Having some issues with a small tech company, have reached my limit of time wasted on it and not sure what to do next.

The item concerned was a Xmas present last year and worked well until April. From then on it would not turn on, I assumed the battery was flat, it would be put on charge for a while but would still not turn on when next tried. Eventually I emailed the company, they replied wanting more details which I sent them but they did not reply to that email or the next three. I then contacted them via Facebook, they apologised after finding my emails in their spam folder.
They thought the battery had failed and would send me a new one, it took over two weeks and two more messages from me before they posted it. The battery arrived but with the new battery installed the item is permanently on and can only be turned off by removing the battery. Yet another message sent to the company saying I would send it all back for them to sort out, again no reply. I have posted it all back to them but it has sat uncollected at their local sorting office for over a week.

I could leave bad reviews for them but I really want the item back and working.

What would STW’ers do?

Dust off and nuke from space, it’s the only way to be certain, pwn with bombers, or wee in their shoes.
These are the usual STW responses, thought I’d get in before the rush. 😁

I would telephone them in the first instance

Write a letter to TV’s Watchdog programme.

What value is it? I know it shouldn’t matter, but that’d sway my decision on the way forward. Would also ring them first, and if that doesn’t elicit the right response you’re into the letter before action and money claim online process.

Also what is it, and what company? Sounds like you don’t owe them any loyalty.

Personally I wouldn’t have sent it all back without first getting a response from the email suggesting you were going to do that.

Me either, but I didn’t really want to say as that horse is now shut.

Is this “tech company” the retailer or the manufacturer?

It’s only a cheapish bike camera from a small British company but a Chinese product. Tried phoning once but no answer so didn’t waste anymore time on that method. My last Facebook message to them said that I was returning the camera for them to fix, the message is still unread and the camera is still waiting to be delivered. The camera had sat on the bench unusable for a couple of months now, so glad it is out of sight but annoyed at the lack of replies. Seems more like I just hired it for a few months.