Socket/Emtac Bluetooth - WAS The Dogs B*******

tedkay

Hi All

I posted my praise for the Socket receiver a while ago. Unfortunately the damn thing is now broken down and it would appear to be a hardware fault. A common one too, judging from the many posts reporting the same fault (no green light and no signal) on this and other forums.

I'm currently waiting a response from Socket, and Expansys from whom I purchased it - I hope I'm not going to fall foul of something ominous I saw on the Expansys website - i.e that faulty goods outside of 14 days old have to be returned to the manufacturer (in this case in the USA!) because I know that my recourse with faulty goods is with the supplier with whom I have a contract, NOT the manufacturer with whom I don't.

Expansys have been very good with me in the past so I will keep my fingers crossed!

Ted

Dave · Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2003 8:36 pm Post subject:

Ted, vote with your feet and add it to this thread so we can document this going forward. Thumbs Up

LocktightT · Regular Visitor Joined: 26/12/2002 20:35:10 Posts: 118

Hi

I purchaed mine from Expansys and ended up returning it to the USA for exchange - if you want the contact details email me and I will dig them out.

Locktight

tedkay · Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2003 8:22 am Post subject:

Update

So far Expansys haven't even bothered to acknowledge my email - but I have got the damn thing working again! So I sent the following to Socket:

>>Well - very strange things have happened! I did what you said and left the unit on (for 24 hours), then recharged (from my 12v adaptor - I never use a mains one) it and unplugged the charger. Switched it on and still no green light. So I switched it off and on a few times - still no green light. Left it switched off for a couple of hours, then switched it on again, and lo and behold the green light came on! I tested it to see if the GPS signal was being sent to my PDA and it was! So it appears to be working again at the moment. The trouble is there must be some kind of fault and I have no way of knowing when it might happen again - which kinda makes the unit useless to me doesn't it - I mean, I won't be able to rely on it for my navigation because the fault may reappear at any time. And of course when it does stop working again it is completely impractical to have to wait many hours to see if it will reset and work properly again. If you knew what causes this then at least I could perhaps avoid doing whatever it is. Unfortunately all I have done is connect it to my PDA in the normal way - and if that causes it to break down it is of no use to me.

I have been told that you are aware of problems with the early units, and that there may have been a 'bad batch'. Is that so? If it is I suggest you make an announcement and offer to exchange the units to everyone. A good place for that would be on the PocketGPS website where there is a lot of discussion about your units being faulty, which I'm sure is not good for your sales. Such an announcement (perhaps with details of a fast-track method of RMA) would go somewhere towards restoring confidence in your company.
The very least you could do is to offer the 'drain the battery etc.' advice on the PocketGPS AND ON YOUR OWN website. I know it is uncomfortable to publicly admit a fault with your product - but I am sure if you don't public confidence in your company will plummet.<<

So let's see how they respond to that. In the meantime I will wait to see whether Expansys ever bother to reply!
Ted

LocktightT · Regular Visitor Joined: 26/12/2002 20:35:10 Posts: 118

glad you got it sorted, well for now anyway Laughing

tedkay · Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2003 10:12 pm Post subject:

Update 2

Wonderful news folks! Expansys have now answered my emails and offered me a replacement unit or a refund. (I wonder if they watch the forums!) No hint of telling me 'after 14 days refer any faults to the manufacturer' etc.
Now I'm even more intrigued to know why they insist on publishing that
statement - which will clearly put off customers - on their website when they don't even try to implement it!

Anyway I elected for the refund because the many messages on the forums referring to the Socket GPS Bluetooth receivers' hardware problems have convinced me that I don't want it anymore....... AND Fortuna is coming out with a new Bluetooth receiver very soon...it has the advantage of a switchable GPS chip and removable/replaceable battery - sounds interesting.
Ted

tedkay · Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2003 10:18 am Post subject:

Update

It wasn't all that simple after all! I received a further email from Expansys telling me that the previous email offering me a refund had been sent in error and that I could only have a replacement or a credit note! I took this up with them on the phone and initially they were adamant. I took things up a level or 2 and spoke to one of the bosses, pointing out that under English law I was entitled to a refund and did not have to accept replacement or a credit note, and that I had no intention of accepting a replacement when there is a lot of evidence that this Socket receiver is inherently faulty. Eventually they did grudgingly agree to the refund. From what I can see a lot of the online retailers publish terms passing the responsibility for faulty goods onto the manufacturer and/or refusing refunds. This is in direct conflict with the law. The question is would you be prepared to go through all the hassle of taking them to Court?

Ted

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