pc world Whateverhappens

stephen77

Murdoch2345 wrote: »

So in short, are you willing to bet 200 odd quid on the fact that your daughter will "accidentally" write off her laptop in the next 3 years. That's the only real question you need to ask and the only way it'd be worth the money.

My 3 old daughter has broke the lap top with a few other issues on top. Basically its been repaired 6 times.
So the warranty has proved good money.

however before I had children my PC never broke.

6ettinold

Hi all,
my other half received a letter from 'whatever happens' this morning. Basically this letter states that her Credit Card company refuased DSG's request for payment of January's installment of £3.99. This is news to us!!

She purchased an Advent laptop ( and two other products-total purchase=£480 ) from Curry's in Derby on 30/12/10. At the time we were told as we'd spent so much that they'd thrown in 3 years warranty on the laptop for FREE!! Lying !!!!!!! No paperwork was signed, there was no attempt to SELL us a warranty. From what I'm reading on this thread, its likely that the 1st month wasnt even free as the laptop was actually 4.99 cheaper than the purchase price.

Could DSG therefore claim we had entered intio an agreement as we'd been 'cohersed' into paying the 1st months cover?


This morning's letter almost reads like a default notice - 'IMPORTANT! THE WHATEVER HAPPENS AGREEMENT FOR YOUR ADVENT LAPTOP HAS BEEN SUSPENDED'

WHAT AGREEMENT???!! WE DIDN'T AGREE TO ANYTHING!!

We are extremely angry - you'd assume from this letter that the item is not gauranteed!

This behaviour from such a big retailer is disgusting - I'm going to dig out the receipt, demand a refund of £4.99 and pass copies of all documentation to Trading standards.

Esqui

It could be that the salesman added it on for free (i.e. by reducing the price of the laptop by the price of the first month) without your knowledge, and then his manager cancelled it for him being a !!!!.

6ettinold

Esqui wrote: »

It could be that the salesman added it on for free (i.e. by reducing the price of the laptop by the price of the first month) without your knowledge, and then his manager cancelled it for him being a !!!!.

...thanks for your reply. Mmmm... Still baffles me as to why anyone should pay for cover on an item that is gauranteed. I worked for another bunch ( Dom&Genenral ) - all warranties whether sold at time of purchase or later via mailshot took effect from month 13.

Thing is, I've always had a low opinion of PCWorld and Curry's and have avoided. My other half was left some money and therefore any buying decisions became hers. She bought and had delivered a fridge freezer from Currys online a fortnight ago, so we're probably gonna be plagued for 'Whatever Happens' cover with that.
Our Washer Dryer is on its way out and she wants a big range cooker in the next month or two - we won't be visiting currys thats for sure.

We're a tiny zero in the DSG scheme of things - but they clearly don't value our custom and don't give a s**t as far as repeat business is concerned!

Trancelab_2

I work for PCW and would like to say sorry for such bad service given by the customer advisor's in some stores but please don't let this reflect on every member in every store. My store is very open and honest and if I ever caught some selling something that a customer didn't know about I'd make sure that person was on the bad end of a disciplinary!

Widelats

Trancelab wrote: »

I work for PCW and would like to say sorry for such bad service given by the customer advisor's in some stores but please don't let this reflect on every member in every store. My store is very open and honest and if I ever caught some selling something that a customer didn't know about I'd make sure that person was on the bad end of a disciplinary!

yes, i was going to buy a laptop/dongle the sales assistant said don't bother, his friend had got one and the internet is crap. saved me £400. i bought a regular netbook from cex instead.

Esqui

Widelats wrote: »

the sales assistant said don't bother... internet is crap

Now I know there's a lot of people moaning on blogs and posting hundreds of cat pictures, but really...that's a bit much

Widelats

Esqui wrote: »

Now I know there's a lot of people moaning on blogs and posting hundreds of cat pictures, but really...that's a bit much

he said the mobile internet is crap, it loses connection a lot, is slow, etc etc, he didn't mean the internet as a whole.

midget_gems

I am going to add my little two pence here, which most of you should find "interesting" at the very least. Bear in mind, this is an account of someone who worked in a different major electrical retailer, which will remain unnamed but incredibly easy to figure out (the opposition, basically).

At this particular retail store, pressures are very similar for sellign warranties, only this time with the options of a one off payment at the time or the four quarter payments by a DD mandate, and in both cases you are required to sign for each one. This, is expectedly normal.

However, the way the shop works (and i imagine that this is VERY similar for PC World and other DSG stores) is on internal figures. The internal figures show who has sold what, and how much the shop has sold in total for the day and ultimatley the week and month. With the main focus of course, being on warranties. These figures get carted off the regional manager and the main directors and whoever is underachieving gets a bollocking. THIS is where the need for "the con" comes in. Its not PC world being an evil company trying to fleece customers out of thier hard earned to cash (well, to an extent anyway), its the managers of the stores retaining thier jobs (and thier salespeoples jobs) by showing that they can achieve what has been set (and get nice juicy bonuses for doing so).

Of course, should these targets be unrealistic to hit, or even just on a "bad month", then any amount of ways to manipulate those figures will arise, and here for the masses is one of them ;-


Quite simple really, but whenever someone would sell a warranty it would not matter how it was sold (i.e. payment plan or one off). As long as it registered as being there by the end of the day, it counted as a warranty and would go on the figures. A refund in store would deduct from this figure, so instore refunds will be avoided at all costs (another tactic of bumping figures, by sending people to refund at a different store and deducting thier figures instead of thier own). This meant that the direct debit payment method was much perferred, as wel as using the "you dont pay your first payment until the end of the first month" selling point. This gives the customer the option to cancel the policy before the first payment is made, and void the extended (but not statutory 12 month, of course) guarantee. What they wouldn't tell you though, is that if you cancelled the direct debit at the bank (instead of ringing up the store), the store would have no way of recording the cancellation and the "figure" would stick. Although they company made no money from you, they showed as selling that warranty and all the managers are happy. You would get the obligatory "your warranty is void" letter and that was that.

whenever the staff would buy anything instore, they would ALWAYS buy a pp warranty on thier own cards and immediatley cancel it the next day using internet banking. I have never seen anyones monthly figures actually reflect legitimate warranty sales (except those who morally refused and sold nothing of course). I'm betting that the salespeople are adding these Direct Debits on sneakily so that they would be noticed and cancelled at the bank. Most people would just cancel and not bother persuing it further, and the salesman gets boast at how many warranties he's sold that month, along with a fat paycheque.

esuhl

I remember The Link selling me insurance on my first mobile phone. I was told that it covered "everything" and that someone claimed recently because they dropped their phone in a pint of beer. Needless to say that I later discovered that there was a £50 excess (on a ~£100 phone?!), the accessories (charger, etc.) weren't covered and neither was accidental damage (so the shop assistant had lied to me).

I learnt my lesson and read all contracts in full before signing them now!

In Phones4U I nearly signed what I had been told was a "12 month" contract only to find that it said "18 months" in the small-print. The salesman said that was a "technicality" as no is tied in for 18 months and that I could call him after a year and he'd sort out a new phone and contract. I said, "Oh - that's fine, then you won't have a problem in changing the wording to '12 months' then." When he refused, it was quite clear that he was trying to scam me.

In Dixons they tried to get me to buy a £30 warranty for a £60 personal CD player, and said I had no rights under the Sale of Goods Act if the device became faulty.

In my opinion, these sales techniques are criminally fraudulent and endemic in many national high street shops. But they can only defraud you if you accept verbal agreements or fail to read/understand the written contract. You definitely have to be on your guard!