cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Warranty support for offshore islands.

Mr_BStard
Honored Guest
I had an Oculus Rift purchased for my birthday this year through Amazon.  Thing had been going well until one of my sensors decided to shuffle of it's mortal coil and stop being detected.  So I dutifully logged a ticket with Oculus support and followed the instructions for getting logs etc.  I believe it was then decided to replace said sensor but things came to a screeching halt when I gave my address in the Channel Islands.  I was told that Oculus won't ship to the Channel Islands (we have DHL here and Oculus use them as one of their shipping agents!).  I cannot use a UK address as the people I know there work during the day, so any delivery will bounce as there won't be anyone to sign for parcels.

The Oculus was purchased at the time through a friend with an Amazon Prime account but the warranty is with Oculus.  Had they known that the warranty would not be honoured for the Bailiwick of Guernsey/Jersey the Oculus Rift would not have been bought.  My son also has a Rift so he loses out too.

To say I'm disappointed is an understatement.  I now have an expensive paperweight that I cannot get warranty support for.  I shouldn't need to buy another sensor for an obvious warranty issue.  So if you live on any of the above islands, think twice before buying any Oculus equipment - warranty isn't covered here.

This isn't a complaint against the Tech support staff, they've gone as far as they can, but my gripe is with the senseless rule that the Channel Islands and Isle of Man are persona non gratis as far as warranty is concerned.

Thanks,

Mr_B
17 REPLIES 17

Techy111
MVP
MVP
Hi mate, can you not get it shipped to your friends Saturday whilst they are at home ? Or get it shipped to their work addy ? Must be a way around it mate ???
A PC with lots of gadgets inside and a thing to see in 3D that you put on your head.

Mr_BStard
Honored Guest
I don't want to ask someone to wait in all day for a possible delivery.  My main gripe is the fact that we have DHL (the DHL vans do exist, I've seen them lol) and Oculus use DHL as one of their shipping agents.  This should not be an issue for a company like Oculus to ship here.  We aren't a bunch of drunks clinging to a rock - there are 63,000 of us here on my particular rock and I bet quite a few own Oculus kit.  There's also a lot of industry here so shipping a sensor should not be a problem.

Techy111
MVP
MVP
Totally agree mate lol but some info, with DHL you can arrange a slot for delivery and specify a time with them.....I’m an ex “rock ape” from Gibraltar myself but most are drunks there lol
A PC with lots of gadgets inside and a thing to see in 3D that you put on your head.

LZoltowski
Champion
It's a little bit more complicated than that I think, Oculus includes free delivery within the price of the product, that is counted as mainland only delivery because it's a fixed low cost for them within their courier deal. If they were to send the sensor to non mainland then they would need to pay the courier more, from a consumer perspective that can seem daft and that there must be an easy solution.

"Why can't they just pay more or let me pay the difference?"

No doubt the system on their end is not that flexible, it's all locked into place so it would be impossible for a support representative to even make that happen on their end. It was probably a decision made when they set up their supply and logistics to keep costs down.

Also, how do you know DHL is the Oculus courier of choice? As far as I know, it's UPS only from their Netherlands distribution centre for the EU region.
Core i7-7700k @ 4.9 Ghz | 32 GB DDR4 Corsair Vengeance @ 3000Mhz | 2x 1TB Samsung Evo | 2x 4GB WD Black
ASUS MAXIMUS IX HERO | MSI AERO GTX 1080 OC @ 2000Mhz | Corsair Carbide Series 400C White (RGB FTW!) 

Be kind to one another 🙂

Mr_BStard
Honored Guest
I'll need to see what tech support come back with but I'm not expecting much to be honest.  I'm feeling abandoned regarding warranty.

LZoltowski
Champion
If a parcel cannot be delivered by UPS, they leave it at the closest pickup point (which is usually like the local offie) so your friend would not need to stay home and perhaps pickup the parcel on the way home?
Core i7-7700k @ 4.9 Ghz | 32 GB DDR4 Corsair Vengeance @ 3000Mhz | 2x 1TB Samsung Evo | 2x 4GB WD Black
ASUS MAXIMUS IX HERO | MSI AERO GTX 1080 OC @ 2000Mhz | Corsair Carbide Series 400C White (RGB FTW!) 

Be kind to one another 🙂

Mr_BStard
Honored Guest
I've still yet to find someone willing to do this for me but my options are limited.  I'd have to reimburse the person receiving the replacement sensor so they can ship it on to me.  The unit is only 5 months into it's warranty, and I shouldn't need to spend money on getting it shipped to me from the UK when all Oculus needs to do is ship it direct via DHL.  It would be easier to buy a replacement but that's not the point.  I've yet to come across another company who don't ship to my location for warranty RMA's.  I'm an IT techy by trade so I get to deal with warranty claims often enough and have never had this trouble getting warranty replacement kit (for customers, that is).

 I now know (after the Rift was bought) that they won't sell to the Channel Islands (I don't know why, maybe the powers that be at FB don't like offshore Crown dependencies?) but warranty should be honoured.  Love the Rift, now wish I never had it.



Mr_BStard
Honored Guest


It's a little bit more complicated than that I think, Oculus includes free delivery within the price of the product, that is counted as mainland only delivery because it's a fixed low cost for them within their courier deal. If they were to send the sensor to non mainland then they would need to pay the courier more, from a consumer perspective that can seem daft and that there must be an easy solution.

"Why can't they just pay more or let me pay the difference?"

No doubt the system on their end is not that flexible, it's all locked into place so it would be impossible for a support representative to even make that happen on their end. It was probably a decision made when they set up their supply and logistics to keep costs down.

Also, how do you know DHL is the Oculus courier of choice? As far as I know, it's UPS only from their Netherlands distribution centre for the EU region.

We have all the major couriers here, UPS included, and it's a matter of warranty, not purchase of new kit.

LZoltowski
Champion

Mr_BStard said:

I've still yet to find someone willing to do this for me but my options are limited.  I'd have to reimburse the person receiving the replacement sensor so they can ship it on to me.  The unit is only 5 months into it's warranty, and I shouldn't need to spend money on getting it shipped to me from the UK when all Oculus needs to do is ship it direct via DHL.  It would be easier to buy a replacement but that's not the point.  I've yet to come across another company who don't ship to my location for warranty RMA's.  I'm an IT techy by trade so I get to deal with warranty claims often enough and have never had this trouble getting warranty replacement kit (for customers, that is).

 I now know (after the Rift was bought) that they won't sell to the Channel Islands (I don't know why, maybe the powers that be at FB don't like offshore Crown dependencies?) but warranty should be honoured.  Love the Rift, now wish I never had it.






Do you know how much it would be to send a package from London to you? Happy to spot you.
Core i7-7700k @ 4.9 Ghz | 32 GB DDR4 Corsair Vengeance @ 3000Mhz | 2x 1TB Samsung Evo | 2x 4GB WD Black
ASUS MAXIMUS IX HERO | MSI AERO GTX 1080 OC @ 2000Mhz | Corsair Carbide Series 400C White (RGB FTW!) 

Be kind to one another 🙂