Jab-Tech, They Call This Customer Service.

Kilyin · Feb 10, 2006

Ordered a Sunbeam NUUO 550w Modular PSU - Black Panel from this vendor. Their description on the website indicated the unit had Active PFC. When I received the item, the box indicated that the Active PFC only functioned in Europe. I emailed jab-tech about this - they apologized, then quickly edited the item description. When I asked about being reimbursed for RMA shipping costs in the event that I return the item they refused.

Is this a big deal? Depends on your perspective I suppose, but any way you slice it this is false advertising. Since the website entry has been edited, I really don't have any proof, except for the email correspondence that I had with who I assume to be the owner of the company. I will post the emails here so you can see their so-called customer service for yourself. I don't plan to ever do business with this company again. The only good thing I can say about the owner/RMA person is they do have a sense of humor.

I would avoid dealing with this company. The 5 bucks you might save by doing so is negated by their horrid customer service. Here's the string of emails.

Kilyin said:
Hello,

I recently ordered and received Sunbeam NUUO 550w Modular PSU - Black
Panel, and in the description on your website it says this unit has
Active PFC. http://www.jab-tech.com/Sunbeam-NUUO-550w-Modular-PSU-Black-Panel-pr-3144.html

However, upon close inspection of the box it indicates it only has
Active PFC in Europe! I've never heard of such a thing, but this is of
some concern to me. In fact it's downright disappointing because
otherwise I'm very happy with it.

It might be a good idea to correct the description on your website.

If you look at the company's website, it confirms this, as this is how
I recently found out myself.

jab-tech customer service said:
Please accept my apology for this, the description was taken directly from
the MRF when the PSU was first released and they may have updated it now.

jab-tech customer service said:
I have just checked sunbeams site and our description is the same as
there's.

http://www.sunbeamtech.com/PRODUCTS/Power-supply/NUUO/nuuo-550.htm
http://www.jab-tech.com/Sunbeam-NUUO-550w-Modular-PSU-Black-Panel-pr-3144.html

I will email sunbeam to try and clarify if there website is wrong.

Thank You for bringing this to our attention.

Kilyin said:
If you scroll down towards the bottom of Sunbeam's description you'll
see:

Power Factor Correction Active PFC*

*EUAP Version only

I might not RMA it, but could you give me a number in case I decide
to? I need to do some research on Active PFC now it seems.

jab-tech customer service said:
I thought the 'Active PFC*' was reffering to '* for 550W only'

I can't generate just a number its an actual form and to keep my database tidy I prefer only to generate RMA forms when you are 100% certain you will need it..

Here is a link on PFC http://www.dansdata.com/gz028.htm

I would imagine PFC is required by law in Europe but not required in USA.

Kilyin said:
Honest question..

If you were me, would you RMA it because of this?

jab-tech customer service said:
*no response*

Kilyin said:
If I do decide to RMA this PSU do I get stuck with the return shipping cost or will you cover it since the description was wrong? I noticed you have since corrected the error also, nice job.

jab-tech customer service said:
*no response*

Kilyin said:
Do you guys have a phone number? A cell will do, this email stuff always makes me feel like I'm being ignored.

jab-tech customer service said:
I personally don't own a cell phone (hate them) our number is 405-309-0006 but we are a small company and get alot of calls so its not always possible to answer all three lines at once.

Email is always by far the quickest method to reach me.

Kilyin said:
Well, you didn't answer my other question. If I RMA this do I have to foot the bill to ship it back to you?

jab-tech customer service said:
Likely because it comes through as spam..

Yes you would have to pay return shipping costs.

Kilyin said:
Don't see why anything I email would be detected as spam.

Hardly seems fair that I'd have to pay to ship a bulky PSU back because the
description was erroneous on your web site.

Guess I'll just keep the damn thing.

jab-tech customer service said:
As you said you did like it and it performs fine, its way ahead of all other
$75 power supplies in terms of performance and features.

Detected as spam because:
4.3 FORGED_THEBAT_HTML The Bat! can't send HTML message only

Kilyin said:
Well The Bat is capable of sending HTML only messages, so I'm not sure what's up with your Spam detector.

Really whether I like the product or not is irrelevant. I didn't get all the features advertised on your website description, which is what I ordered.
Find me another SLI capable PSU without Active PFC and I'll eat my computer piece by piece.

jab-tech customer service said:
http://www.ultraproducts.com/product_details.php?cPath=60&pPath=383&productID=383

(He got me here, touche')

Kilyin said:
Okay, guess I better start eating.

Mainly I just wanted to see if your apology was sincere, apparently not since you expect me to pay for a mistake your company made. I knew I should have
stuck with the larger vendors like Newegg.

jab-tech customer service said:
You would have paid $10 more at newegg and got the exact same product.

I'd start eating the hard drive first, I believe there is a platter or two
in them.

Kilyin said:
But if they made a mistake and advertised a product as having something it didn't, they would probably eat the cost for shipping on an RMA. They also
wouldn't be to issue an RMA number for said mistake either.

It's worth an extra 10 bucks to me for good customer service. I'm not really seeing it here.

jab-tech customer service said:
*no response*

Kilyin said:
Typoed the last part of the previous message, should have said "they also wouldn't be hesitant to issue an RMA number for said mistake either", even if
you do apparently consider it trivial.

I'll take that RMA now. I'll pay the shipping fee and restocking fee, whatever it takes to end this whole thing and move on.

Maybe if this had been handled differently I'd have bought a more expensive PSU from you. Instead, you half-heartedly apologize, quickly edit the faulty
description, and offer to do nothing to rectify the situation.

jab-tech customer service said:
I was never hesitant to issue and RMA at the time you were not sure if you
were going to use it.

RMA form is attatched.

techun · Feb 10, 2006

i know this has nothing to do with them claiming they have it, but active pfc has nothing to do with how well it works, the voltage or amperage it puts out. There is no reason why you should care if it works with active pfc or not, it doesnt effect you...

Kilyin · Feb 10, 2006

If I order a black case and get a white case, does that really "affect" me in the grand scheme of things? No, but it is a prime example of not getting what you ordered, which is what this is all about.

To be honest, if he would have just "offered" to reimburse shipping costs, I probably would have left it at that and just kept the PSU. All I wanted to see was a sincere apology for making the mistake. It's easy to say "I apologize" or "I'm sorry". It's much harder to back those words up.

techun · Feb 10, 2006

well the black case and white case..they would look different from each other, maybe not work with cd drives etc

you could not tell if a psu had active pfc or not, fact of the matter is, your psu could be using it right now, there's no way you can tell from the output.
It's more like your case coming in a black box when the pic showed a white box. It's different, but 100% irrelevant.

people will complain about anything these days, keep the psu you bought, it's the same one you ordered

d94 · Feb 10, 2006

techun said:
people will complain about anything these days, keep the psu you bought, it's the same one you ordered

dawei213 · Feb 10, 2006

techun said:
you could not tell if a psu had active pfc or not, fact of the matter is, your psu could be using it right now, there's no way you can tell from the output.

That's not the point. If the customer purchased someone on the basis what is advertised, then they should be getting that product. Doesn't matter if they use the functionality or not. If it's a mistake, they should own up to it.

For instance, if you want to purchase an Opteron 165 and it was advertised as the 0550 stepping (seen up to 2.9 ghz), which so far has been great overclockers, but instead got something like 0505 stepping which (for this example) is a terrible overclocker (say max at 2.2 ghz), would you be happy? It's a CPU. It runs fine at core speed. If you don't overclock it, you won't notice the difference. Where would you stand then?

ckj · Feb 10, 2006

Well, jab-tech is not reponsible for misprints on their site, it says so somewhere and besides, it's not an option you don't use, it's one you won't notice unless your power is billed in Europe. Also, you're free to find a company that would do as you propose (pretty hard to find imo). I think they're being reasonable, especially since the problem doesn't really affect you.

NoodleHead · Feb 10, 2006

i totally agree with dawei213. bottom line is that the product received was not as advertised. Even though the OP may not notice a difference in performance, he bought the product based on the description/specs which were misleading. OP seems like a reasonable guy but the way Jabtech dealt with the situation is not the way customer service is supposed to be handled. It sounds like all the OP wanted was for Jabtech to acknowledge error and assist in finding a solution to the matter. If the problem was big enough to warrant a correction to the item description, then why does Kilyin have to pay to ship it back? I understand paying for shipping for defective products, but this was a vendor error, the customer should not have to spend another dime to correct the problem.

Meathead · Feb 10, 2006

Thats why you always check the manufacturer site for the correct information :>. But as for getting shipping costs refuneded, that almost never happens. I think them not charging you a restocking fee would have been appropriate but not refunding shipping.

Enablingwolf · Feb 10, 2006

Did you ever eat the unit?

It is hard to find a store to pay shipping or your gas to return a product that is easily researched. You have already shown that the infromation that was provided on the makers site was in fact the same as the vendor had.

I think if they shipped the worng item or it was really wrong in terms of the product description they would of hooked you up. You admitted that you seen the infromation was correct to waht the maker supplied. All they did was snip the info as to not have this issue happen again.

He did say he would not issue a wonton RMA, you had to be sure. He was honest with you saying the reason why. I thought he was rather polite and did what was in his powers as a vendor. SOP they do not pay for your gas back to the store, unless it was a oops on thier part. They just was going by Sunbeam's specs.

techun · Feb 10, 2006

dawei213 said:
That's not the point. If the customer purchased someone on the basis what is advertised, then they should be getting that product. Doesn't matter if they use the functionality or not. If it's a mistake, they should own up to it.

For instance, if you want to purchase an Opteron 165 and it was advertised as the 0550 stepping (seen up to 2.9 ghz), which so far has been great overclockers, but instead got something like 0505 stepping which (for this example) is a terrible overclocker (say max at 2.2 ghz), would you be happy? It's a CPU. It runs fine at core speed. If you don't overclock it, you won't notice the difference. Where would you stand then?

that's true, but those differences in the cpu actually affect you

you do realize active pfc is useless, completely, utterly, pointless as far as we're concerned? Why did you even want to ship it back, to buy a psu with active pfc?

I can understand you getting upset that it didnt include something you wanted, but there is no fix. there is no way for you to get an active pfc psu and enjoy that aspect of the psu. Take away your complaint on a worthless part of the psu, and you have the psu that you bought. im sorry if i frustrated you.

Kilyin · Feb 10, 2006

Enablingwolf said:
It is hard to find a store to pay shipping or your gas to return a product that is easily researched. You have already shown that the infromation that was provided on the makers site was in fact the same as the vendor had.

Uh, no it wasn't. If that was the case, he wouldn't have edited the description. At first he tried to claim his description was the same as Sunbeam's, then he conceded I was right. Try reading the post before you attempt to bash on me.

Kilyin · Feb 10, 2006

techun said:
that's true, but those differences in the cpu actually affect you

you do realize active pfc is useless, completely, utterly, pointless as far as we're concerned? Why did you even want to ship it back, to buy a psu with active pfc?

I can understand you getting upset that it didnt include something you wanted, but there is no fix. there is no way for you to get an active pfc psu and enjoy that aspect of the psu. Take away your complaint on a worthless part of the psu, and you have the psu that you bought. im sorry if i frustrated you.

Don't know who you're talking to, but you didn't frustrate me.

Kilyin · Feb 10, 2006

For EnablingWolf...

jab-tech customer service said:
I thought the 'Active PFC*' was reffering to '* for 550W only'

He admitted he thought the asterisk referred to something that it did not. He also apologized, albeit his other responses did not convince me the apology was sincere. Do you usually apologize for mistakes you didn't make? Didn't think so.

Enablingwolf · Feb 11, 2006

I would apologize for anything my actions have done. That is where not knowing is not a good indicator of what I would do. :shrug:

You would be surprises how many apologies over the many years I have given just to get a yapper hole quiet. lol [/humor]

It would be hard now that I inputed humor above to apologize if you think I "bashed you". It is there though. I perfer not to bash folks or have them think I am bashing them. I save that for special occasions.

It is not my transaction, I was just giving some input on your bash on Jab-Tech. If I was wrong or misread your rant, then I will admit to that. Now you have gone after me. I will remian polite and just mosey along if need be. That way I won't escalate your temper. If you want to discuss the issue further we can PM.

Best way to gripe about a vendor is hit:
http://www.resellerratings.com/seller2602.html

Then they will get the negative review and may respond in a way to your liking.

Kilyin · Feb 11, 2006

I haven't nor do I plan to "go after you". I was just trying to clarify what really happened because your summarization of the situation was inaccurate. If there had never been a mistake in the vendor description, none of this would have ever occurred in the first place.

Sneaky · Feb 11, 2006

you made such a big deal over such a little thing, and you're claiming that jab-tech has crappy service? the owner is a member on these forums, and is a great guy, and will provide you with the best service possible as long as you speak to him in a calm and professional manner

i do indeed research parts on multiple websites - both from the manufacturer and from multiple online vendors to ensure that the product i'm getting is the product i want, i never trust just one sites description, which in this case, you obviously did - its easy to make human error when entereing one description among hundreds if not thousands of others on the same website

in the end you'll find that active PFC on a PSU makes little difference, so just bite the bullet, keep your unit, and be happy, i'm positive that you'll be satisfied with the performance of the unit

Silversinksam · Feb 11, 2006

Sneaky said:
you made such a big deal over such a little thing, and you're claiming that jab-tech has crappy service? the owner is a member on these forums, and is a great guy, and will provide you with the best service possible as long as you speak to him in a calm and professional manner

John from Jab tech is a great guy and provides among the best customer service in the hardware orientated arena.

Go use someone else, if you have a product problem, you will find they don't even come close to Jab-Tech in terms of customer service. To be honest that -No Response- correspondences you quoted I do not believe at all. I do believe you only posted bits and pieces of the correspondence

Kilyin · Feb 11, 2006

Everything I posted is 100% the truth. All emails that took place between myself and jab-tech are there. At no time did I ever show any disrespect or insolence toward the person I corresponded with.

I'm also banned from the jab-tech site now, so it's not like I'm going to bother with an RMA.

And if "John" provides such wonderful customer service, where was mine? Why does jab-tech have a lifetime rating of 6.25 out of 10 for Customer Service and a 5 out of 10 for Return/Replacement on Resellerratings.com?

dawei213 · Feb 11, 2006

techun said:
that's true, but those differences in the cpu actually affect you

You said the CPU actually affect you, but in the view of both the manufacturer and vendor, there is no difference between a 0550 chip versus a 0505 chip. They both run at the same speed at the same voltage.

said:
Well, jab-tech is not reponsible for misprints on their site, it says so somewhere

So if CompUSA had a laptop in their ads for $400 and a DVD writer for $30 but in fact is selling for $550 and $65 respectively, you know people would be bitchin and moaning about the "misadvertisment". BUT on their ads, they do say they are not responsible for any misprints in their ads. However some managers do honor the price, but that's up to their descretion.

Personally, I wouldn't say the way Jab-Tech handle the as poor. But nonetheless I would still be slightly disappointed.

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