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Thread ID: 86231	2008-01-09 04:56:00	Harvey norman & warranties	Greven (91)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
628672	2008-01-09 08:03:00	The consumer bought a product from a retailer The retailer has more responsibilities than just banking the mark-up and paying for advertising. Time for some fines "Making an example". Customers cannot be forced to covenant out of their rights. Have DSE H/N N/L etc. heard of service (other than the sort the bull delivers to the cow)? Do they give a toss? working on the floor I can tell you that management and head office do not care a damn, most of us at the bottom rung empathise strongly with customers however we are very limited in what we can do, anything outside of company protocol results in discipline and no-one has the funds or the willpower to fight it, so it will continue until someone stands up and fights it. However until someone does that I do believe that for minor technical issues a quick call to the manufacturers helpdesk can not only save time and effort, (honestly, a 20 minute phone call is far less effort than a drive down to the store) but provide a far better outcome than trying to work around stupid company policies and even worse manufacturer policies.	lagbort (5041)
628673	2008-01-09 08:08:00	Okay, the retailer avoids his responsibilities, and provides no service in the event he has sold the customer a pile of scrap. As long as we understand that. I presume if I waltz in to DSE and pay for some goods with Monopoly money tomorrow, it will be alright. Any problems they have with banking the money they can take up with the printer of the play money. Shopping is going to be fun again. BTW, how hard is it to slap a new hard drive into a laptop? (As long as we avoid the infinite number of monkeys method of getting results.)	R2x1 (4628)
628674	2008-01-09 08:13:00	working on the floor I can tell you that management and head office do not care a damn, most of us at the bottom rung empathise strongly with customers however we are very limited in what we can do, anything outside of company protocol results in discipline and no-one has the funds or the willpower to fight it, so it will continue until someone stands up and fights it. However until someone does that I do believe that for minor technical issues a quick call to the manufacturers helpdesk can not only save time and effort, (honestly, a 20 minute phone call is far less effort than a drive down to the store) but provide a far better outcome than trying to work around stupid company policies and even worse manufacturer policies.:lol: If it's so easy, why cant HN, NL, DSE do it for the customer then? The customer believes they are doing the right thing in returning it to the point of sale (and according to the CGA they are). Its not up to the customer to run around and do what the retailer should be doing for them You, I, and probably half this forum know that a call to the manufacturer would probably be more beneficial. But half of this forum is a small percentage of the NZ consumer pool. So therefore, people/companies more in the know (who do this sort of thing for a living) should be helping those not-in-the-know and do their job 100%	Myth (110)
628675	2008-01-09 08:14:00	I think most of you have missed the point of what I am saying, I am not saying that the ideal situation is for customers to have to contact manufacturers, indeed in my own job I endeavour to avoid that as much as possible, even going to the extent of using my dedicated breaks to research issues for customers to try and avoid having to send any products away for service, however with the current state of the large chain retailers in New Zealand, and the attitudes I see from the other workers around me I am merely suggesting that customers are far more likely to get a satisfactory resolution (and a much speedier one at that) by contacting the manufacturers directly. Many manufacturers seem to now be moving the way of direct contact with customers with the chain stores being merely a sales point, it isnt just HP that wants to talk direct to you know, but also Acer and Microsoft, and there are rumblings of other companies all moving the same way now. With the current state of low product knowledge in New Zealand retail chains (with those of us who actually know something about what we are selling preferring other career options) I really cant see anyone getting better service from retail level than from manufacturer level, a sad reality but a reality none the less. anyway, it wont be long before retail chains are gone and direct sales from the manufacturer are in, Dell made it work and maybe this direct customer service is merely the first step in that direction. Providing technical support is a different thing, from getting a repair or replacement done on a defective product. I believe retailers are allowed to contract out the technical support for a product, back to the manufacturer of the product. However this would be for such things as how to use a product, rather than dealing with replacing or repairing a product that has a problem. NZ consumer law states that it is the retailers responsibility to deal with defective products, and they can't contract out of that.	robbyp (2751)
628676	2008-01-09 08:17:00	Pragmatism, folks ! Lagbort may be on shakey legal ground but isn't it better to deal with the person who is actually going to fix the thing? Now, if HP had refused to deal with Greven's customer - that would have been grounds to bang the counter and threaten the CGA.!!	decibel (11645)
628677	2008-01-09 08:22:00	Okay, the retailer avoids his responsibilities, and provides no service in the event he has sold the customer a pile of scrap . As long as we understand that . In the event the unit is a pile of scrap it gets replaced, if its within ~2 weeks of purchase, it will get replaced at store level, if its after that, it gets sent to service where they will decide whether to fix it or they will send a note back to the store to tell us to exchange it . IN the case of HP, the process is the same except in the case of it being outside of 2 weeks in which case the customer rings HP who either point them to the local repair agent, or send out a courier sticker to get it sent to them . BTW, how hard is it to slap a new hard drive into a laptop? (As long as we avoid the infinite number of monkeys method of getting results . ) You would think it would be simple, however we cannot replace any standard part at a store level, in that case the laptop would be sent to service where the HDD would be replaced by an approved technician, tested (hopefully) and sent back to the store . Should we attempt to do this replacement at store level the following would happen: - the employee who did it would be reprimanded - the manager who authorised it would be reprimanded - the manufacturer would not reimburse the store for the HDD - the customers warranty would be void - microsoft would more than likely get angry about us shifting the copy of windows to a new hdd	lagbort (5041)
628678	2008-01-09 08:25:00	working on the floor I can tell you that management and head office do not care a damn, most of us at the bottom rung empathise strongly with customers however we are very limited in what we can do, anything outside of company protocol results in discipline and no-one has the funds or the willpower to fight it, so it will continue until someone stands up and fights it. . The post is about a faulty harddrive, not issues with software, so it isn't that difficult to check that the hardrive is really faulty then the retailer sending it back to the manufacturer for replacement. These companies really shouldn't be selling products such as computers if they don't have knowledgeable people on hand to do a quick diagnosis	robbyp (2751)
628679	2008-01-09 08:25:00	Shutup lag. Your talking through a hole in your head. It's pointless crap like that that makes this forum hard to dig through.	wratterus (105)
628680	2008-01-09 08:30:00	Being a reseller myself I can tell you a bit of "customer relations " goes one hell of a long way. If there's a problem , customer contacts me - I contact supplier(if needed for an RMA) or if parts in stock fix it - advice the customer of turn around time to fix/repair what ever - get item from customer- send it or take it to Manufacture/repair center. Return to customer ASAP, or as in the case of a current PC thats going to take a week to get replacement parts ( supplier doesn't have them in stock currently) put in a loan PC for her work - old clunker - but it keeps her going. End result - customers happy - Repeat business. Where's the brainer?? :waughh: :D BIG businesses seem to have forgotten what "Customer Service" means.	wainuitech (129)
628681	2008-01-09 08:34:00	working on the floor I can tell you that management and head office do not care a damn, most of us at the bottom rung empathise strongly with customers however we are very limited in what we can do, anything outside of company protocol results in discipline and no-one has the funds or the willpower to fight it, so it will continue until someone stands up and fights it. However until someone does that I do believe that for minor technical issues a quick call to the manufacturers helpdesk can not only save time and effort, (honestly, a 20 minute phone call is far less effort than a drive down to the store) but provide a far better outcome than trying to work around stupid company policies and even worse manufacturer policies. Loyalty to your employer is laudable in most circumstances. However, what works on the floor, may not work in the court. Whatever the head office is calling it to enhance the "beans in the pot" figure, breaking the law is not really a great base for their (lack of) service policy. Protocol, con-act, or policy, it is illegal - deliberately flouting the law is rather unsmilingly regarded in some quarters that are capable of grinding slow and small. H/N. N/L, DSE may consider themselves above the law, but there are a few rather strangely costumed fellows with a team that can show retailers a trick or two. The funds to squash these retailers will strangely enough be provided by the self same retailers, since the team with the funny uniforms own the pitch, the bat, the ball and they write the rules as well as collect the prizes and match fees from the losers. And for your own part, maybe you should refer all warranty claims to someone senior that you dislike. Let them break the law while you are washing your hands.:help: Ignorance of the law is not considered a good excuse, even if you have amassed enough ignorance to be awarded a bean countership. :waughh:	R2x1 (4628)
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