Currys.. misselling?

debsf1

Hi everyone. I'm hoping someone can help with my query.

I bought a camera in a local Curry's / PC world store this evening. It was a clearance item and in a store ecurity sealed plastic box.

When I got it home and went to open the camera box I was disappointed to finde that the seal was already broken, the camera itself was covered in fingerprints and the battery and charger were both missing.

I was not told at the point of sale that this camera had been used?, ex display?. Nor was there a sign on the box stating it was either of these. I had the impression when purchasing it that it was an end of line clearance.
I called the number on the receipt and explained the situation and was told that the store manager woulod call me back within the hour. Over two hours later I called the store and asked to speak to the manager but was told that he didn't want to speak to me. I intend on going back to the store tomorrow but want to know what I should do if he will still not speak to me or deal with the situation?

My husband is of the opinion that I should ask for a form of compensation for being mis-sold something but would that be appropriate? and obviously that depends on whether the manager is 'available'..

monty-doggy

The manager didn't want to speak to you? Ten take it further to his area manager or head office.

That's totally unacceptable!

Agricolae

debsf1 wrote: »

Hi everyone. I'm hoping someone can help with my query.

I bought a camera in a local Curry's / PC world store this evening. It was a clearance item and in a store ecurity sealed plastic box.

When I got it home and went to open the camera box I was disappointed to finde that the seal was already broken, the camera itself was covered in fingerprints and the battery and charger were both missing.

I was not told at the point of sale that this camera had been used?, ex display?. Nor was there a sign on the box stating it was either of these. I had the impression when purchasing it that it was an end of line clearance.
I called the number on the receipt and explained the situation and was told that the store manager woulod call me back within the hour. Over two hours later I called the store and asked to speak to the manager but was told that he didn't want to speak to me. I intend on going back to the store tomorrow but want to know what I should do if he will still not speak to me or deal with the situation?

My husband is of the opinion that I should ask for a form of compensation for being mis-sold something but would that be appropriate? and obviously that depends on whether the manager is 'available'..

Well, what you're saying will be hard to prove so you have to hope they will take your word for it.

Assuming these parts were missing and you were not informed in any way they were missing, you should be able to make them take the camera back and give you a refund (of what you paid). You would not be entitled to a non-clearance camera of the same model.

The relevant legislation is the Sale of Goods Act 1979. The goods do not conform with the contract (i.e. they are not as described), and under this act you are allowed to reject the goods and get a refund.

debsf1

Thank you both for your kind replies. I'll go fully armed with the info tomorrow and see what happens.

Hope the unhelpful manager will decide to be somewhat more approachable then. If not, then his bosses are going to get a very irate phone call (followed by a letter of complaint) from a very dissatisfied customer!

monty-doggy

I'm a store manager and the thought of my area or regional manager getting a complaint would be more than enough to get me to not only resolve your complaint, but compensate for the inconvenience.

Don't take anything less!

downright_mean_with_money

monty-doggy...have you ever shopped at curry's? there rubbish with CS..they probably won't give a monkey's uncle about this. You have 2 options, claim innocence that the item was not quite as expected (which the store will probably use against you) OR just claim you were NOT told it was as described (even though you expected something else) and just handed a box you thought was sealed - then claim a refund and go elsewhere. it depends on how they react within the first few questions, greet. hope it goes well

whitegoods_engineer

I made a post some time ago about poor service and bad manager attitude at currys/pc world. I would advise anybody to avoid this company and shop online. Ever since Comet's demise, Currys seem to have a bad attitude since they effectively have no competition on many retail parks. Avoid currys pc world like the plague.

My bad experience was at the Apsley, Hemel Hempstead store where the manager couldn't care less.

,

Zandoni

I'd just take it back and show them what you bought and ask for a refund. I'd only involve the manager if necessary.

Buzby

Clearance items have a sticker with tick boxes that show what the status of the goods are - previously opened, customer return, bits missing etc. invariably the price charged is not enough to convince me this is ever better than selecting a new one, ever.

As long as the sticker was accurate - you have no comeback and tour work will be cut out seeking a refund. But it is possible.

In future never buy such goods - it is rarely worth it.

debsf1

Hi Guys, thought that I had best update you all on the Currys saga...

After a wait of 3 days for the 'guaranteed' call back that never happened, I took the camera back to the store and asked for the manager (again) but was still fobbed off and eventually saw a deputy manager who refunded me the purchase price with a shrug of his shoulders and a curt 'apology' of sorts.

Over the weekend I e-mailed the head office and set out the full situation and reason for my complaint.
This evening I have received a very apologetic phone call from them in which they agreed that the item had indeed been pre-used and had incorrectly been put on sale as new. They have since e-mailed me some money off vouchers to be used against any future purchases, when or if I use them it will most certainly not be at the store that caused this problem..

So if anyone else has any problems with a purchase from Curry's / PC World, make sure that you complain strongly to head office about your experience (nothing to lose by doing so) as there are some workers there who appear to want to give good customer service, if only to prevent further poor press.

Buzby, there was nothing on the plastic container other than the price and clearance sticker with original selling price, and there was also nothing on the camera's box itself to warn of previous use. Hence my complaint. Had there been any sign that the camera was ex-display or whatever then I would not have even contemplated purchasing it.

tasticz

Go there at the time with alot of people in shop and make a big fuss about it. Currys never give up easily thats what me and my parents had to do just to get their customer service phone number in the store when the tv delivered was used...