PC World or Currys refunds

MarkWatson

If you have ever been bought a computer online and been refused a refund by PC World/Currys because you "switched it on" then I have good news for you - you can get that refund and the company has no right to refuse it.

Online purchasers has a 14 day cooling off period, within which they can return a product and get a refund; that is the law. PC World/Currys however do not like to recognise this right when it comes to computers. They maintain that if you "use" a computer (ie switch it on) then you immediately invalidate your right to a refund and will refuse all refund requests from their customers.. They are not legally entitled to do this however!

I bought a computer online from Currys, switched it on and tested it. I then decided it was not right for me (too slow). I contacted the company and asked for a refund, however that was refused - seven times. I then took out a small claims court case - and hey presto, the company fell over itself to settle that case and pay the £25 costs it had incurred me.

The reason they settled is because they knew that they could not win the case as I clearly had the law on my side. They however have not changed their terms and conditions which contains this clause about not giving refunds if a computer is "used", clearly hoping they can get away with not refunding people unless they go to the bother of taking legal action.

If you are having this problem with this company then please contact me by private message and I will tell you how to get your money back. This disreputable company should not be allowed to get away with depriving you of your legal rights in this way and I would be only too happy to help ensure they don't!

Any questions, please ask away. I will check this regularly and give further details if required.

System

They don't need to change their T&Cs. They can now make a deduction from the refund if the item has been used/packaging damaged etc.

MarkWatson

The point is that they don't so this. They need to change their Ts and Cs to make it explicit that they will give refunds even if the unit has been switched on - and they do need to give those refunds. They currently do not.

LABMAN

MarkWatson wrote: »

....Anyone who buys anything online has a 14 days cooling off period, within which they can return a product and get a refund; that is the law....

Untrue as there are exceptions.

wealdroam

MarkWatson wrote: »

If you have ever been bought a computer online and been refused a refund by PC World/Currys because you "switched it on" then I have good news for you - you can get that refund and the company has no right to refuse it.

Online purchasers has a 14 day cooling off period, within which they can return a product and get a refund; that is the law. PC World/Currys however do not like to recognise this right when it comes to computers. They maintain that if you "use" a computer (ie switch it on) then you immediately invalidate your right to a refund and will refuse all refund requests from their customers.. They are not legally entitled to do this however!

I bought a computer online from Currys, switched it on and tested it. I then decided it was not right for me (too slow). I contacted the company and asked for a refund, however that was refused - seven times. I then took out a small claims court case - and hey presto, the company fell over itself to settle that case and pay the £25 costs it had incurred me.

The reason they settled is because they knew that they could not win the case as I clearly had the law on my side. They however have not changed their terms and conditions which contains this clause about not giving refunds if a computer is "used", clearly hoping they can get away with not refunding people unless they go to the bother of taking legal action.

If you are having this problem with this company then please contact me by private message and I will tell you how to get your money back. This disreputable company should not be allowed to get away with depriving you of your legal rights in this way and I would be only too happy to help ensure they don't!

Any questions, please ask away. I will check this regularly and give further details if required.

Mark, this exactly what you posted on 29 September:

forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?p=69230774#post69230774

Why have you posted it again?

daytona0

I'm no expert on the Consumer Contract Regulations (assume you are referring to this) but:

http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/support-services/advice/practice-notes/consumer-contracts-regulations-2013/

8.1 Exclusions: regulations 27 and 28

- goods personalised or made to consumer's specifications

You can argue (and I think this is the line PC World take) that when you turn the computer on, you personalise it to yourself. You create your profile and put your stuff on it, thus making it personalised. This MAY be sufficient to exclude you from returning it under CCR.


Also, it would be interesting to know whether PC World settled out of court or if they were ruled against. If it was settled out of court then do not assume that you were LEGALLY entitled to the refund, but rather that you MAY HAVE BEEN legally entitled to it.

Just food for thought.


EDIT: I replied to your post in April of this year when you initially posed the question! You mentioned throwing the box away I think, or damage to it. We mentioned that the value should be diminished. IF you got a full refund then you probably didn't deserve that. I am 95% confident that it was settled out of court purely to save them some money and not because you were right.

I think your post, whilst it has good intentions, is a bit inaccurate and potentially harmful for other consumers. You suggest that a consumer can get a CCR refund if they hassle the company enough between April and October (~6 months) aka "7 times", and then launch a small claims case. You've been forced to take legal action, at which point it is going to cost them money to defend it! They are basically going to incur costs irrespective of what they choose, and they have three outcomes [defend and win, defend and lose or settle].

System

And hey presto, the company fell over itself to settle that case and pay the £25 costs it had incurred me.

They probably settled out of court as the cheapest option. Saves having to pay their legal bod to turn up. He/She probably bills more than the OP was claiming so minimising their outlay.

Orville

MarkWatson wrote: »

If you have ever been bought a computer online and been refused a refund by PC World/Currys because you "switched it on" then I have good news for you - you can get that refund and the company has no right to refuse it.

Online purchasers has a 14 day cooling off period, within which they can return a product and get a refund; that is the law. PC World/Currys however do not like to recognise this right when it comes to computers. They maintain that if you "use" a computer (ie switch it on) then you immediately invalidate your right to a refund and will refuse all refund requests from their customers.. They are not legally entitled to do this however!

I bought a computer online from Currys, switched it on and tested it. I then decided it was not right for me (too slow). I contacted the company and asked for a refund, however that was refused - seven times. I then took out a small claims court case - and hey presto, the company fell over itself to settle that case and pay the £25 costs it had incurred me.

The reason they settled is because they knew that they could not win the case as I clearly had the law on my side. They however have not changed their terms and conditions which contains this clause about not giving refunds if a computer is "used", clearly hoping they can get away with not refunding people unless they go to the bother of taking legal action.

If you are having this problem with this company then please contact me by private message and I will tell you how to get your money back. This disreputable company should not be allowed to get away with depriving you of your legal rights in this way and I would be only too happy to help ensure they don't!

Any questions, please ask away. I will check this regularly and give further details if required.

Why did you settle out of court if this company is so disreputable..? I would have gone the full length and got a judgement against them. Surely future customers before court then quote the judgement in any correspondence..?

MarkWatson

daytona0 wrote: »

I'm no expert on the Consumer Contract Regulations (assume you are referring to this) but:

http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/support-services/advice/practice-notes/consumer-contracts-regulations-2013/

8.1 Exclusions: regulations 27 and 28

- goods personalised or made to consumer's specifications

You can argue (and I think this is the line PC World take) that when you turn the computer on, you personalise it to yourself. You create your profile and put your stuff on it, thus making it personalised. This MAY be sufficient to exclude you from returning it under CCR.


Also, it would be interesting to know whether PC World settled out of court or if they were ruled against. If it was settled out of court then do not assume that you were LEGALLY entitled to the refund, but rather that you MAY HAVE BEEN legally entitled to it.

Just food for thought.

Two points on that - when they put a computer on display in a store, they have to do the exact same process. All you do when you go through that process is exactly what you would be permitted to do in terms of handing the goods to the extent one would do if one was testing them in a shop. The regulations say you can do this, and still get a full refund.

The other point is that, even if they are justified in making some kind of deduction, they are not within their rights to refuse an entire refund. All they can do is make a deduction for excessive handling. PC World/Currys do not do this - they refuse any refund at all. They are wrong to do this.

MarkWatson

Orville wrote: »

Why did you settle out of court if this company is so disreputable..? I would have gone the full length and got a judgement against them. Surely future customers court then quote the judgement in any correspondence..?

I settled out of court because if I had not, the judge would quite rightly have asked why I did not. It would very likely not be acceptable to the court that I was using court time to achieve more than simply getting the refund to which I was entitled and they could well have made me pay PC World/Curry's expenses.

Orville

MarkWatson wrote: »

I settled out of court because if I had not, the judge would quite rightly have asked why I did not. It would very likely not be acceptable to the court that I was using court time to achieve more than simply getting the refund to which I was entitled and they could well have made me pay PC World/Curry's expenses.

That is a very poor excuse. A judge would not have asked and if he did, all you would have to do is say that very few people are aware you are entitled to a refund and you are requesting the judgement so others can go better armed when asking for a refund as there was a recent ruling in favour.