£150 Trade-in problem

[ConcernedUserGB]

I recently purchased an HP Sleekbook from this retailer. The laptop was marked £299.99 after £150 trade-in of my old laptop. The pricing was not accidental, it was recorded at that price on their website and in-store. It was also £50 cheaper than a similar but later model containing a small 32GB SSD drive, but lower spec processor.

 

The in-store advertising, including a brochure I retained, and the in-store sales assistants all maintained this laptop was eligible for the trade-in deal. I was also directed to a list of conditions online which I have electronically retained a copy of.

 

However, when I tried to claim the rebate, the website (operated by a different company on behalf of the retailer) refused to accept my claim on the basis that the minimum purchase was £499.99. As you can easily see, £299.99 + £150 (the amount I paid) is £449.99. Thus I am unable to claim. (It is necessary to provide a photographic record of the receipt in order to claim.)

 

I emailed the help email address and after some days received absolutely no reply whatsoever, not even an acknowledgement. I subsequently sent two further emails to this address pointing out the information online which proves that my claim is eligible.

 

I then emailed the retailer's support email address yesterday. I also asked for a copy of the company's complaints procedure and the address of their corporate headquarters for such correspondence, should it become necessary. After a full working day I have received no reply, though I did receive an immediate automated acknowledgement of my email.

 

However, since that time, the retailer has modified their pricing (increased the price of the model of laptop I bought by £150) and added the £499.99 condition to their terms and conditions (I can prove all this -- I have photographic evidence). Edit: actually I have just discovered there are two sets of terms and conditions online, one which lists the £499.99 condition and one which does not. In fact, I cannot prove that the one which lists the £499.99 condition has been altered. It may be useful if a CAG user could volunteer to be an independent witness of the information which is currently showing online and retain an electronic copy of it. I would be happy to provide the relevant URLs for this. /Edit

 

Can someone advise me what I should do about this situation?

 

Given that the offer expires 14 days after purchase, I cannot see how I can prevail.

 

Does anyone know how long I must give them legally to respond to my email? And what should be my next step if the matter is not resolved? Would Trading Standards be the appropriate place to take this up? I know the OFT could not intervene in my specific case, so it seems pointless going there.

Edited September 18, 2012 by ConcernedUserGB
added/corrected information since discovered

[ConcernedUserGB]

This morning I received an email from the original help email address for the promotion that I contacted.

 

They advised me that I will be eligible to participate in the trade-in scheme at the price that I paid.

 

All that they require is that I lie on the form about the amount I paid, i.e. enter £499.99 instead of the £449.99 that I actually paid.

 

If users here believe this will not affect my statuatory rights and that this is the right course of action to take, I will respond in this way and see what the outcome is.

 

Given that they have now increased the price of the laptop in question by £150 as mentioned above, this issue clearly shouldn't affect other consumers unless they bought the same laptop as me at the old price.

Edited September 19, 2012 by ConcernedUserGB
slight correction of prose

[ConcernedUserGB]

Update: I just received an email from Curry's support which actually confirms that entering the incorrect amount will not affect my rights.

 

This looks to be a successful resolution on their part. I will now attempt to trade in my old laptop.

[ashmk]

Let this be a lesson. Never buy anything from Currys.

[ConcernedUserGB]

Oh my GOSH! They request a JPEG or PDF image of the receipt and specifically suggest a smartphone photo. I took an IPhone photo and attempted to upload the resulting JPG. It yields an error and says "Please upload a file of one of the specified formats below".

 

I had to open the damned thing in MS Paint (yeah that's how hard it was to find a viewer for a .JPG from an IPhone) and save it as another kind of .JPG before I could upload.

 

Face-palm.

[ConcernedUserGB]

Let this be a lesson. Never buy anything from Currys.

 

Bear in mind, I spent a number of years in the computer industry (some time ago now). I did not require any sales advice. I spent over an hour in the store looking at every laptop/ultrabook multiple times until I made a decision I could live with. I knew full well that Curry's/PC World specialises in low to mid-range computers. I have a very definite opinion about the level of knowledge of their sales force.

 

The reason I went to Curry's is that I like to get my hands on laptops before I buy them. And in my vicinity, I am not aware of any other stores that allow me to do this easily.

 

I could write a book on the technical problems with their promotion and I saw/heard more than a couple of corkers when standing around in their store for over an hour.

 

But I went to the store with a specific goal in mind, and that goal was met with the exception of this trade-in deal not being a smooth ride.

 

Another thing which is relevant is that this is at least the third British retailer this week that has ended up causing me grief. Add to that one freight company and one online marketplace which has let me down and Curry's looks pretty much bang on target for Britain.

 

The only reason I brought the issue with Curry's to this forum and not the others is that *as it seemed to me* Curry's had not replied promptly, they time-limited their offer, they reserved the right to change terms and conditions of a contract and it would have been exceedingly unjust to potentially numerous consumers to not fix the problem.

 

I commend Curry's for ultimately sorting it out.

Edited September 19, 2012 by ConcernedUserGB
slight clarification