Popular game merchandise retailer DataBlitz is once again being thrust into controversy as official distributors of gaming peripherals are now feeling the brunt of DataBlitz’s parallel imports. DataBlitz was once part of another issue concerning the legality of their products back in 2012.
Related: DATABLITZ Reported to be Selling Pirated Software
Photos taken today (02/03/15) when we went in and inquired about DataBlitz’ warranty policy for peripherals – DataBlitz Glorietta branch.
It has come to our attention from very reliable sources that many of the gaming peripheral brands carried by DataBlitz are parallel imports thus are not officially supported by the local official distributors of the respective brands. SteelSeries, Logitech, and Roccat are amongst the brands we work with that have denied the legitimacy of DataBlitz’s authority to carry these products.
Unauthorized Gaming Peripherals
The current issue that DataBlitz is facing is that consumers are only being offered 7-day warranty coverage for their products purchased in their stores. After that period, the consumer is left without a warranty and should a problem arise they cannot get support from DataBlitz.
This is where the official brands face problems. As communicated to us by a part of the local SteelSeries Philippines team, they are starting to receive increasing amounts of users complaining and demanding warranty coverage for their products purchased from DataBlitz due to them being parallel imports.
We’ve reached out to other brands regarding the official availability of their products currently stocked in DataBlitz and we can confirm that Logitech and Roccat both do not authorize some of their products in DataBlitz’s shelves.
We’ve always promoted that lengthy warranties make products better because of the quality assurance that the brands put into them. To avail of this warranty though, the product must be purchased from authorized channels. These officially authorized products will usually have an SRP above that of parallel imports and that is what makes these grey market products such attractive options but be aware that this is at the cost of after-sales support. Don’t expect brands to provide support for your purchased product the same way they won’t support those bought from abroad.
While these brands have not directly nor planning to confront DataBlitz directly regarding this issue, SteelSeries Philippines has been very vocal recently about informing their followers to buy from authorized dealers only.
In closing, we are also reminding our readers about the risks of purchasing grey imports. While we do not shy away from purchasing grey imports, this is for consumables and products that won’t need a warranty.There is certain peace of mind to be had that only a warranty can give and that Php500 or so savings you get with parallels can only last for so long.
Update (02/03/15 11:31PM) – We’ve received comment that the PS4 from DB is also reportedly carrying a supposed Sony warranty yet as Ken Acosta mentions, Sony does not recognize them as an official distributor. We’ve reached out to Sony regarding this and hope to get a response soon about the matter.
Update (02/04/15 5:33PM) – We’ve received tips as of today that DataBlitz is offering 1 year warranty for SteelSeries products also as per DataBlitz Megamall branch. Our SteelSeries Philippines representative still denies DataBlitz’ as an official SteelSeries retailer.
Update (02/05/2015 2:31AM) – During a Playstation 4 game launch event, we’ve asked Playstation reps to comment on the matter but they have declined and would need to discuss internally before giving a statement citing that its a “sensitive issue.”
All brands are subject to product defects and just because your luck has been in your favor for the good portion of your life in terms of purchase, do bear in mind that peripherals are workhorses in their own rights and gaming peripherals for that matter are the lifeblood of PC gamers and they will tend to take a beating.
For your reference here is a list of officially authorized retailers of known gaming peripheral brands in the Philippines:
SteelSeries: http://tinyurl.com/SSwheretobuy
Razer: http://www.razerzone.com/pages/razer-resellers
Logitech: Update 7/1/2015 – none provided
Roccat: All Octagon branches
Sony Playstation: https://asia.playstation.com/ph/en/support/wheretoshop
114 Comments
yep, Makati Branch offered me “Class A” PS3 controllers as an alternative when I purchased a spare.
yep, Makati Branch offered me “Class A” PS3 controllers as an alternative when I purchased a spare.
ouch!!! parang cd rking lang ung receipt warranty ๐
btw sir’s razers link for authorized dealers links to steelseries
Thanks. Corrected! Yup, 1 week warranty. Visited this lunch time sa glorietta to check. Ganun talaga:(
well they got out the new logitech gaming stuff quickly when I needed a new mouse and keyboard (keyboard model nga lang di pa yung bagong model though) And Logitech naman is subok na matibay ๐
Yeah na-excite nga ako sa G910 Orion Spark nila pero I was told by Logitech to not condone it since its grey market stuff. But still I really want it haha
same here, tagal kasi mag release, but then if I get it, sana matagalan nun yung lifespan ng naunang gaming keyboard ko (not the blackwidow), but the reclusa
though surprise, surprise, the remaining working Razer product of mine is the Razer Orochi…. na DB ko pa nakuha. Something’s at work here I surmise. ๐ panukala lang
Haha mine’s a taipan that I gave away already but it was from Razer directly. So no warranty :v
Many buyers are not really aware of the existence of cheaper retailers because they are almost never in malls. PCHub, DynaQuest, and others are in semi-obscure places. Even TipidPC is not that well known.
yeah some people know about those cheap retailers but they just have small numbers of branches
Authorized ba ang dynaquest? balak ko bumili ng mouse dun e
OO, realtalk yun.
This is why i love dynaquest. they even replaced upfront on the spot yung may bent Pin sa mobo ko. nice nice nice realtalk. planning to upgrade GTX 970 G1 Gigabyte + tri 1080p. sana avail pag daan ko haha. boss Gigabyte din?
those shops are not necessarily cheaper vs DB. some peripherals like the Deathadder is cheaper while some are more expensive. but one thing for sure that you can’t disregard is that those shops offer better warranty.
They offer 1 year replacement warranty on at least most things.
While some items may not be as cheap, for me they are close enough that I’ll gladly pay it. Especially with the better warranty. Well worth the price I’d say.
And there are enough of them that they can pretty much cover most of metro manila. Some of them even offer delivery services for a small price.
got my razer kraken from them and said 1 yr warranty on the item
but i dont think this is covered by the warranty
Sasabihin nila sa damage na yan natural wear and tear and from what we’ve heard, service warranty ung offer na razer warranty ni DB
yung akin naman lagpas 1 year ko na nabili pero pinalitan parin nila ng brand new. kinausap ko lang yung head ng marketing nila ๐ and pumayag yugn big boss nila since regular customer naman ako..
Is your Razer Kraken the “Pro” one? Hoe much is it?
passed by db trinoma today. dami peripherals. i never knew they were unauthorized reseller. im not fond of expensive keyboards and mice. basta may keyboard at mouse kahit tig 100/200 ok na yon sakin.. haha
a 7day only warranty is absurd. i even complain on 1yr warranty on computer parts that i buy. the manufacturer gives them like a 3/5/7/etc year warranty. lol
A peripheral worth 30$ is fine with a 1 year warranty but a 7-day is a joke if we’re to bring in CDRKING into the mix.
MARQUEE MALL RIGHT?
datablitz din ung tungkol sa pekeng games dati dba?
not fake games but authorize reseller issue dahil yung item is not officially came from the phil distributor
bought my razer kraken analog from them about a week ago how do you check whatever is suposed to be checked?
Well is it still working? Since its a razer you should have longer warranty as posted in their shops. give them a call to make sure whats up
Lol pumutok narin ba ito finally? :v
Razer electra ko 7 days lang. warranty. =/ may mali ba sakanila?
Razer electra ko 7 days lang. warranty. =/ may mali ba sakanila?
hahaha mga 2yrs na akong umiiwas sa datablitz
hahaha mga 2yrs na akong umiiwas sa datablitz
Anyare? please hugot haha
wala naman akong experience na nasiraan ng console o ano. di ko lang talaga trip yung mga staff nilang mga di sociable
well, depende rin sa branch. nakikipaglokohan pa nga kami sa mga staff nung release ng Pokemon ORAS sa vinivideo namin ng unboxing ng game sa DB MOA.
san branch? ang di ko trip ung mga nasa glorietta. sa mega and north edsa oks naman.
san branch? ang di ko trip ung mga nasa glorietta. sa mega and north edsa oks naman.
medyo di nga cool yung mga nasa glorietta, dun pa naman ako bumili ng master chief dati. Ok kausap sa SM North though, at least nakapag-pareplace ako ng game dati w/ bad steam code on the spot.
mga 18 years na rin silang umiiwas sayo ๐
I owned a g500s back in 2014 and i still have it today,although, i’m quite lucky that i wasn’t “nicked” out of a few deals along with that…but this is the first time i’ve heard of grey imports from Datablitz.
P.S: where can i get the Dex Mousepad from SteelSeries Philippines Fanpage?
I owned a g500s back in 2014 and i still have it today,although, i’m quite lucky that i wasn’t “nicked” out of a few deals along with that…but this is the first time i’ve heard of grey imports from Datablitz.
P.S: where can i get the Dex Mousepad from SteelSeries Philippines Fanpage?
Let me get back on the Dex tomorrow during their office hours.
We really didn’t put much stock on the grey imports until we’ve received reports that there are some very displeased customers with questions about warranties
should be available at pc configure, cebu appliance, MSI North EDSA, pc corner manila, Lazada Philippines and The Secret Shop
Last month i bought a razer hammerhead headset sa Datablitz Annex hahaha we tried it before leaving SM annex to eat at the foodcourt and to my surprise sira yung headset hahah static lang yung tunog, buti nalang ok naman yung service nila pinalitan nila agad since sira talaga :)) pero ang pinagtataka ko pano nakalusot yung ganung products sa kanila eh sealed yun unless di sila sa razer mismo kumukuha ng products :)) oh well just sharing my experience.
factory defect, as you’ve said it was sealed. so they cannot check if it’s really working or not ๐ dumb ass!!
Whoa really? I almost bought a Blackwidow there. *Almost
Whoa really? I almost bought a Blackwidow there. *Almost
Mga mag kano po ang PS4 nyo! yung may kasa ma nang laro
Bumili pa naman yun brother ko ng PS4 unit recently lang sa DB…original kaya yun?
nakow buti nalang nabasa ko to. balak ko pa naman bumili ng PS4. Thanks for the heads up sir!
Will spread the word to my cousins na balak din bumiling xbox one sa next payday
I bought my PS4 sa DB though I insisted on getting a unit that is under Sony Center warranty, for XBox sa pagkaka alam ko wala pa authorized reseller dito sa pilipinas so kahit saan kayo bumili ng xboxone mahihirapan kayo sa warranty though not sure of this anymore
same lang naman may store warranty sila at sony warranty. r3 singapore (asian) is handle ng sony sevice center. its up to you kung asian or japan console ang gusto. even sony e wala nmang issue about s ganyang topic. hindi lang tlaga nila tinatanggap ang ps4 r2 consoles dahil r3 ang hawak nila. same s ps3. ps2 nga kahit nila nila hawak warranty nirerepair pa rin nila dati e. ( back on ps2 era) steel series lang naman ang me problem nila not the consoles or what so ever.. hindi dapat siraan ang buong store dahil lang s iilang item. pwedeng hindi kayo s kanila bumili or what..
Just going to db to buy Steam Cards, Had bad experiences with a Bluetooth headset that only lasted for 2 weeks
BTW just to add up, even consoles i believe. They are not being recognized as an official distributor for PS, coz wala yung store nila sa list ng SONY… yet they are selling sony warrantied consoles. Scary
We’ll reach out to Sony for a comment on this. Thanks for bringing it up
Dragon war is shit tho..
Sa mga non-DB retailers naman ng Logitech, wala naman nung mga bagong G-series na peripherals. Saan ka pa bibili, edi sa DataBlitz din?
so far wala naman ako naging problema sa datablitz pagdating sa warranty… meron ako 2 razer mouse na nagkaroon ng problema at pinalitan nila ng bago… considering na 2 years ang warranty ng Razer mouse, isa sa mga mouse ko more than a year bago nagkaroon ng problem at pinalitan ng bago… ๐
Baka ung 7 days na warranty sa reset ay ung sa store un, na within 7 days pwede nila palitan ung item if ever my problem.. after 7 days sa manufacturer/developer na ung warranty like what happen sa mga mouse ko… ung razer mismo nagsabi na palitan ng bago.
IDK kung ano process ng steelseries pagdating sa warranty never pa kasi ako nagkaroon ng steelseries product..
reset=Receipt* (sleepy, hahaha)
May authorized seller ba ng Razer Peripherals d2 sa pinas?
PC Express pinaka-common pero most shops legit naman ke Razer. Basta galing sa distributor nila, authorized un.
May list sa post, check mo bro
Secretshop.ph ๐
Secretshop.ph ๐
Kaya pala sabi ng friend ko na galing din sa DB, na kaya mura mga units nila. Nagbebenta pa nga sya ng mga second hand units pero sa labas naman ng DB. Kaya pala mura, may discount pa nga ako eh, tsaka may mga patagong titles din silang benta. Baka depende rin sa branch ng DB yung warranty policy kasi may mga alam din yung mga suki nila, good naman reputation nila dito sa DB samen.
putang ina nyo data blitz..buti nga sa inyo yan..putang ina..yung black widow ko..mahigit 1 month tsaka nyo ni replace..tang ina nyo!
Too much video games drains your money and therefore it drains your patience. Welcome to the Philippines
i bought a logitech mouse sa data blitz, after 6 months may sira ung mouse so bumalik ako sa store. the store staff sent the defective mouse sa technical support and nireplace naman nila with a brand new one. Mga 1-2 weeks ang tagal pero still nireplace naman nila. satisfied naman ako and mababait ang staffs nila. data blitz is a well known video game store. And mas maganda to call them first about their warranty bago bili. I also believe 1 year rin steel series warranty nila.
bakit ba ginawa nyong big deal ito? Hindi nama nila ninakaw yan, binili din nila sa supplier nila yan at legit products ang mga yan. Kung inggit kayo dahil mura sila compared sa mga benta nyo, eh di ibaba din ninyo mga presyo ninyo. Kung store warranty lang ang sa db tapos kayo ay distro warranty, eh ano ngayon? Pera nyo ba binili dyan.
Simply put, inggit lang kayo!
So what branches in cebu are official Logitech resellers as I plan on buying a new mouse soon.
Also what stuff are safe to buy from datablitz besides the games? I bought a Dragonwar G8 Unicorn Gaming mouse from Datablitz before and it broke after 3 weeks and couldnt get a replacement from them…
for the bashers of consoles ng db:
about sony warranty
same lang naman may store warranty sila at sony warranty. r3 singapore (asian) is handle ng sony sevice center. its up to you kung asian or japan console ang gusto. even sony e wala nmang issue about s ganyang topic. hindi lang tlaga nila tinatanggap ang ps4 r2 consoles dahil r3 ang hawak nila. same s ps3. ps2 nga kahit nila nila hawak warranty nirerepair pa rin nila dati e. ( back on ps2 era) steel series lang naman ang me problem nila not the consoles or what so ever.. hindi dapat siraan ang buong store dahil lang s iilang item. pwedeng hindi kayo s kanila bumili or what..
kakatamad bumili sa mga yan, pagnasa ibang branch ng specific game ikaw papupuntahin dun, wala sa laguna papuntahin ba naman ako makati dun ko daw bilhin ang panget ng service. hindi kapareho nung isa nila competitor hindi ko na memention name baka sabihin inaadvertise ko lang sila, pero sa kanila yung game na nasa ibang branch they were willing to deliver it sa laguna branch nila, so I just waited for 2 days i bought the pro cycling manager 2012 from them instead.
need one this FEB >.<
Boss~!
Starting last Monday, February 2, 2014, 1 year warranty na ang Steelseries warranty nila.
Frankly, i think paying more for warranty is a scam. If a product a company is churning out is defective then they should replace it with no extra cost to the consumer. Why are we paying extra for their lack of qc?
true.
Oh no I Just bought a Hori Stick last xmas, iniisip ko pa naman atrox na lang bilin ko. Lol
Before buying any we should ask company’s policy regarding the product or the product itself. From that we weigh if it’s reasonable or what. Knowing that the product cost thousands with only a short period warranty why should you buy? Fault also lies with consumers.
I bought a Razer kraken pro mid 2013 in Baguio. After a few months the right side wasn’t working. I only got it checked after 11 months because I remembered they said the warranty is for a year. They replaced it with a new one. Muntik nako bumili ng Siberia v3 analog kasi 2k+ lang
Magkano bili mo sa Razer Kraken Pro mo?
hindi rin authorized retailer ng apple ang datablitz pero sige pa rin sila magbenta ng itunes prepaid card haha
Not a hardcore gamer pero bumili ako sa kanila ng Dragon war Dessert Eagle Keyboard at elephant blade runner mouse even i heard on some forums na may lemon daw na product sa datablitz I found it cheap at mukang ok naman yung looks sa light gaming. Ang ayaw ko lang sa kanila is 1 week warranty. Buti umabot pa ng 1 year sa akin pero still kicking. I guess i lucky but next time sa authorized seller na lang ako bibili pag mga pang gaming keyboard at mouse. Mahirap na kung masiraan ka ng gamit wala kang mahahabol sa datalitz.
Asked them about this yesterday ang sabi sakin sa Festival branch 1 year naman daw ang warranty pati daw sa Razer.
The next exposure should be their tax evading practices because they are still using a manual receipt of processing their orders. Kaya every time bumibili sa datablitz mga 15-20 na tao ang nakapila tapos isa lang ang nagsusulat ng resibo manually. Why won’t they computerize it? Kung mga simpleng “MILK TEA outlets” computerized ang resibo para walang lusto sa BIR, bakit manual pa rin sa Datablitz when they are a big establishment? Daming naiinconvenience na customers sa habang pila nila eh bibili ka na nga. Average time of waiting 45 minutes to 1 hour smh!
Hala ! sa datablitz sm fairview ko pa naman nabili yung steelseries dota 2 mouse at razer kraken usb ko :/
Naku buti na lang buhay pa yung V3 ko huhubels. Yun nga ang sabi sakin 1 year naman warranty kaya ko binili. Pero sa games nga 7 days replacement lang talaga kasi yung Skyrim Legendary Edition ko dati nagkaproblema nabalik ko naman ng 1 day pagkatapos nabili pero confirmed daw working ng technical support nila. Ganun ba talaga?
Ahaha competition nga naman ๐
comment from datablitz fb:
in the comment section
https://www.facebook.com/DataBlitzPH/timeline/story?ut=43&wstart=0&wend=1425196799&hash=-5636862275662028275&pagefilter
“After going over the article, our thoughts are that firstly, the author never verified with us on our warranty terms for Steelseries products, and just went with third party information, then posted up whatever he’s concluded from his own half-baked checking.
As you can clearly see from how it was written and presented, it is an unashamedly one-sided and biased article, and one which would seem very much written to favor certain parties or interests, whomever or whatever that is, your guess is as good as ours.
Just for your information and reference, ALL Steelseries products we sell in our stores carry a full 1 year warranty for factory defects and since we don’t really do any repairs, items returned for factory defects within the warranty period are remedied with a full item replacement. The “7 Days” the author is trying to hype as having been written on the invoice is likely just our store personnel’s way of informing customers that they can return the item they’ve purchased if found to have any defects within 7 days of purchase.
As no so-called local Steelseries authorized distributor here (none for the entirety of 2013 nor the entirety of 2014) has approached us to offer us their products since we started carrying Steelseries in our stores over a year ago, we have no other option but to source our Steelseries products from authorized distributors and resellers in other countries instead.
Rather than stoop to the level of the author, we chose to just explain our side to our objective customers, and let them judge for themselves on who is really being truthful here and who is being deceitful. We believe that at the end of the day, as customers check with us directly, they will realize that what was written in the article is plain misleading and inaccurate, and our customers will be the ones to pass the factual word around, something much much more reliable than the word of someone who’s just collecting receipts and taking photos from outside our stores, without even properly verifying the facts with us.
Thank you for your kind concern and hope this explains everything much clearly. “
Very well said ๐ Nice one Datablitz ^^
Datablitz is such a bastard company proof this article datablitz selling steelseries & roccat w/out suffice warranty, I know their pain cause in my experience I also bought products from them that broke w/in 8 months, and my mouse was a roccat one worth P2,000+
I complain in their facebook page and all I got is a ban w/c is a form of censorship and business malpractice and service negligence in their part which is illegal and punishable by law
this is their facebook page https://www.facebook.com/DataBlitzPH
Forgot to post the proof of them censoring me
http://i.imgur.com/ts1xv81.png
Forgot to put as you can see I cannot comment or like
sry it looks like spam cause there is no edit button
Hahah nakaktawa namn tong page na to para lng makasira
The guys at Edsa Shangrila Mall and Greenhills are knowledgeable and very hospitable to customers. The only thing I can remember was that their elephant brand headphones weren’t really that durable. Other than that, they are actually good.
Bought a vita from them, no problem naman. They also offer Ps4s with Sony Warranties.
I buy games from them at Megamall but since they hate me now, I use a false name: NotBossMac Suba
Jann Bezzli Andal
first in the scene! ahahahaha
Jacob
Buti nalang hanggang window shopping lang ako diyan.
dito ako bumili ng keyboard at mouse ><
ahahahahah! Dude, tsek mo nalang yung receipt
wala na..lumipat ako ng kwarto…di ko na alam kung saan ang mga bagay bagay…hahaha XD
damn, so initially, wala talaga chance na magamit ang warranty, kung meron man
yessir…hahaha!
Still using the Dragon War darkSector keyboard and the no-frills Blade Runner mouse for more than a year now. I bought the darkSector as it was then the cheapest illuminated keyboard on sale, a step higher than what one could get from CDRK.
Actually, the durability of what peripherals we buy there depends on how they’re (ab)used. No-name brands are sometimes hit-or-miss in this case.
Renart Christian J. Sese
Di kasama yung Razer ehhh. May 1/2 year/s warranty yung akin.
I don’t wanna buy branded mall priced gears from db. :/
Walang kwentang article..
Legit ba ang dynaquest?balak ko bumili ng r9 390 8gb vc and z170 krait mobo. pa nman sa kanila.
I purchase xbox 360 from datablitz, then time comes that i need to buy a new disc games, ay naku ala silang maibigay sa dinamirami ng xbox 360 games sa shelves nila puro NTSC daw samantalang nasa region naman tayo ng Asia puro NTSC!!! Nakakagago talaga itong datablitz dito…nag purchase ako ng xbox then hindi ako makabili ng game disc because NTSC region daw, what is the point na bumili nag purchase ako ng xbox sa kanila?? Datablitz is a shame for a serious gamers!!!
This article is correct. One bad experience. Don’t buy hardware from datablitz. Db Hardware warranty is terrible and return policy is zero.
naalala ko mouse na binili ko sa DB, SS rival 300, issue niya paling yung scroll wheel nung mouse then binalik ko sa kanila at ang sabi try po padin palita, ittxt ko nalang po kayo, then 3 weeks nag text, pinalitan naman nila pero same issue padin yung pinalit nila, then binalik ko ulet, after 3-4 week ata nag text ulet, so yun akala ko ok na wala ng problema then ganon padin yung issue sa inis ko hindi ko na binalik sa kanila then after 2-3 weeks of use hindi na gumana yung mouse, no power = dead mouse.
I bought hammerhead v2 and na sira I contacted razer support for this because my product is still covered by warranty for 1 yr and nag reply yung razer sakin na pumunta sa pinag bilhan ko at na shock ako na sinabi nila na 6 months lng yung warranty ko and need ng receipt even pina registered kuna yung product ko sa synapse ..