dabs.com

~*~*~*~*~*~*UPDATE~*~*~*~*~*~*

Since this opinion, we have ceased buying any stock from Dabs at all, this is mostly because we now have a shop and decent trade suppliers but it also has something to do with the fact that the bigger the company have become, the worse the customer service has become.

The last thing we purchased from Dabs was a HP Colour Laser printer as part of a system for one of our business customers. Dabs was the only place we could source this particular printer and it cost around about £450.00.

The printer arrived ok and we delivered it to the customer with no problems, until about three months before the guarantee expired - the customer reported that the printer would print continuosly and that it often printed the wrong colours or the colours were faded....

So we went out and tested the printer - we tried new software, patches, reinstalls etc, but nothing we did made any difference whatsoever. We contacted HP Support and followed all of the proceedures they advised (much of which we had already done) but to no avail. Finally, we took it back to the shop and tested the printer on three different machines, all with different operating systems and different software.

We then sent it back to Dabs. By this time, the printer had three weeks remaining on the warrenty. Dabs held it for three weeks and the day after the warrenty expired, emailed us to tell us that not only could they find nothing wrong with the printer, but we had packed it insufficiently and so the printer was also physically damaged.....

They sent it back to us and we could see immediately what had happened - someone had tried to lift it out of the box via a 'bar' at the front of the printer and it had snapped off. We contacted the courier who advised that had it been insufficiently packed, she would not have taken it in the first place. In addition, once we examined the printer, we found wires had been pulled out and one of them cut.

Dabs have claimed that they have no responsibility in this instance and we will have to get the printer repaired ourselves - they are impossible to contact and all communication is through email only as they have removed all other contact details from the website..

As a small business, we cannot afford to lose almost £500.00 for one sale - we may as well have given away a free computer! I have contacted the FSB and a trade association and are waiting for some information, in the meantime, our customer is getting extremely shirty.

The lack of communication and Dabs absolute insistance that they are not at fault has been very frustrating - they sent some photos which I feel were designed to scare us into acceptance but they prove nothing at all... we feel that this is going to be a lengthy process but are determined to see it through..... watch this space......

OLD OPINION
******I decided to do an op about Dabs.com some time ago as I have read many negative opinions and decided to balance them a little with my own positive experiences of the company.

Dabs.com is a mail-order computer dealer which has been established for about fourteen years. These days they also sell some other electronic goods such as televisions, stereos etc but still deal mostly in computer hardware, software, peripherals and consumables. The company is based in Bolton and employs nearly 200 staff, they are members of the trade body ‘Personal Computer Association’ and ‘Confederation of British Industry. The chairman of the company, David Atherton, can be emailed direct on: da@dabs.com and says he is happy to answer any questions about the status of the company.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The website itself is easy to use, with lots of useful links situated on the home page, a search facility and a ‘quiklinx’ facility. This is useful if you have spotted a part in Dabs’ advertisements which can usually be found in computer magazines; the part has a number next to it and if you type this into the quiklinx box, it takes you directly to the component without any messing about!

There are a few different ways to shop on the website; you can search for parts by listing by manufacturer, type or shop in shop or you use the search facility. I find the best way is by manufacturer or type, the search facility is something of a waste of time as it never finds anything unless you word it very specifically. Once you have found what you are looking for, you click on buy to add the product to your basket and then continue shopping or proceed to the checkout. There is also a little I by the product which will give more information and a photo of the product, which is useful. To buy, you must give a user name and password as is usual on shopping sites. Once at the checkout, you must give your delivery address, billing address and credit/ debit card details. You then get an order confirmation number for your reference and you can check on the progress of your order at any time from the home page by clicking on order status.

If your order is below £75.00, then you are charged a small order surcharge of £2.95, we try to wait until we have a big enough order to avoid this but on the whole, Dabs’ pricing is so competitive that it wouldn’t put me off if the order is urgent. Delivery is free and usually appears within the next two days via Parcel Force, and must be signed for.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the past couple of years we have spent quite a lot of money with this company and have had no trouble from them at all. We have ordered enough parts for three full systems and numerous bits and pieces for family and friends. One thing I would say is that if you look at how many of the product you are buying are available now, then order, but if you are in a hurry (which we generally are, kids and sweet shops you know!) and it says that the part is available in 1-3 days or worse, weeks, find an alternative part. For Example, this week we put in a big order and one part, a processor retail box, was stated as available in 1-3 days. However, we checked back 3 days later and the stock still hadn’t come into the warehouse and was holding up the entire order. So we chose to buy the processor and fan separately out of in stock items and the order arrived the next day at midday, we changed the order at 7pm the night before it came, so that’s not bad going. We also ordered a monitor at 6.30 on Wednesday evening and it arrived the next day. I have found that the only time an order gets held up is when Dabs themselves are awaiting the stock.

As for returns, we have never had to return any of the products we have purchased from them but their policy is to refund or replace faulty goods up to 28 days following purchase. After the 28 days are up, they offer to repair any faulty goods or replace at their discretion. Something to keep in mind is that Dabs do not accept any responsibility for incompatibility of parts, in other words, if you don’t quite know what you’re doing when ordering components for computers then don’t buy from them; I find this acceptable personally.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I use this company a lot and I have found them to be a reliable and reputable company whom I don’t have any problems with at all. If there is a choice between Dabs and the likes of PC World, I will choose Dabs every time. They are quick to dispatch your order and will let you know via email if there is any problem with your order; the goods are always well packed and they provide plenty of information for any problems you may have onsite in the help section. If you phone them, expect to wait in a queue for a while, but when you get through, staff are friendly and helpful. I hope this has been helpful!

Contact details:

HEAD OFFICE
Direct House
Wingates Industrial Park
Westhoughton
Bolton
BL5 3XD

COLLECTIONS & DELIVERIES
National Logistics Centre (NLC)
Wingates Industrial Park
Westhoughton
Bolton
BL5 3XU

TEL: 0870 429 3220

FAX: 0870 429 7220

EMAIL: enquiries@dabs.com******

© Kerry Downing 2002