Aaaaaargh! Comet!!!!

julesgr

Ok here goes,

Last night our TV packed in , it is under 6 months old so i rang Comet ( I know more fool me for buying from them).

The ever so unhelpful person on thephone said I MUST have an engineer come out etc. They offered me a day next week which I said was unnaceptable as it leaves us without a television. I then spoke to the store who offered for me to bring it in and it could take up to 28 days to have it fixed. I informed thme that I was not happy an wanted a replacement as the product is clearly faulty (doesn't switch on)got told I couldn't have one. asked to speak to the mamanegr who gave me the same spiel wouldn't let me get a word in edgeways so i told her that I wasn't continuing the conversation and would hang up, so then I did.

I spoke to consumer direct who told me that I was indeed entitled to a replacement, and the lady there confirmed what I had found from the sale of goods act.

If the TV was expensive I would tend to agree with Comet but as it was only 99.99 it will cost as much to get an engineer out etc. especially as customer services said that I could claim for loss of earnings. The nice deputy manager (not!!) at Comet them told me that consumer direct had given me the wrong advice and that they also do not offer loss of earning despite what their head office said. I pointed out that she should allow me to finish what I was saying but she continued to bombard me verbally so I informed her that I would be hanging up to which she replied it's ok I'll do it first, she then didn't hang up but waited for me to (which I didn't ) and then she tried to engage me inconversation again but I said she had told me she was hanging up she then said she could leave the phone off the hook all day and this she did!!!!

How disgusted am I and where do i go next.....boy I am angry :mad:

stugib

julesgr wrote:

...I informed thme that I was not happy an wanted a replacement as the product is clearly faulty
<snip>
I spoke to consumer direct who told me that I was indeed entitled to a replacement, and the lady there confirmed what I had found from the sale of goods act.

If the TV was expensive I would tend to agree with Comet but as it was only 99.99 it will cost as much to get an engineer out etc. especially as customer services said that I could claim for loss of earnings.

Yes, but Comet don't know that it's faulty as opposed to being dropped/spilt on etc, so they're entitled to check it out first. Despite what Consumer Direct said (sure they didn't said you were entitled to a replacement or repair?), I've not seen anything that clarifies whether the consumer or supplier is entitled to choose whether you get a replacement or repair. The engineer cost is Comet's problem, not yours, and I would be absolutely flabbergasted if you were compensated for loss of earnings for staying in for an engineer visit - just doesn't happen and they're not liable to. This probably isn't what you want to hear, but it's the position you're in.

julesgr wrote:

How disgusted am I and where do i go next.....boy I am angry :mad:

I'd suggest trying to keep the upper hand by keeping calm and stop threatening to hang up on everyone all the time!

webmasterpolo

Comet are a joke. Check out my 3 months of hell with them trying to get a 2 day old washing machine fixed:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=123817

Regards

Webmasterpolo

Altarf

If the goods are faulty you can ask for your money back within a 'reasonable time'. Six months is almost certainly too long for a £99 TV, so you are now down to repair or replacement. You can ask for a replacement, but if this is 'disproportionately costly' (i.e. a 10p fuse to fix it or a new TV at £99), then the retailer can insist on a repair.

The only time six months comes into the rules, is this is the period of time that the goods were assumed to be faulty when they were supplied, and if the retailer disagrees they have to prove it. It doesn't mean that you can insist on a refund or replacement in the first six months.

http://www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topics1/facts/salegoodsact.htm

Why anybody buys anything from cowboys like Comet, Currys, Dixons, etc I will never know.

gibby

As much as I hate comet I think the law is on their side here

I used to work for a similar organisation many years ago
Many customers would rant n rave but when I checked with trading standards
the goods must be no more than a month old for a replacement
after that period its fair to offer a repair.

They should offer for a small fee a service that would give you a replacement on breakdown but I dont know of any firms doing this.

As for comet customer services - they do rant and try to control the customer by not lettingb them talk.

maybe we shoudl start an anti comet group and visit the stores on a saturday to direct customers to this very site.

sorry I cant be of more help

Gibby

marks87

Comet offer terrible post-sales service.

I bought a laptop there at the end of last year, but when I got it home I noticed that the screen made an electrical buzzing sound when I moved it (i.e. an obvious fault). So at about half 6 the next evening (earliest possible time due to other commitments) I took it back. And so the fun began...

The guy at the service desk said that Acer would need to diagnose the problem, even though it was there for all to see (well, hear!). Half an hour I stood there arguing that my contract is with Comet and NOT Acer, but the "General Manager" wasn't interested. He didn't even attempt to listen out for the problem, even after a nearby assistant acknowledged there was a fault present. Printouts of the Sale & Supply of Good regulations and a phone call to their head office didn't work either. So, after being threatened with the police, I left.

The next day, I went up again to have it diagnosed. And do you know what the diagnosis consists of? A call to the Acer help center!! Five minutes later I had £700 in my hip pocket. It defies belief that Comet refuse to accept a problem when they can actually see/hear it, yet a technical support guy does accept it, merely on the word of the customer.

(As an aside, I didn't want to cut of my nose to spite my face, so I used my student railcard to get me a cheap fare to Edinburgh where I bought the same laptop from one of the Comet stores there. Using it now to type this post!!)

Davidboy

marks87 wrote:

Comet offer terrible post-sales service.


The guy at the service desk said that Acer would need to diagnose the problem, even though it was there for all to see (well, hear!). Half an hour I stood there arguing that my contract is with Comet and NOT Acer, but the "General Manager" wasn't interested. He didn't even attempt to listen out for the problem, even after a nearby assistant acknowledged there was a fault present. Printouts of the Sale & Supply of Good regulations and a phone call to their head office didn't work either. So, after being threatened with the police, I left.

The next day, I went up again to have it diagnosed. And do you know what the diagnosis consists of? A call to the Acer help center!!

Flippen eck, this is exactly the conversation I had with a faulty Acer Sat Nav that I bought from them in January. They said they would not do anything, you have to contact Acer I said, no contract is with you...blah blah. In the end I insisted they phone Acer helpline (0870 no.) which they did, I had to hang on for 30mins for someone to answer. The result being, Comet have to send it back to Acer for repair, will take about a month!!

My sat nav is 3 months old, hopefully it can't be repair and will give me another.....here's hoping!


D

danielleandcameron

i also dont like comet i bought a pc from themin sept05 by january it broke so i set it in to be fixed and it come back with wires loss in the back so off it went again. and it came back with all my uni work whiped off i know i should have made a copy of all my work but where would i copy it to there was too much to fit on a memory stick. all in all my pc was away for a total of 2 months. also i bought the 3yrs insurance with pc which started from they day i bought it but if it broke within the first 12 month comet arnt allowed to fix it only the manufacture is so have i paid for a year that i dont get. not happy

Kurusui

Unfortunately when you buy certain items from Comet (i.e PC's and laptops) the staff are not allowed to confirm faults due to the manufacturers requirements. This happens with Acer, phillips and other top brands. Unfortunately the customer care staff at comet have to do what the computer system tells them to do, and sometimes this says that the customer must ring the help line and have the fault confirmed before they can bring it to the store. I must also add that this is always written on the paperwork within the product.

With the repairs, alot of time the manufacturers also insist that they must try to repair the product before a refund or a replacement can be offered. None of these decisions are made by comet, just the manufacturers.

Oh and I will back you up on something, the call centre is a waste of time. They make comets store employees lives alot harder than it has to be!

gibby

make sure you check https://www.saynoto0870.com rather than call comets 0870 number - as Ive spent hours trying to sort our problem out.

My father in law did get a refund in store
he just stood there and refused to move until he got reasonable service
he stopped the staff from serving customers and made quite alot of noise
he was threatend with calling the police but he told them to as he wasnt breaking any laws - just wanting reasonable service that he was entitled to.

the police will only arrest you if you a being threatening or violent
there is nothing wrong with asking for service or tying up a member of staffs time

the stores hate it as it puts other customers off
& threaten to call the local paper
cost em sales and they jump.

you can also stand outside and hand out leafets to passers by or put them on cars in the car park
neither are illegal

Gibby

Kurusui

The only problem is when you ring the store a lot of times you will be told to ring the call centre as they are the ones to sort out most of the problems. Not the store staff. Its not their job.