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

walesrob

George_Michael wrote: »

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.

According to the business account t&c I can return an unwanted product:

"An unwanted product can be returned within 21 days of delivery as long as it's still in its original, unopened packaging." and "If goods are to be returned to us you must obtain an RMA from our Customer Services Department.

I can only conclude there is some kind of incentive going on to open these business accounts, but the point is the customer should be informed first. As an ex-employee of DSG from many years ago, this kind of practice does not surprise in the least.

Jakg

I doubt there's any real incentive to "create" B2B sales, but there'll certainly be targets (based on the amount of business sales done week-on-week) that they are trying to fudge.

In practice, there's no difference in how any faulty would be dealt with, but it's still not ok.

If you just want it resolved - store manager. If you want compo - head office complaint route.

Source - I used to work there.

stugib

I had this happen on Saturday. Bought a new TV and was directed to the PC World Business area to pay. I vaguely remembered this thread but couldn't find it there and then to check whether it was anything to be concerned about, but I asked a few key questions and seem to have been repeatedly lied to:

I told them I wasn't buying as a business and this was for personal use
I told them I was part-paying from a home insurance claim
I paid the balance on my personal credit card
I asked why they were using their business account system - I was told it was just so they could produce a receipt that wouldn't fade for the 5 year guarantee
I asked them whether they were signing me up as a business as I knew I'd have less rights than as a consumer. "No" I was told, no difference, nothing to worry about, all just for the purpose of printing the invoice for my guarantee - "it might say Business on the invoice, but just ignore that"

And lo and behold when I check the back of this receipt/invoice, it includes:

01. PC World Business is a business to business reseller. In buying from PC World Business you agree that you are buying goods or services only for business purposes. The liability provisions in conditions 27-32 below set out our responsibilities to you in more detail, but as a business customer, purchases you make from us will not benefit from the statutory protection available to consumers under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended) and related legislation.

04. You must decide before ordering if the goods are suitable for your needs; we do not accept any responsibility for assisting you with that decision.

15. All our goods are sold to you with the benefit of the manufacturer's warranty. We will accept returns of faulty goods notified to us within 30 days of delivery, subject to the terms of the manufacturer's warranty. After 30 days you will need to deal with the manufacturer directly

and further emails welcoming me to my business and a VAT invoice with remittance to the Czech Republic. The till receipt, on closer inspection has a purchase order number and account number.


I plan on taking this up with them directly and getting a proper receipt and the account closed down. I don't give a toss if it's some corporate tax dodge but it may well cause me problems if I have to take up the manufacturers warranty. Any ideas what they hell they're playing at or can forsee any other issues for me here?

walesrob

By way of an update, I did send a letter to head office. They apologised and promised to retrain the staff at the store. They also gave me an email address for the office in Prague to cancel the business account. Email sent and a very short terse reply in broken English to confirm account closed.

stugib

Rang their business number. He didn't sound surprised but said he'd email to cancel the business account and the store duty manager as it shouldn't have been set up as a business account and I shouldn't have been told the invoice was so it would last 5 years. Two different staff gave me the same story so suspicious the manager wouldn't know that was happening.

He said if the manufacturer asked them I'd be listed as a residential address and that it was a domestic purchase, but I'm going to insist on a normal receipt that has no mention of being bought as a business as I really don't need the hassle a few years down the line.

bod1467

stugib wrote: »

Rang their business number. He didn't sound surprised but said he'd email to cancel the business account and the store duty manager

That's a bit harsh. Who's he getting to cancel the store manager? Hitman 47?

dacouch

They tried the same on me when I purchased a TV a couple of months ago, the staff are definitely being pushed on this as the sales assistant was very insistent.

Fortunately I understood the implications and declined numerous times

DCFC79

bod1467 wrote: »

That's a bit harsh. Who's he getting to cancel the store manager? Hitman 47?

Or 1 of the below

The Equaliser
James Bond
Jason Bourne
Nikita
The Punisher