Argos con ?? Way to make money ?

mancuk29

On the 21st June I ordered a Beech Finish Hideaway with Frosted Glass Doors computer unit which was advertised at half price in an argos flyer, I had been trying to order the unit for 6 months prior and the unit had always shown out of stock (I checked weekly) when I went on line it showed it in stock with a delivery period of four weeks - great I thought I have time to decorate before the unit arrived.

I ordered and payment was taken and I was told to expect a call on the 17th July ..... I thought fab perhaps they have now got stock available... how wrong I was

Today at 1430hrs I received a call from Argos stating the item had been discontinued and Argos couldnt supply me the items .... I asked the person who rung me how long they had known "two days" ......

I advised him I was extreemly angry , Argos had debited the money on the day I ordered and have sat for four weeks with £79.00 in their account what a fab way to make interest for the company , I asked him for the address to complain to and he advised me of the address.

When I put the phone down I thought about the situation and rang back to speak to a customer services manager who to say the least was not in the least helpful ...

I posed the following to her

Argos have advertised an item for sale and when I purchased the item the money was taken from my account - argos have made money for a month and will now refund me ..... the item which I ordered as far as I know has not been available for 6 months prior as I checked weekly for the item ..... so have argos put something out for order knowing that they didnt have it ... is this a way the company makes money ??

The lady who missed my point completely kept blaming the supplier she said that the supplier obviously said they could fulfil the order and now cant .... I asked if any one had the order fulfilled ... she said she didnt know I bet they havent !!

To me and perhaps its my bad mind this seems to be a real con ... surely under sales of goods act if a company can not fulfil an order I must be entitled to some form of compensation ??? if the item has not been available for 6 months prior (from my constant checking on line) then it was never available when advertised as half price ?

Can anyone tell me if they have experienced this through argos .. surely by debiting my money argos are under contract to fulfil the order and cant just refund me ??

Any advice would be helpful im not sure where I can go now if anywhere ...

Think of it this way ...

400 customers order the item at 73.00 plus postage and argos sit for one month before telling the customer they have become aware the item is discontinued ..... thats a lot of dosh in interest .. especially if its common practise ....

thanks for your help in advance ... ive not finished with argos but not sure which way to play it .......

:mad:

biscit

It sounds like very bad service. But not a con. I doubt it is deliberate.

I doubt that there is any law that obliges the company to do anything beyond give you your money back if they cannot supply the goods.

Tozer

mancuk29 wrote: »

Think of it this way ...

400 customers order the item at 73.00 plus postage and argos sit for one month before telling the customer they have become aware the item is discontinued ..... thats a lot of dosh in interest .. especially if its common practise ....
:mad:

Even if they were to achieve 2.5% p.a. return, you are talking about £60 or so interest.

I doubt very much this is a deliberate ploy!

hummingb

Some Business accounts dont even offer interest, instead you have to pay them for the payment to go in

soolin

I had a similar issue with Argos, I've tried searching the forums for it but the search facility shows up unrelated stuff and not the thread I want.

Basically I bought a Fridge Freezer in early May that showed as in stock, like you i had a date on which I would get a call about delivery. That date came and went so I called them, apparently there was no stock and I would have to wait. I called up pretending to be a new customer and asked specifically if they had that model in stock before I paid, and they were happy to assure me that the item was available and showing as ready for delivery within 21 days.

My one though was not available. I was given another date, again that came and went but again they were still selling the exact model but now at £100 dearer.

To cut a long story short I had to hassle and pester them to gte my item and it finally arrived approx 8 weeks after they took my payment in full. At no point during those 8 weeks did it ever show as out of stock and awaiting delivery.