smyths toys

oranbhoy67

I had an awful customer service experience in Smyths toys shop today..

I bought a PlayStation turtle beach headset a year and a half ago for my son I had to bring it back after 11 months because there was no more sound working thru it, the only replacement the shop had was the same model and I was told to either take that or take nothing.

So I took the same model and now- 6 months later- I am having a crackling noise and sound cutting out on the new one as well, I took it back to the shop today and they disappeared with it for 30 minutes and took it back and told me that there was a tiny nick on the wire leading to the headset and so refused to swap me for another, ( i couldn't see this nick when i examined it earlier)

I even offered to pay extra so that i could upgrade to a more expensive and sturdier looking model of turtle beach headset -which they now had in stock unlike last year- if they would refund me a credit note for the original but again they refused.

I was then told to contact their customer services.. I did so on the phone whilst outside the shop, the lady i spoke to said i had to ring Sony, I explained to her it wasn't a Sony product but she was adamant that it was ...so I took the phone back into the shop and passed it on to a member of staff who she told the same thing , we then spent 20 mins trying to get thru on the phone to Sony only for them to confirm what we knew.. that sony had nothing to do with it, I was basically then told my only option was to fill a form out on turtle beaches website... so i am now out of 50 euros for a product that is obviously defective (when 2 of them break in a matter of 18 months)

So basically has anyone got any advice on my next move? I've already filled out a form online on turtle beaches website and am awaiting a reply.

RoscommonTom

They only have to give you the same product not a fancy new brand like Sony and the like, 11 months is fairly long with a toddler pulling out of it

DoYouEvenLift

Get Astros

dudara

@DoYouEvenLift - please address the Consumer Issue at hand.

dudara

rock22

RoscommonTom wrote: »

They only have to give you the same product not a fancy new brand like Sony and the like, 11 months is fairly long with a toddler pulling out of it

The toy was presumably designed for a toddler and is sold as such. Therefore you could expect more than 11 months out of it.
Unfortunately you may have to go the Small claims Court if they refuse to change policy.
It is worth bringing such refusals to the relevant Government minister. Clearly ireland has very poor consumer protection if the consumer is regularly faced with suppliers breaking the law like this.

Slippin Jimmy

But if the wire is damaged surely that would void your warranty?

ohnonotgmail

Slippin Jimmy wrote: »

But if the wire is damaged surely that would void your warranty?

i would have thought so. physical damage to the cable is going to break any headset.

CJhaughey

Your contract is with Smyths as the retailer.
If a product is faulty you have three options, refund repair or replacement.
they have already replaced it once so the options now are either refund or replacement.
If you have no success then you could contact the consumer centre
Its my understanding that all products sold in the EU should have a 24 mth warranty regardless of what they retailer may say

ohnonotgmail

CJhaughey wrote: »

Your contract is with Smyths as the retailer.
If a product is faulty you have three options, refund repair or replacement.
they have already replaced it once so the options now are either refund or replacement.
If you have no success then you could contact the consumer centre
Its my understanding that all products sold in the EU should have a 24 mth warranty regardless of what they retailer may say

no warranty covers physical damage

iwillhtfu

rock22 wrote: »

The toy was presumably designed for a toddler and is sold as such. Therefore you could expect more than 11 months out of it.
Unfortunately you may have to go the Small claims Court if they refuse to change policy.
It is worth bringing such refusals to the relevant Government minister. Clearly ireland has very poor consumer protection if the consumer is regularly faced with suppliers breaking the law like this.

They aren't designed for toddlers though.

Also I've seen many kids throw the head with controllers ear phones etc whilst playing and presumably losing games on line. It may be possible that they were broken by your child and you were lucky to get a replacement the first time.

Either way if it's physically damaged I'd imagine you've voided your warranty.

ssmith6287

rock22 wrote: »

The toy was presumably designed for a toddler and is sold as such. Therefore you could expect more than 11 months out of it.
Unfortunately you may have to go the Small claims Court if they refuse to change policy.
It is worth bringing such refusals to the relevant Government minister. Clearly ireland has very poor consumer protection if the consumer is regularly faced with suppliers breaking the law like this.

Turtle Beach are Gamer headphones, not designed for toddlers. I dont think the poster said anything about a toddler

WildCardDoW

If the wire is damaged then that's going to cause an issue as it is physical damage.

Try talk to a manager or email their customer service and send a picture of the damage. You also are close to insinuating the staff caused the nick to the wire (or at least that's how I read it), I wouldn't go down that route.

The question here is, if they replaced the headset at 11 months does this "reset" their consumer rights date or is it still from the date of the original purchase? I personally would think a replacement does not reset your rights and they are only required to help you from the original purchase date but not sure where it would stand legally.

oranbhoy67

Thanks for all the helpful input, the toddler talk has me stumped, to me a toddler is someone under 3 & I can't imagine them gaming with a headset on. My son is 10 .

I'll try post a photograph of the wire tonight when I am on my laptop,it is the tiniest of nicks very close to were the wire meets the actual earpiece

The first time I took the original model back I dealt with the same guy, I wanted my money back so I could get a better model as I could see this model wasn't fit for the job but he refused,a refund & the only models they had at the time for PS4 was the same ones so that was my only choice ( he acknowledged this yesterday). He did his best the first time to try and find physical damage he kept mentioning that the volume control box was scuffed and I was lucky to be getting a replacement

Well not that lucky when 6 months down the line i have the exact same issue except this time he has managed to find a fault which can be blamed on us ,my son is only allowed on PlayStation on weekends & school holidays too so its not as if its went thru the mill being used everyday , surely these things should be built to last with a longer period of use in mind than 11 & 6 months weekend mostly use ?

oranbhoy67

RoscommonTom wrote: »

They only have to give you the same product not a fancy new brand like Sony and the like, 11 months is fairly long with a toddler pulling out of it

I asked for a credit note refund and told them I would add another 25 euro to it to buy the sturdier looking brand myself which they didn't have in store the first time I had this issue.