Page 1 of Empire Direct

For what it`s worth, this is a recent letter I sent to EmpireDirect.co.uk (or Empire-Indirect, as I now think of them). What chance of a response from them this time I wonder...?



Dear Sir/Madam

Regarding the purchase of a JVC-DRMH20 DVD/HDD recorder from you, please may I lodge in the strongest possible terms, my dismay and frustration at the unsatisfactory standard of service that I have received from your company and your entirely insulting subsequent efforts to remedy the situation.

There are two main sections to this letter: the first is a chronology of mainly what happened (or what didn't). The second section addresses possible solutions and my reasoning and feelings about them.


CHRONOLOGY

Jan 4th - DVD ordered online from you.

Jan 14th - DVD delivered.

Jan 17th - Noticing problems with the unit. Email sent to JVC asking for assistance.

Feb 9th - Reply from JVC saying they were unable to help but if I was experiencing difficulty with the unit, to return it to the dealer.

(Jan 31st - mid-March: acute back condition caused by ligament damage. Unable to engage in normal activities of any sort)

Mar/Apr - Email sent to technical dept at JVC describing problems experienced with the unit and asking for their advice.

April 18th - Reply from JVC stating the symptoms described were "consistent with a malfunction"

May 3rd - Email sent to Empire Direct stating that JVC have recommended it be returned to them via retailer.

May 5th - Reply from Paul Stubbs at Empire Direct asking for a convenient time and date for collection of the DVD.

May 10th - Arranged with Empire Direct for collection on 18th May.

May 18th - DVD collected for repair

May ?? - Voicemail left by Empire Direct stating that unit received safely from me.

June 10th - Phone call from Empire Direct saying that they could deliver the unit back to me the following day.

June 11th (Saturday) - Waiting for promised delivery of DVD. It didn't arrive.

June 13th (Monday) - Amtrak attempted to deliver unit to me (at home). I phoned them to arrange re-delivery of the unit to my work address but they said that only the sender could arrange an alternate re-delivery address.
Phoned Empire Direct who arranged re-delivery to work address.

June 14th (Tuesday) - Stayed late at work, expecting delivery of DVD but it didn't arrive. On returning home I found a sticker left on my front door from Amtrak, saying that they had attempted delivery (to home address) again.

June 15th (Wednesday) - Phone Empire Direct who assured me that the unit would be delivered to work address.

June 21st - Phone call from repair dept querying why the DVD had been returned to them.

June 25th - DVD finally returned to me (at home) after 5 weeks and 3 days.
After some use, it was apparent that the problems with the unit had not been fixed. Indeed the unit was in a worse condition that it was before on account of the front cover panel hanging loose (the fixing hooks seem damaged).

June 30th - Email sent to Empire Direct informing them that the unit was still not functioning correctly. No reply.

July 6th - Re-sent email of June 30th to Empire Direct. No reply.

July 8th - Re-sent email of June 30th to Empire Direct. No reply.

July 11th - Phoned Empire Direct to report the problem. After an inordinate wait on-hold, finally spoke to a woman who arranged collection of the unit on Weds, July 13th.

July 13th - Waiting for collection of DVD. No collection.

July 14th - Amtrak left a note saying they had tried to collect from me, one day late. No explanation forthcoming from Empire Direct as to wrong pick up date.



OPTIONS

There are (were) several options available:

Repair of the unit.

A repair has already been attempted once and was entirely ineffective, i.e. the unit was displaying exactly the same faults afterwards. Also the unit was returned in a worse condition; the front panel was loose, indicating damage to the fixing tags. The sound has been steadily deteriorating as well; replacement of the scart leads made no improvement.

The first attempted repair resulted in the unit being in transit for 5 weeks and 3 days, a repeat of which is highly undesirable, regardless of the distinct possibility of the unit again not being effectively repaired.

This did not prevent me from arranging to return the unit to you for a second repair attempt. However, for this second occasion, the collection company (Amtrak) turned up on completely the wrong day. As it seems that you have proved yourselves incapable of even managing to collect the unit from me, I no longer consider repair of the unit to be a viable option.

Furthermore, I have no faith whatsoever in JVC effecting a successful repair. This lack of confidence in them was caused by the following:-

- it took three emails to JVC's support department to finally elicit a response from them
- a call to their support centre was answered by someone surly, sarcastic and monosyllabic who clearly was not inclined toward offering the slightest bit of help
- their previous repair attempt shows a lack of care and attention to the work carried out
- various web forums have revealed a plethora of similarly disgruntled JVC users who have complained of similarly defective recorders and JVC's inability to repair them.


Exchange of the unit

A replacement unit, while initially seeming an attractive solution, is now less so, on account of the discovery of many online complaints about the reliability of this type of JVC recorder.

Ultimately, I do not want to have to repeat any part of my dealings with your company, given the stress it has caused, notwithstanding the loss of the annual leave that I have used up while expecting deliveries or collections from you that have failed to materialise.

I should point out that waiting for a parcel or package to arrive from a courier company is quite tedious and restrictive as one has to be prepared to answer the door immediately on their arrival - so no baths, long toilet visits, cooking, or anything that might prevent reaching the door or hearing the doorbell.


Refund of purchase price

In retrospect, it is clear that the unit was defective from the beginning. Effective repair of the unit would have cleared the matter up but it was obviously not to be.

Please note that all I have ever wanted was a functioning recorder. It is only due to your own inefficiency and lack of basic customer courtesy, that no other course of action is acceptable to me other than refund of the purchase price of the unit.

This is to give notice that if arrangements for repayment have not commenced within 14 days of this letter (i.e. 15th August 2005) that legal proceedings will be initiated for the recovery of said owed monies.

Yours sincerely

Good letter, I hope it gets the desired result. It`s good that you`ve catalogued times and dates too. It seems they haven`t changed, see my rant thread about them from a year and a half ago. :)

Superb letter. Well constructed and well worded. Any reasonable company should now refund immediately. You have given them two opportunities to repair - more than I would have.

I don`t know why manufacturers bother having technical contacts (email/telephone), as they are rarely of any help.

I had a problem with a Sony Tv & Sony dvd recorder - wrote to the MD of Sony in the finnish. He got their top technical guy to travel 200+ miles to see me and resolved the problem.

For a start off your contract is with empire, not JVC. So Empire are the boys you should be having a go at not jvc. Allways contact your retailer, not the manufacture.

It is not the manufactures/retailers fault if a private franchised delivery bod does not turn up. Complain to Amtrack or whoever.

Buy from a shop, with real people. They tend to be more help.

Quote:
had a problem with a Sony Tv & Sony dvd recorder - wrote to the MD of Sony in the finnish. He got their top technical guy to travel 200+ miles to see me and resolved the problem. Do you really think your letter went all the way to Mr Sonysan in Japan? You got a local-ish repairer, and a story. ( a result though)

Quote:
Superb letter.

No .If I were to get a letter like that (never have and hopfully never will) you would get the bear minnimum required by law and know more. No one (including yourself I bet) likes sarcasam.

For the record I am retailer of the type of equipment you are on about. I have had complaints (not many) And I sort them. As I say. Talk to your retailer. (you pay the wages)

In a foul mood. Sorry.

All the best,

Dr 42%er.




It`s not easy being different. It`s not easy being cool....but somehow I manage....

This item was edited on Sunday, 31st July 2005, 00:40

Or next time buy a Panasonic. :)

Had same prob with Empire, i knew within a day of the dvd recorder arriving (panasonic e55 by the way) that it wasn`t right & it was back with them within 10 days, took another 2 weeks before i got sick of waiting for a response from them and i contacted them by phone asking what was happening, the response was that the e55 was fine & they were going to send it back, it told them i would not accept the goods as i knew them to be faulty and i wanted a replacement or my money back, a week later a new machine arrived and has worked fine :)
mind you, i would never use them again, as they seemed to think they would get away with sending a duff machine back to me >:(

xxxxxx brought a tv jvc one through comet ,rang jvc as warrenty ran out past the year they have not only replaced the tv but upgraded it, there agreat company

There are a couple of issues here.

Firstly, my angry letter was a reaction caused by Empire`s inefficient service and seemingly indifferent attitude. It`s cause and effect - if the unit had worked, if the (attempted) repair had been effective, if their customer service was up to scratch, then I wouldn`t have needed to resort to such measures. I do understand that essentially the unit is a mechanical device and as such is not guaranteed not to fail and I was perfectly tolerant and understanding for a period of months but there is a limit, beyond which, even a normal person will snap.

Secondly, yes, it has put me off ordering online again. Online ordering is fine unless something goes wrong. Curiously I bought a record deck from Sevenoaks Hi-Fi way back when and was very impressed with the personal service I received. Enough said!

Sorry if my reply sounded harsh. I was in one of those moods.

All the best,

Dr 42%er.


It`s not easy being different. It`s not easy being cool....but somehow I manage....