Harvey Norman
Reviews and Complaints

Basically the franchise holder got his pricing incorrect, saying the material i liked was the same cost as the current fabric on the sofa, but when i received the quote it was for approx $500 more. So if i want to buy the sofa i have to wear the extra cost, which is now down by $200 to $300. But after our telephone 'discussion', i have no idea what the price would be.

I was originally given a quote for a 3 seater sofa bed during the sales in late Jan 16. As the colors were not what i wanted, the next time i wend in a staff member said you could choose any fabric i wanted but it may be more expensive. That staff member and the franchise holder helped me find a colour i really liked. The franchise holder said the fabric i liked was the same price as the fabric of the sofa, even though the staff member queried the pricing, the franchise holder said, No it is the same price. I thought that's great news.
After about 21/2 weeks and going into the store to follow up i finally received a sample of the material. I then went back into the store to purchase it but noticed the 2.5 seater was a sofa bed too. I preferred the two cushions over the three cushions so requested a price. As the fabric i liked could not be found the staff member said she would ring me back. I finally rang the store the following week and requested a quote which was approx $500 more than the original quote for the 3 seater sofa. I then went into the store and spoke with another salesman who said he would get back to me. I then went into the store again and the original sales person was there and she gave me a quote for approx $300 more than the original quote. She said to contact the franchise holder as he may be able to give you a better quote.

I emailed him twice over 2 days and then rang the store and spoke with the assistant manager who said he would follow up. Later that day the franchise holder rang me (his wife had had a baby the day before) but was adamant that the price he had given was correct but he now added It was the RRP. I said to him that this was not mentioned when he said the price was the same. Then he said it was not written down anywhere or a contract and i said it was a verbal contract . He was also said to me he was trying to be nice and help me find a colour I liked and I said, But isn't that your job to help me?

So the result is, If i want the 2.5 sofa in the material I like i will have to pay $300-$500 more than the quote for the 3 seater.

I am not happy about this nor the fact that i did not receive phone calls from the staff when they said they would and because of this the extra number of times i had to go into the store.

I would like to voice my concern about the staff at the Nunawading store and warn other customers. I actually walked out due to the appalling customer service. The staff were busy gossiping to one another and were not at all interested/willing to serve customers. This is despite the fact that there were a number of customers standing around obviously wanting to be attended to. Even worse, the staff could be overheard sniping about us. Appalling language was being used to describe one customer who dared to try and interrupt some young staff members' conversation. As if this isn't bad enough, in the Electrical Appliances area, there were some male staff who were openly making derogatory comments about female customers. One of them, an Indian with an English accent, was even trying to hit on a younger female customer. I overheard him saying he was actually a music producer and that he was just killing time at Harvey Norman until his business expands. The creep even grabbed a Harvey Norman business card and wrote his details on it, asking the customer to like his facebook! Such behavior is unprofessional and unacceptable. Staff like this should be fired.

26th October 2015 My name is Kathy Gray, I went to Harvey Norman, to look at fridges and TV- a staff name is Dylan D - asked me for help.
We chatted and he said Tv and fridge were half prices, so I was happy and he asked me if I have GE credit Card and I said no I don't have one, but I told him I have only email statement GE, and he said that's fine. He called GE, and said I can apply increase limit then I went home, I called GE through National Relay Service, and we discussed and applied, they said they will let me know if it's approved or not. A few days later, to my confusion, I got a call from my son that fridge and TV arrived at my home? I could not understand how that happened. Then I made a phone call to GE via National Relay Service, they said it hasn't been approved yet. and try again to give them a call again next month. I called again November, still not yet approved, In January I had a voice phone call from my mobile a few times, I couldn't answered it because I cannot hear the phone, I'm Deaf. So when I got home, I made a phone call it was from Harvey Norman, it was Dylan, he was wanting me to see him at Harvey Norman, so I went over to him, he said I have to pay full amount in Mid February, $2270.00 and I asked him why they delivery TV and Fridge as I wasn't aware, it was unexpected. He wrote on a paper he wrote 'You should not have ever had them delivered because it is not paid for. He also said 'Our fault, we shouldn't have delivered it, I got in trouble" Also he wrote " Every stocktake the boss has to pay for what is missing and not paid for. So he says if it cant be paid we have to come take the stuff back as you shouldn't have it to begin with. We don't know how it got delivered." I have papers here to prove. Also I have tax invoice copy total= $3870.00 . I called again GE they said I have only limit approved is $1500.00 and I can not afford to pay $2270.00 to Harvey Norman. I have asked GE that I am happy to pay GE $100.00 per week, and they said no. I am feeling frustration and there was miscommunication in between me and Dylan. I tried to upload but it wouldn't work? My email address is : [protected]@gmail.com and my SMS only mobile: [protected] and home address: 3 Keylar St Mitchelton 4053, hope to hear from you soon. Regards Kathy Gray

I went to Harvey Norman at he home maker centre at Gepps Cross I was looking for a laptop.

The salesman by the name of Sav said to me if you buy this laptop I will give you an extra 3 years of anti virus protection for nothing. He also said if you were to rent this laptop for an extra $4 per week you will be covered for loss damage or theft of the laptop.

When I arrived home I checked my receipt and I had been charged $369 twice for anti virus.
They also sell something called premium support which is a complete waste of money . They charged me $253 twice for this as well.
I was overcharged $622

The next day I went back and spoke to a man called Vipp who said he was the manager.
I explained what had happened and asked to have the $622 credited to my account with Flexirent.
His reply was you have 3 years of product protection on your laptop and it has to be paid for.
This is incorrect the $4 per week which I pay is for the product protection.

I wont hold my breath waiting for a reply from Harvey Norman as they don't believe in good customer service.

I will never shop at Harvey Norman again and I will advise my family and friends to avoid this company like the plague.
From now on I will shop at the Good Guys or JB HiFI

Harvey Norman seem to have a strategy to ignore customer complaints in the hope that customers will forget. It is bullying. My complaint was not addressed internally by the store nor externally by the Harvey Norman office in Sydney for many months despite the complaint being sent numerous times. I can only believe it was deleted without it being addressed. They hate customers complaining and will tell you that if the store is not addressing the complaint - it's bad luck. I eventually got to speak to a person who said she was the PA to the CEO. She was a most rude and unprofessional person who was unable to address the complaint - she basically said " look I am not interested in complaints about poor customer service". I just couldn't communicate with her. When asked if I could speak to her supervisor, she said I would have to contact the CEO - this is a strategy to get you to quit as it is not easy for a HN customer to contact the CEO - e.g. no direct email address or number was offered. I pursued this and eventually got a staffmember who was willing to address the issue with the product I had bought but was not very interested in the poor, abusive customer service. He seemed embarrassed that the CEO's PA had directed a customer to complain to the CEO. I am not sure why Harvey Norman is decreasing its profits by offering such poor customer service and tolerating staff who do not have the skills to deal with customers who are asserting their rights under the Australian Consumer Law and demanding excellent customer service. This attitude by Harvey Norman that as long as the product is working, it does not matter that the staff were abusive and rude ( making you not want to shop at Harvey Norman again and causing you to tell other people about your experience) is not acceptable. There are serious problems at Harvey Norman and they need to be addressed now as I believe in the long term the above will cause Harvey Norman to decline and close. They seems to spend lots of money on advertising but little on training their staff to address customers politely and with respect. I want my issues addressed fully - I will continue to expose the above until this happens.

19/12/15 11.40am (about) Whilst shopping for a fitbit at Harvey Norman Deniliquin NSW I requested assistance from the sales man who was standing close by (Salesman name was Stephen). Stephen came over and whilst I was speaking to him another male shopper came over and stood next to me (I assumed he was alsowaiting to be served by Stephen ). Stephen explained the features of the fitbit then he explained the next model up fitbit features. Stephen explained "this model is for if you were running it has a screen that you can see who is calling your phone without stopping, and this one doesnt have that feature. I replied to him "No, I don't need that one, Im not planning on running; to which Stephen replied in front of the other male customer "well, without stating the obvious, unless you want two black eyes I wouldnt think that you would be doing any running. Yes I have large breasts and no I am not at happy with this type of service and quite frakly cant believe this is still even happening in todays society. After Stephen made this comment I removed my self from his presence. I told my partner who was shopping in the store immediatley what had been said and we left the store. I did not know who the other male customer was who heard the salesmans comment.

Today 29/11/2015 I went into the Harvey Norman store in Busselton wanting to print a photo of my late grandson as i wanted it to add to our christmas arrangement but i wanted to have the photo cropped and not knowing how to do this I asked one of the assistants if he could help me I showed him the photo and how I wanted it done and he told me he cant help me because they have a sale on and he doesn't have the time. Over the years [since the store here opened] I have purchased all of my white goods and computer hardware from this store and if this is going to be the attitude of the staff there when someone asks for help regardless of it being a sale or not I don't think I wish to shop there any more

We bought this leather lounge from Harvey Norman and sale person insist on buying the 5 years Multimaster Ultimate Product Warranty and saying it will cover all common accident like stains and damage. I also checked their website and I found this: "Ultimate Product Warranty cover stains caused by: All food and beverages, Human and pet bodily fluids, Common household substances including: cosmetics, glue, grease and tar, soaps and shampoos, ink, wax and nail polish." and couple of more items about damage, basically they suppose to cover almost every accident, so we thought it is a good investment to protect our expensive lounge. After one month when accidentally one of our guest kids applied nail polish we were happy about our investment. I contacted Multimaster and sent them pictures of stains. After a week they replied that it is declined as nail polish is not covered. When I referred to their website they replied "website is very general and we only cover nail polishes which are made of water, oil and alcohol! and still your claim is declined as we spent too much time in this case!" I am not chemist and usually there is nothing about the ingredients on nail polish bottle. When we bought their product they did not mentioned about the type of nail polish! Bottom of line: DO NOT BUY MULTIMASTER EXTENDED WARRANTY! IT IS SCAM - WASTE OF MONEY. They easily can avoid their obligations based on their terms and conditions.

Brought computer on 18 May 2015. Have taken it back 6 times because it keeps freezing. Told me it had a virus after 3 days. Told it was because I closed the lid on the laptop to fast, told that Lightroom programme was affecting the graphics of the computer graphics. told that I have not been doing the updates, which are automatic. Next I spoke to the store manager Joel. I took a letter detailing what I have been told and asking for a replacement or money. He was the only one to try the computer and agreed there was a problem. I was told he would save everything and clear the computer. When I got it back there was at least one large file missing and Microsoft office365 was not installed. So I could not get into my documents. I took it back with another letter asking for a refund and was told that it was not a hardware problem so no go. I was also told that I had open office on it not Microsoft office365. Afraid I lost my cool and walked out. The computer is still in the shop. I feel I have been treated like a silly old women who knows nothing. All they had to do was listen to me and check their own work before releasing it.

I purchased a Samsung Fridge in Jan 2012. As I always do, I purchased the extended care warranty with an expensive purchase - so that I would have the comfort of knowing that after the manufacturers warranty expired, there would be another to cover any problems.
I found out to my shock today, that the extended warranty was running concurrently with the manufacturers, and so I am no longer covered to fix our beverage door.
There is no reason to purchase an extended warranty if it is running at the same time as the manufacturer.
These warranties are not cheap and it would have been better for me to keep the money and pay for the repair now.
If it had been done the way it normally works, and to my knowledge, no one else is using this dodgy practice, my fridge would still be under warranty until Jan 2016.
Very disappointed in this deceptive practice

26/09/2015
To Whom It may concern

I placed an order for a lounge set at the Campbelltown Harvey Norman store on The 28th June 2015 To be delivered in 4 weeks, which then was delayed by 2 months delivery date around September the 28th day due to warehouse issues.

The first issue we encountered was that the lounge we wanted was not available in the colour (beige) we wanted, Rebecca (salesperson/furniture manager) was also not able to produce a colour sample for this brand of lounge in store, not a real problem as Rebecca (furniture manager) went over and took the samples off another lounge set and showed us a beige which was a sort of cream skin colour, and stated that it would be a bit darker than this.
When putting the order through she also stated that she would get in contact with us, about getting the true colour sample so we could come in and confirm. No store representative got back to me about this issue.
Come the day of delivery 26th September 2015 we received our order.
Wrong order was delivered. I called Harvey Norman store, which then put me through to the warehouse, when letting the storeman know we had received the wrong colour lounges, he stated quote “of course we did and that it’s a regular occurrence”.

We received two recliners of a grey colour which I was made aware was supposed to be the beige we ordered.
Yet the three seater was a light brown, I but was made aware by Rebecca(sales/manager) over  the phone that the grey cloud colour lounges were ours (Even though both boxes were clearly marked Gonzalez), And that they had delivered the other half of the set to another customer.

She then stated that we wanted the lightest colour, totally disregarding the sample she had showed us which was completely different.
She also said well you made the order without looking at the sample. And that that’s what we ordered. The whole tone of the conversation was rude and aggravating to an already time consuming inconvenience.

I will state that delivery drivers /movers Mr Andres and Mr Paul we're excellent in their service despite all that occurred.

POINTS

* Made the order.
* Was shown a sample, which was not the correct sample of lounge brand. But would be slightly darker than shown.
*Was made aware we would be notified to come in to look at a true sample. Which never happened?
*In store we were told it would take 4weeks. Delivery
* we did not receive it in 4 weeks to which we were told no it says august on your receipt order. We waited to august.
* Delivery was a month late. To which they didn’t inform us until we made the inquiry again.
*lounge set received in September 26th.
*lounge set was incorrect. Received two different colours.
* was told this was the colour I ordered. And practically told by the manager Rebecca that it was my fault for making and order without looking at the sample disregarding that she was meant to get us the sample.
* I have taken photos of lounges delivered delivered
* was told I could keep half the lounge set
But would have to wait for a whole new order.(Possible 3 extra months wait)

To which I said I want to cancel. And that I would be in touch with department of fair trading.

Overall it was an extremely unorganised unprofessional experience, Myself, Family and friends have   made numerous purchases over the years in Harvey Norman I have never experienced such a negative approach to business. I have lost total trust in Harvey Norman and facility management.

Regards,

A leather lounge suite worth over $3000 was bought from here and within a year the fabric began discolouring and peeling away. This was initially repaired under warranty, however only months after, the problem returned. A further complaint was made to the store, however they refused to assist and said it was no longer their problem.

The store (including the manager) have been unhelpful, rude and evasive - completely denying any wrongdoing and neglecting their responsibilities under the consumer protection legislation. The matter is currently with NSW Fair Trading for further action.

My tip - there are plenty of other furniture stores nearby of a much higher standard and with staff who are actually willing to genuinely assist their customers with quality products and after-care.

Bought a new sofa from HN. Had it delivered. One delivery guy was rude and unfriendly, the other was nice and friendly. The rude one was also lazy and dragged my sofa on the ground during delivery. Consequently, 3 corners of the sofa has been destroyed and ripped. Called HN, they arranged and processed an exchange. 2 weeks later I called to see when delivery was, the lady said 6-8 weeks usually. 8 weeks later I called she said "It's made in Australia so it takes longer. They're waiting for fabric to arrive." ? She said they'd call on Monday to let me know a definite date of delivery. That was 2 weeks ago! And still nothing! I have a broken sofa and I have paid for a new sofa. They have lied and basically taken my money and given me a broken product. Not happy at all!

Innaloo Harvey Norman WA/Being told by a customer service electrical representative and assured the Redway Optimist Electric fire would defiantly be on display at the Midland store where we could purchase it, we said we would not be able to get to this store for the next few days and should I check at Midland Harvey Norman WA before I drive all the way out there. The representative assured me I do not need to call the store before I go there.
So I drive to the Midland store to be told sorry it's been sold. Then to be told by another electrical representative to go to our other store at City West Harvey Norman Perth as they defiantly have one there (and the girl checked by a phone call) have one there. Get to City West Harvey Norman WA and they have not got a clue about this electric fire.
Well, I just want to say I am very disappointed in Harvey Norman customer service representative.

We had purchased a bed from this store, had paid the 10 % deposit, plus delivery fee, plus assembling fee and were simply stunned when the delivery guys expected us ( not even in a friendly manner ) to pay the remaining amount before even opening the truck!
I thought they were kidding and said so. I'm not paying a cent without inspecting the goods. Full stop.
They relented and opened the carton box, while it was still in the truck.
It seemed to be the item we wanted.
I said so and added that everything was ready for the new bed - the room was empty, the easiest access through the garage was prepared- I had shifted our car - there was only the timber bed frame from the previous bed which I had not been able to carry on my own whch needed to be taken into the garage.
These 2 strong guys looked at each other: A timber bed frame? That will be an extra charge.

I was speechless. Not to even look at the request ( it meant carrying a pretty light but bulky bed frame through an open sliding door only app 6 m into the garage ! ) - but to demand extra payment for these 30 seconds.
In the meantime the cleaning lady had arrived. She has knee problems. But they two of us managed this tiny job in no time whatsoever.

It is a disgrace and shameful to see how this company Harvey Norman trains their staff members!

They lost one customer over this and they and other customers need to know this.

By the way the bed we purchased cost more than A$ 3000, -

To Follow up on my complaint lodged earlier today - I sent also to the onky email address I ahd for Harvey Norman Port Macquarie and suggested misleading advertising would be a national issue and they should pass on my complaint to the appropriate person tomgive Harvey Norman an opportunity to respond. I was phone early this morning by themperson from whom I bought the fridge and he explained the issue was local and not national. He said they had trouble getting delivery driver staff here and had been using removalists. The people who delivered the fridge also said they were femovalists hired at short notice. The HN rep admitted there had been. breakdown on communication between the store and the delivery company they used and the proper instructions that the deal had included installation for purchasers at no extra charge. He gave me a credit to cover the costs of getting someone to do the installation. So now all good. I believe him about having difficulty getting staff up here in regional town.

I Also want to say that In Melbourne I had breat fear of HN because of reputation and the mentality of Gerry Harvey and only bought from them once. In Port Macquarie I have had very good experiences. There are onky 2 places here - Good Guys and Harvey Norman. My experience is that the staff without exception at good guys have zero product knowledge and zero interest in getting any information for customers. Havrvey Norman Port Macquarie have a coup, e of dud staff but the rest of them have been well informed and genuinely helpful. I have recently found this repeatedly over a few months when I have bought a fridge, dishwasher and TV from them. Somfor me it is a big thumbs UP for HArvey Norman Port Macquarie. Thanks guys

Harvey Norman advertised free installation of new fridge and cree removal of old fridge in the EOFY - end of financial year - sale. As my old fridge was in excellent condition I arranged for it to be taken just into ky garage instead of removal. When the fridge arrived the delivery people were very eager to get away and were a little reluctant to take the old fridge into the garage and explained they had no knowledge that that was part of the deal. Incidentally the garage is just next to front door. Then when I askd a out the installation of the new fridge again they had no knowldge of this and said there was no sich thing as i stallationor a cridge and that all Imhad to do was plug it in and turn it on which they then did. They then left very quickly. Sgternthey left I moticed the fridge rolled forward every time the doors were opened and there seemed to be nothing I could do to stop this happeneong and it was becomming cery annoying. I then read the manial. The manual was clear that there is a clear installation process which had it been down woild havestopped the problem with the doors. The manual gave clear instructions of what to do. This involved lifting the frig and winding down the wheels to get th frig with a 10mm slant towards the back. Of course i could not do this myself. It took 2 men to do it. I was fortunate to have some tradesmen coming later that day and they did it. i don't believe this was an issue dor onky the Port Macquarie store. The evidence points to a conclusion of misleading qnd deceptive advertising in that Harvey Norman never intended to supply the installation they advertised.

Today I had a very unpleasant experience at the Harvey Norman store at Moore Park, Sydney. It really was customer service experience of the worse kind.

I wanted to return a TV cable I had been encouraged to purchase by Harvey Norman but have since learnt that it does not work with the TV I also bought at the time. I believe I was made to buy this product and communicated incorrect information about what this product would do. This is clearly against the free consumer guarantees in the Australian Consumer Law.

At the same time as buying the TV cable I bought a DVD/VCR machine and was told that it would work on the TV I bought at the same time. However the VCR does not work. Again this is clearly against the free consumer guarantees in the Australian Consumer Law.

I received very poor customer service from a staffmember. He laughed when I mentioned the ACL, frequently shouted at me and lacked listening skills.He seemed to have little interest in the problems I was having and just said return it to LG and pay a service fee and they will have a look at it.

When I asked to speak to a store manager, I was made to wait a very long time. Eventually a senior staffmember came out to speak to me. He was not interested in the previous customer service I had experienced and quickly adopted a defensive attitude. I tried to explain the problems I was experiencing but he was more interested in telling me he knows more about the ACL than I do. I felt very uncomfortable speaking to him and bullied, as he would not let me be heard to any great extent ( consumers need to be heard according to the United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection). I did not get a sense he was representing Harvey Norman as I am use to much better customer service. Certainly mocking the ACL is a big no no for any business. As he was getting annoyed with me because I was stating my rights under the ACL he bullied me and shouted at me to get out of his store or he would call the police. Other customers and staffmembers looked on and seemed quite amazed at what was happening. I was offended when he said he would call the police as no criminal behaviour was occurring. I am very concerned that some Harvey Norman staffmembers may be using the police to get rid of customers who are exercising their rights under the ACL.

The above behaviour goes against the spirit of the ACL and I am sure Harvey Norman policies. It seems like there is a culture of trying to get rid of customers who have problems with Harvey Norman products by basically telling them to go away and saying that they cannot do anything about it, ignoring the ACL. Managers are not listening and do not care when customers report poor customer service ( I will not support a gang mentality to customer service at Harvey Norman stores).

I want this matter dealt with by upper management. These are important issues and I cannot see other consumers being happy with how I was treated at this store. The ACL must be complied with. Customers must not be bullied and told the ACL does not matter.

I hope we can make some improvements for other Harvey Norman customers, especially the weak and vulnerable.

I have ordered laptop and phone from the company www.harveynorman.com.au. I was shocked that after 4 weeks I heard only some fake excuses from the seller. When I placed the order, it was shown that the computer was available. But after some time it turned out that the laptop was sold out and they didn’t know when they would get new ones. I was shocked and wasted a lot of time.

Recently I purchased two 'Laser' brand Android Tablets for my young sons to take on an oversea's holiday. They were on special for $58.00 each, down from over $100.00. I asked the sales assistant if they would support android apps and games, to which he advised they would and they were a good tablet for children. I also purchased two screen protectors and two cases. Got them home, charged them up and tried to load some apps - terrible and slow. The boys were unable to use them as the apps they wanted to play such as minion rush, angry birds etc would constantly freeze, clearly the device is not for anything other than reading emails. Further, the screen protector and cases I was sold did not fit these tablets. Upon returning from our trip I took them back to Harvey Norman in their box's with receipts. My reason for returning them was that the did not do what they were intended and I wanted a refund. My boys got 5 mins use before they became extremely irritated with the freezing and lack of response. The extremely rude manager refused to refund me or even provide a credit based on the fact that they were not in a re sellable condition! He asked me what I expected when I only paid $58.00! He then said that they had been scratched and used and I was to complain to Laser directly. He then had the audacity to ask me how much I paid for my Samsung Galaxy Android and that was what I would need to pay to get a quality tablet. I am truly disgusted with the service I received from Harvey Norman Caringbah & have since found out that those tablets in particular are on a run out clearance so I have aided Mr Harvey in recouping some revenue for his junk, including the screen protectors and cases that didn't even fit that model. Shame.