Roccat denying 2 year warranty - shocking customer service!

dupfold

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Hello

I purchased Roccat Sota mouse mat for £15 10 months ago but already it's become defect. I've had many mats, most of which have been freebies and yet all have lasted many many years, so after spending the most I've ever spent on a mouse mat only for it to become defective in a very short space of time, I was quite disappointed. No worries I thought as there is still plenty warranty left, but how wrong I was.

I contacted Roccat directly but they advised I contact shop. Contacted shop and they advised I need to contact Roccat. After a number of not very helpful emails Roccat finally asked there UK distributors to contact me in order to return defect mat in exchange for replacement.

All well and good, sent mat back (cost £2.49 2nd class recorded), received email back say exchange will be provided but first I need to pay £5.32 for return P&P?! Several emails sent asking why are they attempting to charge me double of what it actually cost to send item? They advised due to extra weight due to new item with packaging being sent etc which is fair enough, but the £5.32 is still overcharging as I know weight of this item with packaging and it still wouldn't come to more than £3.25 1st recorded.

Let me just say here that I know £5.32 is not a lot, but add that to the return p&p I've already paid and I would have paid out over 50% of the original purchase price just to exchange a defect item well within the warranty period. Add to that the already poor service, I felt I needed to take a stand here.

Emails back and forth and I advised if they require P&P paid that they need to invoice Roccat directly and I CC Roccat in on the email.

Distributors eventually came through and advised as a gesture of goodwill they will return via standard non recorded post. Item arrived next day, I thank distributors and I considered matter closed.

I then received the following from Roccat.........

"Hello Mr. Upfold,

I think you´ve forgot something. We said: okay, you´ll get a new mouse mat, we made a step closer to you! We made it possible! And everything we get back is a: “we don´t acting fair”?!

I really regret I don´t ask for a photo of the 24 month warranty part standing on Sota mouse mat and said no, because we never gave 2 year warranty or wrote it on it. And for being nice me and my colleagues getting a freaking out guy.

Mr. Upfold we won´t refund your shipping cost and you need to pay your invoices if you got one.

But I think it was last time we´ve been able to make an exception for our customer. It´s customers like you´re one, making it impossible to doing a god support and find a solution for customers in a way of shake hands. Your attitude is a shame, I won´t risk to do it to my colleagues again.

So please send me a photo of that 24 month warranty part, we won`t do anything for you until we saw it.

Viele Grüße / Kind regards,
Marco Huemer
Tech-Support

[email protected]
ROCCAT STUDIOS V3.0
The Roccstars of Gaming now on twitter, facebook and YouTube:
twitter.com/ROCCAT facebook.com/ROCCAT youtube.com/user/roccatstudios

ROCCAT GmbH
Gasstr. 6 B
22761 Hamburg
Germany"


Throughout all my emails, I put my points across strongly, but in the correct and professional way, so the above attack on me was more than a surprise. My reply....

"This is without a doubt the most unprofessional email I've ever received. It's YOUR attitude that is shocking, not mine! I'm a disgruntled customer with a defect item who has a right to be annoyed. I have not attacked you personally what so ever and expect the same respect in return. I've received better support from private eBay traders than this! Your total lack of professionalism for representing a well established company is nothing short of amazing!

First off I think you need to go back to business school, start from scratch and learn about customer relations all over again; and how they effect your businesses reputation and more importantly your profits. To help you along, here's a good place to start......

http://www.goodcustomerservice.org/p...tomer-service/

The fact that this item comes with 24 months is irritant really as this product became defect well within the standard 12 month period, so you disputing the fact about it coming with 24 months is puzzling. Asking for picture proof of your very own product, that you know as well as I do that it's being sold with 24 months warranty, is shocking and boarding on criminal. After a little research it appears this is not the first time Roccat has sold products claiming 24m warranty only to deny it when a problem arises. This is false advertising and you will be held accountable!

Mr S Morley
"Less than a months usage shouldn't kill a mouse. I could have recieved a faulty profuct, but my experience with Roccat has been bad, and so I can't recommend it."
Source

Gerry Graham
"I had similar issues with Roccat. I had the original Kone and the scroll wheel broke(a known issue). When I contacted Roccat they first feinged ignorance regarding the issue but did'nt want to know in any case. I was fobbed off, so you are correct Roccat's customer support is quite lacking when it comes to their so called 2 year warranty."
Source

DiCe!
" I lost a scroll wheel on a kone and they (Roccat) basically just said tough luck mate thanks for the cash, as they said they don't replace!"

MrZippo
"Yeah, I send an emal back to roccat telling them what's the point of giving 2 year warranty on products if they don't honour it and they will never get my support ever again"

Companies such as yours continue to amaze me. You work so hard creating excellent products (apart from build quality) but then neglect your customer base, your most important asset of all! What your email has done here is not only alienated myself but a great many others too as I will make dam sure I inform as many people as possible about your sorry state of customer 'service'!

Thanks to the professionalism of Linda at Meroncourt, I have already received my replacement mat so require nothing more from you other than for you to go away, stop emailing me and wasting my time.

@ Linda - I would recommend you flag this incident as it appears you are dealing with a bunch of rookies incapable of dealing with problems in the correct way. In turn that will have a detrimental effect on your very own business if they continue to treat customers this way."


I seldom post on forums regarding poor customer service, but this one tops the lot and so felt it necessary to share, and hopefully this will prevent others facing the same problems I have. Needless to say I will never purchase a Roccat product again.
 
Just quote them EU Directive 1994/44/EC.

They don't specifically have to provide a 24 month warranty, it applies to all EU countries, whether they like it or not. Tell them that if they disagree, that maybe they would like to have the matter taken through the European Commission, for failing to abide by the EU directive.

A handy document I found from a link here on AVForums. http://ec.europa.eu/publications/booklets/move/64/en.pdf
 
Thanks Lee. Fortunately the UK distributors were a lot more professional than Roccat and provided me with a replacement. I was lucky as Roccat themselves basically told me to get stuffed!
 
Just quote them EU Directive 1994/44/EC.

They don't specifically have to provide a 24 month warranty, it applies to all EU countries, whether they like it or not. Tell them that if they disagree, that maybe they would like to have the matter taken through the European Commission, for failing to abide by the EU directive.

A handy document I found from a link here on AVForums. http://ec.europa.eu/publications/booklets/move/64/en.pdf
Contrary to what you read on the net, it's not that type of warranty ;) It's a 'guarantee' that the consumer has a minimum 24 month period to claim the statutory rights contained in the Regulations. It gives you the right to seek compensation within 2 years, but no automatic right to demand compensation. After 6 months, it's down to the consumer to demonstrate why the item is inherently faulty. If you can do that, no worries!

If the EU directive meant everything had a 2-year warranty, you'd have to be offered a warraty on consumables and perishables :)

If the seller offer a 24 month warranty, that should offer an easier method of gaining compensation than the EU directive does.
 
I was very close to dropping 60 notes on a Roccat Kone+. Now I think I'll spend my money elsewhere. Appauling service by Roccat, and an almost unintelligable message from the support guy.
 
I know the threads a month old but just to reiterate Roccat are a joke. They would not replace/repair my Kone original when the scroll wheel broke which was a well known defect. I went Logitech after this. Their G9 series mice are well made and they support their products.

Avoid them like the plague especially considering the money their items cost.
 
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Unfortunately not surprising. Horrible company and one for the black list.
 
Dupfold where did you get the Mat from? Sales of Goods act states that it's the resellers responsibility to honour any warranty you don't have to deal with the manufacturer, although the end user covering the postage costs outside of the first 30 days is standard for a lot of companies. Although where I work we cover the cost back to the customer providing the item was found to be defective.

Also @Graham27 EU Sales law doesn't apply in the UK.
 
Got it from Play.com. Used them for years but up until now hadn't had a problem with any items I purchased from them, so hadn't needed to return anything. As there returns are all automated online, after a while the option to return items disappear (30 days in this case). Contacted them and they advised there was nothing they could do and so had to contact the awful Roccat 'customer service'.

Anyway, all sorted now (see above), but nice to see this thread is still kicking about as a warning to others to steer clear of Roccat. Further more my replacement mat is degrading in exactly the same way as my last after just a short period of use.
 
I got lucky with mousemat, found a brilliant one in Maplins, was only around £8 (cant remember for certain but definitely a few quid under a tenner), is aluminium back with a very hard black plastic textured surface. Works fantastically with any mouse and after a good 3 or 4 years, is still in top notch condition! As its hard backed, it lets me use it on the arm of my armchair when im using the projector as a screen...heh. Its also as thin as a foam mat (in fact its possibly thinner! havnt used a traditional mousemat in a while..lol).

Sorry to hear Roccat are a bit ropey on support, one reason I've always stayed with Logitech for me mice....MX/G series, superb build and perfect size for my paws :)
 
One main reason I went for this particular one was of it's large size, which no other could compare to and which I needed for the use of two mouse (two PC's).

Agreed, Logitech is the best! Sat at my PC one day looking around at my tech and realized I have become an unintentional fan boy as most of my tech is Logitech! From my speakers (Logitech Z5500), keyboard (K360) and remote controls (One & 515 x 2!). But to be fair, I am not a normal fan boy just buying their products for the sake of it. I research all products, regardless who makes them and then go for the best and most suited for my purpose, just so happens that it's Logitech products that always come out top!

Fantastic customer service too. My predecessor to the One broke (years of wear and tear) well out of warranty. I wouldn't normally even think of contacting a company if an item is out of warranty, as normally with most companies it hard enough to get them to honour a repair when item is in warranty (as was the case with this mat), let alone out of it, however I heard good things and on the advice of others I contacted them. They told me they wouldn't be able to send me a replacement as it is out of warranty, but instead they gave me 50% off my next Logiteach purchase!
 
Thanks Graham, I have heard of this before but it's the first clear explanation.
 

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