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Cautionary Tale

Anonymous
Not applicable

I thought I would share my experience with Oculus support in hope that I save others from the anguish I have been through.

I went to use my Rift two Sundays ago to find that only one eye/screen was working. I immediately attempted all the usual trouble shooting techniques to no avail and quickly reached out to Oculus support. I naively admitted to dropping the headset since the last time I used it (like I'm sure 80% of owners have done at least once). They seizing on that admission, and made their judgement that the Rift was broken, that I broke it, and directed me to the online store to buy a new full priced Rift bundle (despite having perfectly good sensors and Touch controllers).

They asked for photos and logs which I provided. The logs were apparently normal, the Rift shows no sign of damage and is in pristine physical condition. Despite asking for photos to review, they were prepared to make a judgement on anecdotal evidence only. Why ask for photos if you don't care what they show?!

I asked how I could get the headset physically assessed, they replied "We do not pull units back to look at them and send them back as this is not a process that is available." I pointed out that their warranty clearly refers to the process of sending back headsets for repair and assessment and implies that this is an available option. They replied "Oculus Support's function is not to debate the semantics of our warranty."

I believe several scenarios would have been fair and reasonable under these circumstances.

  1. Assess headsets for damage rather than making a judgment based on assumption
  2. Offer a hardware repair service
  3. Make spare parts available
  4. Offer a replacement option (at customer cost) for the headset only

I've had a polite back and forth with them over the past 2 weeks, escalated and just keep getting rejected. The last email I received "This concludes our support interaction."

I don't know how exactly the situation would have turned out if i had not made the admission but I think the chances of me being Rift-less would be less then right now. The whole situation is upsetting and makes me feel ill whenever I think about it. I can't just drop another bundle on a Rift.

This is really bad Oculus!


24 REPLIES 24

JohnnyDioxin
Expert Trustee
Sorry to be brutal but the simple fact is that it's your own fault for saying that you dropped it. Now you have zero grounds for complaint.

Expensive lesson, I know, but there it is.

I do agree about the T&C - you could probably get some legal advice on that, but you will still end up paying, so...

i5 9600k @4.5GHz; 16GB DDR4 3200; 6xSSD; RTX2080ti; Gigabyte Z390D Mobo
Rift CV1; Index; Quest; Quest 2

Anonymous
Not applicable
What on earth were you doing telling them you dropped it..?  😮

elboffor
Consultant

Well,

if the unit is less than 6 months old and you are in the UK, the onus is on them to prove upon inspection that the damage was caused by you. An assumption can't be made regardless of what you have said you did or did not do. if upon inspection the damage has been caused by impact then you are liable for the return shipping costs if you want the broken unit back, however they will have to supply an engineering report which stipulates what they have checked and how they have come to that conclusion. this report should give details on what needs to be fixed, whether its just a screen replacement (good luck) or a broken logic board or cable assembly.


as I said, this is all assuming you are in the UK and the unit is less than 6 months old. otherwise you are at their whim and to be fair, it does actually sound like its your fault 😕

might be worth doing a tear down (check I-fix it) and checking it all yourself. if you have voided your warranty due to mis-handling (which they have to prove if younger than 6 months don't forget) then you have nothing to lose.


on a side note, your a very naughty boy for trating your rift that way, the nearest mine has come to being dropped is me falling on my arse while playing superhot and doing some Jackie chan type shit (but luckily my funny bone took the fall and the HMD stayed on my noggin, this was remedied by cursing for several minutes at high volume)

This is my forum signature.
There are many others like it, but this is mine.

LordQuake
Adventurer
@elboffor - ah, the high volume curse, this prevents all damages to Rift and immediate surroundings, smart move. Good catch with the Consumer Rights Act stuff. I have leaned on this many times, usually the retailers store policy will be quoted but that's no match for legislation. Its like the millennium falcon going up against the Enterprise, Falcon wont doesn't stand a chance.

nalex66
MVP
MVP


They ... directed me to the online store to buy a new full priced Rift bundle (despite having perfectly good sensors and Touch controllers).


Just a side note about the store in case you do decide to buy again--there's absolutely no reason to buy the full bundle including the Touch kit if your controllers are still good. The store now defaults to just offering the bundle rather than the Rift alone, but once it's in your cart, you can go to the cart and remove the Touch kit (click the little X beside it) to get just the basic Rift set.

DK2, CV1, Go, Quest, Quest 2, Quest 3.


Try my game: Cyclops Island Demo

"I naively admitted to dropping the headset since the last time I used it (like I'm sure 80% of owners have done at least once)."

Are you serious?  So what should you have done?  Knowingly defraud Oculus?

You know what broke it - that's why you told us that you dropped the headset since the last time you used it. Works fine, works fine, works fine, drop, doesn't work.

p.s. I'm very sorry for your loss.
Big PC, all the headsets, now using Quest 3

WhipDiddyWhip
Explorer
this is why i buy things through amazon if i can or other retailers that have proven themselves trust worthy

Techy111
MVP
MVP


this is why i buy things through amazon if i can or other retailers that have proven themselves trust worthy


What's that got to do with a person being honest ? Personally i applaud the OP for his honesty. Oculus ? Well it doesn't mean they are not trust worthy. Jobsworthy more like 😉
A PC with lots of gadgets inside and a thing to see in 3D that you put on your head.

falken76
Expert Consultant


this is why i buy things through amazon if i can or other retailers that have proven themselves trust worthy



Trustworthy?  OP Dropped his unit and revealed that to support.  I'm absolutely positive that the lesson learned by op is to not admit fault or even admit to a situation that could possibly put you at fault despite that being the very reason for the need to call upon the warranty in the first place.

That could only mean that Amazon and other retailers are proven "Trust worthy" when an attempt to defraud a company through their warranty goes south because you accidently revealed something that would actually void that warranty.

Unfortunately this is the way almost everybody thinks these days....