Very very bad experience in Power City

peace2804

Hi guys,

I would like to share my experience today in Power City.
seven days ago I bought a TV/Monitor, the first day I used I noticed a beep coming from the TV every now and then, I sent an email to powercity and they advised me to call the technical support for toshiba, well they weren't aware about this issue. I turned on the TV by itself without any other device connected to it and there was the same noise.

I bought this TV today to the shop, the salesman pretended to do some troubleshooting by plugging the TV to a laptop and playing the Man united match then music despite the fact that I told him that he needs a quiet place to hear the beep.

The bottom line is that I wasted 30min with him, no reel troubleshooting was done, I have been that there is nothing he can do about it and when I told him that Im within my rights and that I won't move from here until my tv is either exchanged or refunded he threatened me and he told me word by word that he'll get me physically removed ( which means by force obviously ).

if this is the type of customer service that he get from buying in a place like power city I don't want to have anything to do with them.

has any of you experienced something similar? what is the best solution to get a refund? and finally have you ever been in the small claim court for a similar issue?

Thanks for reading.

maxer68

I suppose a lot depends on how you handled it too. You are not entitled to a regund or replacement. These are 2 of the 3 options available to both you and the store. It could be the simplest of faults that requires a minor adjustment.

drunkmonkey

peace2804 wrote: »

I won't move from here until my tv is either exchanged or refunded he threatened me and he told me word by word that he'll get me physically removed ( which means by force obviously ).

You must have threatened him in some way or became a nuisance, he's well within his rights to make a citizens arrest and use reasonable force and detain you until the police arrive. You stepped out of line, glad he pulled you up on it.

The beep must be a setting somewhere. Trouble shoot a little harder.

dudara

Does the TV manual say anything about beeping?

peace2804

@maxer68: Definitely a lot depend on how I handheld the situation too, but threatening a customer is never good especially if nothing bad was said or done, I bought a faulty TV and no settings can fix the issue, the beep comes from inside the TV.
Maybe the TV can be repaired but it doesn't mean that the same issue or even a worse issue will not arise in the long term, this why we buy a warranty and we try to make the most of it in order to benefit from the product for as long as possible.

@Drunkmonkey: Your post is hilarious, you wrote a scenario from your imagination , I think you are the salesman with whom I dealt today.

@dudara: No the manual doesn't say anything, I even called the Toshiba tech support and they weren't aware about this issue at all.

drunkmonkey

peace2804 wrote: »

threatening a customer is never good especially if nothing bad was said or done

True but nobody makes threats unless something spurs them, you did or said something and he wasn't prepared to take that kind of bull****.
You refused to leave the store when asked going by what you said, that's reason enough to make a citizens arrest.

54kroc

drunkmonkey wrote: »

You must have threatened him in some way or became a nuisance, he's well within his rights to make a citizens arrest and use reasonable force and detain you until the police arrive. You stepped out of line, glad he pulled you up on it.

The beep must be a setting somewhere. Trouble shoot a little harder.

How did he step out of line? He might of been a bit misguided about his rights.
The sales man should have told him the correct procedure, telling a customer that force will be used on him is an insane thing for any salesman to say.
I don't know why you mention citizens arrest, ffs what planet are you on.

drunkmonkey

cork45 wrote: »

How did he step out of line? He might of been a bit misguided about his rights.
The sales man should have told him the correct procedure, telling a customer that force will be used on him is an insane thing for any salesman to say.
I don't know why you mention citizens arrest, ffs what planet are you on.

If he refused to leave when asked the retailer can detain the person with force until the police show up. I dont believe he was threatened without reason. Your getting one side of the story here.

Im on planet dealing with the public every day for 20+ years.

dudara

drunkmoneky and cork45

We don't know what happened in that store, therefore it is idle speculation on your parts. Please stop now.

dudara

peace2804

The honest story is that he told me that he's not going to refund me or exchange the faulty item as he doesn't have the right to do so (I don't believe that myself), my answer was word by word "I'm not ready to leave the store until a solution is found, I have a receipt where I can read exchange or refund within 28 days". I was claiming something within my rights, his answer was " Sir, I can have you physically removed from this store" which means by force.

As a customer I have the right to push as hard as possible to get either a refund or an exchange, I am paying for a good that is supposed to work properly but from day one it was obvious that inside the TV there was something causing this noise.

Threatening customers is never good.

maxer68

Threatening customers is not good, but it looks like he wad answering in s mock type of way to your assertion that you were going to stay there until your mis-informed rights were adhered to.

Sorry, you may not like this, but it looks like you were making a nuisance of yourself, claiming rights you do not have and suggesting that you were going to cause further nuisance to power citys business by staging a sit in of sorts.

I had sort of been siding with you but its obvious you went about your complaint in a wrong and misguided and misinformed way. As I've said here many many times, manners and respect cost nothing and get you a bell of a lot further in life

peace2804

Well there is no need to be on my side or not, I believe I did the right thing and that's the most important thing.
I was extremely polite, patient and very understandable of everything from the very beginning, however when:

1 - There was no troubleshooting for 30 min
2 - I wasted my time there waiting while nothing was being done
3 - The only answer I got was no I can't exchange/refund
4 - What is written in the receipt didn't matter to this salesperson

So obviously I pushed a bit to get my refund as I haven't experienced that in the likes of currys, argos, peats,....If a good troubleshooting was done and nothing was found I'll understand but in my case he just plugged the TV to a laptop, put the Man united match with the volume on and then he played music, how can he hear the beep with all the noise??

evolving_doors

I'm with you peace 2804,, if you have a no-quibble exchange or refund written on a receipt and you are experiencing quibble then you should try and speak to someone else in the store.
The contract you entered into when purchasing the item was under the understanding that they would honour the 28 day agreement which they haven't, a written letter (registered post) stating that you are willing to take the matter up with the small claims court if you're not happy with the outcome.

For a sales person to threaten you with being physically removed means he is a **** the usual procedure is that he would refer the issue to his manager. What is someone on about detaining a person with force, what the hell type of customer relations is that???

Maybe try a different power city store, don't mention the fact that you bought it somewhere else unless asked.

peace2804

I do agree with you armelodie, I entered into a contract and the terms of this contract weren't respected at all.
This is something that I couldn't understand while dealing with this sales person, the receipt didn't matter to him at all.
Well I wrote 2 emails to power city, I am waiting for an answer from them, if we can resolve the issue then it's grand, I'll have my money back and I will never go near them, in the other hand if we can't find an agreement I'll write an article and send it to all the free media and will also file a claim with the small claims court, I can do it online without the need of any solicitor and it takes only 10 days.

maxer68

peace2804 wrote: »

I do agree with you armelodie, I entered into a contract and the terms of this contract weren't respected at all.
This is something that I couldn't understand while dealing with this sales person, the receipt didn't matter to him at all.
Well I wrote 2 emails to power city, I am waiting for an answer from them, if we can resolve the issue then it's grand, I'll have my money back and I will never go near them, in the other hand if we can't find an agreement I'll write an article and send it to all the free media and will also file a claim with the small claims court, I can do it online without the need of any solicitor and it takes only 10 days.

I think you are now showing your real colours. The additional warranty is for returning the goods in a re-saleable condition and is a company policy. Your tv has an alledged fault and they are well within their rights to have it repaired and returned to you.

Your additional ranting and threats to power city has lost you all credibility.

Evaex

I must say I am appalled at your treatment in Power City. Thanks for taking the time to post on here, I have just vowed never to buy anything in Power City.

3rdDegree

What is wrong with all the people on this thread? Citizens arrest, detain for police, forcible removal from the shop? The op does not sound like he deserved any such insane treatment. The TV is faulty, should be dealt worth by Powercity. Salesman sounds like a dickhead. This looks very bad for Powercity.

borderlinemeath

peace2804 wrote: »

I do agree with you armelodie, I entered into a contract and the terms of this contract weren't respected at all.
This is something that I couldn't understand while dealing with this sales person, the receipt didn't matter to him at all.
Well I wrote 2 emails to power city, I am waiting for an answer from them, if we can resolve the issue then it's grand, I'll have my money back and I will never go near them, in the other hand if we can't find an agreement I'll write an article and send it to all the free media and will also file a claim with the small claims court, I can do it online without the need of any solicitor and it takes only 10 days.

Just read this post to yourself again OP.

I'll contact the media, and I'll file a claim with the SCC and it only takes me 10 days.... Give me a break - the "media" have better things to be doing than putting in crank articles about one of their biggest advertisers!!:D

Firstly if you think that your statutory consumer rights have been violated then contact the NCA. They will tell you if you are in the right or in the wrong. You need to be factual, not embellishing the situation with tales of being "removed from the store with force". They don't care. (and neither will the SCC by the way)

For your 28day return policy to stand up, you would need to have returned a unit that was unused, unopened in original packaging with your receipt/proof of purchase. You obviously have your receipt/pop, but you returned a TV that you claim has a fault so obviously had been used.

Power City or any other retailer is well within their rights to offer a repair or a replacement to the TV instead of a refund. The fault it seems from your account has yet to be proven.

In 18 years of working in retail, the only times I have ever had to say to a customer that I would have to remove them from the store is if they became threatening or verbally/physically abusive. And the customers that become threatening or abusive are the ones that dont get their own way. Store management and staff have rights too.

This is probably not what you want to hear, but as Maxer said, manners and respect go a long way. I'm sure if you had shown some then you wouldn't have been given the option of being removed from the store.

wmpdd3

If your product showed a fault within 7 days of you buying it, yes I would expect the retailer to replace the item, once it was returned without consumer damage with a receipt.

It looks like the person in the store didnt see or believe your item had a fault and so refused a return.

He should have refered this higher as you were not happy but he didnt. For whatever reason he felt he had to threaten you with removal from the store.

Write to the store manger.

peace2804

I am not surprised by the difference in your replies guys, we are all different and each one of us would have dealt with this situation differently, some would have insisted more than me others would have left the store and kept the faulty TV.
Likewise for the salesperson, maybe if I would have dealt with somebody else I would have had either a better experience or even a worse one.

I am not Irish but I am a proud supporter of Ireland because I live here and this country have given me so much, in this critical economical situation I support the Irish products and the Irish retailers more than any other time, but honestly if buying from a place like power city will give me so much headache I rather buy from big retailers such as currys that have plenty of experience with dealing with similar situations.

It's not my fault if I bought a faulty TV, so obviously I can only deal with power city, they will return the faulty product to the supplier then to the manufacturer and so on, this is a normal procedure.

I rather pay 30 or 40 euros more and get a decent service, or I can buy in internet and pay via PayPal and then everything will be all right.

I am appalled when I read posts with the likes of " well maybe you should have been polite" or when I read " The retailer is within its right to refuse an exchange or a refund", well for the first point all I can say is please stop making prejudgments about the way I behaved, I was very polite but pushy as I requested a solution but I didn't get any and I can't just walk away with a faulty TV, for the second point I believe that it's not the customer's fault if the item is not working properly and an exchange or the refund can be done without the packaging ( I have been told that last week by power city on the phone ), If the TV is in a good condition and also if I have a receipt, I fulfilled all these three elements.

PS: I'm using this monitor right now and it's still beeping and humming :mad:. Whenever I'll get an answer from power city I'll let you know.

maxer68

You could ring the manufacturer's support line directly and by-pass Power City. Legally they are responsible to take it back, have it checked, repair it and return it to you, but calling the manufacturer's repair agent directly will get it fixed a lot quicker.
http://www.powercity.ie/?action=helplines

and yes, the retailer can refuse a exchange / refund. They by law must offer REPAIR, Exchange or refund. 3 options! - If it cannot be repaired in such a way that the repair is permanent and does not affect the performance of the product, then and only then must they offer exchange or refund.

You can of course refuse the repair option, but this would leave any legal case very very weak.

peace2804

Thank you for the link, the first thing that I did last week is calling this number, I dealt with a very friendly agent but their only solution was to check with power city for an exchange or maybe a repair.
If after 1 week of buying this TV I have to repair it that means that after 1 year I will have probably to put it in a bin.

By the way I was expecting somebody to come home today to fix some stuff with my aerial and satellite, the quote was 180 euros, they just called me now to tell me that they won't be able to make it today and if it suits me they will be here tomorrow but the best part is that they gave me a discount of 30 quid for that, this is what I call a good service and a customer focused company, I have no doubt that a great job will be dome tomorrow and I'l end up paying extra just because of the great way they treat their customers .

Edit : @ maxer68: are you sure about the repair option?? it's not written anywhere in the receipt so obviously I wasn't aware about it when I purchased the good from them, I was misinformed.

BostonB

peace2804 wrote: »

....
I bought this TV today to the shop, the salesman pretended to do some troubleshooting by plugging the TV to a laptop and playing the Man united match then music despite the fact that I told him that he needs a quiet place to hear the beep.....

And when you requested to talk to the manager what did he say.

maxer68

peace2804 wrote: »

Edit : @ maxer68: are you sure about the repair option?? it's not written anywhere in the receipt so obviously I wasn't aware about it when I purchased the good from them, I was misinformed.

100% certain. It is written in consumer law.

It may be the simplest of faults or it may be a major fault that cannot be repaired.

e.g. If you buy a car and there's a fault with a windscreen wiper, you don't get an exchange, but if the engine is bolloxed after a week, its more likely that this would entitle you to an exchange. So until you know how big a fault it is, you can't assume whether it will be good for a year or 10 years.

mossy2390

if power city wont help you ring the technical support they should then be able to get someone out to take the tv away and fix it under warranty
i bought a Samsung tv from currys, there was a loud clicking noise every few seconds, brought it back they gave another one no problem as its a manufacturing fault so they dont loose any money Samsung send them another replacement to make up for it. got it home and it was the same problem so it must have been a batch fault and all in currys would probably have that problem so i rang the support line, first they thought i was insane and that the click noise was normal operation, eventually they said they would get it fixed, a repair shop picked it up and dropped it back a few days later.

power city were definitely in the wrong they should have replaced it no problem for you, but of there no help try the support line and they should fix it under warranty for you

peace2804

@ BostonB: Well he said that the manager wasn't there, he didn't even offer to bring the matter to the manager at a later stage.

@ mossy2390: Lucky you, you had to deal with great staff in currys, they did their best with you but since it's a manufacturing fault they couldn't do anything else but the tech support helped you out, I am happy for you.

borderlinemeath

peace2804 wrote: »

If after 1 week of buying this TV I have to repair it that means that after 1 year I will have probably to put it in a bin.

Highly unlikely. Any repair carried out should last within the warrenty. If the same problem reoccurs you are in a much better position to get a replaceement.

Edit : @ maxer68: are you sure about the repair option?? it's not written anywhere in the receipt so obviously I wasn't aware about it when I purchased the good from them, I was misinformed.

Retailers receipts contain a one or two paragraph returns policy that tends to cover return of goods in the majority of circumstances. ie unwanted gift/credit notes. They tend not to mention faulty returns as each one is dealt with on an individual basis. Some lines can have a known manufacturer fault, some can be because the item was dropped as it was taken out of the box:rolleyes: (not saying this happened here)

Have you looked up this particular model online? If it's a known fault then there's bound to be a few hits on google about it.

BostonB

peace2804 wrote: »

@ BostonB: Well he said that the manager wasn't there, he didn't even offer to bring the matter to the manager at a later stage....

Did you follow it up with someone else then? Another sales person.

slimjimmc

maxer68 wrote: »

You could ring the manufacturer's support line directly and by-pass Power City. Legally they are responsible to take it back, have it checked, repair it and return it to you, but calling the manufacturer's repair agent directly will get it fixed a lot quicker.
http://www.powercity.ie/?action=helplines

and yes, the retailer can refuse a exchange / refund. They by law must offer REPAIR, Exchange or refund. 3 options! - If it cannot be repaired in such a way that the repair is permanent and does not affect the performance of the product, then and only then must they offer exchange or refund.

You can of course refuse the repair option, but this would leave any legal case very very weak.

Correct they can choose to offer any of the 3 forms of redress. It's entirely up to them which of the 3 they offer. Similarly it's entirely up to you which one you will accept.
However, they're not obliged to offer a different one if the first offer is rejected or fails to resolve the problem. They can continue to offer a repair every single time if they so wish, but that would be seen to be unreasonable in the eye's of the SCC and would weaken their case.

OP, you do indeed have the legal right to insist on a refund or replacement, but the retailer also has the legal right to reject your demand and offer you a repair instead. He can even agree to a credit note if that's what you ask for (but he can't insist on it). It's up to you and the retailer to come to an agreed solution, failing that and only after you have exhausted the retailer's complaints procedures you can go to the SCC.

noodler

Had to return a Samsung monitor 2 years ago for the exact same reason - won't mention the retailer but there were very good about it.

The beeping was only noticeable with some inputs.

peace2804

I haven't received any email yet from Power City, I called them and I have to go back and bring the TV with me, my options are the following:

1 - They will notice the issue there and then I can either have an exchange or a credit note
2 - They won't be able to notice the problem, I would have to leave the TV there for 24 hours, if it's faulty I will either have an exchange or a credit note.

None of these options suits me as I'm not ready to go back to the store again, the guys on the phone were really nice.

So I learnt a lesson, always always always ask if the refund option is available before making a purchase, in fact ask for all your options.

It's pity that it happened with an Irish company, I won't buy from them again but I really wish them the very best of luck.