I’ll never buy from AO.com and recommend that you do your homework before you do business with this online retailer. Why? Let me take you through my experience.
Good Experience: Buying Online
I placed the order for a Windows laptop with AO.com as my wife is unwilling to switch from Windows to MacOS. My experience of buying from AO.com was good to great:
- process of selecting the laptop and checking out was easy/quick;
- next day delivery was offered without any extra charge;
- email confirmation was order arrived immediately as promised.
Ugly Experience: Salesman Calls to Sell Extended Warranty
In between buying the laptop and it turning up on my door I got an unexpected phone call from a fellow from AO.com. He started by checking with me that I was the person who had placed the order. Then he started his cross-selling pitch: extended warranty.
This conversation occurred as ugly. Why? One, I placed an order for the laptop a couple of hours ago. I’m looking forward to it arriving. I am hoping/expecting will be OK as I wish to provide my wife with a pleasant surprise. This call changes my emotional state: the extended warranty (cross sell) call is a fear based sell – raising the fear that the laptop will breakdown and all the cost/hassle that goes with getting it repaired. Two, the guy making the call pretended he was doing this as he cared for me – as a customer. My experience was that he was simply doing that which he needed to do to make his sales target irrespective of whether I needed or wanted the which he was selling.
Good Experience: Delivery
I had ordered the laptop on Saturday. The delivery was due on Sunday and it arrived on Sunday. The driver who dropped it off was friendly. The packaging was intact – not damaged. I opened up the computer and switched it on. It switched on, the operating system had to configure itself and to do that it asked me questions and I had to supply then like wifi network details….
Another good experience – another expectation fulfilled. I felt good about doing business with AO.com. To date, my experience of doing business with AO.com was consistent with my experience of buying a smart TV from AO.com some years ago.
Bad Bad Bad Experience: Returning The Laptop / Asking For A Refund
During the course of the week my wife used the computer once for about 20 minutes. She found it was ok for surfing the internet. And not fast enough when it came to what she really wanted it for: productivity – writing letters, working with spreadsheets….. She didn’t want it – she wants a faster computer.
I go the AO.com order confirmation email and look for information on how I return the laptop. There is no information for returns, there is a phone number for cancelling orders. So I call that number and get through to automated IVR. I listen, I select the relevant options, I provide the order number. Then I wait, and wait, and wait. Eventually, I hang up. Later that day, I go through the same process and experience that which I experienced first time: frustration, annoyance and contempt. Why? Time is ticking by and nobody is picking up my call.
Later, it occurs to me why not do that which I do on Amazon.co.uk: find the order, select the relevant item on that order, and choose the returns option on the menu. So I hit the AO.com website, log into my account, find the order, and find myself stopped: AO.com doesn’t have that functionality. So I go to the home page and hit the “Free 30 day returns” icon. The is what shows up:
I find myself thinking “Great, I have 30 days to get this product back to AO.com instead of the legal 14 days.”
And I want to get this thing over with. So I search for option to contact AO.com without having to call. I do not come across live chat. I do come across a customer services email address. The problem: AO.com is still living in the dark ages – 48 hours to respond to an email. I don’t want to wait 48 hours! I want to getting this forking business over with right now!
Next day, I ring AO.com again, this time a human being does respond to my call. I say that I wish to return the laptop. She asks if it is faulty. I say that it is not faulty, I wish to return it as my wife says it is too slow. She responds by saying something like “So you have used it.” I say something like “Of course I’ve used it – how else would I try out the laptop and see if works, meets my expectations?” She tells me that as I have used the laptop AO.com’s policy is to charge 45% of the laptop price to cancel order / return the laptop.
I’m not happy. Actually, I find myself annoyed. I point out that under the distance selling regulations, the customer can order a product online, try it out, and return it (without giving a reason) and get a full refund except for paying costs of shipping product back to the supplier. I also say that as I know something about computers, I have reset the laptop back to factory settings – so it is in the same condition that it was shipped out to me. She tells me to hold whilst she talks with someone. I wait.
She comes back with an offer. She’s talked to the supervisor and out of the goodness of AO.com’s heart these folks are only going to charge me 10% of the laptop price to exercise my legal right to return this laptop. I say “No!” No, I am not going to pay anything except what the law says: return shipping costs.”
She consults with someone and comes back again with something like “OK, as you have reset the computer to factory default settings, we will not charge you for returning it. Is that Ok?” I say “No! No it’s not ok. You are breaking the law and I want to speak to your manager. I want to know why you are breaking the law.” She refuses. We conclude by agreeing the date when the laptop will get picked up from my home.
I have yet to get my refund so we will see if this is the end of this bad experience or if there is more to come.
Is AO.com Complying With The Law?
Put bluntly it occurs to me that AO.com is not trustworthy – not playing fair nor being reasonable with customers. I also happen to think that AO.com is not complying with the law. Why?
Common sense dictates that it is only reasonable that the person who buys an electrical appliance online has to use it in order to see if a) it works; and b) if the performance is in line with expectations. Further, consumer rights & protection (e.g. Consumer Contracts Regulations – came into force in June 2014) allow for reasonable use to try out a product.
Here’s what Which? (consumer rights organisation) says:
I bring your attention to the following: “The extent to which you can handle the goods is the same as it would be if you were assessing them in the shop.” And if you do that then you are entitled to a full refund if you let the supplier know within 14 days that you wish to return the goods.
The AO.com Experience Is So Bad In Comparison With My Argos.co.uk Experience
At about the same time I ordered a laptop for my wife (via AO.com) I ordered a laptop for my daughter (online via argos.co.uk). My daughter used the laptop from Argos and said “Papa, it’s ok and it’s not as fast as your MacBook Air. I want to use the MacBook Air. Please send it back.”
I went to the Argos website, hit live chat, explained the situation, and the return was agreed there and then (for the next day) at no cost. Zero hassle. I wasn’t even asked if I had reset the laptop to factory settings.
My advice to those of you shopping online: do business with reputable retailers rather than AO.com. And if you choose to do business with AO.com then you might want to check it out these online reviews: a mixed bag.
Here is my experience of AO.com
We ordered 3 appliances to be delivered in 2 deliveries. The first 2 were scheduled from 0700 – 1300 on a Sunday (early but OK). However, we were called at 0600 and advised they would be with us early. The delivery was completed and they left well before 0700 – not so good on a Sunday !.
We had paid for the fridge to be “installed”, however this was not done and the fridge was left wobbly.
The oven was also delivered, but they refused to take the old oven away for disposal, despite this having been booked a week prior. They said there was no room on the van. So, how do you unload 2 larger items but cannot re-load 2 smaller ones ? When challenged they set up a fake photo for their boss by filling the empty space on the van with the now empty carboard packaging for the tall fridge, how they thought they would get away with that is beyond belief. They then dumped the old oven on the drive and left. I was informed that I could arrange collection for a weeks time. After a lot of complaining to AO.com they eventually agreed to collect the next morning. Did this happen, of course not. After further complaints however it was collected late on the Monday.
They then assured me I was being closely monitored for my 3rd delivery, of a dishwasher, on the Wednesday. We got the text confirming the Wed am delivery, however as on the previous texts the link provided to track the delivery did not work. The phone number given for the driver was a non existent number. Nevertheless, we disconnected the working dishwasher and moved to the hall. After no delivery occurred we complained again only to be told the driver had gone sick in the morning. Why were we not informed ? After 1700 AO.com did phone to let us know, along with 10 other customers, that the delivery (ies) would not be made. So 10 other people had been left waiting all day, when AO.com knew first thing in the morning no deliveries would take place. I was offered a possible delivery slot a week later !
At this point cancelled the order and will never use AO.com again.