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A used Apple Mac computer that was far from excellent
Our correspondent writes ...
I bought a used Apple eMac computer on eBay from Olympia Computers of Wimbledon. Big mistake!
It took two weeks to arrive (i.e. one week late) and it was badly damaged. It was ridiculously poorly packaged and therefore had a cracked casing. The fan-cover was hanging off, it was dirty and scuffed, and was only fitted with 256Mb RAM instead of 500Mb as advertised.
The keyboard was also dirty and damaged. It didn't work properly (monitor blurred/out-of-focus). It certainly did not match the description of "Excellent Condition" by a long chalk!
Needless to say, I complained and they told me to return it promising to send a replacement. It took another week to return but the replacement failed to arrive. When I asked why I got the impression I was being 'fobbed-off' - "It'll be there tomorrow", "Oh, it's my colleague who deals with that", etc, etc.
I demanded a refund and I opened a PayPal dispute which escalated to a claim. Olympia said they had done a refund but they lied. I never got it.
I have threatened legal action and am pursuing the claim. In the meantime, I decided to do a little research. I Googled "Olympia Computers Wimbledon" and, to my horror, discovered that they were actually prosecuted by Merton Trading Standards Authority in 2006 for fraudulent trading. If only I'd read that first!
You live and learn.
A conclusion at last ... but not exactly satisfactory
Our correspondent did eventually get his money back, but NOT from Olympia, despite what they claim.
PayPal ruled in the claimant's favour and gave him a partial refund of £105. The rest had to be claimed via Visa.
The matter took about 4 months to resolve but Olympia Computers then had the gall to leave negative feedback about our correspondent on eBay, with an incorrect statement saying, "We gave you a refund, what more can we do?" even though they most certainly did not give a refund.
Our correspondent also discovered that Olympia run another business called Green PC Disposal. Apparently they dispose of old computers for businesses/schools, etc under the guise of recycling. Given the state of the machine he received from Olympia, our correspondent now suspects it might have been one that was scrapped by a business or a school. It certainly looked like something out of a skip. The question is, is this another scam?
Visitors' Comments
I left a laptop and my Leopard operating system disc with Olympia as I was having problems installing the disc to upgrade my operating system.
I know I left the disc as initially I forgot it and had to return home for it. I clearly remember picking up my laptop as I asked for a VAT bill and was told they couldn't provide one at the time but to email and ask for one.
Once again I forgot all about the disc and left the shop without it. I recently needed the disc again and remembered the last time I had it was when I took my laptop for repair. When I went into Olympia to ask about the disc I was told they didn't have it. I would like to say they should be given the benefit of the doubt but I am convinced they do have it.
Tracey Turner, London
Editorial comment:
We also Googled Olympia Computers and found a number of negative comments about this company, including the press release by Merton Council - http://www.merton.gov.uk/press-release-details.htm?id=1406
Twelve months down the road from the proprietor's conviction in Kingston Crown Court, it seemed the leopard had not changed his spots. He was still operating a website so we assumed he was still trading.
We later learned that the company was dissolved on 19th August 2009.
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Winston S Churchill
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