In this article I would like to share my (bad) experience with Ectaco Inc.

In 2007 I purchased an ECTACO English <-> Bulgarian dictionary model: EB400T. [ectaco-receipt-eb400t]
I paid for additional 2 years of warranty. Just in case if something should happen.
At that time I was going to school to improve my English and there the display of my dictionary got broken.
Somebody might have dropped my backpack which resulted in a damage in the its display.
I called the support and they asked me to pay 120 USD for repair at that time.
I got angry because I had already paid for additional 2 years of warranty and they were telling me that I have to pay more.
By the way the dictionary is so fragile. It is looks like mini laptop with a lid.
I think the dictionary is intentionally designed not to last long... and therefore lowering the production costs. This is my own opinion.
I was very disappointed and decided to ignore the problem and forget about Ectaco.
My mom and my sister put a lot of efforts to convince me that I should talk again to Ectaco and have them repair the dictionary.
I started emailing them and finally got some conversation going on ...
I sent the dictionary at the end of November 2008 and I after 2 of my reminding emails in Jan and Feb 2009 they got back to me.
Now the repair cost is 160 USD.... and the regular price for a new dictionary is 180 USD.
Basically they are giving me just 20 USD discount and they would handle the shipping and taxes ....

Also after I wrote them that I want my dictionary back they replied to me that since it is not under warranty I have to pay the shipping fees.

I have to admit that Ectaco and their affiliates have done an excellent marketing job.
I remember that when I looked for a dictionary I've always found sites similar to Ectaco.
The good marketing is just a portion of a successful business. Then it comes to handling problems with the products and taking care of customers.
Because if you do they'll come back.
This situation made be rethink my future purchase plans.
I was going to buy 2-3 additional dictionaries but having gone through such *nice* experience made me realize that this is not the right company.

I'll be better off buying an EEE computer than some fragile products + bad company policies.
I also would like to admit that the customer service was good and they always replied to my emails.

Please share your Ectaco experience positive or negative.
Let's learn from each other's experience.

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