Report Abuse

“Faulty Goods Policy”

written by on 12/04/2012

At the end of last year we bought a Samsung TV from Comet. This set is for a guest bedroom and has hardly been used since then. Nonetheless, a month or so ago, we started having problems with the screen going dark. We tried various troubleshooting suggestions in the accompanying Samsung instruction guide, but nothing worked and the problem only got worse. We took it back to the shop and asked for a replacement. The staff at the shop were helpful and sympathetic but we were told that since being taken over by Capita,Comet's policy is only to replace faulty items if returned within 75 hours. Instead, we were told that we would have to ring a number to arrange for someone to call and repair the TV, as this is Samsung policy. This number, operated by Comet, is charged at 10p a minute. It was at least 6 minutes before I got to speak to a human being despite being 'number one in the queue'. After explaining the situation, this person had to leave me on hold while she spoke to her supervisor and came back to tell me the shop should have taken the TV in and arranged themselves for Samsung to mend it at the shop. When I protested about the returns policy and the 10p per minute charge for a mistake that was Comet's in the first place, I was invited to ring Head Office. The thought of dangling on the end of a phone for more precious hours of my life was enough of a deterrent to make me refuse this offer, but it's yet another example of how services get worse and worse with each new takeover.