Pc World won't honour cash back claim

robnet77

Hello.
I purchased a computer last August but it had to be ordered and was available for collection on Sep 13 only.
I had a window of 29 to 60 days to make the cash back claim which they offered with the purchase.
A couple of days ago I realised the time was running out and went to their website, trying to fill the required form on Nov 11.

There was a generic error on the page, I figured the system was not accepting the collection date and tried to ring the phone number they put on screen. Number was invalid, I thought it was a temporary problem or I had to put some prefix.

On Nov 12 I tried again but to no avail and on Nov 13 I sent an email to their support explaining the situation.

They gave me another invalid number to ring, and I kept replying to them via email. I also visited the store and they said I'd be called back within 24 hours.

Instead, they replied via email saying I had started my claim 62 days after the collection and was out of time.

Now, I had a disservice in that I had to wait overy 2 weeks to receive the PC, much longer than what they told me on purchase.
I was given only invalid numbers which made me postpone the claim.
I still mailed them on Nov 13 assuming it was 60 days from Sep 13.
All this and they come out saying it was 62 days, which is ridiculous.

Please advise.

Xterminator

Hi Op

You saying you did not claim for the laptop between 29 and 60 days from when you bought it?

But you would like them to make an exception based on the fact the delivery took a couple of weeks and you couldn't ring the number supplied, possibly because you are in ROI and they were UK numbers? (seems irrelevant unless your claiming you called with the allotted time))

i think the first thing you should do is read the terms and conditions of the money back offer, and arm yourself with that knowledge. Do they clearly state the time starts from when you purchased the item, or when you accepted delivery. that seems to be the key.

L1011

Cashback offers rely on most people not claiming in time and I can't see there being any chance of them paying out in this case.

stronglikebull

robnet77 wrote: »

On Nov 12 I tried again but to no avail and on Nov 13 I sent an email to their support explaining the situation.

60 days from Sept 13th is Nov 12th, so if your first attempt to actually contact them was on Nov 13th, then you were already too late at that point. Website issues can happen, or the problem could be a routing issue with your ISP, or somewhere else. It's hard to say how or why it failed, but if you didn't make the claim, or contact them regarding the issues within the 60 day window, then you are most likely not going to get anywhere.

P. Breathnach

stronglikebull wrote: »

60 days from Sept 13th is Nov 12th, so if your first attempt to actually contact them was on Nov 13th, then you were already too late at that point. Website issues can happen, or the problem could be a routing issue with your ISP, or somewhere else. It's hard to say how or why it failed, but if you didn't make the claim, or contact them regarding the issues within the 60 day window, then you are most likely not going to get anywhere.

OP tried online on the 11th, and again on the 12th, and tried to use a phone number given by the firm on the 11th. That's a pretty decent effort to make the claim in time.

I'd harbour a suspicion that the vendor was actively trying to avoid being contacted.

stronglikebull

P. Breathnach wrote: »

OP tried online on the 11th, and again on the 12th, and tried to use a phone number given by the firm on the 11th. That's a pretty decent effort to make the claim in time.

I would disagree. If you knew an offer was ending today, and couldn't get thorough to the phone number given, then surely you'd go to some effort to find a functioning number, or to send an email there and then. Waiting till the day after it ended to send an email is not really making a decent effort. Anyone could send an email the day after it expired and claim there were issues on the site, but you'd have no proof you even tried. It would do a lot to back up that claim if an email was sent on the same day outlining the issues, while the offer was still valid.

There are two different phone numbers, an email address and a contact form on the claims website, plus it states
"
If your query is related to difficulties entering your claim, please provide in your email or have with you when you call the following details:

• Online Purchases – Date of purchase, order number, product code(s).
• In-Store Purchases - Date of purchase, branch number, receipt number, qualifying product code(s)."

So if this information had been provided on the final day of the promotion, then he'd have a very good claim. Providing any of this after the offer had closed is a waste of time.

robnet77

stronglikebull wrote: »

I would disagree. If you knew an offer was ending today, and couldn't get thorough to the phone number given, then surely you'd go to some effort to find a functioning number, or to send an email there and then. Waiting till the day after it ended to send an email is not really making a decent effort. Anyone could send an email the day after it expired and claim there were issues on the site, but you'd have no proof you even tried. It would do a lot to back up that claim if an email was sent on the same day outlining the issues, while the offer was still valid.

There are two different phone numbers, an email address and a contact form on the claims website, plus it states
"
If your query is related to difficulties entering your claim, please provide in your email or have with you when you call the following details:

• Online Purchases – Date of purchase, order number, product code(s).
• In-Store Purchases - Date of purchase, branch number, receipt number, qualifying product code(s)."

So if this information had been provided on the final day of the promotion, then he'd have a very good claim. Providing any of this after the offer had closed is a waste of time.

To be honest I thought I was on time when I mailed them.
To me 13 Nov sounds 60 days after 13 Sep, they're obviously being picky in saying it was 62 days (actually it is 61 even if you count day by day).
Also they accepted that the days started from Sep 13, just in reply to the mor*n who wrote the first reply to this thread.

njs030

robnet77 wrote: »

To be honest I thought I was on time when I mailed them.
To me 13 Nov sounds 60 days after 13 Sep, they're obviously being picky in saying it was 62 days (actually it is 61 even if you count day by day).
Also they accepted that the days started from Sep 13, just in reply to the mor*n who wrote the first reply to this thread.

There's no need to be rude to people who reply to you and call them names.

60 days to make a claim isn't being picky, it's 2 months. They can't say sure anytime you feel like it is fine!

If you have proof that you tried to call them like screen shots on your phone from the 11th November or before that then send them an email with that attached and explain you did attempt to get in touch.

robnet77

notjustsweet wrote: »

There's no need to be rude to people who reply to you and call them names.

60 days to make a claim isn't being picky, it's 2 months. They can't say sure anytime you feel like it is fine!

If you have proof that you tried to call them like screen shots on your phone from the 11th November or before that then send them an email with that attached and explain you did attempt to get in touch.

I already explained the situation to them. They apologised for giving me another invalid number, but that sounded sarcastic to me.
They obviously make it as hard as possible for people to contact them. It doesn't matter.

Was I supposed to consider 13 Nov as beyond 60 days?? This is what really matters.

Also it's not 2 months as you have to wait a month for the time window to start.

njs030

robnet77 wrote: »

I already explained the situation to them. They apologised for giving me another invalid number, but that sounded sarcastic to me.
They obviously make it as hard as possible for people to contact them. It doesn't matter.

Was I supposed to consider 13 Nov as beyond 60 days?? This is what really matters.

Also it's not 2 months as you have to wait a month for the time window to start.

Yes of course 13th November is more than 60 days after 13th September?
2 calendar months and 60 days are different things.

You said it was 29-60 days which means you could have contacted them from the 11th October.

robnet77

notjustsweet wrote: »

Yes of course 13th November is more than 60 days after 13th September?
2 calendar months and 60 days are different things.

You said it was 29-60 days which means you could have contacted them from the 11th October.

11th October? That's not correct, it's the 12th if you really want to count days.
See my point now? It's easy to get the calculation wrong.
60 days is two months for the average Joe.

stronglikebull

robnet77 wrote: »

Was I supposed to consider 13 Nov as beyond 60 days?? This is what really matters.

As you say, this is all that matters, and the answer is yes. 61 is greater than 60, so that's that.

Cashback offers are an agreement for them to give you money, once certain conditions are met. If you fail to meet all of these conditions, then they're not going to go out of their way to give away money. These schemes are always designed to make it awkward, not impossible, just awkward to claim. It's up to you, the claimant, to do all the leg work. Don't expect any help from the people that make money out of you not claiming.

njs030

robnet77 wrote: »

11th October? That's not correct, it's the 12th if you really want to count days.
See my point now? It's easy to get the calculation wrong.
60 days is two months for the average Joe.

According to your earlier post day 1 was the 13th of September which means day 60 is 11th November.
You can always count it up on a calendar instead of arguing the point but you lose a day on the 13th.

Either way it's passed now and it's unlikely to change unless you can prove attempts to contact them within the 29-60 days

L1011

robnet77 wrote: »

To be honest I thought I was on time when I mailed them.
To me 13 Nov sounds 60 days after 13 Sep, they're obviously being picky in saying it was 62 days (actually it is 61 even if you count day by day).
Also they accepted that the days started from Sep 13, just in reply to the mor*n who wrote the first reply to this thread.

If you have issues with a post, respond to them constructively or report them rather than making childish insults.

Xterminator

Hi Op

This moron took the time to reply to your post, with genuine advice trying to help. I didn't do so just to ridicule you etc, simply summed up the situation, as i understood it, from your lengthy post, and posted my advice that you read the T&C's too see what the conditions are, because lets face it, most of us dont - and you may have found a loophole there.

My thinking was if you appeal the decision to store manager or head office, you call tell them what your basis for complaint/special treatment is. Because in your 1st post i didn't understand what your grounds for appeal were. Still don't if i'm honest.

Cheers
X

Mr. Incognito

Its not law.

Its their terms and conditions which they can amend anytime they want any way they want.

You are wasting your time with this as companies dont want to honor it.

A more effective way of recourse is to hit their twitter feed/ facebook/ and make it a VERY public complaint.

njs030

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

Its not law.

Its their terms and conditions which they can amend anytime they want any way they want.

You are wasting your time with this as companies dont want to honor it.

A more effective way of recourse is to hit their twitter feed/ facebook/ and make it a VERY public complaint.

Which is becoming a joke in retail or customer service - every customer who is wrong turns to social media for a public outburst. Companies are starting to ignore it and rightly so.

It's suggested in nearly every thread here too!

CeilingFly

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

Its not law.

Its their terms and conditions which they can amend anytime they want any way they want.

You are wasting your time with this as companies dont want to honor it.

A more effective way of recourse is to hit their twitter feed/ facebook/ and make it a VERY public complaint.

A complaint that the op applied 62 days after purchase when the offer was 60 days?

Yep, that'll bring a good laugh.

And on Facebook, companies now delete messages and then ban the person. Rarely is communication entered into and Facebook now will delete "reviews" that are falsified.

Remember, social media make their money from advertising.