# Scan computerss, oh how I (don't) love you



## Aastii

This is the company that, apparently, has won award after award for customer services, but how they got them, I really do not know. For those that aren't aware of the goings on of the last 4 months:

December 2009 - Bought an Asus M4A79XTD EVO mobo from Scan

20th November 2010 (d-day) - Deduce that from all tests I've done, motherboard is most likely dead. Return to Scan because Asus warranty states you return a motherboard still in warranty to your place of purchase. I get quoted "it can take up to 28 days"

December 11th 2010 (d-day +21) - Call Scan to ask where it is up to. They say it is with Asus and they will email them to ask where it is up to, then forward the email on to me.

December 18th 2010 (d-day + 28) - Call again, 28 day mark since return, no email received. Ask where it is up to, get told they will email Asus and forward it to me.

December 21st 2010 (d-day + 28) - Call again, no email received. Ask where it is up to, get told they will email Asus and forward it to me.

December 29th 2010 (d-day + 36) - Go in store to buy my new case and ask about it. Don't know where it is up to, will email Asus to ask, and forward it to me

January 8th 2011 (d-day + 46) - Call again, no email received. Ask where it is up to, get told they will email Asus and forward it to me.

January 15th 2011 (d-day + 53) - Call again, no email received. Ask where it is up to, get told they will email Asus and forward it to me.

January 21st 2011 (d-day + 59) - Call again, no email received. Ask where it is up to, get told they could not offer a replacement, so offered me ~£52 due to depreciation, worth £2, and for usage, and I tell them to stick it (nicely of course)

I call trading standards who say what they are offering is reasonable and perfectly with in the law, however the service is less than satisfactory, but it isn't anything the law can deal with. The best I can do is tell them how it has afected me and what I expect them to do.

Januay 22nd 2011 (D-day + 60) - go in store and go to customer returns desk and explain the situation. Am met by an extremely rude member of staff who I have dealt with before and every time, has a disgusting attitude (asian looking with long hair, usually in a pony tail) who says out right they can't and won't do everything.

I kick off, and the floor manager and another higher up member of staff come over. I explain the situation, the other member of staff goes to the back and comes out around 10 mins later and says they are replacing the board out right free of charge because of the standard of customer service, which I am happy with, once again, Sca are in my good books.

January 27th 2011 - Notice that a fan header isn't working. Test the fan on another fan header, all is well, test another fan on that header, no joy. Call Scan, they say bring it in and it will be replaced straight away

January 29th 2011 (second return) - As I remove the board, I notice that the circuitry to/from the fan header is damaged. I take it in anyway, they say they will replace it, but then find me in store a couple minutes later and say there is damage on the board, so I come back over.

I am told, surprise surprise from the same guy who has the attitude problem, and I quote "it is your fault so we can't do anything" to which I ask how, and am told "anything could have caused it, probably changing settings"

I said show me a setting for changing the fan speed to a point where it will draw too much current. I said the fan works on other headers, so the fan isn't at fault, the motherboard works perfectly fine, just not that header, so it is clearly that fan header that is defective, not how I built the system, how I use the system or any other part and I don't appreciate them saying it is my fault or putting down my ability to build or use computers, and again, I wish to see management because this is not my fault and I would like to work out a solution here and now, rather than dragging this all out for the second time.

Whilst he is out back getting management, the other bloke on the desk says it isn't that it is for sure your fault, it is that if there is any sort of physical defect, your warranty is void. If we can say there is a possibility it is your fault, which every physical defect allows us to do, we can't offer you any sort of warranty replacement.

I said I understand that, I know how the system works and to be honest, when I noticed it this morning I expected something like this, but when I know it isn't my fault and you get someone like that trying to undermine you, you don't expect that from a company that apparently prides themselves on their customer service. He didn't say anything, but he didn't need to, he just nodded in agreement, like he did last time I kicked off at the pony tail bloke the last time I was in.

He came back with management (different bloke to last time) who explained what I already knew about warranty service and that he actually knew about my prior experience because it had been brought up in a meeting. I said it isn't the warranty that I have an issue with, it is that I want some kind of solution, but not to be told "up to 28 days" and then for you to take 60 days and be another 2 months without a system.

He said he understands that, and usually it will take up to 28 days, but with the snow, holidays and with it being in the Netherlands, it can take longer than that.

I said that isn't my fault, you said 28 days and if you don't think you can fulfil it, don't state it. You knew from the start there would be Christmas and New Year near the point when you said it should return, buy even if you take out the days of snow, the holidays and, to give you even more benefit of the doubt, weekends, it is well over 28 days. To then also say it is in another country, I don't work in the field, it is just a hobby, and I know it is in another country. You know it always has to go there, so why quote 28 days then use that as an excuse? If you know it COULD take 40 days, you say it could take up to 50 days to give you the most and then a bit, rather than quoting an "ideal" time.

He said yea I understand. What we can do for you is give you one of our B-Grade boards as a loan so you aren't without a computer and send the board off. You won't get a replacement, but they may be able to repair it, so of course, I agreed.

He took me to the back where I had to explain that I needed AM3 and why AM2+ wouldn't be enough. Bare in mind this is a guy that works for a computer company, but doesn't know about technology that has been out for years . I ask him how long do you think it will be until the board is back? He said it will usually take up to 28 days, I said we'll see shall we. I got a board, went back down and went home quite happy.

February 12th 2011 (Second Return + 21) - Call to ask where it is up to, get told they will email Asus and forward it to me.

February 19th (second return + 28) - Call again, no email received. Ask where it is up to, get told they will email Asus and forward it to me. I say it has, once again, been 28 days and we have no board, where do you keep getting this figure from?

He said with repairs it could take more, and whoever quoted 28 days shouldn't have because the likelihood is, it will take longer. I said to him it isn't my fault your company can't communicate properly or stick to time frames, but now your companies lack of professionalism is again affecting me getting my computer back.

He said we actually don't have a record of you, your phone number or your email and all I could manage to say to that was what? I gave him my details, but how the hell can a company lose details that they have received no less than 4 times? (once when I first ordered it, once when I bought my case, once when I got the replacement board the first time and once when I gave my board in the second time)

March 8th (Second Return + 45) - Receive 3 emails from Scan:

First Email:



> MR ******,
> 
> Dear Mr ******,
> Your ASUS M4A79XTD EVO MOBO (SCIL-7315033337) is back from Supplier. It has been repaired. Please collect the motherboard over Technical Reception quoting the above RMA.
> Thank you.
> 
> 
> Rena
> Scan Computers



Second Email:



> Name: MR *****
> 
> Current status of your RMA: Rejected
> 
> We can confirm your returned goods have now been inspected by our technicians and the warranty has been rejected.  Please contact our returns staff for assistance.
> 
> You can also view the real time status of your RMA using our online returns tracking: http://web6.scan.co.uk/aspnet/Support/ReturnsTracking.aspx
> 
> Please check your emails for further updates and thank you for your patience while we deal with your RMA.
> 
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Scan Computers



Bit of a contradiction, but I assume they mean it has been repaired, but, as I already knew, the warranty is still void. I then receive the third and final email:



> Dear Mr ******,
> Sorry wrong email sent. It has been rejected by Supplier: track damage.It is back at Scan Computers. Please kindly pick up the rejected motherboard from Technical Reception quoting the above RMA.



This is a company that:


Can not give any sort of realistic time frame
Has members of staff that show no interest in their customers or how they are treated
Have senior members of staff with apparently very little knowledge of technology from the last few years
Are unable to do something as simple as forward an email when they say they will, or at least send an email to say "we haven't received an email yet"
Can't maintain customer records
Can't send their own emails properly

Aria, Ebuyer, Overclockers.co.uk, you have a now permanent buyer because if Scan think they are getting any more custom off me, they have another thing coming


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## voyagerfan99

Bloody hell! That's ridiculous!


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## fastdude

Ouch. I can see why you'd never want to shop with them again


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## PohTayToez

Pretty ridiculous.  What sort of computer shop doesn't simply switch out a defective part with a replacement?  If you get a defective part from Newegg you can actually have them send you the replacement before you send back the original.


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## Aastii

PohTayToez said:


> Pretty ridiculous.  What sort of computer shop doesn't simply switch out a defective part with a replacement?  If you get a defective part from Newegg you can actually have them send you the replacement before you send back the original.



This was the second thing that got me, after the ridiculous 60 day wait. Everyone that I mentioned this to said you get warranty, you expect a replacement. They say it has depreciated or anything else, I don't care, I payed for a product, I expect the product, and I expect the warranty to replace a defective product.

To be honest, I think it is as much Asus' fault as it is Scan's. I mean, according to Scan, the time that they, their supplier and their transport company had the board was ~2 weeks, which I can believe, 1 week there, 1 week back seems about right, so it takes Asus 46 days to say "yea it doesn't work". All other warranty services I've used have had a product back to me with in 3 weeks, so as I said the first time I got the replacement, I'm not dealing with Asus anyway. ASRock (who use a different warranty service even though they are owned by Asus), Gigabyte and MSI here I come


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## jamesd1981

think scan have a bad attitude in general, no matter how much you spend with them you dont get free delivery.


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## CrayonMuncher

Mate I just logged into to say that is ridiculous.
I cant believe how long that story was and without a good ending, that is awful.

I have never used scan personally online or in a shop, and I wont ever be, but the majority of people that work in the shops usually know nothing and are not the easiest people to talk round either.


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## Aastii

innercx said:


> Mate I just logged into to say that is ridiculous.
> I cant believe how long that story was and without a good ending, that is awful.
> 
> I have never used scan personally online or in a shop, and I wont ever be, but the majority of people that work in the shops usually know nothing and are not the easiest people to talk round either.



I would have swore by their customer service before this. Once I've had to deal with them before and it went smoothly, but this has taken the biscuit. If they ever change management, if they ever claimed to have gone through a massive change, I will try them again, but never again for something expensive because it isn't worth the time and hassle

Oh, I should also point out thanks to a combined Scan/Asus effort, in the last 4 months I've had my main system for a whole 1 week


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## CrayonMuncher

Is it up and running now? or are you still without your main system?


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## Aastii

innercx said:


> Is it up and running now? or are you still without your main system?



I only got the email today. Will probably be going to Bolton on Saturday to go pick it up


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## Rocko

Man, just reading this makes me upset. I hope you are able to get your main rig up and running real soon.


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## Aastii

Rocko said:


> Man, just reading this makes me upset. I hope you are able to get your main rig up and running real soon.



Well with the time It's taken, I'm considering selling my CPU/mobo and going to a 1155 set up. I think I may hold for now though, see how 2011 turns out (Will save until then) and bulldozer, then make a decision then. Still, 4 months in computer terms is maybe a quater - a third lifetime for a component


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## Shane

Wow that really bad,Luckily ive only purchased from Scan once...but from reading this i think il stick to my usual Ebuyer,Overclockers and Ebay.

Im very suprised about the Asus mobo though,Usualy Asus boards are quite good no matter of the budget.


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## Aastii

Nevakonaza said:


> Wow that really bad,Luckily ive only purchased from Scan once...but from reading this i think il stick to my usual Ebuyer,Overclockers and Ebay.
> 
> Im very suprised about the Asus mobo though,Usualy Asus boards are quite good no matter of the budget.



Honestly a minor fault such as a fan header being faulty I don't think detracts from the quality all that much. I mean it isn't good that it got through testing, but it isn't exactly a major fault. It is a good board, but, for the hassle from warranty, I would sooner go for a Gigabyte, ASRock or MSI board


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## linkin

That's really shocking support. I think it would have been worth a shot contacting Asus directly though. You never know.

If I am ever in the UK for whatever reason, I'll be avoiding scan


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## Aastii

linkin said:


> That's really shocking support. I think it would have been worth a shot contacting Asus directly though. You never know.
> 
> If I am ever in the UK for whatever reason, I'll be avoiding scan



You try finding an Asus contact number, by which I mean one where they pick up with in half an hour, and when you are paying premium rates to be kept on hold, that doesn't come cheap.

If I happened to email, you are looking at days wait to get some automated response or one from some minimum wage chinese or indian who can't help, so what is the point?

Besides, my contract is with Scan, not Asus, it is Scan's responsibility to give me the correct support and service, and if that means them going out of their way to give the customer the support that they promised, then they should do.

The little gestures they made - giving me a full replacement board, which should have been done anyway so imo, shouldn't count as a gesture, and giving me a loan board this time round was nice, but it does not even begin to make up the time wasted with this, or with the attitude of their workers. If every one of their workers had the attitude of the management staff, I have full confidence that it all would have gone smoothly because to be fair to them, the floor manager and the other bloke I saw when I first came to collect the replacement board were extremely helpful, but the whole way that most of their floor staff carry themselves and speak to customers is awful


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## apj101

aastii you are in the UK right!? you could just walk into the store pick upi another of the boards you need from the self and walk out with it. Heck leave you name and address and a copy of this post. 
They would never prosecute you, firstly because technically shoplifting is not prosecutable on a first offence, nor will they even charge you. Secondly scan would attempt to press charges. 

And you are under the UK consumer protection law, the warranty issue is irrelevant under consumer goods act you are not satisfied with the product...thats all you need (it probably falls under the header of not fit for purpose as well)

Just tell them they can have there board back when they fix the issue. 

Trading standards were correct but also didnt tell you all your options available, try citizens advice. 
Personally I would also write this all down and send a letter owner of the company, send cc the letter to the store manager. The company has operational office at 

25-28 Enterprise Park, Middlebrook, Horwich, Bolton, BL6 6PE (so send a copy of the letter there)

However the business was incorporated at 
SCAN COMPUTERS INTERNATIONAL LIMITED
56 CHORLEY NEW ROAD 
BOLTON 
LANCS 
BL1 4AP 
Company No. 02620081

in 1991 
the founder was Mr Shelley Raja and from what I can see he still runs the business...you can bet your bottom dollar that the initial incorporation address is still valid head office. The about us page suggests its still family run, so its most likely still in the hands of the Raja family...just send another copy of the letter to him at the Chorley Road. (and make it clear on all the letters who you have cc'd, thats kinda like an email but you just write a line cc: on the letter). 

As well as the above address for SCAN COMPUTERS INTERNATIONAL LIMITED there is also another entity called SCAN COMPUTERS (UK) LIMITED which i suspect is the actual trading business whereas the SCAN COMPUTERS INTERNATIONAL LIMITED is the holding company. BOTH are registered to the Chorley New Road.
EDIT: I note that the Raja family run a few businesses, it seems they have a business called 
House Of Rajas Ltd (run by what I assume is the sister Sital Raja-Arjan)
which is ALSO based out of 56 Chorley New Road, so that looks to be the place to head office matters on their family empire 

In your letter be sure to be a polite as you can, not smart-arse...not that you were above btw. Your facts speak for themselves. Emphasis how you LOVE his business, always recommend it to your friends, shop there often etc. Try see it from his perspective and say you understand about the snow, the need to mail off the board etc. Emphasis that you know he is trying to run a quality business with a reputation for good customer service (quote the awards they have won) and that you are writing to him to "let him know"  about the problems...like you are doing _him_ a favor. Make sure he can get in touch if he wants to. The store manager will read the letter an likely take action. 

PS: a few more details on the owner his full name is Shailendra Shelley Raja, he still seems pretty young so he must have set the company up when he was very young, he likes fast cars (driver a Nissan GTR), gadgets, working out. His working title is Managing Director. He is in the top 100 richest Asians in the UK, has won:
 Business Person of the Year and scooped the Innovation in Business prize at the Bolton and Bury Business Awards.
1999–award for e-commerce in business (sponsored by B.T)
1999–business person of the year (sponsored by Bolton metro)
2000–award for e-commerce in business (sponsored by BT) from 1997 to date annual awards from Iyama monitors from Japan for selling the most monitors in the UK from 1997 to date annual awards from Chaintech Motherboards in Germany for selling the most motherboards in the UK from 2000 to date annual awards from Abit in Taiwan for selling the most motherboards in the UK

PS: You contract is with Scan, NOT asus. You can demand replacements and refunds from Scan and THEY have to chase things with ASUS.
PPS: If you do write them, i can stress enough to be nice, there is no point going is saying how crap his business is or useless his staff, you will get his back up straight away.


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## Aastii

Just got another email from them, actually 2 days ago but I didn't check:



> MR ******,
> 
> Please ignore the emails sent to yourself incorrectly, what has actually happened is that the supplier has rejected the board, which i knew they would, but we have now asked them to forward this to Asus for their Technical report, hopefully they will accept the board and replace.
> 
> Wesley
> Scan Computers



I don't understand what that means, whether any action has been or will be taken. Have asked for clarification but we will see what they say...


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## mihir

This is completely ridiculous.I never expected this kind of service outside India or Dubai.But even I have experienced those things where the brain-less shopkeepers doubt your computer knowledge.But this long for warranty cover was only when I gave my Memory for warranty cover.They took 3 months and the guy was not ready to give it back to me.He was ready to give me OCZ 2000MHz 2Gb instead of my corsair 1600MHz 2Gb.


Anyways Scan is owned by Indians.I would accept such a crappy service since none of the indian stores understand the meaning of proper service.Its in the Indian mentality just sell it and forget it.

If I were you I would have screamed like hell at them until they had given me a free motherboard + a throw in TIM


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## Aastii

Update:

Called today, they have sent it off again without telling me (that is what the emails said. Prizes for understanding that...), another 2 months gone now. The woman over the phone hung up on me because I had a go saying well that is another 2 months I will be waiting. I assume she hung up at least, saying "hello?" quite a few times down the phone didn't grab her attention, but me saying "she ****ing hung up on me" in disbelief, when the phone was away from my ear, somehow did and she said she would put me on hold because she isn't having me effing and jeffing, so at that point, I hung up. Tried to remain calm and up until that point I was, and I did not say anything rude or untoward, simply told her that the entire situation is a joke and that I am now almost certainly going to be waiting another 2 months, didn't mention what I now think of the company, didn't mention anything but the situation and my frustration with it

I then, a couple of minutes later, got a call from the manager that I spoke to when I handed the board in the second time, explained what has happened since and he said that they recently got a batch of my board in and may be able to offer a replacement (2 months later)

Can nobody but management in that company use a bit of common sense. Why they couldn't just do this on the day, I don't know.

Oh, it was 5 months on Sunday by the way 


=EDIT=

Just got a call back from Scan, they are going to send me out a new replacement which should be here Thursday.


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## linkin

Sounds like a mess, don't you love large companies?


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## fastdude

At last eh ^

I liked this epic saga 

Hope you get the replacement soon


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## Aastii

fastdude said:


> At last eh ^
> 
> I liked this epic saga
> 
> Hope you get the replacement soon



Well it is Scan's time scale:

28 days has ranged from 49 to 60
A couple of minutes was nearly an hour
Let's see what 2 days turns out to be 

To be fair, it is City Link that deliver for Scan, and they are usually pretty reliable, if Scan had a delivery service that they run themselves, then I'd be worrying a little

=EDIT=

I've got this spare Gigabyte board that they loaned to me too. It doesn't seem to work even with swapping everything but the CPU out, which is supported and known to work, so they said just keep it because it will cost them more to do something with it. Will see about putting it on here or ebay, some bugger will want it


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## linkin

Aastii said:


> Well it is Scan's time scale:
> 
> 28 days has ranged from 49 to 60
> A couple of minutes was nearly an hour
> Let's see what 2 days turns out to be
> 
> To be fair, it is City Link that deliver for Scan, and they are usually pretty reliable, if Scan had a delivery service that they run themselves, then I'd be worrying a little
> 
> =EDIT=
> 
> I've got this spare Gigabyte board that they loaned to me too. It doesn't seem to work even with swapping everything but the CPU out, which is supported and known to work, so they said just keep it because it will cost them more to do something with it. Will see about putting it on here or ebay, some bugger will want it



That's the spirit. Make some sod on ebay suffer for your problem  Gotta love ebay


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## Aastii

linkin said:


> That's the spirit. Make some sod on ebay suffer for your problem  Gotta love ebay



haha no, it isn't my other board, they will keep that and they can have it and shove it where the sun don't shine. This one is a Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P that they loaned to me, but it doesn't POST, it doesn't do anything, the fans just cycle through but it doesn't want to give any display or get past POSTing


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## S.T.A.R.S.

Oh man lol!This Scan company really sucks! xD

Hell even my services are a lot better then theirs and my clients never complained .

But 5 months of waiting for one single part to be replaced...that is...OMFG LOOOL!!!
The longest period that one of my clients had to wait was 12 days,but that was only once because I needed to order the missing part and at the end I fixed his system in total and he was happy and 1 month later he came back because he wated me to fix his sister's computer too lol.

Big companies like Scan sucks lol xD


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## StrangleHold

That is wild. All that over a motherboard. I would have already injured somebody. You would be amazed of the places you can cram a motherboard. But of course I would be out of jail on bail right now. lol


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