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Product Failed twice - Belkin customer service failed a third time
I'm not a huge review writer, but this product and the support provided by Belkin warrants some comments.
I originally purchased this around February 2012. The product failed within the first 30 days while being hooked up to my computer and a TV. There was no smoke or surge - it simply shut off and never turned on again. No fuses tripped within my home... something apparently just shorted out inside the unit.
I did a simple exchange with amazon and received unit #2. This one worked until this week when the same thing happened. Powers down and never provides power again. I know amazon no longer will be able to aid me in the process but I know there is also a manufacture warranty.
I visit Belkin.com and find the warranty page. They have a process similar to Amazon which allows them to ship you the new product, then you return the defective one to them once the new one is received. I'm thinking this is great... nice and easy like amazon. So I type in the model number (BE-112234-10), select defective product, and click next. At this point it wants my shipping and billing information. I understand they will want they billing details as they need to have someone to charge in the event I do not return the product.. okay, no problem.
So far there has been no mention about how shipping charges are covered (both return shipping and new product shipping). This is obviously a huge part of the equation for a $25.00 product and I assume it will be covered eventually once they provide some actual dollar figures about what I will be charged if I don't return the bad one. So I click next after filling in my shipping/billing details... and... Surprise! You have been charged $64.99+ tax for a total of $69.80. It allows me to print a shipping label which is basically just their address and nothing is prepaid. So now I am annoyed. They have charged me $70 dollars and I have to pay to ship the item back. They couldn't highlight EITHER of those two points before charging me?
So I check my email for an order number so I can contact them to get this straightened out. No email. Fantastic. No record of a transaction except them telling me I'm getting charged.
So I contact CitiBank (my credit card) to notify them of a probable dispute at this point... and they tell me the actual charge was $80.30. So not only did Belkin deceptively charge my credit card but they charged it for more than the stated amount. I am assuming the extra is for the shipping to send me the new one. So they want me to pay $10 dollars to ship the product to them, $10 dollars to ship me a new one... wait... the math is starting to fail here. This product varies from $18 to $25 here on Amazon.
Anyway, short version: product failed twice (which to me warrants the one star review alone), Belkin customer service then provides the trifecta of failure. I'd buy a new one from amazon but at this point I don't really want to give Belkin even a dollar.
**Review update 1 month later -
After my initial issue, I emailed Belkin support to notify them of the issue and request the order cancelled. Five days later I received a response that appeared to be written by an actual person (versus an automated reply) that stated
"Thank you for contacting Belkin Technical Support.
In response to your query, I understand that you have experienced issues while filling the replacement form, you have been charged $69.80 for the replacement and $20 for the shipment.
I apologize for the inconvenience caused. I will certainly help you with this.
It seems that you have been charged $20.00 for shipment and you haven't received about the status of your order. I do understand how you feel from your end. Please call our customer support department during business hours"
So that was great. I try to call their customer service. Excessive hold times killed my lunch hour so I give up and instead notify UPS that I am refusing delivery of the package. So they reroute the shipment back to Belkin. I assume all is well - until today... a month later.. They charged me again. No words. I never received anything and tracking shows it was returned to their docks almost a month ago, yet they charge me. How is this a major company.
November 2012 · Electronics · verified purchase