Re: FN-FORUM: Aria Technology .........

date posted 18th August 2003 17:35




I know the feeling - think it was just before Christmas last year I bought
512 DDR off them. Needless to say it didn't work.

I still haven't had a refund and apparently I'm not going to get one - they
said it worked and now want to charge me for independent testing and
reposting before I can have my broken RAM back.

The worst part of all was their condescending customer services team who
basically said - aaahh poor little girl do you know what your doing with a
computer? maybe you should leave it to the experts.....or get a man to do it
for me!!


Avoid like the plague....


Sasha



> "Heads Up"
>
> I recently had to purchase the various 'parts' for a new PC and,
> following a recommendation on the list a couple of months or so ago, I
> had a look at Aria Technology (http://www.aria.co.uk).
>
> I ordered a fair amount of stuff from them and felt it may be useful to
> give some feedback to the folks on the list :
>
> In their favour :
>
> 1. Prices seem pretty good - I found a couple of items cheaper
> elsewhere, but overall I don't think I could've got a much better deal.
>
> 2. Delivery of the orders I placed was prompt - arrived mid-morning the
> next day
>
> 3. Their hot deals (change regularly) are pretty interesting, but need
> to be grabbed promptly - a couple of the items I wanted were hot deals
> one day, and then when I got to placing my order, they weren't any more!
>
> To their detriment :
>
> 1. I placed my order over the 'phone as I wanted some technical
> 'reassurance' that I was ordering the right things. I asked the guy if
> the heat sink/fan I'd chosen was suitable. He assured me it was. In
> actual fact I didn't need it as I'd ordered a P4 processor that came
> with it's own custom heat sink & fan. I had to return this item which,
> had it not been for (2) below, would've cost me money!
>
> 2. The case I ordered had several faults, most of which didn't become
> apparent until most of the kit had been installed. To their credit they
> agreed to replace the case the next day, but insisted that the faulty
> one had to be collected at the same time - this meant I couldn't take
> things out of the faulty case and slap them straight into the new one
> (being a non-technical type person I'd have preferred to 'mirror' the
> changeover).
>
> 3. The second case that was delivered also had a fault - once again,
> this didn't become apparent until I'd re-built the wretched thing! The
> drive bay door lock is faulty. Aria's initial solution was to send me
> another case ..... NOT! After some pressure they agreed to let me have
> a replacement door, but only after they received the faulty one back.
> No matter how much I complained, they would not budge. They agreed they
> would cover the carriage cost of the return, but were resolute in not
> sending the replacement door out first and collecting the faulty one at
> the same time. I spoke to their Sales department and told them they'd
> get no more orders from me if they didn't see sense, but they claimed to
> have no influence over customer support. I asked to speak to the Sales
> Manager, and apparently they don't have one and the MD is filling this
> role - and he doesn't take telephone calls. The Customer Services
> Manager wasn't available and "wouldn't talk to me even if he was".
>
> I did actually manage to repair the lock to the extent that it sort of
> works - it's not ideal but it's a lot less hassle than removing the
> door, trekking to the Post Office, sitting with a semi-naked PC for a
> week and then attaching another door (the door has wiring into the main
> chassis so it's not a straightforward process).
>
> So, I'm not impressed with Aria's post-sales support - not so much the
> fact that they won't remedy problems, but the fact that they take such a
> short-sighted attitude towards customer care.
>
> Rant over .... I'd be interested though to learn if anyone else has had
> good or bad experiences
>
> Kerry
>
>