Consumer rights on free gift / part of a package? Help please!

a4gom

I am hoping you will be able to offer some assistance with my predicament and the way I have been dealt with by Comet so far on my recent purchase. Before Christmas I purchased a iPod Touch 4G from Comet on click and collect, the iPod came as part of a package which included a "FREE" Proline Tube iPod Travel Speaker.

The items were for my son for Christmas. A few days after Christmas he tried to charge his iPod on the docking station and it came up with an error message which said "Charging is not supported with this accessory". This function was listed in the product details and was important to us. I was surprised to see this as I had specifically checked that this dock would charge the unit before I made the purchase; I checked the product details which stated "Compatible with all models of iPod and Charges your iPod", I checked the Q&A section for questions and someone had asked if it was compatible with the 4th generation iPod Touch and the answer was yes, I also asked the shop assistant when I collected the item from store.
I returned the item to the store as I assumed the item was faulty, the assistant said it was compatible so it must be a faulty one and he provided me with a replacement. I returned home but didn't have chance to try it straight away as we were going away for a few days, whilst we were away we tried the replacement and got the same message. I thought it must be a faulty batch so returned to the store to get another replacement. I was told by both the assistant(different one)and the manager that the item was in fact not compatible with the 4th generation iPod Touch for charging! I asked what could be done as my son needs a dock which will charge his iPod, to my surprise the answer was "NOTHING, we can give you a replacement but it will be the same as this and won't charge your iPod".
What? I explained I needed a replacement which would charge the unit and that is what I thought I had bought. If it won't charge I need to exchange it for one which will.
I was then told that they couldn't exchange it for me, the item had no value because it had been bought as part of a package and I had actually been given it free. I was very confused by this, the very same item was there to be seen on the shelf for sale. I explained although I felt they should sort it for me I would pay the difference between the shelf price of one which would charge and the one I had but was told there was nothing they could do as my item had no value. I was not happy with this so they said I should speak to head office. The assistant rang from the store and passed me the phone, I explained what had happened to a lady on the phone, she then asked to be put back on to the assistant who had a short conversation, put the phone down and said that they still couldn't do anything. :mad:
I bought this package in good faith, how it was discounted is irrelevant to me, it may have no value in comet's system but it does have a value to me. There were three things on my sons list for Christmas; an iPod, a docking station and an itunes card. I researched the options and after checking the compatibility I
bought this package from Comet and my itunes card at another store. I could have bought an iPod elsewhere which came with a free £25 itunes card and bought a different dock but after careful consideration I chose this package as I liked the look and size of this dock.
If I could, I would return the full package for a refund but this is now impossible as the iPod Touch has been registered in my sons name and he has made a considerable amount of purchases of both apps and music with it.
To date I have gone out of my way to be reasonable, I have made three trips to the store, I even offered to pay the difference to get a dock which will actually do
what Comet claimed the one in the package would do.

As far as I can see Comet have mis-sold this package to me, the items included are not as described on the website or fit for purpose they were bought for.

I have used their contact section on the web site giving the full details and after checking with the store they have responded saying I have looked into the circumstances of what happened and in this case, they appreciate that this is not the response I was looking for and they apologise for any inconvenience this has caused but they endorse the decision of the store manager.

Surely this can’t be right? The inclusion of the dock had a direct influence on my purchase and the goods I have received are not as described or fit for purpose.

How do I fight this / proceed from here?

steven504

Return everything as not fit for purpose.

a4gom

If I return everything what will happen to the apps and music we have purchased though, they are registered to that ipod?

steven504

Back it all up to itunes.

Esqui

See if they'll swap it for a different dock to the same value? I don't know how their tills work, but ours can swap out individual parts of packages at the value on the shelf.

a4gom

steven504 wrote: »

Back it all up to itunes.

I'm not sure that will work, both my sons have itunes and they backup there ipods to the same computer but under their own log ins. They have tried to load each others apps on to each others ipods and it won't lt them?

See if they'll swap it for a different dock to the same value? I don't know how their tills work, but ours can swap out individual parts of packages at the value on the shelf.

I asked them to do this, even offered to pay the difference to a dock of greater value but they said they couldn't do it. They claim that no matter what value it says on the shelf my dock has no value when they enter it on the till as they have to bring up the actual purchase which comes up with £46 then -£46 so a zero value. The dock is only £19.99 on the shelf!
You'd think the store manager would be able to do something about it, I bought £800 of p.c. from them a couple of weeks before xmas as well!

Comet_company_representative

a4gom wrote: »

I am hoping you will be able to offer some assistance with my predicament and the way I have been dealt with by Comet so far on my recent purchase. Before Christmas I purchased a iPod Touch 4G from Comet on click and collect, the iPod came as part of a package which included a "FREE" Proline Tube iPod Travel Speaker.

The items were for my son for Christmas. A few days after Christmas he tried to charge his iPod on the docking station and it came up with an error message which said "Charging is not supported with this accessory". This function was listed in the product details and was important to us. I was surprised to see this as I had specifically checked that this dock would charge the unit before I made the purchase; I checked the product details which stated "Compatible with all models of iPod and Charges your iPod", I checked the Q&A section for questions and someone had asked if it was compatible with the 4th generation iPod Touch and the answer was yes, I also asked the shop assistant when I collected the item from store.
I returned the item to the store as I assumed the item was faulty, the assistant said it was compatible so it must be a faulty one and he provided me with a replacement. I returned home but didn't have chance to try it straight away as we were going away for a few days, whilst we were away we tried the replacement and got the same message. I thought it must be a faulty batch so returned to the store to get another replacement. I was told by both the assistant(different one)and the manager that the item was in fact not compatible with the 4th generation iPod Touch for charging! I asked what could be done as my son needs a dock which will charge his iPod, to my surprise the answer was "NOTHING, we can give you a replacement but it will be the same as this and won't charge your iPod".
What? I explained I needed a replacement which would charge the unit and that is what I thought I had bought. If it won't charge I need to exchange it for one which will.
I was then told that they couldn't exchange it for me, the item had no value because it had been bought as part of a package and I had actually been given it free. I was very confused by this, the very same item was there to be seen on the shelf for sale. I explained although I felt they should sort it for me I would pay the difference between the shelf price of one which would charge and the one I had but was told there was nothing they could do as my item had no value. I was not happy with this so they said I should speak to head office. The assistant rang from the store and passed me the phone, I explained what had happened to a lady on the phone, she then asked to be put back on to the assistant who had a short conversation, put the phone down and said that they still couldn't do anything. :mad:
I bought this package in good faith, how it was discounted is irrelevant to me, it may have no value in comet's system but it does have a value to me. There were three things on my sons list for Christmas; an iPod, a docking station and an itunes card. I researched the options and after checking the compatibility I
bought this package from Comet and my itunes card at another store. I could have bought an iPod elsewhere which came with a free £25 itunes card and bought a different dock but after careful consideration I chose this package as I liked the look and size of this dock.
If I could, I would return the full package for a refund but this is now impossible as the iPod Touch has been registered in my sons name and he has made a considerable amount of purchases of both apps and music with it.
To date I have gone out of my way to be reasonable, I have made three trips to the store, I even offered to pay the difference to get a dock which will actually do
what Comet claimed the one in the package would do.

As far as I can see Comet have mis-sold this package to me, the items included are not as described on the website or fit for purpose they were bought for.

I have used their contact section on the web site giving the full details and after checking with the store they have responded saying I have looked into the circumstances of what happened and in this case, they appreciate that this is not the response I was looking for and they apologise for any inconvenience this has caused but they endorse the decision of the store manager.

Surely this can’t be right? The inclusion of the dock had a direct influence on my purchase and the goods I have received are not as described or fit for purpose.

How do I fight this / proceed from here?

Hi a4gom

I have continued to monitor the situation, and I am pleased to note that this issue has now been resolved to your satisfaction.

Should you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact me via this facility.

Regards,

Matt from Comet

a4gom

Yes Matt, although an exchange hasn't actually taken place yet, I have received an email from Comet which confirms I can go back to the store and an alternative will be provided. So it looks as though the issue is resolved.

Hugh_Jass

Comet are useless. I'm in the same situation but not as bad as the OP's. My wife bought me a Panasonic Digital camera and a package which contained a memory card and a camera case. As they didn't have any official Panasonic cases, they offered a different one. The case was useless as the camera was too big for the case.

We tried returning the case but told we couldn't have a refund as it also had no value and was part of a package. We couldn't even swop, as they had no offical cases in stock. I'll never buy a package from Comet ever again.

alarmfan

I bought a digial camera just before Christmas and it has a fault. The manager tried fobbing me off saying that I had to deal with the manufacturer. He finally agreed to replace the item as long as I took a 20% "fine" for "bringing back a faulty product that had been opened".

Don't worry - I won't let this lie.

Just wanted to spread the word - do not buy from Comet!

paddyrg

It sounds like Comet have been rather good in this case - they have constraints to work within, and margins on the high street are slim, so it's good to see them looking out for you :-)