Lat year we published three articles about Savastore aka Watford Electronics. One of them was about our own experience of purchasing an Aries notebook, the other two were based on this and other peoples’ experiences of dealing with them.  You can read them here.

A year later we received the following email from Mr Hills at Savastore:..

“Dear Edian Design
http://www.ediandesign.com/blog/savastore.php

I find both the posts on this page to be untrue and harmful to our business.  Please get these removed without delay and let me know by reply.  We are prepared to take legal action if necessary to get this removed, as you state in your terms that you are not responsible for the posts please provide me with contact details of the people who did make these posts.
The pages in question have been downloaded and printed as evidence should we require it.
I hope you can assist.
Regards
Mr Peter Hills
Customer Services Manager ”

—————– 

We didn’t reply because we were abroad. Less than a week later another email arrived:

“URGENT

I have sent 2 emails to you with out reply about abusive and incorrect blogs on your website about Watford Electronics and SavaStore.com.  If you continue to refuse to get back to me then we will commence legal proceedings without further notice.

Your urgent attention is required.

Regards

Mr Peter Hills
Customer Services Manager”

————— 

I was still abroad so I sent him a letter:
“Dear Mr Hills,

Firstly, according to our mail box you had only sent one previous email to us.  Secondly, you should have received an automated reply informing you that we were not available until the 9th June. This and your previous email were forwarded to my personal email account. We are currently away and unable to reply from our business email accounts.

I find it extraordinary that you, who hardly ever reply to customers’ emails & requests, threaten us with legal proceedings for not responding to your email within a few days! Please get your priorities right and focus your energy on dealing with the nightmares your company seems to put their customers through.

In your previous email you mentioned that you objected to two posts on one of our pages - then you said you wanted “both pages” to be removed. This is confusing. What exactly do you object to?

You also said that the posts are untrue. They were certainly true at the time they were published - we have enough evidence & witnesses to prove this. Upon my return to the UK I shall check with our lawyer and may change some of the wording if he so advises. Until then I am unable to change anything.”

——————–

So we are now back and we are disinclined to change the posts that were published on our blog last year. Instead we’d like to invite Mr Hills to comment on these posts and explain what he thinks is untrue or misleading in these posts. As far as we are concerned these posts were true at the time they were published.

If Customer Services at Savastore has improved since, we’d like to invite people who were satisfied with Watford Electronics to say so below. However, according to other forums - such as Grumbletext, Stormloader, Watford Blog & Reviewcentre - Customer Services at Watford Electronics is still appalling. Many of the posts published on these sites are far more critical, personal and potentially damaging to their business and off-putting to new customers than the posts on our blog. Is Mr Hills going to sue all those who dare warn others against buying things at Watford/Savastore? Perhaps this is what he’s been doing rather than concentrating on providing good customer care for those who shop at Savastore.com.

We have moved to a new host! Unfortunately the move wasn’t as smooth as we would have liked -  we seem to be having problems with our databases.  So many of our pages, enquiry forms and the blog don’t function properly.
We’d like to apologise for the inconvenience this has caused.

Sorry!

Web Jungle:: web lingo

Definitions

Lots of our clients get confused by the lingo of the internet, websites, domains and hosting. So here is a list of quick & simple explanations..

Internet

The internet is not just out there in space.  When you look at a website, it is a document on a computer somewhere in the world. The internet is a network connecting millions of computers. 

Internet Service Provider

ISP in short. This is a company that provides access to the internet. This access can be dial-up, broadband or wireless.

Dial-up Connection

A way of accessing the internet. Temporary connection is established through a modem & telephone line - when you’re online, the phone is engaged, and when you’re offline the phone can be used to make calls. It’s considered very slow these days and therefore only suitable for those who don’t use the internet a lot or cannot get broadband.

Broadband Connection

Broadband provides high-speed and high-capacity transmission.  You access the internet through a special modem - when you’re online, your telephone can also be used. You can be permanently online.

IP

Short for Internet Protocol. An IP address is a unique number that identifies any Internet-connected computer. It’s four groups of digits separated by dots.

DNS

Short for Domain Name Service. It is a system that translates domain names into IP addresses. It’s easier for a human to remember a domain name, but computers & the internet are based on numbers. So every time you use a domain name it is translated to an IP address via the DNS settings.

URL

Short for Uniform Resource Locator. It is a unique world wide web address that identifies a file (or webpage) on the internet. They generally begin with http://. You can use the IP address instead if you want to.

Website

A collection of interconnected pages that can be accessed on the internet by a unique URL. Webpages can contain text, graphics, images, text, sound, video and other media. These files are normally stored on a computer (a server) that can be accessed via the internet.  Most websites have a home page or index page that links to other pages on the site.

Domain

It’s a name by which a website is identified and connected to the internet. The last three letters represent different categories e.g. .gov is government; .com is commercial; .org is non-profit organisations; .co.uk is Britain; .de is Germany etc. The url of a webpage starts with the domain name, e.g. www.ediandesign.com/blog/

Web host

A company that provides storage space on their server for your websites’ files. They also provide many web services and maintenance tools.

 A good webhost guide can be found here

Watford Electronics

Have you ever bought anything from Watford Electronics?
Did it arrive on time? Did it work? Did you complain? Did you think you were hitting your head against a brick wall? If your answer is yes… then you’re not alone.

Watford Electronics own Savastore.com. They sell computer related equipments and other electronic items. Although they seem to be cheaper than elsewhere, you should think twice before you buy anything from them!..

Why?

Here are ten reasons for not shopping at Watford Electronics:

1, They blatantly lie, or are economical with the truth, when it comes to advertising their products
2, They mislead you about the availability of their products. They might say or indicate that an the item is available within a couple of days, yet it arrives a month later
3, They sell products that are dangerous and can cause fire
4, Their sales staff is not knowledgeable about the products they sell
5, They knowingly publish wrong telephone numbers for their supervisors and managers
6, It’s almost impossible to get through to customer services on the phone
7, Even if you do - no one can help, they tell you to email the supervisor
8, You email them - they might not even email you back
9, You might get blamed for the faulty or damaged goods they sent
10,You may not get a refund

So consider the above before you take out your credit card.

You can read some Watford Electronics Nightmares or  Watford Electronics Reviews, or go to this forum where many people have shared their bad experiences.

I bought an Aries Precision 1101 Notebook from Savastore. This is my story…(click on the underlined words to read it).

What is yours????

If you had the misfortune of shopping at their online store Savastore.com, and you want to stop them getting away with misleading people and providing an unacceptable customer service, you are reading the right page.

Firstly, share your experience with us by adding a comment below.  This is a blog and it’s going to be picked up much faster than normal web pages by the Search Engines, so we can warn more people more quickly about them!

Secondly, for the same reason, open a free blog here. Blog your frustration out there too.

Thirdly, if they refuse to give you a refund you can try to claim your money back through Money Claim Online - this is an internet based government funded service that seems to work for getting  money back from Watford Electronics.

Update (20 June 2006)

Recently we have received an email from Mr Hills, the Customer Service Manager, requesting this post be removed because it’s “untrue” and “harmful” to their business. You can read our correspondence with him regarding this issue here. This post was true at the time it was published. If their customer service has improved since last year please defend Watford Electonics below. If it hasn’t, please let us know your comments!

Isn’t it amazing how they care about potentially harmful comments and blogs, yet they don’t seem to give a damn about their customers? If Watford Electronics spent more time on their customers’ problems in the first place, they would not have to turn to blogs and forums to shout out their frustration and disappointment. Wouldn’t that be a better use of energy rather than threatening those who dare to publish their criticism with law suits?  

Savastore

Savastore.com is owned by Watford Electronics. If you’re thinking of buying anything from them - think again. Why?  Because this is what Savastore is about:..

• Their website has misleading information about products they sell
• Their website and telephone sales staff mislead you about the availability of their products:  they tell you that a product will be delivered in a week, which may arrive more than a month later. In the meantime they do not inform you about the delay - you have to chase them
• They sell products unfit for use in the UK  - putting your life in danger!
• Their sales staff don’t know much about the products they sell

Should you have any problems with the product you buy, customer services at Savastore is totally appalling: inefficient, unhelpful and absolutely useless:

• You can only get through to them on the phone after several hours of listing to music (for which they charge a premium rate!)
• When you get through, you can only talk to a sales assistant who has no power to make any decisions. You get told to email them.
• When you email them, they ignore you.
• You then write to the supervisor or manager - they ignore you.
• You might get a reply after several emails - but no proper reply to your enquiry.
• The supervisor and the manager publish their telephone numbers in their emails. These are not real phone numbers - obviously they do not want to be called by customers.
• Many people don’t get a refund or get blamed for faulty products
• Many people have already complained about Savastore to the Department of Trade and Industry.

They have been getting away with this for far too long! Together we can do something about this. The more of us who submit our stories to blogs and forums the more people will stop buying anything from them. You can start by adding your story below. Also, set up your own free blog here and publish your story there too. You could also contribute to this forum, but a blog gets picked up faster in the Search Engines than any other document -  so start blogging now! There is already a blog about Watford Electronics Customer Service - you can start therea. Also, if you have a website or a blog, link to these forums & blogs - the more links they receive the better they will rank in the Serch Engines when people search for Savastore & Watford.

Click here if you want to read people’s stories about Savastore and reviews about Savastore.

Please share your experience of shopping at Savastore, please comment below.

I bought an ARIES PRECISION 1101 Notebook from Savastore, This is my story…(click on the underlined words). What is yours????

Update (20 June 2006)

Last month we received an email from Mr Hills, the Customer Service Manager, requesting this post be removed because it’s “untrue” and “harmful” to their business. You can read our correspondence with him regarding this issue here. This post was true at the time it was published. If their customer service has improved since last year please defend Savastore below. If it hasn’t, please let us know your comments!

Perhaps Savastore should spend more of their time on providing a good Customer Service. If they did so, their customers would not feel the need to express their dissatisfaction and anger on several blogs and forums. Their sale would also improve as people would recommend them to each other rather than warning against them - word-of-mouth is still the most powerful way of making or breaking a business - particularly in cyber world!
 

Aries Precision

Aries Precision 1101 Notebook from Savastore

Are you thinking of getting an Aries Notebook from Savastore.com owned by Watford Electronics? Well, DON’T! This is why:

I ordered an Aries Precision 1101 laptop from Savastore.com. I chose this laptop because it had a good spec for its price and, according to the Savastore website, it was available within 3-6 days. I received no confirmation of the order. I checked out the “My account” section on their site, it said that the order was cancelled. I called them the next day and was told that the order did get through but they were waiting for some parts. I was assured that the laptop would be delivered within 7 days..

I was anxious for the laptop to arrive on time because I had to travel abroad for a week and needed the laptop to work on.  In their terms they say that “It is our policy to contact you to explain the stock and delivery situation ….”, yet it was I who had to call and email them several times before my departure date.

It is almost impossible to get through to customer services. When I did manage to get through, I was told the laptop would be delivered “within a couple of days”. The laptop was not delivered before my business trip and therefore I could not do my job properly causing my company a financial loss.

The Aries Precicision notebook was eventually delivered a month later. However, it had a foreign keyboard, the network card didn’t seem to function and the fully charged battery indicated only 75 minutes rather than the 3hrs they advertised on the Savastore website.

I called them again. After more than an hour on the telephone I got through to customer services only to be told that I had to get some sort of return authorisation number, which I had to obtain online because the laptop was ordered online. They could not give me a specific date for picking up the laptop nor for delivering a replacement.

I tried to get the return authorisation number online - their website was not working. By now I’d just about had enough and emailed the Customer Services Supervisor, the manager & the managing director. I requested that someone in authority called me within a day to explain why the laptop had a foreign keyboard & plug; what could be done about it; how long this would take; and what sort of compensation they were offering, given that they’d misled me for a month about the availability of their product and then delivered the wrong laptop.

I received no reply. I kept emailing them. Jenny, the customer services supervisor replied, but offered no explanation, no help - nor even the merest suggestion of an apology. She had a direct phone number in her signature - so I tried to call her to get some answers. The phone number was obviously phoney, as it was engaged even at 2am!

I emailed them again - they just ignored me. I  was by now so pissed off that I got onto the DTI. Within a couple of hours I had a Trading Standard Officer in my house inspecting the laptop. He confirmed that the plug was unsafe to use in the UK and strongly advised me not use it because it could cause fire. Apparently it is a criminal offence to sell electrical goods in the UK with foreign plugs. Watford Electronics had put my life in danger!

I wrote to Watford Electronics to let them know what the Trading Standard Officer had told me. They offered me a full refund, but no compensation for putting my life in danger - and again offered no form of apology! They said I am only entitled legally to a full refund not to any compensation. This was, of course, my statutory right anyway.

I returned the laptop and got my refund. I’m also considering whether to take legal action against them for putting misleading information about their products on their website and supplying unsuitable & dangerous goods.
 
Apparently I’m not the only nor the first dissatisfied customer. In fact, it seems Savastore and Watford Electronics have a very bad reputation.
You can read more horror stories here about Watford Electronics and Savastore.com
You should certainly read these before you decide buying anything from them.

If you have a similar experience, please submit it here (by adding a comment).

Update (20th june 2006)

We have recently received an email from Mr Hills, the Customer Service Manager, requesting this post be removed because it’s “untrue” and “harmful” to their business. You can read our correspondence with him regarding this issue here. This post was true at the time it was published. If their customer service has improved since last year please defend Savastore below. If it hasn’t please let us know your comments!

We find it unbelievable that Mr Hills gets so defensive about this post, yet when we complained to him about the Aries laptop he didn’t even bother to reply to our emails let alone explain the situation. He should really get some training at John Lewis, where they know how to provide proper Customer Service.

Gif Animation

If you want to spice up your site, add a couple of animated gifs to your pages. But not too many of them and not tacky-flashy ones. They are very simple to create - you only need a bit of imigination..

The best tool to use is Image Ready (part of Photoshop). You can control the speed and time of these animations. People don’t like to see constant movement on web pages so it’s best to allow the animation only to play up to a certain amount of time (1-5 times).

Also, people like being "in control" of web-pages, so allow them to interact with images such as roll-overs that turn into little animations. It’s a surprise for them and they feel in control. Don’t worry about people not realising that the image is supposed to be an animation. Most people belong to the "clickers" category - they click on anything and everthying on a page. I’ll publish a few examples to demonstrate this - I can’t quite work out how to do this here. I’ll have to ask our technical expert!

I’ll be back!

Well, I’m unable to put the animated gifs here, but I’ll be able to provide a link to them.

I’ll do his next week, if I have time - we are very busy developing a couple of web sites. The deadline to finish them is getting closer.

Anyway, as to animated gifs - try to use them subtly. Really. There is nothing more awful than those tacky flashy animations. And use humour or make your viewers curious or surprise them with rollovers! Good Luck.

Today is the 13th - and it’s a Friday. And the Olympics are starting. Is this good luck or bad luck? We shall see..

 I’m not a great fan of Sport of any kind but I always like the Olympics. There is something about the games that makes me sit in front of the telly and watch sport for hours. Maybe it’s the community spirit versus individualism, or the beautiful human bodies or might just be the fact that this only happens every 4 years!

Actually, probably that’s what it is. The 4 year interval. We sympathise with the athletes because they’ve been training for 4 years and one moment or one mistake or one tiny external factor could make them lose or win. Scary. Yet life is the same. I’m sure most of us, when we watch the Olympics, subconsciously sum up our last four years - what have done and haven’t done since the last games - are we losers or winners in the games of life?

Anyway, it’s good to see the Olympics back in Europe, particularly in Greece. I hope they’ll do as well as the Spanish did in Barcelona - which, I think was the best hosted & spirited games (in my life time anyway). Good luck to them and good luck to all the athletes. Perhaps Friday the 13th will be a good omen.

Misuse of this blog

This blog is about web design only and not to be spammed with rubbish. Do not write about anything else! Yesterday several "comments" were added that were nothing to do with web site or graphic design. These comments were deleted - any similiarly unrelated links/promotions/adverts will be delated. So don’t bother!