We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum... Read More »
We're aware that some users are experiencing technical issues which the team are working to resolve. See the Community Noticeboard for more info. Thank you for your patience.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
pc world Whateverhappens
Options
Comments
-
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!
Fool on you for not reading contracts, while customer advisors (and there are genuinely very nice people who work in retail) may act friendly and nice the bottom line is to extract as much money from you. If you took a wander around PcWorld (or Comet) and compare the customer advisors selling items and laptops etc against the in store TechGuys (soon to be KnowHow) and the way they both go about treating customers, you'll notice CA are under pressure while TTG don't have targets, they don't have managers supervising and generally unless something goes wrong outside their control the rapor with customers is much more relaxed and natural.0 -
CoolHotCold wrote: »Fool on you for not reading contracts... the bottom line is to extract as much money from you.
Hey - it only happened once when I was young, so you can't say that I don't read contracts (in plural).
Anyway, what the salesman said technically formed part of a legal contract. The problem is not that I didn't understand the contract (although I admit that I should have read all printed terms and queried the fact that the verbal and printed contracts were contradictory); the problem is that the salesman fraudulently mis-represented the contract knowing that I would be unable to prove what he had said in court.
I know that all a salesman cares about is the profit he can make, but I was shocked that large national retailers should employ criminals who routinely defraud customers. Still, you live and learn.
Another dodgy company is T-Mobile - they lied to me about their legal/contractual obligations to prevent me cancelling a contract when they tried to change the terms (after a month!) without my consent. It was only when I threatened them with court action that they relented. I wonder how many people were misled by their lies and how much unearned profit that got them.0 -
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.
Back on topic, I'd never send someone out the door with anything on the receipt that they don't know about, or aren't entirely sure about. And yet my figures for whateverhappens aren't bad...I have no need to lie to massage the figures.
I have heard stories about a salesman in another local store who does do things like that - lies about it, says it's compulsory, adds it on without any knowledge (and at the end of the sale says "By the way, could you sign this to get your warranty"). Safe to say, most of the others in that store, as well as mine want to give him a good slap.Squirrel!If I tell you who I work for, I'm not allowed to help you. If I don't say, then I can help you with questions and fixing products. Regardless, there's still no secret EU law.
Now 20% cooler0 -
CoolHotCold wrote: »TTG don't have targets
The Tech Guys do have a target, depending on store they have a target of around £300 per day in services.0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

Categories
- All Categories
- 350.9K Banking & Borrowing
- 253.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 453.5K Spending & Discounts
- 243.9K Work, Benefits & Business
- 598.7K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 176.9K Life & Family
- 257.2K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.6K Read-Only Boards