Being Creative with Bad Service.

After a slew of bad aftersale services from Creative Technologies over just ONE headset, I decide I've had enough and decided to send them a formal letter instead. This is as much also for those who are thinking of purchasing anything from them. Do check your customers' rights and aftersales warranty's limitations....

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To Whom It May Concern:

Please refer to my purchase invoice number – S943732; service report reference numbers SNG-Y-21667 and SNG-Y-22253.

In respond to your GSS promotion and from positive feedback on your products from word of mouth and online reviews, I made a purchase of the SL-3100 wireless headphone on the 12th of July this year. However, I had since made 2 trips to your outlet after that to have my headset sent in for servicing. The problem with my headset is that once after a fresh recharge, static distortion is heard and audio signals keep dropping off.

Nevertheless, when I made my purchase, I was not told of the 7-day 1-to-1-exchange warranty. Thus when I first encountered the problem, I held on to tryout the set. Finally on the 30th of July, with the persistent problem from the headset, I had to make a special trip down to send the set in to the outlet at Plaza Singapura to make enquiries as to what might be the cause of the problem. I was promptly told that since the service counter has yet to be setup up, they could not answer my questions nor could they test the equipment. It was also only then that I was told of the 7-day exchange warranty, that since my purchase was made more than 7 days ago, they could not change the set for me. Thus I had to wait till later in the week for any sort of answer might be given.

I then ask if this is a common issue or was I the first to lodge such a problem report on the set. The respond was that my report was indeed unique. I then asked specifically if I could be given a new set since (a) my case was a unique problem and (b) I was not told of the 7-day exchange warranty. Unfortunately, the staff members on duty then were insisted that they cannot execute an exchange and had to sent my set in for testing and if necessary, repairs.

By then I was already disappointed with the stiff bureaucracy of the warranty procedures especially when it was through no fault of mine that I wasn’t told of the exchange grace period and therefore did not send the faulty set in earlier.

Nevertheless, on the 6th of August, I received a phone call to inform me that tests had been done on my headset and the diagnosis was a transmitter problem. Thus I was given a new transmitter. I also made another trip down and collected my headset from the Plaza Singapura outlet on that same day.

However, on the very next day after the collection, the same problems surfaced – there were audio and static distortions and the signals keep dropping after the set had been given a fresh recharge. When I made a third trip down to the outlet, I was already massively disappointed with both the quality of the product as well as the service from the company. It was further exacerbated when the staff told me to wait a further 30 to 45 minutes while they test the equipment. The worst of the scenario came when I was promptly told later on the phone that they realized it was a problem with the headset. They would have to send in the set in again for further tests and repairs before I can get it back.

If you add the two diagnosis of for the headset together, the first being the transmitter, and then the second being the headset, doesn’t it come to a full circle that the set I had purchased was faulty to begin with? Would it not have been more efficient if the staff at the outlet had made an exception and compromise and give me new set instead? Instead, what resulted was this; I had to make 3 separate and futile trips down to the outlet and with another one impending when I have to make another trip to collect the set.

In this day and age, such lapses in customer service quality, pure common sense and courtesy is simply unacceptable. I had initially been interested in the newly pre-launched 4 gigabyte Zen V Plus. However, after this experience, I am having second thoughts about purchasing it, despite the good reviews I’ve heard about it.

I sincerely hope Creative will take a grave look into this and other similar and/or related matters to prevent further embarrassment on the part of your establishment and reputation. In the meantime, I do hope that my next trip down to collect the headset would indeed be rewarded with a satisfying assurance and knowledge that the equipment is in working order and would no longer need to make another futile trip.