We received more than 1,700 complaints about Currys PC World through our faulty goods tool this year. Have you experienced problems with your order?
Alison, an NHS key worker, is one of many Currys customers who has been left with a faulty machine during the pandemic. When her washing machine began to leak, she told us:
“The hall and kitchen were flooded. The dryer cuts out every time you put it on too, it doesn’t do a full cycle, it’s not fit-for-purpose at all.
I work for the NHS, so I have to wash my uniform every night because of coronavirus. I’ve also been washing my stuff in the sink, but I can’t do that in the winter, it will be mouldy before it dries”
Currys PC World instructed Alison to get in touch with the manufacturer to organise an engineer visit to confirm the appliance was faulty.
Guide: Consumer Rights Act 2015
Despite numerous engineer visits and attempts to repair the leak, Alison continued to experience faults with the machine, and only used the machine on a low cycle for fear of it leaking again.
“I can’t leave the washing machine. It’s put me under so much stress, having to stand in the kitchen and watch it. I’m cross that people can treat me in such a cavalier way. All I want is my washing machine so I can get on with my life”
We got in touch with Currys and it arranged to remove and exchange Alison’s faulty machine for a more expensive model. It said:
“We are very sorry to hear about our customer’s ongoing experience with her appliance and for the manufacturer’s delay in confirming the fault, a necessary part of the process that allows us to exchange a faulty machine”
A litany of Currys complaints
Unfortunately Alison isn’t alone in her poor experience with Currys.
Scores of other customers have complained about faulty goods, missing deliveries and poor customer service since the beginning of lockdown.
We received more than 1,700 complaints about Currys PC World through our faulty goods tool between January and October this year.
One in 10 faulty goods complaints sent to us between these dates was about Currys, compared with one in 20 in the previous 10 months.
And prior to this, we heard from a string of customers who have been ripped off by Currys’ Knowhow set-up service.
‘Unprecedented demands for products’
Currys told us:
“We are truly sorry to customers who haven’t received the standard of customer service we expect of ourselves. While we are fulfilling the vast majority of our services successfully, we appreciate that one complaint is one too many”
It says it’s experienced unprecedented demand for products during the pandemic and has had to adopt new ways of working since the first national lockdown, such as new training, launching a new webchat function and upgrading its systems to ensure refunds and returns are processed as quickly as possible.
If you’ve experienced poor service from Currys, we want to hear from you in the comments below.
Whether it’s with a faulty product, a delayed delivery, or poor customer service – let us know what happened.
Loading ...Update 08/06/2021
Featured Comment
“As Primary Authority for Currys we meet regularly with the company to discuss topical issues and monitor complaint levels. Along with many similar businesses, the pandemic and substantial period of retail closure has seen a substantial change in the way the company operates. One effect of this is that complaint levels have been high. This is not something that Currys or us are comfortable with. The company has been working to reduce complaint levels and respond to consumers more promptly. It has introduced new ways of working to help them do this. We have seen a steady reduction in complaints and improved customer service. There remains work to do but we believe the business is doing all it reasonably can to improve. We will continue to monitor complaint levels to ensure this improvement continues.”I fully appreciate that this is not the answer that many of you will want to hear, and that the strength of feeling on this issue remains high. Therefore I do encourage everyone to continue to share your experiences both here and on other platforms, such as social media, with Which?, so that we can continue to inform Trading Standards on issues that remain outstanding, and that we feel deserve further attention. We’ll continue to monitor the types of issues and frequency of complaints posted here - please let us know in the comments if you experience: - Issues with faulty goods - Issues with delayed deliveries - Misleading add-ons - Poor communication from Currys’ customer service team If you’d rather not share your experience publicly, please do feel free to get in touch via our contact form.
