Knowhow disgraceful service and customer relations

RufCutRus

Please please could someone advise/help as I really really don't know what or where I stand with the below?
I Purchased my TV in Aug 2007 for £1999. Purchased Knowhow's whatever happens policy for TV in Aug 2008 at £7.99 per month. Paid a total of £479 over the 5 years! TV developed a fault and was sent off on the 19th July. I phoned knowhow on 19th July as I was concerned with the way it was transported as PLONKED my heavy 50" Plasma TV into a case on its side and transported it in the van on its side. It was logged as a complaint (which is still ongoing). I received my TV back, fault supposed to been repaired, on the 26th July when I open the wrapped bubble wrap I felt that the top edges and the top of the TV frame had deep scratches and scuffs and a big dent in the rear of the TV casing. I take great care and pride in my gadgets and this cosmetic damage had not been done prior to Knowhow taking it. I contacted knowhow again informing them they had cosmetically damaged my TV. They took the TV again for investigation. On the 2nd of Aug I recieved my TV back with a replaced front frame and rear case. Quite impressed however, on inspecting the TV I found a dent and scuffs in the new replaced rear case of the TV. Not that big so I was okish about this until I turned my TV on and low and behold, this was the first time I had switched the TV on since 19th July, the original fault I had reported and sent away for had not been repaired. The original fault was red vertical, coloured horizontal lines across the TV screen which, until the TV was warm, the TV would turn its self on and off. The TV was sent back for a 3rd time! They had to end up writing the TV off as it was passed their 21 day policy. Eventually I ended up getting a voucher code to which I took to my local Currys, happy that I was going to get a new TV, when I was informed the value of the voucher and their supposedly equivalent like for like TV of £699 ps51f5500. After an hour of disagreeing and getting no where with trying to get them to understand that the TV they were trying to replace was NOT like for like as for starters it didn't have the same connections let alone the same amount! Well after an hour I walked out with no TV. I have phoned Samsung and they advised me that the TV Currys offered is far less inferior product and advised that the equivalent today was a ps51f8500 at £1749 TV which is exactly what I had researched as being a replacement. So far I have got no where with this. No offer of compensation for cosmetically damaging my personal possessions. No offer of an oppology. And no like for like offer according to Samsung themselves. But the topping was the offer of a £699 TV which is what I have nearly paid in premiums alone! Samsung have said it was a top end TV at the time I purchased it. So they should replace with a top end like for like in today's equivalent which they are not honouring. I am not accepting this offer so what should and can I do and where do I stand with this? Please please help. Oh I am severly sight impaired/Blind and my TV was a major part of my normal daily living and to have been with out for over a month now has been very hard for me. I only have a tiny bit of sight left in my left eye only and rely on larger scales to help me with my day to day activities. Knowhow are fully aware of this. Knowhow are also refusing to send me back my TV as I am not accepting the offer so would like my TV back and the premiums paid as I now believe I was miss sold this service agreement! Please could someone help me as I have now reached the end of my tether and am fully prepared to take to a small claims court if I have to?? Thanks for listening peeps. Not a happy bunny at all

Esqui

Which TV did you have originally? I find it quite improbable that a £700 plasma TV is inferior to a 6-year-old TV of any price. And you will find that the agreement will replace it with a TV of 'similar specification', not a similar range position.


Which features only on the 8500 does your old TV have?

Jakg

Forgive me for being blunt, but...

Nowhere does it sound like you were mis-sold the agreement (did it promise you a "top of the range TV"?)

Samsung really have no business in this at all (because tbh it sounds like they dont know what they are talking about). It just sounds like they've tried to tell you that you that you should be asking for the most expensive TV they sell, for free. Helpful. Not...

I think you'll find that a new TV is going to be much better quality than your 6 year old TV - it might not have as many connectors (i.e. you wont find a new TV with 2+ SCART connectors!) but it will be a better TV over all. If you *genuinely* are getting a worse TV (i.e. they are trying to replace a £2k Pioneer Kuro with £200 to get a Logik 32" TV), if you explain the situation they can easily override the price of the voucher to get you something that *is* equivalent - the fact they haven't indicates (to me at least) that the TV is actually better.

mije1983

This is from the Curry's site in the Knowhow Ts&Cs:

The replacement will usually be in the form of vouchers to enable you to purchase a product of equivalent specification

A TV that was £2000 6 years ago will have an inferior specification compared to a TV of £1700+ now.

Forget about the price (because its specification not price that is important here). You need to pull up the specs of your current TV and compare them to the £700 TV they say is equivalent.

As Jakg says, it may not have as many SCART connections, but will probably have more HDMI connections for example.

If you can tell us the model of your TV we may be able to help you with the comparison if you need it.

I know you are annoyed at the moment and think you were mis-sold but look at it this way. If you hadn't taken out the Knowhow policy you would have had to pay more than your premiums now to purchase a new TV so look on the bright side and try and stay positive.

On the topic of compensation for damage to your property, as they repaired it free of charge and you accepted this, I would say you have little chance of that.

Fosterdog

It really is highly unlikely that the TV offered is lower spec than your old TV. Most no longer have scart or VGA connections but some will still have one scart or at least an adaptor for a scart connection. Other than that all of the technology has moved forward.

You are really getting a brand new TV 6 years down the line, you paid over £400 for the know how policy but are saving over £200 on buying the new TV yourself. If you didn't have the policy you'd be getting nothing at all without independent reports and possibly court where if you we're lucky you get a small fraction of the value and on a six year old TV there would be very little value left.

Money-Saving-King

Agree with the others. When you purchase a product such as Knowhow it is a good idea to understand what you have actually purchased, you've had 5 years to find out. If reading is a problem due to eyesight then ask a friend/relative to help. At the end of the day you're getting what you paid for.