Who has the best after-sales service?

Hey all,

Planning to pick myself up a Sony VAIO laptop in the near future and notice that it's available in four well-known retailers stores. The price is different in each. I'm wondering how each store stack up compared to one another where after-sales issues are concerned (ie: If I encounter an issue with the laptop, if i break it, etc.).


The retailers and prices are:


Argos - €599.00

D.I.D Electrical - €542.25

Harvey Norman - €579.00

Power City - €599.99 (With Free Printer to the value of approx. €45)



I'm tempted to go to Power City (I know they'll reduce the price if I request them to do so, but im not sure how much by). As it stands, however, D.I.D have the best price and Argos have the worst.



Just wondering if people have had issues with products and had to return them to any of the above stores, was it a nightmare situation dealing with the store or was it all great going?


Thanks in advance to anyone able to help.

Random

Here's my thoughts on them..

Power City - very casual type operation but always very friendly. Replaced a faulty TV for me on the spot 11 months after purchase.

DID - I just find them too greedy. I've yet to get any information from one of their sales assistants that didn't follow up with "should I carry it to your car?".

Harvey Norman - no real experience

Argos - It's very much a case of "I can only do what's in the book" but their exchange policy has always seemed pretty clear and fair to me.

RangeR

Agree with Random.

Be wary of the free printer deal. You may be getting a free printer but you may also pay 100 times the cost of that printer in ink. Unless you need a printer, I wouldn't be swayed by this deal. And even if you DO need a printer, I'd be more inclined to get a dearer printer with cheaper ink. WILL work out cheaper in the long run.

I actually have a printer already (it's the same one they're offering free :P ) But when i last talked to them, they reduced the price for me, and when i said i didn't want the printer, they reduced it further. Wrecking my head trying to think of how low they actually went with it, but I can't remember.


Looks like I'm still sticking with Power City from Random's thoughts and your agreement with them.

drog5920

if its a f2280 printer, white hp one, theyre worth about 12€, shops sell em for between 35 and 50€. generally if theres something free u should ask for them to reduce the laptop by the cash price of the printer, then youll see the real value of it. personally i would say harvey norman, then powercity, simple reason Harvey seems to have technical support staff and they seem to be hangin on for another while. powercity again look a little healthier the the rest. tell the guys in harvey norman that did are doin it for 549, guarentee theyll drop it below that agin

Well I rang around a few places today to see if I could get a better price.


I started by ringing D.I.D and asking them if they could match their online price if i were to buy it in-store. They said yes, and it was essentially mine for €540.

So I rang Harvey Hemroids and asked if they could match or beat it. They said they'd match it and throw in a "€50 anti-virus" (didn't go into any more detail than that) or they'd go ten better and give it to me at €530.

Then contacted Power City and mentioned Harvey's. Power City said they'd do it €520 no problem at all.


Getting greedy and pushing my luck, i decided to repeat the process.

Harvey said they'd match the €510, but not beat it. DID said that if i could prove that Harvey were offering it at €510 then they'd go to €500. Power City also went to €500.


I decided not to push it any farrer than that. I haven't actually bought the laptop yet, as I've had bank card issues but I plan to go around tommorrow and pick it up in Power City.


The following are my personal experiences with the different stores:


D.I.D - Guy on the phone that I was talking to said his name was Andy. He is apparently the Floor Manager. He was pleasant and explained that he would beat ANY price that I gave him, provided I could prove that I was being offered that price. He said in order to do this with Harvey's I'd need to get a quote, but it could be awkward. A Power City reference number (a number they give you when they hold something for you) was proof enough that Power City were offering it to me at a set price. Therefore it is easier to get DID to price match with Power City than with Harvey Norman. Guy on the phone was nice and pleasant, but I think he got a little irritated when I rang him a secon time, telling him of my pricing fortune.



Harvey Norman - Won't name the sales assistant I spoke to because I don't have anything good to say. When I first rang It all went well. When I rang a second time, I just got an attitude coming through the phone. The guy obviously cared more about getting commission than making a sale. I got a very uncaring "tut" every time I mentioned that other stores were beating him on price. You'd swear it was a sale that was going to leave him jobless. That was the last time I rang them. I won't ring them any time in the near future. After my experience with Harvey's today I will not go near them unless I absolutely must (and considering how D.I.D and Power City stacked up against them, it looks like I'll never need them again, really)



Power City - Damien was the guys name i think. When you contact them via their website they ring you back on the number you entered. Very, VERY professional outfit. When I mentioned another store was beating them on price they beat their price by €10 each time. They double-checked stock for me and the guy was incredibly polite and straight forward on the phone. He gave me a reference number that I would present at the checkout in Power City and they'd sort out the laptop for me at the reduced price. He didn't request proof that other stores were beating Power City and he didn't make me feel uneasy for haggling over the phone. Utmost respect for the carry on of Power City.



I have never negotiated with a store before about the price of something, and I was very surprised to see the stores were entertaining me over the phone (I assumed they wouldn't care unless you were there in person). Ringing them gives you great flexibility to check other stores and get better options. I know i sound like a greedy prick in this post, but to be honest, most of my constant-ringing around was more out of expirementing with the stores, to see how low they would actually go.

I actually think I should have lied to Power City, as they didn't have any issue whatsoever with reducing the cost of the VAIO to €500 for me. Very friendly. Power City is where I bought my current TV and I'll pick up my laptop there too. Fantastic outfit to deal with.

D.I.D's guy was also very pleasant to deal with and I'd recommend them, too.

Harvey's were the only bad experience. How someone with a bad attitude (over the phone especially) can be employed in that kind of environment is beyond me. He was going to reduce the price one way or the other anyway. If he'd even pretended he was happy to do it I would have bought the laptop there. He seemed legitimately upset that I was fishing around for a better deal on the laptop.



Takes all kinds I guess. Just thought I'd update this thread with my experience with them.


Will pick it up tomorrow, unless something goes terribly wrong. Feel tempted to ring Power City again, but I fear I'll just get a "F*ck off" down the phone :pac:

drog5920

been honest id say i know d guy frm harveys yer dealing with, hes a charcter, he told me before he duzn believe in business over the phone, it just leaves ya open. any money he said ya just said well say 550 nw ya want 540. if yer not up for the craic ya wont get this guy. He told me on the phone hed beet any1 on the phone aslong as ya wernt making it up , when i met him in person he told me if i wanted hed bend over too, he beet PC and DID by 20€ and gave me a bullguard, i cud prob got him dwn to half price on the anti virus, bt hes a gud lad didnt charge me.. i cud tell hes a nice guy, jst no time for eejits, he wants people talkin.. told me thgat he got into this job to meet people, intelligent guy in fairness. no offence mate but if ya rang me and said these guys are beetin ya id prob tell ya to prove me wrong, sure i cud ring u up if u wer in business and say awh jimmy down the road is 20€ cheaper, was it DID and powervitys marked price or did it take negotiating, guarentee u they offered ya a printer off the record was it a good vaio or was it 1 of the crap silver,pink or green ns series laptops,ones that were forced on retailers, i used to work in currys, wed be forced to pay for ****e sonys so we cud get the cheaper ones at a discount. anyway ill not be changed, i like the guy in harveys, hes not really a lick ass like evry1 else i meet and even if he doesnt he makes it look like he wants us to have a good experience. d english guy is a character awell but been english in ireland doesnt stand a chance against the lads

mad dave

were you shopping in drogheda?
work for the "TILL 9" crowd.

swingking

to the OP avoid powercity. They have terrible after sales service. I went through great difficulty to get them to do an exchange on a faulty laptop. Beware!!

Plus for some reason they don't have a manager in the shop and they tell you that everything has to be approved with the head office. Total wasters

mad dave

mad dave wrote: »

were you shopping in drogheda?
work for the "TILL 9" crowd.

Yeah, I'm In Drogheda. Are you saying you work for them? or I work for them?


Cos I have nothing to do with D.I.D at all (except persecuting them to sell stuff cheaply).

mad dave

Sad to say it,

I work for them so now i will wait for the abuse.

Feel free to send compliments about any good shopping experiences as we like good news aswell.

drog5920

where dya work

mad dave

I work in d.i.d,
Not sure if i am allowed by mods to say which branch.
I'd rather not, although i did work in the Drogheda store for 6 months.
I have been with them for nearly nine years.

drog5920

ive no experience other then the drog store so been honest i wouldn be a huge fan, saying that i like harvey norman in drogheda but not in dundalk so like i wouldnt tar all with the same brush