PC World Rentsmart conned me!!!

Ketceo

James_Turner wrote: »

Hi,
I used to work in asset finance and I am concerned about your story...
First and formost, RentSmart provide rental contracts to BUSINESS OWNERS ONLY...not students.
Do you own your own business? If you do, then you will be bound by RentSmart's rental contract.
If you do not own your own business - then it is a different story entirely. If the PC World representative informed RentSmart that you are a business owner and you did not confirm the same to RentSmart; then, the PC World representative has clearly lied to RentSmart and in the process invalidated the rental contract between RentSmart and yourself.
My advice to you is to send a letter to RentSmart and advise them that you would like to terminate the rental contract on this basis. If RentSmart's letter of reply threaten action, fees etc. simply reply that it is the PC World representative who has provided misinformation to RentSmart - not you. Further, if Rentsmart do not agree to cancel their invalid rental contract; then, you will take the matter to the ombudsman for their review of this matter.
In another words, don't take any crap. It really annoys me that RentSmart appear not to have carried out any cross-checks with you and confirmed that the information provided to them by the PC World representative is entirely accurate, prior to the sign-off of any rental contracts between you and them.
Be ready for a fight though, as neither RentSmart nor PC World will want to deal with this issue. Remember that RentSmart have already paid PC World's invoice (which you would have had you paid cash!) and they will want their money back, plus interest and fees of course!
PC World have sold the PC and will not want to deal with this issue at all, as the disagreement is between you and RentSmart's contract. By the way, which PC World store was involved?
You MUST always read the T&Cs of ANY contract before you sign it. Take it away and think very hard (maybe over two-three nights) before you sign ANYTHING! If it sounds too nice to be true...it usually is.
Take my advice...always pay cash for a laptop. Don't be sold finance...except the purchase of a house!
Good luck, James

James, Evening -

I am a newcomer to this particular e-forum / thread.

I have made a new post just tonight - it should still be the last one.

If you could assist in anyway it would be greatly appreciated upon.

Looking forward to your valuable advice in reply please...

mazy_m

Hi all... I'm glad to see that people are getting some use out of this thread!! my story wasn't a very happy ending really in the end I paid it off early just to get it to go away luckily when I put the laptop onto ebay as a test to see what I might be offered for it it was brought straight away (slightly unexpected!!)and it was for more than the settlement figure but the main thing was it was out of my life...then I brought one with Dell and that was a nightmare for a whole other thread!! lol!

Good luck to everyone who is fighting them!!! I hope you stick at it and get the result that you want....We need to keep threads like this out there for everyone to see and not get conned into things like this...I was so annoyed with them i've not brought a thing from them since and don't ever intend to again!!

Thank you to everyone that has given fantastic advice on here it's the people like you who make this website the success it is as you care about us individuals and don't want to see us being taken advantage of by big companies who can hide behind their name and money!!

Maz

snoockyman

Hi I stupidly was was conned into taking out a 24 month contract in Feb 2011 its due to end in Feb 2013. It was for a £1599 MAC 27" and pay £108 per month have done since that date. I was told by my so called friend who was the store manager stating don't worry at the end you will be able to buy this equipment at the end no problem for one months payment. i am not a business nor have i ever stated i am one so i guess he must have done something in teh contract to have it created. i did try and end this the next day but was told i couldnt i was willing to take it back unused but again told not . i no longer speak with my friend who did nothing but got praise from his bosses as they call it DANNY when they rip off someone as its commission for them and a sale they don't care.

So I thought I would check if I could clear the next few months and see if they had a fair market value to purchase the computer i spoke with (Text removed by MSE Forum Team) customer services who stated that I can not buy the equipment under any circumstances and that I MUST return the equipment to them at my own costs!!! which its a rather large computer so i HAVE TO PAY OUT more money. He then stated if I were to clear up the outstanding payments today then they would demand the computer be sent back to them withing the next few days. I was gobsmacked!! so I pay it off but dont get it for the term agreed?

I have sent some information to watchdog see if they can look into this.

What we need is a more people on board with this or maybe a Facebook page to draw more attention to warn people not to purchase this .

Tomw5021

Thank you for letting me read all those comments regarding dealings with PC world Rentsmart.

Back in Oct 2010 I too took out a contract with PC world for my daughter for a desktop computer and a representative at PC told me that I could take out a computer on a hire purchase scheme for the princely sum of £40 per month for a computer worth £400.

The contract has now finished and I am now having to return the computer after paying out £960 and nothing to show for this as well and to add insult to injury I am looking at the prospect of pay out another £10 -15 pounds to send the computer back to rentsmart.

I too feel conned and by this scheme and I am intrigued as to what have other people have done about this. Next time I get another computer I intend to save the money and get one

ewcia232

I'm in this same situation. 2 years ago me and my boyfriend got laptop and ipad, we wanted to do it on finance but the sales person convinced us that rentsmart its better deal and after 2 years we can own the stuff for as little as one month payment, or upgrade to new technology. Now after 2 years we see that we've been lied to. We still have to pay for another year and to own the equipment in the end of agreement we will have to pay few hundred quid. I'm thinking maybe we should do some group claim? Because I see that there is many people affected...

VixLightfoot

Watch this space guys. My fianc! was conned into a 4 year contract when they sold it as a 3 year one. £50 a month for a £1000 hp laptop. We've just requested details from rentsmart and are putting together research and documentation to confront pc world. xxx

saj_chow

hi everyone,
i have taken out two laptops from pc world and supposed to pay £15 for one and £35 for other. which should be 50 pounds in total but the direct debit of £57 pounds is being taken from my account. i was wondering if i was being charged ppi on the sale. can anyone shed some light on this please. it would be of great help. thanks in advance..
saj

mcjordi

it may be a pro rata payment.. only way to find out would be to contact them on 27th when they should be open again

fizzingwhizbee0

Hi guys,

Thanks for all these posts, and the advice. I have the same story as most really:

Back in September (2012) went into PC World looking to purchase a new MacBook. As I was unable to buy it outright at around £1300, I asked the assistant whether it was possible to pay for it in monthly installments.
I was still unable to afford monthly payments on the MacBook over the lengths of time that they offered, however I found a PC laptop which was of similar spec but at half the price, £699.

On deciding to go for this laptop, I was introduced to the Infinity plan, which the assistant advised would be a good option for me as not only did it enable me to pay in installments that suited my budget, it also included many other benefits, including cash back on my old laptop (making the price of it even cheaper) and, at the end of my payments, the option of receiving an upgrade.

I noticed on the assistants screen that my installments were to be made over two years. I assumed that the cost would be spread out, and foolishly did not do the maths there and then. Later however, I discovered that after the two years I would have paid double what the laptop was worth. I was not made aware that this was the case at any point during my communications with the assistants at PC World.

At the end of November, on finding this forum whist looking up to see if there was a way out of the contract, I became aware of the fact that what I had been sweet talked into signing up for was actually a rental! and that at the end of my contract I wouldn't even get to keep the laptop.
I also discovered here that RentSmart deal only with business customers - I am not a business owner.

It took me a while to realise all of this and I did not think to question it sooner, since as a consumer customer I had never heard of laptop rental, and had no reason to believe that the assistant was providing me with a service other than what I had asked for.

The PC World representative provided misinformation to RentSmart, that I was a business owner, and I was mis-sold a contract that did not match the information that I received from the sales assistant in relation to what I asked for.

If I had been told that the laptop was on rental only, and made aware of the amount of money I would be spending on it, I would have purchased the MacBook I wanted in the first place instead of allowing myself to be conned into purchasing a laptop with similar spec at a lower price on the Infinity plan.

As soon as i found this forum, I followed James' advice and sent a letter to RentSmart, basically saying what i have written above. I said i wanted a reply within 2 weeks or i would go the the ombudsman and asked to have my contract terminated and my money returned. I also sent a copy of the same letter to PC World and complained to Watchdog.

RentSmart got back to me within the two weeks with a letter saying:
"We're sorry to hear you're not happy with the service you received, we are currently investigating the points you have raised and will get back to you as soon as our investigation process is complete"

Has anyone else received a letter like this? Is it a letter to fob me off, drawing out the correspondence? I am about to write them another letter demanding an answer, or i will be going to the ombudsman. I don't really know how to respond or what to say. Is my argument with them or with PC World, who I've not received a reply from?
Also, does anyone have experience of dealing with the ombudsman? Do any costs go to the company, or to the individual?

I just want to have rid of this laptop and feel as though i am drowning in stuff i don't understand...

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Madam-monkey

I would just like to add to this thread as my H 'bought' me an expensive tablet from PC world (which I didn't want it anyway) and while searching for a way to get out of the 'non-returnable' contract I discovered he had actually signed up to this god-awful infinity plan instead! He would've had to pay nearly £1000 over 2 years for something we would not own. Luckily I hadn't opened it and he managed to return it today and get all his money refunded and the contract cancelled. So if you're quick and don't open the product it seems relatively simple to cancel this dreadful contract. Hth someone.