Currys - no delivery on 2 days

portoman

Hi

I don't know if this is the right place to post this (I guess I'll be told), but I need to share my experience of using Curry's this week.

I ordered and paid for an oven online to be delivered Monday 18th. I received a text saying it would be delivered between 10:15 - 15:15. Okay, fair enough. At 3pm, 15 mins before end of delivery window, I received an answer message, telling me that it would not be delivered as there was not enough stock (how can that be true ? They only found out that day?). Ridculous.

So I phoned them back on Monday and asked for a refund. The guy said he could not process the refund there and then, but would do it tomorrow when he started his shift, and would send me an email. Tuesday came and no email. Great. BUT, I received a text saying the oven was no arriving on Thursday 21st. Strange, because I had not agreed nor arranged this. I phoned them again, explaining that I had asked for a refund, but instead received a text about delivery. According to the person, there was no record of a refund being processed (don't they keep records on screen??), but yes, the delivery was rescheduled. I decided to keep the new delivery, as I needed this new oven.

So Thursday. Delivery between 10:15 and 14:15. It came to 14:45 and no delivery, Surprise surprise. I phoned them again, and was told it might be late etc, but the guy on the line did try and phone the delivery depot while I was on hold, only to find the number was not being answered. How rubbish ! Anyway, he said he would keep me informed and would phone be back later on (he did not).

So I waited until 6 and phoned again, and asked for a refund.Again, there was no record of me having phoned earlier, which I find bizarre, as it seems they do not log records. The person said it would be processed (no sorry, "should be"), within 3 - 5 working days. I also asked him to make sure this was being put on my customer record. He said it was.

Since yesterday I have received no emails about the order being cancelled, no phone calls, nothing. So I really do not know if this order will be processed. Is this a joke? This is horrendous service.

I waited for 2 days and no delivery. No updates on deliveries and no records kept of phone calls I made. Also, it seems that there is no communication between Curry's and the delivery depots. Absolutely terrible. So I still have no oven that works - only my old oven which I removed and put by my door to be taken away.

Is there anything I can do regarding the refund- bar wait and see ? Has anyone else experienced similar ? I am really surprised that they could no deliver on two occasions in the same week, but you are expected to stay in and wait around. Obviously I'll never use this idiots again.

mr_somerset

Hi Portoman
i haven't had that experience, but you might be as well buying from elsewhere and startling a credit dispute with currys if they don't refund you in full. Is it incompetence or a deliberate practice to keep you hooked while they await their own delivery of the product? I have a different experience which suggest a deliberate policy was in play.

I was also unsure where to post this but out of a sense of loyalty to Currys gave them the
first look, but they haven’t bothered to respond in the 10 days since, except for auto reply emails.

I might add that I have been a long-standing customer of Currys and over the
years have bought considerably from their shops both online and in store, this
includes televisions, computers, memory sticks, and tablets to name just a few
products.

As I prefer when possible to see the product and listen to it (especially in this instance as it was a speaker) I visited a branch in Cabot Circus. I did so in the expectation that I would be 'looked after' as I had been on all previous visits – with helpful well-informed assistants taking me through the options.

On this occasion that didn't happen. I wondered around the store twice unable to
see the speakers and had to ask and be directed, but left to find and view by
myself. This was from Assistant A. On finding the item I was interested in I
noticed a button saying press for demo. I duly pressed and heard a kind of
bleeping somewhere above and away to my left. I assumed this was to summon an
assistant. No sound came out of the speaker and no-one came. I turned it off and
on again, same bleeping but no assistant. I then had to wave and call to a
female staff member who was ahead of me and across the aisle and ask for
assistance. Assistant B then came over and was friendly, but not highly
informed, I presume a trainee. She was quickly joined however by Assistant C who
took over. He appeared to infer that the pressing of the button itself should
have triggered a demonstration of the product but that it was obviously
malfunctioning. He was able to improvise using his own phone to obtain a blue
tooth connection and a demonstration which immediately satisfied me that this
was the product I wanted. There was no offer to talk me through other products
which while unusual in my experience, was wholly acceptable to me on this
occasion.

Assistant C then proceeded to inform me of the insurance (customer support
agreement CSA) in a way that seemed to preclude my choice over whether to take
it. I said that this speaker already carried a 2 year guarantee according to the
website, but he was adamant that this was not sufficient as that was with the
manufacturer and would involve it being sent away and also only covered certain
faults and not accidents or misuse by me which the CSA did cover; with an
instant no questions asked replacement. I was still not interested, having
already made all my decisions about the purchase beforehand, requiring only a
demonstration to seal the selection. His manner was so insistent about the CSA
however, that I sidestepped it and said: 'let’s go to the till and proceed with
the sale anyway' thinking to decline it formally once there.

As I approached the till I saw Assistant A speak briefly with Assistant C. I
took out my card ready to pay but was then informed that the CSA was being
offered to me today at a special promotional price of £15 and that his manager
had just authorized that. I was certainly not going to be taking out the product
but this just tipped the balance and I said yes. After all, I had bought my
tablet under that scheme in 2012 and been happy with the decision down the line.

From the moment I was at the counter I suddenly became 'mate' to Assistant C
which again was a little odd. I am in my late 60s btw.

I paid, received my receipt and Assistant C went away to get the paperwork for
the CSA. While waiting, I noticed that the receipt showed a promotion offer of
-£4.99 against the speaker and not against the CSA which was shown at its full
price of £19.99. I thought this odd but did not remark on it.

When Assistant C returned with the Agreement, comprising of 2 sheets of paper,
he laid the second only on the counter for me to sign. I said 'I need to read
it first' at which juncture he handed me the first page which contained the
conditions. In the first couple of paragraphs I found a clause I was unhappy
with and sought clarification.

Though I do not have this Agreement in my possession, I recall that it said
words to the effect that if the product covered had to be replaced it would be,
with the same or an equivalent item, but that if the item was not the same, the
agreement would not continue with the replacement product. That at least is the
crux of the message I was receiving from my reading. In other words, If my JBL
flip 3 became faulty I could bring it in for an immediate replacement but if
(let us say 18 moths had elapsed) the flip 3 was no longer stocked, or available
at any other store in the chain, then an equivalent product would be provided
(up to the purchase value) but my insurance would not be carried over to the new
product and therefore cease.

I had something in my mind from reading or hearing about changes to the Currys
support agreements and this seemed to bear that out and clarify that change. My
CSA, instead of guaranteeing me 3 years of trouble free listening, with one
product or another, might last only until my first change of a faulty product.
At this stage Assistant C went off to consult and came back with Assistant A who
asked what the issue was. I explained only to be reassured that I would indeed
be guaranteed 3 years of cover and that the cover would be continued with any
change of product until expiry of the term. I was reassured and Assistant A went
off again. I then returned to reading the Agreement, starting from the top
again. The trouble was that the wording did not accord with the reassurance just
given. I asked Assistant C to write the substance of that reassurance on the
Agreement so that it was clear and then I would sign it. He looked at the
wording himself and was clearly feeling a little unsure and certainly not ready
to do that. At this point he turned for help to Assistant D who was also at the
counter and I went again the through the issue. While this was going on
Assistant A returned, just long enough to summon Assistant C away. He did not
make any contact with me, including eye contact, and I felt there was something
almost furtive about his exchange with and removal of Assistant C.

Assistant D was clear that the agreement would not cover me in the way I would
have found acceptable and that I had just been reassured over and so I said it
was no longer of interest and a refund to my card was conducted. The discount on the product disappeared with the refund on the insurance. I left the shop
and have been mulling over the whole episode since. Needless to say I am unhappy
with my experience of Currys in-store and am left thinking that there must be a
financial incentive for store members to push consumer service products which seem to offer much less than promised, representing a pretty hefty tax on top of the product price.