Kobalt Computers?

So I did not expect to stumble upon on the dark side of the interwebz..

So we all know the deal with Kobalt Computers/Systems... it's a long story. They went out of business owned lots of people money and yeah google the rest.

What I came across (with a buddy of mine) was pretty confusing, scary if not. Under the name MySN UK, Kobalt has now been taken over. SOURCE

Spoiler

The EXACT same director. SOURCE

Spoiler

The only difference is the sudden change of address (well yeah understandable) but otherwise this is pretty weird news for new, and not in a good way.

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If you are not familiar with Kobalts story, read it HERE more HERE

 

Hey man, thanks a lot for putting this up! I for one find this very interesting since I got £1,250 worth of screwed over when Kobalt computers went belly up. They left their website up for about 8 months, maybe more, with the notice that they were ceasing trading and were in talks with possible buyers. I notice that website is taken down now. So by looking at this I would assume they have finally got a buyer, have quietly been taken over by the German MySN, renamed MySnUK and old Kobalt Computers customers are still out of pocket and none the wiser.

mySN UK | XMG | by Schenker Notebooks - Company Information

I would like to know the legality aspect, in regards to whether MySn Uk would be obliged to refund old Kobalt Computer customers who are still out of pocket, or am i just grasping at straws. Does anybody know? Cheers for any input...

 

I find it disturbing as well. If I was in Britain, I'd order from PCSpecialist.

 

Thank you soooo much for posting this info.
I have been trying to call mySN by phone to talk about a new high end laptop. When call I get a 'number not recognised' answer. I just posted in a thread about it before I came accross this thread. - post - http://forum.notebookreview.com/reseller-feedback-forum/605567-mysn-16.html

Thank goodness I found this info!
I had a really stressful experience trying to make a purchase from Kobalt Just before they went down. I had paid Kobalt for a high end laptop £2500+ but luckily I had ordered using a credit card and when they did not deliver the credit card lawyers were legally bound to step in and reclaim my payment in full.

A good lesson was learned. Always use a credit card to make payments online as they have massive legal weight behind them and are legally bound to act on your behalf for free.
Always reserach the company you are purchasing from.

So, mySN will no longer have any of my attention, I will check the other suppliers now.

 

Legally I don't think MySN UK has an obligation to discharge Kobalt's debt since Kobalt (I'm guessing) went into administration and MySN UK is technically a new company.

Sadly there is not much in the way of stopping directors of failed companies starting up new ones to screw over more customers.

 

Phew, nearly fell for these stress makers a second time. However this time, ironically, I was saved by their own poor business capability.

I was about to order from mySN, I had a few questions I needed to clarify before placing the order so tried the online live chat but it was offline. I tried calling them on the phone to which I got a 'number not recognised' message.

So then I tried emailing them. I recieved two answers back which sounded very amateurish in my opinion... read for yourself and make your own mind up.

26/02/2013 16:29

No name to contact???

26/02/2013 17:32

Again no contact name or alternative number so I could call them at my convenience rather then theirs.

For a company whose size that seems to be portrayed by the website I would have thought they would advise with a contact name and the company would have at least two or more phone numbers as well as fax number.

For them to suggest that they could call me but I cannot call them was the final straw, I got the impression they were cowboys and the stress levels rose and indeed reminded me of dealings I had previously had with Kobalt!

Suffice to say I looked around and ordered a monster laptop from PC Specialist. Their live chat worked fine and was answered prompty. I orderd late PM yesterday and have recieved an update that the laptop is built and in testing this afternoon so hopefully delivery next week.

 

Thanks for your reply, I was thinking that was more or less the case, unfortunately. That was the first big online purchase I ever made, so I will never forget the lesson of only paying via credit card or PayPal in the future.

 

Oh man, i'm one of the guys who was screwed out of £2500 by Kobalt. Have since lost my bank account, credit card and basically smushed my credit rating into the ground all because of Kobalt and my own naivety. Have only recently got back on track by getting a new bank account but doesn't even have an overdraft cos my credit took such a massive hit from not being able to pay my bank or credit card back. Lesson learnt, never make big purchases with debit cards unless you're super duper rich, but even then i'd think twice about doing that.

Glad you alerted me to this. I just assumed the people behind Kobalt just disappeared as they never went into administration at the time. Surely, if they've been taken over, Mysn would have to pay the debts back? I wonder what my legal options are here. Its not fair that he can continue to make money when he probably owes hundreds of thousands of pounds to previous Kobalt customers. Having looked at the sources, Kobalt was dissolved so i can only assume they paid their creditors back which leaves us customers hanging.

 

Just to point it out:

Besides the obvious though

 

A couple of threads on this forum have come to our attention which we would like to address. These threads in question have suggested a link between Kobalt Computers Ltd and mySN UK Limited. We have attempted to contact notebookreview via email and phone on numerous occasions since Saturday, March 2nd in order to discuss these threads, however we have not yet received any response from notebookreview in any capacity.
This has left us in a position where our only course of action is to post directly on this forum - in order to clarify the situation and also to correct some inaccurate statements.

Firstly we can confirm that Kobalt Computers Ltd has no relationship with tronic5 | Schenker Notebooks GmbH / mysn.de whatsoever. Kobalt Computers Ltd was closed in 2012, this information is publically available through government websites as well as other sites which link to the UK company database, such as UK Limited Company Formation Searches & Business Information | Jordans which has been linked to in several posts on this forum. To clarify this further; tronic5 | Schenker Notebooks GmbH, the parent company of mysn.de and mysn.co.uk did not buy or take over the company and there has never been and there is not now any financial relationship or responsibility, between the two companies.

mySN UK Ltd started to trade in July 2012 when mySN UK | XMG | by Schenker Notebooks was launched. We then further expanded our online presence with the launch of mySN EU | XMG | by Schenker Notebooks in December 2012. The Directors of mySN UK Ltd were appointed after we carried out all appropriate due diligence checks, as you would expect a company of tronic5 | Schenker Notebooks GmbH reputation to carry out. We would not have chosen to open our UK office in the way we did, had we had any reservations whatsoever regarding the competence of any of our UK staff - Directors or otherwise.

The reason we have chosen to respond to these threads is because we consider some of the accusations made about mysn.de and mysn.co.uk border on libel. Although there are slightly different technical definitions throughout the world, libel is generally defined as a written statement that makes a claim, expressly stated or implied to be factual, that may give a business, group or individual a negative or inferior image. There are unfortunately clear examples of this as detailed below.

1/ http://forum.notebookreview.com/reseller-feedback-forum/703674-mysn-uk-kobalt-computers.html
2/ http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...balts-scam-has-anyone-been-compensated-3.html

It is extremely important to note that what jaug1337 reports as "Kobalt Computers/Systems" are in fact two completely different companies. From the information posted in the threads he has linked to, he is actually referring to Kobalt Computers Ltd - this company ceased trading in September 2011 and according to Companies House (the official UK Company register) it was dissolved in September 2012. This dissolved condition defines it as having no legal status.

Kobalt Computers Ltd as a company has no relationship with mySN UK Ltd as has been suggested on the detailed forum threads; not legally, not in liability or in any other aspect.

For the record we would state that Tronic 5 Schenker Notebooks has an excellent reputation in the European market. The company has been operating in the Clevo notebook market for almost 20 years and is both the longest operating and largest Clevo based reseller in Europe. Before expanding into the UK with the launch of mySN UK Ltd ( mySN UK | XMG | by Schenker Notebooks) and then the subsequent of mySN EU | XMG | by Schenker Notebooks , an in depth assessment of operational possibilities and personnel was carried out. The staff at mySN UK Ltd have over eight years of technical management experience with performance orientated Personal Computers and Notebooks.

While we completely understand that freedom of speech is a fundamental prerequisite for a popular internet discussion forum, the posting of libelous statements is something we take seriously. We appreciate your understanding in this matter and are confident that our current and future customers will make an educated, informed opinion of our business based on our outstanding service reputation and class-leading products. Finally, we’d like to thank those involved in the threads who have supported us or at least considered the situation objectively. We’re looking forward to our future and are positive these issues will be resolved without any further action.

 

mySN.de by replying directly into this forum in the format you have you mySN.de have now decided to join in the conversation in an official capacity publically and openly and in compliance with thenotebookreview.com forum rules. I hope you will clarify further on your statement.

No one in this thread, or any other has implied anything libelous as you suggest or imply. All they have done is type opinion, Researched the companys that they potentially or had actually had experience or had made a purchase from and found that mySN.UK have links with KOBALT Computers. Links to a previous company that had a reputation for treating their customers badly (to put it mildly).

Seeing as you have now entered the conversation in an official capacity could please clarify a few things that would certainly go a long way to regaining and re establishing MYSN.UK reputation.

Q1:
Are any of the directors that worked or were linked to KOBALT Computers now or at any point in the past working for or linked in a professional capacity in any way to mySN.UK or mySN.de. Please clarify under what capacity these links existed?

Q2:
Would you please clarify the name/s of the current director/s of mySN.UK.

Q3:
Are mySN.UK an actual 'build' or 'supply' company that occupy a company office/building and are staffed by more then 1 person?

Q4:
Do mySN.UK hold enough stock in the UK company address to fulfill any order or are orders assembled outside the UK and then delivered directly to the customer from outside the UK or delivered to and then redistributed from mySN.uk?

We, the past victims/customers of Kobalt Computers and future potential customers of your company have a right to know what we ask to ensure we can make a reasonable assessment of your company mySN.de and mySN.uk reputation in the marketplace to allow us, the customers, to make a fair and informed choice about where to make a purchase.

I am sure you will be swift to reply and answer these questions without deviation in hope of restoring the mySN.uk company reputation.

 

I had moved on from this as I have made my laptop purchase from elsewhere, however MySN.uk contacted me today asking for feedback in respect of the phone contact issue I had described earlier in this thread.

I post the communication and my feedback in the hope that it may help other forum members make informed and fair choices.


From MySN.uk:

This email concerns your recent ticket: XXXXXXXXXXXX
As part of our commitment to improving your customer support experience, we would like to know how you think we are doing.
You are invited to complete a short satisfaction survey consisting of just a few multiple-choice questions.
It should take you no more than a minute to complete (we promise!).
To take the survey, please click on the following link: http://mysn.co.uk/support/index.php?/Tickets/Survey/Index/xxxxxxxxxx
Your feedback is very important to us and we really appreciate your time.
Thank you in advance,
mySN UK Ltd


My Feedback:

There is an intimidating post directed at forum members who were sharing their concerns to other members on the notebookreview.com forum by your associated company MySN.de in the topic:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/reseller-feedback-forum/703674-mysn-uk-kobalt-computers-2.html
After MySN.de commented in the thread and the failure to then reply in response to further comment and questioning demonstrate the professionalism that MySN.uk and MySN.de seem to lack.
Until the questions asked of MySN.de are clarified in the forum I suspect MySN.uk and MySN.de reputations may suffer.
I have posted details of this communication in the same forum.

 

Seems fair to ask clarification on these basic questions asked by you. Thanks for your effort michael_D.:thumbsup:

 

michael_D you are correct. MySn.de implying libel is rubbish. I thought it was hilarious when they implied Kobalt Ltd and Kobalt Computers Ltd were two different companies, seriously I laughed for a good five minutes at that. Especially when you see the director of both companies and company descriptions are the same. I mean c'mon, really? I couldn't believe they did that. No one was mistaking Kobalt Computers for Kobalt Tools, the only other Kobalt company I could find with Bing/Google.

I guess the big question really is, what did MySN expect Kobalt customers who had their money or laptop stolen from them to think?

Hypotehtically, if you saw all this, freely open to the public, easily searchable:
1). Director of "New Company" is the same director of "old company"
2). The address of "New Company" is the same as "old company"
3). Director of "New Company" on his LinkedIn page lists him as director of "old company"
4). "New Company" sells the same brand of laptops and computers as "Old Company." "New Company's" products are the same as "Old Company's"
5). "New Company's" company information at various business registries mirror that exactly of "Old Company"
6). "New Company's" services are the same as "Old Company's"

Just curious, what are people to think? It's all coincidence?

MySN, with any company, if anyone found out, a Director of a new company, even if on paper, everything legally fine, it's legal perfection... If said new company's Director is the same person who failed to deliver the same notebooks that the new company is selling, the same services, and he still owes money and machines to customers of his previous company, I would recommend DON'T do business with new company. I don't care what company it may be or what they sell.

And yes MySN, if anyone was to ever ask me, where to buy a Clevo in UK, I'd say, PC Specialist, avoid MySN UK. I'd say avoid MySN, just pretend MySN is Malibal and run away.

 

Am I mistaken or has the title of this thread been changed from "MySN UK = Kobalt Computers" to now be "Kobalt Computers?" Should it not be labelled "MySN.uk?" or better still just left as it was so readers looking for information on the MySN.uk company prior to making a purchase are able to make a fair and informed choice?

This is not a petty complaint.

Who made this change?
Was it the moderators?
No explanation for the change of thread title?

If it was the forum moderators I am truly saddened, The forum reputation is now lowered.

It now seems that failings of past companies can now be hidden and attain new credulity with a company name change and gain positive reputation in forum posts. However when reputation posts are negative, thread labels are edited to hide this detail, even when forum users had exposed such links precisely for readers to be informed and decide for themselves.

To not allow a post to show the Link between these two companies in the title (which is where most readers will be searching for information prior to a purchase) is being complicit in aiding past company directors to continue to operate and promote themselves on this forum under the guise/employ of a new company whilst helping to hide detail from readers/potential customers who are looking for just such information.



UPDATE AS I WRITE THIS.
Unbelievable:
The first post in this thread was actually a positive happy costumer promoting MySN, the poster does not state if it was MySN.uk or MYSN.dk that had his custom. However the thread topic changes to include negative comments concerning and linking MySN.uk to Kobalt Computers. The last thread was posted by MYSN.dk incorrectly implying that libelous comments had been made in both that and this thread.

The thread was then locked.

I now notice that the thread which was also labelled with MySN in the title - not sure the exact title name - has also been renamed without explanation. This is further indication that links between the company MySN UK and Kobalt Computers are being deliberately hidden. If this is at the request of MySN or not remains to be explained.

Perhaps as is this thread is not locked yet and before the name is changed again either a forum moderator or someone from MySN could explain just what is going on to the readers and now probably uninformed potential customers of MySN.

If MySN decide to answer could you please also answer the very reasonable questions I asked earlier in this thread.