Pb tech open box/last unit sell at cost price

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Forums › Bargains and Deals › Pb tech open box/last unit sell at cost price

pmkhoi

34 posts

Geek

#177542 6-Aug-2015 10:35

Hi guys, as per title, might be a bargain if you can find what you want but get it quick as it gone quite fast based on my experience
http://www.pbtech.co.nz/index.php?p=news&id=639&utm_source=OpenBoxAug15&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Retail

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424 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1359878 6-Aug-2015 10:55

I'm wondering whether the price for the HAF XM is a mistake or not... $11.50 for that case sounds too good to be true, even for open box. I don't need a case and the look is only ok but I'm tempted..

Edit: sent an email, hopefully it is actually $11.50 and shipping isn't too much extra since it's a case (and no one else has emailed about it yet)

JEDENZED

437 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

#1360930 7-Aug-2015 21:54

Admin, please delete/advise if this comment needs to go elsewhere.

I ordered a refurbished laptop from the PB Tech "last unit" offers page mentioned above. The price was $661 down from an RRP of $1260.

I very happily received a confirmation email from them at about 3pm today saying:

"Your order has been processed.

We’ll inform you for the update.

Thanks for shopping with us".

The email also included a PDF attachment of an invoice (it doesn't say "invoice" but it lists the item details, cost and provides bank account details for payment to PB Tech).

I went into the store a while later in the hope of them expediting whatever paperwork they needed to do so I could pay for and collect the item before the weekend. After a period of storeroom searching, keyboard tapping and discussion among sales team members, I was advised that the laptop I was purchasing didn't actually exist and was in fact a "ghost" in the system. There followed a period of 30 minutes of a very pleasant sales person looking for an alternative option for me which ultimately came to a halt with a much lower specced machine being offered at it's advertised price, around the $650 mark. The sales person then indicated that this solution was the only one they would provide.

At this point I was in the store for upwards of 45 minutes and rather than pushing the point further with the sales person late on a Friday afternoon, I asked for the manager's details so I could follow up with them instead. I have emailed him explaining the situation to him and requesting a satisfactory alternative to be proposed.

Am I being an unreasonable cry baby for feeling like I should have been offered a similarly specced machine for the agreed price of the one I had been advised I had secured? Should I just accept the fact that the item didn't exist in the system and move on or do PB Tech have a case to answer in maintaining their gold standard of New Zealand's biggest computing and I.T retailer by doing the right thing of a customer acting in good faith?

Thoughts?

mattwnz

20141 posts

Uber Geek

#1360934 7-Aug-2015 22:19

So they sold your one to someone else, or was it a pricing error.? In the context of the cost sale, it doesn't sound like an obvious error.

JEDENZED

437 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

#1360935 7-Aug-2015 22:23

mattwnz: So they sold your one to someone else, or was it a pricing error.?

Apparently neither... They said that the machine had been returned by it's initial buyer as faulty, went back to HP, was refurbished and sold again then returned as open box... after this it seems to have vanished but was still in the system...

My main gripe is that a real person emailed me to say that my order had been processed so my expectation to purchase was set...

pmkhoi

34 posts

Geek

#1360943 7-Aug-2015 23:18

Someone stole it I think, jk.

In that case, I think they should offer a same brand new or refurbished laptop with same price or at reasonable price. They are a big name in NZ so I don't think they lost nothing to do it. Just bad customer service, have you tried to put it on their facebook? Maybe attract more attention imo

JEDENZED

437 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

#1360944 7-Aug-2015 23:28

I'll give the manager I emailed due time to respond to my message before going down the road of a public shaming on FB, if even then. I'm not completely sure if I have a valid argument but I feel my case is legitimate. I hope they will take the opportunity to do right by me and welcome my spend rather than leave me aggrieved and unwilling to ever shop there again...

kiwijunglist

2981 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#1360949 7-Aug-2015 23:53

It's an honest error by them. They have no obligation to sell you the item or an equivalent item. I think in the interest of good customer service, they should give you an extra good deal, but it maybe unrealistic to expect an equivalent deal. "Public shaming" them on facebook, makes you sound like a cry-baby and if I was the manager and you threatened something like that I wouldn't want to help you.

HTPC / Home automation (home assistant) enthusiast.

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JEDENZED

437 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

#1360952 8-Aug-2015 00:03

kiwijunglist: It's an honest error by them. They have no obligation to sell you the item or an equivalent item. I think in the interest of good customer service, they should give you an extra good deal, but it maybe unrealistic to expect an equivalent deal. "Public shaming" them on facebook, makes you sound like a cry-baby and if I was the manager and you threatened something like that I wouldn't want to help you.

I quite agree, the public shaming practice to which some people subscribe is really not my style and certainly no way to get a company representative on your side. It does have its place though in some cases, I'm just not convinced that this is one of those... I do however feel there's more to it than just a simple honest error - it's the result of a series of errors, the primary of which is a sales person confirming my order without completing due diligence and thus setting my expectations falsely (if not intentionally).

My whole point for posting in the first place though was to get objective feedback on my position and I thank you for providing yours this evening :)

droidxt

45 posts

Geek

#1362855 11-Aug-2015 14:06

Sent an email regarding the COOLER MASTER HYPER 212 EVO for $33.93 but no reply from them :/

richms

28168 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1362858 11-Aug-2015 14:09

No way I would buy an open box without seeing it.

Seen too many scratched up missing bits things to risk it.

Richard rich.ms

Tzoi

424 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1362861 11-Aug-2015 14:15

I would guess no reply means someone else got it, they probably can't reply to everyone who emailed in

Satch

1985 posts

Uber Geek

#1363578 12-Aug-2015 11:56

Tzoi: I would guess no reply means someone else got it, they probably can't reply to everyone who emailed in

Or....they could practice good customer service and respond to their customers. They could also treat people who miss out as leads and offer them comparable products. Ignoring emails is bad form in my books.

Tzoi

424 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1363609 12-Aug-2015 12:51

pb tech..... good customer service? haha

While yes it would be nice, I wasn't expecting anything more from pb tech

graemeh

2078 posts

Uber Geek

#1363665 12-Aug-2015 13:52

Tzoi: pb tech..... good customer service? haha

While yes it would be nice, I wasn't expecting anything more from pb tech

I see they haven't changed but with the deals they have I'm willing to put up with average service.

networkn

Networkn
32349 posts

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#1364683 12-Aug-2015 14:53

JEDENZED: Admin, please delete/advise if this comment needs to go elsewhere.

I ordered a refurbished laptop from the PB Tech "last unit" offers page mentioned above. The price was $661 down from an RRP of $1260.

I very happily received a confirmation email from them at about 3pm today saying:
"Your order has been processed. We’ll inform you for the update. Thanks for shopping with us".
The email also included a PDF attachment of an invoice (it doesn't say "invoice" but it lists the item details, cost and provides bank account details for payment to PB Tech).

I went into the store a while later in the hope of them expediting whatever paperwork they needed to do so I could pay for and collect the item before the weekend. After a period of storeroom searching, keyboard tapping and discussion among sales team members, I was advised that the laptop I was purchasing didn't actually exist and was in fact a "ghost" in the system. There followed a period of 30 minutes of a very pleasant sales person looking for an alternative option for me which ultimately came to a halt with a much lower specced machine being offered at it's advertised price, around the $650 mark. The sales person then indicated that this solution was the only one they would provide.

At this point I was in the store for upwards of 45 minutes and rather than pushing the point further with the sales person late on a Friday afternoon, I asked for the manager's details so I could follow up with them instead. I have emailed him explaining the situation to him and requesting a satisfactory alternative to be proposed.

Am I being an unreasonable cry baby for feeling like I should have been offered a similarly specced machine for the agreed price of the one I had been advised I had secured? Should I just accept the fact that the item didn't exist in the system and move on or do PB Tech have a case to answer in maintaining their gold standard of New Zealand's biggest computing and I.T retailer by doing the right thing of a customer acting in good faith?

Thoughts?

Yes I think you are being unreasonable, and I mean that in the nicest way. Mistakes happen. They made a reasonable effort to find the item and tried to find a solution.

I think chalk it down to a relatively minor issue and move on.

You seem too reasonable to seriously publicly shame a company for a genuine mistake.

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