Staples Chair - Compulsory Insurance!

Tea3

Grrrr - had a chair that broke - was bought 10 months earlier from staples, have the receipt with 12 month guarantee but figured their new chairs look comfy and only £39 so i'd buy a new one rather than have them look over my fuller figure and broken chair caster suspiciously. Checked they had chair in stock, hubby disposed of old one and went to staples to by the chair. Bought it for £39 however they insisted he could not buy that style of chair without paying another £5.99 for a 2 year warranty!!! Now its only £5.99 but why advertise a chair for £39 if you have to actually pay £45 for it - why not advertise it as a £45 chair? Hubby had no choice but to buy it as he knew I needed a chair and nowhere else open at that time - I prob would have cut of my nose to spite face and said no due to principle of it if I was there.

Am just annoyed that this insurance is compulsory and you should see the long list of things it does not cover! Grrrrrr

ojc77

Hello

Used to work at Staples and I can tell you that it is not compulsory for you to buy the extra insurance at all. Sounds like it was the store trying to get their "Attachment Rate" up by lying to customers.

Call the store and ask to speak to the Duty Manager about the matter.

Failing that e-mail customer services, explaining what happened and you will get it dealt with and the store reprimanded. H/O will normally let you have the insurance for free and send you some vouchers.

What store was it by the way? I bet they are one of the one higher up the "Attachment League Table"!

McKneff

We started getting invoices at work with insurnace added on the bottom.
I soon stopped it, what con. When i spoke to Viking they said it was to do with non-delivery of damage on delivery. Do they think we are stupid or what. If something wasnt delivered i wouldnt pay for it, if something was damaged on delivery i wouldnt pay for that either, it would be sent straight back. I would advise anyone to check the additions at the bottom of invoices

Tea3

Took the advice on here and just phoned Duty Manager - he confirmed it was optional cover but they do think its a good idea for customers to take it out - I agreed its all very well to inform customers of this cover and some may chose to take it out as its only £5.99, however by telling customers that they HAVE to take it out and that they cant buy the chair without it means they could lose customer e.g. argos sell chair for £39, staples sell chair for £39 + £6 optional cover but customers being told its compulsory makes the price £45 - most people would go to argos in future for their items as no sneaky 'compulsory' extras. The duty manager was not fully understanding as he kept saying what a good idea it was to have the cover and although I agreed with him that its a good idea to OFFER the cover its not a good idea to lose yourself this sale and possibly others by saying to HAVE to take the cover. He said he will talk to the member of staff involved and I could have 100 business cards printed free - dont think i'll take him up on it and probably will shop elsewhere in future but at least he said he would make sure the staff know its optional. He also said there is no warranty on chairs anyway as that only applies to things with a plug!! Tried to explain that if a chair broke after a few weeks or months then its not fit for purpose so falls under Sale of Goods Act but he brushed this away saying if chair was to last you need to get expensive ones like the electric massage ones!! So readers, I guess he is saying along the lines of if their chairs break there is no warranty of any sort unless they have a plug (!!) so you should take out the insurance and the staff will no doubt tell you you have to anyway!

sharnad

What store was this it is one I want to make sure I avoid. I have only ever bought from them on the internet which was fine but glad I havent been instore if they treat the customers like that. I would complain to head office. At least email them with what you have put on here and see what they have to say about how that store is run

Tea3

LMAO - hubby said does that mean if we buy a pen and it does not work then we cannot return it cos it does not have a plug?
(have pm'd store location to those who asked)

RHemmings

A two year extended warranty? Surely a chair would be expected to last for several years under the sale of goods act anyhow.

Tea3

RHemmings wrote: »

A two year extended warranty? Surely a chair would be expected to last for several years under the sale of goods act anyhow.

Not at my branch it wouldn't as it does not have a plug and only electrical items are covered according to their manager!!! I really wish I had returned my 10 month old chair now instead of buying a new one - one of the legs at the bottom snapped diagonally across the middle so half on chair and half attached to castor. No matter what goes wrong with this chair I will return it for a new one right up until the very last second of this 2 year warranty!

RHemmings

Tea3 wrote: »

Not at my branch it wouldn't as it does not have a plug and only electrical items are covered according to their manager!!! I really wish I had returned my 10 month old chair now instead of buying a new one - one of the legs at the bottom snapped diagonally across the middle so half on chair and half attached to castor. No matter what goes wrong with this chair I will return it for a new one right up until the very last second of this 2 year warranty!

There seem to be quite a few shop owners and managers who think that their "policies" overrule the sale of goods act. :mad:

Tea3

I know - I sell on the internet myself so had to swot up on DSR and Sale of Goods Act and I am always amazed by the people who think their 'made up' rules are more accurate than the carefully thought out and used for years, legally correct Government created ones!! As a seller I admit I dislike some of the rules (some DSR ones especially) as they cost me time and money but I still accept they are rules and I must abide by them if I want to sell in this country - for me it always seems to be the bigger companies who break/bend the rules to their own advantage. I wonder if this Staples Manager would return a mouldy loaf of bread to his local supermarket and say 'I know it does not have a plug but can you exchange it please'?

ojc77

Have just sent you a PM with further H/O contacts.

The store is 2nd in the Area for sales YTD on chair insurance....not surprising really if this is the way they go about it!!