PC World question

baloonatic

Hi folks, first time poster, so here it goes,

I bought a laptop at PC World yesterday, nice compaq for 549. The salesperson tried to tell me all about the excess insurance (€190), which i turned down. She was very pushy, and i ended up getting really forward with her and just saying that i don't want it.

Anyway long-story-short, she mentioned (after 5 minutes of heated dialogue) that if i don't claim during the 3 year term of insurance that i can claim the whole sum back.

I figured that this actually wasn't bad then, coz it's like free insurance, and if anything major happens to the laptop i'll get a new one.

My question is; can you really claim the insurance premium back after 3 years? I'm beginning to really doubt it. If you asked your car insurer for your premium back because you didn't crash they'd laugh you out of it.

Any thoughts...?

swingking

that is complete an utter bullsh1t. There is no way you can claim the coverplan premium back.

I'm guessing the person who sold you a laptop is a peak staff worker and is likely leaving her job next week.

The staff there will tell you anything to get you to buy the coverplan insurance. The reality is, the staff there must sell it or they lose their jobs.

I user to work in the customer service dept. of PC world and the sales staff make up all sorts of sh1t. The customer service rep has to deal with the backlash this brings.

AlmightyCushion

No it's not true. Bring your receipt in to the store and ask to speak with the manager. If you want to refund it then you should be able to. Make sure you tell the manager what you were told by the sales staff as they may not know it's happening.

Also you won't get a new laptop if something goes wrong. It will have to be sent off for repair, they may send you vouchers out but their is no guarantee you will get the vouchers. A friend of mine broke his laptop and got vouchers back and managed to get a much better laptop with out having to spend any extra. My sister on the other hand has had her camera sent off about 5 times and they keep fixing it for her.

The staff there will tell you anything to get you to buy the coverplan insurance. The reality is, the staff there must sell it or they lose their jobs.

That's not true either or at least not that I've seen. Their manager might give them a bit of stick but they won't lose their job.

gzoladz

The first (and unique) time I bought a lapton in Dixons (same as PCW, as we all know), the same happened and the seller was so pushy that I ended up telling him that I didn't want the laptop at all and I would come back to buy it when he was not in service (what I did).

He got really crossed as we were at the billing stage, but hopefully he learnt the lesson. And he lost a €1400 sell, not sure if they get any from that.

GoodEnough

If you have house insurance your laptop will be covered in contents insurance.

MunsterCycling

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

My sister on the other hand has had her camera sent off about 5 times and they keep fixing it for her.

AC,

Fixes must be permanent under the law, she should remind them of this next time it has a problem, they will have to replace it. Providing of course it is the same problem each time.


MC

daithijjj

i took out 3year insurance from pc world for my laptop for these reasons............

1. i bring it everywhere i go (its a 17inch).

2. i used my haggling skills to get any laptop case and wirelees mouse that i wanted with it, at no extra cost..........naturally i chose expensive varieties of both.

3. i needed the laptop asap, otherwise i would have shopped elsewhere.

at no time did i get the "you must get insurance" malarkey.........you must be streetwise on these occasions.

a small point on the home and contents insurance, as far as im aware, you must take the first 200euro 'hit' of any claim yourself.......thereafter, you get reimbursement.

at the end of the day, ive got 3 years insurance that cost me 130 euro, my brother told me i was an idiot for taking it out but for (3.62 euro per month), im not bothered.

manafana

hi

Im looking at laptop in pc world but i could buy up north much cheaper, do you think i could haggle them in dublin on the insurance price?

daithijjj

manafana wrote: »

hi

Im looking at laptop in pc world but i could buy up north much cheaper, do you think i could haggle them in dublin on the insurance price?

i dont think you will get anything off the insurance or the price outright but in your situation your best bet is to go up north id say. Im sure if you haggle with them up there they will throw in extras also, if your going to get insurance on top. Make sure you let them know that taking out insurance is totally dependant on what they give you for nothing......ie, case, mouse etcetc..........if they dont then dont get insurance...........stick the money you have allocated to insurance in a savings account and put it towards a new laptop in the future........thats just my opinion, everyone is different.....good luck.

gzoladz

Other thing to consider is the following: the standard warranty normally covers the first year (ok, not at the same level). And the laptop is very unlikely to fail in that period.

So let's assume the laptops that do fail whithin this 3 years do so at the earliest after 1.5 years. Then a Laptop that costs you 700 today will probable cost half in 1.5 years so you pay +€130 on an insurance to cover approx €350. And the worst things are:

1. Info is all gone, and after 1.5 years it is likely to be what you care most (back up should sort this).

2. Having to deal with the PCW individuals again.

AlmightyCushion

MunsterCycling wrote: »

AC,

Fixes must be permanent under the law, she should remind them of this next time it has a problem, they will have to replace it. Providing of course it is the same problem each time.


MC

I know and the fixes would be permanent if she didn't keep breaking the thing. She keeps dropping which breaks the lens or she sits on it/leaves it in her bag which hits off something else cracking the screen. So the repairs they have done are good but aren't good enough to withstand her. To be honest I reckon she's breaking it on purpose in the hope she gets a new camera as she doesn't really like this one any more.

I hope they give her vouchers next time, as the cover on cameras under €200 is an instant replacement and covers accidental damage. So from then on she'll just get a new camera and not have to wait for it to be repaired.

~EnDaScOpE~

Here lads you know the best way to claim for vouchers is to make the unit unrepairable to such an extent that it doesn't look deliberate ie it's very hard to fix a camera that was rolled over by a car or melted in a fire (check what kind of acc dam it doesn't cover ie act of nature). You won't get the full price back but a little less for unit + insurance. In terms of sales guys pushing insurance, i don't believe that, at the end of the day they're sales guys it's their job to sell you things you'd be the very one to turn around to the manager if something happened after your warranty expired and give out that you weren't offered insurance at the 'point of sale'. It's your money and nobody can force you to spend it's entirely your own decision whether to take it or not.

user1983

ok, its been a while since i was here. so ive a few points to make.
pc world staff do not work on commission and their jobs are not based on if they've sold coverplan/extended warranty/insurance.
i've worked both sales and customer service in a pc world store - i have seen some weird cases like someone after urinating on a laptop etc and these people didnt have to fork out the 400 quid + to get it mended.
it really bugs me that people think warranty is a gimmick, you dont get to see the value of it so you just think it must be crap. its never the vast amount of good reviews ya hear, its only the unfortunate cases.
coverplan is great value, i worked in pcw for 5 years and bought it on everything ive bought in there and used it alot. and yes, we aint stupid, we know when people 'accidentally' damage their camera/laptop by throwing it in a fire or leaving it soaking in water - we still honour the policy and so, maybe you do have to wait 3 or 4 weeks, you still get a brand new camera out if it.
thanks for listening, or should i say reading, my rant!

swingking

Okay okay, where to begin...

user1983 wrote: »

ok, its been a while since i was here. so ive a few points to make.
pc world staff do not work on commission and their jobs are not based on if they've sold coverplan/extended warranty/insurance

eh, yes they do make commission on coverplan. Coverplan brings up the margin for the sales person and the commission is usually paid at about 1 % of margin. Hence, selling coverplan increases commission paid to sales staff.

At the start of the work day, the manager will single out the sales staff who do NOT sell enough coverplan. It's vital to the business and the sales staff who are seeing selling a laptop, pc, camera etc. without coverplan will get a strict warning from their manager. Not only do they have to try to sell coverplan, they have to try to sell the accessories with said item.

user1983 wrote: »

these people didnt have to fork out the 400 quid + to get it mended

So what? You just give them a replacement laptop there and then on the spot? If a case is found to be accidental, the customer is usually told to ring a number to speak to the "tech guys". These guys insist that the laptop be taken away (by courier) to England to be inspected. Half the time, they usually just do some minor repairs and send it back to the customer. Very rarely are laptops actually written off in a week. People have to wait 6 weeks before the laptop is written off.

Look, don't bother defending such a poor company just because you worked for them (or are still working for them). You know the practices they carry out are just wrong. Sales will tell people anything just to get a sale.

user1983

swingking wrote: »

Okay okay, where to begin...



eh, yes they do make commission on coverplan. Coverplan brings up the margin for the sales person and the commission is usually paid at about 1 % of margin. Hence, selling coverplan increases commission paid to sales staff. QUOTE]

ok then, so lets get this straight here : SALES PEOPLE DO NOT EARN COMMISSION. yes, this time last year there was some commission, 3 per cent of the profit margin to be exact, which was feic all. we jave a flat rate pay now.

now, on to the point about sales. so imagine getting home with your brand new camera, take it out, charge it up for your night out only to find that THE STUPID SALES PERSON never sold you a memory card. or you buy yourself a lovely new laptop, you cant wait to start typing up your thesis, but hold on THE STUPID SALESPERSON forgot to sell you office. and then the person who buys a desktop pc, cant wait to start using the internet for maybe skype calling their friend, but hold on THE STUPID SALES PERSON forgot to sell me a headset and webcam.
i think that, that would be stupid. we dont bombard people with stuff they dont need, and why would be bother selling them summit that more than likely they'll return? we know what the customer is buying the product for so we offer them what they'll need to that with and more often than not, if they buy it with it, there's always a customer offer.

but then again, if a customer is rude, obnoxious and thinks that we're just selling to them for the sake of 'commission' then those customer offer buttons dont be touched, and i can tell you now, there does be some amount of saving on those buttons! but, it all depends on how the customer treats us aswell.

swingking

user1983 wrote: »

swingking wrote: »

Okay okay, where to begin...



eh, yes they do make commission on coverplan. Coverplan brings up the margin for the sales person and the commission is usually paid at about 1 % of margin. Hence, selling coverplan increases commission paid to sales staff. QUOTE]

ok then, so lets get this straight here : SALES PEOPLE DO NOT EARN COMMISSION. yes, this time last year there was some commission, 3 per cent of the profit margin to be exact, which was feic all. we jave a flat rate pay now.

now, on to the point about sales. so imagine getting home with your brand new camera, take it out, charge it up for your night out only to find that THE STUPID SALES PERSON never sold you a memory card. or you buy yourself a lovely new laptop, you cant wait to start typing up your thesis, but hold on THE STUPID SALESPERSON forgot to sell you office. and then the person who buys a desktop pc, cant wait to start using the internet for maybe skype calling their friend, but hold on THE STUPID SALES PERSON forgot to sell me a headset and webcam.
i think that, that would be stupid. we dont bombard people with stuff they dont need, and why would be bother selling them summit that more than likely they'll return? we know what the customer is buying the product for so we offer them what they'll need to that with and more often than not, if they buy it with it, there's always a customer offer.

but then again, if a customer is rude, obnoxious and thinks that we're just selling to them for the sake of 'commission' then those customer offer buttons dont be touched, and i can tell you now, there does be some amount of saving on those buttons! but, it all depends on how the customer treats us aswell.

Well you sell people Norton antivirus when you know that they could just download the free version of AVG, but that would put you out of pocket.

Also instead of selling them micro$oft office, there again is a free alternative (and better in my opinion) called open office.

Most laptops come with webcams built in and Skype is free to download from the web.

Most shops offer the memory card for a camera for free. In fact Pc world is an exception as opposed to the rule.

All a sales person has to tell a customer is about the offers and the coverplan. They don't have to ram it down their throats that this is a neccessity. It's an optional extra!!

user1983

you might see it as 'raming' it down customers necks but you come in to the store and this is what you are expecting so this is all you will 'see', next time you're around a pc world store, do call in, but have an open mind.