RS - BAD! - People jumping the queue? - Cancellation failed!

Hi all!

I pre-ordered with RS way back at the start, but it wasn't until 26th June that I actually placed my order.

After numerous shipping delay notifications, I finally decided that it was time to cancel my order, on the 4th October, however the day after, I received a reply stating that I cannot cancel as my order has been "taken for dispatch". Great! That means I'll be receiving it soon, right? Wrong.

Roll on almost another 3 weeks to today and still no PI!

To make matters worse I am seeing on here that other people who ordered after me have got their PIs before me! (my number - #109xxx vs their numbers #130xxx and higher).

So far, my additional emails to RS have gone unanswered.

Do you think my PI has gone missing, or is it simply RS being as bad as we've all found them to be?

have you ordered ONLY pi('s) ???

No, I ordered an SD card, PSU and case too.

Should that make a significant difference?

Does anyone know what "taken for dispatch" actually means?
Is it likely that I'll get the 512Mb version, or will they now claim it is "dispatched" prior to the 15th Oct?

Thanks

What is the average length of time for RS to respond to emails on their PI email address?
My patience is really running out.

[jamesh]

Please ring them - it's often more effective - much harder to ignore a ringing phone than an email.

It really shouldn't be an issue as to which is harder to ignore - this is not even as advanced as basic customer service; they're in clear breach of law in my case and doubtless others. They're a big enough organisation to cope and they've been steadily moving away from only dealing with corporations for a long time now.

I strongly feel it's time the Foundation disassociated itself from RS - AFAIC they're bringing the project into disrepute with their inept approach coupled with their apparent complete indifference to customer service, legal obligations, basic common sense...

It's a good project - but if the first thing people see is just how badly customers get treated by one of your "key" suppliers, they're significantly more likely to be put off.

What I don't get is why doesn't RS put out a sign on the webpage: TEMPORARILY SOLD OUT!
or NOT TAKING MORE ORDERS TEMPORARILY UNTIL BACKLOG IS FINISHED.

They would get some time to catch their breath and people would be able to buy elsewhere. Lead times of months are ridiculous!

instead of that, there's this text "Despatch expected in 4 week(s)" on http://raspberrypi.rsdelivers.com/default.aspx?cl=1
"funny", i'm still waiting since 3rd July

I've just had a reply!!!

They're now asking me to confirm that I am still waiting for my PI.

It is quite interesting that this comes on the next working day after I began the dispute process with my credit card company. Coincidence? Probably.

What is the average length of time for RS to respond to emails on their PI email address?
My patience is really running out.

It deppends. I don't know why, but sometimes they take just a couple of days to reply and some other times it take more than a couple of weeks to have any answer.

I'm waiting for a reply from the Finance department since 14th October.
If I'm living in UK I call to their phone, but from Portugal that's not so easy...

What I don't get is why doesn't RS put out a sign on the webpage: TEMPORARILY SOLD OUT!
or NOT TAKING MORE ORDERS TEMPORARILY UNTIL BACKLOG IS FINISHED.

They would get some time to catch their breath and people would be able to buy elsewhere. Lead times of months are ridiculous!

Why? That's simple:
They take your money right after you order the RPi. Then they tell you need to way several weeks and you think "oh, ok. They should have a lot of orders. That's fine wait a little bit".
A couple of weeks after this you receive an e-mail apologizing about the delay and informing you that it would take more 3 or 4 weeks than the expected.
After that you only want to send them to a pretty ugly place and try to get back your money but you need to wait for it a couple months (or more). Since the time of order to the time you get back your money (if you can really get it back) several months have passed and they use YOUR money as they want.

This is better than go to a back ask for a credit. All the consumers "worked" as a bank but, the best part is, they don't need to worry about the interest rate.

Now I'm thinking, this is the best economical plan ever!

I'll give them until the end of Friday, then I am proceeding with my claim via my credit card company. They told me they can reclaim the money, and hold it for up to 28 days pending their investigation. Even if that is as far as it gets, it my make RS to take notice!

Can I please encourage you to file a complaint with Trading Standards too? All grist to the mill.

I phoned RS again today in another futile attempt to get information about my order. The lady who took the call, once again said that there is no phone number for the PI department, and the only way to communicate is via the email address. She also added they should always respond within 24 hours!

24 hours!!!?

Well I've emailed them again, and reiterated my plan to file a dispute with my credit card company.

In addition, since the Raspberry Pi Foundation seem to be condoning RS's lack of customer service by doing nothing to assist anyone, and by allowing RS to continue unchecked, even if I do manage to reclaim my stolen money, I will not be ordering another, from anywhere.

I've had enough.

I was about to give up too, but then all of a sudden my order arrived last week.

In addition, since the Raspberry Pi Foundation seem to be condoning RS's lack of customer service by doing nothing to assist anyone, and by allowing RS to continue unchecked, even if I do manage to reclaim my stolen money, I will not be ordering another, from anywhere.

I do not think that RPF is condoning RS or their behavior. They signed contracts with two manufacturers each of which agreed to also sell the product. One company has come through, the other (RS) has an infrastructure that is not able to handle the load appropriately. I am sure the RPF are tearing their hair out over this, I read that Liz was bringing the issues in their meetings with RS.

But bottom line is, the Foundation is not rich and even if RS was breaking their contract (and we do not know the terms) the Foundation certainly is not in a financial position to be able to take legal action. That is massively expensive.

What would be nice to know, though, is how long the contracts with RS and ELement14 are in force. When those expire, then the Foundation can choose to renew or not renew the relationships.

Yes RS has very poor customer service. The Foundation does not have any say as to how their "Partners" treat you. If in the future, a new model comes out, I hope the Foundation will take all of these complaints into account, when they form new "Partnership" agreements. I think they would have been ahead of the game now, if they only had just one "Partner".

I have to say that there is no way the Foundation could have known, about how their Partnerships would turn out. That is why "Hind sight is 20/20"!

Just be glad they did not just pick the ONE that is not performing very well! The Foundation may well have been unsuccessful with the Raspberry Pi if that had happened.

One company has come through, the other (RS) has an infrastructure that is not able to handle the load appropriately.

And the excuse for such poor communication and customer service?

The Foundation does not have any say as to how their "Partners" treat you.

They still list RS as one of the stores to buy from, and even knowing how long people are having to wait, there is no warning, unless people search though the forum. At this stage there should be huge red text saying "Don't buy from RS!", plastered at every conceivable order link!

[jamesh]

One company has come through, the other (RS) has an infrastructure that is not able to handle the load appropriately.

And the excuse for such poor communication and customer service?

The Foundation does not have any say as to how their "Partners" treat you.

They still list RS as one of the stores to buy from, and even knowing how long people are having to wait, there is no warning, unless people search though the forum. At this stage there should be huge red text saying "Don't buy from RS!", plastered at every conceivable order link!

Lob is right - there is a contract - which is why you see the RS logo on the Raspberry Pi website. We cannot change that. Big red text would quite simply lay the Foundation open to some pretty nasty legal action. As it is we have to let people make their own decisions.

As to RS's bad customer service and communication, we can only apologise. Strenuous efforts have been made by the Foundation to improve things, but in many ways their hands are completely tied. As Lob said, hindsight is always 20:20. Perhaps if the Foundation crystal ball had predicted massive sales, strained webservers, ineffective distribution etc, perhaps things would have been different, but that's the thing about crystal balls. They don't work.

I suppose you are right really.

Also, I guess that since I get replies here, and not from RS, this end up being an outlet for my nerd rage. So, I apologise for that.

I notice that until today for the last couple of weeks the expected delivery time for a person ordering a new Pi with RS "now" was coming down. 8 weeks down to 4 weeks. Checking this morning it has gone up again to 6 weeks.

Lob is right - there is a contract - which is why you see the RS logo on the Raspberry Pi website. We cannot change that. Big red text would quite simply lay the Foundation open to some pretty nasty legal action. As it is we have to let people make their own decisions.

Contracts cut both ways - and as I've said before, RS' conduct brings the foundation into disrepute, which I'd *hope* was a clause you included (yes, I know it's usually only boilerplate). There's a lot more I could say about their conduct that would doubtless annoy them if they deigned to lower themselves to answering their critics, but it's clearly beneath them.

As to RS's bad customer service and communication, we can only apologise. Strenuous efforts have been made by the Foundation to improve things, but in many ways their hands are completely tied.

I know where the blame lies, and you should not be apologising for it

I'm still working on doing what I can to make their life less pleasant.

Meanwhile, when I need another RasPi, I'll probably go back to Farnell.

Communication 101...

After my cancellation attempt, and following being told I cannot cancel due to it being allocated for dispatch:
(Summarized email trail below)

Me: "Why has my Pi not yet arrived?"

*weeks go by...*

RS: "Can you confirm you are still waiting for the arrival of your parcel?"

Me: "Yes I am still waiting. Have you really dispatched it?"

*weeks go by...*
*patience runs out...*

Me: "I demand that you cancel my order, or I will be taking legal action."

*weeks go by...*

RS: "Can I ask for your authorization to cancel your order."

Is this some kind of game?

[jamesh]

I know where the blame lies, and you should not be apologising for it

I'm still working on doing what I can to make their life less pleasant.

Meanwhile, when I need another RasPi, I'll probably go back to Farnell.

Thanks, but a lot of people DO think it's the Foundation fault for choosing RS and not doing enough to fix any issues that arise. Unfortunately, hindsight is not 20:20, and I am sure if the Foundation people knew then what they know now, things would be done differently, but when you have mortgaged your house to provide funds for the first 10k boards, you really really need to get big distributors on board, and RS are a big distributor, one of the biggest. As to the current situation, who knew?

It is over!

Refund has been paid back to me! Woooop!