Fed up with Asda

WestieFan

This happened a few months ago but I am still seething about it. Wish I had known about this site then, maybe I could have got advice. Don't know who was right or wrong but here's the story...

I wanted to buy a dvd/vcr combi as a pressie for ex b/f. Asda was doing a Durabrand at around £70. Mentioned to a workmate who worked at Asda, she says there was a 'double discount' night for staff coming up and she would get it for me cheaper. Great, I thinks. (Turns out she only got regular discount cos the double one doesn't apply to anything 'with a plug'.
Hand over the pressie and set it up for him (he's a technophobe). After about six weeks, he mentions that it wasn't working properly, as it wont hold the channels in the memory (will only record one channel). Thinking it was us, we get a friend who fixes them for a living and he says its def faulty.

By this time my workmate has left both jobs and moved up north with her boyfriend. However, she has left me the receipt 'just in case'.

Back I go to Asda. They won't entertain me
1. Cos it wasn't me who purchased it
2. It was bought using a staff discount card and they need the card to process refund/replacement - can't supply that as she has left the company
3. It was paid by Switch, they need that card too for same reason.

I argued that I would accept a straight replacement - No
I asked if I could just have a credit note then - No
All they would do was give me a leaflet with the phone number of their helplines. CS people were quite unpleasant to deal with, made me feel like I was trying to con them.
I even emailed their Head Office, and got no joy there either. Just same story about staff discounts and Switch cards.

Sorry to go on, but this has been bugging me, as I think I was entitled to better service than that.

So, I will NEVER buy any non-food item from Asda again. :mad:

pinkfluffybabe

Asda are quite right to not entertain you. They take their staff discount scheme very seriously and it is a sackable offence for a staff member to use it to purchase anything for anyone who is not immediate family.

It is correct that they cannot refund an item bought with a discount card if that card no longer exists.

Rather than not buying any non-food from Asda again, I would suggest that anything you do buy, you buy personally, and then you have a leg to stand on if something goes wrong.

WestieFan

What if staff member bought item to give to someone as a gift? Is that not allowed either?

And why couldnt they just give me another one - the item was faulty after all, no matter how it was paid for.

North-East_Quine

If the goods are faulty, then they must exchange them.

My mother-in-law took back a Video Recorder to Asda last week which she had had for 11 and a half months. It had developed a funny noise. I took it back and they asked no questions and offered a full refund, or another VCR. I took the refund.

The problem with Asda staff discount, I think, is that it is only supposed to be for the card holder. My daughter has a part-time job at Asda and has bought things for me on her card, but goods must be bought with cash or with her credit card (mine cannot be used).

Isn't Durabrand Asda's own make. Why don't you try taking it back again, saying you got it as a gift and don't have the receipt and could they change it for you?

Whatever you decide, stand your ground. If the goods are faulty, then by law they must replace them.

Perhaps some MSE'ers who work for Asda will be able to advise.

WestieFan

I DID have the receipt and I told them she bought it as a gift for me. Ok, a white lie but I didn't want to complicate matters.

pinkfluffybabe

WestieFan wrote:

What if staff member bought item to give to someone as a gift? Is that not allowed either?

.

Yes, but in that event, given that the discount card was used, the staff member would have to be the one who took it back rather than the receiver of the gift.

I suggest you go back to store and ask to speak to the Customer Service Manager and tell them it was bought as a gift by someone who no longer works for Asda. They have more clout to sort it out that the staff at the front desk.

North-East_Quine

pinkfluffybabe wrote:

I suggest you go back to store and ask to speak to the Customer Service Manager and tell them it was bought as a gift by someone who no longer works for Asda. They have more clout to sort it out that the staff at the front desk.

I agree. Honesty is always the best policy. However, if that doesn't work then take it to another Asda store, without the receipt and ask for an exchange.

WestieFan

Apart from saying it was a gift for me, I was totally honest with them.
I explained fully to them about my friend leaving for pastures new and having also left Asda. And how it was unrealistic to expect me to get her Switch card!

What annoyed me more than anything was the feeling I was being patronised when I was handed the helpline leaflet with the remark "most people havent a clue about how to work these things". I explained that an electronics engineer had tried to get it to work and her reply was "well these guys don't always know what they are doing". That added insult to injury, for me.

Last time I was in, I didn't see any on the shelves, so a replacement now is probably not going to happen.

RightRevBod

Suggest you take it back (without receipt) and say that you will accept a refund, replacement or prompt repair. If it is only sold by Adsa then they can hardly claim that they were not the original retailers.

If it is still within 6 months of purchase, it is their responsibility to prove that it is not faulty, rather than you responsibility to prove that it is.

If this model is no longer sold, tell them that you will be happy to accept another equivalent or better model.

Although the contract is with the retailer, not the manufacturer, it might in this case be worth trying to contact the manufacturer to see if they will replace the unit for you. I bought a satelite system from Lidl which developed a fault. Lidl would refund my money, but I would have not been able to replace it for the same price. So I decided to try the manufacturer.They were based in Germany, but had a UK agent for warenty problems. I send the faulty unit to the UK address, and a shiny new unit was sent direct from Germany. As it happens, this developed a fault as well, and I did the same thing again.

Moneyfornothing_2

You say it happened a few months ago, I thought all the staff 'double discount' days were in December though??

WestieFan

It was around October and I only went by what my friend told me.
I knew nothing about discount days or their strict staff discount policy and just took my friend up on her offer, believing her to be doing me a favour. Maybe I misheard, as she later said the double discount wouldn't have had applied (it had a plug) so I got about £7 off the item. I have certainly learned my lesson with this as it was the most expensive £7 I have ever saved (if that makes sense!)

Just to follow up, I can do without the stress of any more negotiations with the CS people, at any level. As I said previously, I had emailed their HO and got same response so I will now get rid of some stress by hurling it on the tip from a great height!