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I had a bit of time to myself tuther day and I was wondering if I should be a PITA with someone :clown:
The day before I needed a PCB for a Hotpoint Fr/Fz. When looking for the right part I used the Hotpoint website to identify the part. When I found it I noticed tat it was being supplied “un-programmed” not just to me but Joe public. I rang Hotpoint spares and enquired about it pretending to be said Joe Public, they gave me a price (£98). When I asked is that all I need to get my fridge going the operative then pointed out that the board was un-programmed.So I asked them to supply the “programmed” one. :rolls: “Nope cant do that” you will need an engineer to program it. My reply where do I get an engineer to program it? The reply was one of theirs at £105 or an indi.I suggested that this was that this was like buying a new car but not being able to drive it because it needed an engine fitted. So I asked why are they selling spare parts to Joe public that are as much good as a chocolate teapots and at £98 but yet needing another £105 to complete the repair?
Not my policy, take it up with Hotpoint was the reply. I suggested that they used my call “ that may be recorded for training purposes” to point out the illegality and blatant disrespect of the laws of this country to his superiors before Defra didBloody typical
I must get a lifeRe: Unprogrammed PCB to the public
The first computer I used was an un-programmed PDP11 chocolate teapot. I took a couple of hours of loading via it’s dip switches, to get it to perform the simplest of tasks. It’s nice to know that, in an age of rapid advancement, somethings haven’t changed, or even gone backwards!
Re: Unprogrammed PCB to the public
i thought by law they had to supply you with a programmed pcb but can charge a dearer price for it
Re: Unprogrammed PCB to the public
QUICK FIX wrote:i thought by law……….
As long as you describe the component as “unprogrammed” or “this component has to be programmed before use” you are not misleading anyone or contravening any “law”.
Re: Unprogrammed PCB to the public
Martin wrote:
QUICK FIX wrote:
i thought by law……….As long as you describe the component as “unprogrammed” or “this component has to be programmed before use” you are not misleading anyone or contravening any “law”.
My law, they are 😉Re: Unprogrammed PCB to the public
maltheviking wrote: to point out the illegality and blatant disrespect of the laws of this country to his superiors before Defra did
They’ll be shakin’ in their boots if they think the department of environment, food and rural affairs is gettin’ involved. :clown:
Mike.Re: Unprogrammed PCB to the public
leavemetogetonwithit wrote:They’ll be shakin’ in their boots if they think the department of environment, food and rural affairs is gettin’ involved. :clown:
DEFRA deal with this stuff Mike, as strange as that may seem, it has a direct impact on repairability and therefore WEEE and environmental affairs. 😉
That said, there are crossovers to other government departments as well. Not least of which is the OFT who may regard this as a restrictive practice even although they’ve not shown too much of an interest thus far.
K.
Re: Unprogrammed PCB to the public
I wondered what was happening with Defra and the OFT, what are we getting from them “lip service”? which is usual from politicians and civil servants
Re: Unprogrammed PCB to the public
Sort of. 😕
Kinda hard to explain as it’s getting kicked about and, they’ve got bigger fish to fry for now.
K.
Re: Unprogrammed PCB to the public
Hmph. Regarding the likelihood of Defra getting involved in so much as talking to Merloni about something that probably isn’t as yet actually illegal, well that seems a bit of a long shot to me. The OFT perhaps, but the thing is how many Joe public punters are actually being ripped off? My guess would be not very many at all. Maybe the odd one will grudgingly go ahead and spend another £105 and moan about Hotpoint to everyone they know but not actually do anything about it. There is enormous consumer protection in their favour and Merloni will refund their money as long as the board has not been fitted and more than likely would view their claim sympathetically if they said they’d been misled, and would offer some sort of deal if they had unknowingly fitted the board first before wondering what “un-programmed” meant.
TBH, I doubt Merloni are doing this deliberately to rip anybody off. It’s just that they’re too massive an organisation and too busy thinking about how to make an even cheaper machine to worry about the odd disgruntled punter so it hasn’t crossed any director’s mind yet that there’s a potential problem. It might be worth you writing a letter to them Mal, pointing out the problem if you’re really concerned for Joe. That is all the OFT would do in the first instance but it would take them about 12 months and fifty grand to “launch an investigation” first.
Meanwhile the guy in the call centre who said, “not my policy, take it up with Hotpoint” would probably be given a black mark if he was actually impolite. You gotta have some sympathy with him; you wouldn’t want his job!
Mike.
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