Surprising Attitude to Warranty at The Good Guys

AlbyDuck on 18/11/2020 - 17:07

I'm still waiting for a call back on this one, so it may resolve. I'm just wondering what people think.

I got a Lenovo tablet in December last year at a good price from The Good Guys Ebay store. A few weeks ago it stopped working and I took it into my local Good Guys (O'Connor, WA). Yesterday I went to the store to pick up a replacement. I was told the the model I purchased was no longer being sold and was given what the guy said was the equivalent. I was also asked to pay $20, being the difference between what I paid and the list price of the new tablet. I was tired, I wanted to go home, and it was $20, so I paid.

Got home and did some research (which I should have done before). The replacement unit has lower screen resolution, less RAM, and a smaller battery than the original unit. There is a another current model that is close in spec to the dead unit. I called them up this morning and was told that they wouldn't offer that as a replacement because it was more expensive than the original. The difference in price is due to Lenovo jacking up their prices and a good deal on the
original purchase. Difference in functionality is negligible. They offered to give it to me if I paid the difference or they would refund me the purchase price.

Well, we had a long and polite chat about what a warranty actually means. My point was that it's not my fault if Lenovo don't keep enough stock aside to cater for warranty returns and it's TGG's responsibility to give me a replacement that's at least at the same level of specification as the one it's replacing. It seemed pretty simple to me. TGG have a suitable replacement in stock but they won't give it me because they don't want to take a loss. It seems to me that it shouldn't be that difficult to get a large company to honour a warranty.

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Comments

  • Kail on 18/11/2020 - 17:19
    +9

    I would say accept the refund then, since they are refusing to offer you an acceptable replacement. Making you pay for a same or worse spec replacement under warranty is BS.

    • andresampras on 18/11/2020 - 17:27

      I agree. If they are offering a refund, I don't think you really have a leg to stand on. There are many factors that constitute a 'suitable replacement', and if you and the store can't come to an agreement on 'suitable' then I don't see the problem with a refund.

      In fast-changing environments like the PC market, it's unreasonable to expect to get an item replaced with the same model a year after purchase.

      • urahara on 18/11/2020 - 17:37
        +2

        Accept Refund . Case closed

        • GnarlyKnuckles on 19/11/2020 - 04:06

          'Accept Refund . Case closed' …

          Absolutely this.

          In offering you a complete refund, the GG are graciously saying 'OK, if we give you ALL of your money back, you have then enjoyed the use of the product we sold you a year ago for that entire year, free of charge, and we sacrifice all our profit.'

          That is not good enough for you, Duck-A? Why not? Try to realise that 'being reasonable' cuts both ways. This website is not simply a forum for swapping ideas about how to screw every single retailer to the absolute max, at all costs.

          Accept the 'full refund' that the GG are graciously offering you after you have used the tablet for a year apparently without any issues, and use that refund money to buy whatever you can currently acquire in the current free market. It is totally bizarre that you seem to think that you are entitled to anything more than that. Ethically you are not, and by law you are certainly not.

          Sheesh.

      • AlbyDuck on 18/11/2020 - 19:45
        -7

        I would have thought that you hold back enough units to deal with replacements for twelve months after a model is discontinued. If you don't do that, and as a result you have to supply a customer with next year's model, then you just suck it up.

        • Quantumcat on 18/11/2020 - 23:09
          +1

          Why would they have a bunch of items sitting around they can't sell? If there are too many then they take a loss compared to giving a refund for any faulty units. Makes no sense.

        • andresampras on 19/11/2020 - 10:17
          +1

          Neither practical nor economically viable in most cases. Essentially you're saying all businesses should reserve unsellable stock of packaged product for the express purpose of fulfilling warranty replacements.

          Spare parts that are specific to products and likely need replacing…that's a different story. For example, spare remote controls for a TV. But a year on it is totally unreasonable to expect companies to be holding unopened stock from a year ago, when they have since been discontinued and superseded.

          Before you say "but wait what about…", I guess Apple has the means and motivation to do it differently, but they're the exception to the rule.

  • 87percent on 18/11/2020 - 17:23
    +1

    After the incident I had with Good Guys earlier in the week, I’m not sure if I will purchase from them again

    Bought an item, turned out to be crap. So took it back expecting them to refund. They wanted to test it and all this other stuff before refunding. Everything tested fine, but the sales person admitted the product was rubbish and they’ve had a few returned in the past few weeks but they said that they’ll have to refer it to their rep (of the company which the product belongs to) who comes once a week. I said that’s fine, but I would like something in writing

    Stupid manager gives me this attitude that I “don’t trust them”, and I was “wasting her time” no way am I taking the word of a retail manager, without having something in writing and leaving a $900 item sitting with them

    Eventually I got an email from them stating every, but (profanity) me I was close to yelling at this lady

    • Drakesy on 18/11/2020 - 17:29
      +4

      i'm interested in what this item that you bought that turned out to be crap was.

  • Slippery Fish on 18/11/2020 - 17:24
    +1

    The only reason your fighting the refund is not wanting to pay the extra yourself to replace lol

    • AlbyDuck on 18/11/2020 - 19:38
      -4

      Well, yeah. It was a good buy. They accepted my money to provide a tablet of a certain spec to work for a reasonable period of time. They are still in a position to honour that. They account for warranty returns and replacements when they fix their prices, don't they?

      • dasher86 on 18/11/2020 - 20:55
        +3

        No. It's replace or refund.

  • Drakesy on 18/11/2020 - 17:28
    +1

    Yeah, take the refund i'd say and wait for black friday.
    Although you would think like for like would apply here.

    • GnarlyKnuckles on 19/11/2020 - 04:23
      -1

      'Although you would think like for like would apply here.'

      It absolutely does not, for numerous obvious/sensible reasons.

      In Australia the law is that if the product does not live up to the terms of the warranty, then the seller is always at liberty to simply issue a full monetary refund. The fact is that this solution is generally best for the buyer, particularly if they have already used the product they bought for quite some time …

      Buyers who attempt to press a 'like-for-like' agenda that involves complex parameters such as RAM, screen resolution, battery parameters, etc. after using a product for a year, rather than simply taking the full refund, are clearly just wasting everyone's time/feebly attempting to 'game the system'.

      Have you considered an abacus, Duck-A? If you buy one of those, you will have zero problems with RAM or screen resolution, ever.

      • Drakesy on 19/11/2020 - 11:55

        Straight from the good guys warranty

        An equivalent replacement is a replacement product that has the same or similar function (determined by us) to the product you originally purchased to a value not exceeding the purchase price of the original product. This is based on the products features, not the price you paid. You can be assured that the replacement you receive will be as good if not better than the original product.

        In my experience If a bike manufacturer didn't have the exact replacement model frame on hand they'd have to give them a brand new frame/bike. In some cases guys were coming with 10 year old bikes and walking out with brand new $5k frames because it was the equivalent to the frame at the time.

        • GnarlyKnuckles on 19/11/2020 - 23:35

          (Sigh) … Drake, the cherry-picked quote you have provided demonstrates nothing relevant/does not refute anything I said at all; because the fact is that by law, the GG also/alternatively have the right to simply give the buyer all of their money back. I.e. a 100% cash refund. The GG can choose between those two options. Astute buyers will take the cash refund option whenever it's offered, because then they can 'shop around'/buy something new, with a whole new 1-year (minimum) warranty from wherever they want, with no vagories involved as to whether the warrantly period 'resets', etc. …

  • vitb1 on 18/11/2020 - 17:28

    Politeness and customer service is critically endangered in retail (and probably everywhere else).
    Long story short, my local Retravision stuffed up and they are giving me attitude.
    Tried getting something replaced under warranty. Initially told yes but they will have to get it in from another branch. A week later and no news, so called up to ask for an update, and copped an earful and was told that the previous guy I dealt with shouldn't have done what they did as the item is no longer stocked.
    WTF is wrong with people these days?

  • tsunamisurfer on 18/11/2020 - 17:33
    +3

    TGG offered a solution, the OP gladly took up the proposed solution after doing the requisite research (none), how is this situation TGG's fault?

    • AlbyDuck on 18/11/2020 - 19:28
      -1

      So you're saying that you go into every transaction with zero trust? That's a bit sad. Why would I automatically expect a retailer not to do the right thing by a customer? Actually, I don't think me accepting the package means case closed. It's unopened for a start. And the guy I spoke to this morning didn't try that one on.

      • tsunamisurfer on 18/11/2020 - 20:04
        +2

        So you're saying that you go into every transaction with zero trust? That's a bit sad.

        I will go into such transactions having done at least a sanity check.

        For example, I had a hot water system break after many years of use, I called a plumber to have it replaced with exactly the same item as it was reliable. He quoted, I said yes. He then called to say that the exact model is not available anymore and offered a comparable.

        Instead of saying yes straight away, I checked the price, capacity, efficiency, warranty of the offered product and it was comparable albeit a brand I had never heard of. I said yes after that check. This is one example of taking personal responsibility.

        Why would I automatically expect a retailer not to do the right thing by a customer?

        TGG did not 'not to do the right thing by a customer', they looked at the price of your item that they no longer stock and matched it with a comparable item they do stock.

        Actually, I don't think me accepting the package means case closed. It's unopened for a start. And the guy I spoke to this morning didn't try that one on.

        It's not about case closed or not, its about your tone.

        The title "Surprising Attitude to Warranty at The Good Guys" carries a negative connotation soon after you read into the passage.

        You expected TGG to do a line by line comparison of the tech specs, remembering they don't have the dead item anymore so that is impractical. No I do not expect the TGG guy to log into GSMArena and perform a compare, thats on ME to do.

        My point was that it's not my fault if Lenovo don't keep enough stock aside to cater for warranty returns

        You seem to think Lenovo and TGG should carry obsolete stock just so you can do a like for like return. Is it possible that keeping dead stock is an expense and a waste of money when it can be matched with newer stock?

        It seems to me that it shouldn't be that difficult to get a large company to honour a warranty.

        They've offered you the first item (which you gladly took) and then a full refund, isn't that satisfactory?

        • AlbyDuck on 18/11/2020 - 20:46
          -1

          I'm surprised at your adversarial tone to be honest. My tone to TGG has always polite. Was I surprised? Yes, I was. I expected customer service. I expected that they would already have an appropriate replacement ready when I got there. Ok, I expected those things, so I didn't do my research which makes me culpable apparently.

          That's not the main question. Should a retailer have to replace an item that stops working during warranty even if the price of that item (or the next iteration of that item) has gone up in the meantime? We'll see what happens tomorrow (no call-back from the today).

  • godofpizza on 18/11/2020 - 17:49
    +2

    should have checked the spec before accepting it. Not sure why you could have done this in store or as ask the store to double check the specs.

  • hm on 18/11/2020 - 18:32
    +4

    Accept refund, quickest, easiest, less stress

  • garetz on 18/11/2020 - 18:58
    +1

    Being tired isnt an excuse for not asking some simple questions or doing any due diligence. They took advantage of you, and you allowed it to happen.

    • GnarlyKnuckles on 19/11/2020 - 04:35

      Re 'They took advantage of you …'

      Nothing I read here suggests that the GG 'took advantage of' Duck-A at all. Duck-A bought a product from them and used it for a year, then returned it for a full monetary refund (i.e., the GG obviously LOSE MONEY on that transaction, but Duck-A does not; whichever way you slice it).

      On the contrary … everything I read here (written by Duck-A) suggests that he/she is attempting to take advantage of the GG.

      • AlbyDuck on 20/11/2020 - 18:46
        -3

        Serious load of crap. Money is tight. I wouldn't have bought it at full price. If I take a refund now, I've lost the hours I spent spent setting it up, I've lost the time in dicking around with the warranty issues, and I've lost a bargain which I spent time waiting for and looking around for. The person who uses it, loses the use of it, which she now very much needs. That leaves us trying to find another bargain, which I don't want to do again.

        If I pay the difference, I again lose the bargain because it leaves me paying full price. They want us to pay the difference between what I paid (a bargain) and the full list price. I didn't want to buy a full-priced tablet.

        You'd rather my family loses than The Good Guys? "Taking advantage of the Good Guys?" Seriously?

  • GeorgeJETson6 on 18/11/2020 - 20:48
    +4

    Take the bloody refund, stop trying to get something for nothing, they shouldn't be expected to take a loss

    • AlbyDuck on 20/11/2020 - 19:07
      -2

      Bullshit. Every warranty claim is a loss for them. It's part of doing business. You factor in the cost of warranty claims when you set your prices. What you don't do is tailor the cost of meeting your obligations according to how much the customer paid.

  • andresampras on 19/11/2020 - 10:24
    +1

    It's not often the majority takes the side of Big Business :)

    • AlbyDuck on 20/11/2020 - 18:56
      -3

      I don't get it. Many of the same people are happy to take advantage of price errors and hacks. I'm ripping off the poor old The Good Guys by asking them to replace a dead tablet with something of the same quality and functionality. On the other hand it's ok for TGG to try and fob me off with an entry level product because I didn't do due diligence. Yeah, makes sense.

      • godofpizza on 20/11/2020 - 20:06

        did you actually open and use the replacement unit before calling the store about not being happy with it?

  • skido on 21/11/2020 - 14:49

    i'm getting HelloPam vibes in this thread

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