why i'll never use currys again

sweetie

I buy quite a lot of tech online but having read about the (now defunct) boards forum and seen the customer service shown there I decided to buy an airfryer recently from PC world liffey valley which came with a 10e voucher which made the price comparable to that on amazon.co.uk. On christmas eve I went to currys, jervis st to use this voucher and settled on an itunes voucher. I wasn't let use the voucher on this as they said it was a service and not a product although there was no mention of this restriction on the voucher. I wasn't happy but had a quick look and saw a camera case and bought it instead for my wife. It turned out to be too small for the camera so today I went back to currys in jervis centre to return the case (they advertise a 21 day return policy) and buy some earphones instead. On going to the till I handed over the items and asked to swap the case for the earphones and was told the price was 11 euro. This surprised me as the case cost 11 and the earphones 12 so I queried this and was told the voucher was expired. I agreed that the voucher was expired since 24th december but as it was redeemed I was entitled to exchange my item for it's full value and redeem that against another item in store. I spoke briefly to the manager who barely glanced at me and wouldn't entertain my query. I kept the case as it is worth more than the 1 euro refund/credit that I was being offered and resolved to make a complaint. I emailed Currys just now and hope to hear back from them.

frag420

So whats the issue? You changed your mind and what now?

sweetie

frag420 wrote: »

So whats the issue? You changed your mind and what now?

They advertise 21 days return/change of mind policy but only offered me 1 euro credit as the voucher I used when buying the item was out of date.

And before anyone else goes the item is fit for purpose etc. I know that but this company have notices up at the counter stating their 21day return policy.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Did they say the case would fit your camera or did you just think it would? If it was your fault then you are not entitled to a refund.

sweetie

Dude forget about the camera case, that was my mistake as I hadn't the camera with me. My issue is that although they are following their stated returns policy (http://www.currys.ie/content/Returns-Policy/1939) they are voiding the voucher part of the payment and offering me €1 credit/refund rather than €11. I'm sure many people buy gifts at christmas with the peace of mind that it can be returned of its unsuitable and I know this isn't a consumer right but rather a goodwill gesture by many companies.

dixiefly

That sounds like crap and shoddy customer service. I would have defended them on and off but, to me, that type of approach costs a company way more in goodwill than it saves.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

sweetie wrote: »

Dude forget about the camera case, that was my mistake as I hadn't the camera with me. My issue is that although they are following their stated returns policy (http://www.currys.ie/content/Returns-Policy/1939) they are voiding the voucher part of the payment and offering me €1 credit/refund rather than €11. I'm sure many people buy gifts at christmas with the peace of mind that it can be returned of its unsuitable and I know this isn't a consumer right but rather a goodwill gesture by many companies.

No don't forget thethe camera case, dude!:rolleyes: It is the crux of the matter. You bought it and are not entitled to a refund on it except through their good will. Had you not bought it the voucher would now be out of date already.
Anyway, it was only a tenner!

dan1895

Esperanza Brave Restoration wrote: »

No don't forget thethe camera case, dude!:rolleyes: It is the crux of the matter. You bought it and are not entitled to a refund on it except through their good will. Had you not bought it the voucher would now be out of date already.
Anyway, it was only a tenner!

If they advertise a 21 day returns policy and he is within the 21 days then of course he is entitled to return it. Also he doesn't want a refund he wants an exchange.

sweetie

Esperanza Brave Restoration wrote: »

No don't forget thethe camera case, dude!:rolleyes: It is the crux of the matter. You bought it and are not entitled to a refund on it except through their good will. Had you not bought it the voucher would now be out of date already.
Anyway, it was only a tenner!

Yes the goodwill which they advertise on the walls of their store and their website. I was partly incentivised to buy the air fryer due to this voucher which they then wouldn't let me use on the item of my choice and hence me hastily buying an item that was unsuitable. But hey don't let the facts get in the way of your points scoring.

emeldc

sweetie wrote: »

Yes the goodwill which they advertise on the walls of their store and their website. I was partly incentivised to buy the air fryer due to this voucher which they then wouldn't let me use on the item of my choice and hence me hastily buying an item that was unsuitable. But hey don't let the facts get in the way of your points scoring.

I'm with you on this one dude!
What's the point in having a 21 day return policy if you can't return it because of some other stupid rule. As a ordinary consumer, how on earth are you supposed to keep up with all this sh1t. In my opinion it's p1ss poor customer service.
I'll probably get slated for this but the only mistake you made was not shouting loud enough at the uninterested manager.

D3PO

I think we all agree legally they are in the right but from a customer perspective what they did was awful.

I've never shopped in there before but TBH reading this I never would if that's how they treat their customers & I'm sure Im not the only one. These places don't seem to think of the knock on effect their actions have.

timetogo

D3PO wrote: »

I think we all agree legally they are in the right but from a customer perspective what they did was awful.

Are they in the right? They advertise a 21 day return policy. Then they don't allow the customer return an item within 21 days. Sounds like false advertising to me. Is that not illegal? (probably not in Ireland, I don't know).

Edit: Actually it looks like you can't advertise one thing and do another. http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/consumer_affairs/consumer_protection/consumer_rights/consumer_advertising.html
Obviously not worth doing anything for a tenner, the OP will vote with their feet. Also searching for "currys.ie return policy" shows this thread as 6th i the list of returns from Google. Id say they'd wish they'd just paid it now.

I can't find the info on the 21 days return policy from the shop. On the website it says they've a 21 day return policy. There's no mention of not being able to return the item if bought with a voucher.

I've no problem with customers not getting a refund because they changed their mind. I used to work in retail and got muppets in all the time chancing their arm. However if the shop is advertising that you can change your mind up until 21 days that's different. Some people might buy from the shop because of that extra protection. If I was buying a gift I might buy it from there and if the receiver already had it I'd be hoping to bring it back and swap. I wouldn't be interested in hearing that because I paid with a voucher that wasn't an option.

Teagwee

Similar to the OP, I used an Argos voucher (£10) to purchase an item on Xmas Eve - I had to use it by that date so bought something for £14.99 and paid the extra. The item turned out to be faulty and I returned it to Argos today - no bother at all, no reference to the fact that it was partly bought with a voucher.

I know it was a slightly different scenario for me, in that the item was faulty, but Argos operate a similar principle of 30 days refund on most items, regardless of reason. I wouldn't expect that a voucher legitimately used within the qualifying period to negate the consumer advantage offered and advertised by the store itself. Payment was made via an acceptable method on the day of purchase and (IMO) can't be rolled back upon to weasel out of their own consumer terms.

sweetie

I emailed currys on monday night and have yet to get a reply. Will call them tomorrow

sweetie

Called the 1890 number, spoke to a guy in uk who put me on hold so he could speak to the branch and then I was cut off. Crikey they are worse than useless.

brokenarms

I dont agree with either your conduct or Currys.

Before they got a chance to explain why through email, you shot straight to the computer to tell the world in an attempt to soil there reputation.

And Currys for letting this happen in the first place.

I would have thought it would have been more prudent to wait for an explanation .

runawaybishop

brokenarms wrote: »

I dont agree with either your conduct or Currys.

Before they got a chance to explain why through email, you shot straight to the computer to tell the world in an attempt to soil there reputation.

And Currys for letting this happen in the first place.

I would have thought it would have been more prudent to wait for an explanation .

They should have explained why they violated their own terms when he was in the shop though.

brokenarms

runawaybishop wrote: »

They should have explained why they violated their own terms when he was in the shop though.

Because there are always 2 sides to these stories .

runawaybishop

brokenarms wrote: »

Because there are always 2 sides to these stories .

Do you not understand the point of these forums or something? Ops post their experiences and other posters can give advice etc.

rock22

In my experience, Currys, and many other retailers who offer a returns policy, always return the funds to the same source as purchase. i.e. if you purchase with cash they will return cash, if you use a card they will refund to the card.

In your case they would refund to a voucher. if the voucher was still valid then you would be made whole. As it is the voucher is expired so no refund.

May not be fair but almost certainly legal.

wingnut

rock22 wrote: »

In my experience, Currys, and many other retailers who offer a returns policy, always return the funds to the same source as purchase. i.e. if you purchase with cash they will return cash, if you use a card they will refund to the card.

In your case they would refund to a voucher. if the voucher was still valid then you would be made whole. As it is the voucher is expired so no refund.

May not be fair but almost certainly legal.

He was looking for an exchange not a refund so that was not an issue. As others have said I would defend Currys pc world as they get a lot of grief from cranks but in the face of it this was put judgement from the manager. I hope you get a better response higher up because they are a big company and I've only had positive dealings with the staff.

Plates

Yawn. 20 posts on this thread about a 10 euro dispute. Resolve it (or not) directly with PC World / Currys and move on. Don't see the point in you getting yourself worked up over people not joining you on the high moral ground.

No Pants

Once the voucher has been used, the expiration date should no longer matter.

How would this affect warranty claims or other consumer issues. If I buy a higher value item such as a TV or laptop using vouchers and it develops a fault a year later. First action is the retailer attempts a repair. That doesn't work, so the next step is replace or refund. Does this policy mean that the retailer could simply refund me a bunch of expired vouchers?

Rachiee

Agree with the op its disgraceful so what if you paid with a voucher you still bought it an exchange should be no issue ridiculous.

clint_silver

Plates wrote: »

Yawn. 20 posts on this thread about a 10 euro dispute. Resolve it (or not) directly with PC World / Currys and move on. Don't see the point in you getting yourself worked up over people not joining you on the high moral ground.

Its not the value of the goods, its the principle. These anecdotal stories form opinions about shops and organisations.

how many times have you read of a quibble with aldi or lidl or argos returns policies, they make it a point not to quibble as bad word can travel. this in turn leads to a buying confidence from those places.

I personally wouldnt think the same about buying from currys both from this story and my own personal experience with the shop in blanchardstown so if I had to buy a voucher or a product from somewhere Id be thinking twice about getting in currys as if I had a problem with it and tried to bring it back, Id be thinking how hard is this going to be?

whether the item was 10e or 1000e.