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“Sonicwall products are not returnable”

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Re: “Sonicwall products are not returnable”

#52
post #5

Did you buy it with a credit card? Most of them have additional protections that let you fix situations like this. Not sure if it applies to returns, but for instance I know you get a guaranteed extra warranty with anything you buy with your amex past the manufacturers, etc..

I'm considering this - but I used the boss's debit card so I'm not sure it'll work. Debit cards being "same as cash" in the USA, not sure those terms protect wrongful purchases. But - can't hurt to try.

You can dispute a charge on a debit card the same as on a credit card. Just say the merchandise was not what you ordered and you attempted to return it and they wouldn't take it back. Include in your dispute the email from them saying they won't take it back (or notes about the phone call).

They will suddenly want to get it back, and most likely will not argue against the dispute.

The rules are pretty clear on this stuff from Visa and Mastercard-- retailers are on the hook. With the kind of fraud they deal with ,being able to actually get the item back from the customer is a good thing for them.

Their return policy is asinine and counter productive. Maybe they think that so many customers will just eat the charge it is worth it.

But I would highly doubt you will lose your dispute (unless your bank is terrible.)

I have disputed various things over the years, when running into bad merchants. Only once has the dispute not gone in my favor -- and I no longer do business with that bank (Wells Fargo, it was a particularly egregious situation too. Over a $60 dispute they have lost $400 a year in revenue.)

Re: “Sonicwall products are not returnable”

#53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Credit card gets stolen - I call bank, they remove charge, and I don't pay until matter is resolved. Debit card gets stolen - All my money is taken out of my bank. I now cannot pay my rent or buy groceries. I tell bank, and they start an investigation. Maybe in 90 days I get my money back. Never ever use a debit online. In fact, don't use in person. Debit cards are fine for ATM to get cash, for anything else use CC.…

My debit card is a Visa with the same protections as a credit card, and in the rare cases where I've had fraudulent charges, I was granted an immediate temporary credit back of the funds, which was made permanent upon the completion of the investigation.

Credit union or bank?

Re: “Sonicwall products are not returnable”

#54
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Credit card gets stolen - I call bank, they remove charge, and I don't pay until matter is resolved. Debit card gets stolen - All my money is taken out of my bank. I now cannot pay my rent or buy groceries. I tell bank, and they start an investigation. Maybe in 90 days I get my money back. Never ever use a debit online. In fact, don't use in person. Debit cards are fine for ATM to get cash, for anything else use CC.…

You are so right! In the early days (1960s/1970s), credit card companies welcomed (perhaps even sponsored? I don't remember) the legislated responsibility for risk because it encouraged the uptake of credit cards. Nowadays, of course, almost everyone has a card and almost every merchant needs to take them. So the card cartels were able to shift part of the burden onto the merchants, and in particular the smaller ones…

> When you buy something online or swipe, send the CC come any a check that same day.

Having to write out checks daily kind of defeats the purpose of using a credit card instead of a checkbook.

Re: “Sonicwall products are not returnable”

#55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm considering this - but I used the boss's debit card so I'm not sure it'll work. Debit cards being "same as cash" in the USA, not sure those terms protect wrongful purchases. But - can't hurt to try.

You can dispute a charge on a debit card the same as on a credit card. Just say the merchandise was not what you ordered and you attempted to return it and they wouldn't take it back. Include in your dispute the email from them saying they won't take it back (or notes about the phone call). They will suddenly want to get it back, and most likely will not argue against the dispute. The rules are pretty clear on this s…

You can dispute a charge on a debit card the same as on a credit card. Just say the merchandise was not what you ordered and you attempted to return it and they wouldn't take it back.

But in this case, it sounds like the merchandise was what was ordered, it's just that the order was a mistake.

Disputing that on the basis you gave would be unethical at best, and quite possibly a violation of both the buyer's card agreement and the law as well.

Re: “Sonicwall products are not returnable”

#56

Dell EqualLogic™ and EqualLogic-branded products, Dell|EMC, EMC and VCE-branded products, Dell Compellent™ and Compellent-branded products, Dell KACE™ and KACE-branded products, Dell Force10™ and Force10-branded products, PowerVault ML6000 tape libraries, PowerVault DL and DR products, Dell SonicWALL™ and SonicWALL-branded products, Dell Wyse™ and Wyse-branded products, Dell Quest™, Quest™, ScriptLogic™ and VKernel™…

This simply can't be legal in the EU, can it?

Re: “Sonicwall products are not returnable”

#57
post #22

You may be able to get some level of relief from your credit card. My American Express card comes with the following benefit for free: " If you try to return an eligible item within 90 days from the date of purchase and the merchant won't take it back, American Express may refund the full purchase price (excluding shipping and handling), up to $300 per item, up to a maximum of $1,000 per calendar year per Card accoun…

Not having an American Express Card and not having read their terms... But: have you read the "important exclusions and restrictions"? Also, the buyer would still be out of around 200$ plus shipping even if he'd be refunded by Amex...

I've successfully used it, so I know it's a real benefit. One notable exclusion is software (presumably because you could have copied it), hardware should be fine.

But yeah, it's only $300. Perhaps the fancy AmEx cards have a more robust benefit. It's pretty nice for "free" though.

Re: “Sonicwall products are not returnable”

#58
post #26

It's not just bad business practice. At the company I work at, our anecdotal experience with Sonicwall products has just been shitty. You buy a router and you still need to pay extra to activate advanced features. What a shitty product. In contrast, we bought a whole bunch of Mikrotik's RouterBoards, they're really inexpensive and come with really powerful features that you don't need to pay extra for. We're starting…

Mikrotiks are remarkably powerful if you have knowledge and are willing and able to configure them properly. They are rock-solid routers with a great feature set, and we use them at almost all of our customers (except ones where we still haven't replaced older routers). Sonicwalls have a comparable feature set for hardware and basic networking, but also add the ability to do some UTM on the device - things like conte…

> things like content filtering, antivirus, etc. for traffic passing through

In fairness, I believe these are subscription based services on the sonicwall (at least it was when I had a sonicwall). The same features would normally be implemented in different devices, and could still be with a mikrotik.

And I don't see a reason why something couldn't be done on the mikrotik - either natively with some scripting, or by making use of the meta-router functionality (a linux vm running on the router which you can pass traffic too and have advanced stuff done)

Re: “Sonicwall products are not returnable”

#59
post #37
post #26

It's not just bad business practice. At the company I work at, our anecdotal experience with Sonicwall products has just been shitty. You buy a router and you still need to pay extra to activate advanced features. What a shitty product. In contrast, we bought a whole bunch of Mikrotik's RouterBoards, they're really inexpensive and come with really powerful features that you don't need to pay extra for. We're starting…

While I don't have experience with Mikrotik, I've been really happy with the Ubiquiti gear I've installed.

Ubiquiti and Mikrotiks are a good match for each other. I've no experience with Ubiquiti's routing equipment, but their wireless devices (big backhaul dishes all the way down to the small office AP's) are fantastic. Backed by a Mikrotik, you have a very powerful and flexible package for a fraction of the cost of the competitors.

Many WISP's use Ubiquiti wiresless equipment paired with Mikrotik's on the back end.

Re: “Sonicwall products are not returnable”

#60
post #22

You may be able to get some level of relief from your credit card. My American Express card comes with the following benefit for free: " If you try to return an eligible item within 90 days from the date of purchase and the merchant won't take it back, American Express may refund the full purchase price (excluding shipping and handling), up to $300 per item, up to a maximum of $1,000 per calendar year per Card accoun…

> an eligible item

The exclusions seem very reasonable to me (example: no living animals or plants, no rare coins)

Full terms are here https://web.aexp-static.com/us/content/pdf/card-benefits/Pla...

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