back to article OcUK puts £10K bounty on the heads of DDoS varmints

Overclockers.co.uk is offering a £10,000 ($13,830) reward for information leading to the conviction of attackers who have targeted the technology enthusiast site in a DDoS lasting over a week. In a forum posting on Wednesday, Overclockers.co.uk (OcUK) placed a bounty of the head of cybercrooks who have mounted an attack that …

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  1. Paul Murphy

    OCuk lost a sale because of it.

    I was going to buy a new monitor from them, but on the evening of placing the order the site was unusably slow, so I ended up at Aria instead.

    I wondered at the time why it was only OCuk that had the problem.

    This sort of thing is pathetic, and I hope whoever is 'responsible' for the attack is caught and punished.

    Don't worry (too much) OCuk, I'll be buying my next system bits from you.

    ttfn

  2. David

    At what cost?

    I would be really miffed I was paying £25,000 per year to host the sites and this happened.

  3. Tom Peach

    How to collect

    So if I anonymously submit info how do they know where to send my reward?

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    What goes around comes around?

    OcUK have a dire reputation on the Internet (as of this moment they have a 1.67 out of 10 rating on ResellerRatings.com), they actively banned any negative opinion about their service on their forums, and consternated customers aren't even allowed to use the forum to make enquiries about their orders, etc - they had to use the premium-rate phone numbers. If they did dare to post an enquiry they'd get banned.

    The staff make a point of flaunting their excess on the forums with hardly a week going by between one of them posting whichever supercar they've been able to buy with the considerable profits they make.

    This development comes as no surprise to me at all, I'm only surprised it hasn't happened before.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Good idea...

    ....watch the scumbags get turned in by their "friends".

  6. Gordon Grant
    Thumb Up

    They did send me an e-mail about this....

    Funny I should read this story as I think it was either last night or this morning I recieved an e-mail from them regrading the website / forums and providing the full list of contact numbers in case I wanted to order anything, quite nice of them actually..

    I do hope they get the swine, I don't use the site that often as well I upgrade systems that often :).

    I'd be going through a list of "customers" who've returned big value items for clues, if they've not done so already..

  7. Leigh Smith

    Disgruntled customer?

    I guess their 'customer service' finally upset the wrong person.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Hmm

    I wonder if racisim by the founder and in the forum has anything to do with it.

    It's like a BNP Jamboree in that place.

  9. James

    Hope they get him...

    Cheers for this news, I was wondering what was happening to OcUK.

    Dam good sight that as well, so easy to use, good goods and good service. So I personally hope they get that bot net using, basement hiding, unwashed geek.

  10. I. Aproveofitspendingonspecificprojects
    Boffin

    Crime or punishment

    Criminal gangs will always have the jump on law and order as criminals will kill any suspects when the police can only ask them questions.

    Or to put it another way if presidunce Bush was allowed to carry on regardless regardlessly, someone would have had to do for him. You can call it terrrrism if you like.

    Or if you are a USAn on July 4th, victory.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    technology enthusiast site?

    Do you mean etailer / webshop?

    I'd suspect a pissed off customer.. maybe someone who has fallen foul of RMA conditions...

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    I've never had a problem with their 'customer service'.

    They messed up an RMA of a motherboard for me once, but made up for it by replacing the board with one twice the value.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    Marvelous! They deserve it, just deserts in my book

    They deserve it, I detest overclockers UK.

    Ever built a PC and had a problem? I.E. it wouldn;t boot correctly, I suspect the Moherboard, take it back. Nope, you can't do that. I had to log the issue 1st which wasn't easy, then wait for an RTM off them for a NUMBER OF DAYS, then returned. BUT, I can only return ONE thing at any time and as it could be a faulty Motherboard or the CPU, or maybe the memory or the PSU, I had to do ONE at a time. Wait for them to test, FEW DAYS LATER .. nope not that, pick it back up, called them to RTM cpu .. wait days ... take it in ... wait days .. nope not that sir ... RTM motherboard ... wait few days ..... ahhh yes it's faulty, come get your replacement.

    I don't recall the exact issue but either way it took me WEEKS to finally locate the cause and get it fixed.

    Another time was a suspected PSU, can you just check this for me? No sir, you have to strip it all down and RTM that item. But can't you just check it while it is in situ and then with another PSU to confirm you sold me a faulty PSU? No sir. Why? Because last time we did we blew all the trading estate out. You mean a faulty PSU got through the 13Amp plug fuse, through the RCB circuit breaker on your unit, I'm guessing that like a house you have a 100 AMP consumer unit fuse which it went through, and then managed to go through every other unit in the building? I don't know sir electrics are not my area. It's a 12 volt transformer!!!! Yes sir.

    And so ends the story of why Overclockers UK are so shite. They are having DDOS problems? Maybe it's there mobile phones causing an issue wih there unusual wiring, or aunty vera's email is interfering with there server, or maybe they treated everone else like crap and one or more of them knew more than just how to build PC's and they are DDOSing them.

    I give them a medal personally!! Anonymous as I've had enough of those muppets and blacklisted them for home and work purchases, and have no plans to become their scapegoat.

  14. This post has been deleted by its author

  15. Mike Timbers

    No hackers here!

    "OcUK is a hybrid hardware hacker enthusiast site and online computer kit reseller"

    Any posts about "hacker" activity or warez software are immediately deleted! Where does the "hacker" allegation come from!

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    (untitled)

    Is a shame they're having problems, I've never had an issue with them. Pain to get through to on the phone though (if you'd ever been to the store and seen the room full of phones no-one anwers behind the counter you'd see why!).

    Good luck to them - I hope they get the critters

  17. Bob

    No sympathy here

    When they can't be bothered to sort a promised £10 refund, it seems unlikely you'd see £10k out of them. Couldn't happen to a nicer company...

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    Re: Damien Papworth

    Get some perspective please, do you normally call for people to kill themselves over comments posted on the Internet? Sounds like you need some anger management training.

    As for posting anonymously - I stand by my comments, however I have a vested interest in staying anonymous (least of which because I'd only get banned from their fascist forums for dissent). Pro-tip: If it weren't for anonymous whistleblowing then OcUK (and companies in general) would be shafting far more customers than they do already, given their attitude to censoring all negative opinion or experiences on their forums.

    You don't have to look very far for unbiased bad press about this company, just Google their name. Their profteering is almost as legendary as their hit-and-miss customer service.

    As for the odd shill, sorry, customer who posts rave reviews - well, even a blind squirrel finds an acorn now and then.

    As remarked already - couldn't happen to a nicer company.

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Hackers ?

    Re Mike Timbers - I read it not as an allegation, but a description of the forums where modding is encouraged. Ie hacking hardware in a good sense.

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    Damien Papworth

    I have plently of backbone, I remain anonymous as I don't trust OCUK or muppets who feel protecting your sanity = no backbone.

    Accept that many people (see resellerratings.com) hate them and that they have crap customer service. Try building a complete PC and find nothing works and THEN call them, see how your psychic powers help YOU find what is wrong then!! A PC that wont boot could be a faulty PSU, or CPU, or Motherboard, and they wont help in any way to test it to locate the faulty piece of kit. You'll just have to arrange 1 at a time to return every bit, you'll find out 1 day. Meantime DDOS please continue!

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    Bit of a shame, I guess

    Despite their prices not being competitive, their customer service being frankly terrible and their forum being populated by idiots and little Hitlers, it's a bit of a shame when a company which is primarily web facing is targeted like this... I can’t imagine how I’d react if I was in charge of such an operation.

  22. Matthew Hepburn
    Thumb Up

    OCuK recommended

    I quite like OCuK these days, and have ordered a moderate amount of kit of late with no problems.

    Cant find any reviews newer than about 2005 moaning about them in general, other than "waaah i had a faulty GFx card" - yeah, get over it, it happens.

    Hope they nail the DDOSing scumbags - P.S. - Anyone else think of a large retailer who doesnt allow negative comments? - Amazon deleting Spore bad reviews anyone?

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/22/amazon_crysis_warhead_anti_securom_review_missing/

    Would any of you pay for / host a forum that slagged your company off? Dont see anyone else doing it... why should they?

  23. gibbo
    Happy

    Dont Panic!

    We will be back..Dont worry guys!!

    Just come back a few hours ago from the coast, just tested spies new speedboat its amazing!

    Anyway need to change me Dodge charger! Got 100k to spend..any idea folks?

    Cheers

    Gibbo

  24. John
    Thumb Up

    Chickens coming home to roost

    How many tech savy customers did OCUK think they could pi** off before if eventually blew up in their face. As a victim of their atrocious warranty returns policy I am lolling till my sides hurt.

  25. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    to be honest they deserve it

    If they were a real shop and treated their customers so badly they would probably have faced an equivalent physical attack by now. When they act so badly as keyboard/phone warriors hiding behind the internet then they have to expect something like this would happen. It amuses me greatly that someone is giving them their just desserts.

    Also who's brilliant idea was it to spam all their ex customers just to let us know that if we wanted to buy something then we couldn't?

  26. Anonymous Coward
    Black Helicopters

    DDoS or MMDoS?

    Given the reports of disgruntled customers, perhaps it isn't a single DDoS, but actually a number of individual DoSs from many disgruntled customers (I'm calling it a Massively Multiple Denial of Service).

  27. Anonymous Coward
    Alert

    OcUK - 100% Deserves this!

    Uncompetitive pricing.

    Scan Ltd. better customer service and price.

    I'm glad OcUK are losing money out of this.

    I would like to personally thank the guy doing these attacks!

  28. Andy

    I am the real Gibbo

    To the person who is posting under the name of Gibbo, may I ask why? Is this how childish OcUK are that their staff members resort to signing up and posting here under my name?

    First things first I no longer work for OcUK, me (Andrew Gibson aka Gibbo) have moved on too a much better career with Novatech, a company who looks after its customers and is competitive on pricing.

    I am down on the coast all the time now as surprisingly Novatech's HQ is on the South Coast. I've spent the day really busy with work actually because were mental busy.

    Anyway hope you guys to get your site fixed, but take a tip, stop acting like childish idiots because your doing yourself no favours.

    Thanks

    The REAL Gibbo

  29. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    You can't.....

    ... rip people off for the cost of returning faulty goods and then expect them to be happy about it.

  30. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    Cherry picked user reviews...

    Ever notice how all the user reviews are 4.5 -> 5 stars... Odd that.

    Try submitting a review that gives 2 stars or lower or any hint that perhaps you'd be better off with a different product, guaranteed it will not appear.. no matter how well it's written.

    As John says "Chickens coming home to roost"

  31. Tom

    Incorrect Information

    Seems to be a comments section full of one person posting several times... result!

    OcUK now do have a customer support forum so I do not see where you are coming from when you say you cannot get help on the forum. Get your facts right as it was shot around on email and iirc its on their front page.

    Loving the mis-informed trolling going on in these comments, get a grip.

  32. Craig

    OcUK - good prices, fast delivery, lousy after-sales service

    I've had mixed experiences with OcUk, most orders have arrived on time and have met my needs, but when it comes to RMAs frankly OcUK suck. Especially when the RMAs are raised because they've sent out the wrong parts.

    On one occasion they sent me the wrong tube connectors two times in a row! I gave up and figured that they must have put the 1/2" fittings in the 3/8" fittings bin in the warehouse by mistake. On another occasion they sent the wrong motherboard, I sent it back after obtaining an RMA and they refused to replace it, stating that I'd already opened the package. I had to suck up the cost and pay again for the motherboard I wanted in the first place. Another occasion saw me receive a front bay display panel that came without cables or driver CD. I never resolved that one after I sent it back, they refuted their receipt of a recorded delivery package.

    What is happening to OcUK is wrong, and it must be costing them a fortune. Despite my negative opinion of DDoS attacks, I can't help but feel a little sympathy if the person behind it has had a bad experience with returned products. The old saying "two wrongs don't make a right" comes to mind.

  33. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    No sympathy here either

    It's not just customers they treat like crap, long term staff get the same treatment: http://www.mocgb.net/forums/showthread.php?t=24289

  34. Scott K
    Thumb Up

    Serves them right

    From my experiences and what I hear about them I'm amused greatly that someone has shafted them back. Disagree with the methods but it's very effective!

  35. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    <nelson> Ha ha! </nelson>

    I started jotting down potential suspects in the hope of bagging the £10K. Here's what I came up with:

    1) disgruntled ex-employees - I hear a purchasing manager was headhunted by a competitor in Pompey, and the MD no longer works there after the owner abandoned plans for a management buy out. Let's add them to the list.

    2) unhappy customers - a quick Google search returned a lot of comments about (the lack of) OCUK's customer service. Add them to the list too.

    3) ...there is nobody else.

    Then I remembered seeing the posts that the owner of OCUK, and the moderators and administrators of the forum were posting in the secret "Dons Room" section of the site. If we assume that everyone else has read these too then we need to add all the people that have been offended by the comments that were made to the list. At this point I ran out of paper.

    I don't think I'll be getting that reward money after all.

    "You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!"

  36. lee

    Cannot believe some of the posts

    I do not believe it is Gibbo because you usually start your posts with Hi there! And if it is you, you should have kept the CSL.

    For all you haters above, you really are quite bitter and twisted IMO.

    I recently stumbled across this thread and can say that OCUK went way beyond the call of duty here

    http://www.avforums.com/forums/computer-systems/895671-ocuk-dilemma.html

    Ocuk thepharcyde

  37. Ant
    Thumb Down

    ah well can't say i feel sorry for them

    awful service they have, just took me 2months to get a refund on a motherboard twice damaged in transit by inferior packaging.

    Forums filled with teenage mini Hitler moderators, and customer service who are either inept or couldn't be bothered to test faults properly,

    good luck gettting £10k off them, most struggle to get a refund for 1/100th of that

  38. Anonymous Coward
    Alert

    To the real gibbo

    Why are you saying it's an ocuk member of staff posting as you?

    Is it because you're on a crusade to discredit them just in case the real facts about your departure are ever made public?

  39. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Shop elsewhere?

    How can I?

    Everywhere else charges stupid sums for delivery to Northern Ireland, and usually on something like 6 Day delivery times or something retarded as opposed to Next Day at OCUK.

    So while I might very well save money on the products themselves elsewhere, the postage generally negates that and then some. And on top I have to wait a couple of extra days over people on the mainland.

    Sod that.

  40. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Prices

    It's all about their terrible prices on their products. Not exactly competative. Fair do's they sold a truck load of 280gtx's off cheaper than other places, maybe that angered other places, then with their prices on the new 295's, excesivley overpriced compared to other places. Then add all the other complaints of customer service and the nazi forum politics on competitor naming or price naming in the forums. After sales issues on bad products sold, second hand products passed off as new. Don't agree with the method these folk have taken upon ocuk but it's cetainly making a point. But on the other hand ocuk are gaining great emedia attention here which at the end of the day can't hurt after all the ddos ceases.

  41. Rabba
    Happy

    Got what was coming for SURE.

    Nice one. Glad the rip off merchants like OCUK got whats coming.

    Fat Proudfoot has been shafting the staff, customers and even the suppliers for YEARS.

    That 666 offer was pure desperation. Looks like times were hard and now even harder.

    I would be very happy to see them go out of business.

    Scan.co.uk are light years in front of the OCUK amateurs that they call staff.

    They really are poor in every way. My sides are spliiting with this one.

    Would love to donate to whoever did this.

  42. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Forum moderation.

    How can you complain that they don't allow people to name competitors and competitors prices on their forum?

    They pay for it! they're hardly going to encourage people to shop elsewhere on there!

  43. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    lol great news

    had to wait for 6 months for a rma'ed gfx card once from them ..trading standards could'nt do much so i e-mailed the card makers complained and hit lucky 2 days later i had a new card delivered by sapphire

    ocuk just kept giving me the run round and hung up on me twice ....really bad service

  44. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Pyotr

    Haha! Serves them right. I hate the b*stards.

    I used to rave about them to my friends and colleagues until I fell foul of their customer service. I received some shocking emails from them, which I've kept.

    It couldn't have happened to a more deserving company.

    No, it wasn't me but I bet they've got an awfully long list of aggrieved customers.

  45. Anonymous Coward
    Alert

    OCUK

    Isn't that a TV show?

    You know, the OC, set in the UK....?

  46. Telecide
    Joke

    Gibbo - you work for 'superior' Novatech?

    Then you are either trolling or are simple. OcUK are far better than Novatech, especially for support (use Novatechs sales line only when telephoning if you want anyone to actually pick up). I've just built a great pc with all bits comming from OkUK (and 4 Gb RAM due to arrive today) and have yet to fault them. I'm sure that they're not perfect, and if they overcharge DON'T BUY FROM THEM, FOOL! I suspect at least some of the ppl who have had problems with their customer support deserved it ('ooppss, I just killed my new mo'board, now to try and convince the supplier that it was their fault').

  47. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    Gotta Luv Karma

    What goes around comes round and OCuk are finding that out the hard way. Karmic payback by the bucket load and as has been said before couldn't have happened to nicer company. OCuk = scum. Paris coz she doesn't mind giving you a good shafting, just like OCuk

  48. Ben Rosenthal
    Thumb Up

    lol

    hah hah, fantastic, nice work whoever did it., hope it's cost them a fortune in lost business.

    Yeah I've bought off them, never again.

  49. Pum
    Thumb Up

    OCUK service fine in my experience

    As so many people are chipping in with their opinion of whether OCUK is good or shite, I feel it is only fair that I add mine, because I use information like this to choose who I buy from. In my experience of buying from OCUK since 2003, their prices have always been the lowest, or close to the lowest I could find, delivery has been prompt (perhaps sometimes 1 day later than I expected), and after sales service has been good. I have had to return faulty goods on three ocassions, and each time I got an RMA number within a day, and they replaced the goods without any hassle. Considering the tiny profit margins on PC components (I have a friend in the industry, so I know the kinds of margins these people work to), I would rate OCUK as good. I have never had a problem with and neither has anyone I know, unlike another, sometimes slightly cheaper etailer.

  50. Sam
    Pirate

    OC barred me

    I returned a faulty mobo, I had tested it with another CPU, another set of memory, another power supply and it was certainly the mobo. I took it back to the shop and they didn't want to replace it. They wanted to take it in for testing and then replace it a week later.

    I spent the next quarter of an hour outside the front door telling potential customers my experience, with no bias giving the facts only. The shop manager called the police who told him to sort it out himself I was not doing anything illegal. I got my replacement mobo that day, but I am barred from purchasing from them.

    I don't mind.

    I understand why people post AC, they don't want to be blamed for the DDOS attack. I don't give a shit, they deserve it and I didn't have anything to do with it.

    Jolly roger, it should be flown outside the OCUK showroom.

  51. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    user ratings

    OCUK did used to be fantastic, I think it may have been a case of expanded too fast or too few staff to deal with such a large workload. Unfortunately I have (and also know others) who have had an excellent service in the past but more recently (last 12 months) had nothing but issues.

    scan and novatech now enjoy most of my PC component purchases as neither (as yet) have cocked up or shown poor form.

    Either way, a DDOS attack is not the way to solve an issue.

    Sorry to be so neutral and not the standard black and white view all commentards must take! I'll get my coat.

  52. Daniel

    Bout bloody time

    they took a month to replace a brand new motherboard, the managers are rude and have a god complex. The tech support try and belittle you regardless of your experience. They deserve everything they get

  53. Tom

    Negative comments

    Ive used OcUK for many years, bulit a lot of pcs and i can safely say its the best retailer ive come across, their customer service has been fantastic to me. Reading some of the other comments such as "they deserve it", "scum" and "they got what was coming", well thats just down right sad. These are the same idiotic keyboard warriors that are attacking the site, nerd rage at its fullest

  54. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Thumbs up for OcUK

    I have used OcUK for a few years now and so has the company I work for. I have used the RMA system and bought many items without problem. I think some people commenting on here are being very vindictive without a real cause. Some of you need to realise that not everything can be solved in a moment and that companies have their own procedure in which to test and diagnose hardware faults before throwing money away at the customer. Not every customer is honest and forthcoming with their problems.

    OcUK have admitted that their service levels haven't been the best in the past but not in a majority. At least they are recognising their problems and are taking action. They say the first step to losing weight is to admit you're fat. Some commenters here might need to look i nthe mirror.

  55. ultra
    Boffin

    Improved

    Spent around £350 to upgrade my ageing pc about 5 months, bought one of their pre-overclocked barebojnes systems. Built it the same day, no probs at all as I followed their guide in order to overclock it. Later, I added some changed some of the components and was kinda worried I'd mess up the current settings, so on my way homke from work I popped into their store. They were busy as ever, but someone still came out to me and provided me with some adjusted bios settings and advice. Can't complain, as the dude was talking to me for a good 15 mins, even though their store was packed.

    Bought a DVD player from them about 2 years ago and a monitor about 14 months ago and has nothing but problems with their customer support. So, for me, they've definately improved (also as they have some really hot chicks working on the store front) :)

    As for the comments about their forum well they have setup a new forum for customers where members of staff reply to forum posts - that I thought was a good idea. People have being saying they get really good response times via this.

  56. Bob Geldof

    Knob Jockeys...

    To all those who're bashing ocuk, I'm sorry, but I'm affraid you're all a pack of whining cunts. And Gibbo mate, you should really take that cock out of your mouth and speak properly. You only left ocuk through pure greed on your part. Simple as that. I see a few of your faggot fans have followed you over to your new stomping ground too, at this rate your new forum might even peak with 10 users online all at once. Imagine that. Fucking tossers.

    BTW I posted anonymously because I couldn't be arsed making an account, if you'd really like my ocuk forum name it's easyrider.

    ^^^

    It's not really, easyrider is actually one of Gibbo's faggot fans, I've even heard Gibbo pays him in molex connectors in return for sexual favours. LMAO!

  57. Anonymous Coward
    Jobs Horns

    Spie is a twat.

    Going to be switching over to Novatech and Scan now. OcUK has gone downhill, Spie is an utter tool and they way he treated Gibbo is appalling. His thread about his staff really sums it up, what a front. Too bad 90% of the posters on the forum are utter morons and can't see it.

  58. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Never had a problem with OcUK in 6 years

    I stumbled across OcUK 6 years ago when searching on google for a technical problem with my pc, i found their forums. Since that day 6 years ago I have built many pc's, 85% of it coming from OcUK, never had a bad experience with them, I have had one or two DOA's but the time it took to resolve the issue was send back on day, and 2 days later recieved a replacement card which worked perfectly. Phoning through and sorting the RMA out wasnt an issue either.

    The OcUK forums have been a godsend to my career in IT, i concider it my bible if you will for everything technical and some brilliant people on there!

    I have however purchased from other places, ebuyer, novatech and various other places and I cannot say the same about them. I purchased a TV card from Novatech which arrived DOA, i sent it back for replacement, it took nearly 3 weeks for another card to be sent out to me, I made several attempts to phone through to customer support services each time getting no response, ebuyer has messed me around several times regarding items arriving DOA and claiming they had it back and it being tested as working.

    So to sum up, the comments on here seem pretty much like "ohh look at the big man fall down, lets go give him a kick"

    Over and out....

  59. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    Fags

    OcUK are tools. Cut anyones pay by 10K a year without consultation and Gibbo's move occurs. But try to make out you is the bad ass shit god of e-tailers when you behave like this and you draw negative vibes. Now they is vibed out good and proper - no-one will ever see that 10K I bet (was the 10K reward the 10K they docked Gibbo's wages by?)

    Real companies like ebuyer, scan, dabs, novatech, misco etc are professional gaffs, act professionally etc. OcUK through the denial of service and Gibbo debacles have made room for themselves in the bottom of the toolbox, along with all the other unwanted tools.

  60. Andy

    FAO: Bob Geldof

    So it makes me greedy that I decide to leave a company who cut my pay by 10k with no warning at all and also an act thats completely illegal as well. So if you got an illegal pay cut of 25% with no warning would you be happy, especially when it was only you victimised within the company as well?

    Would you stay? Would you not be intrigued when you got an offer of a lot more money and from a company that does things properly and is a decent quality outfit? Well yes I was, but then I was lead a stray again by OcUK who then agree to match the new offer to only a week later go back on that agreement. For me that was enough, I no longer wanted to work for a employee who messed me around like that.

    I also no longer wanted to work in a company where there are no contracts, wages are cash in hand, working conditions are poor, yes I learnt this week from people who work at OcUK and chat to me on MSN that they have rats in the building.

    So no offence but after putting nearly 8 years hard graft in and making the owner of OcUK a lot of money, if not millions to then just be treated like that, well yes I wanted out.

    The fact Novatech offered more money is irrelevant, because now after having experienced Novatech I would happily work there for less because they look after their staff and customers whilst providing great working conditions.

    P.S. The Novatech forums have had 213 users online, not bad for about 2-3 weeks, give them 6 months and they will be a lot bigger we hope.

  61. Steady Eddie
    Pirate

    To the whining cunts.

    I live in Stoke, so every time I goto OC/UK its in person.

    Yes, I pretty much always queue.

    Its damn annoying tbh, it really pisses me off. That said, when I get to the counter I always get prompt professional service.

    The shops a bit shoddy, its off Duke St in Fenton FFS, its overheads are obviously kept low although if you bother to look at the fire plan, its pretty apparent the place occupies a lot of units and is busy, hence the queuing that I hate so much.

    I remember years ago, blasting off an ill thought out e-mail to Spie, berating him for me having to queue whilst somebody was buying Car polish in the queue in front of me!

    I got a well written, blunt e-mail back pointing out that he took offence to my comment and made a point of saying how successful his business is.

    Well, DDOS Varmits apart, to my eyes, Oc/UK has continued to be successful.

    I now look at it this way, its always best to eat from the establishment with a queue.

    I wonder if the DDOSers ever considered how much extra coverage this is giving to Oc/UK? - I have had a family relative who lives in Texas enquiring about it all via me (as I live in the same town!)

    No such thing as bad publicity, as they say.

    The Forums are too damn strict, alas, so are some of our Laws in this country. Without rules, we have chaos.

    Gibbo, seems like you have landed on your feet, put it down to experience & enjoy the Mustang.

    Lifes too short, and yours seems quite good. ;)

  62. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    OCUK/GIBBO/SPIE FACTS

    FAO GIBBO:

    Wages are cash in hand... isn't that illegal and cirumventing tax? Could the government not investigate this, could it not be audited and investigated?

    FAO EVERYONE ELSE:

    Lets just summarize all this in easy to read language.:

    Recent drama regarding Gibbo all circulates around a paycut that Spie gave him after years of service and no contract.

    READ IT ALL HERE http://www.mocgb.net/forums/showthread.php?t=24289

    Added to this we have the famous "OCUK Dons Room" archives (Google them) which is basically a collection of threads from the OCUK staff room where the Dons and owner show their true colours... with Spie (Mark Proudfoot) basically calling everyone cnuts and talking about shagging other peoples girlfriends. Basically a nasty set of people by any standards.

    A set of Dons who are convinced they are the hardest people on earth. Gilly, the forum front you put on is frankly embarassing, PLEASE stop trying to act so tough all the time and get "one up" on people, it's really very sad. Scuzi, you are an Irish commoner, one ste up from trailer trash, you will never be anything else no matter how many expensive clothes and perfumes you buy. Accept this and move on.

    To all the OCUK forum sycophants... if you knew half of what others do about the forum and the owner you really would not be posting in that cringeworthy manner. malc30, we understand you are a simple chap, but your undying faithfulness resembles that of a large and very tounge-happy dog. That getting the man of honour medal means so much to you is testament to quite how frankly empty your life is.

    The reason OCUK has generated so much hatred is not simply because of the RMA service and the terrible customer service, it is simply because of the character of Spie (Mark Proudfoot) and the environment he promotes on his forums. Racism, bigotry, and the most amusing thing is that in a panic Spie (Mark Proudfoot) has deleted all of the threads he ever started further back than a few days ago for fear of people linking to his "OMG immigrants must be sent back" and "White is right" posts.

    Shop at OCUK and you are promoting racism, bigotry, and filling the pockets of a man who has zero morals and zero compassion for anyone other than himself. A man who uses a forum to boost his ego and has deluded himself into thinking that he is a man of principle and morals, when in fact he is the exact opposite. May he suffer greatly both in this life and the next.

    Thanks for reading.

  63. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    Overclockers are scum!!

    Couldn't happen to a nicer company!! I hope the pathetic racist Mr Proudfoot has lost a load of money, as it seems this is all the sad pathetic bigot cares about!!

    DO NOT USE OC's PEOPLE!

    Scummy company run by a nasty piece of work!!!

    imho of course

  64. Bob Geldof

    Bob

    Sorry if I offended you Gibbo, I was just being daft, I guess. You always seemed a nice enough chap on the ocuk forums, infact I actually felt a bit sorry for you that time when you made a thread advertising ocuk's guaranteed overclocked q6600's, the thread went into uproar, and I feel you received a lot of undeserved stick for something that probably wasn't even your idea. Anyway, best of luck with your new job:)

  65. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    OcUK dreadful customer service, avoid like the plague!!

    I had been a loyal customer of Overclockers UK for several years and spent several thousands of pounds there over the years not mentioning recommending them to friends and work mates etc.

    I was quite happy until I fell foul to there dire customer service, the experience I had just to RMA a one week old mobo back to them was dreadful. They claimed it had got lost when they sent it back to asus and said "its bad luck!! nothing we can do".

    Eventually got a replacement but had to threaten them with small claims and trading standards etc.

    BUYER BEWARE!!! there staff are arrogant and down right rude. What a bunch of cowboys!

    Glad they have been on the recieving end for a change!

    Incidentally ebuyer and scan now get all my business, there customer service is excellent and there cheaper then OcUK on most items.

    Would not buy from OcUK ever again!!!

  66. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    fao gibbo

    Stating that wages are "cash in hand" is suggesting that tax & ni isn't paid which isn't actually true is it gibbo, you just got paid in cash, so what.

    Are you going to tell novatech about the mess you left at ocuk or do you think that might harm your chances of progression in your new job, there's always 2 sides to every story isn't there m8

  67. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    Nice move Gibbo

    "Hi there"

    Wise choice in moving to a much better work place Andy.

    Yes Spie is a toohat.

  68. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    Its of there own making

    Well spent alot at Ocuk - its local-ish thus convenient.

    However while I admit you can always pop in and get what you want after a bit of a queuing

    aftersales support is a joke.

    Had a situation once where a purchase failed after a couple of days but I was not certain 100% it was so took it in to be tested.

    Obviously things had changed since the last time I visited the shop and they refused to test there and then and the chap behind the counter had a right attitude on him so it got my goat even more.

    So had to leave it with them.... time passes (Days) more times passes (days) no call from them... I ring them turns out it was faulty and I could get replacement.

    If they had tested it there and then and came back with the words that it was OK they would have seen in instant purchase of £2000+ if they had said it was Faulty they would have still seen a purchase (Of a lower value).

    In the end got my replacement - flogged the setup I had & spend heavily else where from all the messing around by them.

    ** As for the forums Spie should be banned from from his own forums but hey its populated by kids & power crazy moderators thus I prefer other places far more sensible.

    ** Always found going to the shop on a weekend better when Spie was not there

    ** As for the thread on his own forums about caring about his staff..... LOL dream on its only because its all hit the fan here.

  69. Charles

    Owner of ocuk is racist

    Who else remembers the thread, just landed in the UK airport thread by Spie where he posted on his very own forums about asian people smellin amongst other insults to people not of white skin?

    As a customer of past at ocuk after this I never shopped with them again, Spie has deleted/removed such post now but I and many other will never forget when he showed his true colours that day.

    He does the dirty on his staff and his customers, I will not be buying again from OcUK!

  70. Lionel Baden
    Happy

    enjoying this thread.

    Almost bough at OCuk but was refused credit

    thining it might of been a good thing now !!

    Will check the other places out, I already like Ebuyer

    Off to get more popcorn

  71. Jon Woods from Southampton
    Thumb Up

    fao Spie

    I used to be a member of the ocuk forums but I got a bit upset with them so I started a hate site as I'm like that then the owner of ocuk tried to sue me for doing it and I cried alot about it as I should be able to do what I want really, I'm not spoilt or anything.

    I begged Spie not to continue with the court action and he eventually agreed and let me carry on my whining as long as I didn't publish any of his copyrighted material, although I thought it should be up to me if I wanted to do that anyway but he's an idiot.

    So he's not all bad and I play with racists and bigots anyway so that doesn't bother me.

    I don't shop there as I can't afford anything in life at the moment as I'm still trying to get my musical career going (mum reckons I'm really good) but when I have got some money I will buy stuff from them as they're really good I've heard.

  72. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    A disappointing effort

    £10K isn’t much to this company: as the magistrate pointed out, they would have spent several thousand pounds in legal expenses rather than honour an RMA that would have cost them considerably less than £100 – and that was before reimbursing me for my expenses, which didn't include time waiting on the phone to talk to a moron.

    I’m only sorry they’ve recovered – the Industry would be much better off without the likes of Mark Proudfoot’s shabby involvement.

  73. Anonymous Coward
    Unhappy

    Interesting thread

    So long as there are no problems overclocker's service is fine. Website was good, graphics card arrived fast.

    Unfortunately that was where it ended. The graphics card was faulty. Lots of hassle on email and via phone (and being kept in a queue so long that the phones went past whatever the home-time is and I got hung up on still in the queue). They insisted on testing the return and in the end I was left with a useless computer for weeks before the whole mess was resolved and I got a refund - that still didn't cover my postage costs and just covered the cost of the component.

    Compare that with several other sites I've used that refund promptly and without "testing" and even provide free posting for the returns.

    I know which site I'm never ordering from again and which ones I am.

  74. Eggchaser

    Made me laugh

    Police have been handed a dossier containing the names and addresses of dissatisfied customers to search for a link.....................a spokesman said it could take years.

  75. steve-C

    WOW

    Had nothing but exceptional service from them for the last 3 years, which involves the building of at least 10 machines. Not noticed any racism on their forums, or from the extremely pleasant ASIAN customer service chap I last spoke to. I can only assume that those making the negative comments work for ebuyer.

    Forums posts seeking support were once deleted, because they are useless as the support staff do not read the fora. This has changed since the introduction of the dedicated support forum.

    As for "hacker site"....building a PC is hacking, you MS-fed fucktard....has billie gates confused your limited brain by trying to mislead the world into thinking cracker=hacker..

    They also have a Linux forum.

    OCUK forever!!!!!!

  76. Tawakalna

    hear hear..

    "the Industry would be much better off without the likes of Mark Proudfoot’s shabby involvement."

    absolutely. that he has gotten away with his abuse of his staff, his customers, and local ethnic minorities for so long is shameful.

    "Police have been handed a dossier containing the names and addresses of dissatisfied customers to search for a link......."

    they were also handed a dossier on his racist activities which resulted in him being investigated for inciting racial hatred.

    Trading Standards and HSE have been after him for years but he conveniently manages to bob out of the country whenever they turn up, leaving his smackhead manager to face the music.

  77. Jon Woods from Southampton
    Heart

    Hi Tawakalna

    Great to see you back on the internets Tawakalna why don't you pop over to our forum, you know the real cool one (wink wink) as we've missed your stupidity and lies on there.

    It's always funny reading your made up stories and laughing at your completely irrational hatred of a man who shunned your sexual advances you obnoxious little gayer.

    OcUK FOREVER!

  78. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    Rub it in good

    John Woods is more likely to be the Proudfoot lover. I can see John now in the teepee with proudfoot and some thermol paste, rubbed into areas...well im sure you can use your imagination.

    Yes John you would finish off with ocukforever as you have nothing but gay love for marky.

    Stay clear of that crappy etailer, their prices are terrible. Lots and I mean lots of other places beat overcockers on alot of their stuff. Scan surely does.

  79. Jon Woods from Southampton
    Go

    Working fine now

    Lol WTF!!

    I'm not gay, I'm not. I just tasted it as I was a bit curious that's all, I'm not gay.

    The shop and forum are working brilliant for me now so it looks like they got the culprit, it was probably Basmic or Visage and I hope to get a reward because I gave OCUK all the details I had on them both from my hate site that isn't a hate site anymore.

    OCUK>*

  80. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    HEH!

    OcUK are not exactly tech minded, their back end systems run on VB and their security policies are somewhat laughable, for example, passwords to their user system are often 'password' - these accounts are often 'manager' accounts and can see all credit card transactions (and numbers, they are not encrypted or disposed off after a sale). Addresses, prices (bought for and retail) are also shown. Through the same accounts refunds can also be authorised...

    I take my hat off to OcUK for encouraging take up of cutting edge technology in the early days, however they in my opinion, providing they have not updated their systems recently, are wide open to some serious abuse. And I for one, will not use my credit card their, great products at good prices - alas their security sucks - storing unencrypted credit card numbers?? Are they insane?

    Of course I do hope that their systems and security have changed since, it has been a few years but Im sceptical that they have...

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