Curry's / PC World business account set up without my knowledge

Pound

A couple of days ago I had a laptop in mind that I wanted to buy so headed to Curry's / PC World because it was the lowest price.

When I was paying I was asked for my name, address, email and oddly "are you self employed or a director?" to which I told him I wasn't. I understood the details would be used so that if I had any faults they could lookup my details on the computer even if I didn't have a receipt.

After leaving the store I got two emails, an electronic copy of my receipt, an email thanking me for joining PC World Business and the following day, an invoice. The invoice was headed PC World Business and listed the goods I'd purchased, reading further down were terms and conditions which suggested that consumer law didn't apply to this purchase!

I looked at my receipt, it doesn't say anything about PC World Business but it does have an account number and the word "B2B" against the item description. At no point did I make any suggestion that I was buying for business purposes and at no point did they say anything to me about setting up a business account.

I'm worried now that if I have a fault in a few months time that they will try to tell me I have no consumer rights. I did take it to another store who told me they would provide a receipt which showed it was a consumer purchase but all they really did was provide a receipt which showed I exchanged the product so not sure if that will help since they may ask for the original receipt.

Should I be looking to try and return this now used laptop so that I can repurchase making sure there's no mention of "business" anywhere or is it enough to argue at the time of a fault that I don't run a business so SOGA must apply?

I don't understand why they would have put through the sale as a business purchase, would they be getting commission from doing this?

bod1467

WRITE to them (Head Office) immediately and complain that they have falsely represented the transaction as a B2B transaction. DEMAND that they correct this error immediately else you'll seek legal redress through the courts for the restoration of your consumer rights.

How did you pay for the laptop? You didn't happen to use a corporate card, did you?

Pound

bod1467 wrote: »

WRITE to them (Head Office) immediately and complain that they have falsely represented the transaction as a B2B transaction. DEMAND that they correct this error immediately else you'll seek legal redress through the courts for the restoration of your consumer rights.

I would like to do that but not sure how a court would award me consumer rights unless my claim was in the event of a fault further down the line.

How did you pay for the laptop? You didn't happen to use a corporate card, did you?

I paid with my credit card. I don't have a corporate card.

walesrob

I bought a laptop today from Currys and they also opened a business account for me. I paid using my personal credit card and there was no mention of 'b2b' on the receipt.

Why are they doing this? Is it creative accounting?

Andy_L

walesrob wrote: »

I bought a laptop today from Currys and they also opened a business account for me. I paid using my personal credit card and there was no mention of 'b2b' on the receipt.

Why are they doing this? Is it creative accounting?

Seeing as how we're dealing with Currys, I'm backing c0ck-up over conspiracy

hc25036

There's probably a bonus payment for checkout staff for selling business accounts....

Pound

I've no idea why they did it, I know at the time they were taking a very long time to put the transaction through (maybe 20-30 mins), also I was asked if I was self-employed so I think a deliberate effort to put it through as B2B rather than a mistake.

I spoke to someone at PC World Business who said consumer rights wouldn't apply to my purchase. I also spoke to the store manager who said businesses and consumers would get the same aftersales service and sent me an email to that effect so it shouldn't make any difference, ie. they would send the laptop to the manufacturer in the event of a fault.

It's not what's written on the invoice I got from PC World Business but I reckon I could argue if I needed to that consumer rights should apply since I'm not running a business.

walesrob

I will get clarification from DSG head office about this. Luckily the laptop will not arrive till Tuesday so I can still reject it,

Looking at the t&c of the business account it does state normal manufacturers warranty are not affected if item was purchased through a business account.

What's interesting is that I received another invoice stating the laptop had been paid for and it went on to say that any future transactions using a business account, remittance can be sent to an address in the Czech Republic?!

Twopints

walesrob wrote: »

remittance can be sent to an address in the Czech Republic?!

They probably have a Finance Shared Service Centre in Czech where the transaction processing is done, at a lower cost than in the UK. They are not all in India!

prowla

A while back I bought something and asked for a VAT receipt; they sat me down with the business account manager who started asking me for my details, but I said all I want is a VAT receipt, thanks. He did seem a bit miffed.

George_Michael

walesrob wrote: »

I will get clarification from DSG head office about this. Luckily the laptop will not arrive till Tuesday so I can still reject it

But if the purchase was made by a business and not a consumer (which is what the papefwork will show), there is no right of rejection under the Consumer contract regulations.