I'm weirded out by Griffin!

[mmmcheese]

Ok, I'm officially weirded out by the Griffin tech support people. I sent them an email with a picture showing the LCD display on my brand new iTripLCD isn't showing the last digit correctly. It works fine otherwise, it's just a bit annoying.

Anyway, this is the response I got. WTF?


Hello,

Wow, that is pretty weird!!

We handle returns from Canada a little differently. Please send us:

1) the receipt or a scan of it

2) a picture of you with the destroyed unit (yes, really destroy it!)



3) The RMA form we send you via email


4) pictures of your town for us to hang up around the office (optional)

I can then authorize for a replacement unit to be sent to you. I am sending
you the form to get started now.

Thanks,

[xxxxxxxx]

Griffin Technology
Technical Support

[mcubed45]

LMAO sounds like somebody's a little bored at work and wanted to liven things up a bit...

[Werewolf]

That's about the funniest damn thing I've ever seen. I wanna meet the guy who wrote that and give him a good pat on the back. Hilarious!

[mmmcheese]

Originally posted by Werewolf
That's about the funniest damn thing I've ever seen. I wanna meet the guy who wrote that and give him a good pat on the back. Hilarious!

Actually, it is a she, but I blocked out the name...just in case.

But here's the thing...it doesn't seem very professional. And I can just see it now...sending them a smashed iTrip with a picture of me holding it...and them saying "you smashed it, it's not covered under warranty."

[Wally_Swoboda]

It sounds like she's hittin' on you.

Or....Griffin may be one of those organic-let-your-freak-flag-fly outfits that encourages creative interaction with customers.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

[GadgetGuru72]

Here's my take on that letter. I suspect that to save on shipping costs associated with you returning a product still under warranty, they are doing this to ensure that the product is unusable. In doing so, they are preventing fraud (e.g., you claim that the unit is broken, they send you another one, and now you have two). This way, they have "proof" that the old one really was broken (why else would you destroy it) and can send you another one.

[mmmcheese]

Originally posted by GadgetGuru72
Here's my take on that letter. I suspect that to save on shipping costs associated with you returning a product still under warranty, they are doing this to ensure that the product is unusable. In doing so, they are preventing fraud (e.g., you claim that the unit is broken, they send you another one, and now you have two). This way, they have "proof" that the old one really was broken (why else would you destroy it) and can send you another one.

Actually, that's a good point. I didn't even think of it that way. The way I understood it, they wanted the product returned as well...which of course makes the destroying part make absolutely no sense.

Before I do anything though, I will confirm with them what they want me to do.

The other problem, I bought the item from an ebay store, so I don't really have a proper receipt (or at least I doubt they will consider it that). The item was brand new, and still sealed, so it was just my bad luck that I got a defective one, not that it was a return or refurb. The buyer actually offered to replace it, except I don't think it's worth the cost of the shipping. It transmits fine, just the display is a bit finicky...

[Fitzpatrick]

that's pretty funny. huzzah griffin! :D

[tipod77]

Uh, are you SURE you sent your request to the right e-mail address?
:-)
I can imagine someone getting a "Wrong address" e-mail and just wondering how far they could push you along.

[mmmcheese]

Originally posted by tipod77
Uh, are you SURE you sent your request to the right e-mail address?
:-)
I can imagine someone getting a "Wrong address" e-mail and just wondering how far they could push you along.

Well, that was one of my first thoughts, but I simply clicked on the link on their "contact us" page. Now it's possible that someone accidentally made a typo when they built the page, but I received a response on a different email address, also from Griffin's domain.

Who knows, I haven't gotten back to them to get a clarification yet.

I'll post more info once I talk to them.

[mbarlow]

I've had great experience with Griffin. They worked hard to get my iTrip back before I left on vacation last summer. The guy I spoke with was great!

[mmmcheese]

It turns out that GadgetGuru72 was right and the reason was to save shipping costs for me (since sometimes cross border shipping causes a lot of grief with RMAs).

Anyway, I sent them a picture and the forms (by email), and they replied saying they have shipped me a new unit and gave me a FedEx tracking number.

Their customer service has been pretty good, I'm impressed. I tend to be a "bad customer service magnet," so it's a pleasant surprise when I get good service...hehe.

[whenders0n]

That's still pretty funny. Where I you I would have opened the case of the iTrip and saved the board for a pirate radio, and then destroyed the rest =). But thats just me.