The Con That is Argos

chrissyy2007

Is it just me or does Argos have the worst customer service in the country?

I will never use them again. I feel like I have travelled to the gates of hell just trying to get a sensible response out of them.

Anyhow I digress. It all started before christmas and was because of the worst weather in december for many a year.

I needed to buy a xmas tree. Argos at the time were offering a £5 gift voucher for £50 spend and £10 voucher for £100 spend.

Ordinarily I would go into Argos itself and buy my items then get 'paper' vouchers. My sons birthday is in January and so every year I keep the vouchers and buy him cd's, dvd's or video games with any vouchers I have left.

This year was different. On one occassion due to the weather I had to order for delivery.

I must point out that the item I bought was a xmas tree. It was no cheaper for delivery than it was for reserving it at my local shop. The trees in the shop are identical in name, price etc than the one I ordered for home delivery. I must also point out that Home delivery was only used because of the weather. No other reason.

For items reserved in store I recieved my 'paper' vouchers. For this 'delivered' item I recieved an e voucher for £5. It also came late. I only recieved it last week and was only sent it after I asked them where it was.

So naively I tried to spend it. You can't spend it in store because its an e voucher so can't be used with my other ones.

With the paper ones I bought some dvd's. With the e voucher I find you cannot use it in Argos entertainment online.

In fact the only place you can use it is if you are willing to pay more for delivery than the voucher is worth.

Browntoa

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chrissyy2007

So I thought I would email them.

After a few courteous emails and a phone call which got absolutely no whereI sent them this:-
Due SOLELY to the weather I was forced to opt for home delivery so recieved a voucher code via email.

It is a con. It can't be used for argos entertainment as I wanted 'clash of the titans'. Yet if the weather had been ok I would have had a paper voucher instead to be used in store.

I therefore decided to use the reserve at store and pick up for two different items Reservation number: 197393.

But guess what? You can't use it there either.

You have to get it delivered even though I am in Newcastle anyhow and it is easier for me to pick it up.

You also have to pay delivery charges which come to more than the voucher is worth.

Its an absolute con!!!!

I am being penalised solely because bad weather meant I couldnt get into the store for my original order

Their reply:-

Thank you for your e-mail regarding your ฃ5 voucher code.

I am sorry to read you are unhappy with our terms and conditions of our promotional vouchers, please accept my apologies.

The evoucher you received for your order is for use on your next online order, these promotional codes are not for store use.

We do state on our website and any in store advertisements the terms and conditions of the offer.

I am sorry for any disappointment caused to you.

Should you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us at order enquiries at argos.co.uk or call us on 0845 640 3030.


I accept this. That it is in their terms and conditions. That even though they are running an identical promotion within the store my voucher cannot be used in store but only online. What I don't accept is that the only items I can buy which cost less than £5 will cost me a lot more than £5 to get them delivered.


So I replied with this:-

It is all very well you saying that it is in the terms and conditions but that is not what I am complaining about.

I am complaining about the fact that I could have bought the same item at a store for exactly the same price and recieved a 'PAPER' voucher of exactly the same worth i.e. £5 which could be used in the store.

Because I was FORCED to order delivery due to severe British weather conditions I am being penalised.

The reason I say it is a con is because e vouchers can only be used selectively. I can use a paper £5 voucher to buy a dvd in store but cannot use an e voucher for the same dvd.

As I am now forced to use the delivery service because I have an e voucher even though I am more than happy to pick up items in store.

I therefore request you notify me of all items of £5 or less which I can purchase with an e voucher that include free delivery.

Your assistance in this matter will be appreciated as up to now I can not find ANY!


Their reply :-

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your e-mail regarding the use of your promotional code.

I am sorry to read you are not happy about the use of the promotional code. I can confirm all of the information was stated in the terms and conditions of the offer which is something you did agree to before making the purchase online.

To view all of our items less than £5 please visit our website argos.co.uk

Should you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us at order enquiries at argos.co.uk or call us on 0845 640 2020.


Talk about banging your head against a wall.

So I tried putting it bluntly with :-

As previously stated the terms and conditions are misleading. It does not say anywhere in the terms and conditions that the £5 e voucher is worthless.

Their reply:-
Dear Sir,
> >
> > Thank you for your e-mail regarding locating items less than £5.
> >
> > I can confirm there is currently no way of viewing all of our items for less than £5.00 on our website. To view the items please choose the category from the menu bar and this will then allow you to view items by the price.
> >
> > Should you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us at order enquiries at argos.co.uk or call us on 0845 640 2020.



Maybe I'm not making myself very clear I thought. So, trying to be as succinct and basic as I could, I tried :-

Again you have missed the point. I have viewed many many items that are £5 or less but all have a delivery fee of over £5.
>
> As you have forced me to get it delivered I need to know which items are free delivery that I can use my voucher on.
>
Their reply:-

Dear Sir,
>
> Thank you for your e-mail regarding using your promotional code.
>
> I am sorry but we do not have a list of all the items we sell with free delivery. If the item does include free delivery then it will state this information under the product information. If the item does not include free delivery then it will include a £5.95 or £8.95 delivery charge.
>
> Should you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us at order enquiries at argos.co.uk or call us on 0845 640 2020.

Well Doh I thought. Is that not what I have been saying all along. The point they seem to be missing is that there are not any items priced at less than £5 with free delivery.

So not to give up I thought I would try to make it even more simplistic. Thus I sent :-

All of the items? I cannot find one. Can you verify that there are many items priced under £5 which include free delivery?

Their reply:-

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your e-mail regarding items under £5 for free delivery.

I am sorry but we do not have a list of the items we sell for less than £5 which include free delivery as we have a wide range of goods that we sell online. To try and locate these items please visit our website argos. co.uk as I have already advised.

Should you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us at order enquiries at argos.co.uk or call us on 0845 640 2020.

Regards,


I feel like the indians at Custers last stand, i.e. going around in circles.

kirst

I get your frustration, but it aint Argos' fault that the weather stopped you from going there.

shellsuit

Nobody FORCED you to do anything, that was your choice.

The vouchers are a bonus, so I don't understand what your gripe is if you knew the terms and conditions of them at the time of ordering.

If you don't want to pay delivery costs for an item ordered online, then don't!

chrissyy2007

The vouchers aren't a 'bonus'. They are part of the sale and are advertised in that manner. If you go to tesco's and buy a 'buy 1 get 1 free' the free one is not a bonus. Pricing of goods is done to incorporate sales promotions.

As for knowing the terms and conditions I did not know that even though it is an identical promotion to in store and that the prices are the same in store, the goods you can use your voucher on is different.

I naively thought that I would be able to buy the same things I could buy with a 'paper' voucher as it is the same promotion.

I disagree with the statement it is not Argos's fault because it is their decision to alienate delivery customers by giving them a vastly inferior deal than if they had went into store. It is also their fault that the voucher is worthless.

BTW shellsuit I chose to get a tree but the weather forced the manner in which it was recieved and so in that instance it was forced on me.

shellsuit

chrissyy2007 wrote: »

The vouchers aren't a 'bonus'. They are part of the sale and are advertised in that manner. If you go to tesco's and buy a 'buy 1 get 1 free' the free one is not a bonus. Pricing of goods is done to incorporate sales promotions.

As for knowing the terms and conditions I did not know that even though it is an identical promotion to in store and that the prices are the same in store, the goods you can use your voucher on is different.

I naively thought that I would be able to buy the same things I could buy with a 'paper' voucher as it is the same promotion.

I disagree with the statement it is not Argos's fault because it is their decision to alienate delivery customers by giving them a vastly inferior deal than if they had went into store. It is also their fault that the voucher is worthless.

BTW shellsuit I chose to get a tree but the weather forced the manner in which it was recieved and so in that instance it was forced on me.

You chose to buy a tree and chose for it to get delivered.

That's not being forced to do anything.


The voucher isn't worthless, it's worth £5.

A game is £10. P&P is £5.95. You buy the game using the voucher and have it delivered and it costs you £10.95, as opposed to the £15.95 it would have cost if you didn't have the voucher.

GEEGEE8

But he could pop into Argos on Saturday and buy it for £10.95, so he hasn't saved a penny.

GEEGEE8

Can you sell the voucher on eBay?

chrissyy2007

shellsuit wrote: »

You chose to buy a tree and chose for it to get delivered.

That's not being forced to do anything.


The voucher isn't worthless, it's worth £5.

A game is £10. P&P is £5.95. You buy the game using the voucher and have it delivered and it costs you £10.95, as opposed to the £15.95 it would have cost if you didn't have the voucher.

The tree would have been bought anyhow and did not have any option but to get it delivered so was forced.

I did have an option on who I could buy it from though and did chose Argos. I did it because even though the tree was £3 dearer than Amazon it would work £2 cheaper once I got the voucher.

As for your example about "A game is £10. P&P is £5.95. You buy the game using the voucher and have it delivered and it costs you £10.95, as opposed to the £15.95 it would have cost if you didn't have the voucher",
I could go into the store, pay £10 get the game and save myself 95 pence and throw the voucher away. So in effect it is worthless.

As for getting what I really wanted i.e. a DVD, why is it that I can use a voucher in store for one but cant online? You think thats fair?

It is after all the same supposed deal. Or is it that online customers are not rated by argos and therefore not looked after

shellsuit

GEEGEE8 wrote: »

But he could pop into Argos on Saturday and buy it for £10.95, so he hasn't saved a penny.

The terms of the voucher are that it has to be used online.

If they want to use the voucher online, then they would be saving a fiver. The OP says otherwise.

That's my point.