NCIX.com Sold defective motherboards at its warehouse sale on May 25, 2013 (without inspection), and later internally distributed a memo to not accept these products and state it was "physical damage" Markham, Ontario
I went to the NCIX warehouse sale on May 25, 2013 at Markham Ontario - Showroom. There I bought a computer case as well as a motherboard. When I got home I inspected it carefully and realized one of the pins of the motherboard was bent. There's a 7 day window for returns even for onsale/warehouse sale items.
I drove back to the site where I had bought it which is called located in Markham, Ontario - the NCIX showroom. There I went to the returns department and asked for a return, as the motherboard was damaged. The man named Edward subsequently looked at the motherboard, and said "physical damage" cannot return. I was baffled, I had never used it ever I swear and this man just says it's physical damage and it was not NCIX's fault. I then said may I speak to your manager, he said "There was a memo recently distributed stating we cannot accept these any of these returns, I am just a small potato I can't do anything". I honestly bought the motherboard damaged and this man starts yelling at me in the utmost rude manner - the worst customer service, may I add, that I have ever seen in my life.
He says rudely for me to call the headquarters because, again, he is a Small Potato and cannot do anything, even tell me the manager's name. So I call at the desk, not leaving it for any single moment. The customer service phone line asks for Edward here to pick up the phone and answer some questions. Edward then Makes Up Lies and says he escalated it already to his manager Luigi and was told he could not accept it. Load of bull I have been standing here for over half an hour and he tells me that he had spoken to the manager/had the manager inspect it himself/and was told the motherboard is rejected.
I honestly have never seen worst customer service in my life. Desmond So was the man on the phone, he was equally unhelpful.
I am totally baffled by this scheme that I suspect was to sell all defective motherboards then subsequently distribute an internal memo to reject all such returns. I am never spending a dollar at this unethical store again, and I suggest you all to do the same. I have never seen such horrible customer service, and I have never seen such poor quality in products and ethical practices. I am just baffled beyond words, especially when Desmond So put me on hold for ten minutes when I asked to speak to the manager and then hung up on me. Then, Edward (who works at the NCIX showroom in Markham) said, "Motherboard DEAD?!?" - totally baffled.
For a business in Canada to act this way, I feel sorry for all its consumers. If you want to avoid such a horrible experience. I totally recommend 100% to avoid this company at all costs. Sure your product will be cheaper by a few, but when you get that defective product - they're sure to blame it on you.
(People in line who also attempted the Returns desk at my visit included:
man who said HDMI cable was not working on his lenovo laptop which appeared new; same man checked the HDMI cable then said it's working, then man said can you check it against my laptop; he said No laptop, no checking on laptop, that is your laptop it must be broken, your plugs must be broken etc. etc. Man was totally dissatisfied and left.
mother and son approach the desk with warehouse sale items, he checks it and it isn't working either and suggests that I report this to the better business bureau as well.)
- worst store, worst customer service, I will never drop a penny at this entire franchise EVER AGAIN
1 Updates & Rebuttals
resolved
Ontario,Update - with followup events
#2Author of original report
Mon, June 17, 2013
Update:
The incident that had happened to my brother and I had occurred over the weekend and on the next working day on Monday, my brother received a prompt resolution reply from the NCIX Customer Care and Retail Operations personnel. Although I was previously convinced of the poor customer service at NCIX, I realize that this was a one-time incident because when I had read the email from headquarters, I quickly realized that the tone of the email I had received was very friendly, polite, and understanding of the situation I had encountered. Tone at the top must be adequate.
In the email, the NCIX Customer Care manager told me that the company, NCIX, will "look into what had happened with the communication to ensure that this doesn't occur again, my[his] apologies for this and any troubles". He also told my brother that he would "always [be] here to help if you have any questions or concerns". At the end of the email, my brother was allowed a full refund and was able to have that arranged in one of the closer stores to where our family had lived at which was great news for me and him - this happened around 3pm on Monday, which is prompt in my opinion.
NCIX also said that they had investigated the issue and had listened to the voice recording of the phone conversation when we dialed into the department to look into what had happened between us and the Customer Service care man who hung up. He said they had looked into the issue and is making sure that it will never happen again, which I believe. I think it was very important for me to know that NCIX was looking into the problem and making sure it never happened again.
To be honest, the reason I wanted to post an update is because I believe in justice and fairness, and this is what this website is about. Because NCIX had worked hard to resolve this issue, I believe that a good word is owed to them for their timely actions. Studies have shown that there are a larger ratio of customers who actively seek to give feedback or complaints when they feel mistreated or have encountered poor customer service, however few customers who receive good customer service actively seek to provide good feedback.
I refuse to be a customer who will not give good feedback when given good service, and that is why I feel that this post justifies a update for what had truly happened to me, during and follow-up. I honestly do feel that it was an isolated incident and that NCIX headquarters does intend to communicate that they do care about their customers and long-term relationships - I believe that their actions have helped me put the issue aside and have reinstated my comfort around the idea of consumer protection and care.
I do believe in the words of the email sent to us and am genuinely relieved and comforted to know that the issue had been looked into and that any miscommunication will never happen again, as highlighted in the email headquarters had sent my brother. Consumers may read this and think that this may seem like a stretch from what had been written about NCIX in my original post, but I honestly think that good follow-up and actions taken from the company itself are great and sufficient reasons for a consumer to believe that they were taken good care of and that the company cares for the consumer after they step outside the door.
A good follow-up is sometimes also part of the overall shopping experience, which is why we care about customer service so deeply. Hence, I think that the timely response from NCIX headquarters really helped my brother and I put this single incident behind us because, upon reading the response, we felt that NCIX does care like other reputable companies and that they want us to feel like a loyal customer who will always come back feeling protected under certain consumer rights and be comfortable in purchasing goods from the store knowing that the company "has our back".
Since the email, I do believe now that good customer service does exist at NCIX due to the prompt response, follow-up, investigations, and actions. I also discovered that they had a forum and facebook page which they moderate with prompt responses. I felt comfortable that the company looked into my family's issue with our purchase and I am comforted to know, most of all, that the issue has been looked into so that it will probably never happen again.
And so, I just wanted to update this page because I want other consumers to also know that NCIX has resolved my problem promptly, and that the timely response did help regain its position in my heart and put it on par and competitively with other reputable companies. NCIX does seem to value long-term customer relationships. I want to be transparent with what had happened and what had been done by the company to resolve this, and so I strongly believe that the resolution stage of this issue should be communicated as well - as this coincides with ripoffreport's values of transparency and fairness for the consumer - and most of all, knowing all the sides to the story. Also, I feel that if I do not update this post, my post will be unfair to the company and I would be effectively "ripping-off the company" instead. There should be mutual respect and this is why I need to tell all stages of the issues, and not just the issue.
I am personally pretty satisfied.