A couple of days ago I had to take the Logitech G15 keyboard (which I had given gadget gift of the year award in 2005) back to the place of purchase for exchange. Some of the keys had worn out, making it impossible to read. This was a problem with some of the first batches of G15 keyboards and Logitech were covering it under their 2 year return to place of purchase warranty. I was quite impressed with Logitech's service and contacted the Electronic Boutique (EB) store where I purchased the keyboard from, to make sure they had replacement stock. They did have replacements but the manager told me I needed a reference number from Logitech to get a replacement. I then contacted Logitech again who told me I didn't need a reference number because it was in the warranty period. They gave me one anyway, just to satisfy the store. When I returned the keyboard to EB the manager made it clear that if the same problem happened again, he would not honor the return to store warranty specified by Logitech. He seemed upset by the fact that I had requested the product be replaced. I walked out of the store feeling very disappointed with the service and the way in which the manager handled the situation. I was willing to let it slide at that stage, until today.

EB have got their usual school holiday specials on, marking everything 30% off or half price. I thought I'd take the opportunity to purchase some of the games that had been recommended to me for testing by the guys from Firing Squad that I caught up with in Taipei recently. I picked p the collector's edition of Supreme Commander. It was sitting on the shelf along with a bunch of other games that all had big 30% off stickers on them. Everything there had the same sticker on it and there were big posters all over the store saying 30% off marked prices. So I thought, perfect, I'll grab the game now, even though it's a business expense, saving 30% is always a bonus. When I took the game up to the front counter, the first thing she said was "Sorry sir, this game isn't 30% off. Someone must have put the sticker on there!". I pointed out that it didn't look like it had been tampered with and she pointed to another copy of the same game that someone else had just tried to purchase with the same 30% off sticker on it. They only had two copies on their shelves and both copies had the same sticker, along with all the other games on that shelf. She told me that someone else put the stickers on them and that she couldn't sell it to me at that price. I am pretty sure it was actually an error on their behalf. I am pretty sure under Australian law that if the product is labeled a particular price then it must be honored. But that's something I am going to have to investigate. The manager just said it was a mistake. So after these experiences with EB in two separate stores, Frankston and Karringal, I'm pretty sure I will make every effort to buy all my gaming needs from other stores.

Have you had a bad experience with EB? Should we be forced to accept that type of service from large chain stores?