I recently purchased a VuQube 1000 portable satellite antenna from Kingdom2.com. It is a refurbished unit that carries a 90 day factory warranty from King Controls. I normally shy away from refurb purchases, but the unit was $200 under retail, so I decided to go for it.
The unit was shipped directly from King Controls. It arrived three weeks after I made the purchase. Since it had only a 90 day warranty, I immediately hooked the thing up to the sat receiver in my MH to make sure it worked properly. I could not get the remote control to work more than 10 feet from the antenna, which meant that I could not control it from inside the RV as I had been told.
I called King Controls and requested the Tech Support Department. I was told that all their tech’s were helping other customers, but if I left my phone number someone would call me back. They called me back several hours later and I described the issue. The tech said the remote should work up to 50 feet from the antenna. He said that he was going to request the system be replaced and that someone else would call me back later to make the exchange arrangements. No one called.
The next day I called back and explained my situation. I was given the same line, all their tech’s were helping other customers, but if I left my phone number someone would call me back. A different tech called me back later that day and asked me to perform some tests on the unit. When he called me back, I was out running errands, so I was unable to test anything. I was miffed since the first guy I talked to already said he was going to arrange for an exchange. I was told to call back when I was home so that I could be talked through some tests.
I called when I got back home and once again was told, all their tech’s were helping other customers, but if I left my phone number someone would call me back. Thankfully this time, someone called me back within an hour. After going through several different tests, the tech said the same thing the first tech said.....he was going to request the system be replaced and that someone else would call me back later to make the exchange arrangements. Here we go again!
Once again, no one called me back that day, so I called the next day and explained the situation.....again. For the third time I was told that all techs were busy and that someone would call me back. I became very frustrated at this point.
A tech called me back later that day and told me that I needed to fax them a copy of my invoice before they would authorize an exchange. I asked why, since I was able to provide them with an order and invoice number. I was told "co. policy". I faxed over my invoice and waited for a phone call. Again, it came the next day.
Now a new twist...King Controls is only going to replace the remote, not the entire system. In addition, I was forced to give them a $125 credit card deposit on a new remote before they would send it out to me. Once the new remote arrives, I have to call them back, go through the remote testing all over again, to make sure the problem is in fact the remote, not the antenna. If the remote is the culprit, I send them back the defective remote and they eventually (God only knows how long) credit back the deposit. If the antenna is the culprit, I have to ship back the antenna and wait while they try and repair it. I asked the tech if the only reason I had to go through all of this was because I bought a refurb unit. He said no.
Needless to say, this entire ordeal has exhausted me, and it's far from being over. I have never had so many issues dealing with a defective product return. I just want something that works like it's supposed to.
You tell me, is this bad customer service? For me it is and this will be my last purchase of a King Controls product.
Sorry for being so long winded....I wanted to share the full account.
Craig
Linear Mode
