Digital Solutions of Kentucky, Inc.

This appears to be a situation of unrealistic expectations, and lack of documentation. The first event is on the customer, and the latter rests on a former employee of the company and ultimately the company. The customer understood they were buying a used computer, and he was told if it didn’t work...

for them bring it back and we will find him something that would meet his needs. This is the exact same thing that is told to everyone purchasing a used computer. A total of $159 via a credit card was paid on 12/28/15. That is the last thing I can undoubtedly verify. For whatever reason no receipt was given to the customer upon returning the computer. Customer states it was the next day. I had trouble verifying it was even brought back let alone when. We moved from one location to another starting 12/31/15. The customer came into the store in late February to utilize the $159 towards a new computer. The story the customer told sounded somewhat familiar to me, but I couldn’t find any paperwork to confirm it or the computer that was supposed to have been returned. The employee that handled the customer resigned 1/8/16, so verification becomes even more difficult. We were able to speak with former employee and he stated “I don’t actually remember it but if J** says he brought it back then he did.” Once locating the computer “I believe” is the one in question I hooked it up and started it. I found an issue with it that was very common in late 2015 through early 2016 with Windows update. There was a flaw in updates that would utilize 100% of the computers resources and never release them. This computer had been sitting on the shelf and was thrown into this flaw once hooked to the Internet. Given this flaw the computer probably did seem slow. Once a software patch was made, the computer began running fine. However, at this point customer has decided he wants a new customer built computer. I located the quote for the $500 custom computer quoted in December and it was for a very basic machine. After [redacted] discussed the customer’s actual needs with him it was decided he should build a machine specific for what it would be used for primarily, which was handling “Dee Jay” functions. The machine that was quoted originally was AMD only and it lacked the second DVD burner needed and less memory. The spec s was upgraded to include a larger power supply, a Western Digital hard drive, a high end sound card and 2 upper end DVD burners including one with DVD scribe, faster memory and we doubled the amount of memory. A quote was given in both AMD and Intel. The power supply and hard drive were for future expansion, while the sound card and DVD drives were considered imperative to optimal performance based on the customer’s stated needs. Given our understanding of our customer’s “thrifty” shopping habits, we told him “these are not final, if you want me to tweak anything I would be more than happy to.” About a week goes by (9 days to be exact), and we received a voicemail message from the customer stating he had purchased a computer at Sam’s and he stated he wanted to “get a refund or whatever you all want to do.” I was out of town that day, but I called [redacted] and told him that if the customer called or came in explain to him he has $159 store credit and that is all. There was never an option of a refund and he was fully aware of that from the start. After listen to this message several times, I reached my end with this situation. STORE CREDIT ONLY. As previously mentioned, the customer state he purchased a computer elsewhere. He said, “for $499, It’s a Dell, it’s got everything I need.” Perhaps it had everything he thought he needed, however it lacked 2 DVD drives. In fact it came with 0 DVD drives. It sounds like they didn’t listen to their customer’s needs when helping him choose a machine, or he took the specs we gave him and tried to match. Either way, it appears he didn’t get from Sam’s what he wanted or needed. He kept stating in his message “we just are not in the same ballpark.” I would have to agree with him, because he is seeking to quench a champagne thirst on an economy beer budget. This goes back to unrealistic expectations. If you want someone competent to help you with a product you are unfamiliar with it comes at a cost. He got what he paid for at Sam’s, and I must admit the irony of him stating it didn’t have DVD drives almost made the entire situation all worth it. He will probably be in for a real shock when he starts hooking all of his USB devices to machine for a show one night and they crap out the inferior power supply that comes standard with the $499 Dell desktop. We would know, because we are authorized resellers of Dell computers, and see this regularly. Had the customer mentioned interest in a Dell machine we could have matched and came within $50 of the Sam’s price, and I would have made sure it had DVD drives. When the customer came into the store we offered to put DVD drives in his new machine, but he stated he wanted his “cash” back. In fact, his insistence on cash raised one of several red flags in this transaction. His purchase was with a credit card (something he did state in his complaint), yet when in the store, he implied that it was cash. I was able to verify it was paid with a credit card and not cash, so that somewhat concerned me. My inability to verify the return of the computer was another red flag. I don’t believe there is anything sinister going on, but on the surface it sure looked that way. Are a former employee and a customer working to together to con the company? That is highly unlikely and improbable, but still possible. I have seen worse done for less money. We go to great lengths to satisfy our customers, and to prevent these types of complaints. In fact, we have lost money before when we were 100% correct. Many times it is just easier give the person what they want, no matter how unreasonable it seems to prevent the headache and hassle of answering to a complaint. However, every now and then you encounter a situation where you at the end you become unwilling to budge. We could have easily given him $159 and wished him a good day, and it may have come to that once I got back in town. However, the customer threatened us with a Revdex.com complaint when he was told no refund, store credit only, and that may have skewed my willingness to compromise. I thought many times of calling the customer as I should have done after his threat, but I had reached an end. The customer mentions how we were trying to make up the $150 with higher quotes, and that concerned me. Did we do that? The answer was no. The $500 computer was still available that was discussed in December 2015, the higher quotes come with different hardware and they were in line with quotes given for like items to other customers. In January we quoted an AMD machine for a DJ that was $50 more than an almost identical machine quoted for this customer. If anything we were offering him more for less to finalize a transaction from last year. Perhaps our custom built machines cost more than what you can buy at a big box store, but it is not the $150 or 30% he suggests. We have found our custom built machines are within usually within 10% when exact specs are met “apples for apples.” Had he told us of the machine he was planning on buying at Sam’s, we would have pointed out it had no DVD drives and inferior power supply for what he wants to do. We could have matched the specs of the Dell for $500 by eliminating the DVD drive, downgrading the power supply, but that isn’t what he needed. We would have been willing to spend even more time explaining what he needed, researching parts, and reworking quotes. I kind of expected to have to quote him a couple more times before getting his specs in line with his expectations and budget. Regardless, that didn’t happen. He purchased a machine elsewhere before giving us a chance to match any specs or counter offer. We have spent a substantial amount of time with this customer, and have usually charged him less than like customers. It is our time that is truly our stock in trade. We have provided ample time to this customer at no charge. Whether it would be listening to how a big box store screwed him over in his employment, explaining to him how to do something, or listening to how his business is ran to better meet his needs when recommending computers, we have done that. The computer he returned… I am ethically obligated to format the hard drive and reload the operating system before selling it to anyone else, because it had been used. This is a service we do daily for a charge of $90. In the rare occasion that occurs, it is a cost of doing business. We reformat the computer and move on, but it still takes time. All of the above mentioned is available for all our customers at no cost other than maybe the 10% difference they would pay at a big box store, and in most cases our prices are the same or even less. For whatever reason, we did not give the customer a receipt upon returning the item. That is a failure on our part, yet the customer should have insisted on some sort of paperwork. I could easily say I am not doing anything without proof, but we didn’t. In light of us not issuing a return receipt I am will to issue a refund minus a restocking fee if the customer is willing to withdrawal his complaint. I have listed both options below and will await the customer’s response. 1. Option 1: $159 store credit which the customer stated in his own words in his complaint. This could come in the form of merchandise, labor or a combination. This was the agreement from the start and remains available even with no proof of returning the item. 2. Option 2: Withdrawal of complaint for Refund of $159 - 25% stocking fee for a total of $119.25. This is not something we normally offer to do, but I am willing to do so to end this. Full refunds are only given on new unopened merchandise. Opened or used merchandise is eligible for exchange only. If this option is chosen I will have a check for $119.25 for the customer within 48 hours of agreement or a credit of $119.25 can be issued to his credit card within 24 hours. Feel free to contact me with any questions you might have.Sincerely, [redacted], General Manager Digital Solutions of KY, Inc

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
Regards,
[redacted]               dear [redacted] I thought your business on Dixie was simple do things on hand shakes not make fun of someone losing their job. And my computer has a dvd  drive I did not know. Maybe you can poke fun at that to. I know coach real well I haven't said  any thing to him about this yet. I used debit also or thought I was  I don't appreciate someone who I never see at their business accusing me of not returning a computer maybe if you were around  emplyees would follow protocol. either way If you want this to end pay me the balance that haven't used