Pendo

PENDO 14" notebook warranty support pathetic – It's only about 4 months old and still under warranty and the power supply has failed, PENDO don't care and brushed us off so quick my head spun with disbelief. Customer care minus 5. product support minus 5. will I ever buy PENDO again - NO. will I caution others about PENDO- you bet I will. The basic gist from them is 'pay for your own repairs we're not interested!' The paper the warranty is written seems more valuable than their reputation. All I wanted is a EE1230-105 power adaptor adapter.

Horrible Tablet Pendo `10" from Australia Post – I had a Samsung Galaxy 7" small tablet which was dying so I decided it was time to update. Australia Post had a Pendo 10" tablet on special. Looked ok. Got it home and it was pathetic. Trying to install my favourite apps from Goodgle Play took for ever and it would hang up on installation. Several re boots and some apps eventually installed. Yes I did install a 32gb Micro SD card as recommended. I contacted Pendo by email, two days latter they replied asking for the details of the unit which I sent in the first place. Ok I followed all their instructions still no joy. Google Play apps just do not want to down load. No problems with down loads to my Samsung A5 Phone or my partners Samsung Tablet so its not our internet connection its the Pendo unit. Unfortunately I destroyed the box it came in and Australia post would not give a refund nor would they give any support. I am out of pocket $119.00 and being on an age pension I could have used this money for better products. Buyer beware do not buy this product.

Pendo10 Doesn't Cut It! – I wanted another small notepad device so I could access my WiFi from other places, without sitting at my computer. The expense of a laptop did not justify the convenience required, so I looked around. As fate would have it, Australia Post were doing a promotion selling a notepad called a Pendo10. The specs looked good, it was a handy size, it was cheap compared to others. So, I presumed that if AustPost were supporting it; it had to be good! I bought it! I loaded it with what I wanted & it functioned reasonably well for 5 weeks, except it got so hot at times I had to put it down; in hindsight that was the warning bell! It died; it just stopped working.

I followed all the reset instructions and then had an IT tech look at it; it was dead. Not taking a charge, not turning on, just getting VERY hot when I tried to. Very Dangerous.

So, back to AustPost with the receipt; it was 5 weeks old with very little use. AustPost tried to take it back but told me PENDO policy was that after 28 days from date of purchase it had to be returned directly to them (PENDO). AustPost kindly gave me their number. I called, a bag was on it's way for collection. I kept ringing every few days to make sure something was happening; same message; a 'Satchel' was in transit; it took 15 days to turn up. After I sent it back in the plain plastic post bag, I waited 4 working days and rang only to find that they had received it, but I had to wait while they checked on it's status of 'repair'. It was then confirmed to me it was faulty! Well, no sh.. Sherlock! "We will get someone to call you to reconcile this" Pendo said. What was wrong with here and now, I stated? So I waited a few days; I rang again. I gave my claim number, " Oh sorry Sir, has no one rung you back? They should have?" Yeah, right! Then I was told that they don't make that model anymore so they will just credit me; I told them I don't want a credit, I want a device as good or better than the one I had. Then I was told there were none in stock. I told them i was going to ring 'Fair Trading' and then ring them back in a few days. Two days later I rang and 'WOW', there was a new device in the mail. I received the new device which appears to be working well at this stage; it took over 5 weeks and to date I have never received a call from Pendo.

The message is clear, with Tablets, laptops etc; You get what you pay for. Buy a known brand; I would not buy any type of Pendo ever again. It was not a bad outcome, but again the communication was worse than the product malfunction.

Update: 6th May 2017 It is clearly apparent why the Pendo device works so hard; it constantly tries to download pre installed apps for other games sponsored by third parties. I had a software tech look at it to try to stop it from doing the auto download but it cannot be stopped. Get a tech head to show you how to remove them once they are installed otherwise it will just slow your device down further, as they continue to give you notifications and attempt updates. These unwanted apps & other software installations are not notified on any packaging or warning prior or after purchase; VERY unprofessional.

Another fault is the fact that the device will power down, while turned of in 2 days. They do not hold a charge; so when you want to use it again the battery is flat, fact! My 5 year old iPad is still working well, by the way.

Pendo 11.6" Convertible Laptop with Windows 10 (360 Flip) – I bought this to give a presentation from Officeworks at a reduced price as the charger couldn't be found for it. Officeworks then delisted it and I can't buy a power adaptor. Pendo hasn't replied to my emails or phone calls. I doubt this product was any good or it would not have been delisted. I have never been able to charge it and turn it on!

If Pendo ever responds and I manage to get their proprietary power adaptor I will review again.

BTW their power adapter has a tiny long thin pin like the old Nokia phones. One tug and that pin would be destroyed! I suspect so many replacement power adaptors were requested it was cheaper to scrap the product.

USB charging for such a device is the way to go.

UPDATE

Pendo 'support' finally got back to me and told me to go and buy a power adapter from the market!