Dixons - The Saga

surveys

sdonn_1 wrote:

3 words:

Small Claims Court.

Having had masses of problems myself with PC World I trawled around the internet until I found an email address for head office in UK. I duly wrote several emails and explained everything that was going on in the stores. Eventually right at the end they wrote and told me "Its not a problem for PC World but a matter for Dixons. ! They said they had sent on my complaints to Dixons, but I have not heard anything since then which was early November, so I wrote to Dixons today and copied them everything that had been written.
The email address is: customer.services@dixons.co.uk.
I would suggest that all Boards members with complaints about PC World & Dixons send all their complaints there. Deluge them with emails and letters. !
Incidently a c.c. to customer.services@pcworld.co.uk might also annoy the hell out of them too. !

Complaining can actually work wonders.! To illustrate I will explain an incident I had last year with PC World and Dixons and its eventual 'more than happy outcome.' I bought a quite expensive HP 'all in one' printer that does everything except wash my dishes and decided at the time to avail of the extended cover plan. This cost €9 for ten months = €90. Sure enough 18 months later the Printer packed in so I went with my 'coverplan' voucher to PC World who told me to 'contact HP' as it was an HP piece of eqpmt. ! I contacted HP and ended up in Dublin, England, and eventually India, and had to make several calls at different times before I finally got the Guy in India who wanted to help. I received call backs from him on a couple of occassions and he eventually agreed that I should be issued with a brand new replacement machine. ! Nothing happened for a long time so I looked at my CoverPlan voucher again and discovered in the small print that it was a Dixons CoverPlan so I rang a Dixons number I found and quoted the Plan Serial number but was told that as it was a HP machine I should contact HP. ! I asked tp speak to a supervisor and explained everything to her and after a long period of 'hold' she finally agreed that I would be issued a 'voucher' to allow me to go to the Store and claim my replacement. No voucher arrived, and no replacement either from HP, so I took up the matter again but this time went direct to Dixons in UK. He promised to look into it but I never heard back from him. Back to reading my Coverplan document again and I then discovered that the insurance was covered by AXA insurance. On the blower to Axa this time and after talking to some staff in Dublin, who were very helpful, I was directed to the 'customer Relations' office in Axa UK. One call to them with my CoverPlan serial number and I was told immediately that a Voucher would be sent out next day. Two days later sure enough the voucher arrived. ! Not only the voucher, but also an extra voucher for the few months value of the CoverPlan period still outstanding. ! A week later a knock on the door. HP delivering my replacement printer. !! Wow. ! Being an honest guy with a few scruples I telephoned Axa and told them what had happened. I was told "in view of all the hastle and incovenience you have experienced, and the difficulty in cancelling a voucher already issued, please proceed to use the voucher". !! Off I go to the store and purchase myself a nice piece of new equipment.. FOC. !!
Complaining DOES actually work ! Persistance is needed for sure, but persistance can bring unexpected results. !

user1983

hi. i work in pc world for the last 3 years.
lets clear this 'coverplan' issue up.
1: coverplan is OFFERED to a customer so that they get support. if a screen breaks on a laptop, who wants to fork out €500 or more to get it replaced.
2: coverplan covers theft.....need i explain that one....
3: coverplan covers you if you need a ram upgrade or anything upgraded, that one cant install themselves.
4: you install any software and it screws up the system, you're also covered.
5: spill water on it .... COVERED again
and theres loads more that i just cant be bothered to explain.

sales people get commission for coverplan....same rate as any hardware been sold....which in fairness is feic all....1.75% of the profit margin. salespeople do have targets, as any reputable company would give their staff, but no1 gets fired for not meeting them.

sometimes staff can be blunt, but if ya have to deal with the ignorant customers like we have to, then ya'd understand. people blame us when eircom/ntl/whoever doesnt work for them or they have installed summit incorrectly and its PCWORLDS fault.

we do have signs up stating that dsg will bring anyone been abusive to staff to court...and yes, it has happened.

there's procedures in place, you dont take the coverplan, you deal with the manufactuer who only covers PARTS AND LABOUR.....LEGALLY. you install anything illegal or get anyone whos not a trained technician to look at, you'll void your warranty.

so go on...........you want to buy a pc in tesco or dunnes stores with your potatoes and milk....fire ahead.....try bring it in to their customer service when it doesnt power on ....... see how ya get on..... theyd advise you to bring it to pcworld.

Rafloution

user1983 wrote:

hi. i work in pc world for the last 3 years.
lets clear this 'coverplan' issue up.
1: coverplan is OFFERED to a customer so that they get support. if a screen breaks on a laptop, who wants to fork out €500 or more to get it replaced.
2: coverplan covers theft.....need i explain that one....
3: coverplan covers you if you need a ram upgrade or anything upgraded, that one cant install themselves.
4: you install any software and it screws up the system, you're also covered.
5: spill water on it .... COVERED again
and theres loads more that i just cant be bothered to explain.

sales people get commission for coverplan....same rate as any hardware been sold....which in fairness is feic all....1.75% of the profit margin. salespeople do have targets, as any reputable company would give their staff, but no1 gets fired for not meeting them.

sometimes staff can be blunt, but if ya have to deal with the ignorant customers like we have to, then ya'd understand. people blame us when eircom/ntl/whoever doesnt work for them or they have installed summit incorrectly and its PCWORLDS fault.

we do have signs up stating that dsg will bring anyone been abusive to staff to court...and yes, it has happened.

there's procedures in place, you dont take the coverplan, you deal with the manufactuer who only covers PARTS AND LABOUR.....LEGALLY. you install anything illegal or get anyone whos not a trained technician to look at, you'll void your warranty.

so go on...........you want to buy a pc in tesco or dunnes stores with your potatoes and milk....fire ahead.....try bring it in to their customer service when it doesnt power on ....... see how ya get on..... theyd advise you to bring it to pcworld.

and your point is?

Gillo

Rafloution wrote:

and your point is?

1/ He's a troll
2/ He's had a hard day in work, (some customer gave him a hard time over crap service)

user1983 wrote:

we do have signs up stating that dsg will bring anyone been abusive to staff to court...and yes, it has happened.

Fairenough, I agree with that, but you have to agree that DSG do have pretty crap levels of service.

sdanseo

surveys wrote:

Having had masses of problems myself with PC World I trawled around the internet until I found an email address for head office in UK. I duly wrote several emails and explained everything that was going on in the stores. Eventually right at the end they wrote and told me "Its not a problem for PC World but a matter for Dixons. ! They said they had sent on my complaints to Dixons, but I have not heard anything since then which was early November, so I wrote to Dixons today and copied them everything that had been written.
The email address is: customer.services@dixons.co.uk.
I would suggest that all Boards members with complaints about PC World & Dixons send all their complaints there. Deluge them with emails and letters. !
Incidently a c.c. to customer.services@pcworld.co.uk might also annoy the hell out of them too. !

Complaining can actually work wonders.! To illustrate I will explain an incident I had last year with PC World and Dixons and its eventual 'more than happy outcome.' I bought a quite expensive HP 'all in one' printer that does everything except wash my dishes and decided at the time to avail of the extended cover plan. This cost €9 for ten months = €90. Sure enough 18 months later the Printer packed in so I went with my 'coverplan' voucher to PC World who told me to 'contact HP' as it was an HP piece of eqpmt. ! I contacted HP and ended up in Dublin, England, and eventually India, and had to make several calls at different times before I finally got the Guy in India who wanted to help. I received call backs from him on a couple of occassions and he eventually agreed that I should be issued with a brand new replacement machine. ! Nothing happened for a long time so I looked at my CoverPlan voucher again and discovered in the small print that it was a Dixons CoverPlan so I rang a Dixons number I found and quoted the Plan Serial number but was told that as it was a HP machine I should contact HP. ! I asked tp speak to a supervisor and explained everything to her and after a long period of 'hold' she finally agreed that I would be issued a 'voucher' to allow me to go to the Store and claim my replacement. No voucher arrived, and no replacement either from HP, so I took up the matter again but this time went direct to Dixons in UK. He promised to look into it but I never heard back from him. Back to reading my Coverplan document again and I then discovered that the insurance was covered by AXA insurance. On the blower to Axa this time and after talking to some staff in Dublin, who were very helpful, I was directed to the 'customer Relations' office in Axa UK. One call to them with my CoverPlan serial number and I was told immediately that a Voucher would be sent out next day. Two days later sure enough the voucher arrived. ! Not only the voucher, but also an extra voucher for the few months value of the CoverPlan period still outstanding. ! A week later a knock on the door. HP delivering my replacement printer. !! Wow. ! Being an honest guy with a few scruples I telephoned Axa and told them what had happened. I was told "in view of all the hastle and incovenience you have experienced, and the difficulty in cancelling a voucher already issued, please proceed to use the voucher". !! Off I go to the store and purchase myself a nice piece of new equipment.. FOC. !!
Complaining DOES actually work ! Persistance is needed for sure, but persistance can bring unexpected results. !

None of this crap. You have a contract with the individual retailer, not with head office, if these stores are franchised. I'm assuming theyre not, but the manager of an individual store should be able to resolve the issue without having to seek further assistance from other offices. (Even then, you have a contract with whoever sold it to you directly - most of these chain stores have Irish sub-companies who are directly responisble.)

If it happens again, simply walk in and insist on speaking to a manager and hopefully you get a helpful one. If not, you go the SCC route and they lose the money plus costs. If you decide to lodge a complaint, they loose even more money.

Making the above clear to the manager at the time can help too

To be honest, these coverplans are a wast of time and money. if the printer packed it in after 18 months that's simply not acceptable - you should be allowed to expect it to last longer. If it does break within a time that is deemed by the SCC to be acceptable and/or expected, you'll get your maoney back without any extra cost of these plans.

mdebets

user1983 wrote:

there's procedures in place, you dont take the coverplan, you deal with the manufactuer who only covers PARTS AND LABOUR.....LEGALLY.

Wrong, no customer has to deal with the manufacturer. They have a contract with you (PC World). You sold it, you fix it (or give the money back).

user1983 wrote:

you install anything illegal or get anyone whos not a trained technician to look at, you'll void your warranty.

Also not true. It makes it just a little bit harder for the buyer to prove that what he did has nothing to do with the proplem. But if for example he installed a new graphics card and your Harddrive fails shortly after, you can't just refuse to handle the harddrive under warranty, just because the graohics card was changed by the user.

penexpers

user1983 wrote:

hi. i work in pc world for the last 3 years.
lets clear this 'coverplan' issue up.

Years ago, I tried to buy a Palm from Dixons in Jervis St. I declined the coverplan off the salesperson initially, but on my way to the till to pay for it, another salesperson stood in front of me and tried to bully me into buying it. I said I didn't want it, but he was insisting I take it. He actually got very threatening at one stage. I left the Palm back and went and bought it somewhere else.

I haven't bought anything from Dixons since. Any shop that entertains the level of bullying that I was subjected to that day doesn't deserve anyones money.

swingking

I don't condone any salesperson bullying a customer into buying coverplan

However

The salesperson will lose their job if they don't sell enough coverplan, it's a fact

It's also worth mentioning that when salespeople are selling computers and other stuff to customers, the managers are keeping close watch on them selling.

I work in sales for Dixons and one time, a guy who didn't put enough effort into selling coverplan was given a warning.

People have to see the situation from the other side.

Gran Hermano

Check the annual reports for DSG, Dixons make more profit/money on selling
the insurance than they do on selling goods.

fl4pj4ck

user1983 wrote:

hi. i work in pc world for the last 3 years.
lets clear this 'coverplan' issue up.
1: coverplan is OFFERED to a customer so that they get support. if a screen breaks on a laptop, who wants to fork out €500 or more to get it replaced.
2: coverplan covers theft.....need i explain that one....
3: coverplan covers you if you need a ram upgrade or anything upgraded, that one cant install themselves.
4: you install any software and it screws up the system, you're also covered.
5: spill water on it .... COVERED again
and theres loads more that i just cant be bothered to explain.

sales people get commission for coverplan....same rate as any hardware been sold....which in fairness is feic all....1.75% of the profit margin. salespeople do have targets, as any reputable company would give their staff, but no1 gets fired for not meeting them.

sometimes staff can be blunt, but if ya have to deal with the ignorant customers like we have to, then ya'd understand. people blame us when eircom/ntl/whoever doesnt work for them or they have installed summit incorrectly and its PCWORLDS fault.

we do have signs up stating that dsg will bring anyone been abusive to staff to court...and yes, it has happened.

there's procedures in place, you dont take the coverplan, you deal with the manufactuer who only covers PARTS AND LABOUR.....LEGALLY. you install anything illegal or get anyone whos not a trained technician to look at, you'll void your warranty.

so go on...........you want to buy a pc in tesco or dunnes stores with your potatoes and milk....fire ahead.....try bring it in to their customer service when it doesnt power on ....... see how ya get on..... theyd advise you to bring it to pcworld.

this is sooooo bulsh!t....

i got 32" Lcd tv about 2 years ago for nearly 1500 and the external warranty thing which cost me another 300. the guy that was actually selling it told me that "in case that the tv screen break we will exchange it straight away", another bulsh!t. when it happened i took the tv back to the shop and was told to wait for them to ring me. after 2-3 weeks and no phonecall i went there again and got the same story. now, two weeks later theyre ringing me back to confirm that:
1) tv is waiting for the technician
2) to confirm the date i brought it to the shop which they told me was TWO week later after i did it

i was there every monday and friday, and you know what? every time i saw my tv waiting there and i got different stories such as (in this order)
1) we are waiting for technician. he is busy/on vacation/somewhere else
2) we are waiting for replacement parts (ehmmm....)
3) we still have couple of weeks to fix it (true, they do)
4) after 2+6 weeks passed on monday i was told, that the screen cannot be fixed and i will be getting replacement (the tv still there)
5) i went there next day and the tv was gone, i had to confirm all the personal info
6) it took them another 4 weeks to post the vouchers back to me

so it took 12 weeks (3 feckin months) to get it replaced, and i was told it would take just couple minutes in case it breaks...

poor me i belived those suckers. never do the same mistake again

Colonel Sanders

Gran Hermano wrote:

Check the annual reports for DSG, Dixons make more profit/money on selling
the insurance than they do on selling goods.

I assume the commission levels on this type of insurance is somewhat similar to those on payment protection insurance. I have seen commission scales of anywhere between 55 and 80% on payment protection, sometimes with a profit share as well.

Pythia

I used to work in an electrical store (not PC World) and we would get given out to if we hadn't sold enough insurance and made explain why it had happened etc...
We also used to get great commission from selling it.

Splinter

Pythia wrote:

I used to work in an electrical store (not PC World) and we would get given out to if we hadn't sold enough insurance and made explain why it had happened etc...
We also used to get great commission from selling it.

same here, another electrical/computer store and alot of focus was put on staff regarding the extra warrentys. yes they are handy if you dont mind paying for it (i did get staff price one warrentys so it was ideal but in a lot of cases for customers it was a crazy price) - i also did customer service work and the abuse that people could spout was crazy BUT the crap that i heard some other sales people tell customers was much worse, there is some terribly ignorant sales staff out there that just want to fill their own pocket. the tough bit is figuring otu if they are there to help you or help them.

Op, im sorry your going through this and i have experienced the "tattooing" myself, its a pain. causes nothing but problems.