Vive Customer Support - Buyer Beware!

[SVgamer72]

I have gone round and round trying to get an RMA for a defective base station that failed less than 30 days from purchase. I made the mistake of buying it at Frys which will not accept Vive returns due to "health concerns over wearable tech".

 

For the past two days HTC has refused to issue an RMA. I have sent proof of purchase, system logs, and the serial number of the defective base station to their support system three times. All I get back are repeated email requests from their support system to submit the same info again and again. The chat support system is no better.

 

The "best" part of the whole process is that they won't send a replacement. I have to wait for them to repair the unit I send back. Their tech support chat assured me it would only take about 10 days for them to send the unit back to me after I pay to ship it to them for repair. Something I cannot do yet, because for the last two days they have refused to issue an RMA or give me an address to ship the unit to.

 

This is by far the worst customer service experience I have ever had with a PC part or peripheral.

 

I am really regretting choosing the Vive over the Oculus. I have already ordered a replacement base station from Amazon (another $140 handed over to the assholes at HTC), because I would like to actually use the $800 dollar VR paperweight attached to my PC.

[dburne]

Yikes!

That is certainly not good, hope they get you sorted asap.

[Rudel_chw]

Thanks for sharing .. will take it into account when I finally purchase a vr unit

[StandingCow]

Maybe post this over on reddit in /r/vive for advice? I have heard their support is a bit hit and miss.

[PreussLee]

I had the issue of one broken lighthouse...but got a new one immediately sent without issues from support...it seems its really hit and miss with theire support

[SVgamer72]

Finally got an RMA number at end of business yesterday 3/30 after opening on 3/27 and going round and round sending them the same info.

 

They refuse to send a new lighthouse. They will only repair mine and are "happy" to get it back to me 10-14 days after I pay out of pocket to ship the defective unit to them.

 

They even used the RMA process to try to sell me more product....

 

Scott, I hope this information helps and you can send your base station as soon as possible to be repaired. We will make sure it works properly so you will have the chance to keep getting the best of the VR with your amazing VIVE. I will also invite you to check the newest accessories we have for your VIVE like the Vive Tracker that brings any real-world object into your virtual world. You can take a look of it and purchase it on the following link: http://www.vive.com/us/accessory/

 

HTC is dead to me. I will be going on a crusade to make sure every potential buyer is made aware of how inadequate their support system is. The Vive is much too expensive to have such pathetic money grubbing support. There is no excuse to treat customers so poorly.

[hansangb]

3 Days to get an RMA doesn't seem too bad. The run around is annoying but it's a product of expecting instant communication. I went through it with Vive as well, but they did try to call me once a day. We just played phone tag for a few days.

[Scooternutz]

I hope you get it resolved soon. I have the Rift but that is not say I wont go through the same thing. Hopefully not. Sorry to hear about Frys and the wearable BS excuse. Shouldn't matter and they should take it and get you a new one. That kind of stuff pisses me off. Good luck.

[Gman109]

I can relate to this - HTC for me as well had THE worst customer service. They can barely speak English, have constantly lied to me (I have every single call recorded). When they promised me an RMA the next day, I made one tech very angry by bursting out laughing, having been promised the same thing several times. This tech swore up and down it would be in my email box the next day, unlike past failures.. It arrived 3 months later after I had forgotten about it. I sent back an appropriate email answer to that. They somehow misinterpreted me making light of the fact that it was only 3 months late, and assumed I had sent one of my 2 Vive's in without the RMA, and they had lost it (I made NO such accusation, and never once claimed to have sent it in, in fact the reverse, I said there was no WAY I would trust them enough to send them something I paid over 1100 CDN for, even WITH an RMA back when this all started, I had lost such faith in them...). They credited my credit card back for the full amount of 1 of the 2 Vives I bought. I'm still trying to explain to them that I owe THEM money, not the reverse, as the issue I was having (the screen just not coming on in Vive #2) resolved itself one day and hasn't come back.

 

That's how insane they are to deal with. I have no idea how they've stayed in business with such complete incompetence, and I'm far from the only one. I'm trying hard to rectify the situation so as not to be later accused of some sort of fraud by them, but they have ignored my emails, and the phone calls have been like beating my head against the wall - all to give them BACK $1110+ for a Vive that was broken which decided to start working again.

 

I can provide emails/Mp4s for anyone that cares for some laughs/proof.

Edited April 1, 2017 by Gman109