PC World - Data Protection & Warranty

DarkShogun

Has anybody been prompted to provide their address to PC World on purchase of certain goods?

Have you been told that if you don't provide the information then you can not return faulty goods?

I normally expect PC World, Curry's or Comet to try and get my address when I purchase goods. I normally say no as I don't them to spam me or sell on my data.

I purchased a printer a few weeks ago and refused to provide my address. I eventually had to speak to the store manager to get him to override the system. While waiting for the manager I saw several other customers purchase goods who were not prompted for their name and address.

I queried this with the check out guy. He said they are only prompted to get the name and address of people buying PC's and printers.

Eventfully the manger arrived (who seemed to have strop on).

He advised the check out guy to put the store address in the system. Informed me that my warranty was void and not to come back if my printer broke and then stormed off!

Is it legal to cancel someone warranty if the don't subscribe to spam or marketing?

Has anybody else seen this at any other stores?

BTW - I did purchase the printer, it was £40 and comes with a Lexmark next day warranty. I was tempted walk out the store, come back through the other entrance and claim it was broken to see what happened. :A

furrypolka

They can refuse to provide warranties, however they cannot restrict your statutory rights under the Sale of Goods Act, which are entirely separate to any warranties offered by manufacturers.

If they try to restrict your statutory rights this is a criminal offence and you should report any such incidents to Trading Standards.

ohdearme_2

DarkShogun wrote:

IHas anybody else seen this at any other stores?

PC world tried it on with me when I purchased a printer. They eventually put the store address down after been shown the errors of their ways. One of the national tool shops "machine mart" tries it on, and I've had the same at Argos before.

You can always put the shop address down to get round this.

looby75

Currys tried this with me, for a pair of jvc headphones costing £6.99! They asked for my house no and post code, and when I asked why the sales assistant said it was for their records. When I refused he got really snotty and said he could refuse to sell them to me......the woman behind me was in line waiting to buy one of those posh expresso coffee machines worth a couple of hundred quid. She told him his attitude was disgusting and walked out of the shop

That bit of shop policy cost them at least one reasonably big sale that day (I didn't buy the headphones from them either LOL)

JimArnold

It is becoming very common - if you want to buy a TV licence on line you cannot do so without (obviously) supplying your name and address. But you also have to agree to their terms and conditions including any marketing info they or related companies wish to send.

No wonder they stopped local post offices issuing them

ohdearme_2

JimArnold wrote:

if you want to buy a TV licence on line you cannot do so without (obviously) supplying your name and address. But you also have to agree to their terms and conditions including any marketing info they or related companies wish to send.

Do you want to post the link to that info.

mpython

looby75 wrote:

When I refused he got really snotty and said he could refuse to sell them to me......

Actually, I think they can refuse to sell things to anyone. Sounds bizare, but until they've agreed the price (as opposed to the advertised or shelf price which is just an invitiation to barter), they are under no obligation to sell things to you as an individual. Different rules apply if they refuse to sell because of unrelated issues such as gender, disability etc.

of course, if they refuse to sell, then they lose income & profit.

Poodlecrazy

From an ex-PC World employee, I can hopefully shed some light on this. Most items that are mechanical in nature such as printers, screens etc. will bring a prompt up for the sales advisor to put in an address.

The reason for this address is several fold:

If you are purchasing the extended warranty your address is needed for the paperwork. If there is no address it may be void, although provided you've got the reference number you should be ok.

If you are not purchasing the extended warranty but will be relying on the manufacturers warranty then the address is simply an identification tool. So if you come back in 11 months time without your proof of purchase the system can be searched and a replacement printed, without your details there would be no way to ascertain which item was in fact purchased by you.

Of course, by entering the address you are likely to be subjected to mailings. This can be avoided as the advisor will be asked whether it is ok for you to be on a marketing database and they simply have to select 'N'. So you can be on the system but without the mailings.

Hope that makes sense!

P

northend

I think people get a bit hung about being sent junk mail through the post, or otherwise. There are a few things you can do (apart from refuse to give your address).

1. State when giving the address that you do not authorise them to use your details for direct marketing purposes of any kind. Any system worth its salt will be able to deal with that request. This declination of consent technically overrides any other consent to marketing you may have given in the past and so after a reasonable time (allow 30 days) if you receive any obvious marketing material, then is being sent without your consent and in breach of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) and the DMA code of conduct (if they are members).
Remember though that if your address is needed to provide a specific service (eg extended warranty) then the DPA provides for this to be collected, or the organisation concerned can not be expected to fulfill its "contract".

2. provide a fictious, but genuine address. For instance a friend uses an old postcode that he lived at with a house number that does not exist. When the house number does not come up he says it is a new house, and they manually enter the house number. Interestingly, I don't know how often he has done this, but I know he's done it with PC World.

looby75

mpython wrote:

Actually, I think they can refuse to sell things to anyone. Sounds bizare, but until they've agreed the price (as opposed to the advertised or shelf price which is just an invitiation to barter), they are under no obligation to sell things to you as an individual. Different rules apply if they refuse to sell because of unrelated issues such as gender, disability etc.

of course, if they refuse to sell, then they lose income & profit.

oh I realise that, I've worked in retail since I was 16, but because I wasn't willing to end up on their mailing list after buying a £6.99 pair of headphones, and told the SA as much they lost much more than my sale that day

looby75

Poodlecrazy wrote:

From an ex-PC World employee, I can hopefully shed some light on this. Most items that are mechanical in nature such as printers, screens etc. will bring a prompt up for the sales advisor to put in an address.

The reason for this address is several fold:

If you are purchasing the extended warranty your address is needed for the paperwork. If there is no address it may be void, although provided you've got the reference number you should be ok.

If you are not purchasing the extended warranty but will be relying on the manufacturers warranty then the address is simply an identification tool. So if you come back in 11 months time without your proof of purchase the system can be searched and a replacement printed, without your details there would be no way to ascertain which item was in fact purchased by you.

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: PC world honour a manufacturers warranty directly, don't make me laugh.