Powerhouse Gone Bust.

stugib

iainkirk wrote:

They went bust and were bought off the administrators by another company.

They aren't much cop - came bottom in Watchdog's best/worst high street shops this week didn't they?

Yep, saw that too - maybe that was the final straw for management and decided there was no way the 53 stores were going to recover after that!

They were part of ScottishPower, then the ScottishPower logos disappeared off the stores, and now they're apparently owned by some New Zealand company/investor - the news of the latest closures seem to have raised more interest and headlines there than in the UK.

ManAtHome wrote:

Fondue - if your debit card is a VISA one, you get similar protection to CC (contact your provider)

That's interesting, I didn't know that. I thought the protection was from the Consumer Credit Act rather than a Visa 'benefit'. Do you know how similar the protection is, just for future reference?


BTW, I'd agree with Ed - looks like they're at the top of another slippery slope to me!

Anthillmob

excuse me while me and mr mob pee ourselves laughing (though not at the poor sods who've lost their jobs).

wont bore you with every detail as i expect you read my thread about the cooker we got from them in jan and the shoddy cs.

never did give an update but we did get our refund owed of £75 and a letter of apology.

executiverocker

mcelhinney wrote:

Thank you! For a minute there I thought I was going mad as I was sure Powerhouse went bust years ago!

yeah it came back as "PRG Powerhouse" shambles of a company!

ManAtHome

A few links about Visa Debit cards (from the BBC Working Lunch site):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/working_lunch/4260806.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/working_lunch/4082599.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/working_lunch/3957903.stm

FirstClassMale

Ed_Stirling wrote:

'Powerhouse' seem to be famous for this... They went bust in 2004 - a convenient way of getting rid of debt and any customer responsibility - and soon relaunched as New Powerhouse... more recently becoming Powerhouse again. Maybe different owners but same 'ineffective' management seemingly!

I got caught out on a 18 month old Servis washing machine which died on me (another story of !!!!!! poor customer service). Money down the drain, with no comeback...

Beware...! And when Powerhouse comes back to life in a few months, don't say I didn't warn you! Serial administration fodder!

Same story here. I bought all my appliances five years ago from the then Scottish power. I took a warranty out on my cooker -£300 appliance £70 warranty. and on my washing machine £250 machine £200 warranty. The beauty was that if there were no faults in the five years I would get a full cashback as long as I remembered to apply for it which I made sure of by noting the dates. Last year, my oven stopped working and it was then that I realised I was on my own and no chance of getting the 200 quid back on the washing machine. As it was, I bought a new element for £24 and fitted it myself but I was left let down by the whole thing. I could have submitted a claim to the administrators but there was no guarantee of any money and even then it was capped at £80 per claim.

When we bought our new stuff for the new house, we took out a Comet warranty on the washing machine and i was careful to check that it was underwritten by an insurer.

joneejay

NOTE:
PowerHouse did NOT go bust in 2004

continues...
Well I don't think it's a laughing matter.

PowerHouse do not try to just get out of it everytime - what they try and do is make money for themselves. With rock bottom prices on EVERYTHING, their prices are too low for margin.

That is why whenever you buy from PowerHouse, the attention is on financial services. That is how they make their money, and dont try to con you out of your money.

Can I just point out the prices in PowerHouse are all the same nationwide. This is not the same as the other retailers, Comet in scunthorpe sells their Panasonic 37" non high def at £1199 (there's a PowerHouse next door) and the one in grimsby (with no PowerHouse) is £1499.

All PowerHouse ever try to do is make money on financial services. You don't have to say yes to these, whereas go to Comet in grimsby and you have to pay their prices.

Please also bear it in mind that it is run by different people now -

Scottish Power SOLD to PowerHouse. Scottish Power guarantees were upheld (when they didn't have to do!!!)

PowerHouse went BUST. Guarantees were not upheld because there was NO MONEY.

PRG bought PowerHouse and rebranded as the new PowerHouse. If it had been Lloyds Pharmacy who had bought it - would you be making the same suggestions?!

It's a different company who sell the same kind of products like all electrical retailers.

And also, the reason staff were not told of the closures in advance was to stop rumour leaking out, putting them at risk. No customers lost any money in the closures, and there is a specialist help line for all those PDS Stores.

If you were due to have a delivery (delivery service is courier based) it was only delayed by a few days. If you were due to collect you could have drove to your nearest PowerHouse or had it delivered free of charge.

END.

zappomatic

Rock-bottom prices at Power House? News to me!

shaymenRup

FirstClassMale wrote:

Same story here. I bought all my appliances five years ago from the then Scottish power. I took a warranty out on my cooker -£300 appliance £70 warranty. and on my washing machine £250 machine £200 warranty. The beauty was that if there were no faults in the five years I would get a full cashback as long as I remembered to apply for it which I made sure of by noting the dates. Last year, my oven stopped working and it was then that I realised I was on my own and no chance of getting the 200 quid back on the washing machine. As it was, I bought a new element for £24 and fitted it myself but I was left let down by the whole thing. I could have submitted a claim to the administrators but there was no guarantee of any money and even then it was capped at £80 per claim.

When we bought our new stuff for the new house, we took out a Comet warranty on the washing machine and i was careful to check that it was underwritten by an insurer.

I bought a TV video DVD package with Scottish Power with it I bought the cashback insurance.
Because I got it on finance (interest free) I claimed under Section 75 consumer credit act when my policy expired having been unused.
Just got the 180 pound back last week.

So if these items were bought on finance or credit card then make a claim if you have one to make - it pays in the end.

ccfc86

hi all,
just to say that i am an ex worker for powerhouse and lost my job start of this month and how shoddy and pathetic of a company they are. there was rumour for about a month or two that we were to close among about 20 other DISCOUNT STORES but then one day we arrived to work as normal we all were given a cheque and told to f off basically, The powerhouse board may i say are just a bunch of cowards they could of given us some notice as it is just after xmas and it isnt the easiest time to get a job, i worked for them in 2003 when it happend and same thing we found out that the company called in the recievers not by head office not by my manager but by a customer how degrading. Sorry to go on but i am really fuming at how i and my ex colleagues were treated, also if anyone knows how old do you have to be to claim redundancy i had been wiv the company 3 yrs but was told by powerhouse's solicitors i was too young as i am only 19.

Warning to all customers do not buy from them!!

Me_Myself_2

EDITED - I mis-read it:

Do a quick search on the internet. The law says you are etitled to some redundancy from the age of 20 only. Your service counts from age 18 onwards, but you are only entitled from the age of 20.

E.G.
for employees over the age of 20 with more than 2 years' continuous service:

for each complete year of continuous service between the ages of 18 and 21 - half a week's pay