In May last year, I bought a DVD recorder (with a VHS video combo) from Currys. Now, I normally wouldn't touch these high street electrical shops for things like that, but they had a really good offer on the model that I was after, so I went for it, as well as purchasing the extended 3 year warranty which they try so hard to flog you.
At the time, it took me ages explaining to the sales assistant that I needed a unit with a digital audio fibre-optic output for my DTS surround sound system, and he had absolutely no idea what I was talking about - infact, he was going around showing me all the models he thought had it when infact he thought it was just your normal phono audio outputs! What a twat!
Obviously the staff in Currys have no idea what they are selling.
Anyway, In December the DVD recorder part of the combo packed up. Everytime we watched a film, it would start jumping and stuttering when it got to about 1 hour 20 minutes into the DVD. We took it back and they said it would need to be sent to be repaired. We spoke to the Manager and he said that it should take no longer than 21 days.
Because we took out the extended warranty, if it took longer than 21 days, we could claim back the money from the warranty.... THATS WHAT "HE" TOLD US
Sometime in January, 21 days later, we still had no DVD recorder. I rang Currys asking what the status of the repair was, and each time they were unhelpful. I also found it convenient that everytime I rang or popped into the store and asked for the Manager he was never in or available. Whenever I spoke to a sales assistant about our money back, they simply said "You need to speak to the Manager about that as I'm not authorized to do that - unfortunatly he is not in today"
To cut a very long story short, last Friday (after over 50 days), Currys rang saying that the DVD recorder had returned and is ready to collect. I went over there immediatly after work to collect it. The sales assistant went out the back, got it, brought it to me and then expected me to just walk out with it. Hang on, what about my refund on the warranty because you took so long to repair it?
"Sorry sir, only the manager can do that for you, and he is not in today. Would you like me to get him to ring you tomorrow?" she said.
"Yes, but can you make sure he does because I've asked you before to ring me about the status of my DVD recorder and you've never called me back", I replied.
So the following day I waited for a phonecall from the manager.... and waited.... and waited... and waited. 3.30pm and still no phone call, so I rang the shop and asked for the manager. He wasn't available (surprise, surprise).
"He is with a customer as the moment, I will get him to ring you when he has finished with them", said the sales assistant.
I waited... and waited... and no phone call.
I rang again just after 5.00pm and this time I finally got hold of the Manager. He denied ever saying that we would get our money back and started spouting off a load of crap. The silly twat has obviously not met his sales target and it trying to make up some cock and bull story about what he apparently said.
Anyway, we never got our money back (although I do plan to to write a strongly worded letter to Currys head office), and I just want to say to all of the readers of the this blog :-
DON'T SHOP AT CURRYS. NOT ONLY DO THEY RIP THEIR CUSTOMERS OFF WITH OVER THE TOP PRICES, BUT THEIR STAFF ARE ABOUT AS KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT ELECTRICALS AS A CHIMPANZEE, THEIR AFTER SALES SERVICE IS CRAP.
Dont shop at Currys - Trust me, you will find what you're looking for elsewhere at a much cheaper price, and at least you'll get served by people who actually know what they are talking about.
I've been busy today playing with my new phone which came in the post this morning. First impressions - I like it very much, although I can't use it to make or recieve calls just yet because my contract has yet to be activated. I'll be sending out my new mobile number to all of my friends within the next few days or so.