Dispute with PCWorld Business. Any advice?

[gazfocus]

I purchased a Xerox Solid Ink printer from PCWorld Business and it was delivered yesterday.

Although it was a clearance item (and half the price of a new one), it was clearly described as being complete. However, when I received it, the first thing I noticed was that there was no ink in the box (or the printer), so contacted PCWB Customer Services.

They were very prompt to tell me that they could not send replacement ink incase it 'explodes' in transit as it's very cancerous (this is wax ink right??? explode???), and therefore the printer would not have been sent with ink in the first place (even though Xerox sell them with ink).

They have offered to accept the printer back for a refund but I'm a little reluctant to do this because the printer was £429 instead of £869, but is it fair that they are refusing to replace the ink or offer some level of reduction in the sale price due to the description being misleading? (I should also point out that other varients of the same printer (also clearance models), stated 'missing yellow ink' which would suggest the other inks are present.

Any advice on how I can move forward with this?

 

[Macjames]

PC world are pirates when it comes to retail. A friend of mine took his pc in for repair and they told him all sorts of quite out right lies, such as 'your motherboard has burned out' and 'your graphics card has an electrical fault'.
They quoted him around 250 pound repair costs, wanting to do this on the cheap he decided to decline pc worlds offer and get a friend to the work. Turns out he had a faulty power pack.

In your case it sounds like you got a bargain on that printer and i would be pretty reluctant to take it back. I dont know if your printer comes with ink as standard but if it does then you should point out that there was no indication that there was missing ink and you fully expected for there to be some.

You could offer to pick up the replacement ink? I have never herd of exploding ink, sounds a bit suspect. But you should push to get some.

 

[bigandy]

Most experiences I've had with PCWB have been pretty decent. The consumer retail experience is, overall, much different to the Business end.

It might be an idea to offer to send them specification sheets from the manufacturer, showing that they send the item with ink, and therefore your purchase, marked as "complete", should be provided that way, otherwise a refund will be in order.

Call their bluff - most times they'll accommodate you rather than go through the effort of a return.

If there's still some issue with that, see if they'll deliver the ink to your nearest store. Maybe they'll be happier to pallet it in a big truck than send it via the waste of time that is Parcel Force or whoever.

Good luck.

 

[Abstract]

I agree. Call their bluff. Talk to them, and return the item if they refuse to acknowledge that your printer should have had ink. Get your money back, and if they don't cave, then go back in an hour and repurchase it.

 

[Herodotis]

Contact the manufacturer first and find out if the ink does explode.

Cheers,

Herodotis

 

[mkjj]

We bought a HP fax from MacWarehouse (which is part of DSGi, of which PC World is also part) and it also an opened box item stating it was complete.

Fax came (it is a mono laser version) and guess what no toner, web page clearly stated an as new complete unit, only open box. Box details said toner included.

They would not give in at first even though they admitted that details are wrong on the web! finally got toner for half price so be careful on discounted items, not what they first seem to be!

 

[CanadaRAM]

Their excuse is BS. The Xerox solid ink is non-toxic and approximately as explosive as your kid's Crayola crayons. Contact Xerox customer service and give them the details of their reseller's actions.

 

[MarkusFrost]

Definately get Xerox to refute the PCWB BS. I've just had a bad experience with the regular side of PCW. I went to buy a new graphics card for an old PC and saw 2 cards on the shelf clearly marked as having been returned. So I picked a new box off the shelf, took it to the till, the guy checked it over and bagged it. Then I got it home to find the void seal was broken and that the contents had clearly been opened. I gave up on them, bought the card online for less and managed to drag a refund out of them.

 

[gazfocus]

Thanks for the advice so far. What also seems strange to me is that although they say the won't send replacements out due to possibilities of it exploding, they sell toners, solid inks, and inkjet inks....How do they send them??? Carrier pigeon?

I will give Xerox a ring tomorrow and see if the can be any help and will keep you posted