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PC World Smart Plan - General Public
deadly_cool
Posts: 4 Newbie
in Techie Stuff
I friend of mine recently went to PC World in Grimsby to purchase a laptop as her other one had broken and she needed a replacement one urgently. She asked for some advice about which one she would need and was talked into, by the sales person, leasing a laptop from them. She does NOT own a business. She was told by the sales person that it would be a good way to spread the cost of obtaining a laptop as it would be ONLY £22 a month and after 3 years she could purchase the machine at a low cost..
What they failed to tell her was that the contract was for 48 months and is in their eyes non cancellable. They told her that she needed to take Norton 360 and a Tech Guys package. She also purchased Office 2007 Home and Student Edition for £100. They did say however at the time that she could return the Norton and Tech Guys package if she wished. PC World also added insurance onto this that they told her that she had to take out at a cost of almost £6 a month.
When she got home she worked out how much this whole package is going to cost her. With the insurance (approx £28) this £330 laptop was going to cost her over £1300 not to own. She went back to PC world the next day and said that she was not happy with this and told them that she just wanted to purchase the laptop in cash for the £330 that it is priced at and did not need the Norton or the Tech Guys package.
When she went back into the Grimsby PC World store, with the equipment, and asked to purchase the equipment in cash and asked to speak to the store Manager. He phoned 'Smartplan' and the woman on the telephone told her that the 'Contract' was non cancelleable and she, a normal member of the public Not a business customer, was not covered by the consumer credit act and therefore has NO colling off period.
She also asked to return the unopened Norton Package, and the Tech Guys package that she was told by the sales person could be returned, the previous day, and the manager refused to accept it back.
She asked to speak to the regional manager and the Store manager said that he could not do this. She did however manage to find out the telephone number of the company's customer service department and manage to make a complaint about being MIS SOLD this business package when all she went into that shop to do was PURCHASE a laptop.
The matter is now being looked into by PC world head office and hopefully will get resolved soon. With NO thanks to the manager at PC world Grimsby who REFUSED to help this distressed lady customer.
Has anybody else had this type of experience with PC world?
I think that the general public should be warned about this as it is a complete CON. Should they be selling Business LEASE contracts to the general public?
What they failed to tell her was that the contract was for 48 months and is in their eyes non cancellable. They told her that she needed to take Norton 360 and a Tech Guys package. She also purchased Office 2007 Home and Student Edition for £100. They did say however at the time that she could return the Norton and Tech Guys package if she wished. PC World also added insurance onto this that they told her that she had to take out at a cost of almost £6 a month.
When she got home she worked out how much this whole package is going to cost her. With the insurance (approx £28) this £330 laptop was going to cost her over £1300 not to own. She went back to PC world the next day and said that she was not happy with this and told them that she just wanted to purchase the laptop in cash for the £330 that it is priced at and did not need the Norton or the Tech Guys package.
When she went back into the Grimsby PC World store, with the equipment, and asked to purchase the equipment in cash and asked to speak to the store Manager. He phoned 'Smartplan' and the woman on the telephone told her that the 'Contract' was non cancelleable and she, a normal member of the public Not a business customer, was not covered by the consumer credit act and therefore has NO colling off period.
She also asked to return the unopened Norton Package, and the Tech Guys package that she was told by the sales person could be returned, the previous day, and the manager refused to accept it back.
She asked to speak to the regional manager and the Store manager said that he could not do this. She did however manage to find out the telephone number of the company's customer service department and manage to make a complaint about being MIS SOLD this business package when all she went into that shop to do was PURCHASE a laptop.
The matter is now being looked into by PC world head office and hopefully will get resolved soon. With NO thanks to the manager at PC world Grimsby who REFUSED to help this distressed lady customer.
Has anybody else had this type of experience with PC world?
I think that the general public should be warned about this as it is a complete CON. Should they be selling Business LEASE contracts to the general public?
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Comments
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Erm, what?deadly_cool wrote: »With the insurance (approx £28) this £330 laptop was going to cost her over £1300 not to own.
Thats not correct - Assuming she got Norton 360 / Office / In-Store Setup it would cost £120, and then PC Performance for £6pm would come to £288 (although if it was a SmartPlan then fixed term Business PC Performance works out much cheaper...) - that comes to £738 as an absolute maximum - SmartPlan could push this up to around £1k at the very very most.
This is true - RentSmart add their own insurance if PC World don't, RentSmart charge around the same, but it's just insurance as a pose to PC World's PC Performance which gives you lots of other benefits.deadly_cool wrote: »PC World also added insurance onto this that they told her that she had to take out at a cost of almost £6 a month.
SmartPlan is for Businesses.deadly_cool wrote: »I think that the general public should be warned about this as it is a complete CON. Should they be selling Business LEASE contracts to the general public?
SmartPlan Pro is for a consumer using a PC for business use.
I'm not trying to be argumentitive, and while I agree it sounds like your friends been mis-sold it, I can't be sure as sometimes customers have a habit not to listen and kick off later...Nothing I say represents any past, present or future employer.0 -
so what was the benefit of leasing the laptop 'to spread the cost' when she then wanted to buy it in cash the next visit?
ps, love the 'a friend of mine' line...Target Savings by end 2009: 20,000
current savings: 20,500 (target hit yippee!)
Debts: 8000 (student loan so doesnt count)
new target savings by Feb 2010: 30,0000 -
Sorry to hear about this.
There are many one person businesses, and anyone can take out a leasing contract.
Basically your friend has given in to high pressure selling and signed a contract. I hope she can get out of it with a lesson learned for the future. "Nver be sold to, only ever buy"0 -
Erm, what?
Thats not correct - Assuming she got Norton 360 / Office / In-Store Setup it would cost £120, and then PC Performance for £6pm would come to £288 (although if it was a SmartPlan then fixed term Business PC Performance works out much cheaper...) - that comes to £738 as an absolute maximum
The PC had not been setup in store. It was still in the sealed box. It had the bog standard 60 day / 25 use office install and Dell installed 30 day Mcaffe Antivirus. She already has a valid Antivirus licence from the dead laptop so doesnt need norton.0 -
Then what was the "TechGuys Package".
Perhaps a Techfriend...?Nothing I say represents any past, present or future employer.0 -
I would post this on the Consumer board, because I have a strong feeling that you might be covered by something somewhere. They know all the ins and outs of this sort of thing.Ubuntu is an ancient African word, meaning: 'I can't configure Debian'.0
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I would post this on the Consumer board, because I have a strong feeling that you might be covered by something somewhere. They know all the ins and outs of this sort of thing.
Where do I find the consumer board? Is this a part of the 'Money Saving Expert' Forum?
Can this thread be moved there if so?0 -
deadly_cool wrote: »Where do I find the consumer board? Is this a part of the 'Money Saving Expert' Forum?
Can this thread be moved there if so?
Look at the top right hand corner of your screen underneath the green banner. Where it says "Forum Jump" click the arrow and you will see all the different forums listed.0 -
Tech guy's package? isn't that where some spotty oik straight out of high school starts poking about with your PC?“I may not agree with you, but I will defend to the death your right to make an a** of yourself.”
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