Aaaaaargh! Comet!!!!

mishkanorman

smcaul, yet again you find it necessary to pick apart every thing that is said, you offer no new advice, and come across as one of lifes sad and petty little people.
You clearly have never worked in retail, for one you would have a bit of sympathy for the situation and stop spouting various laws, and for another you wouldnt keep looking down on those that do. I refrained from making digs at you in the past even though its nearly killed me not pointing out what an !!!!!! you appear to be,

mishka

Dammam

"dammam, the item you purchased is faulty, BUT comet didnt make it, test it or sell it as a better alternative to a £1.99 map. they are merely a go between, and as such its very difficult situation to be in."

No, they didn't sell it as a better alternative - but they DID suggest that as he had written directions it wasn't going to cause him any hardship. I don't accept they are merely a go-between. They are certainly a means for manufacturers to get their wares onto the high street, but they have a contract between themselves regarding this. The people who buy from the top reasonably (and legally) have a right to expect to deal with the vendor of the item in accordance with consumer law.

"Customers do scam the retailer, very frequently, and unfortunatley its the untrust worthy people of this country that you have to thank for the situation you find yourself in, not the retailer."

That's fine, but let's hope it doesn't permeate its' way into every other facet of life eh? Most paedophiles are men so keep men away from children? Most alcoholics are men so stop men driving? Most suicide bombers are muslim so stop all muslims flying?
Perhaps if the Store had checked addresses etc on their computer and looked at how much business had come from both myself and my friend - with no attempt to get refunds and only one replacement for an incorrectly sold item, they may have been able to come to a more reasonable judgement that we weren't out to rip anybody off.


"If you feel the solution the store offered is not acceptable, go to their HO, It may feel like you are being messed around but what if your mate hasnt worked the thing properly ??"

The assistant, the sales manager and the store manager all agreed that there was a fault with the item - large areas of Birmingham didn't exist according to the Satnav! But they insisted that their contract with TomTom meant they had to send the unit away before they could decide to replace it. They appeared to feel that this contract superceded any contract that my friend had with Comet.

I HAVE contacted Head Office, and received an automated response that really told me nothing. My best course of action from here is to never shop there again and to make sure that anyone who will listen also avoids this company like the plague. From what I have read, Glowy would prefer that as it keeps the ill-informed masses from his shop.

smcaul

Whits wrote:

During my training, I've seen the results of a completely independent survey that was done by a highly regarded company.

It was all about 'ownership of issues' and states that Comet have improved their performance from last year from somewhere in the 20% region to way over 80%.

"Lies, damn lies & statistics" as the well known saying goes - aside from that, quite what does "Ownership of issues" actually mean? what exactly are they trying to quantify?

Don't get me wrong here, but if this survey is taken seriously, then anyone having a moan about Comet is in the minority.

Quite possibly when you look at the size of the customer base. But Parato's law states that 20% of the people will give you 80% of the problems - and that works realatively well accross most industries, including the industry I work in.

I delivered to customers house yesterday and after having a chat, the homeowner pointed out the washing machine, dishwasher, tumble dryer, oven, plasma tv and dvd recorder that have all been purchased within the last year from Comet. I don't think for one minute that with all those purchases, everything went perfectly but I hope that if something breaks down, it will be repaired or replaced without as little disruption as possible.

Well thats fine - as long as the items continue to work, but it is when they stop working that Comet has problems. Many people buy from them as they are cheap, but that does not make them the best.

I don't work in stores so I don't know how the training works there, but if it's company policy to return an item to the manufacturer for testing then that's that. I would prefer the store manager to offer a replacement but he didn't and there has to be a reason for this, obviously not a reason that's done company image any good, but a reason nonetheless.

So you are advocating that Comet ignores the SOGA then? Just because it is Comet's policy to return goods the consumer has to put up with that do they? As has been said many times before, the customer has a contract with Comet - not the manufacturer. Comet has the contract with the manufacturer. Therefore it is down to Comet to reslove the issue with the customer then deal with the manufacturer, not try to absolve itself of any responsibilities by putting T&C's on a receipt and then bullying customers.

Unfortunately, loads of companies get the odd customer kicking off about their treatment. I'm not saying Comet are perfect, but if you work out how many complaints we recieve compared to how many items we don't recieve complaints about, I think it would be minimal. However, no-one recalls all the good sales, only the screw-ups.

That's life I'm afraid.

you are correct, many companies get complaints, items break down and are faulty, that is life, just as it is life that we are protected in this country by the SOGA and comet have to adhere to that. And I do remember the good sales, that is why for expensive items I shop at John Lewis, that is also why I have spent over a thousand pounds at ebuyer recently, as they have very good customer services (now), that is also why I no longer shop at Comet.

p.s. If I was called a spotty little oik and recieved no apology, I'd call the police. Personal insults are one thing nobody should have to put up with at work.

Get real, the police would tell you go away and stop wasting their time for a start. for 2nd's, if you were a spotty little oik and I described you as such then that is just a desription of a person. and lastly, and please read this bit carefully as I see you have problems reading threads, I never actually called the person that, I refered to them as one in this thread - so try reading the whole thread before chipping in and flaming someone.

smcaul

mishkanorman wrote:

smcaul, yet again you find it necessary to pick apart every thing that is said, you offer no new advice, and come across as one of lifes sad and petty little people.
You clearly have never worked in retail, for one you would have a bit of sympathy for the situation and stop spouting various laws, and for another you wouldnt keep looking down on those that do. I refrained from making digs at you in the past even though its nearly killed me not pointing out what an !!!!!! you appear to be,

mishka

Oh I disagree, I think I have provided lots of advice, I have shown that Comet try to flout the law, I have shown that Comet are in the wrong, I have shown that you can win against Comet. It was said to me by a manager from comet that there T&C's were the law (that is incorrect) and that I should take it to court as I would never win - well guess what, Comet never let the case get to court, that proves to me they are not correct. Now if everyone who comes here looking for advice on how to deal with comet reads my post, and others, they will see that Comet managers are not correct and that you can win against them - as I said, it is bullying tactics by the managers.

Now please show me exactly what information you have bought to this thread? all I can see is you having a go without showing any evidenace! as for calling me an !!!!!!, well I can assure you better people have called me worse, but then that was good few years ago in the primary school playground - now run along little child or you will be late for class.

Oh and as a final note, I am not about to publish my CV, but suffice to say I have suffecient expierence in retail to know how to do something the right way, and how to do something the wrong way.

mishkanorman

smcaul,

your "word" on a matter does not provide proof of anything, of course a company like comet are going to make mistakes, that doesnt mean that every sale in every store is going to be corrupt and based on bad ethics. Your experience was probably made all the worse by your negative attitude.

I didnt have a go until you decided to take every word posted, by anyone, and quote line after line and tear it apart. I merely stated that glowy was here to help, and tried to stop the thread becoming a sales assistant bashing session. this thread is becoming personal when it doesnt need to be. you have no idea who i am or what i do but you are quite happy to jump in and claim to know more than me(and others), you may well be god himself for all i know or care but i dont like someone judging and be-littling others. I would never claim to be better than someone else on the grounds of a few lines on a thread that had been posted with the intention of support. WHITS added his comment at the bottom of his thread, he didnt single you out, or flame you, yet you felt it necessary to mock his feelings.
As for your vast experience in retail, you are saying that you never had a situation when although you could see the customers point of view you really couldnt help, or when your superior told you to do something when you knew it was wrong? (as seems to be the case with damman)

My part on this thread was to try and make people aware that 'Comet' and 'the sales assistant' and two separate things, if the guy at the top has set down guidelines for the staff (be it legal or not) they have to do as he says, and giving abuse to staff is not on however justifed you think you are.


damman,

my comments were not made as seriously as others here, they are based on my knowledge and experience alone and im fully aware that it isnt exhaustive, I have looked into this before and all the info that i could find indicates that the retailer has the right to investigate the unit before offering repair or replacement, providing it doesnt cause unneccessary inconvenience to the consumer. How that is judged is by a case by case basis.

That's fine, but let's hope it doesn't permeate its' way into every other facet of life eh? Most paedophiles are men so keep men away from children? Most alcoholics are men so stop men driving? Most suicide bombers are muslim so stop all muslims flying?
Perhaps if the Store had checked addresses etc on their computer and looked at how much business had come from both myself and my friend - with no attempt to get refunds and only one replacement for an incorrectly sold item, they may have been able to come to a more reasonable judgement that we weren't out to rip anybody off.


Yeah lets hope it doesn't get that far !! The reason I made the comment about ripping people of was that I once served a very well spoken lady who had returned her item as it was broken ~(it was squashed-no fault there), sure no problem we would normally replace it as a good will gesture, these things happen. It wasnt till i looked at her record to find that she had returned with a broken item every year for over 8 years !! Every time she got a new one, at the companys expense of over £300. She considered herself a valuable customer as she came back so often, yet she only paid £60 in the first place and every time she returned the sales advisor had put that it wasnt clear how the damage had occured so they would replace this time. No one would have judged her to be a con artist, and in her mind the item she had was broken so we should replace it. Thats clearly not the casewith you and your friend but after countless times of being caught out shops are now tighting up on things so if the policy is to return to the manufacturer, even though it seems bloody daft to, thats what they have to do.


mishka

PS is anyone can provide actual written info and where these things stand, please post it here for all to read.

smcaul

What planet are you on Mish? You started hurling the insults, not I, as did Glowy. I am very careful to refer to Comet as a company, not individuals within. I made one note of the type of person I was served by and who wasted my time, and you jump on that. I and others have provided plenty of links in the earlier part of this thread, maybe you should read them - You likewise do not know enough about me or how I conduct myself in situations to make such foolhardy assumptions about me. Please keep such thoughts to yourself.

And I ask again, exactly what info have you provided in this thread?

mishkanorman

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

sorry, am i allowed to answer that !!! One minute you want me to be quiet, then you want me to respond to you ..... how about we just agree to disagree lets face it im never gonna win an argument with mr "i know my rights!!" :rolleyes:


mishka

smcaul

This is clearly where we differ, I neither care nor am interested in winning - it is not a race. This thread is about providing accurate information and help to people who are having problems with Comet.

Have you actually had any problems with them? Can you offer any advice on how to deal with them? By the looks of it no, but wait, I have had problems with them, I can offer advice on how to deal with them - thats why I have answered in this thread. I had to spend a large amount of time researching the SOGA and consumer law to ensure I had a case - that is where I am coming from, I am also responding to information that has been posted by Comet employees who are giving incorrect information by saying the T&C's are right and proper, when they are only an addition to the SOGA, not instead of.

Dammam

"The reason I made the comment about ripping people of was that I once served a very well spoken lady who had returned her item as it was broken ~(it was squashed-no fault there), sure no problem we would normally replace it as a good will gesture, these things happen. It wasnt till i looked at her record to find that she had returned with a broken item every year for over 8 years !! Every time she got a new one, at the companys expense of over £300. She considered herself a valuable customer as she came back so often, yet she only paid £60 in the first place and every time she returned the sales advisor had put that it wasnt clear how the damage had occured so they would replace this time. No one would have judged her to be a con artist, and in her mind the item she had was broken so we should replace it. Thats clearly not the casewith you and your friend but after countless times of being caught out shops are now tighting up on things so if the policy is to return to the manufacturer, even though it seems bloody daft to, thats what they have to do. "

Which is precisely why I asked why they didn't look at my friends' previous purchasing - and mine for that matter! Several thousand pounds spent over a couple of years with 1 return for a hob which had been incorrectly issued by the store and replaced with the correct model.
Are you suggesting that because I'm not well spoken that I'd be judged less favourably than the lady you mention? Probably not, but that's how it comes across.

I pasted the email that Torfaen Trading Standards sent me earlier in the thread which made the interesting point that the 28 day rule that Comet quote has no basis in law, and also the oft used "you have to return in the original packaging" quote often used by traders is also groundless.

Smcauls' postings have been helpful to me in several ways, not least to confirm that my problems in the branch I visited were by no means a one-off, and also set me on the path to looking at the sale of goods act and contacting trading standards myself. What I have read so far appears to back up everything he has said. Conversely, much of what Glowy has said seems to be the same incorrect company spiel that I have received in the store. Whilst I admire his spirit in backing his company up, I don't feel that he has contributed in the slightest to helping me get my problem sorted. In fact, I get a feeling of banging my head against a brick wall that he seems unable to do anything other than stick rigidly to the company policy and uses the 'proof' that all is correct by saying that the company would have been stopped from doing things if they were wrong.
Maybe I'm cynical, but I find that most companies will continue to get away with what they can until they are finally edged into a corner. As I said before, the Banks are a wonderful example of this. Most consumers will not press for their rights because they simply don't know them, and if someone with 'manager' written on a plastic badge tells them what HE says their rights are, they'll believe it.
The bolshy gits who Glowy doesn't want in his store are the ones who have taken the time to be knowledgeable on the subject of their rights. It would appear that ignorant, compliant customers are what everybody wants nowadays.

The old phrases "you get what you pay for" and "you pay peanuts, you get monkeys" are the phrases that spring to mind from my dealings with Comet.
Although it wont show on any surveys, mystery shopper questionnaires or in store satisfaction surveys, I and many others have decided to vote with our feet and feel it a duty to warn others of the problems they could well face so that they are forearmed and forewarned.

stugib

mishkanorman wrote:

lets face it im never gonna win an argument with mr "i know my rights!!" :rolleyes:

Not when you, and glowy continually ignore the facts and show your disdain for 'rights'.

Firstly, I sympathise that you can only follow the orders of your company, and that you have to deal with customers trying it on. But can you not put that to one side and acknowledge that the law (not smcaul's law, not dammam's law, not my law, the same law that says you can't rob someone's house, or break the speed limit, or defraud someone) clearly states that Comet, as the retailer is the one liable to refund, repair or replace?

I'm sure I asked this question a few pages back and glowy conveniently forgot to reply. So, do you accept that the customer's contract is with the retailer and they are the one's who the customer deals with? Accept that, then we can point out to you how Comet's attitude, as they clearly successfully instill in their employees, shows how little respect they have for the law.