pc world/techguys/coverplan

storm2284

having brought my laptop a few years ago from pcworld i was advised to purchase the coverplan package at a cost of £8.99 per month which i was/am happy to pay for a whatever happens policy.

the first issue comes in september 2010, i broke the power connection inside the laptop, so i made my first claim, the laptop was collected next day which was fantastic, it arrived back a couple of weeks later with a replacement motherboard, this is where the issues begin, the computer cameback with a plastic insert missing (the company have refused to replace the part as it's 'cosmetic' my argument is it is part of the lap top it went with it so should come back with it) , the outer casing broken and damage on the screen, and wasnt actually working correctly, now at this point i thought it was something i had done wrong to the laptop and a friend made it into a state where it was actually useable again, i thought no more of it and carried on although updates on microsoft were not working uite correctly it still did what i needed it to do.

moving onto claim number 2, i spilt some milk onto the keyboard, so made a call to the guys to send it for repair and explained the problems the computer came back with last time, again they collected it (29th march) and had some contact with themselves saying it would be sorted, the computer arrived back 3 weeks later with new parts, this time wiped with a new casing, keyboard hard drive and screen, recieved it and i thought it was job done and happy, NOT SO
tturned the computer on and had to re-register windows, this did not work the key was incorrect so oncoming a phone call to pcworld technical who said the windows was ghosted and needed a full recovery to make it work, they said this would sort the problem out and sent it out. i recieved the disc last night (4th may) and did the full recovery to no avail, i still could not register windows, so, another call to technical. i spoke to a really nice chap who after going through a couple of steps with me then said the workshop have not flashed the motherboard to the computer/the DMI needed flashing which should have been done at the time of fitting/repair (it has been in twice to be sorted out and this was not done either time)
from here (5 weeks of having no computer) it now has to go back to the workshop again, they will not collect until next thursday which means at least another 2-3 weeks with no computer, having spoken to several departments since no-one is accepting responsibility for the workshops mess up and offering no help whatsoever even though the fact the computer has come back not working and is not my fault they are offering me nothing at all for any of it, a writeoff claim has already been turned down as it has not been 42 days yet, but the matter being their fault and not mine surely especially with the highlight of the company on national tv on monday they should be doing whatever they can to give some sort of customer satisfaction? i am at a loose end as to what to do here now and would appreciate any advice/help

stephen77

the 42 day thing is a little annoying as our pc took longer than 42 day to repair, but because they tried to deliver we did not get a new pc.
Tried to deliver = courier not finding our house and going back to the work shop and not sending us a text to let it know its ready.

Why can they not collect it till next thursday? Can you take it to a local pc world as the courier do picks up from them as well?
Once 42 days you may be able to get a new pc out of them.

I did get a new TV out of them a few months ago when old one was completely broken, this was before the 42 days were up as well.

CoolHotCold

Hey, sorry to hear your problems.

What to do is, write a letter of complaint (perferbaly include two phone numbers) and go into your nearest PcWorld (Please state JRS numbers and time frames from when you reported the problem to when you got it back and make it informational only, don't write a emotional letter and say what you want at the end... E.G a new system) Ask them to forward it to the SaveOurCustomers Team (you will hear back within 24/48 hours) and also ask the store to get on the blower and find out whats happening and how long and can they write it off. Also, (but this depends if they have any) they MIGHT give a loan system but its not a official policy and is a case by case so don't expect too much.

storm2284

cheers for the replies guys, i've just this second come off the phone to technical, twice i've spoken to members on that team and twice they've bent over backwards for me, i only called tonight to get some information about when the laptop went in for repair and tony the guy i dealt with has found yet another fault on the lap top (microphone not working) and has written down every single niggle problem etc i've had since day 1 to build up a case, the 42 day deadline is monday, collection date is next thursday, he said he is personally going to call me up on thursday night to sort out the writeoff request, i mentioned about compensation and he gave me the address and he recommended that i write a fairly strong upfront heartfelt letter about how i feel on service etc etc, i have all the dates i need for my own personal records, and he has confirmed that the laptop should not have come back with ghosted windows at all and this issue was from the first time the computer went in for repair, it should have been sorted and working fully both times it came back (15th april i had a manager tell me they deal with hardware only and i was lucky the computer came back with anything on it at all as it could have come back with no operating system at all, any software was my responsibility)
he has built up this case for me against the workshop and i cannot praise the 2 people i spoke to from the technical team enough, if only customer services had a similar amount of nouse about them!

storm2284

CoolHotCool what do you mean by jrs numbers etc? this is not something anyone has mentioned to me so far as with the save our customers team, i do know that i am awaiting a call from the 'medics' apparently set up to deal with complaints since the bbc tv program

Esqui

JRS number would be your job number or booking reference. It'll be six digits, probably beginning with 0 or 1.

CoolHotCold

Thanks Esqui, usually starts with a 0 for laptops / desktop (might be different if it gets sent to the hell hole Mercom)
Storm, the Medics was setup before the BBC issue, though I believe they might of plowed more resources/money since then. Secondly the Manager you spoke to doesn't sound nice, if you remember what team he was on or his name include that. All systems (if their HDD's have been replaced) will be restored or flashed to how it should come from the factory, (some very old systems you would have the reco disks, but they still usually do it). Glad to hear you are getting it sorted though, like any call system you will get people who go above and beyond but they are trying to change it to bring consistently good service to all.

storm2284

thanks to you both, unfortunately Cool no i don't have his information anymore, and i just took it as red from him, being a manager and all that, it's taken these technical staff to put me right there and making sure they told me i was correct in what i said, so basically from yourself i am getting similar confirmation that the computer should have been flashed so it runs properly, because the motherboard having been replaced in september (that wasnt flashed) should have been at that point and wasn't, and also redone when it went in this second time, and again wasnt,

in all honest opinions here is there a specific case i could raise against them? for example negligence? the more i can do to put in this letter the better my case will be, and all/any ideas are more than appreciated

CoolHotCold

Not Neligence, but forgetfullness probably.

On a Windows system (On a OEM system like HP/Advent/Toshiba etc etc) if you replace the Motherboard you have to reactivate windows. This usually isn't that big a deal as it takes a 10 second activation online or a free 5 minute phone call to Microsofts Automated system to activate and thats it. Some manufactures tie in Windows to a BIOS chip or identifyer otherwise the factory image (flashed/restored onto the HDD) will work for 3 days than fail to do anything and say "Activate windows etc etc".

IT seems like they replaced the Motherboard and activated it fine no problems thats one repair done, when they replaced the HDD for the second repair they never thought about it and reflashed the new HDD to be a "Factory image" but they never tested or even looked for it (No fault on this engineers as he didn't know the motherboard was replaced last time).

This is a failing in their system, no real responsibility lies with any engineer (Although the first engineer should of tried to restore back to factory settings to ensure it all worked, but that would mean loosing all information on it (and though you give them this permission when they pick it up they really don't want to do it unless they have too, as most customers don't keep backups) and they did ensure it would work when you got it back)

Long and short is the system they use (Myriad Workshop) should flag issues like this but don't. Most of the time you won't have any issues, but replacing a Motherboard and HDD on separate repairs can Occasionally cause issues and it would be better if their systems automatically flagged compatability such as this case when the second repair/third/etc needs a new HDD after a replacement Motherboard on a previous repair, so this engineer can properly test it activating properly instead of not worrying about it (Replacing HDD & Reflashing factory image = 100% activation guarantee (unless Motherboard replaced) So you can understand why they don't test)

storm2284

ahh this is the thing on the first repair it hadnt been activated either i got it back and it didnt work with my reactivation, luckily a computer whizz friend of mine was about at my house that evening and managed to fool the system into working, he looked into cpu usage? and said it was using about 80% more than it should be at the time, the only reason i could use the stuff that was on there was because it was already there, windows wasnt working correctly and updates were not working
also should the engineer not have a sheet on which any other repairs were listed for information so they actually knew some sort of history? any garage/doctor/vet and any other type of service that repair things have history if they've been to one place more than once?

CoolHotCold

Oh they can look in past repairs yes, but they repair tons a day and its just not possible to look at every single previous repair sheet. If the repairs were close together than yes they will look at the previous, but its just not feasible to do it on every one. Its exactly the same as the doctor/vet/garage/dentist, not possible to check every previous job.