eBuyer sucks! (my personal opinion)

[Arthur]

Scan also do an insurance thing whilst you are checking out which does not cost that much extra in case of DOA or any issues and imo is well worth the extra change.

ScanSure is a form of accidental damage insurance and covers you for the first 28 days after purchase. If the item you are buying is DOA, damaged or otherwise faulty, you are covered by your standard legal rights -- Sale of Goods Act, Consumer Credit Act (if paying by credit card), Distance Selling Regulations etc.

 

As with most insurance policies, make sure you read the small print on the T&Cs too. There are quite a few things which you aren't covered for and several grey areas. The following is taken from a post by one of the mods on the Hexus forums.

 

You aren't covered for cosmetic damage, such as damage to paintwork, dents or scratches, so if you drop a heavy HSF and it puts a dent in your expensive aluminium case, you're out of luck.

 

You aren't covered if you failed to follow manufacturer's instructions. That could be fairly wide-open. If the manufacturer (say, Intel) requires the use of an approved heatsink, or even approved thermal pad/paste, and you use something else, did you follow instructions?

 

You aren't covered if you do anything that invalidates manufacturer warranty. Similar issues to the above point arise. And it's a grey area. Intel, IIRC, state that overclocking might invalidate a processor warranty. If so, it might invalidate this insurance at the same time.

 

Any claim arising from abuse, neglect or malicious damage. Well, malicious damage is certainly eminently fair, but exactly what constitutes "abuse" and "neglect"? If you fail to tighten something (like a heatsink) down hard enough, is it neglect? If you tighten it down too much, is it neglect .... or abuse?

 

You aren't covered for theft, loss, etc. Well, fair enough. That doesn't appear to be what this policy is intended for.

 

Any consequential loss. The claim is limited to the value of the component insured, so if whatever happens damages other bits, you're not covered for them. An obvious example would appear to be if you're installing (having bought, with this cover) a watercooling system and mess up to connections, or even if a pipe splits. You'd be covered for the water-cooling system you bought, but not for the rest of the PC if it got fried too. (Source)

 

Another thing I find particularly annoying is the fact that is it opt-out by default. If you forget to remove it, you won't be able to get a refund once your order has shipped.

 

I never bother with it personally because I'm not ham-fisted, although I could see it being useful for first-time PC builders or for parts which have pins such as PATA HDDs and LGA motherboards.

[synaesthesia]

I really hate people putting up websites like "Ebuyer Sucks". No problem, voice an opinion, but it's hardly a fair representation. It'd only be fair if an entirely unbiased 3rd party made "Ebuyer ROCKS!" - because you'll never get true feedback from the internet. You'll only ever hear people start threads about problems, never (or very rarely) about good experiences.

 

I've never really had a problem with them. I once ordered a hard drive going back a few years, and it arrived on it's own and in a box, rattling around with no protection. Without even bothering to plug it in, it went straight back with no quibbles or arguments whatsoever. Human error, whoever packed forgot/neglected the bubble wrap, it happens. Happy with the outcome.

 

I do use Scan quite often these days (in conjuction with the Hexus free delivery option) and have no problems with them at all. I don't however like scansure though, like any insurance it's just gambling unnecessarily.

[flewitt]

Just tried to return some unwanted ipads (unopened) and they want to charge a 20% re-stocking fee?? That comes to hundreds of pounds. Totally unjustified. I'm closing our account with them, I'd never get that kind of service from misco, eplenish, novatech etc which 8/10 times will match ebuyers price anyway...

W**kers!

[sonofsanta]

Just tried to return some unwanted ipads (unopened) and they want to charge a 20% re-stocking fee?? That comes to hundreds of pounds. Totally unjustified. I'm closing our account with them, I'd never get that kind of service from misco, eplenish, novatech etc which 8/10 times will match ebuyers price anyway...

W**kers!

 

To be fair... a lot of companies have restocking fees for products you're returning unwanted or where the order was your mistake.

 

20% seems a bit high though, a flat fee to cover costs of "monkey checks box and confirms sellotape still sealed", bit of a money grab to make it a percentage cut...!

[gmonks]

I had ordered two hard drives from them and paid for next day delivery when it came to 4pm the next day and I still hadn't got my item I rung them up and they said they were out of stock DESPITE taking my money. Got a refund in the end.

[Davit2005]

I've not had an issue with them to be honest. I've ordered quite a bit and there the first place I normally go to for personal IT purchases favouring them if prices are even slightly more expensive than other suppliers.

[sted]

my only issue recently is delivery if youre cheap like me they just wait a week then send it next day whats the point of that?

[caffrey]

They are the only company we have chew purchasing from, they've lost a lot of business because of this

Scan do a similar thing with delivery, next day delivery is applied to the day its sent - so if you buy on monday and gets shipped thursday - it's technically next day if you get it friday....

[flewitt]

To be fair... a lot of companies have restocking fees for products you're returning unwanted or where the order was your mistake.

 

Looks like i was mistaken on 2 out of three:

E-plenish.com

"The goods must be unopened, with the manufacturers seals intact and in perfect re-saleable condition All goods returned in these circumstances (except where the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 apply, see Clause 13) will be subject to a 25% re-stocking fee of E-PLENISH's sale price for the goods."

novatech.co.uk

"The seller reserves the right to make a handling and restocking charge of 25% on goods which are returned if they were ordered in error or are no longer required."

misco.co.uk

"The Goods must be unopened, with the manufacturers’ seals intact and in perfect re-saleable condition. All Goods returned in these circumstances will not be subject to a re-stocking fee."

Edited October 11, 2012 by flewitt

[Sheridan]

I stopped using them purely on price, I simply found other suppliers were cheaper and had less silly delivery charges.

[sonofsanta]

This article popped up on the BBC today, interestingly: BBC News - Online retailers told to change websites by OFT

Among the most common problems found by the OFT were retailers wrongly telling their customers that returned goods must be in their original packaging or in their original condition.

 

The OFT explained that this could be in breach of the buyer's right to inspect or assess a product.

I wonder if "You can cancel an order within seven working days in most cases (longer for financial products) and get a full refund" makes restocking fees illegal as well?

[Oaktech]

I use them occasionally, mainly I use CCL for personal purchases or BT Business / CCC Schoolcare for work. Generally I have found that Ebuyer is fine and everything sails through, or it is a 5 phone calls a day [derp] up. No middle ground.