Dishonest Smith Electronics (DSE.com.au) - Are We All Fed up?

Ok. My first forum post. I need to get off my chest my 'experience' with DSE in the past few days and weeks, but first my last two days.

Here is the sequence of dodgy events:

  1. Mon 29 Sept 2014, tried to buy a $10 gift card for $5 with the 10FOR5 code. Code worked well, plenty of 'stock'. Now I say 'stock' because its a gift card, which is a token for credit, the same way paper money which has limited physical production value, as opposed to gold or silver.
  2. Ordered processed via credit card with my account, same as previous order the day before for a different product. Note my credit cards are never over credit or bad rating etc.
  3. Emailed received showing purchase and general details etc.
  4. Got second email rejecting my purchase dut to 'Unverified Credit Card details' stating that a refund will be in progress but that I am able to call and do direct debit if i like.
  5. I call for the direct debit option. Got through straight away Tuesday morning around 9am and the last started to refuse my option for paying over the phone but eventually agreed to the direct debit option, as offered in the email. She said an email will be sent out with the direct debit details immediately.
  6. Four hours later and no email, i called back. Different lady told me that Maggie, the original lady, forgot to send the email and they were sorry. She will send it now immediately.
  7. An hour late and no email so I tried calling back. Was hung up by the system phone 5 times in a space of 20 min or redials.
  8. Feed up, I sent an email to DSE online contact us telling them I was filing a complaint with the ACCC over their actions based on the ACCC information of misleading customers to deals and promotions.
  9. Within 5 minutes of submitting my online complaint I received three phone calls from DSE outbound only phone number (i.e. you can't call them back on that number). I missed the first two calls but on answering the third call I was told that my order was ORIGINALLY cancelled due to lack of stock. A gift card, lack of stock. I then asked why I was given all these excuses about 'unverified' credit card details if lack of stock was the real reason (even though i purchased almost immediately when gift card token was available. She had no response other than the usual 'We are sorry we cannot fulfil your order'.
  10. This morning, Wed Oct 1, another sale for the gift cards came online. But if there is no stock then how can you sell them?
  11. Post this on OzBargain.

Two weeks ago same thing happen to me with two other deals on DSE where there was stock when advertised then later rejected by various excuses(id like to call them lies but gut feeling isn't enough to go on).

Im hearing a lot of similar things happening on here from a lot of different people. Please post your experiences below.

EDIT: Here is their direct number 02 9642 9100. Call and give them some feedback. I think its worth it while.

EDIT: Another number that may help 1300366644

Related Stores

Dick Smith / Kogan
Dick Smith / Kogan
Marketplace

Comments

  • +5

    Other day I purchased $0.01 Rc Car and after 2 hours I received call from my local DS store that it was an price error, after explaining him about the previous price error the store manager says there is nothing he can do about this.

    So I called DS Customer service, after waiting for 40 Min on phone I hang up the phone and Send message to DS Facebook Page, got a Reply from the FB rep that my complaint is being forwarded and some will contact me shortly, Then Receive a call from Customer service rep saying they have sent my complaint to head office and will call me tomorrow (Tuesday) and no one calls me yet.

    Now I have Put a complaint on there website hopefully I will get a reply.

    Otherwise I will contact ACCC.

    Don't know how they can do same mistake several time.

    • +2

      They can't. Statistically it isn't possible. They either doing it on purpose or have the worlds worst e-Commerce system!

      • +10

        There are a couple of things I should draw attention to.

        Firstly, using the word "statistics" or "statistically" only strengthens your argument to those who don't know any better. I'm university educated in statistics and what you've just said there (that it's not statistically possible for DSE to have so many errors…etc.) is completely meaningless. If you want to make a statistical argument, go out there, collect data on DSE and other retailers and then conduct the relevant hypothesis tests. It's like if I were to say "statistically, X is a (profanity)", that means nothing.

        Now, to the other points you have raised.

        Mon 29 Sept 2014, tried to buy a $10 gift card for $5 with the 10FOR5 code. Code worked well, plenty of 'stock'. Now I say 'stock' because its a gift card, which is a token for credit, the same way paper money which has limited physical production value, as opposed to gold or silver.

        What are you talking about? What is a "token for credit"? The amount of stock they have is the amount they wish to sell. They are not obliged to sell any certain number of products. If they decide that they want to sell 500 gift cards for this promotion and 500 have been sold, then they are "out of stock".

        Feed up, I sent an email to DSE online contact us telling them I was filing a complaint with the ACCC over their actions based on the ACCC information of misleading customers to deals and promotions.

        Good luck with that. Plenty of people managed to get through DSE deals just fine. The ACCC aren't going to care about one sore loser who can't accept that he missed out on a bargain. Again, DSE is not obliged to sell to you. Unfortunately the only thing they've really done to you is given you a runaround, which is hardly against any consumer laws. Nobody has "misled" you.

        Within 5 minutes of submitting my online complaint I received three phone calls from DSE outbound only phone number (i.e. you can't call them back on that number). I missed the first two calls but on answering the third call I was told that my order was ORIGINALLY cancelled due to lack of stock. A gift card, lack of stock. I then asked why I was given all these excuses about 'unverified' credit card details if lack of stock was the real reason (even though i purchased almost immediately when gift card token was available. She had no response other than the usual 'We are sorry we cannot fulfil your order'.

        Get it through your thick head that the amount of stock for something like a gift card is the amount they want to sell. There is no obligation for them to continue providing gift cards at the discounted price. It's like if I was to say, "hey, I'm going to give out $10 bills in the city tomorrow in exchange for $5 bills", I'm allowed to give away one, two, three or however many I like. Just because I have more money doesn't mean that I am obliged to give it away. Same applies to DSE.

        This morning, Wed Oct 1, another sale for the gift cards came online. But if there is no stock then how can you sell them?

        They decided to have another sale. Just like if I decided to come home and then go back to the city and do my $10 for $5 giveaway again. Nothing wrong with that.

        Two weeks ago same thing happen to me with two other deals on DSE where there was stock when advertised then later rejected by various excuses(id like to call them lies but gut feeling isn't enough to go on).

        Well that's the risk you take with bargain hunting.

        Sorry buddy, but people like you are ruining bargain hunting for everyone. You need to understand that bargain hunting is as close to a free ride as you will get in life. Sometimes you win and you get a bargain, sometimes you lose and you get nothing. Believe me, there are no investments, whether it be in shares, property or any other asset class, where you always get a positive return. Bargain hunting is the only one.

        Approach investing in shares with your entitlement mentality and you'll be out in a few days. Look at it fairly and without the emotion of a sore loser and think about what you've lost and what you've gained. Have you lost anything in trying to get a $10 gift card for $5? Probably like a minute of your time processing the order. So essentially, you haven't really lost anything. Have you gained from DSE deals in the past? They're always on OzBargain, so you probably have. Be happy that your overall return is still positive, and it always will be. You can't "lose money" bargain hunting.

        Anyway, the more you have that sort of entitlement mentality, the less you're going to enjoy bargain hunting, the less you'll enjoy the stuff you do manage to get for cheap.

        • -4

          Ok, heres my rebuttal:

          1. "If you want to make a statistical argument, go out there, collect data on DSE and other retailers and then conduct the relevant hypothesis tests". Data collected, its called seeing posts on Ozbargain of unhappy DSE consumers VS HN/OW/BIGW/etc etc and DSE wins out.

          2. "If they decide that they want to sell 500 gift cards for this promotion and 500 have been sold, then they are "out of stock". Bought mine at start of deal. Received payment email. Saw posts on people getting codes for $5, i.e. not physical cards. If the deal has run out of 'stock', i.e. only limited to the first 500 then you then have OUT OF STOCK or TEMPORARILY UNAVAILABLE on your stock levels on your add to cart link. Don't try and use the excuse that their computer system is terrible, to crap, its the 21st century.

          3. "The ACCC aren't going to care about one sore loser who can't accept that he missed out on a bargain." Probably not. Read some posts, I'm not the only one putting ACCC complaints in. Ever heard the saying, 'but I'm only one man? what can I do?' Have a look at the guy who's Guitar was broken by United Airlines on Youtube and he wrote a song about it.Sent UA stock prices crashing.

          4. "Get it through your thick head that the amount of stock for something like a gift card is the amount they want to sell." See point 2 above. Also if you read the post you see I was GUARANTEED stock with payment via Direct Deposit. This was a second phone call.

          5. "They decided to have another sale." So, no physical stock as you say in your first points. Trying to tell me they won't honour my original purchase when they 'had no stock' now when another sale is on? Ever heard of a 'Rain Check'. If you want good customer service you email the customer and say we now have stock and your order is processed or would you like to buy some we now have stock.

          6. "Well that's the risk you take with bargain hunting." These are called 'sales' mate. Sales. Don't think putting the word 'bargain' on it means that its like some rare garage sale you happen to come across and buy a Picasso cheap or something. Its what business do to entice you to STAY with them as customers, i.e. not go else where for the same product.

          As for your other comments, there are tons of people buying sale items and selling them elsewhere and making a living off it. Im not one of those people but don't be blind in thinking that "there are no investments, whether it be in shares, property or any other asset class, where you always get a positive return." Just look on eBay after a massive OzBargain post, strangely enough you will see the same stock listed new with a higher price tag.

          Im not going to get into a back and forth PROS and CONS of bargain/sales hunting. My forum post is well valid and the amount of replies here for the same dodgy doings is incredible and well received.

        • +2

          @clarky:

          Data collected, its called seeing posts on Ozbargain of unhappy DSE consumers VS HN/OW/BIGW/etc etc and DSE wins out.

          Really? So far a lot of people here seem to be very happy with DSE bargains. Also, you forget that HN/OW/BIGW…etc. account for much smaller number of bargains than DSE does. Hence, you already have a size bias - i.e. more DSE bargains, obviously more DSE complaints. Also, this isn't really data. What a lot of people don't realise is there's a lot more to data interpretation than just going out, doing a survey and saying, "look! lots of complaints for DSE!". If it was that easy, people wouldn't have to go to university to study statistics and inference and statisticians wouldn't be as well paid as they currently are!

          Bought mine at start of deal. Received payment email. Saw posts on people getting codes for $5, i.e. not physical cards. If the deal has run out of 'stock', i.e. only limited to the first 500 then you then have OUT OF STOCK or TEMPORARILY UNAVAILABLE on your stock levels on your add to cart link. Don't try and use the excuse that their computer system is terrible, to crap, its the 21st century.

          Okay, so someone at their HQ made a mistake. What are you going to do about it?

          Probably not. Read some posts, I'm not the only one putting ACCC complaints in. Ever heard the saying, 'but I'm only one man? what can I do?' Have a look at the guy who's Guitar was broken by United Airlines on Youtube and he wrote a song about it.Sent UA stock prices crashing.

          Sometimes it's better to just live and let live rather than pursue things to the bitter end, especially when DSE will probably not care and the person who ends up losing most is you, instead of wasting your time, either actually do something about it or just let it go and move on with your life. You're going to have much better chances of success with your ACCC claim if you find people and do a class action or if you are able to compile many more 'bad things' that DSE has done.

          These are called 'sales' mate. Sales. Don't think putting the word 'bargain' on it means that its like some rare garage sale you happen to come across and buy a Picasso cheap or something. Its what business do to entice you to STAY with them as customers, i.e. not go else where for the same product.

          Sorry, but that argument doesn't hold. DSE giving away $10 gift cards for $5 is essentially giving away free money. Given that people will buy small goods with that $10 gift card, many of those items DSE only has a margin of less than $5, meaning that this deal is costing them money. You can't possibly expect them to have an unlimited amount of gift cards like this.

          As for your other comments, there are tons of people buying sale items and selling them elsewhere and making a living off it. Im not one of those people but don't be blind in thinking that "there are no investments, whether it be in shares, property or any other asset class, where you always get a positive return." Just look on eBay after a massive OzBargain post, strangely enough you will see the same stock listed new with a higher price tag.

          I'm also financially educated (Commerce degree in Finance and Econometrics (Business Statistics)), so I guess I can chip in here. You forget to take into account risk. Yes, after a massive sale, people can get stuff for cheap and then put it on eBay, but there is no guarantee that they will be able to sell it for a price greater than what they bought it for before putting it on eBay. Either way, people who do this sort of stuff are often too lazy to get a real job, just like the people who queue up for Apple stuff and then sell it for bloated prices after the launch. Same goes with tickets…etc. But guess what, that's all risky business. What happened when eBay started cracking down on ticket scalping, all those idiots ended up being left with spare tickets they had difficulty selling.

          Im not going to get into a back and forth PROS and CONS of bargain/sales hunting. My forum post is well valid and the amount of replies here for the same dodgy doings is incredible and well received.

          I wouldn't say so. I'm not saying that your complaint is not valid, but to say that it is well received is a stretch. I see lots of different opinions here, from those who have been affected to those who haven't.

          However, I think the general consensus tends to be to let it go and move on with life and to enjoy the many bargains that DSE has to offer on this site. I agree with that view also.

        • +4

          @paulsterio: Ok cool, thanks for your feedback.

    • +2

      The crazy thing is others including myself did get the .01c cars I picked up 2 in WA yesterday so they had plenty of time to cancel

      • Wow - impressive. I tried to buy 20 of them on-line, was told I could order 11 maximum and there was stock in Riverton, so I reduced my order to 11 and then there was no button to complete my order on-line. Reading the comments (here) I thought they were out of stock/pricing error. I tried a few more times and the maximum I could buy kept coming down but still no buy (or "complete order") button. I tried Chrome, IE and Firefox but the button would not appear for any of them.

        Did you just go straight to the store or were you able to buy them on-line for pickup?

        I thought they would make EXCELLENT XMas presents for all the kids in my life (son, daughter, nephews, nieces). I was a little disappointed to miss out on that one but it did seem too good to be true so I let it go.

    • +4

      you don't think your 40 minutes + is worth more than 1 cent?

      • +5

        Your logic is flawed.

        The value of the item is much more than 1 cent.
        The principal of the whole fiasco is worth a lot more than 1 cent.

        • +14

          true..

          more just saying imo, it's a bit very stupid getting so worked up over a toy.

          All ozbargainers want a good deal but I think a lot fall into false economy when chasing that deal.

          • 40 minutes on the phone
          • Frustration
          • Complaint made to website
          • Post on facebook page
          • calling the bloody ACCC.

          For a $50 toy.. seems like a bit much.
          It wasn't as effective to say, you don't think your 40 mins+ is worth $50? That's a good rate by anyone's standards but also misleading b/c the true value is not $50 either, it's the value that Monty places on the damn thing.

        • +4

          @humdogg:

          But it's the principle of the thing! ;)

        • +8

          @ankor: It's the vibe of the thing, your Honour. :)

        • +4

          @humdogg:

          If everyone took the same approach as you. Big corporations like DSE will ALWAYS get away with it.

          If everyone did their part and used 40mins of their time multiplied by say 1000 people, the big corps will FEEL it and possibly stop being the asses that they are.

          Really the standby and watch because it's not worth my time or effort approach is IMHO is getting too common in society these days.

        • +1

          @zeomega:

          Really the standby and watch because it's not worth my time or effort approach is IMHO is getting too common in society these days.

          Agree 97% with the sentiment. Three things though:

          1. Pick the battles. If the big boys price fix, consciously bait n switch, make false claims or other no-no's: kick up a fuss, go bonkers.

          2. Act with your feet. If a company like DSE isn't particularly doing anything unlawful, but just run their business like douche-bags, then don't shop there and they'd feel it. [though maybe not with the kind of expenditure we're talking here - 1 cent =P]

          3. If we were all a bit more chill, sure big corps will 'always get away with it' but we might just be a bit happier, spend less time on the phone and a little less frustrated.

    • +8

      Seriously dude? It was clearly an price error. To be honest, you're making a big deal out of this.

    • Yes Sorry, I am calm now. But I really posted this up to warn people and also try and change DSE way of dealing with customers and getting away with things. There is this process, i don't know if it has an official name, but basically business will take your money knowing they don't have stock and hold onto your money for a period before releasing it. You make a lot of interest from doing this
      Imagine 10000 people giving $5 each and after three days you say, 'sorry we don't have stock, but under our fine print we can take up to two weeks to refund you ' meanwhile, ching ching ching $$$ interest is being earned.

      • +7

        Do you really believe its a scam to gain interest?
        In your example above the interest would amount to less than $100.

        So do you think its a viable business model refunding 10,000 customers after factoring the admin costs.

      • +3

        You kind of made up things to be angry at, and then actually get angry at it like it actually happened..

        • +2

          Yes you are right. It never really happened. I drifted off into some head space and made the whole thing up. You are so wise.

  • +16

    well we can continue this world debate, or:

    realized they are human behind company name, human make mistake, and we sometimes abuse this and try to take advantage, maybe for profit, maybe just for fun.

    disclaimer: i got "hit" many times by their "pricing errors". sometimes i got my stuffs sometimes i got refund

    • -3

      Yes this is true. It's also true in a human world people get ripped off and some companies don't survive due to reputation.

      • DS will survive, period.
        they are just too big. and lately they can give good deals, correct? look at the eneloops for example.
        cheaper than amazon i think.

        • -8

          Maybe. One of their largest stock holders is selling. But yes, probably.

        • +6

          Too big? Lol, DSE is a tiny retailer in a big, bad world where the giants are competing.

          More and more Woolworths and Coles stores like Target, K-mart, Big W etc are encroaching on DSE territory in the brick and mortar side of things, not to mention JB Hi-fi. And their online store is under constant attack from ebay and kogan.

          Woolworths knew which way the wind was blowing when they offloaded DSE - brick and mortar tech stores like DSE will die with the boomers, I'd say within 10 years they will sell what stores they have left to someone like JB.

        • +3

          Not necessarily.

          Australia's isolation is not going to protect these big retailers anymore. They will have to up their game to survive. Already they are losing out to online retailers, as more and more viable options come into existence, they will have to shape up or die.

        • +1

          @omgwtfbbq:

          Basically bricks and mortar retail will become showrooms (think Apple Store it is basically a showroom where you try instore and buy online).

          It's the stores who sell/provide the same goods/services which are in trouble as they can only compete on price.

          This is why we are seeing stores increasing their generic/exclusive brands and offer. For generic electronics this is hard to do without being an established "brand" (eg. Kogan) which is why I think stores like JB are are in big trouble long term. Software and content sales won't help JB either as when everyone is on NBN I think vendors will move to 90-100% digital distribution.

        • +3

          @Parentheses: Im a Woolies shareholder and even I disagree with them selling - Read this! http://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/from-20m-to-344m-dick… DSE's owners are the one's laughing, and they will still be laughing in 10 years.

        • @clarky: That's a good example of where a little bit of knowledge is dangerous and leads to totally inaccurate conclusions. Yes, Anchorage is selling. Completely irrelevant to whether DSE will survive, though.

          They're a private equity fund who buys struggling companies, holds for 2 to 3 years on average, turns them around and then look to sell. They listed DSE last year and made a motzah. But typically PE can't exit fully when they IPO because investors are wary of being fleeced. So they had to hold their stake in escrow for 12 months to give investors confidence they're not being sold a dud stock.

          Now the 12 months is up, and of course they want to get out as soon as they can.

          Nothing to do with whether DSE will survive or not. They've turned the business around, made their money and now want to get the rest of their holding out.

    • Yes there are mistakes. However when you combine many mistakes with such a dishonest and unethical call center as DSE employs then there's obviously an issue.

      From my personal experiences over many phone calls with the DSE call center trying to sort out messed up orders or promotions that they are trying to wriggle out of. The DSE call center will say anything including lying to your face to get you off the phone. Yet for some reason they never do anything to address your problem, even if it's something so basic as amending an order that their system messed up. They'll always tell you it's fixed but the order's still incorrect and the next person you speak to will have no record of the last person's claimed corrections.

      So they refuse to amend mistakes and honour promotions. The customer's at least entitled to a refund right? Well good luck getting DSE to refund you in a timely manner. Won't deliver what you ordered, won't honour promotions, won't refund your money. Yes that's totally acceptable.

      The dishonesty and unethical behaviour doesn't start or end with the call center. I have never encountered another retailer who refuses to honour promotions in their printed catalogue. DSE does this.

      I personally don't shop at DSE anymore and now that David Jones has associated themselves, I don't shop there either. However it does seem that a lot of people are willing to put up with having their time wasted for the sake of their 12-15% discounts. So DSE will probably continue doing just fine.

  • +26

    I will never give my money to dick smith again.

    I purchased the sony power bank for click and collect on sep 4th. Didn't hear anything after two days so emailed the online store who told me it had been cancelled. No refund was given so emailed back asking why, they said my refund request had been forwarded to the relevant department, few days still no refund, emailed them back and they said the same thing but they would prioritise my request. Still nothing so called the online store, was put on hold and hung up on after about 15 min. Called again, was told the online store couldn't refund me as it was a click and collect order and I should contact the store. Contacted the store and was put on hold for 30min before hung up on. Called again later and was told they had no evidence of my order in their system and to contact online store again.

    Sent another follow up email asking about my refund. They never bothered to reply. Called again and was put on hold and hung up on after 15 min while the lady called the 'finance' department. Called straight after and a different lady called the store to confirm my story, she confirmed my story and said she would cancel the order online and i would automatically get a refund as it was displaying as completed on their system.

    A day later and no refund. Will give it another day but I doubt it will come through as the order is still showing as 'complete' in the order details online.

    tl;dr - Seemingly impossible to get a refund for an order they cancelled

    • +3

      Thanks for your feedback. This is what I'm starting to discover also!

    • +1

      So an update on this. Never received refund, called just now and took 30 min to talk to someone. Had to explain my story over again. The lady said she is escalating it to the 'online operations team' and one of them will call me in the next few days. I asked her if she had the ability to give refunds, she said no, so I'm thinking the lady i spoke to last time just wanted to get me off the phone.

    • +1

      Could you just issue a chargeback with your bank in this case? If you've got a cancellation email and no refund in your account within a reasonable timeframe I would have thought that was evidence enough..

      • Unfortunately I used a gift card, not paypal or bank card :(

        cheers for the suggestion though

    • damn that is poor. yeh this is why I use paypal, dispute's get solved relatively quickly in my experience.

    • Finally resolved, they didn't refund me the $10 on the wish gift card I paid with which is a bit annoying, but instead sent me a $20 dick smith gift card (which I never agreed to but oh well can resell it and make money).

      It took 42 days including making 10 phone calls (not including the ones I was hung up on), sending 5 emails and 2 occasions they promised to call me but never did.

      • So how do your feel?

  • +1

    Guess I am quite lucky. Bought two pre-order games about 1-2 weeks ago. Used the online contact form to request for a $10 pre-order credit for Fifa 15 as per the catalog and got it 2 days later.

    Fast forward to this week and Call of Duty:Advance Warfare now has a $10 pre-order credit as well. Used the online contact form again yesterday and the credit went through to my credit card this morning.

  • +6

    I went through the same thing with the Macbook Air sale. Card rejected (Actual reason for this not provided), excuses made… Was told that direct deposit was the only way to continue with the sale (rejected by me due to lack of insurance/security).

    To be told that DS cannot re-make the same order for me and allow me to either pay by Credit Card / Paypal / Cash etc I found to be extreme unprofessional and disappointing to say the least.

  • +1

    Bought macbook air + iphone 6 on preorder from them.

    MBA arrived very quickly, iphone 6 on the Tuesday after the Friday release date.

    a few other small things too, not fed up.

  • +3

    I had the same issue with buying the DS giftcard when it was originally offered on 29th Sept. I've been charged on Paypal and on the DS account as well but have yet to receive this email code.

    Even though it's only $5 I guess I'm not that angry, but then again seeing as they've done this sort of trouble in the past with others on more expensive items it seems really unprofessional and dodgy for a company that's locally based and seems to thrive on online sales.

  • +1

    I've had pretty much nil issues with literally dozens of DSE orders over the course of decades…the worst thing that happened was the infamous pink tablet debacle, but they refunded me 100% promptly & let me keep the dodgy tablet anyway…so no complaints from me. Even if I did encounter a problem, so long as it was sorted eventually, I'd just file it in the shit happens department! ;)

    As a matter of fact, the Seiki 65" TV I ordered on Sunday turned up yesterday, continuing their history of prompt deliveries to me, so I've got nothing but good things to say about their service! :)

    • +1

      I bought the Seiki 65" TV also and it was delivered yesterday its freakin HUGE great picture and a nuce size increase from a 42" , pain in the butt setting the WD box up though …..

      As for Dick Smiths in general , ive had good " like the TV " and the bad with waiting for the store to open on one of the Big sales , only to be told ohh this stores doing stoock take sorry :-( ended with me thinking im never going to shop their again ….. but hey a bargain is a bargain so if you dont get one this time you may the next.

  • +20

    I once got an order cancelled for a Kindle cover that was marked down to $5.
    Within a day or so the $5 was credited back to my card.
    I shrugged and moved on with my life.
    I have since saved literally hundreds of dollars on deals posted on OzBargain via DSE, so I am quite pleased.
    My suggestions:
    - don't escalate every little thing. So you missed out on a $5 gift card because they stuffed up. Big deal. You spent so much time an aggravation trying to get them to deal with you in a way that skirts their standard systems. Totally a false economy.
    - accept if you go along with their systems and processes you will "probably" get an ok result in the end. Every horror story I hear is not the automated systems, but when people try and deviate from the standard process for whatever reason. Give them a chance to sort it out.
    - consider whether ozbargain is the right place for you. This site typically lists bargains that need a bit of extra work/timing/hoop jumping. If you will be upset about service problems or delays, maybe go to David Jones or similar where the prices are higher to cover the high touch service you require when things don't go as planned (4 or 5 calls, including the ACCC over a $5 gift card, that is a bit disproportionate).
    - finally, relax, it's only money.

    • OzB is definitely the place for me. Buying from DSE isn't. Principle and Integrity and two very important things also so let's see what happens down the track with ACCC.

      • +4

        To quote Robert Downey Jr. from Bowfinger
        "I can see the poster".

        Principle and Integrity:
        The Fight For Five Bucks

        Really? In 2014? I thought we were waaaaay past such trifles.

        Meanwhile…
        - Another Crusade
        - Ebola
        - Austerity

        Perhaps some perspective?

        • -1

          If you bother reading the post you would know its got nothing to do with 'fighting' for five dollars

        • -2

          Its the (Ozbargain) principle stupid :P

        • +1

          @clarky:
          Wrong.

          tried to buy a $10 gift card for $5

          You either want your $5 refunded, or you want to "make" $5 by having the purchase fulfilled.

          So as I wrote, principle aside, this is a gripe (fight) over five bucks.
          That's how I see it anyway.

  • You spent $5 of your time on the phone, threatening ACCC and writing your rant.

  • +18

    Are We All Fed up?

    Dick Smith is probably the most complained about company on OzBargain, here's 10 forum threads on the subject I found without trying too hard:

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/161355
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/139334
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/130244
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/129368
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/128961
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/145305
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/124442
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/110940
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/108961
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/109842

    Deals keep being posted, forum threads like this keep being posted at a steady pace. Despite other people's bad experiences (how many times do you see "I'm never buying from Dick Smith again, I sent 15 emails and spent 3 hours on hold and it still isn't resolved etc.), nobody seems to care too much until it happens to them. It seems OzBers can have short memories if the price is right.

    • +4

      I must admit I was the same in not caring about other peoples problems, but it has happened to me now and left me frustrated at their arrogance and incompetence as a large business. Even if I see a really really good bargain, I'll ignore it.

    • We might be Fed up but Dick is F'ed up lol.

    • Ozb ban on DSE?

      • Considering how they have so many deals, and most people have no troubles, I think not.

    • well said. i haven't had any bad experiences with DSE yet, but it's probably just a matter of time from the looks of it. once it happens, i'm sure it'll leave a bad taste in my mouth. for me personally, reputation is a very important part of the business model, and reading these stories makes me think twice about shopping at DSE. we, as consumers need to stick together, and send a clear message to companies who operate unprofessionally, that it's not acceptable. this is australia, not soviet russia. we have the power, not them.

  • +3

    Bought eneloop, called up over a week later to find out whats happening, get told "out of stock, only option to refund". Waste of my time… were they hoping I would forget and just get to keep my money??

    • +1

      Yes they were. Read on here earlier about people loosing their $5 gift card credit because who would bother chasing $5?

      • -2

        You really think the managers sat down and said "Ok we'll sell some $10 gift cards for $5 but we won't deliver them. That's an easy $5 per customer"? Of course not.

        It's not a conspiracy here. It's simply that they are badly organised and often don't handle mass purchases very well.

        • Yes and big business never get fined by government authorities too for misleading and shonky practices. It may be news to you but it happens on a daily basis. Lucky for us in Australia we have such authorities.

        • +3

          Interest on the money and those who don't bother chasing it up - 5 grand at least the easy way……….

          The ACCC act on less than 20 cases a year for consumers - cost to taxpayer 160 million - do the math.

          Most States have done away with Fair trading tribunals- Australia has one of the worst consumer protection frame works in the world. Does anyone here really believe that Dick Smith are trading honestly? If you do would you like to buy some new Franchises guaranteed to make money in Cambodia. Just send me $5 and this opportunity could be yours… oh wait I am not associated with Dick Smith so what more do you want?

        • -7

          @clarky:
          Nah. But keep negging me.

          How come a lot of other people (no doubt) got theirs? They're just out to get you and your $5.

        • @rolly2112:
          Interest? Huge money there.

        • @Shonky: Nice assumption that it is me neggin you btw

        • @clarky:
          I just replied to your post but yeah I'd probably guess it was you. You're the one who's arguing over $5. Sure there is more than one neg though.

        • @Shonky: I understand. There are a lot of people commenting though and more now after DSE dodgy ebay sale.

        • @clarky:
          Well it's a fine line between a bargain and failed purchase with DSE. All my purchases have gone through just fine. You takes your risks I guess.

          DSE would have to be far the most popularly post deal here but the complaints do seem disproportionate.

  • I am still waiting for my Eneloop order placed on Sept 11th. I made an enquiry last week, and was advised by the lady over the phone that they have stock available and to wait until this week for delivery. They asked if I wanted to wait or receive a refund. I said I'll wait as I'm in no rush for it. She says to callback next week if it has not been received.

    I have made orders prior to this, all received OK though one was delayed for some reason, but not this long.

    I am thinking that they either have no stock, or have made a loss on the deal as it was a cheap deal.

  • +6

    I find their eBay feedback rating particular amusing.

    • +1

      wow that is a really terrible feedback percentage for a large retailer - that shows clearly that people's gripes here are legitimate.

  • +1

    It is dick smith! I see they are struggling hard to survive, soon that will be another aussie business shut down, but I feel sorry for your time wasted, apart from that let's move on!
    It happened to me but lucky didn't waste much time, moved on, each time.

  • +1

    Dick Smith Online 'customer service' is absolutely deplorable. It is lucky that they are running cheap promotions every week otherwise I would NOT buy from them for the convenience. The 'Dick Smith' brand always had a certain value to it being that it is associated with the large 'Bricks and Mortar' store and therefore there is a reasonable expectation that they would accept returns if you are not happy with an item (even if they don't have to by law), take it back if it is faulty, etc. Now they are no better than an online-only Gray importer. I have had better customer service from Kogan.

    Dick Smith Online is a mess. I was hit with the same problem of 'unverified credit card' (for no reason). This was also after the price rose by $20 between the time of completing the checkout and the order going through (mind you, I had left the Checkout page open for a few hours and got back to it), but it is too much trouble to put it through again even at the more expensive price.

    Still trying to talk to the monkeys about putting the order in again, but they don't have enough brain cells to do that and are now resorting to sending me the same scripted email that they already sent in the first place.

    Tomorrow they have an eBay sale, which luckily works out cheaper than the item I was trying to buy in the first place so I will try eBay. The item is not sold anywhere else otherwise I would get another store to price match it if I could.

    They are not that different from when all their staff bought all the deals.

  • -2

    Maybe Tricky Dicky should stick to selling beetroot and leave Aldi to do the bargains!

    • +1

      Ummm, I don't know how to break it to you, but DSE don't sell beetroot.

      • +2

        He may be better at selling beetroot than what he does now.

        I bought a TV online from them earlier this year. The TV was delivered OK eventually. It was late, the connote number was wrong, it couldn't be tracked, the help desk couldn't help, it was supposed to be delivered from a particular store (their choice) and it was delivered from another. There was more but the end result is that I won't buy from there again.

        • +2

          Ignorant comment. You seem to think that Dick Smith is still involved in DSE, but you are more than a tad behind the times (32 years, in fact)…..he sold out to Woolworths in 1982!

        • +3

          @peter000: I bet Dick Smith kicks himself for not changing the companies name before selling it.Fancy having your name associated with this company

        • @coin saver:
          If I recall he got around $20 Million (a huge sum in 1982) for the company as a going concern and that would have included the 'Dick Smith Electronics' brand and its associated goodwill. I have little doubt that he would be privately mortified by the current situation.

    • -1

      U need to check your facts.

  • I received a cancellation email for yesterdays gift card debacle - unable to verify my CC… whatever

  • +4

    Similar story to others, hard to believe how an established entity like Dick Smith can get it so wrong.

    • Ordered Philips soundbar (6-Sept)

    • Received confirmation email immediately

    • 3.5 hours later receive email cancelling order, unable to verify credit card owner

    If however you wish to proceed with your order & to make payment via an alternative means like Direct Funds Transfer please contact our Online Customer Service Centre on 1300 366 644 during the hours of 9am – 5pm AEST Monday to Friday who would be happy to assist.

    • Called on Monday, went through details. Was asked to wait on hold for 6-8 minutes while my order was processed manually. Got hung up on.

    • Waited a few hours, expecting a call back, nothing. Called again, went through details again, original operator hadn't keyed any order. Received email confirming new order and made payment via direct deposit, sent copy of deposit confirmation same day (8-Sept)

    • I never got an email back to confirm receipt of payment confirmation email so sent a note on the 9th to check all was okay

    I received your payment just saw the email today. Your order was ready to ship, we are just waiting for the courier to pick up the item.

    • 17-Sept send an email as no parcel

    • 18-Sept:

    Thank you for taking time to email Dicksmith! In regard to your inquiry, we've received the payment and has been forwarded to Finance department. Will follow up for the status of the order and will keep you posted.

    Then:

    Item is already invoiced and will be ready to ship. I already follow up with the concerned department upon received of your email. Will update you shortly as soon as I got a response.

    • No more correspondence, I went on holidays. Came back to find courier delivery attempt notification from the 24th.

    • Collected it yesterday 1-Oct, box had been resealed. Equipment has clearly been out of box before as evidenced by dust and very minor scratch the top of unit.

    Having waited this long I set it up and all appears okay.

    What a bunch of Muppets.

    • Oh man, i feel for you. This makes my experience sound no where near as bad. Im lost as how they are surviving really.

  • I see someone else hasn't received their Eneloops. The feeble excuses given to me yesterday were laughable - anything was said (that amounted to nothing) to just get me off the phone (and move onto the next complaint).

    It takes 1-2 days for things to arrive when they have them in stock. So if they can't get their act together, order stock before offering the sale, or here's an idea… LIMIT the number being sold to what they DO have in stock. If they can't do that then do everyone a favour and shut the business, so another Australian business that's serious can take their place.

    • Actually I got my Eneloops without any hitches. This might sound like good news right? But that is NORMAL news. Every transaction should just work.

      Heres the funny thing. Some comments above tell me I should expect errors like this from a 'bargain site', but I have had no issues getting orders with Officeworks, JB Hifi, Apple, Tmart, Shopping Express, Value Basket, yadayada i could go on. Out of all the online retailers, DSE has had the most errors.

      • but I have had no issues getting orders with Officeworks, JB

        I'm just the opposite!
        OW: Filing cabinet I went to collect was M.I.A. Ended up getting a cheaper one from Kmart.
        JB: Mucked me around for additional ID after trying to buy a TV online. Told them to stick it, bought from Bigbrownbox.com without a hassle.

        DSE? Items delivered thanks to OzB; binoculars, Eneloops and a Seagate HDD in the past year or so.

        I'm a sucker for free delivery :p

  • +6

    I just wanted to throw in my 2 cents. Made a number of purchases from DSE. Never had an issue. I will gladly purchase form them again if the price is right.

    • Great , thanks! You are doing well :)

    • Ive also had no problems buying from Dicksmith. From the online store & ebay store, may just be lucky but everything i bought over the weekend arrived on Tuesday, apart from my PS4 which arrived on the friday. Considering how many they sold over that weekend i was quite impressed. Been the last 4-5 purchases.

    • Same, I've made quite a few purchases from DSE online and ebay. No probs, fast deliveries. Got what I paid for.

  • I gave up with DSE after I got a dodgy laptop. They sent it back once (owned for 3 months abd broke) 4 weeks later returned. Broke again 6 months later, they basically palmed all responsibility and told me to deal with the manufacturer. Atvthis point I would have owned it for 10 months and it would have spent 2 months in for repairs. I decided to have it fixed and never shop there again.

  • +2

    Ordered $10 giftcard for $5
    Got conformation email.
    Charged via paypal.
    Never got the card.
    Called support, 15 mins later was told to hold while they checked my order.
    25mins later, i disconnected from the long hold.
    Emailed 4 times.
    Online support formed 3 times
    And still nothing

    • +3

      Welcome to the party pal…!

      • Opened PP dispute for non delivery also

        • +1

          Refunded Tuesday this week.
          then 2 Thursday got the GC
          Winning!

        • @ozy: -2

  • I bought a set of 8 Eneloops and the bastards sent me a charger 4 pack. Didn't bother returning or calling as too much effort for the $20 I spent and I got a comparable product. Have since bought 2x AA 8 packs and 2x AAA 8 packs with nil issues.

Login or Join to leave a comment