Sat Nav Solutions- Be wary

marksfish · Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2005 7:52 am Post subject: Sat Nav Solutions- Be wary

I purchased a Mitac Mio 168 by mail order from the above named company. Within one week of use the unit became faulty. When plugged in to charge, the plug needed to be "wiggled about" to get a connection. If connected in the car it would frequently come off charge whilst the vehicle was in motion.

I duly reported my findings to Sat Nav Solutions to be told it wasn't their problem because the unit wasn't faulty when delivered. A swift reminder of the sale of goods act and they still were'nt playing ball. A call to trading standards advised me to return the unit for refund or replacement, which I did. I received an email from Sat Nav Solutions blaming "heavy usage" (whatever that is) and that they would return the unit to Mio.

Two weeks later I tried to make contact and received no reply. On Friday morning (almost 3 weeks later) I received a parcel with my Mio in it. A scrapy note inside stated:

"Mio have returned the unit to us and were unable to trace this serial number from this unit to any of their global offices. Therefore they were even unable to trace this to a UK reseller".

Sounds decidedly dodgy to me. The final part of the note also said that they were no longer trading and that all problems should betaken up with Mio. Mio not recognising the serial number, stolen? Counterfeit? If the unit had been returned to Mio and they were unable to verify the serial number, surely they wouldn't have returned it?

Anyway, although the business is allegedly closed and the website is currently offline, buyer beware.

Mark

Darren · Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2005 9:25 am Post subject:

Sorry to hear that, it may well be a 'Grey Import' but it is a good lesson for other prospective purchasers. The lowest possible price is not the best way to buy expensive items, look for an established retailer with a good reputation for service, thats why they often aren't the cheapest but you'll be grateful for it if you need it.
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Darren Griffin

marksfish · Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2005 6:44 pm Post subject:

Unfortunately, it wasn't particularly low priced, especially as it came bundled that that software sh*te otherwise known as Destinator 3!!

I would have thought that even the serial number from a grey import could be traced back by Mio to where it should originally have been sold? This leads me to believe that it must be a very good counterfeit item or someone is able to print out the serial number sticker and place them on "shady" units.

I'm interested to see how the credit card company are going to deal with this now as under the consumer credit act they have an obligation to solve this problem. Ironically informing trading standards and the Police about this incident, and the fact that there are potentially more items like this sold from this supplier, they couldn't have cared less.

Watch this space!!

Mark

Darren · Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2005 6:57 pm Post subject:

Keep up informed on how you get on Smile

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Darren Griffin

marksfish · Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2005 10:24 pm Post subject:

Update

After emailing Mio in Belgium, the Sales Manager (Alex Roks) gave me a UK telephone number where Mio could be contacted. I telephoned yesterday and found that the serial number did in fact appear to be genuine, thus just confiming that satnav solutions had just sat on the unit for three weeks before returning it to me.

Upon my return this afternoon, I had received an email from Mio with a reference number and a returns address for my unit to be repaired as my problem is apparently quite common and esily fixed.

Alex had obviously been doing some work for me over the Channel because I also received an email from Sat Nav Distribution in Altrincham informing me that as they had suppkied the retailer with the unit they would also take it back for repair.

The credit card company (Smile) so far have been an absolute farce. Almost four weeks after the initial complaint, they still haven't even looked at the case.

I sent the unit away today and hopefully it will be back soon.

Mark

Darren · Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2005 10:32 pm Post subject:

Great news, nice to hear someothing positive Smile

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Darren Griffin

marksfish · Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2005 11:48 am Post subject:

I now have my PDA back :D Although it was not an easy experience, see the link below for the fun and games I had getting it back.

http://pocketgpsworld.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=26846

Mark

gps_man · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 26, 2005 Posts: 6

Will not be buying from them

marksfish · Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2005 11:25 am Post subject:

I should really have labelled the title Sat Nav Solutions- Run a mile, they are horrendous.

Just a quick update. Although my unit was repaired by Mio, the transaction was in dispute with my credit card company. Bear in mind that the proprietor of this company, Stuart Pick, had notified me that he had ceased trading, he was still able to respond to the credit card company. The response was as follows:

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