Stuffed over by a shop assistant - Manager refuses to budge

[I hate retail]

Hi, this is my first post, been trawling through here now and again before, but now for the first time I need to post unfortunately

I will try and keep this very concise.

I bought a Samsung 40" HDTV from Currys after a shop assistant confirmed that the model in question is 1080P.
When I got home I unpacked the TV, hooked it up to my HTPC, and I realised it was only 1080i (720p) when i set the GFX card resolution.
I wanted to make sure that the TV was in fact 1080i by checking up on it online and to my horror, this model was £220 cheaper at Dixons!

I went back to the store the following day, wanting to come to an amicable arrangement. I asked the store manager if he could price match and if now, if I can bring the TV in for a refund (since I was miss-sold).

I was refused for both!
I can swallow that they don't price match, but because I took it out of the box, and want to take it back the very next day be refused!

Long story short, I tried to go via customer services who tried their best (call centre girl was a star) but in the end, the decision lay with the hard headed store manager.

When I spoke to the store, they basically said I'm a liar, becuase the store clerk in question is their most knowledable clerk, and would never have said that, because Currys do not sell 40" 1080P hdtv's.
I was hung up on when I contested this (i did not swear nor did I shout).
Went to Currys online and found a 1080P model off the bat.

What else can I do, I feel Royally screwed over.
I never ever buy retail anymore, and the one time in years I decide to buy something off the high-street, this happens ... £220 worse off with an inferior product.


£850 down the drain, or is there something I can do?

Many thanks!

[ncf355]

Trading standards

if you were told 1080p and its not, thjats misrepresentation

May be your word against his, but as you must say to TS, why the hell would you go to the trouble of lugging a 40" TV home if you knew it wasnt the exact spec needed


I especially love the :

"becuase the store clerk in question is their most knowledable clerk, and would never have said that, because Currys do not sell 40" 1080P hdtv's"

quote

Most knowledgeable clerk in Curry's?

Oh, he cant POSSIBLY have got it wrong then!




I would beg to differ:

Currys shop online for appliances, laptops, televisions, MP3 players, sat nav, digital cameras and camcorders, games consoles and more


(Above link clearly shows at least 3 40" 1080p's at Currys)

[I hate retail]

Cheers ncf355 that is exactly what I told them.
The store was full of people and not many sales staff around. I waited an 40 minutes to get served. There is NO WAY he could have made a mistake!

[I hate retail]

I found the "Misrepresentation of good act of 1967 and the following, BBC - Consumer - Guides to - Sale of goods

"As described refers to any advert or verbal description made by the trader"
With a signed-for letter to their customer services dept imn sure I can get somewhere!

[gyzmo]

It is a misdescription, that is quite clear, and so is the fact that you relied on that description. Your problem is in proving it. Given that it was verbal, you will need to have witnesses, but how reliable are they?
You could also try either questioning the shop staff "do you remember telling me this etc", or do a little test purchase of your own (get a friend to go in and ask teh same questions, but this does not prove what was said to you).

Certainly complain to consumer Direct. Hopefully, there may be similar complaints in there that will prove a point.

[cdee]

Your best bet would be to make a complaint directly with their head office - DSG Retail Ltd (details on www.dsgiplc.com).

Of course the call centre girl can't overturn a decision made by a store manager, but the head office certainly can.

Having worked in a retail store at some point in the past, I worked with a store manager who made the right decision, but advised the customer to speak to head office.

It wasn't long before the store was contacted by head office and we had to respond to the complaint in the customer's favour; in the interests of customer service.

I would urge you not to use the TV, keep the packaging and make your best effort to package it up.

As long as you've kept it in perfect condition, I'm sure they'll not have a problem selling it as a pre-owned product, and this will certainly help your case.

[crash3903]

Any model number on the box?

[theEnemy]

The "Price Promise" is not honored as Dixons is now online-only, it has nothing to do with you opening the box - the price is guaranteed for 10 days, which you can obtain a retrospective refund, if a normal retail store (within 10 miles at the branch) has it in stock. currys.co.uk is the only site that is matched.

I can empathise with you, however when spending that amount of money doing your own research is crucial. "1080p" is usually displayed on the front of the display unit, if it's not it more than likely does not have hat feature. Check the model number on the manufacturer's website before purchase for full, accurate technical specifications. The Currys team are broadly reliable, but most only have a particular section of moderate to in-depth knowledge of a product while only having a vague knowledge of other areas.

The customer service you are receiving is unacceptable, however you have access to the internet - you can view technical specifications there - while going in to the shop for general advice (usually personal opinions), a demonstration and to purchase the product. It would be unreasonable to ask to reimburse everyone who made the wrong purchase, and hence since it is used cannot be resold as new and usually at full price. If it was a mis-represented sale then you should certainly be entitled to a replacement model.

[Taylor74]

I had the same experience with Curry's a couple of years ago. I went into store and was sold a set as being HD Ready. After a couple of weeks I discovered that it wasn't HD Ready at all, marched in to find a sign next to the set apologising that it had been wrongly advertised. Guess what happened when I confronted the sales assistant? He denied ever saying it was HD!!! It was quite funny because I just pointed to the sign saying that they had been claiming it as HD Ready and even then you could see the cogs in his brain going ten to the dozen. He still tried to deny it for a further ten minutes before it was finally accepted that he had wrongly sold it.

They eventually agreed to swap it for a HD Ready set. So did it all end happily? Is that a flying pig I see? They gave me the naffest HD set they could lay their hands on, the picture quality was abismal. I ended up battling with them for weeks. They wouldn't give me a refund, I had to fork out £200 more for a HD set with a decent picture on it. So did that solve my problems? Nope because that set buggered up after a couple of months, and so did the one after!!!