A slightly odd thread - legal people please!

slimtim · 02 February 2006, 19:50

Right, this is an unusual one.

Before xmas I ordered a TV online from dixons. £300 it cost me. Anyway, it was confirmed for delivery on the 22nd of december. It failed to turn up and they could not tell me why. I bought a TV else where on the 23rd...I was lucky in that respect!

Anyway, Dixons are so inadequate it leaves me crying with laughter. I received an email today saying soemthing like: "thanks for your purchase of the panasonic tv, please fill out a customer satisfaction questionnaire".

Now this questionnaire may be posted on the Dixons website without being checked. So I thought I could have a bit of fun here and wrote this to enter into the review:

I have given the tv a high score out of 10 for everything because I never actually received the tv, so I am giving panasonic the benefit of the doubt (aren't they lucky). You failed to deliver my Tv (which was a present) on the day specified 3 days before xmas and could give me no reason for your complete inadequacy. After lots of wasted time on my part and many phone calls to brain dead “customer service” phone operatives, I was told that I would NOT get my tv before xmas, despite the fact there were 68, yes 68 of them in stock only 15 miles away. In the end I went to a local store not linked in any way to the Dixons group and received a good deal and EXCELLENT customer service. It took me two weeks and 3 or 4 phone calls to get my 300quid refunded from Dixons despite being told it would take 48hours. 2 weeks later I received a receipt for the tv I had “bought”. Just yesterday (well over a month late) I received confirmation of my refund and today I receive this pointless questionnaire thanking me for my “purchase”. Needless to say, I will NEVER buy ANYTHING no matter how small from this utterly useless company and I’m going to bend over backwards to make sure I spread the word of my misfortunes. So Dixons, as a result of your catastrophic c*ck up you have lost my valuable custom and the custom of every person who I tell about this affair. Don’t ever email me again, it will only convince me further of your inefficiency and inadequacy to tell you’re a*se from your elbow.

All of the above is true so I'm not lying in any way. However, before submitting the questionnaire you must tick the box to say you have read the terms and conditions. Now what made me laugh was that the T & Cs say I must not post complaints...completely unbiased reviews see.

So my question is:

If I submit that in the review...could they sue my ass?!

Andy Stevens · 02 February 2006, 19:56

Sue you for what? Telling the truth?

I am about to do the same to Korean Airways.

slimtim · 02 February 2006, 20:00

Yeah I know it sounds pretty stupid, but I'm a pussy! Its just that if I tick that box I'm agreeing to the T&Cs, but I will blatantly be breaking the T&Cs. Does my right to free speach over rule that?!

Srellom · 02 February 2006, 20:16

I had a similar experience last Christmas. On the 23rd of Dec our stocked for the festivities, fridge went clank and packed up. My wife had a fit of " I told you so's" as it had been clanking for a while. In a bit of a panic I tore off to our nearest Dixon superstore and selected my chosen new replacement fridge. I approached a member of staff and asked to take it on payment. He proceeded to inform me that they didn't have that model in stock and that delivery would take 4-5 days. So I chose another, same story. So then I asked which fridge did they have in stock? Answer "None"! It transpired that Dixons, Comet and the likes of carry no stock in their stores.
I then ended up in a local Euronics store whom delivered my chosen fridge within an hour, dropped it coming down the steps and were back again within less than an hour with another. Those guys do carry stock and thus saved my bacon, turkey et all.

Hightower · 02 February 2006, 20:17

So don't tick the box and send it in, I'll get throw in the bin anyway.

I would however catalouge the order of events (similar to what you have done) and send that to customer services, along with a letter explaining that if they don't wholeheartedly apologise to you over this matter and give you a reasonable explanation of what has happened that you will take this further.

They'll probably post a letter that reads "you should have bought it earlier"

slimtim · 02 February 2006, 20:25

I tried posting it without ticking the box, won't let me!

The thing is, the review may get posted on the dixons website without anyone checking it, which is the reason for the T&Cs!

Also, they had on their website a statement saying order before 17th and have xmas delivery. I purchased it on the 13th I think so plenty of time! They were the ones that specified the 22nd as a delivery date. The order was cancelled the day I ordered it, but no one told me and no one could tell me why!

don't ever buy anything in Dixons (or currys), I though I would give them the benefit of the doubt (having heard a lot of bad things) but they failed drastically!

Tim M · 02 February 2006, 20:30

I'd post it; they're highly unlikely to worry about it and sue you!

(just for the record thats my opion and I will not be held responsible for anything that happens to you as a result of following my advice

)

Hightower · 02 February 2006, 20:36

Didn't someone manage to Hack the NTL help line and record his own message to the end that he basicly said if you wanted to waste you life away then stay on the line?He got threatened with Jail I think.

Poly · 02 February 2006, 20:42

Send it. You are probably the first person ever to actually read the T&C's. It probably just means that they can delete negative feedback (thats a fair system eh!). To sue you they have to demonstrate loss. And I don't think its reasonable to claim that they suffer loss from your accurate feedback.

Neil

tim griffin · 03 February 2006, 07:55

Same thing with a lap top ordered it carriage company lost it paper chase to reorder it . I lost the will to live , canceled order went to staples bought one internet shopping is great eh!Post it Timmers if they come back to you claim Diplomatic immunity

Mark Halliday · 03 February 2006, 08:44

Tim

Start with "This is not a complaint, but a statement of fact." and then tick and click away.

Pete7 · 03 February 2006, 09:03

Tim,

Dixon’s are hardly likely to take you to court and have a complete cock up on there part made public, after all if they lost it would be really embarrassing. In fact you should applaud the opportunity to go to court and make your case; you could do a Daivd and Goliath thing in fancy dress, the local press would be interested in that and it would really put Dixon’s on the spot. They will be quite happy if you quietly went away. Just make sure you keep the moral high ground and stick to the facts when you reply.

However, if you had a contract with a guaranteed delivery date which they failed to meet then they are in breach of this contract. Have they offered compensation in addition to the refund? probably not. So a carefully worded letter asking for an apology and compensation would be the way to start.

Pete

Jimbob · 03 February 2006, 09:47

I would post it for the following reason

In telcoms we are trying hard to always provide better service, as part of that process we do take feedback very seriously good and bad, Dixons should be no different. If i got a note from you like this i would be very upset and want to change for the better, as we say here "always better", no matter what the T+C say

I suspect that most of the problems is the fact that there is many hand-off points and nobody takes end to end ownership.

Simon Hawkins · 03 February 2006, 10:04

Hi Ya.

All I can say is be very careful. If the terms and conditions say you cannot say anything slanderous against the company then you should not. Dixons Group are a very large compnay and although you may think they wont bother to take an action against you, they could do due to damages caused to them through your comments.

Simon

Pete7 · 03 February 2006, 10:14

Which is why I suggest Tim sticks to the facts, like they didn't deliver when the contract said they would and he should complain by letter. Also as Jimbob points out, if you don't make a fuss how will they know they have really got this order wrong and have a distatisfied customer.

Simon, your a solicitor aren't you ?

Pete

Rodan · 03 February 2006, 10:48

Post it... I had an euqally frustrating time ordering a camera from Pixmania.

Placed the order for extra cost 3 day delivery. After a week it did not arrive.
During this time I had tried to contact: phone always busy, you are not able to email directly and have to fill in a webform which they never responded.
Decided to cancel order (web form again!) no response and they took my cash.
Then got an empty box in the post... on and on it went...
Eventually spoke to someone and after threatening all sorts got my money back. Main point was money was taken a day after I had cancelled the order which was never posted!
Ordered from Amazon/Empire DIrect, delivered two days later and price was good.

Be warned!

John Kennett · 03 February 2006, 10:50

Tim, just post it FFS. It's already in the public domain here and is just one of tens of thousands of complaints about Dixons

If they do decide to come after you (and I'll eat my Musto hat if they do), don't forget to tell them that you also posted it here and that I won't delete it. Blustering solicitors' letters will be treated with the contempt that they normally deserve!

John

codprawn · 03 February 2006, 14:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Kennett

Tim, just post it FFS. It's already in the public domain here and is just one of tens of thousands of complaints about Dixons

If they do decide to come after you (and I'll eat my Musto hat if they do), don't forget to tell them that you also posted it here and that I won't delete it. Blustering solicitors' letters will be treated with the contempt that they normally deserve!

John

This is a classic example of what Blair has done to this country - make people afraid to even breathe without being "done" for it!!!

Hugh Jardon · 03 February 2006, 14:37

post it

you may feel that they may have failed in their contractual obligations to you anyway, everyone loves it when the little guy takes the big guys to task. Bad publicity is unfortunatley usually what motivates some large companies to make changes to their process for the good of customers.

email watchdog as they may be building up such a file/case for airtime anyway

has worked for me in the past when crossing swords with a large company!

give no quarter

Jackwabbit · 03 February 2006, 15:23

At least they have a feedback process, unlike SKY!!
When I tried to complain to SKY about a SKY+ box that didn’t work properly from day one & their engineer failed to even come out to replace it, which required me to take 2 days off work I found they didn’t have a complaints process. The feedback link on every page of their website tried to send it to an e-mail address that didn’t exist; all the phone calls fell on deaf ears in a call centre in India.
After a lot of calls & investigation I finally managed to get £75 back for the inconvenience.
So go for it & insist on some sort or recompense for the inconvenience caused to you by their inability to uphold their side of the agreement.