I need help with PC World!

[Marilyn22]

HI, everyone Im new here and im sorry to say Ive had nothing but trouble with PC World. I bought a laptop from them in October its an Advent and cost £499 (it was part of some special offer). Now and again the screen would flicker on and off but to be honest i didnt have time to take it back (I live miles away from the store) anyway yesterday the screen completely broke, it has black spots all over it, one side is white and the other is blue. I rang up PC World who said they will swap it for me which i was happy with, however when i went to the store I was met with two members of staff with a serious bad attitude problem. Thay said that the screen breaking was my fault that i must have dropped it or something. I can honestly put my hand on my heart and say that I have not done anything to damage the laptop. Anyway i explained this and in the end they gave me a phone number to ring for The Tech Guys, i rang them and they said thay it will cost ME £350 to get the laptop fixed then advised me to 'just buy a new one'. Im at my wits end and do not know what to do next, i had my proof of purchase the laptop does not have a scratch on it and its only 3 months old. I thought goods were covered for 12 months from purchase from fault. It seems I got nowhere today, i found the staff very rude, and The Tech Guys even ruder! It annoys me that Im getting blamed for something I honestly have not done. I took good care of the laptop and it was always kept in a hard case when not in use on top of a desk. Can anyone help me??

[blacksheep1979]

Write a letter stating that you want a refund or replacement - as the laptop is less than 6 months old pcworld has to prove that the fault wasn't there at the time of sale so if this was to end up in court (highly unlikely) they would have to prove you damaged it, not vice versa.

[Bookworm]

And while you're at it, make a stink about the attitude of the staff who are intent of denying you your STATUTORY RIGHTS (bold and underline).

Also report to trading standards. It will all help when they fnally take PC World to task, as it seems to be an ever-increasing occurence.

[Marilyn22]

thanks for that shall i write it to that particular store or to head office?

[Bookworm]

Your store, 1 cc to head office, 1 cc to Trading Standards, or whtever they're called now (past midnight, brain shuts down, sorry).

[blacksheep1979]

yup def all three then your store gets a good kick from all sides.

[demon_x_slash]

Marilyn - this is the Act you should be quoting in your dealings with the shameful PC World:

Sale and Supply of Goods Act 1994 (c. 35)

Have a read through of the original document, it's best to do so before you start referencing it.

PC World are really the pits - they're ridiculously overpriced, laughably understaffed, and the staff they do have are the general pick of the retail bunch (I can say that, I've been in retail ), which is fine for selling bread and nappies and even pairs of jeans, but not when some poor sod is looking for a computerised helpmate and needs real, technical, valid advice...
...they are invariably rude, though, and while that's not strictly a training issue but a personal attitude problem, I do think some of that attitude at least stems from not knowing what you're talking about, knowing that you don't know what you're talking about, and possibly getting a) slammed by the customer for erroneous information, or b) slammed by the management who expect you to magically know your section from the inside-out with half a day's colleague shadowing... fear can make people speak and act stupidly... I hate retail work...

[rosiecotton]

I can only back up what others have been saying, get that letter off as soon as possible.

I would slightly disagree on the Act to quote though, but it's not really a big deal - I would always advise the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended) as that was the original Act amended by both the Act demon quoted plus the Supply of Goods To Consumers Regulations 2002. It's still the main piece of legislation to refer to.

PC World seem to have very little grasp of this legislation.

[demon_x_slash]

I bow to your superior knowledge, rosiecotton, and therefore:

England, Sale of Goods Act 1979

[mooreda]

if you complain direct to your local trading standards office - they should take on your complaint for you and will deal directly with PC World

[Marilyn22]

Thanks for all your help. Well i stupidly decided to give PC World a second chance, my boyfriend went in for me this time, I didnt think they would argue with a guy but it seems they will! He went in armed with all your good advice as well as other advice we found on the citizens advice bureu and they basically threw it back in our face. The staff again were ignorant vindictive and spiteful im sure these people are cloned!!! Again they just said it was my fault that the laptop is broke no matter how much i said that it has not been dropped stood on or hit! Im writing letters and sending them out tomorrow! I didnt realise you could get con artists on the highstreet in England in the year 2007 but it seems you can!

[Bookworm]

Good. And remind them that the law is quite clear: If the item is less than 6 months, the onus is on THEM to prove that you caused the fault, not the other way round, and they'd better be careful about accusations of you breaking it!

[Marilyn22]

I know its a joke! Is just a good job i didnt get rid of my PC so can still access the internet etc. Thanks again for all your help

[rosiecotton]

Originally Posted by mooreda

if you complain direct to your local trading standards office - they should take on your complaint for you and will deal directly with PC World

Unfortunately unless you are lucky enough to live in a county where the Trading Standards offices are well resourced, it's unlikely they will actively be able to assist in an individual case I'm afraid. Even if they did, they don't have enforcement powers in civil law so can't order the companies to take any particular forms of action if they're refusing point blank to do so.

[demon_x_slash]

Originally Posted by Bookworm

they'd better be careful about accusations of you breaking it!

I'd play this up in any letter you write, as a last paragraph reinforcing how disgusted you are. Think about what the staff are accusing you off - they are accusing you of breaking the laptop, accidentally or not, and then coming into their store with the purpose to deceive them into handing over money. That's basically what they're implying - that you're trying to con them...defamation of character...?

[nevos]

I had the same thing with PC some years back with a grands worth of laptop.

They are chambolic on after sales support! I even wrote to their MD suggesting that they would be out of business before too long ( famous last words).

Tell them you will stand outside their store with the laptop and tell as many of thier prospective customers about your story as you can.

There is another thread here regarding PC World where, a guy bought a laptop at Xmas for 300 the day after Xmas the same laptop was 199..Advent are all made in China. Cheap is not cheap in the long term.

I would give them a wide berth for sure.

Thought: Did you pay by credit card?

[Marilyn22]

Nope i didnt pay by credit card Still waiting for a reply to those letters!!