Lehaut Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 Nearly three years ago, bought a microwave from an online retailer, did not buy any discounted CDs from them (hint as to name). After 18 months it stopped working. They invited me to send it back after I claimed the 2 years European guarantee, not their one year one was legal. It cost 30 euros to post it back. They accepted it was broken, under guarantee and offered a refund. They proposed an amount after a "decote" of 2% per month, well short of the purchase amount and did not include the post cost. I wrote a stiff letter AR and, silence. After taking them to task on their online forum and going through their mediator I forced them to accept that that the "decote" was illegal under French Law, they were responsible for the postage cost under European law, and they had also to repay or replace the machine. After one year of arguments, and threating them with the equivalent of the French small claims court, they agreed to pay the full amount, in three installments, got the last cheque this morning. So with perseverance, you can prevent them getting away with the usual "non". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suein56 Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 Bravo. You have proved the adage 'persistence pays'. I am in awe of the research capabilities you have shown in your drive to achieve victory.It also serves as a reminder to think twice about buying from certain retail outlets, whether online or not, as some have an interesting and original approach to shirking their legal responsibilities in case of repair/replacement of a faulty item.Edit: The eventual repayment in 3 stages is intriguing. The ultimate, perhaps, in 'we are aware you have won but we intend to draw this painful situation out as long as we possibly can'. Beggars belief.Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 My thoughts entirely re the 3 cheques, nothing but childish petulance, and costs them time and money to be so.Its an international company with an international reputation albeit not so good, sure they will have different procedures to suit different local markets, laws etc, the décote is used by many even some of the best, I'm sure someone up high knows its illegal but its a commercial decision and I understand that, the 3 cheques must surely just be someones personal twisted misuse of their position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 I've bought CD's from them before although they were not 'discounted'. After reading your story I will certainly not use them again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 Well done, Lehaut! Congratulations on getting a positive result [I]It's just sometimes so much hassle to get the most basic customer service that I now only buy from places where I can get a face-to-face discussion, or places which have an established replacement service.Anything else is just too aggravating! [:@]Only yesterday, I got a replacement CPL from Netgear for a purchase made on Amazon in August. Amazon had given me the Netgear contact details and followed up with an incident number, in case I didn't get any joy from Netgear.I did pay 8.50€ last Thursday to send the non-working unit back...Sometimes, it's worth arguing as you did, but I choose my battles carefully and in this case, it's really not worth the aggro... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suein56 Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 [quote user="Clair"]It's just sometimes so much hassle to get the most basic customer service that I now only buy from places where I can get a face-to-face discussion, or places which have an established replacement service.[/quote]A case in point : sorry it is quite a long story :My 20 year old combi oven Sanyo microwave gave up the ghost last autumn. Had a quick look around and was thinking about one or two possible replacements when my OH said that Lidl had one for sale (he likes Lidl [:)]). It was just the job so we bought it and it functioned fine for about 6 weeks than, one very cold morning, it refused to function. Dead as the proverbial doornail. Rang up Lidl who put me in touch with the supplier and they said to send it back using the free-pay sticker they would send me. All done. Received a brand new one within a week. It worked fine for 5 days, then died. Repeat phone call, repeat label, repeat replacement. All fine and still fine.BUT, big but here, I have since discovered that there was probably nothing wrong with these microwavess but that the power to houses in our neighbourhood dips very, very low - down to 189v - sometimes when the weather is very cold. And the micro couldn't cope with such low voltage. The toaster struggled on gamely but hardly worked at all under such duress.Apparently we need a new something-or-other to bring more consistent power to us but there are arguments about it, so nothing has happened yet.Moral : Lidl's guarantees work !Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 [quote user="suein56"]Moral : Lidl's guarantees work !Sue[/quote]I totally agree, as I found out when the safety device on one of Mr Clair's electrical tools failed a year or so after the purchase. The tool itself worked like a charm but Lidl asked me to cut and send them the plug with the label attached, to ensure the item wouldn't be used without the broken safety device.Of course, Mr Clair simply replaced the plug and still uses the tool to this day, as well as the brand new replacement tool Lidl sent... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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