Comet - AVOID if want good customer service

cheapsally

Bought a netbook from comet a month ago. plugged it to mains to charge and after fully charged, started it and it worked fine for an hour or so and showed 100% power but as I unplugged it from mains it just shut down saying low power. checked battery and plugged back to mains. Worked fine but as soon as unplugged shut down again. It seems that the battery was not keeping any charge but saying fully charged. Took it back next day. After a phone call to manufacture, customer services lady told me that there was some problem with it and we have to send it for repairs and she will not replace or refund as the contract was with manufacture and not with comet. I was angry as it seems to me the product was faulty before even I bought it and I knew that my contract was with retailer. I just said no. First she tried to convince me that there was no way that she could replace or refund but after I told her my rights as a customer she went to speak to her manager and return back with him. He apologized to me and asked her to replace it with another one.
I think customer services staff is trained to not replace or refund unless they really have to. I don't know why they do this. It should not cost them if they return faulty product back to manufacture.

mary-op

I'll check my consumer rights before I go back to Comet so I know exactly where I stand. I've had my laptop for 4 weeks, it should be 'fit for purpose' as they say, and isn't so I want a refund.........or at least a replacement model that has a better help-line than Acer.
With Comet being so inaccessible for me (disability, don't drive, no bus service etc) I think I'd prefer my money back and shop closer to home.

shylock1

Just a thought really about companies such as Comet who trading standards seem to be fed up of, to the point of advising disgruntled customers to "write to them and don't forget to send the letter recorded delivery" - yeah right, most people don't realise that there is no obligation, what so ever, to sign for a recorded delivery letter, so in effect you could waste your money sending one in the first place.

I have now almost resolved my 'problem' with Comet.

I simply advised them that next Saturday (a busy shopping day in their stores) i would turn up at the relevant store and approach everyone in the computer section, advising them NOT to purchase an extended warranty because they are a con. Comet response via the ast manager was that he would have me removed from the store by security. My response - " I know you will, but only as far as the door, then i will stand outside and advise people before they enter the store"
his response (on behalf of comet) " we will have you removed from the front of the store"
My Reply " I dont think so, you only rent the store, the land outside belongs to a management company, they would have to remove me, and since i wont be breaking the law, they couldn't do it without a court injunction"
His response "people will just laugh at you, it happens all the time"
My response " you get that many complaints?"
His response on behalf of Comet (about 6 staff had gathered around by this stage) "F*CK OFF"
my response "see you tomorrow"

Next day, in a spirit of reconciliation i returned to the store. "I have thought about yesterday, and what you said... (pause).. if you have that many complaints you must be pretty bad, so i have decided to launch a facebook group about Comet, basically anyone with a complaint just posts the details, then a few dozen, maybe more, people all turn up at the same store one day ( it used to be called 'flash mobbing') and tie up the staff with long winded technical queries, such as how loud does this hifi go? does this vacuum cleaner work, and if so can i see it working? oh and lots of people form an orderly queue at customer services to complain about random stuff.

Comet have hinted that they will give me the original price in vouchers, my view is " so you are admiting that I am right?"

problems with companies can be fun to resolve if you dont let the !!!!!!s grind you down.

Esqui

How incredibly childish of you.

Have fun with that.

djb215

Esqui wrote: »

How incredibly childish of you.

Have fun with that.

Agreed, ridiculous.

My experience has been great so far with Comet.
Purchased an Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Laptop from them in May 2008, and a common design fault with laptops that have cheap hinges is that cracks form along the edge of the lid.

At the start of the month I wrote to H/O and explained the situation, and explained in a calm, but firm manner that I was seeking a repair or replacement under SOGA.

Within a week of receiving my letter they phoned to arrange for one of their engineers to have a look at the laptop, who tightened the hinges, ordered a new lid cover, then a week later another engineer came round to fit it and hey presto back to normal :T

Granted by the sound of it their telephone CS leaves a lot to be desired, but put it in writing and (at least from my experience) they seem to respond well.

OP, keep on at them, but don't go down the route of slander like some trolls on here, it will get you nowhere, and potentially into trouble.

malc_b

djb215 wrote: »

OP, keep on at them, but don't go down the route of slander like some trolls on here, it will get you nowhere, and potentially into trouble.

I have no intention of slandering Comet. Everything I have posted is exactly what happen and the truth is not slander, even if it does paint Comet in a very bad light. I suppose customer service may vary from store to store. Certainly the Manager at Comet Chippenham needs to revisit the school of good manners. When the front desk tells me the manager will ring me I expect that to happen. It's bad manners not to and that is the fault of the individual manager, and his superiors of course. The only Comet people that phoned me were head office customer services and they seemed powerless. All they seemed able to do was call the store manager. It was up to him to do nothing or in my case annoy this customer by never returning phone calls, never dealing with the damage they caused to the camera, never offering a satisfactory solution.

I'd also be wary of Samsung cameras. It seems likely that the fault on my D85 could be generic as I turned up a post on this site for a D85 with a similar fault as the first hit. One of the front desk staff said she had the model before and described a fault with that that could also have a common root. And, at the end of the day it was Samsung's repairers who failed to correct the problem when it went back for repair so their service was well below par too.

mrcol1000

shylock1 wrote: »

Just a thought really about companies such as Comet who trading standards seem to be fed up of, to the point of advising disgruntled customers to "write to them and don't forget to send the letter recorded delivery" - yeah right, most people don't realise that there is no obligation, what so ever, to sign for a recorded delivery letter, so in effect you could waste your money sending one in the first place.

I have now almost resolved my 'problem' with Comet.

I simply advised them that next Saturday (a busy shopping day in their stores) i would turn up at the relevant store and approach everyone in the computer section, advising them NOT to purchase an extended warranty because they are a con. Comet response via the ast manager was that he would have me removed from the store by security. My response - " I know you will, but only as far as the door, then i will stand outside and advise people before they enter the store"
his response (on behalf of comet) " we will have you removed from the front of the store"
My Reply " I dont think so, you only rent the store, the land outside belongs to a management company, they would have to remove me, and since i wont be breaking the law, they couldn't do it without a court injunction"
His response "people will just laugh at you, it happens all the time"
My response " you get that many complaints?"
His response on behalf of Comet (about 6 staff had gathered around by this stage) "F*CK OFF"
my response "see you tomorrow"

Next day, in a spirit of reconciliation i returned to the store. "I have thought about yesterday, and what you said... (pause).. if you have that many complaints you must be pretty bad, so i have decided to launch a facebook group about Comet, basically anyone with a complaint just posts the details, then a few dozen, maybe more, people all turn up at the same store one day ( it used to be called 'flash mobbing') and tie up the staff with long winded technical queries, such as how loud does this hifi go? does this vacuum cleaner work, and if so can i see it working? oh and lots of people form an orderly queue at customer services to complain about random stuff.

Comet have hinted that they will give me the original price in vouchers, my view is " so you are admiting that I am right?"

problems with companies can be fun to resolve if you dont let the !!!!!!s grind you down.

You can see now why people who work in retail don't want to help their customers. The problem with people like you is that you annoy the people working in the shop so that they hate their customers whether the customers are friendly or not.
I personally would have let you carry out your threats and then had you removed from the store hopefully with force. Shops are of course private property and can ask anyone to leave the store without reason and ask the police to remove them if they refuse.

letsbehonest

Comets!!!!!!!!!! just enter the name comets in the forum search box and read about this bunch of halfwits

cajef

Went to our local Comet to buy a Panasonic TV they were advertising in their last sale only to be told nil stock but they could get a brand new one by the weekend and it would be delivered free, fair enough, we ordered one and agreed delivery day on the sales receipt.

By 3 pm on the day still no TV, phoned their contact number quoting the order number to be told there was a delay because we had ordered an 'ex display' model and they were having trouble getting one, then the line went dead, after two more calls both with different excuses I finally managed to get put through to the local shop. I was then told by someone that the TV had actually come in but someone else had wanted one urgently so they had let them have it.

At his point I jumped into the car and drove to the local shop and demanded a refund making sure, though calmly and not shouting, that a crowded shop heard what had happened and how they had tried to sell me an ex display model as a brand new TV, I think they were only too pleased to give me the refund to get me out of the shop.

I came home and found the same TV advertised online at John Lewis, ordered on the Saturday and delivered free on the following Tuesday, in its original unopened box and with a five year guarantee.

Would never go near Comet again for anything.

shylock1

mrcol1000 wrote: »

You can see now why people who work in retail don't want to help their customers. The problem with people like you is that you annoy the people working in the shop so that they hate their customers whether the customers are friendly or not.
I personally would have let you carry out your threats and then had you removed from the store hopefully with force. Shops are of course private property and can ask anyone to leave the store without reason and ask the police to remove them if they refuse.

very mature of you. "removed hopefully with force"? true genius.

Maybe the problem with 'people like me' (do you often stereotype people?) is that they are fed up of being treated as a mere income stream by companies like Comet? just a thought, but since you seem to prefer violence, or as you put it 'force' i fear i best not discuss the matter with you.

Oh and another point, people who work in retail have chosen to work in what is called a service industry.... now go figure why they feel that offering a poor service is justifiable. mind you if they only get compliants from people who want to use or respond to physical force maybe they are in the right field, they are obviously unemployable elsewhere.

you obviously have lead a sheltered life. Have a nice day.