Friday, November 13, 2015

ICStation [Final Update–Refund Received]

I got interested in Arduino towards the beginning of this year and ICStation came up in some Google Plus groups over and over again, so I decided to check out their site. They carry a wide assortment of Arduino related boards and accessories.  So I bought an Ethernet Shield for my Arduino UNO from them.  After a short week and a half it arrived then I tried to use it, it didn't work at all!  Turns out after putting the board under a USB microscope, that there were shorts of solder beads across about 6 of the pins of the main chip, I contacted their Support and was told to try to de-solder them myself??

That is when I should have just known that they had bad Quality Control and just forgot about my $20.  But, that isn't what I did, after several more email threads, I finally got them to agree to send me another one as a replacement.  In the course of the next week, I created a wish list on their site and kept debating whether to trust that this issue was a one time thing or place another order to see if it got better...again I chose wrong.  The replacement board came and this time I looked at it under the USB microscope first and guess what I found, more shorted pins with solder beads.  Once again I contacted Support, and asked for a Refund, after sending them pictures of the shorts through my microscope.  This has been the same woman, Wanita, that I have been exchanging emails with, she asked me to try to de-solder the shorts again and I explained that I have neither the tools or the knowledge to deal with SMT chips.

Stupid but I then ordered other items to the tune of around $100 over the course of the next 3 months. Yes, I was naïve thinking that something would change this time, but they had cool stuff at good prices.  In May I ordered a Nano clone and it worked for about a week, then stopped being detected but either Windows 7 or 8.  We traded emails back and forth for a short time, and later I received a replacement, but it failed to work at all.  I asked if this was a Genuine FTDI and if they could instead send me a CH340 chip based Nano, I never received another response from them at all!!

Nothing for going on 5 months now and So I decided to write this Blog piece and hope to warn others against Supporting ICStation in the future.

The Moral of this story is, go with your instinct and if it looks too good to be true, it probably is!

Update #1
Late last night I actually received an email response, from a support member name Sherry.
She said the Wanita resigned and she is now taken over her duties and mentioned that she saw my posts on Google Plus and the post.

So, one of my issues is now being looked into, there may be hope yet.

Update #2
I received an email from Sherry that she has contacted the Supplier and will take about 5 days to get a new board ready to be shipped to me.  So things are now moving and I hope to get resolution to the other issues soon.

Update #3
I contacted the ICS Station Google Plus account Person/People and after some back and forth and sending her/them emails detailing out that remaining issues, they stopped responding all together.

So, even though they offered to help, initially that all dried up and they still have horrible Customer Service.

You have been informed!

 

Final Update – Refund Received!

Just hours after posting Update #3 I was contacted by ICStation and I received a Refund in the amount for the remaining 2 items that were malfunctioning from the start.  It took a year plus, but since I am a Taurus, I am much more stubborn then any of the Chinese zodiac. 

They indicated while waiting for confirmation of the PayPal transfer, that Visuino is popular among some of their people.  So, maybe Boian can expect some sales from ICStation when they buy some more licensees…

  Winking smile 

They hope to improve their support mechanism so others don’t have to go through what I did.

15 comments:

  1. let me guess you had a stream of bad luck and now you feel the need to down them in public. bo ho

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's the power of blogging and social networking. I fully support Kurt's post. I would write such a post if I'm taken for a ride too. http://blog.bhargavaz.us/

      Delete
    2. Thank you, I should hear something tonight once China's day starts and she gets in.

      Delete
    3. Sounds like crap support not bad luck! Sounds like crap products not bad luck.
      'Sounds like a really bad attitude not bad luck.

      Delete
    4. Sounds like crap support not bad luck! Sounds like crap products not bad luck.
      'Sounds like a really bad attitude not bad luck.

      Delete
  2. I see you are so brave to post as "unknown", but it's not bad luck it bad product QA and bad support.

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  3. Oh and Peter, it's boo hoo, not bo ho.

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    Replies
    1. As I said before to the other poster, it NOT bad luck!
      They have sent me 5 products that are faulty, Not Bad Luck!
      I expect any business, whether they are from China, Badwan, or America, that are online and advertise, and post on Social networks to have some sort of Good Quality control AND Support facilities to provide fast and accurate responses to requests. Having to wait 5 months to receive a reply to multiple emails is Ludicrous!

      "And why didn't you respond for the CH340 Nano?"
      I did in fact ask them to send me a CH340 Nano but never got a reply that they even could send me one, which was when their 5 month blackout in replies started.

      I shouldn't HAVE to buy a reflow station, for anther $30, when I specifically asked them to send me a TESTED Ethernet Shield, as a replacement for the first faulty one, the which they didn't!

      Delete
  4. I have to agree.
    The fact it's low cost shouldn't mean it's cheap or not working.
    You spend thousands on a car. Wouldn't you expect it to work?
    Yes, things slip through thee net and items can arrive D.O.A. but in those cases, you expect customer support to sort these things out for you. That's what "Customer Support" is for.
    Hopefully, this all gets sorted out.
    :)

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    Replies
    1. Seems Google plus accounts come up as Unknown for some reason.
      My post above.. ( not the rude one )

      Jason.

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    2. Seems Google plus accounts come up as Unknown for some reason.
      My post above.. ( not the rude one )

      Jason.

      Delete
  5. There can not be some bad luck if things got repeated over and over and if the service when you complain is not attended. My hunch about some companies that try to cheat on you is to never repeat any purchase if something goes wrong. I am 62 years old now, and don't have anymore that "good feeling" of hope when my money is at stake and I can lose it. By the way, I purchased a Fiio X5 on these days and it is a piece of trash, luckily I purchased it through a seller who receives the item back and returns my money.

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  6. Wanita is still at IC Station. Just got a Nano 3.0 that the computer doesn't "see" the usb interface. Working that out.

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  7. I guess You could get better items buying it from higher graded sellers on eBay... Thanks for the warning, I was planning to buy about $100 items from them... And sorry for bad english :-)

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  8. @Kurt, Sorry to hear that you had to deal with such a bad supplier. That is why I think sometimes it is better to pay the extra bucks for a piece of mind. I just wish people / companies would stand behind their product, and if the product they sell is no good own it and respect people's time & money!
    Thank you for taking the time to write this post and let the community know about them!

    ReplyDelete