Re traders rights: I need to disagree here - some retailers do work in conjunction with Trading Standards in the sense that they have a direct representative in the organisation and hold regular meetings. They also submit any policy changes to this representative to ensure TS requirements are being met. This, to me, certainly qualifies as "working in conjunction with". I apologise for not being more specific re the rights of retailers and staff - I was really getting at the issue regarding courtesy and professionalism. Generally, store staff follow policy. They do not create policy and it's usually not part of their job to argue or even discuss legal interpretation of SOGA with customers. Customer Relations staff should have a working knowlege of legislation as it applies to their policies.

My two cents on this one: i think the Currys offer is reasonable. If the rest of the machine is fine then it's a fair offer. Regarding the store and call centre experience - businesses cannot force employees to give their personal details to customers (like their name), and nor should they, although managers should generally be comfortable with this but all you need is a first name if you are going to refer to them in conversation higher up. Retailers and store staff do have rights as well (although it's not terribly professional to use this as a response to a customer), From a call centre perspective - after reading though this forum (which I think is great), one thing that people should remember is that you are calling as an individual, customer service staff are speaking on behalf of a business so there will always be a difference in language used. Customer engagement is great if and when it happens but if you steam in quoting SOGA or any other law then you are basically challenging the legality of their policy so of course they will resort to phrases like "we work in conjunction with trading standards" - it's a polite way of disagreeing with you that's all. The only people who should argue the law with customers is the legal department - not the customer service staff.