Beware windows 7 rip-off!

hogweed

[FONT=&quot]If you buy a new computer on the basis that the useless Vista which is supplied with it will be replaced free by windows 7, don't believe it. Here’s a letter which I have just sent to Curry’s and HP:

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[FONT=&quot]A few months ago, I bought an HP laptop from Curry’s. One of the things which helped persuade me to buy this model was that it included a free upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7, available late October.[/FONT]

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I have just tried to get my free upgrade from HP, and have been told that I must pay a charge of £22! I spoke to Curry’s several times, and was given different and contradictory replies each time, but eventually the consensus was that (a) this is nothing to do with us – it's HP who are levying the charge; and (b) it's the courier’s charge (£22 for delivering one DVD!!!) so it doesn't count, the upgrade is still free![/FONT]

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As a member of the Consumer’s Association, my knowledge of consumer law tells me two things: (1) that I should have been told up front if there was in fact a substantial charge for the upgrade, and that it was not in fact free at all; and (2) that my contract is with Curry’s, and not HP or anybody else, so it is the responsibility of Curry’s to honour it, regardless of any policy which HP may adopt.[/FONT]

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This is a breathtaking rip-off, which will affect potentially tens of thousands of people, and I have reported you to Trading Standards. I am absolutely unprepared to pay this charge, and believe you to be in breach of contract. I would like either for you to honour the contract which was established between us when I bought the laptop on the basis that I would get a free upgrade to Windows 7, or to return the laptop for a full refund.[/FONT]

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Time is of the essence, so if I don't have your agreement to this by Friday November 6th, I will take whatever action I see fit force you to comply. Believe me, this will involve massive adverse publicity for Curry’s – I have recently been made redundant, so have a great deal of time to spend writing to consumer bodies, the press, the media and many internet forums.[/FONT]

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I trust that you will be keen to honour your legal contractual obligations, and so will make legal action and publicity unnecessary.

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timnicebutdim_2

Good on you, I heard about this a couple of months ago as the gf works for a big computer company. Apparently it's being done all over the shop and I don't think it's necessarily down to the retailers. Will be doing the same as you soon as I think if enough people complain something may be done. The point is if something is advertised as free then you are charged for delivery without being told then it's unfair....

If you have the original documentation (receipt etc) which shows the free upgrade in writing this may help your case. Will be dropping the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) a line as well when i get round to it! They're quite good at these sort of things...

accymarc

I too have tried to get my "Free" windows 7 upgrade for my HP Compaq laptop. When I purchased it from my local Curry's I was told that all I needed to do was return to the store after its release date with my receipt and I would be able to pick it up.
So I went back in only to be told that you cannot get it from the store but need to visit the HP windows 7 upgrade site, At this stage I was already a bit annoyed and frustrated at having a wasted journey. I went onto the website and started entering all my serial numbers and then find a prompt for a coupon code, which after much searching around all the usual rubbish paperwork no one ever bothers to look at, I couldnt find anything. I tried to skip this step to then be confronted with a crazy charge of 21.90 for shipping.
I then thought I would contact Curry's to see if they had just forgotten to give me this magic coupon code to remove this crazy additional charge but to no avail. As like hogweed writes they just stated that this was a charge levied by the handler and not them. I told them I was not happy and that neither the promotion advertising in Store or the instore Sales advisors brought this additional charge to my attention. At worst any delivery charge i would have expected would be around the five pound mark and I cannot see how they can justify twenty pound plus for something that they stated you could get in store for free.
I am not prepared to accept such a crazy charge and will therefore be holding back on this upgrade. If anyone else finds any more useful information or places to complain to please post so that I can follow them.
Cheers

update.
I have now raised a complaint via the Consumer Direct Website which links to this forum link and would advise others to follow suit . Hopefully then we can then bring to account companies who are more interested in selling product insurance and credit facilities then explaining what extras you will be expected to pay out for suposed "free" upgrades.

accymarc

just as an additional remark on tim's post the promotion details did not appear on the receipt. These were just on promotion material and by word of mouth of the sales advisor.

SplanK

Toshibia are also doing this as I found out this week trying to update a customers laptop... Not sure what Dell are doing - ive yet to attempt to get a copy!

this is an issue with the manufacturer NOT the retailer - although you could claim that the goods are no longer fit for purpose as the advertised offer of a "free" upgrade to Win7 is no longer available

almillar

This is another case of misinformation, or leaving out important pieces of information. Microsoft announced that some computers sold before Windows 7 launched would be eligible for a free upgrade to 7 - this involved the manufacturers sending the DVD to customers when launched, and all the consumer had to pay was the shipping/packaging. (Do I remember a £30 cap being mentioned?).
So for the people above who expected a free upgrade, although the manufacturers are being cheeky asking for that much for the upgrade (they have to pay people to administer the programme too), your beef is really with the retailer.
'Free upgrade to Win7!'
'Totally free?'
'Well, you'll just have to pay for shipping'
That last bit was left out, but would have been in the small print of any of the manufacturer's promotional material. The Win 7 upgrade programme worked similarly to the Vista one.

uther_2

accymarc wrote: »

I too have tried to get my "Free" windows 7 upgrade for my HP Compaq laptop. When I purchased it from my local Curry's I was told that all I needed to do was return to the store after its release date with my receipt and I would be able to pick it up.
So I went back in only to be told that you cannot get it from the store but need to visit the HP windows 7 upgrade site, At this stage I was already a bit annoyed and frustrated at having a wasted journey. I went onto the website and started entering all my serial numbers and then find a prompt for a coupon code, which after much searching around all the usual rubbish paperwork no one ever bothers to look at, I couldnt find anything. I tried to skip this step to then be confronted with a crazy charge of 21.90 for shipping.
Cheers

EXACTLY what happened to me.I actually asked about the discount voucher when I bought the laptop from curry's,and was told to just bring the receipt into the shop and they would give me an upgrade disc.Today I tried to do just that,and had a bit of a row in the shop about it.They lied to me.
I'll never buy anything from them again.

Error404

I will never buy another HP product ever again. A shambles of an outfit and utterly disgraceful customer service.

isthatreduced

Received Windows 7 upgrade today.

I purchased a Laptop from PC world in July,heavily advertised in store as free windows 7 upgrade.
I had to pay £9.99 so not as much as others,but it should have been clearly displayed and additional costs outlined.

Error404

They even tried to swindle Arnold Schwarzenegger with the Windows 7 upgrade, apparently he declined the offer adding "Has to be Vista, Baby"

mike_the_bike_2

Aldi purchased laptop last month had an * against the words "Free upgrade to Windows 7" which said £19.99 shipping charge etc..

To be honest whilst I sympathise you should be aware that there have been a number of HP models being sold the last few months that only if you go on the HP site you will see don't qualify for a "free" upgrade at all so some folk are going to be even more disappointed than you when they find windows 7 is going to cost them £100 to install