Currys - Effin' BANDITS!!

[selectortone]

I bought a new android tablet before Christmas in the Currys Black Friday sale. Very happy with it - a Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 reduced from £399.00 to £299.00 - managed to snag the last one at my local store.

What I'm not so happy about is that I was signed up for a customer service agreement at £3.99/month without my knowledge. (Note to self - check the WHOLE receipt carefully if you ever buy anything from Currys again)

The first I knew of this was checking my credit card statement online. There was a charge from "Product Support AG" and an 0844 telephone number as the reference. Googling the phone number revealed pages of people complaining about being caught in the same way. It's little more than a scam and a "reputable" company like Currys should be ashamed of themselves.

I called Currys customer service (no way I'm calling an 0844 number and contributing even more revenue!!) and after a VERY long hold cancelled the agreement. By that time I'd lost the will to live (which I'm sure Currys factor in) and couldn't face even more hassle asking for my £3.99 back. I'm really annoyed - not at losing the money but at being conned.

If you're the manager of Currys Christchurch and you happen to be reading this (you served me and checked me out at the till because the shop was so busy) SHAME ON YOU.

 

[lurker]

I thought everyone knew Currys behaved like this?

I only use them to look at and prod stuff, usually its then just as cheap at Tesco and you get the points too

 

[selectortone]

I thought everyone knew Currys behaved like this?

Everyone but me obviously. And all those other people from my googling.

 

[garethharvey]

I thought everyone knew Currys behaved like this?

I only use them to look at and prod stuff, usually its then just as cheap at Tesco and you get the points too

Same here, their prices are ridiculous, staff haven't got a clue, I only ever view stuff there and buy some where else.

 

[lurker]

They will, without fail, try to sell a customer services agreement.
My guess is some poor sap of a sales assistant was on a warning about targets, and succumbed.

Unless customers rant loudly in shops these practices will carry on.
Ideally you should have gone back and made a mega fuss in front of as many potential customers as possible.

I do this with some considerable relish :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

 

[Geoff_S]

There is always a first time to discover something new to you.

Yes, I know about this now but only because it happened to me years ago .... once and never again.

But I am surprised that they didn't offer you the "service" so that you could refuse it. They've moved to another level then.

As an aside, I bought a TV from them a year or so ago. The assistant was just so persistent in trying to sell me an extended warranty to the point
where I was going to lose it. Even when I asked him why I would want an extended warranty on a TV that was offering a FREE 5 year extended
warranty, he still carried on. Needless to say, the extended warranty was not bought.

But then again, a few months later I bought a DVD player at the same store, completely different, polite and friendly assistant.

I just go mentally prepared, shouldn't have to, but there it is.

 

[Tasky]

Had to buy the wife a new TV just the other week.
Found one she liked in Currys, which came with a 1-year warranty. Found the same one at the same price in all teh other shops we looked at, with a free 5-year warranty.
Ended up buying from John Lewis and getting their free 6-year warranty instead!!

 

[rafezetter]

They will, without fail, try to sell a customer services agreement.
My guess is some poor sap of a sales assistant was on a warning about targets, and succumbed.

Unless customers rant loudly in shops these practices will carry on.
Ideally you should have gone back and made a mega fuss in front of as many potential customers as possible.

I do this with some considerable relish :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

good for you

It's about the only time I condone amdram

 

[transatlantic]

They will, without fail, try to sell a customer services agreement.
My guess is some poor sap of a sales assistant was on a warning about targets, and succumbed.

Unless customers rant loudly in shops these practices will carry on.
Ideally you should have gone back and made a mega fuss in front of as many potential customers as possible.

I do this with some considerable relish :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

good for you

It's about the only time I condone amdram

I was just thinking that. If you know who it was that served you, then find out when they are next in and have a word with them.

I worked as a sales assistant and it's not a very nice job these days. It was great to begin with, as initially the customer service was important. But towards the end, and with changes to targets and management, it was more about getting everything you can from the customer. Suffice to say, I hardly ever met my targets, and those I did get I was as honest as I could be.

I don't really understand these practises as surely, ... SURELY!? the most important thing for a business it repeated customers. What good is conning people only for a small sum who will likely never return? and then not recommened you to others?

 

[Lons]

I never buy from them, just check prices for comparison. Have bought a few things over the years and needed to be quite firm in refusing their add ons, they recite the "benefits" as if reading off a crib sheet, reminds me of double glazing sales tactics!

A couple of years ago I bought a Vax carpet cleaner which on the website and shops was discounted by £100 ( no one else locally had stock), the one on display was full price so I queried it and asked a salesman if he would check stock which he reluctantly went off to do, he came back 10 minutes later carrying one which I hadn't asked for but said would buy it as he'd gone to the trouble. He clearly had been having a bad day as he was surly right through the checkout process and when I asked if he was going to change the display price he said no, my reply was that they might lose customers who would walk away and he said "who cares anyway". Had I not already paid I would have thrown the thing back at him.
I noted his name and said I intended to complain and his repley as he walked away was "do what you like".

I asked someone for the managers name as he wasn't in but they refused to give an email address so I posted a complaint letter and emailed a copy to head office. No response after 10 days so I emailed one of the directors and got a phone call from the branch a few days later but it was a line manager not the branch manager which was irritating. He offered me a £20 discount off my next purchase which I said they could shove as I wouldn't buy again. I never got a response in writing!

How to lose a customer in easy stages, cr*p company, will never get my business again.

 

[chippyminton59]

Like a lot of retailers these days.........they are not answerable to anyone!!!!

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Had to buy the wife a new TV just the other week.
Found one she liked in Currys, which came with a 1-year warranty. Found the same one at the same price in all teh other shops we looked at, with a free 5-year warranty.
Ended up buying from John Lewis and getting their free 6-year warranty instead!!

I had a neighbour who spent his lifetime repairing all sorts of domestic and commercial TV and hifi gear, and he always said if the stuff comes with a long guarantee, fine, but don't ever pay for one - if the stuff goes wrong 99.9% of the time it will go wrong within a week of being bought (a manufacturing fault) or within a year or two of its designed life expectancy.