Don't mind me, I just feel the need to vent. So, back in February last year Amazon had a deal on the Kensington Orbit Trackball with Scroll Ring: about £4 off the usual price. I fancied a change, so took the plunge. The trackball arrived, worked, and all was well with the world. Last month, it went faulty - kept double-clicking even when I was single-clicking. It's too late for Amazon to take an interest, so I got in touch with Kensington to claim on the warranty. Usual "have you tried turning it off and back on again" troubleshooting commences, Kensington agrees it's faulty, says they'll replace it. Problem the First: Somehow my ticket ended up in the APAC support portal, and they could only ship it to North America or Australia. No, they couldn't transfer the ticket to EMEA. Quick phone call to Kensington EMEA support line, though, and the ticket is transferred. Once I'd sent 'em the VAT receipt, the replacement was on its way - and I didn't even have to send off the faulty one. Result. Replacement turns up: it's the wrong model, the one without a scroll wheel. The two look nothing alike, but have annoyingly similar names: Kensington Orbit Trackball and Kensington Orbit Trackball with Scroll Ring. No problem, mistakes happen - even though the correct product name and code were listed in the original ticket. I'll drop 'em an email, tell 'em to pick up the incorrect model - still sealed - and send me the right model. "Herewith we inform you that the model number which is on the proof of purchase, that was sent to us, is K64327. This is why we have sent K64327 model as a replacement." Of course, K64327 is nowhere to be found on the proof of purchase. I point this out, and the story changes: "On the receipt from Amazon (which was received by us and which is attached to this e-mail) it is written "Kensington Orbit Optical Trackball" which is a description of K64327." So, because Amazon truncated the product name, I get an inferior model as a replacement. I point out for the second time that the ASIN on the proof of purchase, B002Q42S4E, leads to the correct Scroll Ring variant, regardless of the truncated title that appears on the receipt. Then I get a little miffed at the insinuation that I'm trying to snag a free upgrade, so I post the product page complete with "You purchased this on 3rd February 2014" flash, the order summary showing a thumbnail of the correct trackball, the faulty Scroll Ring trackball next to its incorrect replacement, and a close-up of the manufacturer's plate showing product code K72337 and a serial number matching that used to create the ticket. I await a response. All this, for a £20 trackball.
I'd been using a Logitech for years (started with a PS/2, then a USB, then a Unifying wireless model) but needed to switch away from thumb activation as my joint was starting to protest. Logitech don't do any decent finger-based trackballs, unfortunately. The best you get is the odd, narrow Trackman Marble. Couldn't go back to a mouse. Haven't used one for any length of time for a couple of decades, now...
I used to use this, Logitech Cordless Trackman Optical: Unfortunately, now long out of production and stupidly expensive on Ebay. I wore out three of them before I found the Func MS-3.
Yeah, I was looking at those but they're hard to find in the UK. Amazon has one marketplace seller with a single unit for sale, but it's a lot of money to spend on something that I may struggle even more to claim on the warranty of should something go wrong. Good news: Kensington has finally admitted that the wrong trackball was sent. Bad news: I'm supposed to wait for an email from head office arranging collection before the correct one can be sent out. So far, no email. Good job I'm in no rush, hey?
Well, quite. The irony here is that I actually replaced the faulty one at my own expense with a more expensive model... from Kensington.
I'm sure there will be other stockists in the UK, but this is the first result in a search... http://www.computerware.co.uk/trackball_products.html Worth every penny, my Wrist hates using a standard mouse.
Still trying to get the trackball replaced. The email arranging collection never arrived, and they've started ignoring the support ticket messages. Rang 'em earlier this week, got an apology, and was told UPS would be in touch to arrange collection. UPS, of course, has not been in touch. Today marks a month since I opened the ticket asking for a warranty replacement. Crazy stuff.
I'd forgotten about this thread. Guess what? Still no replacement. Finally got a returns label to send the one they sent out by mistake back, though, so that's progress, I guess.
To be honest, with how they have handled collecting the incorrect model, I would be inclined to ask them to send the replacement before hand.
Oh dang. I have one of these very trackballs with the scroll wheel. I like it as a backup device for when my wrist gets tired of my (awesome) Tyon mouse. I got used to using trackballs at work, where we don't have the till space for mice. Hope mine holds up. ;_;
Guess what? Still no replacement. Rang 'em today to chase. The original ticket was opened in August; it's now November. Amazing.
Progress: got an apologetic call from Kensington this afternoon, promising that a replacement trackball would be shipped this week and asking me to choose anything from the eShop (excluding docking stations and charging cabinets) as compensation. So, I picked a SmartFit Extended Monitor Arm, which will be a massive improvement over the stand currently on my Philips TFT and will win me back a little desk space. Now, as to whether either item will actually arrive and/or be the right model...
Got shipment notification that the (correct) trackball was sent out late last week, and an email promising that the free monitor arm will go out this week. Hooray!
Surprisingly, the trackball arrived today - and it was even the right model. No despatch notification for the monitor stand as-yet, though...
Maybe if you have communicated with Kensington and not Kingston... (sorry, couldn't resist to point out the manufacturer name typo).
