Argos sent me a broke and wrong tv

Jono111

If you show argos the receipt for your existing TV and a pic of the serial number for it it may help sway the argument your way

electriccactus

Jono111 said:

If you show argos the receipt for your existing TV and a pic of the serial number for it it may help sway the argument your way

I'm not sure that proves anything other than that the OP at some point has bought a TV which isn't the one in the box.

I think if I were the OP I'd hold off on supplying evidence that wasn't asked for.  I think it stands more chance of making them look less trustworthy than more.

mikb

MeteredOut said:

Charliestaff said:

I only include that much information about the tv because I thought maybe someone’s had the same issue and maybe it’s a factory error and I don’t know the wrong ones were put into the wrong box

Most likely a bad actor has intercepted it between manufacturer/warehouse dispatch and you, and swapped it over. It's happening more regularly now.

It looks like someone has tried to peel off the model sticker, perhaps it a poor attempt to hide the switch.

Also, given that this is Argos, a.n.other customer bought a shiny Toshiba telly, tried it out, kept it, put their old TV in the box and returned the "Not-shiba" TV to Argos under the 30 day no quibble. Argos don't really excel at checking things back in, they put the returned item back into stock and re-sell it as new. Then the NEXT customer gets the blame for the previous one.

Having bought a "new" TV from Argos and received a customer-returned one (and seen numerous threads on here where people have had this happen with used kitchen items) I know this goes on. My TV was at least the right model, but the screen protector had been peeled (gone), the leads were jumble-tied, not neatly wrapped, and to cap it all, the paperwork for the previous customer that had returned it was still inside the box! ... and it had already been "Initial Tuning-ed" so it was all ready to go with channels for the wrong region (a neighbouring one, because some people point their aerials t'other way!)

Grumpy_chap

mikb said:

Also, given that this is Argos, a.n.other customer bought a shiny Toshiba telly, tried it out, kept it, put their old TV in the box and returned the "Not-shiba" TV to Argos under the 30 day no quibble. Argos don't really excel at checking things back in, they put the returned item back into stock and re-sell it as new. Then the NEXT customer gets the blame for the previous one.

Having bought a "new" TV from Argos and received a customer-returned one (and seen numerous threads on here where people have had this happen with used kitchen items) I know this goes on. My TV was at least the right model, but the screen protector had been peeled (gone), the leads were jumble-tied, not neatly wrapped, and to cap it all, the paperwork for the previous customer that had returned it was still inside the box! ... and it had already been "Initial Tuning-ed" so it was all ready to go with channels for the wrong region (a neighbouring one, because some people point their aerials t'other way!)

There is a big difference between receiving a "customer returned" TV and receiving a broken old TV.

If we (collectively as consumers) want retailers to offer 30-day "no quibble" returns or 14-day return for any reason or none when a distance sale, then the result is a quantity of products that have been shipped out and then returned even though, possibly, part way through the set up process.
We can't expect retailers to take a financial hit on every product so returned, especially as we (collectively as consumers) seem to be very price-conscious.

The later (broken old TV) is that someone, somewhere has stolen the correct new TV which is not in any way the same as "customer returned".

Ergates

mikb said:

Having bought a "new" TV from Argos and received a customer-returned one (and seen numerous threads on here where people have had this happen with used kitchen items) I know this goes on. My TV was at least the right model, but the screen protector had been peeled (gone), the leads were jumble-tied, not neatly wrapped, and to cap it all, the paperwork for the previous customer that had returned it was still inside the box! ... and it had already been "Initial Tuning-ed" so it was all ready to go with channels for the wrong region (a neighbouring one, because some people point their aerials t'other way!)

The alternative would be for the retailer to take the returned TV and throw it in the tip.  Are you suggesting this would be a better outcome?

user1977

Ergates said:

mikb said:

Having bought a "new" TV from Argos and received a customer-returned one (and seen numerous threads on here where people have had this happen with used kitchen items) I know this goes on. My TV was at least the right model, but the screen protector had been peeled (gone), the leads were jumble-tied, not neatly wrapped, and to cap it all, the paperwork for the previous customer that had returned it was still inside the box! ... and it had already been "Initial Tuning-ed" so it was all ready to go with channels for the wrong region (a neighbouring one, because some people point their aerials t'other way!)

The alternative would be for the retailer to take the returned TV and throw it in the tip.  Are you suggesting this would be a better outcome?

Surely the actual alternative is that they get sold as "nearly new" elsewhere? Not sure what Argos do but Amazon have a specific section for such items: Amazon Warehouse: Like-new returned & quality used products

Ergates

user1977 said:

Ergates said:

mikb said:

Having bought a "new" TV from Argos and received a customer-returned one (and seen numerous threads on here where people have had this happen with used kitchen items) I know this goes on. My TV was at least the right model, but the screen protector had been peeled (gone), the leads were jumble-tied, not neatly wrapped, and to cap it all, the paperwork for the previous customer that had returned it was still inside the box! ... and it had already been "Initial Tuning-ed" so it was all ready to go with channels for the wrong region (a neighbouring one, because some people point their aerials t'other way!)

The alternative would be for the retailer to take the returned TV and throw it in the tip.  Are you suggesting this would be a better outcome?

Surely the actual alternative is that they get sold as "nearly new" elsewhere? Not sure what Argos do but Amazon have a specific section for such items: Amazon Warehouse: Like-new returned & quality used products

That only really works if the "nearly new" have a significant discount - and given the retailer are unlikely to just eat that loss (and why should they - someone just changed their mind about something), they'll pass it onto the customers and the cost of goods goes up.

There is no real upside to people insisting on factory sealed boxes for things like electrical goods - it leads to waste, and things being more expensive.

mikb

Ergates said:

mikb said:

Having bought a "new" TV from Argos and received a customer-returned one (and seen numerous threads on here where people have had this happen with used kitchen items) I know this goes on. My TV was at least the right model, but the screen protector had been peeled (gone), the leads were jumble-tied, not neatly wrapped, and to cap it all, the paperwork for the previous customer that had returned it was still inside the box! ... and it had already been "Initial Tuning-ed" so it was all ready to go with channels for the wrong region (a neighbouring one, because some people point their aerials t'other way!)

The alternative would be for the retailer to take the returned TV and throw it in the tip.  Are you suggesting this would be a better outcome?

No, that's a ridiculous stance you have taken on my behalf

I bought and paid for a NEW TV. Not an opened-box-return. I am fully well aware (as I'm sure you are) that Argos has a range of options for disposing of these. The unofficial one is to bung the box back out as new and not worry about it. The official ones are e.g. their eBay clearance store where items are marked as A/B grade.

> There is a big difference between receiving a "customer returned" TV and receiving a broken old TV.

I'm aware of that. I'm backing up the idea that another customer, NOT the OP has taken advantage of Argos's failure to check returned items. 

What they ended up buying was a "returned item" box, IMO, and could have contained a correctly reset/repacked TV that you'd never know had been touched, a slightly manhandled one (like mine, complete with other customer's financial details and address, their fingerprints on the screen, and signs of setup/use), a broken old scabby TV or a big plank of wood with "It's A TV" written on it.

Inevitably Argos only NOTICE this when the 2nd customer (e.g. the OP) kicks up a fuss and is accused of being the one pulling a fast one.

The other one I recall on here was someone that tried to return a blender -- bought new, unpacked it to find soil or blood inside it. Returned it, and Argos rejected the 30 day no quibble return "because you've used it." ... "no, that was the previous person, that's my point!" etc.

Grumpy_chap

mikb said:

Ergates said:

mikb said:

Having bought a "new" TV from Argos and received a customer-returned one (and seen numerous threads on here where people have had this happen with used kitchen items) I know this goes on. My TV was at least the right model, but the screen protector had been peeled (gone), the leads were jumble-tied, not neatly wrapped, and to cap it all, the paperwork for the previous customer that had returned it was still inside the box! ... and it had already been "Initial Tuning-ed" so it was all ready to go with channels for the wrong region (a neighbouring one, because some people point their aerials t'other way!)

The alternative would be for the retailer to take the returned TV and throw it in the tip.  Are you suggesting this would be a better outcome?

No, that's a ridiculous stance you have taken on my behalf

I bought and paid for a NEW TV. Not an opened-box-return. I am fully well aware (as I'm sure you are) that Argos has a range of options for disposing of these. The unofficial one is to bung the box back out as new and not worry about it. The official ones are e.g. their eBay clearance store where items are marked as A/B grade.

> There is a big difference between receiving a "customer returned" TV and receiving a broken old TV.

I'm aware of that. I'm backing up the idea that another customer, NOT the OP has taken advantage of Argos's failure to check returned items. 

What they ended up buying was a "returned item" box, IMO, and could have contained a correctly reset/repacked TV that you'd never know had been touched, a slightly manhandled one (like mine, complete with other customer's financial details and address, their fingerprints on the screen, and signs of setup/use), a broken old scabby TV or a big plank of wood with "It's A TV" written on it.

Inevitably Argos only NOTICE this when the 2nd customer (e.g. the OP) kicks up a fuss and is accused of being the one pulling a fast one.

The other one I recall on here was someone that tried to return a blender -- bought new, unpacked it to find soil or blood inside it. Returned it, and Argos rejected the 30 day no quibble return "because you've used it." ... "no, that was the previous person, that's my point!" etc.

Somewhere, something has to give.

We, collectively as consumers, seem to want the lowest possible price for everything so will expend effort researching the cheapest we can possibly get the XYZ TV.

We, collectively as consumers, seem to want robust rights to be able to receive the XYZ TV, inspect it and then send it back for any reason or none, just because...

We, collectively as consumers, seem to want the supply chain to be ever more responsible so minimise WEEE waste etc.  (I get that some people will brazenly say they don't care here.)

Then, some people say the returned TV, "just because..." is not wanted as a new TV when they order the XYZ TV from the very cheapest supplier they can locate.  The retailer should sell this TV at some massive discount to someone else instead.

I can't see how it is possible to achieve all the above...

Aylesbury_Duck

Might we eventually see a two-tier pricing system for good like this, where the online price is actually more expensive than the store equivalent, to cover the costs incurred by change-of-mind returns?  As pointed out above, something's got to give.

Or the costs of all products will simply rise to cover the cost.