Tech Guys - PC Missing

[Predy]

Hello everyone, have never posted here but have read a few people's comments on their personal experiences and problems with "The Tech Guys". I would like to voice my recent experiences and problem & possibly get some advice on what is the best way to go about things.

 

Basically I have a Packard Bell desktop PC that is still under my 1 year warranty with Pc world, on 6/12/09 a blue screen appeared on my screen and my pc started reseting itself, it done this about 4 times in total, in the end I gave up and went to bed. The following morning it booted itself up with no blue screen, 5 minutes after being on the desktop a blue screen appears, this time it shuts itself down and now doesnt reboot properly, the fan is turning but my screen doesnt turn on.

I take my Pc up to PC world speak to the guy on the counter he tells me because its around xmas time they won't be able to repair it in the shop and gives me a number for the tech guys.

I ring the tech guys when i get home and they arrange an Engineer to come out and look at it on wednesday. The engineer arrives on wednesday I tell him the problem, he says instantly its my motherboard and takes the thing away, leaving me with Currys paperwork and telling me turnaround time is usually 10-14 days.

 

One week goes by and I ring them up to enquire where my PC is and if they have any information on when I will be getting it back, the guy tells me it should be with me sometime next week and to ring back then. The next week I ring back ask him if it has been fixed yet he says yes it has and I should be getting it back by the end of the week.

I phone back around 4-5 days later and again ask where my PC is, already being told it has been repaired a few days earlier, the guy doesn't seem to have a clue where it is, he tries to ring through to the workshop puts me on hold for 20 mins, comes back and tells me he cant get through to the workshop and to phone back in a couple of days as it is new years eve.

 

I leave it for the weekend and ring them back up monday morning 4/1/10 asking them where it is and when I shall be getting it back, this guy again tries to get through to the Workshop but to no avail, he tells me he is filling out some kind of E-form and to ring back within a few days as they will definetly know by then where and when I shall be getting it back.

 

Now today 6/1/10 I ring them up just before midday telling the tech guy on monday another tech guy filled out an e-form and told me to ring back today so you guys could tell me where it is, he puts me on hold and speaks to the guy I spoke to on monday, he then comes back and says no-one knows where your PC is... I am just stunned, I say what do you mean you don't know where it is, you guys have had it almost a month everytime I ring you guys up Im being fobbed off and/or either told it has been repaired and shall be with me soon. He tells me he is ever so sorry about this and that the only thing they can do is offer me a refund which is either an exchanged PC or vouchers of some sort, he also tells me he is going to make more phone calls to try and find out where it is and ring me back as soon as he knows.

 

It is now just gone 2pm and I am stuck as to what to do, I would like to ring them back up this afternoon to try and find out if they have tracked it down but am expecting I shall get the same response as I have got this morning.

Reading the problems that people have had with the tech guys on this forum I can honestly say I am appauled with their customer service and that they have lost my PC, this is totally unnaceptable and am stuck as what to do as I would like my PC back with all its data on.

 

Am sorry for making this so long but have tried to include as much information possible so you can get a full picture of what is going on.

 

Thank you in advance, your help is much appreciated, I am truly dissapointed with PC world tech guys.

[Renzokuken]

Reading the problems that people have had with the tech guys on this forum I can honestly say I am appauled with their customer service and that they have lost my PC, this is totally unnaceptable and am stuck as what to do as I would like my PC back with all its data on.

I'll start by saying that the techguys are a repair shop only. They don't deal with any customer service issues. Thats all delt with by the customer service center in sheffield. So they're probably just as annoyed the techguys lost your PC as you are, and saying their customer service is terrible as a result of someone elses incompetence is kinda a slap in their faces.

 

Secondly, the repair docket you signed upon giving them the PC states that if you have any data that you need to keep, you should back it up before handing the PC over. To be frank, in this day and age their is no excuse for not backing your data up regularly, what with automatic backups, syncronization and flash memory/portable hard drives.

 

Anyway as far at the PC goes, I'd contact them telling them they've had your computer for longer than 28 days, have admitted that the unit is missing and that you'd like them to issue replacement vouchers immediately so you can buy a like for like or better replacement. If you have an email address, give them it and it'll save you waiting up to 10 days for them to post them out. Should they refuse you'll then have to move on to legal action, starting with a LBA, obviously don't send one unless you actualy intend to take legal action.

[Predy]

Thank you for such a quick reply, I have been on the phone to the tech guys again, he the 28 days in which they have had to return my pc ends at midnight tonight and that i am eligible for an exchange etc (which i already knew). I then decided to ring the tech guys customer complaint line, the guy was very helpful and said that the place my computer was probably at (somewhere beginning with m? mechorm or something?), holds thousands of computers and he doubted it would of been missing. He told me to ring back tomorrow and I would definetly know by then if my computer had gone missing and how I can go about getting a new pc etc.

 

The thing I dont get is that how can a computer just go missing and if it has who the hell has got it, it has got all my personal details and data on etc and even though I have been told not to worry about fraud its hard not too when all you are told is that its "lost", I wouldnt be so bothered if they had said we had to wipe your hardrive and all your data has gone but you shall still get your computer back, but all I have been told is that its been lost, it could be anywhere and this worrys me.

 

So as from now I have my fingers crossed that I will ring them up tomorrow and they would of found it and will have it returned to me, lets just hope it goes that way, if they have lost it I shall not be happy to say the least.

 

Any compensation for a month of being messed around would be nice, but i'll just hope that my pc turns up and I get it back repaired with all my data on it.

[Ex DSG Man]

Hi Predy, your being too nice with these guys. A faulty motherboard within 8 weeks means you should have asked from day 1 for a replacement. They wouldn't have liked it but you were entitled to one.

 

As for the Tech Guys, these were a rebrand for Mastercare (also known as Disastercare!!) devised about 4 years ago when DSG had a partnership with Best Buy in the States who had a technical support team called 'geek squad'.

 

You are just getting told rubbish each time you call (i suspect your laptop is lost) as nobody knows where your laptop is and they have convinced you about the 28 day maximun repair rule.

 

Get on the phone first thing tomorrow (or go to the store you got it from if not done via tele sales /internet) and DEMAND a replacement.

 

They will honour it as even by their poor service levels this now qualifies for an exchange....also remember if they can't offer you the same model it is meant to be a like for like on specification.

 

Good luck;)

[Renzokuken]

Get on the phone first thing tomorrow (or go to the store you got it from if not done via tele sales /internet) and DEMAND a replacement.

 

They will honour it as even by their poor service levels this now qualifies for an exchange....also remember if they can't offer you the same model it is meant to be a like for like on specification.

 

She'd be wasting her time going to the store, the best they can do is ring mastercare and ask them where her machine is. They can't authorise an exchange unless mastercare give them a voucher number and authorisation to return and GA the stock to them.

[Ex DSG Man]

She'd be wasting her time going to the store, the best they can do is ring mastercare and ask them where her machine is. They can't authorise an exchange unless mastercare give them a voucher number and authorisation to return and GA the stock to them.

 

Not so as its 1 st year warranty with mechanical fault so nothing to do with mastercare / vouchers - 'Predy' is about to use their own 28 day rule. Again if it was bought via a store go back to the shop with your proof of collection from you and that its day 28+. Let the store confirm with mastercare this is so and they should exchange.

 

They will return the pc to their (store) stock file and on paper return (GA) it to the local mastercare service centre. Once found / fixed it will be sent back to that store to be sold as a fully guaranteed exchanged product (FGEP) at a discounted price and possibly negative margin (sell at a loss) -Hence the reason the store will do their best to avoid an exchange.

 

Lets wait and see.

[Predy]

Hi guys thank you for all your responses and advice.

 

Just a quick update, the situation now is, I have been on the phone to the tech guys again this afternoon, have asked if they have found my pc yet, guy can't get through to the workshop as per usual so nothing, I can ring back tomorrow if I want.

 

Phoned up the tech guys complaint line they show on their website again, apparently their systems are down so he couldn't tell me anything either, nor could I make a complaint, he told me to ring back tomorrow if I want to.

 

It seems to be that they have "lost" my pc and I won't be getting it back, which is a shame as I have been messed around for the past month while being told little if any information from the tech guys themselves.

I am still worried about all my data and details that are on my computer I have no guarentee about data protection and as far as im concerned my details could earn up in anyone's hands and I am not a bit pleased about this.

 

I shall not be buying another PC from PC World again and do not rate the tech guys one bit.

I shall be making a complaint tomorrow and shall go from there about getting an exchanged PC.

 

Thank you for all your help on here guys, it is much appreciated. I hope that anyone else reading this thread will not have to go through the same situation as I have within the past month.

[Gumbo]

Hi,

 

I'm going through almost exactly the same thing, with the same timeline almost to the day that Predy is in the original post, just with a 42" TV.

 

How do you lose a 42" TV?

 

It's doubly frustrating as just after Christmas I rang and was told that the repair was all done, and that the TV would be back with us in a couple of days. Then when I phoned just after new year, the first helpful guy I spoke to said that the repair had never been done, and the ticket had been closed weeks ago with the repair uncompleted.

 

Anyway, I'm off to my local PC World in a bit to get a replacement. I don't intend on leaving the store without a TV, it's bad enough we were wthout one over christmas anyway.

 

The TV was a gift in the first place, I would never have spent that kind of money with DSG myself, their reputation preceeds them unfortunately.

 

The next one will come from John Lewis, pricematch, 5 year guarantee, not staffed by idiots, why would you buy from DSG?

[Gumbo]

Well, I have to be fair to the boys in PCWorld in Norwich. There was no quibble, just a quick look on the system and a word with the manager and a credit was raised for the full cost of the TV back in December 08 when it was bought for us.

 

We were told to go and have a look and see if there was anything we wanted and we elected to chip in an extra £50 for a small upgrade to a 50" Plasma. One of those occasions where you're grateful at the pace of developement in TV's.

 

So I've gone from fed up with the Tech Guys for losing our TV, to full of praise for the guys on the ground in Norwich who made it super easy for us to go home with a nice TV which is also a bit of an upgrade.

[BSC]

..

Edited January 29, 2010 by BSC
.

[80sSouvenir]

I am having unbelievable problems with PC World and have reported them to Trading Standards. I am also reporting them to BBC's Watchdog - maybe everyone else should and we can make a difference!!

 

As soon as I get my laptop back I am trading it in for another one elsewhere. Never have I experienced such awful Customer Service.

[ForestChav]

I don't see what "reporting it" to Watchdog would help. They don't actually have any powers of enforcement and will presumably only take on cases which make good TV.

[weepyship]

We bought a reconditioned pc from curry's (part of pc world) with a 12 month guarantee. From start we had problems with wireless connection (basically wouldn't come on as wireless had to be connected to a wire!). Tech guys kept telling me it was fault with modem or whatever it's called and that this was probably why it had been returned in the first place. Pointed out that it was sold in "as new" condition with guarantee but they wouldn't have it, so spoke to IT guy at work who got me to check where wireless card should show up...it didn't!!. Anyway we persevered with using a wire as was mainly for home use anyway but then after about 5 months it shut itself down one night and wouldn't come back on. On light was there but nothing on screen and couldn't hear it whirring either. So more calls to the tech guys and when telling them about 2nd fault mentioned wireless card too. They got DHL to collect the machine, took it in and repaired it and we had it back within a fortnight....looks like we were one of the lucky ones! And now we have full wireless connection too

[labrat]

to be honest the laptop side of things is running fine at the moment

 

the new system means very few "lost" laptops (they can now be tracked directly to a shelf number rather than just being in an area)

 

the desktop side of things is done by outsourcers called Mercom (who personally i hate)

[Portia 62]

to be honest the laptop side of things is running fine at the moment

 

the new system means very few "lost" laptops (they can now be tracked directly to a shelf number rather than just being in an area)

 

Really?? Well that's interesting ... since TechGuys have been "looking" for mine for nearly a month now! Why can't anybody track mine directly to a shelf number?? (see my post titled "Shockingly bad service etc etc")

 

And like member, Predy, nobody I speak to seems to be able to get hold of anybody in the "workshop" either ... I'm beginning to wonder if it even exists!

 

And Renzokuken ... of course there's no excuse and we've all backed up our data onto disk ... but we're still bound to be a bit worried - with identity fraud such a problem these days - that our family photos, GCSE coursework, Christmas card lists, WHATEVER .. are just out there floating around in the ether!!

[reallocdogg]

ive got same problem i bought Toshiba notebook and after 4 months of using start get overheating and turn off himself, so i went to PC world with warranty ask them to fix my pc, they took it and they told me after 1 week will be ready...i should get back at 26th january. i went to store 27th and i asked, they didnt even had me in system and they had to call tech guys to ask , tech guys said pc its fixed and i should get that in few days, after that i got message from Tech guys that my pc is ready to pick up at 1st feb., ofcourse i went 2nd and they didnt had my pc in store, i asked how thats possible if i already got message that my PC is there, woman from customer service said they never get my pc back and she tried to ring Tech Guys, they didnt pick the phone, so i called from this time 2 times and i asked in this store about 3 times already. its almost 1 month since i left my notebook for repair and noone know where it is... my friends told me to complain about rplacement or compensation but i dont know how to complain even...if there is anything i should do or just be patient , i really need this notebook cuz i had there programs to my work and im stuck now cuz i cant make my job without my pc.if that could help i also pay monthly cover plan so maybe someone tell me what to do:)

[andyr16]

Sorry to hear that but we have the opposite.

After the usual numerous emails and phone calls we finally got our PC back but in the box is another pc,we have called them and they say someone will call us back. This is over 8 weeks ago,where do we stand as we dont want to deprive someone of their PC but by now they would have had to replace the PC that they seem to want to keep missing?