Currys PC World refusing a replacement camera after 3 months despite law on my side!

Amanda

Bradden wrote: »

I'm not sure I agree with you.. you may think they are behaving badly but I can see nothing wrong with what they have offered you.

No do I believe that that have breached any of your statutory consumer rights.

What they haven't done is offered me a solution which was right. As a huge company, they should have had no hesitation in replacing instantly, given the fault. Instead, they hide behind company policy and instead of being a leader in consumer care, they try to find loopholes to pass the buck elsewhere.

Undervalued

Amanda wrote: »

Actually, I'm calm. I'm not doing this in anger at all. I just want Currys PC World to do what is right.

A less-than 3 month old camera failing should not have to be sent away to be repaired.

If, as the law assumes, within 6 months that the fault is inherent, then, the company should replace the thing, not faff me about, pointing to 'company policy' on the back of the receipt, and stating to me that they have no knowledge of consumer law.

If they are in a customer-facing role, dealing with returns, they should bloody well know about consumer rights. It's their job.

Well you clearly don't!

For the last time, they are entitled to have it repaired!

Amanda

Undervalued wrote: »

Well you clearly don't!

For the last time, they are entitled to have it repaired!

I am entitled to good customer service and this large company should have done the right thing, replaced the camera from stock and returned the faulty one to Canon for a credit. That's the simple, customer focussed way to do it, not make the customer jump through hoops to suit them.

SuperHan

To echo all of the above, Currys are acting within the word and spirit of the law.


You'd be hard pressed to find a retailer who would offer you more. The CRA were written to clarify a lot of the ambiguity in SoGA, and still don't put Currys at fault here.


You shouldn't get a replacement. You're not entitled to one. What's more, if the camera was so important to you, then you should have taken the extended warranty offered to you - the whole purpose of this is to give customers above and beyond the law (and yes, you shouldn't have to take that out, but then you are at the mercy of CRA).


Currys wouldn't have been able to return the camera to Canon for a credit as they will be outside of the period where they can do that. They would have to send it off for repair, and then sell it as refurbished, most likely at a lower price. That's not time and cost efficient for Currys and they are, at the end of the day, running a business.


The more you shout, the less likely you are to get what you are asking for. You're asking for them to go above and beyond and offer a goodwill gesture, and as someone who has worked in customer service I can vouch that you catch more flies with honey.

Fosterdog

Amanda wrote: »

Actually, I'm calm. I'm not doing this in anger at all. I just want Currys PC World to do what is right.

A less-than 3 month old camera failing should not have to be sent away to be repaired.

If, as the law assumes, within 6 months that the fault is inherent, then, the company should replace the thing, not faff me about, pointing to 'company policy' on the back of the receipt, and stating to me that they have no knowledge of consumer law.

If they are in a customer-facing role, dealing with returns, they should bloody well know about consumer rights. It's their job.

There is no requirement for them to know the law despite their role. They will only be taught company policy however in this case the company policy is in line with the law so they have no need to know anything else.

The reason a lot of companies don't want all employees knowing the exact laws are because it can lead to more complicated discussions with customers where if they have made a mistake in their interpretation (much like you have done here so it shows how easily it is done) it can add further complications. They can avoid any potential issues by not going in depth on the law with employees in stores but just having a set company policy that cannot be misinterpreted and then head office will have a legal department for any further queries or issues.

Where I work there are only the managers and two employees per branch that have had consumer law training (me being one of them). Everyone else just has to follow company policy and any complaints such as yours are escalated to one of us who know the law so can discuss it with you properly and give you our final stance and the legal reasoning for it and can even put it in writing to assist with any court case that may come about.

We don't get many court claims against us as a company but so far not a single one has been awarded against us and no settlements have been made as we are very careful with making sure we follow the law and also have quite generous terms on top. However if you were one of our customers with your current situation even that would be outside our terms and we would do no more for you than offer the repair and would defend at court if needs be and have won a few very similar frivolous cases by proving that what we have offered is more than acceptable in the eyes of the law. Larger companies like Currys do sometimes settle out of court, not because you are right but because it would cost them too much to defend the claim compared to what they lose by settling.

Undervalued

Amanda wrote: »

I am entitled to good customer service and this large company should have done the right thing, replaced the camera from stock and returned the faulty one to Canon for a credit. That's the simple, customer focussed way to do it, not make the customer jump through hoops to suit them.

No you are not!

You are "entitled" to your legal rights, nothing more.

As I said earlier, I am no fan of Currys PC World but that doesn't mean they are doing anything legally wrong.

slashlover

Have you tried googling the error code? Found a few links which suggest

compressed air to clean the shutter
hitting the camera with the palm of your hand
going to Menu - clean sensor
turning off the flash trigger

neilmcl

Amanda wrote: »

I don't care. It is inconvenient to me, that's why I bought a half decent camera from what I thought was a reputable company. Currys PC World show that they have poor customer commitment. I have been considerably inconvenienced.

That said it all for me. Did you really want advice or merely looking for someone to agree with everything you posted?

Bogalot

Amanda wrote: »

Actually, I'm calm. I'm not doing this in anger at all. I just want Currys PC World to do what is right.

A less-than 3 month old camera failing should not have to be sent away to be repaired.

If, as the law assumes, within 6 months that the fault is inherent, then, the company should replace the thing, not faff me about, pointing to 'company policy' on the back of the receipt, and stating to me that they have no knowledge of consumer law.

If they are in a customer-facing role, dealing with returns, they should bloody well know about consumer rights. It's their job.

You keep confusing consumer rights (your legal entitlement) and what you think is right. Do you acknowledge that your expectations go beyond your legal rights?

Amanda

SuperHan wrote: »

The more you shout, the less likely you are to get what you are asking for. You're asking for them to go above and beyond and offer a goodwill gesture, and as someone who has worked in customer service I can vouch that you catch more flies with honey.

They had the chance of honey when I went in and politely asked for an exchange. They then invoked what appears to be a well rehearsed closing of ranks, stating company policy, blah blah, all designed to make me accept a lesser result.

The result needed was an exchange, not a repair.

They could very easily have done this, they chose to send me away, expecting me to stay silent and to cause them no inconvenience.

Well, I am not going away, I will get an exchange. It's just a matter of how much bad publicity they want until they replace my camera.

I can go on for months, believe me!