Argos review: Taking money for products which are not available 21

I too will be informing all friends, family and anyone else that cares to listen, to NOT use Argos, unless you are in-store, and want something fairly small and cheap. From the 1st phone call to place my order, all I have had are problems. You never speak to the same person twice, which means no-one knows whats going on, and they can claim its "not their fault". There is no communication between them, or with the customer. No notes are made on their computers, that others working there might find useful. I spent nearly £1,000 on furniture (which they took from my credit card in record time). After a month, I called to find out when to expect delivery, only to be told that half of our order had still not reached them - by that they meant that only half of the actual items, e.g. wardrobe, had been sent to them. How on earth does that work? Surely each item is sent in one box, or at the same time? Nice excuse for them, I suppose, so they can't deliver what IS available, because nothing is!

I was meant to have been sent a letter regarding the delay - I never received it. A few days later I was told that some-one would contact me in approx 3 weeks, to let me know what was happening - this didn't mean I would receive my goods then, simply it would be an update. Our reason for ordering all this in the first place was because we had moved into an unfurnished place. We decided to cancel our order, and go to Ikea (as we should have just done in the first place...). I was told the money would be returned to my account within 7-10 days max. Today it has been 14 days, and still no money. I called again, and was told that actually, no-one stopped the order when I asked them to, so once again, it would take a few days to get my money. I am currently waiting for some-one to call me back, as I don't see why I should wait AGAIN and pay interest to my bank, whilst Argos earns interest from my hard-earned money all this time.

What a load of s*** they feed to people day in and day out. Well, I certainly don't make the same mistake twice, and will make sure that no-one I know makes the mistake of using Argos.

I am considering going to the Ombudsman, to claim interest back from Argos, which they have earned on my money over the past 2 months. Well, lets first get the original payment back... that would be a good start!

my daughter bought an mp3 player but i couldnt find the recit to take this product back as it went falutey i then just took in and she said thats your own falut you should look after your i was affended by this behaver but i thought to leave the shop as i would get arrested for being angrue my daughter then is to never sahop at argos again her grandma was disapointed and want to takew things ferther she new they would just laugh so she let it

Its shameful that Argos are not honest about the delivery dates, well if you are getting too many orders then please do not book any more when customers tries to order online or in store. But looks like greediness to get more and more prevents tehm from doing that. Absolutely no way I will ever shop or advise any one to do in future from Argos. I was told before that there is slight delay and I will get bed before 20th April now I am told that it will be middle of May for bed which was ordered 23rd of March. I am not even given the chance to order alternative bed!

I PURCHASED AN IPOD NANO ( SILVER ) IN FEB OF THIS YEAR ITS BEEN RETURNED AND REPLACED TWICE DUE TO FAULTS, THE MOST RECENT ON SATURDAY 9TH MAY. I RANG THE CUSTOMER SERVICES DEPO FIRST AND THEY SAID THAT AS IT HAD FAULTED TWICE I WAS WITHIN MY RIGHTS TO ASK FOR A DIFFERENT MP3 MODEL...BUT WHEN I ASKED AT ARGOS THEY SAID I COULD EITHER HAVE MINE SENT AWAY FOR REPAIR OR A LIKE FOR LIKE EXCHANGE.
I WENT FOR THE EXCHANGE BUT WHEN I COLLECTED IT FROM THE COUNTER IT WAS A BLACK USED IPOD COVERED IN SCRATCHES BUT PACKAGED AND CATALOGUED TO LOOK LIKE NEW STOCK, I SUPPOSE IT WAS JUST LUCK THAT I HAD OPENED IT IN THE STORE AND NOT WHEN I RETURNED HOME. THE GIRLS ON THE COUNTER SAY THEY HAVE NO IDEA HOW A USED MODEL GOT IN STOCK AND GAVE ME THE CORRECT IPOD AND COULD NOT GET ME AWAY FROM THE COUNTER AND POTENTIAL NEW CUSTOMERS QUICK ENOUGH. I HAVE SENT EMAILS AND LETTERS OF COMPLAINT AND THERE REPLY IS AN INTERNAL INVESTIGATION WHICH I WILL NOT HEAR ABOUT DUE TO DATA PROTECTION. WHAT ABOUT CUSTOMER PROTECTION BECAUSE YOU CAN BET THAT HAD IT HAVE BEEN A MATTER OF HOURS BETWEEN ME RETURNING THE USED IPOD AND NOT MINUTES THEY WOULD HAVE ACCUSED ME OF SWAPPING THEM OVER AT HOME WHEN I THINK THAT PROBABLY THAT IS WHAT A MEMBER OF STAFF HAS PROBABLY DONE. THEY ALSO HAVE SAID THAT THEY HOPE THAT I CARRY ON SHOPPING AT ARGOS IN THE FUTURE...I DO NOT THINK SO.

3 weeks ago i bought laser hair removal system from argos i had asked casier this prodact 30 days guarantee she said ofcours look at the screen you can chang and i live in England short time for learn English my English not wery well now, im still learn but ARGOS stole my money and they are played whit me i spoked costemer sevice staff she didnt looked the prodact and she decieded to exchange 10 minuts later i went to home bring more many she said to me we havent got any other prodact keep your prodact this is yours for healty reasons we didnt do any think i never used i never opened but they didnt chec ...they dont no what they are doing ...
they havent got anough edication about they are job or just thinks selling some think ...

It's not my desire to brag, but I think I can outdo most of you in the 'getting ripped off by Argos' department.

I recently did quite a bit of overtime and finally decided to treat myself to a new camera. I had wanted to upgrade for a while and as I had a (small, simple) wedding coming up and had agreed to take the pictures, decided it was definitely the right time for the purchase as I could use my own equipment instead of hiring.

I looked at a few and decided on the Samsung GX10, which was going for £579.99, so I placed the order, along with another item (wedding present) via the internet on the Argos site. At the time a message came up, telling me that they could not confirm my order at that time but I would receive an e-mail within the next few hours. I should add that I also paid an extra £2.95 for a Saturday delivery slot (delivery before 1pm). Didn't really think much of it (there is often some problem or other with their website) as I had enough to get on with.

1.30 came on Saturday and still no delivery, so I checked my e-mails (no confirmation) and my bank account (money had not been taken). I was more than a little steamed, but didn't have time to make calls so started preparing for the wedding and dashed out to get what was needed.

I then received a delivery on the following Wednesday. I queried the lateness of the delivery with the driver, explained the situation (goods too late etc.), then queried the fact that the package had been torn down two sides and put back together again with at least two different types of tape. He could not explain this, as it had apparently been passed around several delivery drivers and he was at least the third. I didn't want it any more but decided it would be best to take it back to the store myself, explain and get my money back straight away, rather than waiting, who knows how long for them to get it back and issue the refund.

It then occurred to me that the package was a bit small compared to the size that I was fully aware it should have been. I therefore decided to check it - and was straight on the phone to 'customer services'.

I explained that my head was about to explode and wanted to speak with manager as I wanted this sorted out immediately as I was in no mood to keep repeating myself. The call handler (Will), was very pleasant and assured me he could deal with it, so I took a deep breath and began. I explained about the failed saturday delivery and extra charge, the fact that the parcel was a mess and had been passed around among drivers and finally, that what I had received was PINK and resembled a CHILD'S TOY. I read the Argos catalogue number from the side of the box out to Will and had to sit down and get him to repeat the price of it again...instead of my BLACK SAMSUNG PRO GX10 DIGITAL SLR CAMERA, worth £579.99, they had sent me a PINK VIVITAR (what?) DIGITAL CAMERA (which I wouldn't even expect my 7yr old to be satisfied with), which was worth a WHOPPING...£29.99!

I didn't know whether I was going to be sick or have a heart attack or both (!), but Will was very apologetic and offered to have the goods collected and a refund issued, but it was likely to take up to two weeks. I therefore opted to take the offending item to my local store and get the refund done there. Will was to send a message to the store, giving authorisation for this (as it was over £200). So it was agreed that I would do this on the Friday (when I was next off work). I was unhappy that this had happened, but at least I would get my money back. However, ...

I went to the store on Friday, but nobody knew anything about it, so they had to call their customer services team. Typical! After waiting approx. 15mins, I started shifting from one foot to the other and leaning heavily on the counter, as I tried to control my annoyance. Even the shop assistant making the call could not understand what was going on and started to look a little annoyed and disgusted herself. In the end she handed the hone to her manager as she was getting nowhere. The poor manager (only a young lad) then had to stand and apologise to me because some woman called 'Lisa' had decided that they needed to investigate the matter before they would give me back my money and had put a block on the order so no one else could even get into it and tell me what was going on, let alone issue me my refund. I was told that I would get a call from someone on Monday.

This was not good enough, so I went back home with the piece of pink plastic c*** (sorry, Vivitar) that had been delivered and a terrible headache and called through to 'customer services' again. This time, when I asked to speak to a manager, I was told that I had come through to 'customer services' and "we are all managers here" - YEAH RIGHT! You keep telling yourself that! Anyway, I explained the situation again, through gritted teeth and demanded to speak to this 'Lisa', but nobody seemed to be able to tell me who she was and I was asked to call back with a surname as "Lisa is a very common name and we have at least six here". When I explained that I didn't have her surname, I was cut off! I called through again, was passed round several departments, told that I should have received my refund from the store, as all it needed was for someone to call them and authorise it (REALLY? IS THAT ALL?), then finally told that 'Lisa' had gone home and I would have to speak to her Monday. I demanded to speak to someone else and was put through to the woman who sits opposite 'Lisa', in the escalations department. She did not strike me as being happy in her job but did tell me that "Lisa will investigate this thoroughly". She also informed me that 'Lisa', had decided to look into the matter as I had waited so long to make the complaint. When I queried this, she explained that, although I had received the item on Saturday 28th, I had not called about the mix up until Wednesday 2nd. So, again, I had to explain about the delivery being late (check with your couriers) and about my conversation with Will, to which, she replied that she didn't know what had happened as she couldn't get into my details as 'Lisa' had put a block on it. I also requested 'Lisa's' surname so I could get through to her but was told that they are "no allowed to give out their surnames". End of ridiculous conversation.

I spoke to Citizen's advice, who informed me that Argos (if the legal team were backing 'Lisa's' actions) were breaching all sorts of Trading Standards Acts and that I should just wait until Monday as they would not be able to justify holding onto my money any longer than that.

On Monday, the allusive 'Lisa', called me. I am awaiting my apology but I do not get it. Instead, she starts quizzing me, miss quotes the taped conversation I had with Will (yet maintaining she listened to it), that they took the funds from my account as soon as order was placed (would not normally have trouble believing this but had already checked twice with bank and knew it went out on 30th - four days later, two days after delivery was due) and then tells me that she is going to investigate this further, with staff and couriers etc. and would get back to me. I wasn't given any choice or hope.

This 'woman', was the strop-bag I had expected and more. Who on earth would give such a charmless, inarticulate woman a job in a customer service role? She seemed to think that her appalling, rude, unhelpful attitude, constituted a personality. Since when was this customer service? It could not have been plainer that the days of, 'the customer is always right' are long gone, instead having been replaced by Argos with, 'sc**w the customer and see how much extra money we can make from them'.

With all the misquotes she made and the false details she quoted, I didn't trust her to do her job properly, so I decided to start looking into it myself.

I contacted the courier company and spoke with a very reasonable person (who shall remain nameless as I don't want them sacked for telling the truth). This person told me that they were not in the least surprised by the mix up as Argos are always giving them incorrect items to deliver. One incident quoted, involved a paddling pool being mistaken for a sink! Very clever! They also told me that another possibility (due to the state of the packaging) was that it could have been tampered with it the sorting office which is at the other end of the country to me - which makes me wonder how many hands it passed through.

Finally, after I had made several more calls and looked at websites and left messages for the charmless 'Lisa', I got a letter in the post on Friday afternoon. I cannot believe that I was naive enough to think that this was my long awaited refund, perhaps with an apology at the very least, maybe even a goodwill gesture. Call me stupid, but I was not expecting the following:

"Thank you for contacting us regarding your order which included a Samsung GX10DSLR Camera, catalogue number, 560825 (surely this is a digit short?).

I am sorry that you are not happy with your order and I can assure you that we have fully investigated the matter of the camera, whereby you have stated that you received a Vivitar V188 3MP Camera.

In normal circumstances this would not happen (sounds hopeful...) and our internal findings show that the correct item was issued out to you. We have checked our stock levels on the camera and they are correct; these are stored in a secured room. (and?)

As all our records show that the correct item was sent out to you I am unable to assist you further in this matter.

May I apologise (is that what this is?) for any disappointment (?) caused.

If we can be of any further assistance (are they taking the p***? ANY assistance would have been welcome) please contact us on...etc..."

So I called the person that had signed the letter (not charmless 'Lisa'). I explained everything again at length (including the info from the courier - for which she demanded a name, that I refused to give up, to the same people that are "not allowed" to give customers their own names!) and asked exactly where this left me. The response? Please feel free to write in and let us know that you dispute our decision (the fact that she was much easier to deal with than 'Lisa', did not make the situation any easier).

I am obviously not going to let this drop, so I would be grateful if anyone out there can provide me with any info that would help. As the only option I can see, is to go to a solicitor and pay out more money!

I will post details of final outcome once this is over, in the hope that it will help others.

THE ONLY ADVICE I HAVE TO GIVE AT THIS POINT IS:

IF YOU VALUE YOUR MONEY, TIME AND SANITY, DO NOT ORDER ANYTHING FROM ARGOS DIRECT EVER - EVEN IF THEY START SELLING PACKETS OF GUM!

i always come to argos for mobiel phones as they have good deals but i will no longer be goin to argos as they staff was rude to me when i asked for the 10 pound free cred which im still not very happy with and i will be writing a letter to the manger coz it was a young kid working there bout 18 very rude indeed

I too have been ripped off my Argo's they just want your MONEY! after that they don't care about what’s wrong with your product, I think the whole company is a disgrace, I bought a digital camera, after less than 15 minutes the battery wore out, it also took really bad low quality pictures even though its 10mp (Kodak c1013 DON’T BUY THIS PEOPLE), so, I asked for an exchange, (not even a refund!) They won't even change it, I’ve had it about 3 days, and they told me that they couldn't exchange it because there is nothing wrong with it, that I need to buy BETTER BATTERIES! And that I’ve USED it! Turning it on, and testing it?! And finding it uses more power than a laptop! I strongly suggest that you don't buy anything from this company, not unless you want to WASTE your TIME and money, the staff are just rude, customer services are just rude, and their products are LOW standard CHEAP RUBBISH! (That they charge you more for!) There are better shops out there; I really wish I never bought it! And I will never EVER be buying anything from ARGO'S again! Goodbye.

'Uncorrectitude'?

'Edication'?

LOLICOPTER!

Beanbags are out of stock. When eventually I managed to get one that I wanted the filling was insufficient and lost its shape and volume within a few weeks. They seem to have all their beanbags coming from one supplier which is obviously not up to it.

I went to Argos to buy a bed, then went to the counter and placed my order. He was asked my name and i said justin oneill. The counter attendant smirked and asked how you would spell that. After several non-existent oneill spellings, i told him. i asked has he never heard of that spelling. It’s the biggest name in ulster. he said no. My order was not in stock and i was told they can’t sell me anything that’s not in stock.

which i believe picked another bed. I stood for a while and the guy previous that took my order whispered to another guy that then served me. I was told to take a till right beside another employee that was fixing a light. The employee took my order and same again asked me to spell my name. All are laughed.

I really find it hard to believe that anyone from ulster, northern ireland can’t spell one of the biggest names. Sports pages oneills on every Gaelic top. Not to mention surfing, skiing. I just happen to have a name that’s been in conflict with their past. Because of this i was treated like a second class citizen. Nothing will come of this. But if it happens again please bring this up.

argos rang me up with a delivery date and time, when late, rang them to see when my appliance was coming only to be told it wasnt coming on this day at all .after i had took time off work and waited around all morning, im so not happy, when complained on the phone i was told it was me that had made the error not them .

i have also been stung by the argos shop scam its more like a legalized fraud than a shop i ordered a dinning table and chairs shown in stock on the web on 4 of nov 2011and expected 14 day del how wrong i was phone call from argo today 29 nov carnt have table and chairs untill end of feb 2012 i can have a gift voucher refund as i paid by gift voucher but whats the point as they carnt sell me what i wanted two other tables simialar to the one i ordered are both out of stock but the one i ordered is shown on there website still for sale and in stock and now theres not even 28 days left to try and order another off them for a replacement this is the last time i ever buy from argos unless i have no choice and can take it away myself all there staff are so helpfull and understanding on the phone I WISH something needs to be done to shut them down after i have got my stuff next year of course it was quicker buying my house to put the table and chairs in then dealing with argos or have they ran out of oak to make my table with and are just growing a bit more

I bought a Samsung blu-ray player along with the Samsung wireless LAN USB stick. When I got home I noticed they were not compatible so I returned to argos(33 miles) to get a refund. The Perth branch returned my payment via the card I bought it with, then told me it takes 10 days to reach my account! Shocking! Had I known I would have exchanged it there and then! Now I don't have the money to get the correct item I need! Is 10 days normal? It takes 1 day to leave my account but 10 to leave Argos! P me off that much I will never use Argos / homebase ever again

I have just figured they advertise to sell goods which does not exist.
two items of the same product which is Indesit IWB6113 Washing Machine - which does not seem to exists.
I have searched for this model all over and do not see any relevant link other than argos.
I went there to buy this and eventhough they claim this is NEW product and they have this machine in stock, i the store they say it is discontinued or not available at all.

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/7641637.htm
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/7641644.htm
Thank God I did not pay an order online where I would realize two weeks later they will never deliver this and I would have just wasted time having to order different one after I would figure this out. Not mentioning asking for my money back on endless calls.

i tried to buy a shed for £208 n kept being told my card was not authorised, after trying 5 times, i decided to abort the mission.No email confirmation or text of purchase as per usual.Next morning I checked my bank and £1040 had been taken by Argos so phonecalls ensued only to be told after 19 mins waiting that there is no recollection of any order or payment, so they transferred me to an automated phone that wanted my confirmation Number which obviously I havent got, so im still waiting to get my £1040 back.This is Argos.😣

I've had a similar issue recently, I attempted the pay for an item the website crashed at point of payment and received an email to state the order hadn't gone through, so I tried again the same thing happened I attempted it for a third time the same thing happened. Argos have now taken nearly £700 from my bank account and all I got from the complaints department was to speak to my bank who can't do anything as this is an error by Argos. The customer service team I found to be rude and unhelpful, and think it's acceptable for someone to have to wait 2 weeks to have the issue resolved.

Hey everyone, the citizens advice can put your cases through to trading standards who will get your money back! Contact them if you contact c.a.b they will give u time to sort it yourself but if its not resolved they can step in and escalate it! If your all reporting argos will be investigated

I bought a laptop from Argos in November, it worked for two weeks then the screen broke.
Argos refused to replace it claiming it had been misused. The laptop had never even left the house and had only been used in a correct manner at all times. I had to pay £117 for a repair they carried out to the screen. I was without my laptop for six weeks when I finally received it back and powered it up the screen remained blank. They are still refusing to refund my money. I have been without my laptop for two months now.
Customer service is shocking
DO NOT BUY ELECTRONIC GOODS FROM ARGOS

WHEN I WAS WAITING TO COLLECT MY DYSON VACUUM CLEANER I SAW POSTERS ALL OVER THE STORE SAYING 25% OFF DYSON PRODUCTS WHEN YOU TRADE IN YOUR OLD VACUUM CLEANER . WHEN I ASKED FOR MY 25% OFF I WAS TOLD THE OFFER FINISHED YESTERDAY ! I CAN NOT GET HOLD OF THE STORE BY PHONE AND ARGOS TOLD ME I HAVE TO SORT IT OUT WITH THEM . WHAT CAN I DO

purchased a wii for christmas we wanted to return the wii unopened and still sealed...they said they could not accept it. When asked why this has never happened before they said it was a clause on the receipt. ...no returns accepted. This has never been the case before as Argos always accepted returns. We said it is not right when they are willing to accept returns before but on this item you refused. It would not have been so bad if they told us on purchasing the wii we would have known...they said staff always tell people about it ...NO THEY DONT ! but because staff have worked with them for years they are more believable than the customer...BUT OF COURSE..they can do nothing wrong...why didnt i think of that ? ...yup ery poor customer service ...boycotting argos now going to try with tesco