Currys Infinity can I do any thing about it?

Gadget_girl

First ever post on here and this seems like a good one having recently (24hours)been through it.

I went into PC World to buy an iPad mini. My specification was simple. I wanted a 32gb one. I wanted to buy now pay later with the intention of paying it the next day out of my savings. The guy there said he had something that would save me money AND give me more storage. Yup... Infinity and a 16gb. He runs through it, gives me the breakdown, tells me it will work out at around £400 for all the stuff+that awesome insurance....plus at the end of the finance for this deal I could get 25% cash back if I wanted to recycle.

Upon getting home I realised exactly what this was, and I'd opened the bleeding thing. Now the fact that I signed up for this is my fault, however I totally agree that PC World play their part in what is essentially a bit of a con.

At no point during the whole process did he say the word 'lease'. Not once. Which given the agreement you are entering into I found odd. He did not say that I would have to return the iPad after 2 years- he said I could, 2 very different things. He did not tell me or failed to do the correct math in that £21 x 24 is over £500, not the £400 package that he described. Essentially, I was led to believe that this was similar to a mobile contract, and I assumed in times of austerity that they had bundled it all together for a 2year deal in order to a)appeal to those on a lower budget and b)add a bit of hidden interest in there. Who can necessarily afford 42 a year for a toy on top of a phone, ya know!?!

He took my payment before I'd signed, and stapled it all together. Either accidentally or not he stapled my receipt over the bit of the contract that said 'lease'. He went through, briefly, saying that "this is just all the stuff we've been through" before asking me to sign. So sign I did.

I wasn't quite as lucky as some, but definitely luckier than others. I called RentSmart and explained I felt that I had been mis sold a policy that I didn't want. They hadn't even received my paper work as it was late Sunday when I did it and told me to go to the store as quickly as possible. Off I went for the 80mile round trip, having called ahead and spoken to the manager. The guy who served me gave me the normal gumpf about how he'd explained it and I'd agreed in store, and that the contract stood firmly.

I went down the statutory right to cancel within 14 day road, and despite this being a 'he said she said' I felt that I had been mis sold a product, which even now I still feel I had. You see they're very clever. You assume things from the language they use and the words they say, and I think they know this.....and do nothing to correct your assumption. I don't lease anything, at all, unless its a mobile line rental. If I had known this was a lease I wouldn't have touched it, not in the least because I don't want to give it back. Which leads me to my 2nd point, they didn't tell me that RentSmart offer 2 other alternatives, to keep the iPad or to do another years lease at half price. If they had given these options, I'd have cottoned on, but they didn't.

As someone has previously said, they don't earn sales commission, but this is a deal they push for due to what they get out of it. Their language isn't clear and transparent and it feels like they don't tell you everything, which they don't. Thankfully, after a night of no sleep, tears and a very long drive, the store very grudgingly cancelled the contract. My price? I had to buy the iPad (no d
problem there), apple care and the infinity cloud, coming in at an extra £119. The sales guy was shocked when he asked what I was going to do with it after 2 years, and I said "if it works I'll keep it"- what else would I do????

I paid more for it than what I would have paid for what I originally wanted, but I'm chalking it up to experience and a lesson in trusting your instinct.

Steer well clear, don't let them bullsh*t you, and follow the age old sounding too good to be true rule.

Yes I signed, but they most defiantly misled, apparently he sells 10 a week and I'm the first to complain and ask for a refund. Maybe that's because people think they are bound in, maybe it's false because he sounded a pro at the cancellation call to RentSmart.

Be nice and seem cooperative to all involved, you're definitely more likely to get what you want.

This is not a rant about what I eventually came out with. It's about PCW's conduct throughout, with the rep seemingly trying to constantly get one over on us. Stand your ground. They clearly will do a refund, but it pains them, using 'mis sold' as a term gets their backs up as they can lose their jobs, use that as you may or may not.

Jinks

Gadget Girl, I'm sorry you felt mis-sold to and glad you were able to resolve the situation and have the contract cancelled amicably. However, in fairness, iPads and other tablets are actually the one thing Infinity is a good option for. The phone contract comparison is because people usually upgrade at the end of a phone contract rather than continue to use their old phones, and phones and tablets update and depreciate at a similar rate, so upgrading two-yearly makes more sense than for a PC or laptop which usually has a longer lifespan. Also, the only additional cost is the Cloud and repair/accidental damage/theft cover, both of which are valuable due to the lack of storage and the touchscreen and general drop-ability of tablets. You will have paid about the same for your in-store purchase of the iPad, Cloud and Applecare as you would have paid on Infinity over the two years. The customers upset about Infinity are usually PC/laptop buyers who discovered they were paying a lot more than the computer was worth because the PC/laptop version of Infinity includes many services they wouldn't necessarily have otherwise bought.

I don't agree with the company's selling practices where their leasing services are concerned and I understand that in your case you wanted to own the iPad, but I hope to dampen the vehemence a little as I have dealt with many happy tablet/iPad Infinity customers - when it is sold correctly it is a legitimate option if you happen to be shopping in the tablet department. Hopefully, the person who sold to you will learn from the incident.

Gadget_girl

The point I was didnt make jinx is that by NOT doing infinity, I saved £100, I can keep the iPad mini and subsequently sell on (I often do and for good returns), should I want to. £21 for 24months is £504, despite my receipt saying £313, him telling me £400ish that's a different number.

As I said, it's not about the products, how they work or what I walked out with, it's the deviousness that comes from PCW in terms of their lack of clarity and their 'carefully selected' wording and their blatent !!!! covering in the "this agreement is not cancelable" clause which they lead you to believe is RentSmarts t&c.

I'm not the only one to get duped on this and I fear I won't be the last

Stoffy

Absolute con this infinity/rentsmart bull. And the way the reps sell it is a total lie too.

I have just won a case against PC World in regards to Rentsmart in which they're giving me all of the money I have overpaid over the past 3 years back. This has been enforced by the Financial Ombudsman as they also feel the plan is a total con. On all of the threads I have been posting on and the people I have met with in regards to this have all been told the same lies in order to make the deal sound like a mobile phone contract (in which you still keep the phone after 2 years contract is up) regardless of whether you want to upgrade or not. I have never heard of anyone have to give a mobile phone back after 2 years.

Gadget_girl

Just a quick add... You can keep the iPad, or whatever it is you buy. Just PCW don't tel, you that there are 3 options at the end of the 2 years:

1)upgrade and start again
2)keep the gadget
3)get another year for 1/2 price

If they had told me this I'd have realised what it was without signing.

This deal should be banned!!

Apples2

Gadget_girl wrote: »

2)keep the gadget
3)get another year for 1/2 price

Do you really mean you could have kept the machine and made no more payments at all, or take advantage of another deal to carry on paying for it for another whole year as it is half price? :rotfl:

No matter how you look at it, this is a woeful deal for the home user.

Gadget_girl

Apples2 wrote: »

Do you really mean you could have kept the machine and made no more payments at all, or take advantage of another deal to carry on paying for it for another whole year as it is half price? :rotfl:

No matter how you look at it, this is a woeful deal for the home user.

Hiya, basically after the two years you can keep it, like you would a mobile, by which time you have paid over £500 forint. Or you can carry on the deal for a other year at half price,which you are then essentially just paying for the awesome insurance they use to seal the deal. It most definitely is woeful, and they fail to tell you all this in the store (the other 2 options), which is what defo would send alarm bell ringing (make you realise all is not what it seems)

Yulter

Gadget_girl wrote: »

Just a quick add... You can keep the iPad, or whatever it is you buy. Just PCW don't tel, you that there are 3 options at the end of the 2 years:

1)upgrade and start again
2)keep the gadget
3)get another year for 1/2 price

If they had told me this I'd have realised what it was without signing.

This deal should be banned!!

If you could keep it with no further payments then what would stop you from keeping it canceling the plan then taking out an entirely new plan for the upgraded gadget?

Seems a bit odd they would let you keep it for no cost when the whole point is to keep you upgrading and trading the "leased" tablet back in.

Whole plan just seems entirely pointless, why would anyone pay MORE then you pay to keep the tablet to lease it, people say it is beneficial to business and I can not see it.

It would cost less to take out a monthly payment plan on the gadget then take out another payment plan on the upgraded gadget you want when the plan is up, AND you would get to keep both.

The only way this plan would ever be anywhere near worthwhile going for is if it worked out cheaper then buying the tablet outright or a monthly payment plan to own it, which it does not.

dacouch

Yulter wrote: »

If you could keep it with no further payments then what would stop you from keeping it canceling the plan then taking out an entirely new plan for the upgraded gadget?

Seems a bit odd they would let you keep it for no cost when the whole point is to keep you upgrading and trading the "leased" tablet back in.

Whole plan just seems entirely pointless, why would anyone pay MORE then you pay to keep the tablet to lease it, people say it is beneficial to business and I can not see it.

It would cost less to take out a monthly payment plan on the gadget then take out another payment plan on the upgraded gadget you want when the plan is up, AND you would get to keep both.

The only way this plan would ever be anywhere near worthwhile going for is if it worked out cheaper then buying the tablet outright or a monthly payment plan to own it, which it does not.

The benefits to a business are VAT, convenience, latest gadgets and predictable outlay.

Gadget_girl

Yulter wrote: »

If you could keep it with no further payments then what would stop you from keeping it canceling the plan then taking out an entirely new plan for the upgraded gadget?

Seems a bit odd they would let you keep it for no cost when the whole point is to keep you upgrading and trading the "leased" tablet back in.

Whole plan just seems entirely pointless, why would anyone pay MORE then you pay to keep the tablet to lease it, people say it is beneficial to business and I can not see it.

It would cost less to take out a monthly payment plan on the gadget then take out another payment plan on the upgraded gadget you want when the plan is up, AND you would get to keep both.

The only way this plan would ever be anywhere near worthwhile going for is if it worked out cheaper then buying the tablet outright or a monthly payment plan to own it, which it does not.

If you read my post you would see ... They don't ever tell you it's a lease. They don't tell you about the other options. They sell it to you as a phone line rental. I assumed it was over two years because it made it affordable to those that wanted the insurance and the storage. At no point have I ever said it was a good deal... It was highlighting how PCW do not tell you everything