Currys - Whatever happens (What a joke)

[bluemoonjo]

I purchased a 50" Samsung Plasma tv in March 2009 and took the whatever happens insurance plan with it. On 15th Feb 2011 my tv stopped working so i telephoned the whatever happens telephone number and was advised that an engineer would visit on saturday 19th Feb which was 2 days later than it states on my documents as it says if you call before 6pm on a Tuesday an engineer will be with you by the Thursday.



On saturday 19th February 2 men and van turned up to collect my tv and not an engineer as they stated. They then took my tv away and told me it would be returned in 7 days. By the 24th February i had not heard anything from them so i gave them a call only to be told the tv was a write off and a voucher code was being generated and should be available by Monday 28th February.



On Monday 28th February i called them as i did not hear from them to check to see if a voucher code had been generated to which i was told to try again tomorrow, which i did then again the next day and the day after which was now Thursday. On the Thursday i was given a code over the telephone and told to take this code to my local Currys with some ID and they would issue vouchers for a replacement tv.



When i arrived at store with the code the girl behind the counter said it didn't look like one of their codes but not to worry she would give them a call and sort it out. After 2 hours on the phone being passed from pillar to post and me stood in store with my children she passed the phone over to me only to be told i should never have been given this code and that this was a code for Samsungs reference and should try again tomorrow to see if a code has been issued.



Friday 4th March i called them yet again only to be given the same code as the previous day to take into store which i then had to explain to them what had happened the previous day and inform them that the code they were trying to give me was not a voucher code. They then transferred me through to a different department who then told me this code was for a manufacturers exchange and then gave me Samsung customer service's telephone no.



I then called Samsung and quoted the reference no. they had given me to which i was told they were organizing a replacement for a 15" lcd tv. which i then told them was incorrect as mine was a 50" Plasma bought in 2009. They then informed me it was out of manufacturers guarantee so they would not arrange replacement and it would be down to my insurance company to organize a replacement.



So with that i then called whatever happens back yet again, only for someone to try to give me the same reference no. yet again so i had to again explain every thing that had happened he then asked me for my number and told me he would call back. At 5.55pm he called back saying he's had to go through all the departments as nobody seemed to know what was happening, but as we spoke there was a manager generating a voucher code but their department closed at 6pm so i would have to call back tomorrow for the voucher code.



Today Saturday 5th March i have telephoned and asked for my voucher code only to be given the samsung ref no. again, after explaining yet again everything that has happened the man said he would call me back. After about 1 hour he then called me back and told me that that nobody knew anything about any voucher code, but he had spoken to somebody else who said that they would arrange a credit letter to be sent out that would take at least another 7 days.



My policy states that there is a 21 day replacement rule on it which is supposed to mean that if your product is not returned in 21 days a replacement will be given. I have wasted numerous time and telephone calls and am still no nearer to finding out when i am going to get my replacement can anybody help please!!!!!

[Taf]

Sounds like Currys are still as crap as ever.... and now they're sharing shop-space with PCWorld so things can only get worse.

Our newly-amalgamated store had my PC for 4 weeks "waiting for parts" which never arrived. A local PC shop did the repair... correctly... in less than half an hour!!

[martyh]

[QUOTE=bluemoonjo;35187457]I purchased a ...snip QUOTE]



Thats a horrible story but only what i would expect from DSG ,have you thought of giving trading standards a ring ?.
On a side note i think some official body realy needs to sort out these extended warranty insurance policies as very rarely do you hear of anybody getting satisfaction from one

[Matt D]

Originally Posted by bluemoonjo

<tale of woe>

Ah, Currys & Whateverhappens...

You may find this thread about my own tale of woe interesting & informative, from September/October 2009:

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/22...ens-avoid.html

Give the whole thing a read.

Try & get hold of "Claim Management" if you can. They seemed more helpful & clued in, to me, than the normal CS muppets or the "Medics Team" (who, for a "resolution" team, failed to resolve anything). There should be an option on the normal 0844 number to get hold of the claim side of things. Explain the problem and hopefully you'll get through to someone who isn't a complete idiot.

[Unless of course you've already been dealing with Claim Management, in which case I guess there's no one useful left at all now!]

I'll have a route around & see if I have any direct numbers written down anywhere. I hoard things, so I may do.

You may also have luck emailing the Dixons Retail PLC (formerly DSG) Chief Exec. That was going to be my next thing, if the phone people had continued screwing things up. Try john.browett@dixons.co.uk and john.browett@dsgiplc.com.

[Ravenheart]

Friend had a similar problem with Whateverhappens. When she did a search online similar problems appeared all over the consumer sites like MSE and the Consumer Action Group

A handy few tips in this thread on MSE I'd also agree with Martyh and have a word with your local trading standards office.

You really can't believe that the DSG group are still treating customers so poorly after all the negative press they've had over the years for the same problems.

[Matt D]

A ha!

0844 561 4000 - support line

0844 561 7000 - delivery line

0115 9923072 - Medics Team

Phone 0844 5614000 (the normal no.) choose options 3-1-1-2. That should be the claim side. Explain everything to them. Try & get hold of Claim Management (may be called Case Management - my notes vary).


EDIT: The Currys website has a different number: 08445 61 62 63. Not sure if mine is obsolete, or if it's for a different part of CS.

[Rockabilly Spike]

its no surprise at all. its quite rare that anyone has a good story about WEH.
makes it very difficult to sell it to a customer who's had a bad experience!

i have very little faith in the service....I work for the company too.

from this month the'yre starting a 9 month roll out and rebrand of the Tech Guys and their respective services changing WEH to Knowhow Support.

having seen some of the new ideas they wanna impliment, it sounds good on paper, but in the really real world, I can see us on Watchdog again before the year is out!

from what I can remember

free 2 year warranty as standard on laptops
new service will offer an inhome service for collection, remote access for software probs, 7 day turnaround.
on TVs its supposed to be inhome fix or write off. basically from what my GM has told me, they wanna have the KNOWHOW call centre do a diagnostic over the phone and an engineer will bring parts with them to repair in home. if it can't be, repaired or will take 7 days to get the parts and fix it OR its damaged accidentally beyond repair, its a write off.

all sounds great on paper

[martyh]

Originally Posted by Rockabilly Spike

its no surprise at all. its quite rare that anyone has a good story about WEH.
makes it very difficult to sell it to a customer who's had a bad experience!

i have very little faith in the service....I work for the company too.

from this month the'yre starting a 9 month roll out and rebrand of the Tech Guys and their respective services changing WEH to Knowhow Support.

having seen some of the new ideas they wanna impliment, it sounds good on paper, but in the really real world, I can see us on Watchdog again before the year is out!

from what I can remember

free 2 year warranty as standard on laptops
new service will offer an inhome service for collection, remote access for software probs, 7 day turnaround.
on TVs its supposed to be inhome fix or write off. basically from what my GM has told me, they wanna have the KNOWHOW call centre do a diagnostic over the phone and an engineer will bring parts with them to repair in home. if it can't be, repaired or will take 7 days to get the parts and fix it OR its damaged accidentally beyond repair, its a write off.

all sounds great on paper

All sounds a bit of a whitewash to me .

most companies in the EU already offer a minimum 2 yr warranty since 2006 so that is nothing groundbreaking

The rest is just a rebrand/rehash of the existing scheme .Also unless they are going to give people thorough technical training in the products they sell then it is a waste of time

A quick example of the tech guys in pc world last weekend when looking for a HD monitor ,i was advised that there is no difference between a VGA connection a HDMI and a DVI connection apart from the shape

[Rockabilly Spike]

Originally Posted by martyh

All sounds a bit of a whitewash to me .

most companies in the EU already offer a minimum 2 yr warranty since 2006 so that is nothing groundbreaking

The rest is just a rebrand/rehash of the existing scheme .Also unless they are going to give people thorough technical training in the products they sell then it is a waste of time

A quick example of the tech guys in pc world last weekend when looking for a HD monitor ,i was advised that there is no difference between a VGA connection a HDMI and a DVI connection apart from the shape

yeah its a massive rehash!
just repainting vans and having new uniforms doesnt change much.

most companies in the EU may indeed offer a 2 yr service BUT, most places in the UK don't cos its not a UK law to offer 2 yrs.
its only a directive to countries like the UK.

either way, I'll keep yas informed when I've done the training for sales colleagues.
think mine is in about 2 weeks

[martyh]

Originally Posted by Rockabilly Spike

yeah its a massive rehash!
just repainting vans and having new uniforms doesnt change much.

most companies in the EU may indeed offer a 2 yr service BUT, most places in the UK don't cos its not a UK law to offer 2 yrs.
its only a directive to countries like the UK.

either way, I'll keep yas informed when I've done the training for sales colleagues.
think mine is in about 2 weeks

quite correct ,i think we haven't adopted it as law because our sale of goods act will allow customers the right to claim for upto 6 yrs after sale dependant on circumstances so are a lot more strict that other EU countries

[bluemoonjo]

Thanks everyone for your advice i am going to contact trading standards on monday and am also going to get an appointment with my local citizens advice and i have been given a number to contact ombudsman i will keep you updated with what happens.

[martyh]

Originally Posted by bluemoonjo

Thanks everyone for your advice i am going to contact trading standards on monday and am also going to get an appointment with my local citizens advice and i have been given a number to contact ombudsman i will keep you updated with what happens.

Please do ,it will usefull to other members as i notice that we get one of these stories every few months

best of luck ,hope you get a satifactory outcome

[Sirius]

DSG are as much use as a lighthouse in the desert

[Cobbydaler]

Originally Posted by Sirius

DSG are as much use as a lighthouse in the desert

Would have thought a lighthouse in the desert would be pretty useful if it was next to an oasis...

[Uncle Peter]

The only thing Currys are bothered about is training their staff to con people into buying £70 hdmi leads which supposedly deliver better quality 1's and 0's to your telly.

Once they've got your money then the customer is just a pariah. As an ongoing concern they no longer deserve to exist.