Currys - the worst customer service experience

DLewis11

For the past two months I've endured an ordeal trying to purchase a dishwasher from Currys. Incidentally, a few years ago they replaced a washing machine and did not install it correctly (a basic error with the outlet pipe) and they offered a refund fairly quickly. I assumed this was a blip.

Summarising the issues below for tl:dr - every interaction they have attempted to wriggle out of promotional offers, refused to accept legit gift cards, cancelled orders, sent void gift cards as refunds, refused to accept a replacement request for imperfect goods, failed (again) to secure an outlet pipe resulting in leaks and refused to take responsibility for this as 30 days had passed when I complained about it (I had mentioned it to them prior to this), repeatedly told by their customer service team this will be resolved in 48 hours and invariably they do nothing, insinuated I was trying to money launder by asking for a gift card refund, told me I could have a 10% refund due to the condition of the appliance but they've done nothing, and finally, hung up on me mid-conversation when I tried to chase a resolution.

1. Early April I placed an order via their live chat advisor. The total price with installation came to roughly £400. I used Blue Light to get a 5% discount on £400. I told them I was paying with these gift cards. The advisor told me I couldn't pay for installation until I had a delivery date and gave me a number to call. He explicitly said I could use gift cards to pay for this. A few days later I called the number but was told I could not use a Currys gift card to pay for installation & recycling. This meant spending an additional £100 unless I cancelled and paid for it all at checkout.
2. I placed a second order inc installation but the Currys site crashed due to a ‘server issue’ at checkout. I then spoke to an agent as my order page vanished, during which time I received an order update via email and a delivery date including a follow-up call. Great. A day before delivery they had not taken any money and the order was quietly cancelled without explanation - presumably due to issues at checkout.
3. I placed a third order for a more expensive machine out of exasperation because stock issues meant only some had installation available to order. This qualified me for a further discount. A day after placing the order, a £40 cheaper machine came into stock which was still eligible for the offer. I asked if I could swap out the machines on the order. Curry's obliged, but removed the discount. Even though both machines were eligible, they said it only applied to the first machine. So yet again I cancelled the order. And bought the cheaper one from scratch and was able to use the discount and gift cards.
4. This all took 3 weeks. I complained about the above and received a £20 gift card. Great? Well, no… because they split the refund for the previous machine into two gift cards, and one of them was also valued around £20, and they sent me a dud card with no PIN number. I'm still chasing for them to replace this, and keep being told it is in hand, I've provided photos of the card, card number, the problem with it…. nothing.
5. The dishwasher arrived and the outside was dented but they said not to worry as it wouldn't be visible when it was integrated. After the installation they ran a rinse setting I noticed they'd left two polystyrene cubes inside the machines and the interior of the dishwasher door had some light scratches. They could be cosmetic, but over time if they were to eg. rust then could compromise the longevity, but also… a new dishwasher shouldn't have scratched interior. I sent a video/image evidence to them because I wanted to notify them the appliance was received in this condition and hadn't been caused by me. On the form I requested a replacement, but honestly just wanted them to acknowledge the issue which they would not seem to do.
6. Additionally, the outlet pipe was not secure and leaked under my sink cabinet. A few weeks later the leak repeated. After googling I discovered it should have been secured with a simple jubilee clip costing a couple of quid. I paid £115 for installation. If it's leaking then it clearly isn't installed. By the time I reported the second leak they told me it was over 30 days so they couldn't offer anything. But they did tell me I could have a 10% discount for the scratches and they'd send out a new £20 gift card. They gave a me a number to call for the discount.
7. When I phoned the number for the discount it was a guy who sounded dazed and confused. He put me on hold for 10 mins and then came back to tell me there were too many complaints on my file and he needed to phone me back. When I asked why and explained Currys customer service had treated me poorly he hung up.

It's now been 2.5 months. Aside from the obvious advice of never using Currys again, is there anything more I can do here? Considering Citizens Advice / Trading Standards.

twopenny

Blimey yes. That beats my experience which I thought was the worst. I've never bought from them again. That was decades ago. No idea how they keep going.

Ayr_Rage

5. Should've refused a dented and scratched item.

Best of luck!

DLewis11

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82012817#Comment_82012817

I wasn't aware of scratches until after install as they left the machine running.

Ayr_Rage

The dent would've been enough to reject it, new goods are expected to be pristine.

DLewis11

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82013172#Comment_82013172

I've listed a dozen instances of Currys dropping the ball both accidental and deliberate, and your takeaway is that I'm at fault for not rejecting delivery from the installation team who reassured me there was no issue (and in the case of the dent they were right - it isn't visible and doesn't interfere with the running of the machine).

Aylesbury_Duck

I got a bit lost in all of that. Where is the machine now? Who has what money now?

I think a decent outcome would be for them to collect their machine, issue a full refund and you buy from elsewhere. Don't bother chasing £10 gift cards, you've spent more than that value chasing them already.

Get out while you can!

DLewis11

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82013569#Comment_82013569

Update: I've been offered a 20% refund… in gift cards. First time I spoke to a decent customer services rep throughout this experience. I dread to think the time / energy I've spent on this.

Aylesbury_Duck

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82013629#Comment_82013629

Are you happy with that? Sometimes you just need to take the easy way out. Currys is the sort of place you can easily spend £80 (thinking about things like cables, batteries, vacuum bags - basically anything you know you're going to get through) so that might be the offer to accept, get the vouchers swapped for useful stuff and never enter their premises again!

DIsappointed123

After 4 years of trying to get a replacement Fridge/Freezer under Currys' "No Lemons" Repair and Replacement plan where 3 callouts means a replacement appliance I have today finally given up as they tell me this time the engineer cannot find a fault - this despite reporting multiple fridge and freezer failures since buying the appliance in 2022 and having several engineer visits where a fault was detected. Will buy a new appliance through someone who has some Customer Focus. Cheaper than losing food and time off work to wait for engineers.

Okell

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6669911/currys-the-worst-customer-service-experience

"5. The dishwasher arrived… "

What date did it arrive?

Am I correct in understanding that there was an initial leak that was fixed but that a second leak then appeared?

Do you want a replacement machine or a refund?

There is no 30 day bar on you reporting faults.

[NB - In theory within 6 months of purchase you can reject faulty goods for a full refund provided the seller has had one failed attempt to fix the problem. In this case you've had a leak fixed but it's come back so you are entitld to a full refund. See ss 19(14), 20 and 24 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Make it clear to Currys that that is what you are relying on, You are entitled to be refunded by the same method by which you paid. that might be complicated by your use of a Blue Light discount and use of gift cards/vouchers etc]]