Discount Electrical - I am LIVID

I need to get this out of my system before I hurt somebody

November just gone my grandmother was looking for a new cooker, it had to be a gas cooker of a particular width, and it had to be silver. I recommended Discount Electrical on Mountjoy Square,Dublin.

We went in and the guy there that helped us, apparently the second in command, told us that they had none of our description on display, however, there was a Zanussi that he could get in which would be perfect. I told him that we were only buying from him on the condition that this cooker arrived well in time for Christmas as the cooker my grandmother had was not working at all. No problem, it would be delivered on the 5th December.

On 4th Dec (thursday) I receive a phone call saying the cooker arrived on site and was damaged so they had to get a new one in; I would have the new one Monday or Tuesday. I asked for a call on the Friday to confirm this, I didn't get the call and by wednesday I heard nothing so called them, this time they told me it would be the following wednesday.

A few days later I got a phone call to say that it should be there by wednesday but there was a slight possibility it might be late. My grandmother didn't want the hassle of having to go shopping for cookers again, along with the fact that she had paid for this on her credit card. She decided to trust them and hoped for the best. We then got a call a week before Christmas to say it wasn't going to be in, so my grandmother said not to worry (she'd a lovely old lady who takes things at their word).

I rang them yesterday (having heard nothing in a couple of weeks) and they tell me there is no way it will be in before February, not even so much as a "Sorry", so I've asked for a refund and am waiting on a call back.

The reason I am so mad, is that I have just been onto Zanussi and the cooker that was due on the 5th of December does not exist, there is no such cooker. Infact, Zannussi don't do a silver cooker in that size at all. And yet discount electrical have not yet told me this, I honestly think they were hoping I would ask for a refund so they would not have to tell me of their f*ck up. They have left an old woman without an oven for 7 weeks, had I gone to Arnotts I would have had one within 2-3 days.

Is there anything at all that I can do about this? anything?

sorry for the long post

Nody

Deleted User wrote: »

I need to get this out of my system before I hurt somebody

November just gone my grandmother was looking for a new cooker, it had to be a gas cooker of a particular width, and it had to be silver. I recommended Discount Electrical on Mountjoy Square,Dublin.

We went in and the guy there that helped us, apparently the second in command, told us that they had none of our description on display, however, there was a Zanussi that he could get in which would be perfect. I told him that we were only buying from him on the condition that this cooker arrived well in time for Christmas as the cooker my grandmother had was not working at all. No problem, it would be delivered on the 5th December.

On 4th Dec (thursday) I receive a phone call saying the cooker arrived on site and was damaged so they had to get a new one in; I would have the new one Monday or Tuesday. I asked for a call on the Friday to confirm this, I didn't get the call and by wednesday I heard nothing so called them, this time they told me it would be the following wednesday.

A few days later I got a phone call to say that it should be there by wednesday but there was a slight possibility it might be late. My grandmother didn't want the hassle of having to go shopping for cookers again, along with the fact that she had paid for this on her credit card. She decided to trust them and hoped for the best. We then got a call a week before Christmas to say it wasn't going to be in, so my grandmother said not to worry (she'd a lovely old lady who takes things at their word).

I rang them yesterday (having heard nothing in a couple of weeks) and they tell me there is no way it will be in before February, not even so much as a "Sorry", so I've asked for a refund and am waiting on a call back.

The reason I am so mad, is that I have just been onto Zanussi and the cooker that was due on the 5th of December does not exist, there is no such cooker. Infact, Zannussi don't do a silver cooker in that size at all. And yet discount electrical have not yet told me this, I honestly think they were hoping I would ask for a refund so they would not have to tell me of their f*ck up. They have left an old woman without an oven for 7 weeks, had I gone to Arnotts I would have had one within 2-3 days.

Is there anything at all that I can do about this? anything?

sorry for the long post

There we go (added line breaks, dots, commas and semi colons and removed a so and added an on for easier reading).

Now to answer your question, you should have no issue with cancelling the order (esp. if you bring up the fact that the company said they don't do that type of ovens). If they try to go for store credit simply say no, you want full refund on the card and compensation for the time wasted (this part you're not entitled to but never hurts asking).

They where most likely hoping you'd go with an alternative(size/color) and over not wanting to tell you about their mistake imo.

Mr E

Ah paragraphs, how I missed you.

Ring Discount Electrical and get the model number of the one that is due in February. You should then be able to verify what exactly D.E. are getting in for you.

Apologies for the lack of paragraphs, I was typing with sheer anger and my poor keyboard has suffered!

They have given me the model number, which, is for a white cooker, however, they told me that it was this cooker in silver that I would be getting, but there is no such thing.

Nody

Deleted User wrote: »

Apologies for the lack of paragraphs, I was typing with sheer anger and my poor keyboard has suffered!

They have given me the model number, which, is for a white cooker, however, they told me that it was this cooker in silver that I would be getting, but there is no such thing.

Ask them to see a reference picture of the silver model and see what they say. Highlight the fact that the model number they given is white and this is why you want to see the silver version.

Mr E

They've messed up (saying anything for a sale (and commission) in these money-tight times).
Keep pestering them until you get a refund.

I think I will get the refund tbh, do you think there is anything further I can do? Not for personal gain, but maybe to report them to someone?

Have they even done anything wrong?

Nody

Deleted User wrote: »

I think I will get the refund tbh, do you think there is anything further I can do? Not for personal gain, but maybe to report them to someone?

Have they even done anything wrong?

I can't really think of anything you'd be able to nail them on or report them for that would actually lead any where.

mags16

They treated you really badly. The only advice I would give people is to always go to at least 2 or 3 shops to compare prices and ranges. That way you would have known that that model didn't come in silver and you would have found a supplier that could deliver it on time.

Hindsight is 20:20 vision and all of that.

shellyboo

Deleted User wrote: »

I think I will get the refund tbh, do you think there is anything further I can do? Not for personal gain, but maybe to report them to someone?

Have they even done anything wrong?

They haven't done anything illegal, but they've certainly done something wrong. The only recourse you have is to ask for your money back and just never shop there again. If I were you, I'd be writing a strongly-worded letter to their complaints department - you may or may not get some compensation when the owners find out. I've found that some managers care very little about decent customer service because they're on the ground dealing with people day in, day out; whereas someone superior in an office will be horrified that the company is providing bad service and will be more willing to deal with your complaint and offer some sort of compensation.

boardswalker

Two things, it seems clear to me that your grandmother had a contract with them for the supply of a specific gas cooker. They did, after all. take her funds. Did she get a receipt and what did that receipt say? Did it have a model number on the receipt and what model was that. Based on what we have already been told, the shop cannot complete the contract, because the model does not exist.

Secondly, they had the use of your grandmother's funds for at least seven weeks. Ok, the interest may not have been much, but the principle still holds.

There is no doubt that she is entitled to a full refund and I think she could argue for compensation for inconvenience, being without funds, being without the cooker - you can embellish all this, cost of calls/visits to shop etc.

I am not sure if it will be worth all the hassle but legally you should be on good ground just the compensation amount may not be worth it.

The_Conductor

Ask for an immediate refund.
In the event that they do not immediately refund you- ring the credit card company and initiate a chargeback.

S.

run_Forrest_run

smccarrick wrote: »

Ask for an immediate refund.
In the event that they do not immediately refund you- ring the credit card company and initiate a chargeback.

S.

correct me if I'm wrong here but I don't think it's as easy as just getting your credit card company to initiate a charge-back.

I believe the shop must agree to this charge-back and the credit card company will want written proof of this before doing the charge-back...as I said, I'm open to correction on this, but this is what happened in my experience.

astrofool

After going through all the shops here for cookers, I ended up going with www.appliancesdirect.co.uk, delivery was within 3 weeks (The item I bought was ordered in), and was in perfect condition, saved about 50% the cost of the same cooker here, inc. delivery. I had to ring to deliver to Ireland £109 for the pallete. They also price matched another site (updated on their web page rather than a once off) when I emailed them.

keefg

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

correct me if I'm wrong here but I don't think it's as easy as just getting your credit card company to initiate a charge-back.

Pretty sure you're right there. If you have authourised the payment via pin number and the transaction has gone through then that's that.

If you are asking the credit card company to do a chargeback just because of a (in this case) customer service issue then the cc company will most likely tell you it is a civil matter to be resolved between yourself and the supplier.

I think they will only do a chargeback or refund to you if your card has been used fraudulently or funds deducted without your permission. Which isn't the case here.

boardswalker

Actually I have had the CC company refund money by simply phoning them. What happened was shop charged me twice. I rang the credit card company, they refunded but advised that the shop had the right to come back and dispute the refund. Nothing ever happened. It was a genuine mistake on the shops part.
Separately, a carpark operator charged me several times for a number of fees. They had allowed the charges accumulate and processed them all together. However they processed several two and three times. It was clearly a processing error. That time the credit card company asked me to put everything in writing. Once that was done they processed the refund.
So my experience is that you can deal directly with the credit card company.

IsThatSo?

Yes boardswalker, but in both those cases funds were taken from your card in error/without authorisation. This is not the case for the OPs Grandmother and CC companies are not there to settle disputes between vendor and purchaser, only to make sure that authorised transactions only are processed to the cc account.

antoinolachtnai

The credit card company is financing the transaction and as such they can often have liability for problems that arise. There does not have to be fraud for them to be liable. Don't expect the credit card company to admit it. However, it's all there at section 42 of the Consumer Credit Act 1995.

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1995/en/act/pub/0024/sec0042.html#zza24y1995s42

Discount Electrical sold my mother a cooker they didn't have and couldn't get too. Stupid carry-on. If Discount Electrical don't have it in stock, do not buy it.

Hi All. Thanks for your responses.

They have offered a full refund, however they were also rightly p*ssed off when I told them that Zanussi had told me there was no such cooker. I eventually was able to get the correct model number from him and apparently it does exist, making me look a bit stupid but I had the name of the person in Zanussi so hardly my fault eh!

Anyway, they still have absolutely no idea when it is going to arrive, apparently Zanussi keep telling them next week, next week.

I brought up the fact that had we waited til January to buy the cooker we could have gotten one in the sales, so if my grandmother decides to hold on for it, she can get another €60 off. I am bringing her shopping again tomorrow!!!

Astrofool, thanks for that link, I'm going to check that out straight away, apparently the reason that there is such little choice by way of gas cookers in Ireland is because they have to legally be "fail safe" which means if the flame goes out, the gas turns off, this is not the law in the UK so the UK manufacturers mostly don't bother adding this feature, making them unsellable (is that a word?) in Ireland.

thanks for you help!

astrofool

Deleted User wrote: »

Astrofool, thanks for that link, I'm going to check that out straight away, apparently the reason that there is such little choice by way of gas cookers in Ireland is because they have to legally be "fail safe" which means if the flame goes out, the gas turns off, this is not the law in the UK so the UK manufacturers mostly don't bother adding this feature, making them unsellable (is that a word?) in Ireland.

thanks for you help!

You're correct on that rule, and it was in fact, the reason we went with buying it online, due to the dearth of options available here. We ended up buying a Smeg unit and are very happy with it (has fail safe as well).

axer

IsThatSo? wrote: »

Yes boardswalker, but in both those cases funds were taken from your card in error/without authorisation. This is not the case for the OPs Grandmother and CC companies are not there to settle disputes between vendor and purchaser, only to make sure that authorised transactions only are processed to the cc account.

A credit card company will charge back transactions for you when you have not received the item (usually if it goes beyond 30 days). Charge backs are not only for authorisation (or lack of) reasons.

From a legal prospective the OP had a sales contract with the seller whereby it was made a condition (an important part) of the contract that the item be available before christmas and also that the item be silver. If a condition of a contract is broken then the buyer can rescind (cancel) the contract. The sale of goods and supply of services act's implied terms get automatically added to the contract along with the two aforementioned conditions.

maro01

I agree with you about discount electrical.Went in last Friday 24th July ,made enquiries about purchasing gas hob and cooker.Left my details with the Manager (only found out today he is the manager).He told me he would call me on the following monday.Heard nithing so I yesterday 31st July ,left message for him to call me but he did not.Called again today Sat 1st August held on for twenty minutes for him.His colleague apologised and said he would have him call me back,he did'nt so again I called.Told again he was busy so I asked for the owner .I was put on hold and immediately this guy (the manager )came on the phone with a very defensive manner,absolutely no apology for not contacting me despite the many calls and messages I left.I will try my best to find out who wons this store and let them know exactly how potential owners are being treated.Obviously I will not be buying anything from them.My sister is getting a new kitchen fitted and needs all new appliances ,so naturally I have told her not to go to Discount electrical.You think they were doing you a favour

catch88

maro01 wrote: »

I agree with you about discount electrical.Went in last Friday 24th July ,made enquiries about purchasing gas hob and cooker.Left my details with the Manager (only found out today he is the manager).He told me he would call me on the following monday.Heard nithing so I yesterday 31st July ,left message for him to call me but he did not.Called again today Sat 1st August held on for twenty minutes for him.His colleague apologised and said he would have him call me back,he did'nt so again I called.Told again he was busy so I asked for the owner .I was put on hold and immediately this guy (the manager )came on the phone with a very defensive manner,absolutely no apology for not contacting me despite the many calls and messages I left.I will try my best to find out who wons this store and let them know exactly how potential owners are being treated.Obviously I will not be buying anything from them.My sister is getting a new kitchen fitted and needs all new appliances ,so naturally I have told her not to go to Discount electrical.You think they were doing you a favour

As someone who works in a big store, you'd be better off going in person. When you're dealing with a million customers in your face and someone is on the phone thinking you're naturally going to remember one of the umpteen conversations you've had the week previous.... well its a little grating.

If they're in a sale period right now it makes the situation a billion times more frustrating.

maro01

:DI had gone in to the store the previous week and picked out what I wanted.The manager suggested he would take my number to let me know if he could get it and when how long it would take.So therefore the onus was on him to contact me.It is not rocket science to be able to make contact with a customer when he wrote my number and name in the diary to call me on the Monday.Give me a break,if you cant do the job give it up

maro01

catch88 wrote: »

As someone who works in a big store, you'd be better off going in person. When you're dealing with a million customers in your face and someone is on the phone thinking you're naturally going to remember one of the umpteen conversations you've had the week previous.... well its a little grating.

If they're in a sale period right now it makes the situation a billion times more frustrating.

Just to clarify there was no sale on ,so less of the excuses for terrible customer (or lack of) service

johnnyrotten

maro01 wrote: »

:DI had gone in to the store the previous week and picked out what I wanted.The manager suggested he would take my number to let me know if he could get it and when how long it would take.So therefore the onus was on him to contact me.It is not rocket science to be able to make contact with a customer when he wrote my number and name in the diary to call me on the Monday.Give me a break,if you cant do the job give it up

This thread is about Discount Electrical not DID!

johnnyrotten

I had a bad expierience with them this week. Basically ordered stuff off them weeks ago to be told today that I can't have them because they are "not really dealing with the supplier any more. They tried to fob me off with other stuff.
They never return calls and are a complete nightmare to deal with.
Got a better deal with Harvey Norman in the end

double black

Deleted User wrote: »

They have left an old woman without an oven for 7 weeks, had I gone to Arnotts I would have had one within 2-3 days.

Is there anything at all that I can do about this? anything

Well one thing you've done is highlighted to all us boards.ie readers how unprofessional Discount Electrical can be. Previously I had always considered them slightly above DID and Power City (from my own bad experience), but I see that is not the case.

If they promised to delivery by a certain date and don't then the consumer should be entitled to their money back. Next time I make such a purchase I'll insist on that being written on the receipt.

To make a point I would cancel and purchase elsewhere, especially if sale prices are available.

My personal preference is to buy something that's in stock, even if it costs slightly more - less risk, and you're without the applicance for less time.

Poor show Discount Electrical.

Ghandee

[QUOTE=

Is there anything at all that I can do about this? anything?

sorry for the long post[/QUOTE]

As your an "expert" on shops rights and consumer rights, I'm thoroughlly surprised you cant answer your own question!

Jumpy

Gucky wrote: »

As your an "expert" on shops rights and consumer rights, I'm thoroughlly surprised you cant answer your own question!

I am quite surprised at your inability to post a coherent reply.
Do you plan to help the OP or just post an irritating useless comment?

Ghandee

Jumpy wrote: »

I am quite surprised at your inability to post a coherent reply.
Do you plan to help the OP or just post an irritating useless comment?

This OP spent the last hour preaching consumer rights to me, and dictating thats I should have asked the stores policy before purchasing anything!

Teapot and Kettle?