Choosing retailer for mimimum complaints
 

On Jul 1, 10:32*pm, Ste wrote:
On 1 July, 21:34, "Woody" wrote:



"john hamilton" wrote in message

...

I think this might affect us all at one time or another. *You
want to buy an item like a fridgfreezer or a washing
machine,etc. *To make your cash go as far as possible often the
best price is with one of the big national chains of retailers.

Typing in one or two of the household chains names to google,
linked to the word 'complaints'; invariable brings up a lot of
experiences of people ordering and then having to wait an
unreasonable amount of time because its not in stock.

Another problem is with these big companies is that the various
departments seem to be able to pass around the responsibility
of any problem with impunity on to another department.

Is there a good way of trying to find out, which of the big
chains of shops like: Currys, Dixons, Comet, etc; *are the best
to deal with from the customer satisfaction point of view?

Doesn't it occur to you that there may be a vociforous minority
out that with a bone to pick? Think how many times you have had a
bad experience compared with a goo experience - likely you can't
remember the good ones.....?

If you want to learn about how to run an organisation properly
there is only one to look at - John Lewis.

Actually I do generally keep a track of good experiences. I've used
Ebuyer almost invariably for many years, sometimes paying a small
premium simply because the site is relatively easy to use, the goods
always arrive within the time specified (and often before), and the
one or two problems I've had (in probably 7 or 8 years of using them)
have been resolved without quibble.

That's my experience. I always select the cheapest delivery option and
stuff invariably arrives earlier than they say it will. never had to
return anything.

At first I was wary as there are some supposed horror stories about
eBuyer customer services on the 'net. As always, however, there are
two side to every story, and most complaints forums only present one.

MBQ

Choosing retailer for mimimum complaints
 

On Fri, 2 Jul 2010 11:56:07 +0100, "John Turner"
wrote:

I then went to a small local independent computer shop, who sold me the same
PC for a fair bit less money and installed a genuine copy of Windows XP
without extra charge.

Sounds very much as if it might be a pirate copy of XP.

--
Cynic

Choosing retailer for mimimum complaints
 

Cynic wrote:
On Fri, 2 Jul 2010 11:56:07 +0100, "John Turner"
wrote:

I then went to a small local independent computer shop, who sold me
the same PC for a fair bit less money and installed a genuine copy
of Windows XP without extra charge.

Sounds very much as if it might be a pirate copy of XP.

not necessarily, if the pc was originally going to have vista on it, then he
has now got a copy of vista to sell, probably worth a little more than XP
is.

Choosing retailer for mimimum complaints
 

On Fri, 2 Jul 2010 17:22:46 +0100, "Mrcheerful"
wrote:

I then went to a small local independent computer shop, who sold me
the same PC for a fair bit less money and installed a genuine copy
of Windows XP without extra charge.

Sounds very much as if it might be a pirate copy of XP.

not necessarily, if the pc was originally going to have vista on it, then he
has now got a copy of vista to sell, probably worth a little more than XP
is.

That's a big "if". It is quite common for small independent computer
stores to undercut the chain stores by neglecting to charge (or pay
for) the OS.

I always get my replacement PCs with no OS on them at all, and then
use the same copy of XP that I have used on all my previous PCs.
AFAIAA that is perfectly legal.

Finding an off-the-shelf PC that most closely matches the
specification you want, and upgrading it where it does not match is
cheaper IME than building the whole thing from scratch.

Here's a good site
http://www.palicomp.co.uk/pc-base-units/cat_1.html

--
Cynic

Choosing retailer for mimimum complaints
 

On 2 July, 14:03, "Man at B&Q" wrote:
On Jul 1, 10:32*pm, Ste wrote:





On 1 July, 21:34, "Woody" wrote:

"john hamilton" wrote in message

...

I think this might affect us all at one time or another. *You
want to buy an item like a fridgfreezer or a washing
machine,etc. *To make your cash go as far as possible often the
best price is with one of the big national chains of retailers.

Typing in one or two of the household chains names to google,
linked to the word 'complaints'; invariable brings up a lot of
experiences of people ordering and then having to wait an
unreasonable amount of time because its not in stock.

Another problem is with these big companies is that the various
departments seem to be able to pass around the responsibility
of any problem with impunity on to another department.

Is there a good way of trying to find out, which of the big
chains of shops like: Currys, Dixons, Comet, etc; *are the best
to deal with from the customer satisfaction point of view?

Doesn't it occur to you that there may be a vociforous minority
out that with a bone to pick? Think how many times you have had a
bad experience compared with a goo experience - likely you can't
remember the good ones.....?

If you want to learn about how to run an organisation properly
there is only one to look at - John Lewis.

Actually I do generally keep a track of good experiences. I've used
Ebuyer almost invariably for many years, sometimes paying a small
premium simply because the site is relatively easy to use, the goods
always arrive within the time specified (and often before), and the
one or two problems I've had (in probably 7 or 8 years of using them)
have been resolved without quibble.

That's my experience. I always select the cheapest delivery option and
stuff invariably arrives earlier than they say it will. never had to
return anything.

At first I was wary as there are some supposed horror stories about
eBuyer customer services on the 'net. As always, however, there are
two side to every story, and most complaints forums only present one.

The only two run-ins that I can recall firstly involved the
requirement, many years ago, that you fax them any change of address.
I didn't have a fax machine or convenient access to one, and ended up
having to shut down one account and start up another (at the
suggestion of Ebuyer) - an absurd security policy.

Recently I tried placing an order for my mother, on my account, and
using her card. Apparently you can't use a card that doesn't match the
account holder's name. My mother's never used a computer in her life,
I said, and I don't intend to spend time setting her up an account for
a single purchase. No can do, they said politely - again, an absurd
security policy. So ultimately, I found a way around by using Google
Checkout, which apparently does allow cards with different names, and
used that in conjunction with my existing Ebuyer account.

If I contrast this to Dabs which I used the other day for an item that
Ebuyer didn't have, the item quickly turned out to be faulty (perhaps
not Dabs' fault), but what is more, I ended up being forced to
scrutinise their terms and conditions in the course of returning the
item, something that I don't ever remember having to do with Ebuyer.

Choosing retailer for mimimum complaints
 

On 02/07/2010 20:17, Ste wrote:
If I contrast this to Dabs which I used the other day for an item that
Ebuyer didn't have, the item quickly turned out to be faulty (perhaps
not Dabs' fault), but what is more, I ended up being forced to
scrutinise their terms and conditions in the course of returning the
item, something that I don't ever remember having to do with Ebuyer.

You are lucky that Dabs is in better ownership these days.

The debit card 'security' the previous owners had in place caused my
bank account to be completely cleaned out by a crooked member of their
staff.

--
Adrian C

Choosing retailer for mimimum complaints
 

"Cynic" wrote

I then went to a small local independent computer shop, who sold me the
same
PC for a fair bit less money and installed a genuine copy of Windows XP
without extra charge.

Sounds very much as if it might be a pirate copy of XP.

Cynic.

Choosing retailer for mimimum complaints
 

On 2 July, 18:14, Cynic wrote:
On Fri, 2 Jul 2010 17:22:46 +0100, "Mrcheerful"
wrote:

I then went to a small local independent computer shop, who sold me
the same PC for a fair bit less money and installed a genuine copy
of Windows XP without extra charge.
Sounds very much as if it might be a pirate copy of XP.
not necessarily, if the pc was originally going to have vista on it, then he
has now got a copy of vista to sell, probably worth a little more than XP
is.

That's a big "if". * It is quite common for small independent computer
stores to undercut the chain stores by neglecting to charge (or pay
for) the OS.

I always get my replacement PCs with no OS on them at all, and then
use the same copy of XP that I have used on all my previous PCs.
AFAIAA that is perfectly legal.

It depends on whether your copy of XP is retail or OEM. As far as I
know, it's not legitimate to transfer OEM licences.

Incidentally, I would recommend an upgrade to Windows 7. I recently
installed it on my 7 year old laptop (upgraded from XP SP3), and I
found it at least as fast as XP even on that age of hardware (and
ReadyBoost allowed me to take the strain off the old ATA hard disk),
and unlike Vista the UI improvements are worth having this time. I'm
not easy to please, but I honestly cannot find any significant fault
with it.



Finding an off-the-shelf PC that most closely matches the
specification you want, and upgrading it where it does not match is
cheaper IME than building the whole thing from scratch.

Here's a good sitehttp://www.palicomp.co.uk/pc-base-units/cat_1.html

I've never found an off-the-shelf PC to be cheaper than self-build.
Profit more than wipes out any bulk-saving that systems builders may
get on the hardware.

Choosing retailer for mimimum complaints
 

On Fri, 02 Jul 2010 20:30:48 +0100, Adrian C wrote:

The debit card 'security' the previous owners had in place caused my
bank account to be completely cleaned out by a crooked member of their
staff.

How long ago was that?

Choosing retailer for mimimum complaints
 

"Cynic" wrote in message
...

I always get my replacement PCs with no OS on them at all, and then
use the same copy of XP that I have used on all my previous PCs.
AFAIAA that is perfectly legal.

If its a retail pack its legal as they are transferable.
If its a cheap OEM pack it is not legal to transfer it.