They didn't try backing out of their online purchase protection agreement, or anything sleezy like that. They asked me to explain why I was requesting a refund, didn't grill me or otherwise try to make me uncomfortable, and told me it could take up to ten business days to get a response. That was it. Without fanfare, the money just appeared in my account.
I will never buy anything from Big Box Store again, but I highly commend Commerce Bank for their great customer service.
Big mistake.
At first glance, the Haipad seemed halfway decent. It had WiFi (which worked well) a camera (front-facing and low resolution), and an accelerometer (so it could detect its orientation). Its deficiencies didn't seem too bad for a device that I was intending to use almost solely as a software development system, so I wasn't too bothered. It turned out that I was wrong about the camera, though. Having only a low-resolution, front-facing camera was a big deal, but I was willing to live with it.
The tablet arrived with a dead battery, so I plugged in the charger and waited a few hours. I then unplugged the charger, and watched the device immediately go dark. I then plugged the charger back in, as well as plugging in the USB cable. The device showed a battery charging icon with an indicator of zero percent charged, so I thought, "Aha! This is how the thing needs to be charged. Odd, but whatever..." So I left it this way for sixteen hours. When I unplugged both the charger and USB cable, the device once again went dark. Upon plugging in the USB cable, I saw the same battery indicator, and the same zero percent charged message.
At this point, it was obvious to me that the device was defective. I emailed Big Box Store, and told them the battery was defective; and that I wanted a replacement. Incredibly, this was their response:
This item can be used its charger to be charged. Please fully charge it at the first time. And we would like to tell you that we have tested it before shipping, everything works well, please try it again. We will try our best to help you. Regards
Use the charger. Really? Truly? Wow, why didn't I think of that? Oh wait. I did. Needless to say, the useless response was aggravating. However, I wanted to stay civil, so I allowed for the possibility that I was perhaps using the charger the wrong way. So here's what I told them:
That's what I have been trying to do, but it will not charge. I left the
device plugged in for 16 hours . While the charger is plugged in, the battery
shows 100% charge. The moment I unplug the charger, the device goes off. When
I then plug in the USB cable, the battery icon is red, empty, with a red line
through it. The device says to plug in the charger, and shows "Charge 0%" on
the front.
I'd be happy to find out that I 'm just following the wrong procedure for
charging the device. If so, please tell me what I 'm doing wrong. Otherwise,
I need to exchange it.
I then got a response once again telling me to plug in the charger:
You just need to use its 100-240 V adaptor to charge it. Please try it again. We test it before, it can be charged. Regards
At this point, it became clear to me that they had no intention of being helpful, so I told them that I wanted to exchange it. A few minutes after I sent that reply, I sent another one telling them that I no longer wanted an exchange. I wanted a refund instead. I told them I was going to package it up, and send it back.
Before waiting for a reply, I packaged up the defective tablet, drove to the Post Office, and mailed it back to China. Several days later, the Post Office tracking web site showed that the package had arrived in China, but several attempts to deliver to the return address failed. I can only presume that the company tried to refuse delivery, but the message didn't make it to all employees. After several failed delivery attempts, one finally made it through.
Shortly after I mailed the package, I got this message from Big Box Store:
Sorry to hear that, but we tested it for you, it works well. In this case, If it does not still work well, please return it to us, we will repair it or change a new one for you. But please read our return policy carefully....
You may return most new items (must be in original condition and contain all original packaging and accessories) sold and fulfillby BigBoxStore.com within 30 days since shipment date for a refund or replacement....
Almost a week after the US Postal Service delivered the device, I told the company that the US Postal Service confirmed delivery of the package, but got no response from the company for about a week. Then they confirmed that they received the device, and would get back to me.
A little more than a week after that, I got this message from them.
Dear customer,
Thanks for your email.
So sorry that the trouble brings to you,we are afraid that it is not our policy to give you refund,we have repaired your item,and will
send to you,please confirm your shipping address:
So they repaired the item that they insisted was not broken, and then wanted to send it back to me. By this time, though, I had already ponied up $600 for the top of the line Android tablet from Best Buy: a Samsung Galaxy Tab. The Galaxy Tab is fantastic, and I can't recommend it highly enough. It's worth every penny. I replied with this:
Keep it. I don't want it. It is junk. I will be contacting my bank, and telling them that you are being very uncooperative. I will get my money back through them. I will not accept delivery.
At this point, I called my bank (Commerce) and told them what had happened. About a week later, I noticed that the full purchase price, including shipping, had been returned to my account by Commerce. They didn't try backing out of their online purchase protection agreement, or anything sleezy like that. They asked me to explain why I was requesting a refund, didn't grill me or otherwise try to make me uncomfortable, and told me it could take up to ten business days to get a response. That was it. Without fanfare, the money just appeared in my account.
I will never buy anything from Big Box Store again, but I highly commend Commerce Bank for their great customer service.