I shall start from the beginning.
Some time ago my launch day console decided to finally give up the ghost and I was stuck with a rather technically advanced paperweight. It was of course out of all applicable warranties.
Being a man mostly of principle I decided that rather than buy a new one or bung mine in the oven I would pursue my local high street retailer for a repair or replacement under the sale of goods act.
Several calls to the Glasgow branch where I purchased the console later I had been fobbed of to the customer services by the store manager and had a rather "heated" discussion with the deputy manager. With the deputy manager actually telling me to "go ahead and try to sue us". I did a little looking and decided that the cost\effort of going to the small claims court was not really going to add up and to keep it as a last resort. Especially as with the product being more than six months old the onus was on me to prove a manufacturing fault.
I moved on to customer services, phoning the office on the local number to avoid the mental 10p a minute charges. After about a week (by which time I was practically on first name terms with the receptionist) someone actually answered the phone, sadly Dave turned out to be a complete moron who couldn't comprehend that the manufacturers warranty was not the same thing as my statutory rights. A few days later they answered the phone again an I spoke to a very nice girl who told me the were able to offer me a free repair. I was getting a little fed up with it by this point and just accepted the offer figuring it was a half decent compromise.
I was instructed to fill in my details on a console repair site and given a code to enter on the site which would ensure I wasn't charged for the repair. The console was collected within a couple of days and this morning, two weeks later it was returned totally free of charge and fully functional! Not a bad result although a little tedious to achieve.
What I found rather irritating was that although I didn't pay for the repair I saw the invoice and it would appear the retailer is paying nearly 85 quid for the repair by the time postage etc is added on. A brand spanking new arcade is available for not an awful lot more which made me wonder why they allowed me to waste a whole load their staffs time (even at minimum wage easily makes it up to £120+) instead of just offering the replacement in the first place. I would certainly have been a happier customer!
My apologies for the long and confusing post as my point is really simple. If the console you bought in store is now bricked and you can't afford a replacement then get onto the buggers. Might take a while mind
www.direct.gov.uk might be usefull
Some time ago my launch day console decided to finally give up the ghost and I was stuck with a rather technically advanced paperweight. It was of course out of all applicable warranties.
Being a man mostly of principle I decided that rather than buy a new one or bung mine in the oven I would pursue my local high street retailer for a repair or replacement under the sale of goods act.
Several calls to the Glasgow branch where I purchased the console later I had been fobbed of to the customer services by the store manager and had a rather "heated" discussion with the deputy manager. With the deputy manager actually telling me to "go ahead and try to sue us". I did a little looking and decided that the cost\effort of going to the small claims court was not really going to add up and to keep it as a last resort. Especially as with the product being more than six months old the onus was on me to prove a manufacturing fault.
I moved on to customer services, phoning the office on the local number to avoid the mental 10p a minute charges. After about a week (by which time I was practically on first name terms with the receptionist) someone actually answered the phone, sadly Dave turned out to be a complete moron who couldn't comprehend that the manufacturers warranty was not the same thing as my statutory rights. A few days later they answered the phone again an I spoke to a very nice girl who told me the were able to offer me a free repair. I was getting a little fed up with it by this point and just accepted the offer figuring it was a half decent compromise.
I was instructed to fill in my details on a console repair site and given a code to enter on the site which would ensure I wasn't charged for the repair. The console was collected within a couple of days and this morning, two weeks later it was returned totally free of charge and fully functional! Not a bad result although a little tedious to achieve.
What I found rather irritating was that although I didn't pay for the repair I saw the invoice and it would appear the retailer is paying nearly 85 quid for the repair by the time postage etc is added on. A brand spanking new arcade is available for not an awful lot more which made me wonder why they allowed me to waste a whole load their staffs time (even at minimum wage easily makes it up to £120+) instead of just offering the replacement in the first place. I would certainly have been a happier customer!
My apologies for the long and confusing post as my point is really simple. If the console you bought in store is now bricked and you can't afford a replacement then get onto the buggers. Might take a while mind
www.direct.gov.uk might be usefull
