Currys complaint

salc71

Hi all, 

I sent the following complaint about a Currys Care agreement, which explains what happened:

I am writing with regard to agreement XXXXXXX for the Beko cooker on behalf of my 84 year old mother.

She purchased this 'insurance' for a cheap cooker she bought many moons ago at Currys and unwisely was persuaded to take out insurance.  Had I known sooner she was paying for this, I would have talked her out of it as the cooker was simply not worth it.  She has paid over £1000 since having the insurance and could have bought herself 2 or 3 cookers.

This is not forgetting (which she has) that the gas cooker wasn't installed correctly upon purchase putting her life at risk. 

She recently contacted Currys as the cooker inevitably has now malfunctioned and someone came out in July 2023, to repair, (she can't remember exactly when) and told her they couldn't fix it.  My mother was just going to leave it at that and they didn't offer any resolution whatsoever.  Bear in mind that her cover is due to end in October 2023. 

I went to Currys in XXXXXX with my mother this weekend and spoke to XXXX at the services desk, who said that she wasn't given a voucher for a replacement as she didn't supply a mobile or an email!  That is simply not acceptable and surely age discrimination. What is wrong with the post?  I have now given them my email and mobile number.

I feel very aggrieved that my mother or any older vulnerable person is treated like this.  No apology, nothing. 

I have asked her to cancel her insurance ( she couldn't remember if she had).  

I would like you to look into this matter and would expect my mother to have the value of a decent cooker and not be charged for installation & recycling as a minimum. 

I believe she has been treated in an appalling manner and I will not hesitate to further this issue to CDRL, should the response not be weighted in her favour.

Yours sincerely

*I have since been given a voucher for £350 & told that as she failed to provide contact details ( they have her landline number & address) and should have followed up herself. 

I do plan to take further but what are your thoughts on this?

I feel that they have taken advantage of an older person and their treatment is contemptuous.

Alderbank

salc71 said:

I do plan to take further but what are your thoughts on this?

What are my thoughts on this?

Your pearl clutching is first-class.

Stuff like facts, timeline, much less so. For example, 'many moons' is not a time interval recognised by the Consumer Rights Act.

Others will give better advice.

PS Doesn't your mother have anything to say? It's really between Currys and her.

turnitround

I think you are directing your anger at the wrong department. Curry's have always been well known for selling useless warranties and when they come up for renewal Currys will not know that your mother is 84 years old. 

Its not age discrimination it is just the way of the world these day, doctors want you to book appointments online, bills are serviced online etc, etc. Not ideal I know but its what they mistakenly call progress.

I think your complaint is pretty unfounded. By your own admission your mother cant remember when she bought the cooker, cant remember when they came out to it, cant remember if she has cancelled the insurance or not, cant remember that they could have killed her with a faulty installation.

I have to ask, where were you when all this was going on? When my dad was in his 80s and vulnerable I was helping him with his finances and would have been aware he was wasting money on useless warranties long before he had paid out 1000,s. 

As an elderly person, especially as you knew she was vulnerable why were you not there to assist before now. I don't think its Currys that have been irresponsible. 

Jonty6262

Stopped shopping at this company years ago, horrible people.

born_again

Sadly these Care & Repair schemes rely on people not cancelling. 
In effect your mother has got what she was paying "Many Moons" for in July this year when they came out to attempt a fix.

In reality take the voucher purchase a new cooker. Pass up on any extended cover. Take the MSE route & put that amount in a savings acc just in case.

Perhaps look at Power of Attorney given your comments about your mother being a vulnerable person.

RefluentBeans

Agree with everything above. Also you’re stating that your mother is vulnerable, fine. But unless you tell the merchant that then they’re not doing anything wrong. 

As for the price of the cooker - it’s unfortunate that the policy only covers the cost of the original. Are you claiming she was vulnerable at the time of the purchase of the insurance? If you’re not claiming that, then the policy was sold fairly. The actual terms may be bad, but it’s not uncommon for some terms to be bad with insurance. 

I also don’t think requiring an email or mobile number is age discrimination. The vast majority (and I mean almost everyone) in the UK will have either a mobile or an email. Even technophobes so are in the boomer generation have a mobile, and if they have their own internet, the probably have an email. A gift voucher has cash value - I can certainly see why they wouldn’t send that via post! 

If your mother is this vulnerable then go through monthly/yearly payments and see what else is being taken out, and get a power of attorney. 

Take the £350. Chalk the rest up to experience and be glad it was a slow bleed and not a gush of money all at once. 

user1977

RefluentBeans said:

I also don’t think requiring an email or mobile number is age discrimination. The vast majority (and I mean almost everyone) in the UK will have either a mobile or an email.

Indeed. My parents are in their late 70s and have had mobiles and email for decades.

And even if mum is vulnerable now, how vulnerable was she "many moons ago"?

J_P

Currys; not worth the risk

I wish I had read the reviews before ordering last month. Sadly I went ahead and gave this company my hard-earned money.

Ordered a new phone last month.

Parcel dumped at unattended front desk with public access to street, 2nd Dec (delivery partner, DPD).

Package contained fake Apple iPhone, not the phone I paid in full for.

Currys take no responsibility, and point only in direction of their delivery partner.

Telephone Helpdesk are rude, condescending and unwilling to resolve; 
especially 'senior advisor, Geo'. This is what happens when you try and save a few pounds by offshoring, especially when there is no onshore escalation points/team to move 'off script', apply some judgement and common-sense to resolve the matter.

Was told an investigation would be required to resolve the issue, and that it would take six working days to do so. Investigation was agreed to on 2nd Dec...still no outcome, still no phone. 

Currys put the onus on the customer to identify the security issues within their supply chain. Totally outrageous company. 

You only realise how good (or bad in this case) a company is when something goes wrong. I can safely say that Currys is in the doldrums.

Quick google shows a recent spate of these kind of events. Customers also voicing their dissatisfaction on Trust pilot.

Worth paying a few quid more elsewhere for peace of mind.

born_again

J_P said:

Currys; not worth the risk

I wish I had read the reviews before ordering last month. Sadly I went ahead and gave this company my hard-earned money.

Ordered a new phone last month.

Parcel dumped at unattended front desk with public access to street, 2nd Dec (delivery partner, DPD).

Package contained fake Apple iPhone, not the phone I paid in full for.

Currys take no responsibility, and point only in direction of their delivery partner.

Telephone Helpdesk are rude, condescending and unwilling to resolve; 
especially 'senior advisor, Geo'. This is what happens when you try and save a few pounds by offshoring, especially when there is no onshore escalation points/team to move 'off script', apply some judgement and common-sense to resolve the matter.

Was told an investigation would be required to resolve the issue, and that it would take six working days to do so. Investigation was agreed to on 2nd Dec...still no outcome, still no phone. 

Currys put the onus on the customer to identify the security issues within their supply chain. Totally outrageous company. 

You only realise how good (or bad in this case) a company is when something goes wrong. I can safely say that Currys is in the doldrums.

Quick google shows a recent spate of these kind of events. Customers also voicing their dissatisfaction on Trust pilot.

Worth paying a few quid more elsewhere for peace of mind.

You do not have a contract with courier. That is for Currys to sort out.

J_P

born_again said:

J_P said:

Currys; not worth the risk

I wish I had read the reviews before ordering last month. Sadly I went ahead and gave this company my hard-earned money.

Ordered a new phone last month.

Parcel dumped at unattended front desk with public access to street, 2nd Dec (delivery partner, DPD).

Package contained fake Apple iPhone, not the phone I paid in full for.

Currys take no responsibility, and point only in direction of their delivery partner.

Telephone Helpdesk are rude, condescending and unwilling to resolve; 
especially 'senior advisor, Geo'. This is what happens when you try and save a few pounds by offshoring, especially when there is no onshore escalation points/team to move 'off script', apply some judgement and common-sense to resolve the matter.

Was told an investigation would be required to resolve the issue, and that it would take six working days to do so. Investigation was agreed to on 2nd Dec...still no outcome, still no phone. 

Currys put the onus on the customer to identify the security issues within their supply chain. Totally outrageous company. 

You only realise how good (or bad in this case) a company is when something goes wrong. I can safely say that Currys is in the doldrums.

Quick google shows a recent spate of these kind of events. Customers also voicing their dissatisfaction on Trust pilot.

Worth paying a few quid more elsewhere for peace of mind.

You do not have a contract with courier. That is for Currys to sort out.

Yep, I know. It’s exactly what I told them on several of the multiple phone calls to their ‘Helpdesk’. They just don't want to help.

Grumpy_chap

J_P said:

Ordered a new phone last month.

Parcel dumped at unattended front desk with public access to street, 2nd Dec (delivery partner, DPD).

Package contained fake Apple iPhone, not the phone I paid in full for.

Whatever issues Curry's may have with customer service levels, I don't believe that they would have supplied a fake iPhone.  How did you assess that this was the case?

The comment about delivery is also confusing when you refer to "dumped at an unattended front desk".  Do you mean that you live in a block of flats and the parcel was left inside the ground floor on a post table, not at your own flat?