That's the end of Dabs then...
 

Just read that BT have acquired dabs<dot>com for £30m.

How long it will it take them to wreck it I wonder :rolleyes:

Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4956100.stm

Perhaps BT will make it easier to contact a real person via dabs.com. When the fan on my asus motherboard failed (a known problem with that model), Asus advised me to contact dabs for the replacement. Every single email I sent to dabs resulted in the same old automated form reply, telling me to RMA the entire board. Not exactly helpful for a board that was currently installed in the machine and was perfectly functional with the exception of a faulty fan. Perhaps BT will also allow customers to phone dabs as well now, as I could easily have explained the situation to someone on the phone rather than have an automated email system generate replies without a human so much as glancing at my email :uhoh:. All i needed was a replacement fan...eventually gave up with dabs and bought a nice quiet passive zalman heatsink.

Dabs customer service was diabolical :mad:. I had a major problem with them a year or so back and spent three weeks trying to get them to return money that they had taken TWICE - it was a substantial sum, over £1k. I had bought from them almost since they started and was a very loyal customer. That didn't matter.
I can only hope that BT manage to get to grips with it and sort it out.
If they do, I might consider using them again. Slight problem there, because how will I know unless I use them ....
Chicken - egg, egg -chicken ...
I wish them well.
ST

Having just had trouble with Dabs I don't see how things can get worse.

When things go wrong (they sent me the incorrect Graphics card in my order) their automated return system failed completely.It somehow got it into its head that I wanted to return a mainboard and nothing I could do could make them read the messages I wrote in the return process.
They don't provide a phone number to call and if you find it out through "searching" you end up with an answerphone where they promise to ring you back but never do. Nor do they reply to recorded delivery letters.
Eventually I wrote again and said that I was writing one last time at the request of my credit card company (true) and if they didn't give me satisfaction :) I would leave it in their hands.
Of course being a purely internet based company now their livelihoods depend on card sales and as my cc company had said I wasn't the first to complain about their service - and too many complaints could mean possibly losing the use of that particular card. Perhaps not likely but it did the trick, they finally started taking notice.
The annoying aspect about the whole business - which took about 6 weeks to resolve - was that if I could have spoken to someone on the phone it could have been sorted out in minutes.

Having taken advice from the helpful members of this group, I decided to buy the Wacom Graphics Tablet from DABS...

I wish I'd read this thread before making the order...

Paid for last Monday; DABS said "In Stock"; no delivery as yet - stock automated reply...

Why-oh-why did I order from these b@$tards?

Will keep the group posted.

I have every intention of petitioning my local MP with regards to banning "email only" firms; it's simply not reliable enough as a means of communication and exists purely for profit motives.

Vermin :yuk: :ugh:

If you paid by credit card, ask your issuer to chargeback on the grounds of non-delivery.

They may require you to wait a bit longer.

See my post earlier about my problems.
To get a phone number I put "dabs sucks" into google and the first link http://www.gringod.com/2005/04/06/mo...scom-contacts/ gave me some phone numbers. It didn't do me any good but you might be luckier. I tried ringing Paul Sharrock and left 2 messages for him which he declined to answer.
Bolton Trading Standards refused to act on my behalf too.
Getting your credit card company involved will probably work but they told me that even after receiving all the details they will wait a month before acting so it can get to be a bit long drawn out.
I agree with you that there should be legislation for them to be contactable by phone.

Get the fax number of the Chief Executive, send a fax with details of all interactions, and follow up with the PA a day or so later.

Worked for me with a different firm some years ago.

The good news: Both items arrived today, 10 days after ordering (according to site at time they were "in stock").

The bad news: The Lacie drive and the Wacom (£225) tablet were just sitting on top of each other in a cardboard box with NO packing material or cushioning...

Bubble wrap is surprisingly expensive - I should know, I have to re-order some - but the alternative is having hundreds of dissatisfied customers due to having bits broken off their hardware...

Oh well, bubble wrap affects margins... With their scale of client base, the savings on bubble wrap probably amount to an executive's bonus, and we can't have that can we?

:yuk:

For an OTT and reverse packaging and delivery experience, order from Screwfix.

It will always arrive next day, and you will be amazed at the amount of packaging used to protect something almost indestructible anyway.

I doubt BT did much due diligence on this, unless they bought it for a very different reason.

No customer service.
Nobody with a brain on the customer interface.
Countless other internet outlets selling the same stuff, and with customer service that's no worse (it could be no worse).

Curious.

DABS or no DABS
 

Try Scan instead.

www.scan.co.uk

Much better as they have a customer counter so you can visit a real person.

Justin.

About 5 years ago, Dabs used to have retail outlets -there was one near Woking- where you could go to get advice and buy their hardware. Because of the "feel good factor" I developed from them in those days I had no hesitation in buying from them when they went to an online only company.
It was big mistake, a company stands or falls on their response when something goes wrong and Dabs failed miserably in my case.
If you read the faqs on their website they try to make a vitue out of the fact that you can't contact them by phone!
When their automated returns system goes wrong then you are in big trouble.
I hope BT can address this but I'm not holding my breath.

My experience exactly - used the Woking store quite a bit!