Hi, I recently bought a Gameshell and was very pleased with the product, but ultimately decided that it wasn’t in my best financial interest to keep the device.
Prior to my purchase, I reviewed the terms and conditions to confirm that I would in fact be able to return the Gameshell after assembly, just in case anything wasn’t satisfactory. I found the following:
I emailed help@clockworkpi.com for the return address, but was told that because my Gameshell was assembled, I would be unable to return.
I was hoping to get some clarification in regards to this.
I think it may be is not so clear if you are just thinking on the GameShell Kit or other items that need to be cut to assembly.
Terms and conditions
Return and Shipment Policy
…
Items that are assembled and used within 30 days of receipt may be returned and refunded without missing/damaged parts, as long as they are in new condition. Please contact our customer service for return shipping information.
Well the beginning of the sentence clearly say “assembled” and for of the thing that need to be assembled, you need to cut it from the plastic sheets. (and the plastic part are not what represent the largest part of a GameShell price.
CPI: You should clarify that point, as most of the Gameshell need assembly (and to be cut from the plastic sheets)
Definitely it’s not so clear like the most of contracts and policies, those kinds of things we must have a lawyer to help with those interpretations, but that was my best interpretation from their policies to understand why they did not accept the return.
But the OP could win this if CPI was in USA or Canada for example.
In a perfect world, I understand why they do not want to reimburse the OP since the product is a product the buyer have to assemble himself. BUT, I strongly suggest them to clarify their policy as this could become a nightmare very fast.
I did consider this possibility, but if it’s true that you’re not able to return an assembled Gameshell, then it’s ultimately disingenuous to include the phrase “items that have been assembled and used” as this is clear cause for confusion.
I’m hoping CPI will at the very least amend their return policy to avoid future misunderstandings, and I would hope they would be able to provide some sort of solution in my case. In turn I would be happy to continue to support.
I haven’t received an email reply as of yet but I’ll be sure to provide updates
Yeah! CPI should clarify this thing, because on my head before you assembly the GameShell Kit you cause some damage on the plastic sheet, this makes the refound not possible, but is like @Godzil said:
They should be considering it.
Look what can happen if they accept this kind of returns without good management:
People who want the GS will receive GS from people who don’t want it already assembled and will be sad and lost the fun part of assembly it.
.
.
.
Crazy thoughts: I don’t know how big CPI is, but product return can be a flaw if someone wants to take down smalls startup companies. Imagine if someone buys the entire stock (of course with different accounts) and after 30 days ask to return all GameShells with the plastic sheets damaged, this will require a lot of work for CPI (administrative (delivery, employes, tax, systems) and technical (test all returned items)) and probably CPI will renew the stock while the “customers” hold the GS for 30 days and they will have overload stock without any profit made from the returned ones just spends. And still doing a kind of loop buy and return until the company shutdowns.
Alright so I was just contacted by CPI and they stated that they will be accepting my return. I realize that this might not be in their best interest business-wise so I really appreciate their understanding on the matter. Definitely shows me that they’re a company that values integrity.
Thank you all for your responses and good luck to your community!
I think the whole situation boils down to the buyer being aware what they’re getting themselves into. And with so many videos online you can’t really say you had no idea what you were buying. If this is the case, then blame the mirror
Also, Gameshell may be reluctant to accept returns which cannot be resold. They are a rather small business, niche, and as you can see they invest whatever money they make to improve the console, the community build around it (the Warehouse is a neat thing), plus most likely developing for future parts and very likely a new model. So they don’t really like encouraging buyers to return the full kits, because part of them cannot be re-sold.
Now what you can do is either force their hand, which would be a dich move, or sell the console for a loss to recover some of the money. And next time do research your purchases before you make the payments, and take responsibility for your spendings. Returning an otherwise functional product from a kickstarter is a bit immature.
Well, I did say that the return could be forced based on technicalities like these, but it would still be a dick move to return the product when it works as advertised.
At the end of the day, they did end up honouring the OP’s request. My money is on them updating their return policy sooner rather than later.
My brother does a kinda jerk move thing re: apple products, “trying” their products for a month, and then returning it; essentially hiring it. The return policy of the game shell seems similar to this; only apply can absorb such costs since they’re large.
It seems the OP’s RFS is that they realised it was too expensive to own, ie they changed their mind. Would having a budget gameshell that is a refurbished ore owned/assembled model be an option? Ie, selling off returned products? I recall another thread here of someone disappointedly receiving a pre assembled unit.
At the end of the day, it’s down to what is in the writing, and not necessarily just common sense. It doesn’t say anything about removal of parts from the sprue, despite that technically being a part being damaged.
I’m not exactly the type to read the fine print and terms and conditions, but it might be worthwhile for someone familiar with legal jargon etc to go through the documentation to prevent future problems like this.
