Kobalt Computers Officially out of business

This is the second large and well known reseller that goes under after XXODD.

Here's XXODD: Message from Mr.Rene Eringaard: Founder of XS2 Europe B.V. - movenext.nl

 

Oh joy.

Well, I can't say I'm surprised. I am bloody annoyed, but I suspect I'm far from the only one.

In response to Pman (not that it matters, as he said he wouldn't be responding to it again), as much as I appreciate that the folks at Kobalt may well have been trying their hardest, if I wasn't directly LIED to, then I was most certainly subject to 'creative deception', as were many other people.

I'll just cite a couple of examples rather than go into a long unproductive rant:

When I'd been waiting for about 8 weeks without even entering production, staff on the forums were still telling prospective customers 3/4 weeks build time. I called them up on this and asked if this was really true, given that I'd been waiting twice that with no likely arrival of the goods.
They said that the 3/4 weeks was absolutely the case for new orders.
Obviously, this is not the case. (the fact that I cancelled after 16 weeks, with STILL no delivery, makes that blindingly obvious, never mind the other people ordering in June who probably never got anything either)

Personally, there were two times (Late June, mid July) that I was directly told that I would have my laptop within 2 weeks.
It goes without saying that turned out to be untrue, both times.
The third time that happened, I told them to cancel my order (early august) and give me my refund.

A month later (mid september) I'm told to do a chargeback through the bank as they are 'not in control' of the refund process. Oh, and they said "it's not our fault"...

And now, I'll probably not see a single penny of it.

Great.

If they had been HONEST about the situation back in June and July, and said "sorry, there's been some complications, it probably won't be ready for at least another month, maybe two." then there's a good chance that I wouldn't be in this mess and out of pocket by an amount I really can't afford to just throw away (really, can anyone in this climate?)
I highly doubt I'm the only one.

Kobalt (as a whole, staff included, no one specific) cannot just claim "it wasn't our fault" when several of their potential customers KNOW full well that they have been deceived. That act in itself makes them just as culpable of bad business as any company that's screwed Kobalt.

And it's for THAT, that I'm seriously F-ed off.

Honesty from Kobalt would have meant that innocent customers wouldn't have been caught up in their mess.

But no, that's far too much to ask for from a 'nice friendly company'.

Not impressed.

 

As an aside: I know it's pedantry and bad humour at a time like this, (thus, let me apologise in advance!) but really... what else can I do but get some tiny amount of cathartic satisfaction out the situation?...

The official statement on their website has errors... they can't spell 'untenable' for one.

Says it all!

 

Please correct me if i am wrong, but surely RMA'd machine cannot count towards the companies assets... these systems are the possession of their customers and CANNOT be resold by the administrator. Surely this is tantamount to theft?

I have contacted Trading Standards to find out where i stand and will post their response here.

As i mentioned before, the Kobalt staff are all decent guys and i would prefer to speak to them before taking any sort of action against them, but contacting them is difficult

 

Well, I'm glad they've stopped taking orders for what was essentially a Ponzi scheme, but I feel for all of you who are out significant amounts of money and have nothing to show for it.

 

As I understand it, your RMA'ed machine needs to labelled as "yours"... i.e. you need to prove to any administrator that it's yours I guess. If you can't then any creditor could just come in and say "that's mine" and jump the queue. So, as long as you can prove it's yours, you should be ok.

 

Well on the bright side I guess if I upgrade the processor in my GS150 myself I can't void my warranty. Was waiting for an answer from them for that.

Anyway guess I was lucky to actually get my laptop back in June.

Wild stab in the dark but maybe kobalt had reached their credit limit with their merchant service companies and couldn't get it extended because of their bad credit rating due to so many people asking for refunds?

And also I think people should lay off generalising about everyone at Kobalt being dishonest. The only people who knew about the financial situation would have been the Directors, shareholders and the company Financial Advisor / Accountant. Its a bit sad to see that people like PMan have been forced off of these forums by people who clearly don't understand the way businesses work.

 

That's like 3/4ths of who managed contact with customers...

And I can't believe Pman has been kept in the dark. He has been as full of false promises as anyone else at Kobalt.

 

Neil and Andy were the only 2 who would have known so thats hardly 3/4ths. And Pman is only going to say what he's been told or what he knows, which was most likely not much. OK he may have known that something seemed a bit odd but wouldn't have known to what extent. He lost his job, don't forget that.

 

No-one has been forced off - PMan wisely said he didn't want to play. Meanwhile, "understanding how businesses work" is a very fine line and if you haven't lost money you are not really in a position to judge other's reactions.

I don't see people generalising about the whole of Kobalt either but the directors very clearly did lie to a lot of people for a very long time.

Meanwhile, for those that have lost money or have kit waiting for repairs, read the thread and follow the links to find out about your rights. Some of us are working on this right now and will do our best to keep people informed of their rights and what we know. Likewise please share your responses from banks, trading standards etc....

We will benefit best from shared information and we are lucky to have this forum to to do that so lets mostly try and keep thread on track although I do understand people wanting to let off steam a bit - it is rotten to get caught out like this...

Hang in there folks

 

Sorry had to get that in there. Look understandably people are annoyed. Hell I've lost my warranty, if my computer dies I'm screwed.

I just thought that I'd put my pennies worth in as I honestly cannot believe that any employees of Kobalt, including the Directors, deliberately set out to put anyone out of pocket.

 

Elltot and Scally I note you are both new to this forum and haven't lost money so can you please stop sniping it is really not useful...................

 

I am not sniping at anyone and If my laptop fails in the next 2 years then yes I have lost money.

I have not intended to offend anyone and if I have I am sorry.

 

It's not offensive it just makes the thread longer and longer for no good reason and makes it harder for people to find the information that they need to get the best out if a bad situation. You included!

Several of us are trying to get info on warranties and alternatives and consumer rights so have a proper read and also go look at the warranty thread below. But I am trying to x post everything into this thread as a point of focus. Lets keep it as clear as possible no?

 

Ugh.. I sent my laptop back for repair Monday last week, under the false impression that it may be back with me tomorrow.

I contacted Companies House to try and ascertain whether they were in administration (as suggested by Consumer Direct) and they are none the wiser.

I'm meant to be flying to America for 3 months within the next week or 2 - this is going to mess up my entire holiday.. so much for that.

 

Make sure that you send a letter to the addresses for Kobalt on this thread clearly identifying your ownership of said computer. Add copies of receipts emails etc.,...

I don't see that you should lose it but it will probably take time to retrieve and keep an eye on this thread and post what happens please? My keyboard fingers have worked overtime the last 24 hours

 

I have the original order receipt email from paypoint along with a HUGE email trail regarding the repair (I've been trying to get it repaired since may... says it all really). Unfortunately, the one thing I don't have is the serial number (it's written on the RMA form tucked in the laptop though).

I know a lot of people have lost more than me but I really don't need to be worrying about/dealing with this from abroad when I'm meant to be celebrating mine and my gf's birthdays, thanksgiving, christmas and new year.. guess I'm going to end up getting the M17x R3 I've had my eye on while I'm over there after all.

 

The problem is that the people you're talking to are screwed because they didn't even get a computer without a warranty. They have nothing except a worthless receipt.

And yes, given that they were apparently out of cash, they should have stopped taking orders. What they were running was basically a Ponzi scheme using the cash from new orders to ship backorders.

 

Hmm.. seems they filed a few documents recently changing something or other to do with the directors/company secretarys..

Kobalt Computers Ltd - Computer Services in Eastbourne BN21 3YA - 192.com

 

Sorry, bad choice of words on my part, I shouldn't have said guesswork.

But, it's just one persons's word, a person who may well not have known the real situation.

The boss of a company isn't about to tell their workers that they're out of work or should stop taking orders because the cash has dried up until he's run out of ways to keep the company running.
If Andrew knew the real situation, he wouldn't say.
If he didn't know, he would say what he had been told by HIS boss, which was almost certainly "yeah things are fine", for exactly the reason I already stated.

Either way, debating that part of the situation does no one any good, as we can't PROVE any of it. That's what administrators will be for, if it comes to that.

Focus on the bits we know for sure and can quantify

 

Well spotted hawkeye!! And there are details of a mortgage or charge (usually against property or assets) in July

 

I have apoligised for offending anyone already, obviously I have rubbed people up the wrong way.

Until we get the facts all of these wild speculations, finger pointing, blaming should probably stop but who am I to say, after all as you have said I haven't lost a lot of money like some others.

 

Don't worry Elltot. I think emotions are just running a little high.

I'm trying to be level headed and keep it sensible.

Though I couldn't help myself with the 'untenable' part ;P

 

PLEEEEZ guys stick to the details of recompense and information that is useful I explained why above - you are making it harder and harder to find the USEFUL info in this thread by cluttering it up with 'noise'.....

 

Was the Eastbourne address always their registered address?

I ask because there are TONS of companies registered at 7-9 The Avenue. I wonder if it's just a mailing address company. Maybe the changes were just their registered address from the business address to this new one?

 

No it just means it is a place that sets up off the peg companies cheap - it won't be Kobalt's actual address just their trading address which as you say will be shared by tons of companies to file their books.....

 

My sympathies to the people who are down over £1k here. I've still got a years warranty left (I paid for the extra year) and the thought of my Laptop bricking makes me sick now. I have no idea what the people without a Laptop in the first place are feeling.

I was in contact with Pman last month regarding upgrading my RAM and getting a new SSD as my OCZ vertex 2 one was playing up a bit. The RAM was sent to me within a few days of me paying for it. The SSD he said he ordered and would ship it when it arrived, but all communications ceased from him @ early September and the SSD never made it.

I'm going to get a hold of OCZ as I'd assume they have warranty on the item.

 

im in the process of getting a bricked ocz ssd returned from redhill sorting office and sending it to ocz direct. thry said it was covered with them for 3 years. start a ticket on ocz site. it has to go to america as the uk only has a email and no ticket support or phone number.

 

Hi Mr DJ I think that may be applicable to a few parts but how do you prove how/when you purchased? All this is useful info for the different situations folks are in!

 

Thanks a lot for the info MrDJ - At the mo the SSD is doing fine, I'm trying to remember the program thats used to monitor the health of your SSD, if you can remember it?

I may pick up a cheap regular laptop hard drive and keep it on the side if the SSD ever bricks, as I cant really be without a system for the next 9 months

EDIT - Nevermind, found the SSD life program

 

Normally, Kobalt should respect the warranties despite closing their company. I believe that's the law!

 

My brain just divided by zero. What do you mean with that?

If people who worked there would move on to other jobs, perhaps even in other countries. Machines and computers used in manufacturing, parts in storage and buildings are sold away (if not rented)...

Who/where would be the "Kobalt" left to respect any warranty?

What is left is the actual manufacturer of the components. Who made the hard drive -> contact them instead. Who made the so-dimms, chassis... etc. Most probably you will need to pay for some shipping costs and if you are unable to install parts yourself, labor for someone to do it for you.

 

I think what he means is the fact that they have ceased trading. That only means they're not selling anymore products. Until they get administrators in and start liquidating assets there is still a chance people could get there money back. Also they could choose to keep the company, just to honour warranties. Companies house still states them as an Active company so no administrators have been called in yet WebCHeck - Select and Access Company Information

 

good question. i guess they would have to go by the serial number on the part or you would have to provide your order receipt. i will let you know when it arrives and i rma it to ocz and see what they ask for.

what program do you use. these are hospital laptops so have a safeboot on them so im not sure the software would run but its worth checking out. weve got 4 so i hope the other ssd's will be ok.

 

As a business we paided by bank transfer for 2 laptops. Now we are out of pocket £3400.

There are a few things that get at me with all this:
The notice on the Kobalt site does not apologise to it customers for letting them down.
The lack of honesty with all the communication. Just lies.
I wonder were Kobalt were buying their stock from?

Has Pman or Neil been on the forum since this has happened?

 

The signs were on the wall for some time. NBR was an asset to me in spotting negative trends. Kudos to this forum. I ordered from PCS last week thank god. I nearly went with Kobalt, but didn't because of the posts on this excellent resource.

 

This makes for interesting reading... Free company financial check on KOBALT COMPUTERS LTD and free company accounts

 

I agree... No apology to their customers on the webiste tells us something about what they feel about their customers. Not much clearly.

Endless lies. Endless nonsense. I have an e-mail from Andrew dated 27th September 2011 (at the time I felt 'blessed' to have even got a response!). Here is what he said,

"Hi *****,

We're looking at your machine going into production early next week with delivery toward the end of the week. Sorry we are a bit behind, we've had a lot of orders to get through and unfortunately some have taken longer than expected to complete.

Rgds
Andrew"

Absolute tosh. If he didn't know they were looking down the barrell of closing the doors by that time then I'd be flabbergasted.

 

Why on earth would they choose that? I have a Kobalt laptop and a 3yr warranty that is now useless but all this talk regarding them possilbly continuing to honour warranties is incredibly wishful thinking.

The best people can hope for is that another company comes along and buys them out. I certainly hope that happens so the people who have paid for machines don't lose their money, the same for everyone who RMA'ed their machines.

I used to own a Rock laptop, they went under but fortunately they were bought by Stone Computers and my warranty continued to be honoured, so, it isn't beyond the realms of possibility for this to happen.

 

Here is a similar report Free company financial check on KOBALT COMPUTERS LTD and free company accounts. They have recently changed their directors address details. The report did show Neil’s and Andrew’s home addresses. I’ll check tomorrow the full companies’ house reports as I’ve got access, if you want?? This will also show changes of details like the addresses.

 

Thanks yes I have seen that one and also this:
Company information for KOBALT COMPUTERS LTD (05110118) incorporated 23-04-2004
which mentions a morgage charge and change in director's particulars last week but if you can get the Companies House one that would be great as that is the source of all the other info - much appreciated!

Meanwhile, so this thread remains digestible for help and information, I will summarise all the USEFUL info in the morning folks ok...

 

I only stated that the addresses had changed. I do think it's odd that they changed their details at the 11th hour
It would still be good to have a public full picture view of what the hell was going on with Kobalt.

 

'lo again folks.

Barclays were a bit quicker than I expected and got back to me today instead of tomorrow.

(To fill in those who don't know: Asked for a refund from Kobalt, 30 days passed, Kobalt said they couldn't do anything due to problems with their payment service provider, I had to ask my bank to do a chargeback in order to get my money back)

In short:
They can't guarantee they'll be able to get my money back. They have submitted their (my?) end of the claim to 'the merchant' (presumably Kobalt's banking provider, whoever that is), and they have to give it 4 weeks before they (Barclays) can do anything else.

What I've read in the past about the chargeback scheme is that they have to give 45 days for the seller to respond, before Barclays can do anything either way, so I'm not sure whether my 4 weeks is just because my claim was put in 3 weeks ago already or what.

BUT... basically... I have to wait. If the 'merchant' cooperates, I imagine I'll get my cash back.
If they don't (and lets be honest here - they don't have a good track record!) then I'm probably shafted.

Ho hum.

 

Dandelionz nice for posting the info thanks

Just to clarify was this a chargeback on Visa Debit or Section 75 on a Credit card? They are different... I'm guessing it was the first Visa Debit yes?
If it is a credit card the law says the credit card company has to pay NO MATTER WHAT...
Also.... did you pay Kobalt direct or via PayPoint or another third party?

Thanks

 

Folks might be interested in this Guardian article re companies going under and Chargebacks and Section 75s
The credit card refund that's all grief and no fun | Money | The Observer

What is very clear from all sources of information is do not allow your bank to fob you off easily - you also have the Financial Ombudsman if you get nowhere with banks....
This is why I am asking for everyone to pool information please!

 

Lucia -

This was via debit card. I originally paid back at the end of April. As far as I know, it was a direct payment. There was certainly nothing unusual about the transaction that I noticed at the time.

... it was a long time ago now

 

Thank you for that. Yes third party payments are not unusual it is just when they use Paypal or PAyPoint which Kobalt did with many people. But good luck and read the Observer article and the other links I posted earlier. Because they say that even if the firm has gone bust Visa should sort you out..... It seems folks have to struggle quite a bit to get it though.

Good luck anyway and keep us posted. I sent my chargeback letter today too and will phone tomorrow.

 

I've always found this to be a useful website. Very matter of fact and straightforward Section 75 refunds: Free protection for ALL spending...
Only of use for Credit Cards though.

 

We've been talking about the difference all day but you were too busy squabbling with Sqwally4 to notice

If you look back a few pages for the PDF link I posted it is also very useful

 

I give up. Just thought it might help. I know you've been talking about it, just thought it laid out everything you needed to do in an easier format than other people had been writing in their posts.