www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

We have an offer to insure our sky tv box, for the low price of £99.
That's for this year, and next, how much will that be, and after 5 years we will have spent at least £495 for what?

I never bother with insurance for anything "odd" (house contents etc, yes)
I was offered insurance on a PAYG phone, it was a joke, the phone cost less than the insurance, so it would be cheaper to get a new up-to-date phone than get insurance.
Similar for most "appliances" get a new one costs less.

Have you ever got insurance and regretted it, or have you been happy you did get the insurance as you claimed?

You know how the sales staff at Comet used to push that worthless insurance cover? I bought a £9.99 kettle and at the till I said loudly 'How much would the extended guarantee cost?' The assistant says rather sheepishly 'For this product it would be £19.99' to which I replied 'Hmmmm ....tempting but I will give it a miss' Some people in the queue laughed and she slammed the till drawer shut signifying her annoyance and that I should f*ck off.

Comet helped kill itself

DWD

This scam has been exposed many times. Your statutory rights give you protection for what is considered to be a 'reasonable lifespan' for whatever it is you purchase. In the case of a Sky box it is not unreasonable to expect it to last 6, 7 or more years therefore if the unit is claimed to be 'out of warranty' (I think they claim 2 years???) then quoting from consumer rights - in writing - usually gets results.

We've done this in the past for both Sky and BT and had replacements sent FOC. Companies rely heavily on customer ignorance (of the law) and on complacency - customers preferring to purchase a newer model than have the dud one replaced.

More people need to complain. Forget sounding/looking like a whinger (as I'm sure I do all the time ) but it WORKS!

I read in a book about home economics that only 1 in 5 buyers of extended warranties ever makes a claim, and only 1 in 5 of those gets their money back. I did buy one for a camera, but that's all.

yep as said a waste off money
they often make more from the gtee than the product it covers

Comet, hhhmmmm, don't get me going.

I bought a laptop from PC World EIGHT months ago. The sale staff pushed all the buttons insisting that I insure it against damage, blah blah, blah. I said NO. The more I said no, the more she insisted on the benefits? I vehemently said NO!!!

She was not well pleased. Anyway, I went and handed over my credit card and that was that. Last month, I checked my credit card details closely as I could not recognise one of the entries?

It was for £7.99 and there was a telephone number. So I phoned and it turned out for SEVEN months, they had been taking £7.99/m for insurance on the laptop

I immediately reported the card stolen. When they could not collect any money on the 19th of May, the wrote me a letter asking for the money. I told them to get lost, then wrote them requesting that all the funds they had taken from my card be refunded.

Last week I got a response, saying: ''If my version is true that I had declined the insurance, then the money cannot be refunded as I had allowed them to collect the money on a monthly basis for SEVEN months. So in as much as they're sorry that I did not get the outcome I was hoping for, there is nothing they can do. Contact the manager of the branch where the product was bought''.

Believe you me, I am going to have fun with that bloke.
By the time I finish with him, he will be asking for a holiday and is most likely not to return. If he wants a fight, he picked the right person. I will give him at least a month. That way he believes I have gone away quietly, then WHOOOOOOSH!!!!
I hope he has got his pain killers handy.
I appreciate he will be begging me to write to the financial ombudsman or similar, but I'll do no such thing. I'll just keep plugging away at him till he breaks down.
I refuse to be stolen from.
The Chinese have stolen money from me as per my In-Car-Camera video equipment. They can get away with it as it is a foreign company and I cannot locate a phone number for them. But a British Company 'trying it urn', well, I won't stand for it.

Are you implying Comet is related to PC World? Currys is because they belong to the same parents company, but not Comet.

Shame you didn't post before you cancelled your card as being 'stolen'. Could have had some sound advice for you, I think that was the wrong thing to do. Your card wasn't stolen at all.

Did you check the receipt when you had purchased the product? And have you REALLY not checked your bank account in over 7 months to not spot the money going out?

At the risk of siding with them, I really don't see how you can miss ALL of it for so long.

Did you pay for the laptop outright or by finance?

You need to sign the direct debit - it's monthly cover for that cost, you are free to stop it whenever you like but cover obviously stops at the same time. Ring up/write and say you don't want it. Stopped.

If you brought the laptop with finance, again you would have had to have signed at the till - 3 for the laptop credit/finance agreement and 1 for additional cover. If the direct debit form isn't signed, then it's caught up in admin as incomplete, the money is refunded and you are given the cash straight back - unless you are claiming fraud, which is something you need to be 100% sure of.

Is it possible you were given a free months cover, then forgot to cancel it?

Whatever, I don't think you'll get far. I don't see how people can blindly sign things and not know what it is.

As for what it offers, it's not JUST warranty for when things break down. You obviously pick what it's worth while for - high value (not the crap 250 quid bits of junk) are worth it. A 20 quid kettle? Pointless.

Do you think that if you dropped a laptop and smashed it a manufacturer warranty would cover it? No. It's not a manufacturing fault. You could use your house insurance, but you'll pay MANY times over in future years. What if you spilt a drink on it - same, no cover with warranty. Pen on the keyboard, slam - BIG bill. The cover will pick up the tab.

Think about your data too - the cover you had also includes data recovery if you need it. Lost accounts, etc - handy! What if the machine is smashed - you will get your personal stuff back. Won't with manufacturer warranty. IT's simply gone. Family pics? Holiday snaps? Email?

If it's written off, then you get a voucher to buy another to the same spec, but a modern equivalent.

My wifes mum just had their 4 year old machine written off. Went off for repair, same fault for three times - quite an odd fault. Third time, it's ripe for write off. She rang up, the arranged collection and she got a voucher. Went to store and they shown her a 'simar' spec. Store didn't agree there was enough cash and argued her case with the team who decide the value of the voucher - they DOUBLED the monies available. She now has a brand spanking new REALLY high spec laptop again.

She's taken cover again, by choice.

Good luck, whatever you do - let us know how you get on.

BG (who doesn't work for the group in question)

BG, I paid up front by Credit Card.
There could not have been any ONE month free cover as I know I told the girl on more than THREE occasions. If they got me to sign a mandate of any sort for the cover, it tantamounts to fraud as far as I am concerned.

I did not notice the transactions as it is a card that I only use now and again. The computer cost me over £600. I have at least six credit cards, and use them for various things. This particular card provider had just decided to not send me any more paper statements and only send them by emails just about three months before the purchase. I constantly forget the password and the process to obtain a new one is rigorous, to say the least. So I can go for months without checking the account (i admit that is my problem, not anybody's). So when I finally got round to checking the card, then I noticed the transaction. They could have been taking the money for over two years and I would never have noticed?

My home insurance covers me for damage to laptops. I have made two claims in the past (though the renewal now says laptops are not covered?). Even so, I would prefer not to have it reinstalled BG.

I have also had another of my cards cancelled last week when I started having problems with 1&1 Internet. They were trying every trick to not cancel the contract I had taken up with them. I admit if they had taken the money, I would have been able to get them to refund it, but I already have too much arguements going on and had no intention of having another one on my hands. Will just have to re-instate the various DD on that card when the companies write to complain that payment has been declined.

kintangoman wrote:BG, I paid up front by Credit Card.
There could not have been any ONE month free cover as I know I told the girl on more than THREE occasions. If they got me to sign a mandate of any sort for the cover, it tantamounts to fraud as far as I am concerned.

I did not notice the transactions as it is a card that I only use now and again. The computer cost me over £600. I have at least six credit cards, and use them for various things. This particular card provider had just decided to not send me any more paper statements and only send them by emails just about three months before the purchase. I constantly forget the password and the process to obtain a new one is rigorous, to say the least. So I can go for months without checking the account (i admit that is my problem, not anybody's). So when I finally got round to checking the card, then I noticed the transaction. They could have been taking the money for over two years and I would never have noticed?

My home insurance covers me for damage to laptops. I have made two claims in the past (though the renewal now says laptops are not covered?). Even so, I would prefer not to have it reinstalled BG.

I have also had another of my cards cancelled last week when I started having problems with 1&1 Internet. They were trying every trick to not cancel the contract I had taken up with them. I admit if they had taken the money, I would have been able to get them to refund it, but I already have too much arguements going on and had no intention of having another one on my hands. Will just have to re-instate the various DD on that card when the companies write to complain that payment has been declined.

Why couldn't they have done one month? I don't understand. You sign the direct debit mandate, they give you one month free. If you don't want it, you cancel it before the first payment comes out (for month two). If you don't cancel it, the payment comes out. Easy.

If you signed it, you signed without reading it. Simple. I think you are mad. Take someone with you if you buy a car/house/whatever!!!!

If you are saying you signed it without reading it 'because you were tricked' then I THINK (just MY PERSONAL opinion) if it ended in court (assuming the store doesn't decide just give you the cash, which I wouldn't if I was in a store and you approached me) then you have to look at it from their point of view:

- you SAY you told them you didn't want it - can you prove it after 7 months and that it's not buyers remorse as you've not used it yet?
- that you signed the direct debit without reading or questioning it and they produced the signed agreement
- you didn't check you bank account in 7 months (difficult or not....is that the shops fault, any shop?) and didn't notice?
- you didn't look at the receipt when you purchased it in any way, where it's listed (please check)

They write each year to ask if all is well, so you'd know after each year. They also write when there are changes to policy (if any - again, please check I don't work there).

So you now have a laptop worth 600 quid with no cover other than 'manufacturing faults'. Once out of first year, I'm sure you could TRY and claim it was made that way - but the onus would be on you to prove it was a manufacturing fault. Not as easy as it seems with computers.

Re-installed? Never said anything about re-installing. I was talking about RECOVERY/retrieval of your PERSONAL data. If it's smashed, all your stuff is gone unless you know how to do it yourself (drive out, caddy, connect and get it back....) or specialised lab recovery if the drive is physically dead?

If you cancel cards when something happens that you 'forgot', then I think you might be setting yourself up for trouble - not with PC World - like I said, it's pay per month cover. Cancel, it stops. Other places is a dangerous game, especially if you have agreed to a specified payments.

If this happens a lot, which it seems you have mentioned a few things, then you need to start reading your paperwork and what you sign, not blame other for being tricked. If you aren't sure - take someone!!! I'm not being funny, but if it saves you hassle, then it's an easy thing to do to save you hassle.

Check your accounts - there are plenty of ways for you to record your passwords safely. Use a pad if you like and lock it away. Also, banks get REALLY tetchy if you report cards as stolen and they are not........

Again, check all details are correct above. I only know what I'm told - I DO NOT work for DSGi / company above.

Just be sure before you go in ranting and raving - they respond (like anyone) to a well thought out REASONED argument. Write, if you want to get it in order.

BG (again, Just MY thoughts).

My manageress at work wanted to buy her husband a laptop for Christmas last year and went to PC World. She picked the laptop she wanted to buy and took it to the counter. The sales assistant asked her at least half a dozen times if she wanted the extended warranty on it. Each time she refused , telling the assistant, he was pushing his luck by asking her. When he asked her again if she wanted extended warranty, she told him to stuff the bloody laptop and the extended warranty where the sun don't shine and walked out. Sales assistant lost out on a £700 sale, for the sake of £8 a month which she'd made obvious she didn't want.

On the other hand, my dad bought a washing machine from Comet about 7 yrs ago and had the extended warranty. After 3 years , the washing machine broke down. An engineer came out and said it couldn't be repaired and told him to phone the warranty company again. A few weeks later he got a brand new latest top of the range washing machine.

BillyGoat wrote:

Why couldn't they have done one month? I don't understand. You sign the direct debit mandate, they give you one month free. If you don't want it, you cancel it before the first payment comes out (for month two). If you don't cancel it, the payment comes out. Easy.

If you signed it, you signed without reading it. Simple. I think you are mad. Take someone with you if you buy a car/house/whatever!!!!

- you SAY you told them you didn't want it - can you prove it after 7 months and that it's not buyers remorse as you've not used it yet?

BG (again, Just MY thoughts).

You have too many valid points there BG. The best one being I must be mad. Even I think now and again that I need help.

Hope you get sorted though KT, I'm just playing a bit......

Hi BillyGoat looking at your previous posts on when you rendered the outside of your house, can you tell me what paint you used to get that effect please?

sev1648 wrote:Hi BillyGoat looking at your previous posts on when you rendered the outside of your house, can you tell me what paint you used to get that effect please?

Hi Sev,

I've put info here for you - don't want to hijack this post!

render-post-for-sev-t66501.html

Cheers,

BG

big-all wrote:yep as said a waste off money
they often make more from the gtee than the product it covers

Errrrrrrrrr........I think that is the plan...the insurance company are in business to make money...not lose it...

maybe 5 % of extended warranties actually pay out....