The media

[AdvancedFlea]

This may surprise some of you but I am not starting this thread soley to bitch about the media. Just 2 problems that they have indirectly caused me

Ed Doolan

There's a radio presenter who hosts for a local radio station around here, BBC WM. His name is Ed Doolan. Parts of his show give advice to people who believe they have been screwed over and I would say about 5% of that is good advice, the rest is total bollocks.

Because our store, along with god knows how many others, is within the broadcast area of BBC WM we will occasionally get pissed off customers telling us that they will be in contact with Ed Doolan before storming out and, of course, us never seeing them again. Although we do occasionally hear from them when the local trading standards office call to get our side of the story.

So, we've got this woman in, and she's got a problem with a monitor. It's 9 months old, powers up then comes up "No Signal. Going to sleep" no matter what you put to it. So I told her that it's no problem. LG UK give you a 3 year on-site swap-out warranty.

"Well thats not good Enough" She tells me "I want YOU to swap it. I'm not leaving until you do"

to which I reply "If you want me to do something we have to book it in, it'll be away from you for 3 weeks while LG REPAIR, not replace it. That is a policy I have to stick to if I want to stay employed. Going through LG is the best route all around. It offers the quickest resolution for you and is less load on us. Not to mention it saves you the additional cost of having to drive back up here"

"I don't see why I should deal with LG. I want you to swap it now. I know my rights, I have spoken to Ed Doolan. He's a solicitor, you know"

"Okay. First off, you clearly do NOT know your rights. Secondly, Ed Doolan is NOT a solicitor, he is a radio DJ. If he was a solicitor, why does he not own or work or a legal firm? I'm going to hazard a guess and say it's because from what I have heard of his show; he has NO idea what he is on about. He's not even a halfway decent radio presenter"

...She was not happy with my comments about her favourite presenter lol

I Watch WatchDog

Watchdog is a consumer watch program on the BBC here in the UK. It's a VERY good program to watch because generally speaking they name & shame the companies who fuck you over or who have made and continue to make massive mistakes. Since they combined forces with "Rogue Traders" they show you the...well...Rogue Traders. Tradesmen that come out to your house to do work they shouldn't and/or inflate the price. I've heard of threats of being put onto watchdog a few times but it's never actually happend.

So a lady and gent come into me with a TV they have bought 11 months ago. Suddenly the scart socket has stopped working. Sure enough, yes, I connect a DVD Player to it and it doesn't want to know. Fine, I give them the phone number to contact Samsung for an engineer to come out to it.

"Why should I call these people? This has clearly been faulty from the beginning" The wife asks

"No it hasn't. It's been faulty for 2 days, as you told me" I reply

"Under the sales of goods act, I am entitled to a new TV as it is to be assumed this was faulty from the day we bought it AND it is not fit for purpose" She replied

"Under the sales of goods act you are entitled to a working TV within a "reasonable" amount of time. I am also entitled to book this in and test it to make sure it's not misuse or wear & tear that's done it. Said 'Reasonable' amount of time for small TVs is 4 months even though we promise to get it back to you within 4 weeks. A for it not being fit for purpose..." I started to say

"Be Careful. I Saw this on watchdog last week"

She was right. there was a section on what "fit for purpose" meant. Well, kind of. It was about a product that defiantly was NOT fit for purpose. I think it was about BMW wheels fitted with run-flat tyres, not sure.

I Rolled my eyes and replied "Okay, if you're gonna go for a TV show as your defence, make sure it's not one I watch. Right after Anne Robinson told you what "Fit for purpose" meant she immediately said "Be careful. There is a BIG difference between a fault and something that is unfit for purpose. This TV has been fit for purpose for 11 months but it is now FAULTY. It will be for for purpose again if you listen to what I am telling you"

an observation of mine

I don't mean that as a title for an SC story....this is an observation I have made in relation to this week's Watchdog.

There was a section where apparently supermarkets and manufacturers are ripping us off

They are doing this by using the same size containers they were last year, putting less in there but charging the same. That's not where it ends though, they actually have the damn cheek to print exactly how much is in the container so anyone with a pair of eyes, two brain cells to rub together and an ounce of sense can check what they are actually paying for!

an example (Because I'm not sure I quite explained it well enough amongst the sarcasm there) That last year you may have bought a bottle of Dr Pepper that would have cost you 60p for 550ml. It would have stated how many millilitres you get on the label. Now, you buy a bottle of the same drink, you still pay 60p and the bottle is still physically the same size but the label states there is only 500ml in there, as pictured here > http://www.advancedflea.co.uk/cs/IMG_0024.JPG I do not see a problem here! When the product is on the shelf you can see what you are getting for the price you are paying. If the customer is not reading the display that IS THEIR PROBLEM, not the supermarket, not the manufacturer.

That was the point the person Anne Robinson was interviewing was trying to make. He was trying to say that you can see what you get for what price before you buy. He even went on to say that he checks the price strip where it tells you how much the product costs per 100g, Per Litre, per inch, etc. Which was a Watchdog shopping tip from last season!! Was Anne Robinson having any of this? No. He was proving them to be in the wrong so she just kept cutting him off and interrupting him.

HEY! BBC! You combined Watchdog and rogue traders! That means you save an hour of programming but did the cost of the TV Lisence go down? NO! Morons.

[Exaspera]

There was a guy in Houston who was a consumer advocate for one of the TV stations in Houston named Marvin Zindler, and what a showman he was! Folks tried to sic Marvin Zindler on other folks down there all the time. He was a real character. I liked him!

[ottid]

Sounds like our Target Last time our shop did anything because of them was when they did a sting on lotto stores and checking for ages for those purchasing scratchies (have to be 18). Their main problem (from where I'm standing) is that their name and shame stings are usually only ever done in Auckland and I live in the South Island I do like their product checks though.

[AdvancedFlea]

Folks tried to sic Marvin Zindler on other folks down there all the time. He was a real character. I liked him!

I don't think people try to Sic Doolan on anyone...anymore. They just call him up to moan and bitch about stuff

checking for ages for those purchasing scratchies (have to be 18).

I gotta be honest, I hate those sting operations. Yeah, they need to be done but I'm always worried I'll fuck up and sell an 18 game to someone who's 17 or something.

I got lucky once and saw a trading standards sting coming, quite litterally. A story for another time, perhaps lol.

[Aut]

We have Get Gephart here. I hear his name thrown around a lot on local boards. Anytime someone has an issue with a company, the first advice that gets thrown out is "you should call Gephart." And then they get upset when he tells them they have no case.

[elsporko]

I've always thought those stings were kind of a waste of money. Sure, I suppose the ones where they are checking if the store checks IDs have a purpose, but I've heard of ones where they use fake IDs, sometimes very good ones, and penelize the store for thinking the fake ID is real. That seems like its stepping over the line. The store should be rewarded for at least trying.

[gaspode]

Good old "Ed Doolan" he does do some things to help the public but for some reason over the years he seems to be getting more self-righteous and take the customers side without knowing the full facts and they use him as some sort of weapon,but he is still better than the numpty woman who is on before him(jo malin) who always brings the conversation around to women's problems.

As for customers reading labels on products,nah ,they can't even read the foot high signs above they aisles,was filling the butters today and one gentleman say to his wife "oh get the 250 kilo packet it cheaper" ,I thought better get the forklift out then its 250 grams you muppet.

[Bunny the Veggie Slayer]

There are two main points of UK consumer law that a lot of people either don't know, or get confused about.

First is the 6 month rule. If a product developes a fault within 6 months it is automatically assumed to be an inherent fault, unless the seller can prove otherwise. After 6 months it is assumed to be general wear and tear, unless the buyer can prove otherwise.

In either case if the product is returned after what is classed as "reasonable time" then the seller can choose between offering a repair, a replacement or a refund. And the more time that has passed the lower the money value of the product is assumed to hold.

Reasonable time is a wooly area, because circumstances can vary widely from case to case. For example if you bought a camera, but had a stroke on the way home rendering you comatose for 2 months, you may be able to claim a larger period of reasonable time if things went to court.

The second point is that when a customer purchases a product, it forms a contract between them and the vendor. This means if a customer doesn't want to deal with the manufacturer, they don't have to. It's the vendors responsibilty. In most cases where the best option is to contact the manufacturer, if a customer really wants to push it, they can insist on the vendor doing so.

It still doesn't excuse the entitlement suck of most of them though

[chainedbarista]

i like customer advocacy shows, but with all things, the sc picks and chooses what they want to apply to their situation, so whether or not their complaint has merit means nothing; they have a problem, it's your fault and you'd better fix it NOW NOW NOW.

sadly, as bunny and flea have stated, they fail to follow directions; reading would end much of their rants over the ridiculous if they were actually inclined to put out the effort to read, but we all know they won't.

[Hermione]

There was a guy in Houston who was a consumer advocate for one of the TV stations in Houston named Marvin Zindler, and what a showman he was! Folks tried to sic Marvin Zindler on other folks down there all the time. He was a real character. I liked him!

Slllllllllllllime in the ice machine!

(He did a lot of health departmentt reports on restaurants and slime in the ice machine is a big problem for restaurants)

[Kristev]

Riverside, CA, had a show like that called "Fight back" in the 80's.

[Andara Bledin]

Ah, that would be David Horowitz, consumer advocate.

He's the one mostly responsible for the ban on toy guns that look too much like the real thing.

^-.-^

[Kristev]

Horowitz. Yes, that's it. That's him. Thank you. I really couldn't remember his name for the life of me.

[AdvancedFlea]

And then they get upset when he tells them they have no case.

*snikkers* it makes me laugh when stuff like that happens

We actually had one guy come back in over a TV and admit to us tradeing standards had told him he has no case but still argue with us. It was funny in a way

...Use fake IDs, sometimes very good ones, and penelize the store for thinking the fake ID is real. That seems like its stepping over the line.

I think you'll probibly find their arguement is "the person should know what a real one looks like" which is a stupid arguement I know. They've not tried that over here yet. probibly because they know they would never get away with it.

"oh get the 250 kilo packet it cheaper" ,I thought better get the forklift out then its 250 grams you muppet.

lol. I've seen people do that. I was kinda forced to go in my own mind "do you know how much ___KG actually weighs, idiot?"

This means if a customer doesn't want to deal with the manufacturer, they don't have to. It's the vendors responsibilty. In most cases where the best option is to contact the manufacturer, if a customer really wants to push it, they can insist on the vendor doing so.

Absolutly dead right The reason we recomend that they deal with the manufacturer is that dealing with the manufacturer is ususally the quickest route and it means less work for us...particually in the case of Smell computers. Yes, I still hate them.

If it's somthing that the company would normally deal with, like a computer, I still tend to refer them to TechDirect Home Service as opposed to Store service. The Home service guys cam come out with the replacement parts within a few days but we have to order them which can take a few weeks. It's a pain in the arse.

...reading would end much of their rants over the ridiculous if they were actually inclined to put out the effort to read, but we all know they won't.

I think we should print this on the box seals of all products "If your product develops a fault: READ THE GOD DAMNED MANUAL. If you need to contact any customer support line then do NOT act like a total tosser. Foolow both of these instructions and your problem will be ressolved quickly. Enjoy your new ____"

[Skeksin]

Fixed an issue with my camera by reading the manual. Or at least the internet. Digital camera with recall notice. Went over the details with the person on the phone and got a mailer emailed to me to slap on and send out in just a short time.

For the fake ID thing I would counter anyone that wanted to charge me personally for not knowing is the fact that it requires training to spot a good fake ID and neither the Employing company nor the government have seen fit to provide it.