To think this a really bad of Argos?

[Loveheart10]

I bought a small electrical item from Argos around 4 months ago. It cost £50. It’s the sort of thing you’d expect to keep for several years.

After 4 months it completely stopped working.

I did an online thing on the Argos website, and it said that even though their returns policy is 30 days because it was as broken I still as able to get a returns barcode to take it into store.

Went into store and they were having none of it. They said because it’s only 30 days I’d have to contact the manufacturer.

I went home and checked Argos own returns policy and it literally says that if an item is less than a year old they will refund or replace it.

So I rang customer services, they were having none of it and the woman was almost shouting at me to read the terms and conditions, which I had.

So I went straight to the chief executive email address, it seems to be the only way to get anywhere these days. So I wrote an email asking for a refund under my statutory rights.

Got a call from the executive team almost immediately and he confirmed that the store were in the wrong not to refund or replace the item.

I said I was happy to have a refund via gift card as I’d buy another one, not realising that the item now costs £20 more.

But I had to post the item back at my own cost.

Aibu to think that this is terrible customer service?

It seems to be becoming more commonplace for shops to /take your moneysell you crap and just wash their hands of it.

Edited to add that even though the guy on the phone was as puzzled as me as to why the store wouldn’t refund me, in his email he was very careful to say that the refund was only a goodwill gesture.

It’s not a bloomin goodwill gesture though is it.

I bought a fridge freezer from Argos. The delivery turned up a day early. I was working so had to dispatch MIL to let them in the house.
The drivers damaged my decking and also smashed a glass dining table. The left it with huge shards poking out and went on their merry way.
It took weeks of emailing and finally me contacting the chief executive to get a response that was satisfactory. They gave me a £100 voucher. I’ll never shop with them again. It was a real pain to sort.

Yeah, this is a weird take on things. Of course it matters what an item is. We have a 14 year old toaster that was £40 and I expected about 5 years out of it minimum.

Whereas if you buy a pair of running trainers for £50 and run 3 5ks a week, of course they will die within a year.

I had the same problem with Argos this year when I bought an electric sander from them. It lasted 6 weeks. I was ultra cautious when I did use it (no longer than 10 mins at a time with a cool off period of at least 15 minutes).

They refused to give me a refund or exchange because it was past 30 days and said I had to contact the manufacturer. So I contacted my local store and the manager got really arsy with me because I managed to bypass their crappy phone system and speak to an actual person in the store 🙄 He said they didn’t have a like for like replacement in stock and not to bother visiting his counterpart in the neighbouring town because “he’s really strict on these things”. So I thought fine, I’ll go to the one in another town that’s 20 minutes from me. And I spoke to a lovely guy who agreed to give me a full refund then and there on the spot.

Of course you would, what do you think is the shelf life of a toaster!

I had a totally different experience with Argos. Bought an electric toothbrush that stopped working after 6 months. Took it back to Argos they gave me a new one and refunded me £5 as it was cheaper then. You should have stood your ground in Argos you obviously got a jobsworth who thinks it’s their money when they refund you !!

Some of these stories are terrible like the coat. But then others have been given refunds.

It seems like it depends who you get on the till on the day.

I would contact them again and tell them you're going to raise this with your local Trading Standards department, as it's absolutely Retail 101 that a discretionary return period of a few weeks only applies if you change your mind; it's completely irrelevant if they have sold you a faulty product.

Tell them that you need a like-for-like replacement, regardless of whatever price they're charging now, and you'll accept the voucher that they've already given you as compensation for the postage of the duff item back to them, your time and inconvenience and the store's deliberate attempts to deny you your statutory rights and fob you off with faulty information (well, it was either deliberate on the store's part or otherwise completely negligent basic staff training on their part - maybe they'd like to clarify which, to help you give a more accurate report to Trading Standards for them to pinpoint the exact nature of Argos' breach).

Remember: they have much, much more to lose here than you do. They aren't some dodgy local cowboy; they're Argos, for goodness' sake.

Not everyone accepts low standards. Plus the OP said it lasted 4 months before it went wrong.