Currys "free" Windows 7 update is not free - how to resolve?

nhaqueoi

We purchased 2 laptops from Currys in August with a promise of a free upgrade to Windows 7 once it became available later in the year. I have tried to upgrade the laptops but found I had to pay £43.98. This I thought uncceptable.
The store (Horsham) at the time had huge posters advertising the deal which was designed to ensure people still bought new PCs with Vista ahead of the new Windows 7 release.
The saleman used the upgrade offer as the main thrust of his patter and at no stage mentioned there would be charges for the "free" upgrade. The deal was done but I was not given any details about the upgrade.
In December I decided to upgrade and contacted the store only to be given a web address. It seems there was some small print with the offer that post and packing was extra. The website though states the cost is actually for Windows 7 not post and packing.

Aat no time was this explained to me. Either way £43.98 cannot be seen as reasonable post and packing charges for 2 CDs.

I believe I have a verbal contract with Currys for a free upgrade. Currys customer services have refused to homour this saying the P&P charges were advertised on TV and on posters in stores. My position is I had a verbal contract with the store for a free upgrade (there was never any mention of charges and I was not shown any small print).

I'm sure others must have experienced similar. Has anyone had any luck getting the free upgrade? Should I persue this through consumer protection law?

olly300

What consumer protection law?

Complain to consumer direct. If they think you have a valid complaint they will tell you what to do.

BTW sales staff often don't give the full facts to get a sale and will deny anything unless it is written down. So in future ask them to sign their name against any offer. Even then they will happily do so if they know they won't be working in the store store soon.

neilmcl

I'm sure all the posters would probably have had a little bit of small print attached with a line similar to "Terms & Conditions apply". The store staff are under no obligation to point you to the small print. If it was there and the OP didn't read it then tough.

Littlemiss27

nhaqueoi wrote: »

Aat no time was this explained to me. Either way £43.98 cannot be seen as reasonable post and packing charges for 2 CDs.

When I upgraded my dell laptop via the windows 7 upgrade deal I was charged around £15 for postage which I did think was excesive, as I had been told by a friend that the CD's were being shipped from ROI. The charged seemed much more reasonable when I got my UPS tracking number from dell and saw that the disc was coming from California.

4743hudsonj

The fees include admin and airmail from the US so they are quite reasonable really. The terms where there when you bought, tough luck.

bignred05

Littlemiss27 wrote: »

When I upgraded my dell laptop via the windows 7 upgrade deal I was charged around £15 for postage which I did think was excesive, as I had been told by a friend that the CD's were being shipped from ROI. The charged seemed much more reasonable when I got my UPS tracking number from dell and saw that the disc was coming from California.

I also purchased this dell laptop from the Carphone warehouse
however the CPW did a massive boo-boo as it never stated "clearly" on the web or told people over the phone when ordering and admitted to this about a £15 surcharge

resulting in CPW issueing £15 cheques to thousands (yes thousands) of customers
as I bought 2 of these laptops I got £30 back

Chrysalis

they not reasonable, I can buy something of ebay in america and they can ship it to me within a week for under a fiver no problem, I have even had free shipping from there.

In addition the stuff is likely already in the uk or europe ready to be shipped in a warehouse somewhere.

There has been talk of this on tech sites about these oem vista machines that have a free upgrade to windows 7, the advise was at the time to not buy any of these machines and wait for the release since the oem's were coining it in on the shipping fees.

I would consider going back to the retailer stating you either want a full refund or the shipping fees waived for the dvd. They may let you walk out the store with a retail copy to keep you happy.

HornyDevil

Chrysalis wrote: »

they not reasonable, I can buy something of ebay in america and they can ship it to me within a week for under a fiver no problem, I have even had free shipping from there.

Presumably on the things you had free shipping on you had paid for the item though?

The problem you've got is trying to prove you were verbally told that you would get a free upgrade. I assume you've got nothing in writing - anything on the receipt or sales order form?

deanos

I think Currys were refunding the postage charge on the upgrades to start with , i may be wrong but im sure ive seen it mentioned somewhere.

What i have noticed is the charges vary vastly, Acer charge £12 and HP/Compaq is £22

elfen

I got mine from Staples and didn't pay a penny for my upgrade. Just went in with my proof of purchase and walked out 5 minutes later with a copy of 7