Rant Name and Shame: Crappy Retailers

Virgin Media. Said they wouldn't charge me the £30 installation, and just charge me £22.50 for the t'internet and phone line. Week later I get a bill for £52.50.

 

gotta make sure when they say stuff like that you get it in writing.

bad CS?
I've had some problems with DFI's CS/TS but thats about it for me.

 

I've yet to pay a thing, so unless they change it, they won't be getting a penny from me.

 

BT. total idiots I could rant for pages on the mistakes they've made, and there frankly appalling customer service. I’m currently being billed for a line installation 3 doors down...

(BT Openreach and there b2b side is fine, I’ve experienced them a few times through work.)

 

My Dad works for Openreach, and you're right- it's more the main part of the company that's the problem. Example: Sister and her bf have just moved into a flat...they want to get the BT package with phone, BB and TV, but were told they'd have to pay for installation etc, even though they didn't really need it. At the end of the day they had to go for Virgin as it just turned out a lot cheaper for them, although from what I know they have a reputation for cutting through BT's phone lines etc when people switch to them .

<A88>

 

AT&T (not just for cell phones, but thats certainly included)
TigerDirect Outlet Store - They have the most un-helpful, un-motivated staff ever and most are rude as heck too

I rarely ever walk into stores now-a-days, unless I really have to, and if I do, I avoid staff like the plague.

 

Circuit City
Comp USA

There are SOME Best Buy stores that are ridiculous, but the ones I've been to in DFW are pretty good.

 

Argos - Returned just about everything we ever bought there due to it failing in the first year
British Gas - Worst service ever (didn't charge us for ages, when I contacted them they said they had blocked our payments from their end but didn't know why? I had to call twice more just to get our payments reinstated so we could pay off our gas bill and switch).
Maplins - Ridiculously overpriced
PC World - Ridiculously overpriced
O2 - Staff don't know what they are talking about most of the time (there are a few solid staff members though, one of whom recommended that I didn't get my phone from them! These guys/girls deserve a raise for having to deal with their luddite co-workers on a daily basis).
Currys Digital - Worlds most expensive computer/console games

I'll think of others...give me time.

 

Argos, they don't do branded goods which means anything you buy from there is the same as what you buy online or in any other shop so I can't see Argos being at fault for any failures?

 

Argos problem is with there manufacturer but on the other hand they should choose decent manufacturers.

 

Not extreme? If she can't interpret people better than that she have nothing to do behind a counter. Maybe she were hired because of looks, and not talents? I see that happen quite a bit nowadays.


I have one shop that I hate. Siba.

I went with my sister to look for a TV, and this annoying salesman came and asked if we needed help. I told him that we were just looking at the moment, and that i would let him know it I wanted hes help. Still the guy hangs on us and just have to show us all these TV's. I thought I'd give him a chance. The things he said about some of the models were downright wrong, and if I asked about any functionality of any of them the general reply were "I think so". Of course I had checked everything myself before I asked.

The worst thing is that they all seems to be like that there. Instead we went to the shop next to it. (the two shops even share the same parking lot). In that shop they had competent salesmen who knew what they were talking about, and checked up properly about things they didn't know. Ended up walking out of there with 3 TV's. We even got a pretty good discount.

 

When it comes to Electronics, Argos do sell the major brands, Sony, Toshiba, LG, Panasonic to name a few. Granted they sell other lower brands too. If you have a problem, and Argos wont sort it, go Direct to the Manufacture...Simple(ish)

Gamestation is one of my pet hates, they seem to have more interest in the music playing in branch than the games/hardware they sell

Not sure im alowed this one, but The Post Office: Im sorry, but ours is terrible, always a que to the door, never enough staff, and why on earth would you want to buy a DVD that originally came out of a New's Paper 3 months previous is beyond me.

Thinks thats it for now.
Sam

 

eBuyer.

 

PC world always make me laugh, I went to acctually buy a projector from there. Found a salesman, asked 'what projectors do you have?' I don't know sir, i'll find out, how much are you looking at spending?, 'about 500 quid' i replied

He trundles off in to a store cupboard, 'Here you go sir', 'How much is that one?', walks over to counter to scan it, '£1200 sir' I walked off!

In fact on the same visit, I saw a older couple (early 60s I think), just completing the transaction of a new laptop. The young 'sales advisor' "saying thank you very much, I know you'll enjoy using it." As soon as they left, she starting jumping up and down and speaking to her work collegues 'YES I've got the commission on that one!' as she walked off towards the back of the store she was not shouting but speaking loudly to some more collegues, saying the same thing.

To me this seems like a bad thing to be saying out loud with a store full of customers. um... customer service at PC World, they couldn't care less, they just want the commissions.

Im shocked no ones said OVERCLOCKERS yet! Ther always fun on the helpline, although I will grant they guys some credit, they know what there talking about, well most of the time.

Regards
GiGo

 

You do realise that Currys, Dixons & PC World are all part of the same business group. Therefore, Currys being shite, and having you spend money at Dixons means little or no odds to the big fat cats.

I do agree however, having worked for the DSG Group, it's all about money and not about customer service. However, it's the regional management that put the pressure on the store management that in turn force the sales guys to act like d!cks. If they don't sell XYZ then they lose there jobs... so they do everything they can to sell it. They don't care about the after sales service one little bit.

It's great fun, walking into one of those places, knowing exactly what you want. Just spend 10-15minutes wasting the sales persons time, before asking for the item you need, then take it straight to the till without them (if possible) they end up with no commision, and very grumpy!

 

Virgin Megastores online is by far the single worst encounter I've had.

My "pre-order" for Bioshock was only 60 days late, including being sent the same wrong version twice (is it really that difficult to pick up the one saying "PC DVD" on the box), and failing to get any response whatsoever from 3 complaint emails and a handwritten complaint returned with the second incorrect item.

Praise be for Steam is all I can say after my first and only attempt and buying from Virgin.

 

Special mention for Comet's "Reserve online, collect from store" service. You get a reservation number from the website but when you get to the store you're directed to the normal checkout for payment. Once you've paid, you have to hang around the checkout until the item is brought from the warehouse. I was there one Saturday (OK bad day to shop) & there was 15-20 ppl milling around the tills waiting for orders to be brought out. One couple had been waiting 45 minutes.. The best part? Apparently reserving an item online does not guarantee that it'll be in stock when you arrive at store, as the sales manager was explaining to three separate sets of ppl in the 20 minutes I was waiting.. One family had driven 20 miles to collect a TV & found it out of stock when they arrived. So they spent some time yelling at a totally unapologetic sales manager, to no effect unfortunately.

Comet - one store I've always wanted to visit with a TV-Begone on a busy weekend...

 

arvmobiles.co.uk

These guys are rubbish,

I bought a handsfree for my wife paying a little above ebay prices to ensure it wasn't coming from china (I've been burned in the past). I'd confirmed my payment and they e-mailed me saying they were out of stock at that price & but I could have it for £14 extra instead! (the handsfree was only £60). I told them I wanted a full refund and they sent it anyway & charged me the extra anyway.
Then I spoke to the manager on the phone for half an hour who refused to give me my money back because he said he couldn't loose money on a sale!
Duh, you just lost myself and all my friends as customers!

 

You should be able to get your money back if the company is based in the UK. It is illegal (at least in the UK, I assume elsewhere as well) to sell you something at more than the price it was advertised for. Just threaten them with legal action through the small claims court and they should pay up rather than have the hassle of dealing with you

If they are based abroad, however, there is probably little you can do.

 

Get trading standards on the phone Ragemyster - that's totally illegal.

I've got one for this list - Three (3).

My girlfriend's been with them for about a year now, and due to some strange signal trickery in Liverpool the Sony Ericsson she picked simply doesn't work properly. She's been trying for 11 months to get a different phone on technical replacement but continuously gets fobbed off with a different model of Sony Ericsson.

The technical people at Three know exactly the problem, but neither they nor her can convince anyone in the Customer Service department to give her a different handset. She's ended up using a cheap Nokia PayGo phone instead of the handset she paid for.

All she gets from Customer Service is a call-centre in Delhi, where they have no idea on the procedure for something like this, even the management in the CS department have no idea what to do...

It's just incredible stupidity throughout tbh.