Currys Whateverhappens Warranty - Any good

ShaunJUK

alwaysonthego wrote: »

This is not true, depending on the item it needs to be repaired etc in a reasonable amount of time, 14 days would seem to be reasonable for a tv.

14 Days!! What land you living in?

mobo99

Hello,

These products are choice items. In my mind there are three types of customer or "GUESTS" as we now have to refer to them as:-

1. People who want warranties
2. People who do not ever take warranties
3. People who are on the fence ie take it on particular items

As sales advisors its our job to present these option(along with many others) to you in a non pressurised way so that you can make informed decisions on what YOU want.

If you were not informed of a product on offer and you required it later most customers would not be happy.

Please do remember that here in Currys(Scotland) we do not get commision on selling this product or any other, so there is no incentive for me or any collegue to make people take it. Also a member of staff cannot be fired for not selling warranty as its only one of our many indiviual targets. There is so much more to this job than that-only thing is they dont pay enough!!!(who does)

Just my view:rotfl:

Lauzy

Does this cover you for the amount you pay for the item or a similar model?
IE if i bought a TV for £300 a few years ago would they replace the TV or give me a TV up to the value of £300?

mobo99

No, the product support will cover you for a like for like exhange OR vouchers for an equivalent spec model on the market or better(depends whats available). The reason for this is all items depreciate in value over time.

For example five or six years ago a DVD player cost a few hundred pound but you can get one now for £10-20.

I must say though that you can argue a point for more vouchers on the basis that the product that the vouchers are based on do not have the same features as your last one. I successfuly arranged for a further £200 pound worth of vouchers for a customer on the sole premise that the sound system was of less quality than their last product.

If I can give any further advise please let me know.

missfendiuk

rustybucket wrote: »

No one would realistically exchange a 6 month old freezer? It was a hotpoint (never again).

For your into my flat screen tele from John Lewis gave up the ghost not long ago, after 8 months. They exhanged it, moral of the story is........ don't shop at currys.

Don't shop at Currys and if you are going to then do not buy a Hotpoint!

The whatever happens policy is a farce, i have a washer dryer that i first got a callout for in Nov 08, up till now Hotpoint keep sending out engineers and each time it is 'supposedly' fixed and when they go the washer dryer leaks. I have been told by Currys that i should be getting a replacement under the 21 day rule, then they call Hotpoint who say that the engineer fixed it therefore it therefore swapping does not apply, but it still is not working!

A V O I D Currys

shopaholic.lady

My advice would be to ask them or read excatly what they mean by 'whatever happens' currys dont particuly have the best customer service anyway they try and pass you around as they cant help..When your buying a Tv of that amount then you really need to have some sort of protection with it..We purchased a tv from comet 42inch plasma...we also took out a warrenty with it about a month later a bulb inside the tv went took it straight back to comets and they had it repaired free buy the manafactures (Samsumg), and was back with us in a week!!!! Had we not had the warrenty that would have cost a fair bit of money!!! Theres more then likey a catch with currys 'whatever happens'

missfendiuk

shopaholic.lady wrote: »

My advice would be to ask them or read excatly what they mean by 'whatever happens' currys dont particuly have the best customer service anyway they try and pass you around as they cant help..When your buying a Tv of that amount then you really need to have some sort of protection with it..We purchased a tv from comet 42inch plasma...we also took out a warrenty with it about a month later a bulb inside the tv went took it straight back to comets and they had it repaired free buy the manafactures (Samsumg), and was back with us in a week!!!! Had we not had the warrenty that would have cost a fair bit of money!!! Theres more then likey a catch with currys 'whatever happens'

I have mentioned the whatever happens t&C and Currys agree it is over the 21 days BUT they said that Hotpoint have to send someone out to see if it can be repaired again (already had 5 visits since Nov about the same leaking) and if this engineer cannot repair it THEN he must right a report to say it is beyond repair BUT IF he can repair it then he will ~ i have told them that they have a whatever happens within 21 days it should be replaced but they said they can offer repairs if it is repairable:mad: So each time an engineer comes and believes it is fixed then the 21 days starts from the last visit (although my policy says from 1st visit)....
I am becoming very annoyed with Hotpoint/ Currys

penguin_mr

I'd like to assist to clear up some of this as I previously worked for Currys and also offer some useful tips if you've had or are having issues getting something changed over. Hope this helps:

1) As far as I'm aware Curry's pay a set fee of about £60 for every call out that takes place. So if the engineer is there 5 minutes and uses no parts then they pay £60, if there are £300 of parts and two days they still pay the same. So their cost is pretty much fixed per call out and the 'risk' is with the company deliverying the service, however to get the jobs they sign up to this type of policy (the £60 may now be higher).

2) I believe they have now got rid of most of the Mastercare engineers. With white goods (cooker, washer etc) the manufacturer will be the person to come out within the stated timescale. The service does deliver a faster response than if you don't have cover because the manufacturer signs up to deliver the work within the advertised time. So if you want quick response gauranteed then this will deliver (but beware they only have to visit within the 2 days, not resolve. They still have 21 days to resolve (although this should be from the date reported assuming you take the first available date - not from the first visit unless you delay the visit).

3) Regarding who is responsible if you have a dig around on the trading standards website (I did a long time ago so don't have the link) under EU law 'the final reseller is responsible for a minimum period of 24 months'. I had a DVD recorder go faulty after I'd left Currys printed this policy off and got a full refund as they no longer done that model even though it was about 15/16 months old. (It is also worth noting that you don't have to have a receipt just a proof of purchase, so a bank statement line is plenty. But I've also used reward cards in some stores as a proof of purchase - companies use this to track spending habits so they can equally trace purchase history - not got a receipt? paid cash? got a reward card then call their bluff and ask them to find it from the details against the card, they'll be reluctant but by producing it you are in effect producing a proof, it is then down to them to prove if they feel you didn't buy it in that timescale).

4) Regardless of who is sorting out a problem there is a little known bit of legislation which I believe is along the lines of 'should not cause undue stress to the customer'. This is very useful when you have situations relating to timescales (e.g. a 20 year old has a washing machine go faulty it would be fair to say they could take washing to a launderette, but an elderly/disabled/large family etc this is much less feasible so you can go down this route).

5) Have i used this? Yes. I have used this on both my washer dryer and also on an old cooker both with no problem.
However my mother has her washer covered and after several months and visits she was told by the manufactuer (Whirlpool) that if she called them out again she would be charged. They also gave her a letter stating that the machine was in perfect working order but they could not explain why the error light kept coming on and that the reset button should be used each time it was operated. My mother also suffered a mini-stroke during the time of dealing with this as she is approaching 60. Therefore I took over after 30 minutes using the following arguments agreed for action (30 minutes later they called with a date for a replacement):
a) Undue stress was being caused
b) As the final reseller they (not the manufacturer) were responsible
c) I asked if the machine should be operated as directed in the manual. I then asked which line, which page it stated to press the reset button every time
d) I asked if they would like to take this to the national press

The last resort to sorting a problem:
e) In the event that all of the above fail this is a great one to resort to. Don't waste time dealing with additional customer service staff as they give the company line response. Instead google the name of the company CIO (Chairman or similar). Once you have the name, then search for or ask for the head office number (not the 08 but direct to switchboard), if you can't find it find the press office number - this is nearly always advertised and go through to them and ask to be put through to switchboard or apologise and ask for switchboard number. Once at the switchboard just ask for the CIO by first name only. They will clarify who and then use full name, they will ask for your name, provide only first name. They will ask what it is about, so respond by asking if first name is in the office today. They will likely put you through to the PA (this is actually who you want). The PA will not let this get to the CIO so they will escalate this both fast and efficently. Take the PA's direct number/email etc and now you have a very high level contact (once you have the email address say you will email over full details, do this and use the same format of the email but copy in the CIO - this will ensure the PA deals with it if the email reaches the CIO). So now you have provided a written request, have a proof point and also a high level contact. This approach has worked very successfully with a number of large corporates that you wouldn't get close to speaking to the CIO at.
You may also want to try getting any other persons direct email and then subsitute/copy the CIO and/or other board members on the email. Trust me this works very well.

I know the above approach is a bit unauthodox and maybe not quite how things should be done. But if they deliver in the first place this you won't need it.

williham

I bought a surround sound system for £159 in 2005, with five year coverplan for £59.
It broke so I called up and they sent me £320 vouchers to get a new surround sound system and a £20 pro rata refund for the coverplan that I hadn't used.

Happy

planetf1

I was just considering ordering a new SLR camera from currys (where the 70SAVE voucher gives about a £30 saving, and another 20 from Cashback on a 700 item) when I noticed the "whateverhappens" option on checkout.

I'd normally run a mile, but was surprised to see it listed at 1.99. Given that it covers accidental damage and breakdown that's not bad. £24 a year for a item worth 700-750 UKP?

The T&Cs don't go into a huge amount of detail. Cosmetic damage that doesn't affect operation isn't covered. It gives an example of sand geting in to a camera (a risk) as covered, and also that negligence isn't.. all fairly standard

Now I have cover under home insurance/accidental cover, but that has a £50 or £75 excess, and a claim could impact premiums.

I also have a "gadget" policy which I'm close to dumping as it as a £1000 total limit (and £35 excess) doesn't go that far on "gadgets" these days

Even with a possible risk of poor service this could be a gamble worth taking -- I probably will and can of course decide to cancel afterwards.

As I said, I'm sure it's not the best but maybe worth a punt in this case?

Comments?