RMA to China - can't post because of battery?

jozi

I have to RMA a tablet because it's faulty, lady in the post office just told me that if it contains a battery customs could destroy it if they check it.

Surely I'm not the first to have send electronics to China that contain a battery, who/what should I use to send this back?

The tablet has a faulty screen which became apparent after 30mins of use.

vicwatson

Never heard that before. I order batteries FROM China regularly and they ship fine.

jozi

Neither had I! I only got it last week from China :rolleyes:

Maybe thats why they say this in the RMA email:

not ship by UPS,Fedex,DHL,,EMS or other shipping ways

mathepac

Use a courier company.

jozi

Anyone know a courier that does this? I just checked Parcels2Go and don't fancy paying 50+ euro for a tablet that cost me 100 delivered.

01902

An Post seem to have a police about not dending batteries, seen a thread before about it! Pretty sure that thread said something about the batteries not being able to go on the aeroplanes!!!

orchidsrpretty

I posted a tablet to the US no problems, cost me 15e registered. What's the difference in posting to China?

01902

Did An Post know that it was a tablet with a battery?

Chris_5339762

Get the seller to send a courier by the way, if they refuse make sure you get the RMA postage back from them.

(Or play the nice-guy and tell them that it'll cost €50 to send it back, might be cheaper for them to send you a new one...)

jozi

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

Get the seller to send a courier by the way, if they refuse make sure you get the RMA postage back from them.

(Or play the nice-guy and tell them that it'll cost €50 to send it back, might be cheaper for them to send you a new one...)

I like that one better!

I get the feeling I chose the wrong company (Pandawill) to deal with. Their customer service is atrocious, their English is bad, 3 different email addresses and going by previous user experiences I'm going to have nothing but hassle from them.

Here's the email I was sent:

Dear,

we have created the RMA code:omitted for returning

The shipping fee is paid by you ,you can send it back via registered mail which much cheaper.

Pls write the RMA Code on the package with original box,send it to us by registered mail which has a track number ,not ship by UPS,Fedex,DHL,,EMS or other shipping ways.After you sent,pls tell us the tracking number.

Please make sure to send the product in its original package with all its accessories for replacement.
According to our policy,if the returned item has used sign or scratches,we can't do the replacement but only repair
After receive the device,we will check the items and let you know the further information on it.

This is our returning address:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Further information,pls feel free to contact us

Regards,
Penny

I've never had to do an RMA before.

the groutch

another example of why the cheapest option isnt always the best one.

Pinklady11

As far as I am aware certain batteries cannot be sent back to china eg external batteries used in remote controls and for general household usage.

However batteries contained within tablets and phones are allowed to be sent back as in the case of the tablet, the battery cannot be removed without opening the casing.

Maybe you should ask the seller for confirmation/clarification of this just to be sure.

jozi

the groutch wrote: »

another example of why the cheapest option isnt always the best one.

They looked like a decent site that I had seen mentioned before, could have gotten it cheaper but how can you argue with free shipping

Pinklady11 wrote: »

As far as I am aware certain batteries cannot be sent back to china eg external batteries used in remote controls and for general household usage.

However batteries contained within tablets and phones are allowed to be sent back as in the case of the tablet, the battery cannot be removed without opening the casing.

Maybe you should ask the seller for confirmation/clarification of this just to be sure.

They are so slow at replying I might just take my chances! I mean it was sent here, surely its ok to send it back?!

amtc

new airline regulations mean that airlines won't accept batteries - the thing is most other countries have surface arrangements - Ireland doesn't

Del2005

jozi wrote: »

They looked like a decent site that I had seen mentioned before, could have gotten it cheaper but how can you argue with free shipping



They are so slow at replying I might just take my chances! I mean it was sent here, surely its ok to send it back?!

You can't post it back. There's new regulations for posting batteries and I doubt you'd be willing to spend the money to allow you to post a battery.

Basically it means that you can't RMA any item with a battery from Ireland using Aircraft, do we have mail boats anymore?

ted1

try contacting your credit card company and tell them it was dead on arrival and you want to reverse the transaction.

dudara

ted1 Please don't advocate anything dishonest

dudara

ted1

Whats dishonest?

It didn't work when he got it.

jozi

Del2005 wrote: »

You can't post it back. There's new regulations for posting batteries and I doubt you'd be willing to spend the money to allow you to post a battery.

Basically it means that you can't RMA any item with a battery from Ireland using Aircraft, do we have mail boats anymore?

There's nothing there other than a link to a security decleration, I did find this though: http://www.anpost.ie/AnPost/MainContent/Personal+Customers/Sending+Mail/Speed/Prohibited+items.htm

It was bought using paypal, they advised me to send it back and contact them before the 45 days are up to make up an appeal.

dudara

ted1 wrote: »

Whats dishonest?

It didn't work when he got it.

The company are engaging with him and offering an RMA for the device. The chargeback mechanism should really only be used when a company refuses to engage.

jozi

They told me to reflash the unit in one of their emails, after sending them pics (twice) and a video of whats happening. It's totally unusable now, seems the problem got worse.

It's looking like it's not going to happen though, shipping it there is looking like it's going to be 50-100 euro, the tablet was under 100 delivered :mad:

Not sure what to do now.

Pinklady11

Did they send you the software to re-flash it? Do you mean unusable as in the screen doesn't respond to touch?

jozi

They didn't send me a new firmware to re-flash, I'd try it but I think something must be broken to do with the screen.

This is what the screen looked like when it first happened, now it's just a bunch of random colours and lines straight after boot up:



It still responds to touch input, I can feel/hear it when I touch the screen.

This was last week at some point

emeldc

Did no one ever tell you not to be buying tablets on t'interweb :rolleyes:

jozi

emeldc wrote: »

Did no one ever tell you not to be buying tablets on t'interweb :rolleyes:

Can anyone take a guess at it being a software or hardware problem and if a replacement screen would fix it?

fasttalkerchat

Couldn't you post it to a friend in the North who could send it on to China?

Del2005

jozi wrote: »

There's nothing there other than a link to a security decleration, I did find this though: http://www.anpost.ie/AnPost/MainContent/Personal+Customers/Sending+Mail/Speed/Prohibited+items.htm

:o

Copied the wrong link, this is the thread about AnPost and batteries

:o

jozi wrote: »

It was bought using paypal, they advised me to send it back and contact them before the 45 days are up to make up an appeal.

After you told them you can't post it did paypal tell you how to send it back?

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

Couldn't you post it to a friend in the North who could send it on to China?

The Royal Mail have similar restrictions.

fasttalkerchat

Del2005 wrote: »

:o

The Royal Mail have similar restrictions.

Royal mail allow it if they're packaged as new or in a phone or other device.

Lithium ion/polymer/metal/alloy batteries when sent contained in equipment such as a mobile phone or digital camera are allowed

jozi

Paypal told me to email them after 40 days and they will do a claim if I'm not having much luck.

After 4-5hrs of being in a queue to speak with live support I got talking to a guy/girl. Explained my situation and he told me to email their after-sales about getting a new screen sent to me and I get a repair shop to fix it for me. So I've emailed them, will wait and see but I'm going to push for a new screen sent to me free of charge.

I know I should have done this, but I opened up my tab and the 2nd one that works, swapped screens over and low and behold everything worked fine. So other tablet put back together and I left mine split open, I better get a new scree now

emeldc

Just curious, is the brand name on that tablet pronounced the way I think it is :eek:

jozi

emeldc wrote: »

Just curious, is the brand name on that tablet pronounced the way I think it is :eek:

I'm not sure, but probably yes :eek: