Yes. Thats right. Mother Fucking Capitals in a title. That's how serious I mean the line "do NOT buy from dabs.com".

When Dabs was bought by BT in 2007 I think it was, I honestly thought the first thing they would do is install a decent team of phone staff to streamline customer services to the public and FINALLY put a phone number on their web site. How wrong I was!

I'd barely had my Shuttle PC 3 months and the motherboard died on me. After trying the usual resetting of the CMOS battery, changing the RAM and setup, resetting the CPU, I was still not getting any joy. There was power to the board but she wasn't coming to life.

After emailing Shuttle direct, I got a response within 90 minutes with the technical help and assistance I needed. Note to BT and Dabs, this is how to do Customer Services. On a K45 there are three LEDs on the motherboard - when I attempted to power mine on, the LED3 would flash briefly and then go off. If this happens, the problem is with your power supply or voltage control and needs to go back to the reseller for RMA Service. That reseller was dabs.com.

The other issue I had was this box was bought for me as a gift by my previous employer. Having removed their live chat feature, I had to email them now. I mean seriously, a company owned by a telecoms provider should have a fucking phone line surely?!

I explained this to them and included the diagnosis from Shuttle. I waited and waited and a week later I got a response from Uwais, my helpful cage-center assistant. It said:

> > Dear Sir,

> > We now give our customers the opportunity to cancel their own orders, within the 'order status/history' section of our site, which is accessible via 'your account options' once you've logged in to the dabs.com website. Within this section you can view/access all the orders you've ever placed with us.

> > Note that payment is only taken from your credit card when your order has gone to despatch through our warehouse, so requesting to cancel an order before it enters into despatch means that no payment will be taken from your credit card.

> >
> > Please see the following article for a full explanation on how to cancel or amend your order: http://www.dabs.com/helptopic.aspx?ArticleID=83

> >
> > Note - the easiest way of going to this article, is to copy the URL completely and paste it into your browser.

> >
> > Regards,

> > Uwais

Firstly, clicking that link led me to an ASP.NET error page and their site was completely tits up at the time. The second this is his explanation relates in no way to my email. I replied asking him to reread my email and if he could in any way tell me how his response related to my original query.

Another week passed and Uwais emailed me back again, apologising for his generic response and requested some further details from my order, like a delivery address. I had given them the name of my previous employer in the original email and specifically pointed out it would be their account. I reiterated this to them and another week passes before I get a response. Baring in mind I'm having to use a teeny, tiny 9" Eee PC in the mean time, my responses are getting shorter and shorter. 

Uwais must've been replaced due to his obvious abilities in understanding and customer services as my next response was off Anna. She told me they still couldnt trace my order and that I should go to the manufacturer for my warranty fix. Four fucking weeks and I'm still no further forward. I lose my rag, but not to the extent I normally would as I need my PC sorting still!

Dear Customer Support,

The level of service you offer in this department is quite frankly appalling.

For a company that is now owned by BT, your level of communication is a disgrace.
I have now been waiting nearly a month to try and attempt to get this item warranty swapped and I have STILL not had a straight answer about how I can return it, and what to do to get it back to you for a swap/repair.

I would like this dealt with as a matter of urgency as I have been waiting patiently for another week since the last response, which took yet another week. This Shuttle PC was my main work PC and am still having to use a makeshift and temporary spare computer that I need replacing ASAP.

Once I get this item returned, I can guarantee I will NEVER shop with Dabs again. I have never had to deal with the customer services team before and now I have, I feel extremely let down by the non-committal and lackadaisical approach to dealing with my requests. I will also be advising all my friends and family to wholehearted avoid your site and shop elsewhere.

 

It there was a monkey at the end of the phone I could've resolved and explained this on the fucking day my PC died. Instead, after 4 weeks of barely communicating via email, I'm still being dicked around by them. I got a response today off a Liam who again has an inability to read. He now wants an order reference number and will be more than happy to sort my warranty swap once I provide this details. What a bunch of fucking jokers...

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