Consumer Rights: MoneySavingExpert.com discussion

rabialiones

bought vacuum cleaner from argos, guarantee will run out in just over a week
the hose pipe on it has split in two places.
first split i covered with tape and continued to use it ,next split is near to place where it attaches to vacuum so i cannot now use it.
i went to argos who have told me to contact manufacturer as argos only guarantee the mechanics of the vacuum.

the hose are not manufactured correctly as when i first bought it i had to exchange 2 of them beczause the ones bought hose pipe had splits in them when i took them out of the box.

i insisted that argos should cover the guarantee but they said my guarantee is with the manufacturer -vax- not them.

any help/advice apprecitaed
thank

Art_2

rabialiones wrote:

bought vacuum cleaner from argos, guarantee will run out in just over a week
the hose pipe on it has split in two places.
first split i covered with tape and continued to use it ,next split is near to place where it attaches to vacuum so i cannot now use it.
i went to argos who have told me to contact manufacturer as argos only guarantee the mechanics of the vacuum.

the hose are not manufactured correctly as when i first bought it i had to exchange 2 of them beczause the ones bought hose pipe had splits in them when i took them out of the box.

i insisted that argos should cover the guarantee but they said my guarantee is with the manufacturer -vax- not them.

any help/advice apprecitaed
thank

Tell Argos they are wrong. Your contract is with the retailer and not the manufacturer. Tell them that under the Sale of Goods Act they must replace the faulty part. Don´t let them pass you off to the manufacturer. If they refuse, write a recorded delivery letter to their head office telling them you want the problem resolved or you will take them to the Small Claims Court.

I suggest you do this as soon as possible as your guarantee is ending and that will give them another excuse.

Regards,
Art.

the_riversider

Could anyone help me.

I reserved 3 items at Argos that I saw on their web site.
When I went to pick them up they wanted to charge me the full price for all three items which came to £100

But the deal that they were displaying on the net the time I reserved the items were " Buy all 3 and save £60" ( so getting all 3 for £40) but they would not sell me them at this price. I took a print out of the pages that showed the deal which explained to clearly.

Sales assistant answer was " The deal was an invatation to buy, that does not mean we have to sell it to you at that price". I was completly gob smacked.

Could anyone shed some light on this and tell me what are my rights
Thanks in advance

Art_2

the_riversider wrote:

Could anyone help me.

I reserved 3 items at Argos that I saw on their web site.
When I went to pick them up they wanted to charge me the full price for all three items which came to £100

But the deal that they were displaying on the net the time I reserved the items were " Buy all 3 and save £60" ( so getting all 3 for £40) but they would not sell me them at this price. I took a print out of the pages that showed the deal which explained to clearly.

Sales assistant answer was " The deal was an invatation to buy, that does not mean we have to sell it to you at that price". I was completly gob smacked.

Could anyone shed some light on this and tell me what are my rights
Thanks in advance

Technically Argos are right. A price displayed on an article is no more than an invitation to buy and until they accept your offer a deal has not been struck. In practice this is very unethical. Have they made a mistake in their pricing on the internet?

I would write a letter to their managing director and tell her your story. Ask her if she intends honouring the price you have been quoted and if not why not. Send your letter recorded delivery with a copy of the info from the web site.

It would also be worth mentioning that you intend to post her reply on this site as others would be interested in how Argos deal with their customers. Let us know what happens.

Regards,
Art.

the_riversider

Art wrote:

Technically Argos are right. A price displayed on an article is no more than an invitation to buy and until they accept your offer a deal has not been struck. In practice this is very unethical. Have they made a mistake in their pricing on the internet?

I would write a letter to their managing director and tell her your story. Ask her if she intends honouring the price you have been quoted and if not why not. Send your letter recorded delivery with a copy of the info from the web site.

It would also be worth mentioning that you intend to post her reply on this site as others would be interested in how Argos deal with their customers. Let us know what happens.

Regards,
Art.

Thanks for that. Yes they did admit that they had made a mistake on the net. They did say that I could have £10 off instead of £60 .
I actually got the sales guy to confirm this was the correct price at the time I called to reserve. I travelled 20 mile round trip, paid for parking in the city centre and dragged 2 kids out all for nothing!!!!:mad:

Art_2

the_riversider wrote:

Thanks for that. Yes they did admit that they had made a mistake on the net. They did say that I could have £10 off instead of £60 .
I actually got the sales guy to confirm this was the correct price at the time I called to reserve. I travelled 20 mile round trip, paid for parking in the city centre and dragged 2 kids out all for nothing!!!!:mad:

Put it all in writing including the cost of your travel and send to Argos.

Regards,
Art.

clockworkpurple

hi, long-time lurker, first-time poster here.

can anyone help me please?! my Mum bought a computer tower and monitor from PC World in september 2006. yesterday the monitor stopped working.

after calling the cutomer services line, being passed to the "tech guys", and then having to call the manufacturers of said monitor, we were told that that particular model (an AOC UL17) is licenced for repairs to Dixons. we called their customer services and were transferred back to PC World (same group isn't it??). They tried to phone the PC World store in Oxford (from where my mum bought the machine) but no answer. so we decided to take a trip to the store and take the monitor back.

After a LONG time conversing with someone who works in the shop, and a guy who claimed to be the manager (although his badge didn't say so) we were basically told that they would have to speak to AOC about getting it repaired, which they couldn't do as the company was closed for the day. PC World refused to repair/replace the monitor unless directed by AOC.

To make matters worse, they then tested it and the darned thing decided to work! So we came away feeling very annoyed and a bit embarrassed.

Monitor worked fine last night, but then this morning stopped working again. Having spent most of her lunch hour on the phone to PC World customer services, who "couldn't" transfer her to the Oxford store, we have basically been told that we have to take the monitor in, in person, AGAIN to the PC World store. and if it works whilst there, they will not do anything. Even though it only works about 50% of the time.

WHAT CAN WE DO?! my mum and i are just about tearing our hair out....she clearly has a faulty monitor, but they won't even consider repairing/replacing it unless we take it in and it breaks whilst there. surely this isn't right?! :mad:

(incidentally, neither of us will EVER be buying anything from PC World again after this incident)

Art_2

clockworkpurple wrote:

hi, long-time lurker, first-time poster here.

can anyone help me please?! my Mum bought a computer tower and monitor from PC World in september 2006. yesterday the monitor stopped working.

after calling the cutomer services line, being passed to the "tech guys", and then having to call the manufacturers of said monitor, we were told that that particular model (an AOC UL17) is licenced for repairs to Dixons. we called their customer services and were transferred back to PC World (same group isn't it??). They tried to phone the PC World store in Oxford (from where my mum bought the machine) but no answer. so we decided to take a trip to the store and take the monitor back.

After a LONG time conversing with someone who works in the shop, and a guy who claimed to be the manager (although his badge didn't say so) we were basically told that they would have to speak to AOC about getting it repaired, which they couldn't do as the company was closed for the day. PC World refused to repair/replace the monitor unless directed by AOC.

To make matters worse, they then tested it and the darned thing decided to work! So we came away feeling very annoyed and a bit embarrassed.

Monitor worked fine last night, but then this morning stopped working again. Having spent most of her lunch hour on the phone to PC World customer services, who "couldn't" transfer her to the Oxford store, we have basically been told that we have to take the monitor in, in person, AGAIN to the PC World store. and if it works whilst there, they will not do anything. Even though it only works about 50% of the time.

WHAT CAN WE DO?! my mum and i are just about tearing our hair out....she clearly has a faulty monitor, but they won't even consider repairing/replacing it unless we take it in and it breaks whilst there. surely this isn't right?! :mad:

(incidentally, neither of us will EVER be buying anything from PC World again after this incident)

Take the monitor back to PC World and tell them that you reject it under the Sale of Goods Act as it obviously has an inherrent fault. Under the Sale of Goods Act you can do this within 6 months of purchase. Tell them you want a refund or a replacement, it's up to you. Give them 72 hours to settle your complaint.

If you leave the monitor make sure you get a receipt. As you bought this as a package you might also have to reject the tower as well. (Possibly a sensible move)

If you have a problem in getting the branch to deal with it as I have stated, tell them you will call in the local Trading Standards Officer. Tell them in no uncertain terms that they are breaking the law in refusing you your rights under the Sale of Goods Act. Make a note of the people you are dealing with at the branch.

If PC World refuse to help speak immediately to Trading Standards and ask them to help. If you have a problem with Trading standards your only other solution is the Small Claims Court.

The law is on your side on this problem so don't let PC World put you off. Don't allow this to drag on either. Give them a time scale and stick to it. It might also be sensible to send a recorded delivery letter to them outlining your problem.

I would fully concur with your final comment about not buying anything from PC World again. This group (Currys, Dixons, PC World) have a poor customer service record.

let us know how you get on.

Regards,
Art.

deanos

It might be alot quicker and easier to ring AOC direct, alot of monitors have a 3 year onsite warranty where they will send out a new one and collect the faulty one at the same time.

AOC United Kingdom 0207 744 0050

clockworkpurple

deanos wrote:

It might be alot quicker and easier to ring AOC direct, alot of monitors have a 3 year onsite warranty where they will send out a new one and collect the faulty one at the same time.

AOC United Kingdom 0207 744 0050

AOC won't repair it unfortunately, as that model is licenced for repairs to Dixons. that's what i was told when i phoned them.

Art: thank you so much for your help! just a couple more questions:

since it is an intermittent fault (it's working at the moment!) won't it be our word against theirs that it's broken? one of the customer service people we spoke to said if it's working when we take it in, they won't do anything.

do we have any rights even if the fault is intermittent?

also, do you know if there's anywhere i can print out the Act you mentioned so we can take it in to show the staff? they were VERY unhelpful to the point of being rude last night, and, from what you've written above, basically lied to us about our rights.