Comet: offering a bit of Extra Care?
Comet: it's one of the biggest electrical chains in the UK, with nearly 250 branches nationwide. They sell a huge range of electrical items, from kettles to fridges, Sat Navs to Plasma TVs.
If you're a customer the chances are that staff have also tried to sell you an extended warranty. It's a service plan that covers you if the item gets damaged or stops working. But are Comet employees selling them correctly? Riz Lateef reports on exactly how promises in store compare to the actual policy.
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Electrical goods can be expensive and temperamental. Warranties can give customers reassurance when buying products and put an end to the headache of repair costs, call out charges and replacements. The Comet Extra Care extended warranty could be the answer as it covers the cost of repairs or replacement for up to five years depending on the type of product you buy.
Whilst this might sound perfect, Watchdog has received complaints from customers who say they had have been given certain assurances in store when they bought the policy but when they tried to claim, found the warranty did not live up to expectation.
We decided to check out Comet's sales tactics for ourselves and we sent the Watchdog mystery shoppers to 15 Comet stores across towns and cities throughout the country. They told staff they were looking to buy a TV, a fridge freezer or a washing machine and each time staff began selling Comet's Extra Care Plan.
Unfortunately some staff failed to tell us about some of the policy exclusions. In fact, of the 15 stores we visited, staff in 8 of them told us we would be covered for problems that the warranty specifically excludes. Overall, we found that in every Comet store we visited staff gave false, misleading or insufficient information, all of which are potential breaches of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.
Consumer Law Expert Deborah Parry looked through our findings and the claims made by staff in the stores we visited. She was concerned that consumers are being misled as to the benefits of the policy and that if they had all the information they may well have decided otherwise when considering whether to purchase the policy.
Comet told us they carry out 10 million transactions a year, with the vast majority of shoppers pleased with the high standard of service provided. But our mystery shoppers certainly weren't.
Comet's Statement to BBC Watchdog:
We thank Watchdog for bringing this matter to our attention. Comet genuinely welcomes feedback to help improve our product and service offering to our customers.
We take the treatment and service experience of our customers very seriously and we regret not having met our expected levels of quality customer care in each of the three cases highlighted, although we did believe that each one was resolved.
Customer service is the bedrock of our business. It is important to remember that Comet has over 240 stores, staffed by knowledgeable, well-respected people, carrying out over 10 million transactions each year, with the vast majority of customers pleased with the high standards of service we provide.
We pride ourselves on offering good advice across a range of products and services, including offering our ExtraCare Service Plan, one of the most comprehensive available. Our colleagues are not pressured to sell any particular product or service and we have robust systems in place to ensure this does not happen. Whenever customers choose ExtraCare, they must read and sign a clear document setting out precise terms and conditions before buying the plan. There is also a 'cooling off' period of 45 days when they can cancel the contract with a full refund.
We are entirely committed to ensuring compliance with all applicable legislation including the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and we do not accept, from the information provided, that Comet has committed any breach of the Regulations.
Having said that, we are sorry for any occasion when a customer is not happy and in light of this, we are rolling out refresher training on our ExtraCare Service Plan for all Comet colleagues which will be completed by the end of October and then renewed annually. This builds on our philosophy of continual improvement and will guarantee knowledge remains relevant and consistent. We are confident this step will address any issues.
If you have any concerns or questions and wish to contact our customer services team, please follow this link http://bit.ly/CometHelp where you will be able to submit your question via email.
Alternatively you may prefer to speak to one of our team and so please call on telephone number 08712 009 009 and then select option 4 and then option 3. Our opening hours are Monday to Friday 8:30am to 8:00pm, Saturdays 8:30am to 6:00pm and Sundays 10:00am to 5:00pm
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