Roku lack of customer service

gadusmorhua

I recently had problems with my 7 months old Roku Express box, so visited Roku's support pages on their site. The help offered was, after checking the box could connect to wi-fi, to switch it off and on, in other words re-set it. I am good with tech, so this had been my first solution, to no avail.When I attempted to speak to Roku I was told agent support was not available for my model, presumably because it only costs £24. I tried to contact them in various ways, but no emails or phone numbers, or even an address are available.
Eventually, after a bad post on their FaceBook page I drew a response, requesting the box's serial number, and my email address. I have since heard no more, and further contact through FB or Twitter has failed.
I contacted Amazon, where I bought it, and they couldn't give me an address either, but agreed to refund me themselves, though they had no obligation to do so.
How does a company the size of Roku get away with this shocking lack of customer support? Aren't they legally obliged to provide return details etc?

agrinnall

gadusmorhua wrote: »

Aren't they legally obliged to provide return details etc?

Did you buy it direct from Roku? If not then no, they don't have to provide a returns address, or accept any returns except through whatever agreements they have with their retailers.

DoaM

gadusmorhua wrote: »

I contacted Amazon, where I bought it, and they couldn't give me an address either, but agreed to refund me themselves, though they had no obligation to do so.

Correct, Amazon had no obligation to provide a refund - they did however have an obligation to provide a remedy (repair, replace, refund) once they had accepted that the goods were inherently faulty.

Directing your ire at Roku was pointless as they had no contractual obligation to you.

gadusmorhua

So what happens when the retailer goes out of business? Do I lose any form of redress?
I've never known a major manufacturer to provide no support, or contact details.
I don't feel directing my ire at Roku is pointless as I would like people to know if they buy one of their products they can expect to receive no support whatsoever from them in the event of the product failing.

Inner_Zone

gadusmorhua wrote: »

So what happens when the retailer goes out of business? Do I lose any form of redress?
I've never known a major manufacturer to provide no support, or contact details.
I don't feel directing my ire at Roku is pointless as I would like people to know if they buy one of their products they can expect to receive no support whatsoever from them in the event of the product failing.

Maybe you have been unlucky. My first Roku device is now five years old, and my first NowTV device is six years old. I also have three other later Roku's plus five versions of NowTV devices.

BoGoF

gadusmorhua wrote: »

So what happens when the retailer goes out of business? Do I lose any form of redress?
I've never known a major manufacturer to provide no support, or contact details.
I don't feel directing my ire at Roku is pointless as I would like people to know if they buy one of their products they can expect to receive no support whatsoever from them in the event of the product failing.

If the retailer goes bust then you are bound by the terms of the manufacters warranty.

But the retailer hasn't gone bust here so why ask that.

Roku had no obligation to provide support.....as has been said your consumer rights are with the retailer.

LilElvis

I've always googled and found advice on tech forums and YouTube videos when I've had issues with my Chromecast and firesticks.

gadusmorhua

I've been on AV forums and the consensus is it's faulty. At least the people there had some suggestions, unlike Roku's pathetic 'try switching it on and off'
I shouldn't have to find an answer myself, all other tech companies provide support, even Chinese firms.

agrinnall

Wouldn't it have been better to research Roku's tech support offering before buying one of their products?

gadusmorhua

Not all of us have hours free to research what should be a straightforward purchase, and as I said in my last post, I've never before dealt with a tech company that didn't offer support. Roku's website is just what you'd expect from the market leaders in streaming devices, but it's not until you go down the road of seeking support do you discover it's not available for the Roku Express. This isn't mentioned anywhere I've visited, nor in any reviews.Wouldn't you want/expect a large company to offer help and support for a product it manufactured,and which broke after seven month's use?
Do you really research everything in fine detail before you purchase agrinnal?

lincroft1710

gadusmorhua wrote: »

Do you really research everything in fine detail before you purchase agrinnal?

With so many different products for most categories and there being certain products in certain categories which are not the best, then the answer has to be yes.