Aaaaaargh! Comet!!!!

smcaul

Whits wrote:

I don't know to be honest, it's not my field at all. I certainly didn't get told that in my training.

But then again, I'm a delivery driver so I don't get the same training as store staff. I do get the same awkward customers though:D

I understand how hard it is to stay calm when you're not getting anywhere but if someone called me a spotty little oik, I would politely tell them that that is using foul, abusive or threatening behaviour and is a criminal offence. I would happily drop the matter if an apology was forthcoming though:D

Unfortunatly neither do the managers get told it in their training either - so you are not alone in getting badly trained by them :rolleyes:

As for calling people spotty little oiks, if the cap fits!! But on a serious note, if you had wasted 45 minutes of your time stood in a queue and then had to listen to some 16 yr old with no technical training telling you a dvd player works as the LCD display lights up you would be frustrated with them too. How you can tell the dvd player works when it is not even plugged into a tv is beyond me - but maybe thats some sort of special training Comet gives it's staff.......ESP. As for an apology - he could go whistle for that.

glowy69

Wow, its back, Im not going to argue, however what appears on the back of the receipt is correct, unfortunatly as eevryone seems to be insisting on the word 'contract' once your friend has the receipt and has signed it he has agreed to the T&C. As for the Tom Tom thing, they are the only people that can inspect the unit, if it is faulty (which it sounds like it is) they will courier you a new one within usually a week.

The people you spoke to have a set rule to follow mate, as much as the manager probably wanted to swap it, he isnt allowed and smcaul the company is within its rights to have the unit inspected no matter how old. Im sorry that its faulty, on the good side I have dealt with tom tom a lot and they are very friendly and helpful. Dammam any other questions that you want a RATIONAL answer to,just ask.

glowy69

Whits wrote:

I don't know to be honest, it's not my field at all. I certainly didn't get told that in my training.

But then again, I'm a delivery driver so I don't get the same training as store staff. I do get the same awkward customers though:D

I understand how hard it is to stay calm when you're not getting anywhere but if someone called me a spotty little oik, I would politely tell them that that is using foul, abusive or threatening behaviour and is a criminal offence. I would happily drop the matter if an apology was forthcoming though:D

Hello, a fellow employee? I understand both sides of the story, however it is very rare I think these days to wait 45 minutes? Only to be confronted by a person who knows nothing about the product? My only defence to him is that he is there to sell the item and give an explanation of its features not why it has gone wrong.

smcaul

glowy69 wrote:

Hello, a fellow employee? I understand both sides of the story, however it is very rare I think these days to wait 45 minutes? Only to be confronted by a person who knows nothing about the product? My only defence to him is that he is there to sell the item and give an explanation of its features not why it has gone wrong.

Ah, off we go again huh! If he was only a sales person then why put him on the customer service desk? And why did he then need to "test" the item if he did not even ask what the problem was etc?

As for your comment about the receipt forming a contract, I think you need to brush up on your contract law. You need an offer (the price you advertise the product at), you need consideration (the customer giving you money) and you need acceptance (Comet taking that money) that is when the contract exists at that point, not when you have signed the receipt, in fact the receipt and the T&C's that are written on are worth nothing as there is no requirement for a shop to issue a receipt in the first place.

glowy69

smcaul wrote:

Ah, off we go again huh! If he was only a sales person then why put him on the customer service desk? And why did he then need to "test" the item if he did not even ask what the problem was etc?

As for your comment about the receipt forming a contract, I think you need to brush up on your contract law. You need an offer (the price you advertise the product at), you need consideration (the customer giving you money) and you need acceptance (Comet taking that money) that is when the contract exists at that point, not when you have signed the receipt, in fact the receipt and the T&C's that are written on are worth nothing as there is no requirement for a shop to issue a receipt in the first place.

Sure ok, you are very law literate arent you. It still doesnt detract from the fact that as a company Comet or whoever a legally allowed to inspect the unit before doing anything.

So why are terms and conditions found on everything if they are worth nothing. Makes no odds anyway. The t&c in the warranty are honoured.

Dammam

For what it's worth, here is the Torfaen trading standards take on things:-

With regard to your email, I will outline the legal situation. The purchase is regulated by the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended). Its statutory requirements entitle the purchaser to expect goods to be of satisfactory quality, fit for their purpose etc. For the first 6 months of purchase it is for the trader to disprove that goods are not of satisfactory quality. After that 6 months, the consumer has to prove defect. These rights can last for up to six years.

If a fault occurs when you take the goods home and not used as such you should be able to have your money back. If the fault developes later then it may be reasonable for the trader to offer a repair or replacement. If a repair does not work then it would be reasonable to be offered a replacement.

Most importantly, 28 days does not appear in law and is merely a traders way of selling so this can be disregarded. The consumers rights remain. Also in the case of defective goods, packaging does not have be retained.

I am very surprised that Comet, Cwmbran would say this to consumers as they are well aware of their obligations.


I hope this information helps.



To me, the unit was not used as such, and the fault in the software was obviously there from day one, but would not occur unless a particular area was accessed - I don't think 39 days is unreasonable in these particular circumstances and as TS say, the 28 day rule can be disregarded as it is overruled by your consumer rights as detailed in the Sale of Goods Act 1979. In other words, the 28 day refund or exchange statement on the receipt is, in effect, smoke and mirrors. What appears to have happened is that Comet (and others no doubt) put the stores "way of trading" on the receipt which is worth nothing as it does not appear in Law. They cover this with the proviso "This does not affect your statutory rights". It is your statutory rights which must be upheld by the store, not their own particular way of trading.
I find this misleading and as the Trading Standards people seem to as well I think it may be an idea to push for the wording on these receipts to be changed. How many people read the returns statement and take it as gospel because it says it does not affect your statutory rights at the bottom? The majority I'd say - even Comets own staff would appear to be convinced by it.


Glowy - "Sure ok, you are very law literate arent you. It still doesnt detract from the fact that as a company Comet or whoever a legally allowed to inspect the unit before doing anything."

I have no problem with Comet inspecting the unit. They checked it and agreed that it was faulty. The fault was plain to see and I wasn't trying to return it to get the money back - an immediate replacement would have been perfectly acceptable and that way the company could be assured that someone hadn't just borrowed the unit for a months travelling and then got their money back.
My problem is that, having agreed it was faulty they then said that they had to send the unit back to TomTom to verify what they had already seen before replacing the item. When I asked for a refund or replacement they said that this was not possible as the unit was bought more than 28 days before. Now, although TS states that they have a right to try to repair (which is fair enough), the sale of goods act also states that if the time taken would cause the customer difficulties then this should be waived. As this particular unit was bought for a particular trip in a couple of days time (I even took the Thomas Cooke flight schedules!) I think this shows a significant inconvenience to the customer.

Your earlier attitude to the loss of a kettle being in the manner of ' it's not life threatening, use the stove to boil your water' was mirrored by the staff I encountered - "There are directions to the car park on the itinerary to the airport - can't he just follow those"? Strangely, when he was buying the SatNav, not once was he advised that he should "Just buy a road map for £1.99 and follow that and save yourself £238" - nope, when selling it, SatNav was the answer to all his problems, when it went wrong it was no better than 6 lines of directions on the back of a sheet of paper.

Anyone up for a concerted campaign to change the misleading "terms and conditions" that these companies use?

smcaul

A superb reply Dammam.

Dammam

glowy69 wrote:

however it is very rare I think these days to wait 45 minutes? Only to be confronted by a person who knows nothing about the product?.

Not rare in my experience in your Cwmbran store, which is why I was gutted that my friend had bought from there. Especially as 14 months before he had had problems returning an oven hob which was not fit for purpose.

In the interest of balance, I find your Newport branch to have very good levels of both knowledge and customer care. However, my experiences (and others') at the Cwmbran branch means that I would rather pay extra elsewhere than part with any of my hard earned cash in Comet again, and this is something that the company needs to address. As someone said earler, get good service and 1 or 2 people will hear about - get bad service and 10 or more people will hear about it.

To rub it in, the unit has now been reduced from £239 to £199 - he's spent £40 extra and still not been able to get the use out of it.



As an aside, what sort of position is "Area Sales Manager" in relation to Store Manager in Comet?

Dammam

I asked Comet for their take on the terms and conditions yesterday in this individual case. Just got this reply:-

Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you.


Response (xxxxxxxxxxxx) 20/09/2006
Dear Mr Khobar,

Thank you for your e-mail

I am sorry to hear about the problems with this product and I would advise that this product is covered by a repair based warranty and you would need to contact Tom Tom for a diagnostic check to confirm the fault and they would then repair the unit.

The Tom Tom help line number is 0845 1610009

If you require any further assistance, please contact us using the Ask a Question facility on the website http://comet.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/comet.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php

Regards,



Not sure why the customer is expected to deal with the manufacturer direct and not the vendor.

I'll be looking more closely at John Lewis in future.

Pelican_2

Dammam wrote:

I asked Comet for their take on the terms and conditions yesterday in this individual case. Just got this reply:-

Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you.


Response (xxxxxxxxxxxx) 20/09/2006
Dear Mr Khobar,

Thank you for your e-mail

I am sorry to hear about the problems with this product and I would advise that this product is covered by a repair based warranty and you would need to contact Tom Tom for a diagnostic check to confirm the fault and they would then repair the unit.

The Tom Tom help line number is 0845 1610009

If you require any further assistance, please contact us using the Ask a Question facility on the website http://comet.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/comet.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php

Regards,



Not sure why the customer is expected to deal with the manufacturer direct and not the vendor.

I'll be looking more closely at John Lewis in future.

DO NOT DEAL WITH THE MANUFACTURER!!!

Comet are terrible for referring THEIR problems on to the manufacturer. I am no lawyer, but do know that retail law and manufacturers' laws asre very different.

Your contract is not with TomTom, but with Comet. My advice to you would be to contact Trading Standards. They will advise you to put everything in wrtiting to Comet (and by writing, I mean letters not emails).

If you PM me your email address, I'll send you some template letters I have.

Unfortunately, I do know a bit about this as I am in an ongoing dispute with Comet.

(PS I have not read whole thread, so apologies if this has laready been suggested).