When I bought a laptop from PC World in 2013, I was urged to take out an extended warranty billed “Whatever Happens Club – No Lemons”. This entitled me to three repairs and, if a fourth was needed, a voucher for a new laptop.
The device needed its first repair in 2016 and has not worked properly since. Five months ago it became unusable and, in that time, four further repairs failed to fix it.
The last attempt took over 28 days and I had to chase 11 times for updates. I was promised a voucher to replace it but when it didn’t arrive I was told that my request had been turned down and that I would have to accept the delayed repair.
I’ve paid well over the price of a new laptop for a plan which does not honour the agreement.
CE, London
Currys PC World’s Knowhow service is familiar in this column because of its botched attempts to deliver, install or repair electrical items – 87% of reviewers on Trustpilot rate it as bad and many tell a similar tale.
I suspect the age of your laptop is the cause of its intransigence, but Currys denies this: “We do not exclude any specifically aged products from repair or write off. Each case is assessed at its own merit and would be considered in line with the specific terms and conditions.”
It took a fortnight to get a response from the company and when it came it was a climbdown. “Our customer service team has made contact to resolve the issue and apologised for the inconvenience caused in repairing the device,” it says. “A gesture of goodwill was offered.” This turned out to be a replacement laptop plus £100.
There is no attempt to explain why you were fobbed off for so long.
As you say: “It seems they have no concern for customer welfare or honouring an agreement, merely for how they appear in the press. Not a great way to operate a retail business.”
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