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Mackenzie has discovered the only response to any statement, observation or discussion is “why?”

Lexi took her first steps today..

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Ok, so I admit i’d made the mistake of buying a “high tech” piece of kit on Ebay.  Don’t get me wrong the guy I bought it from appears totally above board - but my experience needs explaining to warn any else of the potential pitfalls - especially as their ebay seller may not be as accommodating.

So a new Roku SOundbridge M1000 in the UK wil set you back around £185+VAT - which is around £220 of most peoples money - so when one pops up on ebay for around £130-£140 including VAT - it’s a steal right…

The unit is advertised as “new & boxed”.. which it was…

It arrives a couple of days after purchase… in tact… as described… and I can’t wait to get this gadget hooked up and working its magic..

Only one small problem.. I connect it up as decsribed in the documentation - but it doesn’t work… so.....

1. I register the Unit with Roku.
2. I scour the Roku forums for siilar problems… ouch - i’m finding them..
3. I post my issues to the forum.. and BANG… within 24 hours tech support appear to have isolated the problem.. Which i guess is pretty cool…

The issue is - the unit I have just bought is an “early” production model… long and short… I need to send it back for “warranty repair"… I’m given a ticket number and told to return the unit via a traceable method UPS, Fedex Etc…

UPS are off my list - as 7 of the last 11 deliveries have been late.. so I opt for the apparently reliable Fedex for my return.

Armed with the purchase invoice (not from Roku obviously) and the return unit I sent the unit back on Thursday 10th March.  At the depot where i delivered the unit I was told to expect a delivery date of Monday 14th.

On Saturday 12th - I tapped in my tracking details (8495 6240 9367) to track progress.. only to find a “shipment Exception"… Confused as this was a priority shipment I would have expected a call from someone to say “Christian, we have a problem” or something similar at least.  I tried to call customer services - shut on weekend - great help…

So on Sunday (13th) - I go back to the drop off center and query the shipments delay.. I’m told that nothing will happen until UK customs clear the shipment..  see here’s the thing…

VAT and Duty have already been paid on this import - so I figured… let’s do this the right way.. Tell Fedex this is a warranty return… include the purchase invoice and whatever else is needed and make sure I don’t get Roku landed with an import duty bill - and more importantly - make sure I don’t get a bill for the VAT and duty when it comes back into the country.

Frankly - I wish I’d never bothered.

So here the farce with fedex so far..

On the 10th I shipped the package.. via Fedex Intl Priority Service - told delivery on the 14th
On the 11th - Fedex left it in the warehouse and did nothing according to their tracking.
On the 12th - Fedex decided in conjunction with the UK customs folks that there was an exception with the package
On the 13th - I vist Fedex to find out what the exception is - Just a STD customs delay I’m told. delivery now the 16th.
On the 14th - at 11am I call and complain to Fedex customer services that despite my efforts to sort the delay - NO ONE has bother to get intouch - or sort the problem.. told depsite this delivery will be the 15th…
On the 15th - at midnight.. the shipment still hasn’t left the UK (according to Fedex system)… so looks like another promise will be broken.

So Tina at Fedex promises a call back to let me know the status after a call at midday… 5pm arrives - no call - so I call her again - and I end up talking to John… who appears to be very helpful in explaining the errors that Fedex have made - which is great - but not really - as I just wanted the damned thing to get there and be sent back as soon as possible.

HERE’s the LOW DOWN for all you UK folks sending stuff back to ROKU… under warranty.

If you don’t want a bill for VAT & Duty again you need to explain to Fedxe (or the courier) that the shipment is a “Warranty Repair”.  As well as filling in a declaration - you should be made to fill in an “AGR” which is an Advanced Goods Return agreement (or something like that) whereby the courier links the outbound shipment with the return shipment.  Basically it means that UK customs know the goods are going out - and then coming back… In my case the agent on the desk forgot to get me to fill out the AGR form… which has resulted in this horrible delay.  John admitted that this was a Fedex error - read they’re paying for the shipment - but what really bugs me is that under their “priority” service no-one could be arsed to call me to discuss or highlight the delay.

Morover, as a small business.. we rely more than ever of OUR providers.. if Fedex lose a package or delay a package for a Fortune 1000 company… chances are that in the grand scheme of things - it make little - if any difference to the bottom line..  With a business like ours - reputation is everything - with a turnover of only around $100k - an oversight like this can mean losing a sale of between $5-6k..  At this level of business - making a crust is hard enough - without the big guys liek Fedex causing additional problems thanks to their own inadequacies.

Amazing to think that Mackenzie is now 11 months and 1 day old.  She took three (assisted) steps towards me today whilst I held her hand.  Sounds daft to think I’d write it down - but it never ceases to amaze me how quickly she is learning.

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Off to Hannover in Germany today.  I’m taking a trip with my Dad - which is kinda novel as I haven’t done that for around 20 years.  It’s no holiday though - Dad has a brain tumour (tumor) which is to be removed by a professor at the apparently world famous INI (International Neuroscience Institute) in Hannover.