@knowhowtohelp Currys PC World - Cash-Back issue - NOW RESOLVED

[alanfromderby]

So, the wife and I needed new laptops, and we saw the offer of £100 cash back.

 

To be doubly sure that the offer applied, I rang their customer service line to ask if I could click and reserve both computers in one transaction, or whether we had to buy them separately to get the full £200. I was advised that I would get £100 off EACH laptop and only needed to do one transaction.

 

I therefore went ahead and reserved the laptops, and went down to pick them up from Currys/PC World Derby.

 

"39 Bruce" served me, and I again checked with him that it was okay to put both laptops on one transaction. He assured me that it would be fine, and duly processed the sale - issuing me with TWO claim forms with separate cash back reclaim numbers. He pointed out the dates for claiming, and seemed to fully understand the terms of the offer.

 

I now come to make the claims, and have had one rejected as there is a maximum of ONE voucher per person. It appears that I should have gone to the store with my wife, and bought the laptops separately.

 

So, a word of warning. DO NOT ASSUME that CURRYS / PC WORLD staff know what they are talking about. If they are unable to properly advise on their own promotions can you really believe what they tell you about other companies computers or electrical goods.

 

I have all the paperwork, and will be taking legal action against them for a clear breach of CPUT 2008. I just wonder how many thousand's of pounds they have squirmed out of paying by the mis-advice of their staff, or making customers go through hoops to make their claim?

[alanfromderby]

Well, I have to say that PC World have resolved the issue and have agreed to pay the second claim. It is good to see that their Customer Services can sort things out quickly when something has gone wrong.

 

I still feel that they need to be training their staff to better understand their own promotions, but I have to say that this was one of the quickest Customer Service results I have encountered.

[CHRIS44G]

Only because they saw your compaint here no doubt! BTW, why, as you are on the site team here and are therfore familiar with the myriad of threads here complaining about PC World and others with cashback promo problems did you still buy 2 laptops from them? I do hope they don`t go wrong!

[porkyp1g]

Were they Samsung ones?

[Conniff]

Maybe it is policy to do that.

 

What is all this rubbish about a cashback anyway. Why not just knock £100 off the sale price. The only reason they are doing it this way is because there is

something in it for them. Reduced tax or vat or something, but it's not for the good of the customer, it never is.

[labrat]

sometimes its a manufacturer offer rather than a pcworld one i think

 

the sale comes from pcworld but the refund comes from samsung

 

the staff probably never get given a copy of the T&C's in full, just get told its £100 a laptop

[Conniff]

Since time immemorial when something has been reduced in price, no matter who reduced it, a little star appeared saying £xx off. This 'moneyback' rubbish is a relatively new thing and as all companies number one priority is themselves, there is no reason why this can't be advertised as £100 off.

 

It's a con, either the pc was overpriced to start with or is now obsolete or there is a glut of cheap components, either way, this will be for the benefit of the company

and not the customer. These stores are well know for customer last attitude.

[alanfromderby]

I do think that cashback is often designed in such a way as to make it difficult to get unless you go through all the hoops, and I have no doubt that many people forget, or give up trying. In our case we needed new laptops urgently, and went for one that met the criteria and we were happy with before we decided on any particular supplier.

 

The fact is that Currys/PC World were cheaper than anyone else - even Ebay/Amazon etc.

 

My understanding is that there is always a deal made with the manufacturer, and on previous offers you have had to make applications to CPCW and the manufacturer directly, but they have done it differently this time after attracting the attention Watchdog last year.

 

To me, the more irritating thing is that you cannot go into CPCW to buy anything without somebody trying to up-sell. It took a good five minutes to get through to the individual that I just wanted the laptops...AND NOTHING ELSE!!