Screen fault, now Irex wants ME to pay for it! - Page 2

EdwardHamer · 12-10-2007, 03:21 PM

Jack,
I understand your frustration.

I had been extremely pleased with the iLiad which I purchased in August. It provided everything I have been looking for and I had recommended it to a number of colleagues, friends and customers. That was until somebody accidentally leant on the screen and cracked it (not their fault, it was buried under some papers on my desk at work). That’s when my troubles started.

I contacted iRex and arranged to send the device to them for repair. I sent it off at the beginning of November and they must have received it about the 8th as they wrote to me to say how much it would cost and that I should buy vouchers to that value on their website. As it happened, I had to buy vouchers to a slightly higher value as they only go in increments of £57.14. I didn’t complain at the time because I needed to get the device repaired and thought it would be a small price to pay to get it back quickly.

Since then I have had to chase their technical support team a number of times to try to find out what is happening. I’ve tried writing directly and I’ve tried raising individual cases to obtain a reply, but they only reply about every fourth time I write, saying that they’re waiting a batch of the screens to come in.

As you can see, it’s now over a month since they received the device and they’re still unable (or unwilling) to tell me when they will be able to return the device to me.

From having been a really happy customer, I’ve become a very disgruntled one with insult having been added to injury by the fact that they’ve had £204 of my money (and the device of course) for over a month. I’m on the verge of telling them that they can keep the device and asking for my money back. This experience will, of course, colour my advice to others about the device.

jackbrown · 12-27-2007, 04:45 AM

Well, since my initial contact with Karel (here and immediately afterwards in the Irex forums), I have had no word from Irex at all other than a message from one of their engineers saying if I don't pay up by next week, they are going to send my device back to me (now with a broken screen and not just a single line out error). Feels a little bit like extortion at this point, especially since the iliad was working okay before I sent it to them.

As EdwardH points out, they are extremely uncommunicative. I am kind of back to square one since not even Karel is replying to my messages.

ashalan · 12-28-2007, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jackbrown

Well, since my initial contact with Karel (here and immediately afterwards in the Irex forums), I have had no word from Irex at all other than a message from one of their engineers saying if I don't pay up by next week, they are going to send my device back to me (now with a broken screen and not just a single line out error). Feels a little bit like extortion at this point, especially since the iliad was working okay before I sent it to them.

As EdwardH points out, they are extremely uncommunicative. I am kind of back to square one since not even Karel is replying to my messages.

This is outrageous ... I really really feel sorry for you

EdwardHamer · 12-29-2007, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashalan

This is outrageous ... I really really feel sorry for you

They finally sent it back after six weeks - no word of an apology or anything - and minus the USB cable. I've emailed them but, as usual, no reply.

I contacted the distributor in the UK, hoping that he'd lean on somebody at iRex (as he had done just before I got my iLiad back). He was really kind and, in addition to writing to iRex, sent me a new cable (even though it wasn't his fault).

timofonic · 01-10-2008, 07:07 AM

I was going to buy an iLiad, but I'm seriously doubting after this.

Maybe in 2008, iLiad will have competitors with even superior capabilities by less money. I'm thinking to wait, I have enough crappy customer support with ISPs of Spain.

jackbrown · 01-11-2008, 11:32 AM

Well, the minute I bought the repair vouchers, I got two very nice surprises. A reply from the store saying the repair was actually in warranty, and a note from Karel (at Irex support) saying he'd been out of the office on vacation for a couple of weeks, thus his lack of replies, and that now that he was back, he'd cleared up the mix up at the repair center, and that my money would be refunded promptly and they'd do the repair for free.

All of which needless to say puts me in a very good mood toward Irex again. My feeling after this (my interaction with Karel and the repairs dept. people) is that when it comes down to it Irex is a very very small operation and they just don't have enough people to deal with weird problems like mine (a repair center mix-up) with any degree of speed and effectiveness. If it was Sony, the replies would have been more prompt, but on the other hand I wonder if they would have ultimately been as nice as Irex... Anyway, assuming the Iliad eventually gets back to me with the screen fault fixed, I will be a very happy customer again...now if they could just line up some newspaper subscriptions!!!

jackbrown · 01-17-2008, 11:23 AM

Well, three big cheers to Irex and Karel in particular. My Iliad came back yesterday with a nice new screen (It appears they replaced the screen and not just whatever was giving it that odd line-out error pictured at the beginning of the thread). They are refunding the money that I paid. It's still not entirely clear to me what happened, but it appears that the repair center mixed up mine with someone else's when it got sent in, thus explaining the pictures they sent me of an iliad with a smashed screen.

I definitely got mine back (although with the memory wiped and the OS upgraded to 2.11) since it has the same MAC address. Although I am annoyed that the repair center people were so uncommunicative with me, so unwilling to listen when I complained that I hadn't sent them and Iliad with a smashed screen, I must commend them for in the end, delivering excellent customer service. Karel's job, which seems to be customer complaints troubleshooter, is an important one.

Anyway, I'm happy to have my reader back, and especially so since they were able to get it back to me so quickly here where I'm working in Egypt, even though I bought the device in the US....

12-10-2007, 03:21 PM	#16
EdwardHamer Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: iRex iLiad	Screen Repair Jack, I understand your frustration. I had been extremely pleased with the iLiad which I purchased in August. It provided everything I have been looking for and I had recommended it to a number of colleagues, friends and customers. That was until somebody accidentally leant on the screen and cracked it (not their fault, it was buried under some papers on my desk at work). That’s when my troubles started. I contacted iRex and arranged to send the device to them for repair. I sent it off at the beginning of November and they must have received it about the 8th as they wrote to me to say how much it would cost and that I should buy vouchers to that value on their website. As it happened, I had to buy vouchers to a slightly higher value as they only go in increments of £57.14. I didn’t complain at the time because I needed to get the device repaired and thought it would be a small price to pay to get it back quickly. Since then I have had to chase their technical support team a number of times to try to find out what is happening. I’ve tried writing directly and I’ve tried raising individual cases to obtain a reply, but they only reply about every fourth time I write, saying that they’re waiting a batch of the screens to come in. As you can see, it’s now over a month since they received the device and they’re still unable (or unwilling) to tell me when they will be able to return the device to me. From having been a really happy customer, I’ve become a very disgruntled one with insult having been added to injury by the fact that they’ve had £204 of my money (and the device of course) for over a month. I’m on the verge of telling them that they can keep the device and asking for my money back. This experience will, of course, colour my advice to others about the device.

01-11-2008, 11:32 AM	#21
jackbrown Enthusiast Posts: 36 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: San Francisco USA/North Africa	Well, the minute I bought the repair vouchers, I got two very nice surprises. A reply from the store saying the repair was actually in warranty, and a note from Karel (at Irex support) saying he'd been out of the office on vacation for a couple of weeks, thus his lack of replies, and that now that he was back, he'd cleared up the mix up at the repair center, and that my money would be refunded promptly and they'd do the repair for free. All of which needless to say puts me in a very good mood toward Irex again. My feeling after this (my interaction with Karel and the repairs dept. people) is that when it comes down to it Irex is a very very small operation and they just don't have enough people to deal with weird problems like mine (a repair center mix-up) with any degree of speed and effectiveness. If it was Sony, the replies would have been more prompt, but on the other hand I wonder if they would have ultimately been as nice as Irex... Anyway, assuming the Iliad eventually gets back to me with the screen fault fixed, I will be a very happy customer again...now if they could just line up some newspaper subscriptions!!! Last edited by jackbrown; 01-11-2008 at 11:34 AM. Reason: remove nonfunctioning html tags

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12-27-2007, 04:45 AM	#17
jackbrown Enthusiast Posts: 36 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: San Francisco USA/North Africa	Well, since my initial contact with Karel (here and immediately afterwards in the Irex forums), I have had no word from Irex at all other than a message from one of their engineers saying if I don't pay up by next week, they are going to send my device back to me (now with a broken screen and not just a single line out error). Feels a little bit like extortion at this point, especially since the iliad was working okay before I sent it to them. As EdwardH points out, they are extremely uncommunicative. I am kind of back to square one since not even Karel is replying to my messages.

01-10-2008, 07:07 AM	#20
timofonic Zealot Posts: 123 Karma: 18554 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Spain Device: Onyx Boox M96+	I was going to buy an iLiad, but I'm seriously doubting after this. Maybe in 2008, iLiad will have competitors with even superior capabilities by less money. I'm thinking to wait, I have enough crappy customer support with ISPs of Spain.

01-17-2008, 11:23 AM	#22
jackbrown Enthusiast Posts: 36 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: San Francisco USA/North Africa	Well, three big cheers to Irex and Karel in particular. My Iliad came back yesterday with a nice new screen (It appears they replaced the screen and not just whatever was giving it that odd line-out error pictured at the beginning of the thread). They are refunding the money that I paid. It's still not entirely clear to me what happened, but it appears that the repair center mixed up mine with someone else's when it got sent in, thus explaining the pictures they sent me of an iliad with a smashed screen. I definitely got mine back (although with the memory wiped and the OS upgraded to 2.11) since it has the same MAC address. Although I am annoyed that the repair center people were so uncommunicative with me, so unwilling to listen when I complained that I hadn't sent them and Iliad with a smashed screen, I must commend them for in the end, delivering excellent customer service. Karel's job, which seems to be customer complaints troubleshooter, is an important one. Anyway, I'm happy to have my reader back, and especially so since they were able to get it back to me so quickly here where I'm working in Egypt, even though I bought the device in the US....

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