Horrible Customer Service Powercity

scottpr1

Hi,

Just want to vent my disgust at Powercity and there lack of customer service. Bought a VAX hoover, it broke after 2 months, brought it back and they said i was not entitled to a refund, the staff member was rude, and basically tried to fob me off saying they it was basically nothing to do with them, and they needed to send it off to VAX.... bringing them to smalls claims court as i am legally entitled to a refund if the good is not "fit for normal use"

Any thoughts ?

Cheers

Scott

whippet

scottpr1 wrote: »

Hi,

Just want to vent my disgust at Powercity and there lack of customer service. Bought a VAX hoover, it broke after 2 months, brought it back and they said i was not entitled to a refund, the staff member was rude, and basically tried to fob me off saying they it was basically nothing to do with them, and they needed to send it off to VAX.... bringing them to smalls claims court as i am legally entitled to a refund if the good is not "fit for normal use"

Any thoughts ?

Cheers

Scott

You are not 'legally' entitled to a refund.

The retailer has three options to remedy the situation:

Repair, Replace or Refund.

You have the choice to accept or reject which ever offer of remedy is made, and then you can go down the SCC route. However, as you did not accept a reasonable offer of remedy the SCC probably wouldn't find in your favour.

The retailer in this case is perfectly entitled to offer you a repair in the first instance; if the repair isn't successful, they can then offer you a replacement.

Cabaal

It sounds like you went back to powercity demanding a refund for the defective VAX VACUUM CLEANER, powercity are well within their rights to offer a repair.

Go to small claims all you want but you're not playing ball but simply demanding a refund and not giving them an opportunity to actually fix the issue. As such SCC likely won't look on your demand as being reasonable.

scottpr1

Thanks for the feedback folks, wanted to get a 2nd opinion, as i heard this but the National Consumer Agency are saying it is my choice and

"you are entitled to seek either a repair, replacement or refund"

theteal

Sorry Op, you're not going to like the responses you get on this one. While it is unfortunate that it died after 2 months, PC are allowed a chance to repair it.

scottpr1

Just got off the phone with the National Consumer Agency, sorry to tell you guys but your actually incorrect, basically they

"If the fault is major, for example if you buy a product and it stops working shortly after you start using it due to a major fault, you have the option to reject the goods and rescind (end) the contract."

She said as it was only two months since i purchased it, and it was a major fault i am legally entitled to a refund !

eamonnq

scottpr1 wrote: »

Just got off the phone with the National Consumer Agency, sorry to tell you guys but your actually incorrect, basically they

"If the fault is major, for example if you buy a product and it stops working shortly after you start using it due to a major fault, you have the option to reject the goods and rescind (end) the contract."

She said as it was only two months since i purchased it, and it was a major fault i am legally entitled to a refund !

'Shortly' might be open to debate here I would have thought. 2 months might not be considered that short.

I would also have thought that they would be entitled to 'inspect it' to ensure that the fault is not caused by misuse or user error.

What went wrong it it that 'it broke' ? Has it stopped working completely ?

whippet

scottpr1 wrote: »

Just got off the phone with the National Consumer Agency, sorry to tell you guys but your actually incorrect, basically they

"If the fault is major, for example if you buy a product and it stops working shortly after you start using it due to a major fault, you have the option to reject the goods and rescind (end) the contract."

She said as it was only two months since i purchased it, and it was a major fault i am legally entitled to a refund !

I wouldn't take the word of the NCA as gospel.

Law is open to interpretation with regards to words like - Reasonable / Short / Major etc ....

In this case I would be of the opinion that the retailer has to have the option to remedy the situation with a repair or replacement ... I would imagine the SCC would see it this way also.

Make sure you keep us up to date with what the SCC say any way.

theteal

scottpr1 wrote: »

Just got off the phone with the National Consumer Agency, sorry to tell you guys but your actually incorrect, basically they

"If the fault is major, for example if you buy a product and it stops working shortly after you start using it due to a major fault, you have the option to reject the goods and rescind (end) the contract."

She said as it was only two months since i purchased it, and it was a major fault i am legally entitled to a refund !

you're entitled to one of the 3 "R"s, they've fulfilled their obligation by offering such. You have every right to reject this offer if you feel it is not "reasonable" but you will have to explain so to the SCC judge who may disagree.

2 months is a pain as it is a relatively short period of time but companies do need to have a line at which point they cannot be swapping faulty items or they would not survive - thus repair may be deemed "reasonable"

theteal

whippet wrote: »

I wouldn't take the word of the NCA as gospel.

they remind me of a certain mobile company's customer care, very much reading from a script and not actually taking the variables of a situation into account

scottpr1

the hose connected to the main hoover section, disconnected - broke. I did bring it back to the store and showed it to them, the reason i did not want it repaired as the hoover was not exactly 50 quid, and it looked like it was glued together ! I had a dyson, lasted over 7 years, fantastic piece of kit, but the suction eventually died a death ! I honestly dont believe the VAX would last even if they repaired it, hence why i wanted a refund to buy a Dyson !

twowheelsonly

What is the fault BTW?

What you consider major might in fact be quite minor so I'd be interested in knowing what it is other than it just stopped working.

Other that that, VAX are a big company and I'm sure that their returns rate wouldn't be all that high. If it was a regular fault with your model I'm sure that Power City would have recognised that and offered you a replacement/refund. If it's an unusual fault it would be pretty standard to offer a repair first.

Edit: Just spotted your previous reply..

paul4green

The retailer does not choose to give you a refund, repair or replacement. It's your entitlement to choose which one you want.

daRobot

Personally, I took powercity to the small claims over a tv fault that developed about 11 months later, and won.

My father had to do something similar with an oven.

Got to the small claims. It's a bit drawn out but chances are that you'll win.

whippet

paul4green wrote: »

The retailer does not choose to give you a refund, repair or replacement. It's your entitlement to choose which one you want.

incorrect, as has been pointed out here on many occasions.

The retailer has to offer a remedy and the customer can accept or reject the remedy. If they can't come to an agreement that is where the SCC / Courts service then make a determination.

Nothing worse than badly advised consumers demanding rights that they don't have.

scottpr1

Sorry Whippet, but your wrong, i specifically asked the NCA does the retailer have the right to offer either refund, repair etc...they don't...its not their choice.

Cabaal

scottpr1 wrote: »

Just got off the phone with the National Consumer Agency, sorry to tell you guys but your actually incorrect, basically they

"If the fault is major, for example if you buy a product and it stops working shortly after you start using it due to a major fault, you have the option to reject the goods and rescind (end) the contract."

She said as it was only two months since i purchased it, and it was a major fault i am legally entitled to a refund !

Sounds like person you spoke to gave her personal view on the matter, I'm pretty sure that the NCA website doesn't even back-up what you are saying they told you.

Ring them again and ask them either to put it in writing or point out exactly where in legislation or on their own website it says what they just told you, they won't be able to :pac:

paul4green

whippet wrote: »

incorrect, as has been pointed out here on many occasions.

The retailer has to offer a remedy and the customer can accept or reject the remedy. If they can't come to an agreement that is where the SCC / Courts service then make a determination.

Nothing worse than badly advised consumers demanding rights that they don't have.

http://www.nca.ie/nca/faulty-goods

"you have the option" "if you opt for a refund". Ball is in the consumers court on what they choose to accept.

Bought a phone with meteor a year ago, broke on the 3rd day. It was faulty. Brought back to meteor and they immediately, without asking me decided to give me a replacement, which I didn't want. Requested a refund under Sale of Goods and Supply of Services. They had to give me a what I wanted. They were at fault not me.

sumsar

scottpr1 wrote: »

the hose connected to the main hoover section, disconnected - broke. I did bring it back to the store and showed it to them, the reason i did not want it repaired as the hoover was not exactly 50 quid, and it looked like it was glued together ! I had a dyson, lasted over 7 years, fantastic piece of kit, but the suction eventually died a death ! I honestly dont believe the VAX would last even if they repaired it, hence why i wanted a refund to buy a Dyson !

See this is as sticky situation, hoses can come off vaccums simply because it needs to be screwed back in, or possibly if the glue was just dried up,

Since it was the hose that disconnected that should have been fixable at the shop and no need for a refund, however if it was not fixable I would have personally been happy to receive another hose from the same vaccum out of a different box.

It seems your demand for a refund was a bit over the top and unreasonable in my opinion.

scottpr1

"bit over the top and unreasonable in my opinion"

I have a dog.... need to hoover my house pretty much daily, i would bet my hover it will take a couple of weeks for them to send off and fix the VAX, also as i mentioned i don't believe the hoover will last even if it was fixed...hence i wanted something more reliable.

Esoteric_

scottpr1 wrote: »

Sorry Whippet, but your wrong, i specifically asked the NCA does the retailer have the right to offer either refund, repair etc...they don't...its not their choice.

It's nobody's choice, or both party's choice.

The have every right to offer one of the three Rs. You have the right to reject whichever one they offer.

What people are pointing out here is that the SCC will look upon you refusing the offer they make as being unreasonable, which could significantly lower your chances of winning a case in the court.

Also bear in mind that the NCA were the ones who (incorrectly) said that Littlewoods (iirc) were obliged to sell table sets for 21 euro when they were incorrectly priced. They were wrong on that front, too.

scottpr1

Your exactly right Esoteric, they offered and i rejected its nobody's choice.

When i go to court, i will explain my situation, having a dog (dont want to wait weeks to get hover back ) glued hose - body - together cheaply built, but not cheap cost, rude staff member, only 2 months old... i believe the SCC will hopefully side with me

Esoteric_

I wish you luck in the SCC, I really do.

I'm not optimistic that you'll win, however. It's a bit like taking a constructive dismissal case against a job after you leave. You have to prove that you took steps to rectify the situation before going to the last resort (court), otherwise you'll be seen as unreasonable, and more than likely won't win.

scottpr1

Its not just about being unreasonable.....you also need to understand that by law, if goods are not of "merchantable quality" i am entitled to a refund !

cgarvey

scottpr1 wrote: »

its not their choice.

TL;DR: It's not their choice, or your choice; it's up to both parties to agree on a remedy (or off to court, failing that).

Nor is it yours (the consumer). So either the NCA have been giving incorrect, or incomplete, advice, or you've misinterpreted their advice. Extremely worrying if it's the former.

Being a reasonable person, I wouldn't consider your plight a reasonable one. PowerCity have no way of knowing if the hose rip/break is as a result of a manufactur/design fault, or your incorrect usage. I think it's reasonable for them to send it off for that to be ascertained.

However, if you think otherwise, by all means go to the SCC which is a great means to sort this type of problem out, at little expense to you. The judge will look for what actions you took to [help] remedy this situation, though, so s/he might take a dim view of you point blank refusing the offer of repair (on a 2-month old appliance that gets, by your own admission, very regular use).

If I was you, I'd try and find some evidence that this was a common problem (anything, even a printout of a forum thread where others had the same problem), and go back to PowerCity explaining this is the reason you're refusing the repair (rather than point-blank refusing it). If there is still disagreement, this action would look a lot better in the SCC, than your description in your opening post.

sumsar

scottpr1 wrote: »

"bit over the top and unreasonable in my opinion"

I have a dog.... need to hoover my house pretty much daily, i would bet my hover it will take a couple of weeks for them to send off and fix the VAX, also as i mentioned i don't believe the hoover will last even if it was fixed...hence i wanted something more reliable.

I have a dog too, the reason I believe it's over the top and unreasonable to demand a refund is because it's something that can be resolved at the store. Meaning he could have easily gone home with a replacement hose.

But instead wanted a refund.

Esoteric_

scottpr1 wrote: »

Its not just about being unreasonable.....you also need to understand that by law, if goods are not of "merchantable quality" i am entitled to a refund !

Nope, if the goods aren't of merchantable quality (which I'm not disputing, it shouldn't break after only 2 months), you're entitled to have the situation rectified. That doesn't necessarily mean you're entitled to a refund. Fixing the hoover so that it doesn't break again (all repairs must be permanent of course) would be considered a 'reasonable' rectification of the situation in the eyes of the SCC.

Cabaal

scottpr1 wrote: »

Its not just about being unreasonable.....you also need to understand that by law, if goods are not of "merchantable quality" i am entitled to a refund !

Ok, but you've not proven this as such,
The item broke, fair enough it sucks but it happens with the best of products,

The fact you don't want a repair or replacement is based on your assumption that the quality is not suitable for your needs....perhaps though this could also be down to you picking a product not suitable for the use you intended, this wouldn't be a product fault.

But the belief that the item is not of decent quality is only based on this one product breaking which very easily could be a once off.

Bottom line is, without proper proof the whole thing is based on your assumptions.

scottpr1

Sumsar this wasnt as simple as getting a new hose in store...they wanted to send the whole hoover to VAX !

scottpr1

lol Cabaal...

"perhaps though this could also be down to you picking a product not suitable for the use you intended"

Its a hoover you pull it around your house and suck up dirt !! Seriously

What i am saying is, the build of the hover seemed...very cheap to me.... And this was shown quite evidently when the hose broke after 2 months. Have a look at the dyson / VAX...the difference in build quality is huge...and yes i know dyson aint cheap

sumsar

scottpr1 wrote: »

Sumsar this wasnt as simple as getting a new hose in store...they wanted to send the whole hoover to VAX !

Ok fair enough, in that case if the hose was the only thing that was damaged and they wanted to return the whole vaccum to VAX, it sounds to me like you might have had an inexperienced staff member assist you,

What they should have done in that case was swapped the hose for you and returned the vaccum they took the hose from, as the only thing damaged was the hose.

Cabaal

scottpr1 wrote: »

lol Cabaal...

"perhaps though this could also be down to you picking a product not suitable for the use you intended"

Its a hoover you pull it around your house and suck up dirt !! Seriously

What i am saying is, the build of the hover seemed...very cheap to me.... And this was shown quite evidently when the house broke after 2 months. Have a look at the dyson / VAX...the difference in build quality is huge...and yes i know dyson aint cheap

Not to get technical, but its a VAX you bought...not a hoover....they are very different brands.

Well you may say you just pull it around a house, but really it depends on the volume of dog hair your trying to clean up. I made the comment because without knowing exactly what you used it for it "might" be a factor.

Just an example, I could buy a vacuum cleaner in the morning and use it to clean up all the builders dust and large amounts of sawdust a new house I just moved into, all the builders dust would likely seriously affect it...it wouldn't be the fault of the cleaner it would be mine for buying a product not suitable for the job.

scottpr1

Sorry yes you are correct...i am just used to saying hoover....ie JEEP

its a 3 bed semi with a dog lol...not a building site but i see where you are coming from...also i mentioned this before, this was not a 50 quid vacuum from Argos, it was one of VAX's most expensive PET vacuum's !

wmpdd3

With my experience of the SCC, I dont hold much hope if you give the same information you have here.

I gave up on the NCA along time ago, but it may help explain why you took the case if you can get the person view in writing, but I'd be shocked if they give it to you!

Have you gone and bought your Dyson?

Have you written to PC asking for your refund and asking for a final response?

sandin

so someone from the NCA told you over the PHONE that your vax vacumn has a major fault and you are ENTITLED to a refun.

Sorry - BS.

Reading the thread you are twisting it in every such way to try and get the answer you want.

Powercity are entitled to sedn the vacumn back to vax to have it inspected to see what the fault is.

If its simple to repair and the repair is permanent and the item can do the job it was designed to do - that's what you will get.


If the repair is uneconomical and the fault is not something that is inherent in the product, then Power city can give you a replacement.

If they don't have a replacement, then you are ENTITLED to a refund. But up until that stage there is no entitlement whatsoever.

BTW - Small claims court or ANY court is there as a last resort. Go running to it after the store offered a REASONABLE solution and you lose.

UrbanSea

Just as a matter of interest, how was the salesperson rude?

A lot of people mistake not getting the answer they want or getting their own way as being treated rudely.

WildCardDoW

As someone (previously) on the other side, I can confirm this. Not saying it was/wasn't so in this case, but generally when ever you don't give in to the customers opinion you're rude. It can be very frustrating.

goz83

Sounds like OP got a VAX, which is way cheaper than Dyson and wasn't really happy after the cheaper purchase. When it broke from daily use after 2 months, it was a perfect excuse to get a refund and upgrade to a Dyson.

OP, did you ask to upgrade to a Dyson, offering to cover the extra cost? I would imagine most retailers would jump at the opportunity to upsell. I did it a few years ago at Halfords, with a Garmin satnav. After 3 faulty unit replacements, I demanded to upgrade. It took a letter to the manager, but they upgraded me and I covered the additional cost for the more expensive unit, which never gave me a problem.

Going in, demanding a refund is no use and gets you nowhere in a place like Powercity, who are well used to customers screaming at them.

My advice:

Apologise for your "slight" over reaction at their remedy suggestion.
Have a descending list of remedies you are ready to accept, going through them until (hopefully) they accept one.
If that goes well, you will be on your way home with your brand new Dyson.