My TV purchase nightmare.

[admin_exported]

Hello everyone,

After reading many posts on here, and in particular Clare’s advice I decided to buy a Panasonic Plasma TH37PX70.

I thought you might bee interested in my experience of buying the TV from Dixons on line. They offered a good price of £649 for the set . I decided to buy the TV with the Serano TS031 stand. It is one of those stands that the TV is bracketed to the stand to make it look as if it Is wall mounted. The stands details say it can take a TV up to 42 inch.

So my TV arrives on Sunday , and yesterday I spent all day assembling the stand only to find that the brackets do not fit the TV. The back plate has the holes in the wrong place. So I ring Dixons and have to press 1 for this, and then press 2 for that, and then press 6 for the next thing, until I finally I get through to a man who does not apologise but, simply says they will pick up the stand. Or alternatively I can go to my local Currys store and deal with them.

So , I have been down to my local store this morning, only to be told that they can’t do much about it as they don’t deal with that particular stand. They can however, offer me another stand but, that is £299, as opposed to the £139 I paid for the stand from Dixons. If I bought the stand with the TV it would be only £140. But as I did not buy the TV from them it will be £299. Could I buy the stand from Dixons I ask. Yes, replies the girl.

I troop home, and ring Dixons on line, only be to put through to a call centre in Sheffield, who tell me they don’t know what size brackets fit which TV. I ask them if they can supply the stand the girl in Currys recommended, and I am told that no, Dixons don’t sell that particular sand. When I point out that Dixons and Currys are the same company and that I was told to go to a Currys store, she tells I should not have been told to go to Currys.

Finally, I ask if can they just supply me an ordinary stand, but I will need the little plinth that goes in the bottom of the TV. No, they can’t supply that, because, it comes with the telly in the box from Panosonic. So I will have to order another Panasonic TH37PX 70 (with plinth) That means they will have to come and pick up my TV as well as the stand.

So I have told them to come and take away the whole thing an give me back my money, which is what they are doing. What a complete waste of time and effort for such shabby service. I now intend to buy the TV elsewhere, even if means paying more money. Is this typical?

Mark

 

[Anonymous]

Well this is the kind of scenario I absolutely dread and why i also go
for the John Lewis option. More expensive, but longer guarantee and
(in my experience) knowledgeable and diligent customer service!

 

[professorhat]

It can be an issue when buying from a non-specialist store like Currys / Dixons and the problem is made even worse when done online as you can't actually see what you're buying to ensure it will fit together. A proper dealer will generally know what stands you can and cannot use with a certain brand of TV (as that's their job!) and may cost a bit more. The upside is, if there is a problem you can go back and talk to the same person who sold you the TV, instead of a call centre in Sheffield where the operator is unlikely to know anything about your problem!

If you do go to a dealer, make sure to ask what deal he can do for you though. Whether this be free cables to upgrade the free ones that come in the box, or a money discount, most dealers will do you a deal if you ask.

 

[Anonymous]

What gets me is that Dixons/Currys is not some back street company. They are part of the DSGI group which is listed on the stock market. Their managing director recently released figures to the City in which he admitted trading was tough.

Frankly, I am not surprised if this how their customers are treated. Surely it is not that difficult for them to be able to identify which stands go with which TV?

But what really annoys me is their communications system. At no point did anyone apologise or perhaps more importantly short circuit the system and say....

ENOUGH ALREADY,... I WIL ARANGE TO COLLECT THE STAND ,AND SUPLY YOU WITH A STAND THAT WILL WORK.

Nope, that is apparently too much for them.

Well , I intend to write to the said managing Director of the company and let him know what I think of his service.

 

[Anonymous]

One thing about this whole sorry story that is quite amusing. As I have no telly, I decided to go into the loft and get out my 14 inch Sony Trinitron TV. It is a bit small, but boy what a picture. It blows spots of most of the Tvs I have seen in the show rooms.

If only it was another 20 odd inches wide!!

Mark

 

[Andy TW]

The pedestal stand you would need for your TV is the "Panasonic TYST42D1-WK". It is a universal stand for all the Panasonic PX70/700 TV's at 42" or 37".Not quite sure what Dixons are on about as the stand is delivered in a separate box from the TV and can be ordered from several sites for around £99 without the TV.I really can't see any reason why Dixon's cannot supply you with the pedestal and a suitable stand to replace the one you have.

 

[Anonymous]

This is why I just told them to come and pick the whole lot up and give me back my money. All they had to do was exchange the stand for another stand, and send me the PX70/700 pedestal.

But their sytems are too comlicated for that.

I am watching their web site to see if they change the details on the stand I bought. It would save them a lot of time and money if the pointed out to future customers that this stand does not go with the Panasonic.

 

[JoelSim]

Unfortunately the DSG group employ people with little or no knowledge about what they are selling as they get them for far cheaper wages, which is why, coupled with their buying power they can offer good deals. In my opinion, chain stores such as these are to be avoided at all costs. You'll actually find far more experienced shops on eBay.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Very Annoyed. Become Very Pleased. Check this link. I bought my Sony LCD from this company and a few other items. It offers excellent service and this deal includes a wall bracket. http://www.soundandvisiononline.com/moreinfo/index.asp?product_id=12734

 

[Anonymous]

This is exactly why I chose to make my TV purchase (same as Very Annoyed except it's the French version) from a local independent dealer, paying a little more than with a chain or Internet store, but getting them to choose and provide the wall bracket AND install it for me. Excellent service and I was certain that the bracket would fit the screen (turns out that this TV has rather non-standard places for the wall brackets to attach to - much closer to the edges than most screens according to the installation technician). What is more, comparing that to Darty (a French equivalent of Dixons, although I believe there's no link between the companies), if I had asked them to install it on the wall for me and bought a bracket from them, it would have cost me more than I paid the local dealer.

The local guy said he couldn't beat Darty on price but could only compete on service. He was right. I got a good deal, and was delighted with the service - and avoided all the stress and wasted time that Very Annoyed has suffered. They even helped me to get set up with all my connections, and threw in what looks like a pretty good YUV cable too. I know for sure where I'll be buying my AV receiver which is my next purchase.