KnowHow?

spikeyjac

Hi there.
Basically here is a letter I sent to Knowhow - regarding a laptop I own and the repairs?
I've got the laptop back now and the screen problem is very temperamental, and I could probably live with it, however the laptop is still really hot.
I've spoken to one of their CS team this morning who offered me £30 in vouchers, because of all the phone calls, and said he can either get their tier 3 engineer team to look at it, or just keep the laptop and see how it goes!
However it's just annoyed me so much to the point where I just want rid of the laptop and asked him if he could write it off, however, he said he couldn't do that.
Should I push further, or just cut my losses?
Cheers,
I'll post the letter in the 2nd post!
Jack

spikeyjac

To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing to express my disappointment and anger in KNOWHOW Whatever Happens Laptop Insurance.
I purchased the insurance for my laptop in November 2009 when I bought the Laptop. I thankfully didn’t have to use it until August, however my first experience with it wasn’t good at all. When I had bought the insurance, I was told that I would be eligible for a Loan product when the laptop was sent off for repair, which I would need for work. However, when I rang Knowhow, I was told this wasn’t possible and I would have to contact the store, which I bought the insurance from.
The store said this wasn’t their responsibility however.
I then sent off my Laptop off at the back end of July. I listed the problems, and my laptop was picked up 5 days after ringing (which I didn’t think was a good start and not what I was expecting to be honest).
I was then without my laptop for a almost 2 weeks, which again, I wasn’t impressed with, as when I rang up to see what was taking so long, I was told that after 8 days of picking up the Laptop, the warehouse where they are repaired, had still not received the Laptop. When I rang back the next day, I was then further told incorrect information that my laptop was being sent back to me the next day. I then had to ring back, wasting more of my time to actually find out, the laptop still hadn’t been repaired.
When I finally did receive the laptop back, I straight away saw only one part had been replaced and fixed, and some of the faults that I had listed originally, were still persistent. This annoyed me greatly, as I still couldn’t use the laptop , which I desperately needed to.
I contacted Knowhow again, and they arranged a pick up, this time 4 days away. Come Tuesday and the laptop was picked up.
I then rang up 17 days later, on Friday 2nd September, to find my Laptop still hadn’t been repaired as they were awaiting parts. Apart from the fact that my laptop was supposedly fixed the first time around, this proved that obviously there was something wrong with the laptop!
I then waited until Monday the 5th September, to ring and find out what was going on with my laptop.
The man told me that the laptop still hadn’t been fixed but the parts had arrived. He also said that if it wasn’t fixed by 12.00am on the 6th September then it would eligible for a write off and a replacement product given to me. He said that it would probably be the end of the week before it was fixed and so it would probably be written off. However, when I rang up on Tuesday 6th in the afternoon around 3pm I was told that the laptop had been fixed that day and was on it’s way back to me. I wasn’t happy with this as I was told by the man that if it wasn’t fixed by Tuesday 6th at 12am then I would be eligible for the replacement however, this obviously hasn’t happened.
I then spoke to a woman to make a complaint who wasn’t very helpful and seemed genuinely rude which certainly didn’t help the situation at all and wound me up further.
Now technically it had been 21 days (which as stated on your website) as the product was picked up from me on the 16th August. No where on your website could I find it, nor in the T+C, that this doesn’t include transit time. I said this to the woman who said that it has to be midnight on the next day after pick up. Again this can’t be found anywhere on your website from what I could see, and this is very misleading to customers.
What also annoyed me was how the man I spoke to said that it was going to be the end of the week before it was fixed yet the laptop was miraculously fixed the next day.
I feel that at the time of purchase, the insurance was mis-sold to me, as the service I was told I would receive, hasn’t been given to me, as it hasn’t been an easy process at all.
I have been paying every month and have nearly paid over £200 and I feel this is a big amount, for a service which seems to be very shoddy.
I have since received the laptop back and only the motherboard has been replaced.
This seems to have stopped the random crashes, however, the screen still seems to flicker occasionally when I use it, and the laptop still gets extremely hot after use, which is worrying. These are things I have mentioned twice now, and both times they haven’t been fixed.
The fact that my laptop is still faulty, and I have been messed around so much, by your staff not knowing what is going on to the laptop not being fixed properly either times, I would like a replacement product, or voucher in the form of the price I paid for the laptop at the time, and a refund of some form for the insurance, as I feel I have been massively overcharged for the service that I have received.


He's actually told me I'm on a different plan ( one which is 28 days repair time )

Thanks in advance!
He's ringing me back at 4.
Sorry it's so long !

spikeyjac

I understand that technically my laptop is working, however,
What has annoyed me has how I've been told different things by different CSR's , and the fact they've got no movement other than sending it off for a potential 28 days again, after it's already been away for 5 weeks. Also, what's slightly annoyed me, is surely if a company upgrades their plans, they should give me the option, to upgrade me to the better plan ( the 21 days one ) especially, as I'm paying the same amount as I would be if I was on the new plan. I've paid nearly £200 and this annoys me as I want my laptop fixed and repaired, or a new one, but I'm off to university in three weeks and I won't be around when it comes back!
I've just checked which my MBP has and it's actually not the one which was found to be faulty, so I'm not sure that would work unfortunately.
I don't think, to be honest, that I'm going to get anywhere with this unfortunately
Im considering going into store, but I expect the manager might just say, well sorry that we mis-sold you the product, here's a loan laptop while we send it off to be fixed, and while this would solve the problem of no laptop, I'm still waiting for mine to be processed and fixed which will annoy me. Furthermore the guy on the phone said if it is an intermittent problem, then it could be up to 3 weeks again, as they might not find it, or if they do, it might not be straight away.
Another thing that has annoyed me is, the trackpad on my laptop came faulty, it didn't click properly ( i think, i certainly dont remember breaking it!) However I didn't realise this until a friend bought a MBP and his clicked differently.
KnowHow fixed this, the first time I sent the MBP off, and had I known about statuatory rights, would I have been able to get a replacement through the store?


Sorry for such the long ordeal of reading the above posts, I've copied and pasted bits from another site, hope it all makes sense anyway!
Thanks,
Jack

spikeyjac

Anyone?
Thanks,
Jack

CoolHotCold

Ok

Do this

Print off the letter of complaint, attach 2 phone numbers and go into PcWorld (or a currys Megastore with a Knowhow bar) and ask them to forward the complaint to SaveOurCustomers (Or ask them to follow the SOC procedure). They will email it off (hang around while they do this) and you'll hear back from the Medic's within 24 hours.


*Edit*


Also which store is your local, They MIGHT be part of Apple Express trial, where the turnaround time is a guaranteed 7 days, not that it helps you now.

And some more information for you, not that it helps but its interesting, Apple machines (I assume its a Apple as you've mentioned MBP) are not covered by a guaranteed repair time under the WhatEver Happens, but a Loan laptop is applicable if you've taken out the Whatever Happens Premier, see my previous Trial stores for guaranteed turnaround times.

What happens now with Apple is Dixons pickup Apple through a repair company called EBS, they are horrible at tracking and though the turnaround time can be good, its hit or miss if the repair is done correctly. What is in the process of happening is Dixons/Knowhow is dedicating a part of their Newark repair centre to Apple repairs and in the future/soon if the Trial goes smoothly, is All Knowhow bars will be able to book Apple systems (be it a fixable repair, a applecare or even a apple not purchased from Dixons group but still under warrantee or a Dixons Whatever Happens Apple product) and they get picked up by DHL next day and have a 7 day turnaround time guaranteed (Usual exclusions, bad weather, acts of god etc etc) and sent to Newark where every part you need under the sun is stockpiled direct from Apple with dedicated engineers/technicians who go through the same training that Apple give to their Geniuses in the Apple Stores and those Engineers only repair Apple system.

Not that the Edit helps, but its just information I though you might like.

spikeyjac

CoolHotCold wrote: »

Ok

Do this

Print off the letter of complaint, attach 2 phone numbers and go into PcWorld (or a currys Megastore with a Knowhow bar) and ask them to forward the complaint to SaveOurCustomers (Or ask them to follow the SOC procedure). They will email it off (hang around while they do this) and you'll hear back from the Medic's within 24 hours.

Thanks for the reply!
Are they usually quite helpful and do they usually come to a solution that suits the customer as well as the company?
Thanks again.
Jack

CoolHotCold

The Medics are one step below the super secret managers chain support guys.

Pretty much the Medics and the Managers Chain Support are the highest you can go to, what they say is final and not even the Regional Directors can go against them.

Difference between Medics and Chain Support, is Medics deal with customer complains mostly, and Chain support are supposed to deal with issues before they get to complains. I think they are probably handled by the same people (Medics talk to customers & stores, Chain support only deal with Managers/Knowhow experts/specialists in stores.)

Like I said, if its a legitimate complaint and bad service has been had the Medics will usually side on the customer and sort something out within 24 hours. They are there to placate the customer so they don't turn into a detractor.

spikeyjac

Right thanks for all the information!
Going by what I have said, I feel like I have been given a poor service, however from your point of view does it sound like I have?
I'll feel like an idiot if it's just me getting slightly uppety about something that's nothing if that makes sense?
Thanks,
Jack

spikeyjac

Thanks for the information earlier! I went to my local PCW, and although the manager didn't seem that bothered, apart from he did say sorry about the bad service, they sent it off to what I thought at the time was the SOC team, although after he'd sent it, I found out it was to the head of KnowHow, Steve Matthews.
I couldn't be bothered pointing out I'd said the SOC team, and so went along to Currys and left the letter with a woman, who gave me her name and the store number etc and promised she'd send it to the SOC team as soon as she could get someone to take her off the desk!
I'll update the thread when I hear something or something happens!
Thanks.

spikeyjac

Quick update, still haven't heard anything from the SOC team, should I go back in-store and ask them to send it again?
Cheers,
Jack

CoolHotCold

Yes. The SoC will always reply within 48 hours (Usually 24) so it's more than likely the person at currys failed to send it.

The Lexmark AIO printers are ALL networked up to send emails. It takes a button press and entering in the email on the screen to scan and email it. Should take no longer than 3 minutes to do it.