Maplin Electronics, replacement policy

forgotmyname

I bought a security camera set (2). One worked great the other one would only did when it felt like it. Also the
LED ring didnt work on one, Took it back and had no issues with a refund. They even said i could have returned it
to my local store which was closer to my home address rather than the store i bought it from initially.

teabelly

I'm having the same problem with maplin. I bought online so it is even harder! I took it back in store as they had stock. They wouldn't let me demonstrate the fault and insisted it was sent away. The useless assistant wrote down an incorrect fault description so it was returned to me 'no fault found'. I switched it on, immediately faulty! Had to send it back by post as clearly the assistants don't understand simple English - intermittent fault is too complicated for them. Still waiting for a replacement. I had to send a picture of the problem to prove it as I don't want the same unit returned to me again. Paid by paypal with a credit card so I am hoping that might cover me for a full refund as an item going faulty within a few weeks is not of merchantable quality.

They used to be a really good place to shop but I don't think I'll be using them again.

Any other online merchant I have used has replaced goods or issued a refund without so much as a quibble.

tr1umphgt6

I too am having issues with a refund from Maplins.

I purchased a set top box and a dvd writer on line. They had an offer on at the time and if you spent over 35 quid you got a 4 way surge adaptor worth 17 quid as a free gift so I took them up on the offer.

The items all arrived quickly but the DVD writer was faulty as the drawer wouldn't open. I sent it back for a replacement, the replacement came and that was faulty too. So I requested a refund and returned the faulty item.

When I got my refund I was totally astounded to find that they had deducted the £17 cost of the "free" gift and only given me a partial refund. I complained by email and got fobbed off saying it was their policy. I phoned customer services and they were pretty obnoxious, asked to speak to a manager and was told there are no managers or supervisors working. Eventually I managed to agree that if I sent the free gift back that they would provide a refund.

A week later I received an invoice, showing the free gift being charged and refunded with a zero balance. In other words they hadn't refunded it. I complained in writing and just got an offer of a credit note as a "gesture of good will". I replied to this saying this is unacceptable as I don't want to use Maplins ever again after their shoddy service so want a refund rather than a credit note. A week went by with no reply. I've called them this evening and again got fobbed off with the customer services telling me that a refund has to be authorised by a supervisor and they don't work in the evenings. I asked them for the email address of Keith Pacey, their CEO so I could send him my long trail of emails to show how badly his customer services treat their customers but they refused to give it to me. So now I am stuck with having to call them during my busy working day to try and sort this out. The whole point of buying on line was so I can deal with stuff in the evening. Not impressed and I'm still not convinced that I'll ever get my refund. What a bunch of shisters and I've wasted much more than the 17 quid in my valuable time trying to get this sorted. I certainly won't be using Maplins again...

teabelly

That's the trouble with free gifts. They can cause problems if the goods they come with are faulty. I'd have expected them to ask for the free gift to be returned or paid for though. But they should have asked first rather than just debiting the money. I suspect there is some small print somewhere that would have made you aware of it. It isn't good practice to offer a credit note instead of real money back to whatever payment method you offered especially as you returned the free gift. If I'd had 2 faulty items sent to me I'd have expected to have kept the free gift as compensation for the hassle. As they were too tight to do this with you they have lost a customer that could have earnt them a lot more than the gift was worth.

After all the trouble I had they then told me the item was no longer stocked by them. Said they had done the refund. Failed to do the refund so I had to contact them again so they finally refunded me in January. Useless shower. I had to prove they hadn't done the refund as they swore blind they had!

They do have CS email but it is quite often slow. I often email them to save having to deal with the frequently useless telephone people. When you contact them ask for the complaints procedure and contact details. A well worded, polite but firm complaint letter quite often does the trick.

DCFC79

tr1umphgt6 wrote: »

I too am having issues with a refund from Maplins.

I purchased a set top box and a dvd writer on line. They had an offer on at the time and if you spent over 35 quid you got a 4 way surge adaptor worth 17 quid as a free gift so I took them up on the offer.

The items all arrived quickly but the DVD writer was faulty as the drawer wouldn't open. I sent it back for a replacement, the replacement came and that was faulty too. So I requested a refund and returned the faulty item.

When I got my refund I was totally astounded to find that they had deducted the £17 cost of the "free" gift and only given me a partial refund. I complained by email and got fobbed off saying it was their policy. I phoned customer services and they were pretty obnoxious, asked to speak to a manager and was told there are no managers or supervisors working. Eventually I managed to agree that if I sent the free gift back that they would provide a refund.

A week later I received an invoice, showing the free gift being charged and refunded with a zero balance. In other words they hadn't refunded it. I complained in writing and just got an offer of a credit note as a "gesture of good will". I replied to this saying this is unacceptable as I don't want to use Maplins ever again after their shoddy service so want a refund rather than a credit note. A week went by with no reply. I've called them this evening and again got fobbed off with the customer services telling me that a refund has to be authorised by a supervisor and they don't work in the evenings. I asked them for the email address of Keith Pacey, their CEO so I could send him my long trail of emails to show how badly his customer services treat their customers but they refused to give it to me. So now I am stuck with having to call them during my busy working day to try and sort this out. The whole point of buying on line was so I can deal with stuff in the evening. Not impressed and I'm still not convinced that I'll ever get my refund. What a bunch of shisters and I've wasted much more than the 17 quid in my valuable time trying to get this sorted. I certainly won't be using Maplins again...

why drag a thread up that was originally old

wealdroam

tr1umphgt6 wrote: »

So I requested a refund and returned the faulty item.

When I got my refund I was totally astounded to find that they had deducted the £17 cost of the "free" gift and only given me a partial refund.

Did you return the 'free' surge adapter too?

If not, then you have to pay for it.

It was only free if you spent over £35.
Now that you have had a partial refund, is the resulting total spend now less than £35?