Buying from Dynamism? Read this first!

Buyers Beware: You may be left out of pocket

This June I placed my order with Dynamism for the new Viliv N5 Windows 7 MID. I’m a huge fan of Viliv, having previously owned the Viliv S5 Premium 3G.

My new Viliv N5 was dispatched on the 18th June from the US, and arrived the following Monday, which I was quite pleased with. The device was as amazing and outstanding as I knew it would be. I had only recently sold my Viliv S5 to make way for the new device, and knew it would be of the same high standard usually provided by Viliv.

I managed to use the new Viliv a few times during the week and was marvelled at its build and useability. After a few days, I came to operate the device and got no response from the screen. I tried all day to get it working using various methods including removing the battery, using the power cable only, and even letting the battery completely drain of power. Unfortunately, none of these methods worked, and the device’s screen appeared to be dead.

I rang Dynamism on the Friday, hoping there might be a reset procedure I was unaware of, but the Dynamism representative just asked a few generic questions about whether I had tried removing the battery, etc.  He then said the device would have to be sent back, and informed me that I was just inside the 5-day period in which a device can be returned. (This I knew nothing about and should be made clear on ordering.)

I was asked to wait for an email for details about returning the device, and was expecting them to arrange a courier to pick up the item for repair. Again, I was to have no such luck! At this point, Dynamism had already charged me $40 delivery for importing the device to the UK. Dynamism finally sent me an email with details on where to return the device, and I then found I had to send the device back to them at my own expense. I felt truly irritated that I, (the customer) was and still am, left out of pocket through no fault of my own.

Once I found that I was responsible for the shipping costs of the device back to the US, I decided that I did not want a replacement device, as if this was to happen again, I would then have to pay (again!) to send it back. With this in mind, I emailed Dynamism’s customer services department to request that my money be refunded upon the return of the device. The department responded by stating it was not Dynamism’s policy to give refunds, but that they would allow it…… subject to a restocking fee of 15%!!!

At this point, I have now paid £25 to return the device and 15% of the original cost of the device I paid to them, all because they sent me a faulty device.

I originally paid £468 for the device and in the end, was refunded around £360. Just to top things off, I have now received a VAT bill from FedEx (Customs) for £86.22, which I was expecting for originally importing the device. Although I explained to FedEx that I have returned the device, they say I will have to pay and attempt to claim back from HMCE as I have returned the product. I originally paid £554 for buying and importing the device  (including the VAT bill from FedEx), and I have ended up with a refund of £338, meaning I have lost a grand total of £216 with nothing to show for it.

All in all, this has been a truly horrific experience of customer care with Dynamism, and I can say with certainty that they will never, ever get another penny of my money. To be fair, I have bought from Dynamism before, having previously purchased my Viliv S5 from them. And there were no problems with that purchase. But unfortunately, through their own greed, Dynamism have lost a loyal customer.

To make things clear, this story is to voice my concerns over the customer care and policies of Dynamism, and not of the high build quality usually pertained of Viliv products.

On a separate note however, I recently received an excellent example of how customer care should be given, when my HTC Desire malfunctioned recently and so I called HTC. They sent a next-day courier and at no cost to myself, repaired the handset before returning it to me in all new packaging. This is how it should be done, Dynamism!

Tags: Customer Care, Dynamism, MID, Viliv, Viliv N5, Viliv S5, Windows 7