Watford-Savastore

Shopping at Watford-Savastore

2005-11-06T14:43:54+01:00

I feel SO UTTERLY STUPID by having several times shopped at Watford/Savastore and not learned my lesson.

Each time their service is 100% consistently appalling, so much beyond belief that each time I just think 'that was surely a freak incident, presumably all concerned are fired, no company could stay in business with such a criminal attitude. I'll try them again!'

Doh! Do not do it! DO NOT DO IT!

Or if you do, then when you come to regret it please return to this page and add your opinion, for the sake of mankind. I would actually love to visit their offices to find out the answer to the nagging question: are these people egregiously stupid, or simply crooks?

Watford has several times sent me out broken crap and they then rely on you getting bored of trying to get a replacement, hoping you'll put up with problem, chuck out product and forget about it, or in the case of fools like myself, come back another time for more a few months later. Watford also sees nothing wrong with utterly misdescribing products. If I do visit their ofices I fully expect to overhear the marketing people "no lets not call it a 1 megapixel camera just because it is a 1 megapixel camera, let's call it a 5 megapixel camera and see if they can be bothered to sue us!'
Angry of Central London, IT expert.

Submitted by treeman

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Nightmares with Watford?

2005-09-13T19:51:33+02:00

Are you having problems with Watford Electronics or Savastore?
If so - this is the place to SHOUT IT OUT!!!
Don't let them get away with bad customer service, false advertising and selling faulty products!
Together we can stop them!
Let others know your story...just comment below!

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Western Digital TFT monitor

2005-08-27T15:21:42+02:00

Western Digital WD2000BB 200GB UIDE 100 7200rpm - OEM

I was just about to buy a £200+ TFT monitor from them, & was just googling for a voucher where I spotted these comments. They have definately lost the sale due to your comments. Thank you.

Please also beware Ebuyer. They sent me a second hand (& faulty) hard drive instead of a new one. This caused a 3 week delay & much hassle before I received the new drive.

Their offer of compensation was nil & their customer service was ignorant, unsypathetic & diffucult to navigate (no doubt intentionally).

Submitted by Anton

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Carrera PC

2005-08-23T11:17:57+02:00

Watford Electronics , Noooo Don't Do it.

This all started back in January when my Carrera PC started acting up. The help line told me about Watford buying them out and that I'd get a letter through explaining that I'd have to pay to get Watford to honour the warrantee. I did all this and after £14 of phone calls finally got them to send an engineer out (a 7 day wait). He came and told me what I'd told them, the motherboard needed replacing. He had one with him, errr, that cheap rubbish isn't going in this PC. I'll have to get another one.

10 days later he's back after giving me a choice of motherboards. None of these had the 128mb of onboard graphics the original had so he had to bring another graphics card ,64mb, said he couldn't get the company to give me a 128mb one. Put the new motherboard in and the fire wire card wouldn't fit the new one. He told me that Watford would send me a new one and he took the old one away with the motherboard.

Since then I have sent countless e-mails to Watford to Jenny McMellon who is a customer services manager and to their MD demanding a fire wire card and a graphics card. I now have to take the legal route as these people can be described as nothing short of common crooks.

When I do get a reply I am told it is being dealt with, You'll be sent new cards, we'll send the engineer with the new cards, etc etc.

I know that they've taken a lot of money from former Carrera customers and no doubt have managed to get some of these sub standard motherboard into a few of them with out the user knowing.

I'll let you know what happens next but as it stands I'm just starting to fill out the leagl forms. If anyone has any advice then it would be much appreciated.

My advice to anyone reading this is DO NOT do business with Watford Electronics or their Savastore shop. There are plenty more retailers out there who wont just take your money and run.

Here's an update on my grumble. After hearing nothing from Watford concerning the graphics card and firewire card I was about to start filling in the online stuff to get a judgement against them as suggested on here. Last week out of the blue I got an email from Bushrs Sallem at watfrod asking me to choose the cards from the web site and they would be sent on. So I duly went to the site chose the 2 cards (I didn't even take the piss) and emailed the product numbers off.

I received a confirmation back but on entering my order area nothing was showing. I thought this was the usual Watford thing and just a scam. Amazingly the cards arrived 2 days later, or should that be 3 months and 2 days.

They even sent me through some nice leaflets of their special offers. Would I buy anything form them, not bloody likely. From my own experience and from what I've read on here Watford are your typical cowboy outfit, I imagine the review they get are more to do with advertising revenue than the products themselves. It's high time the computer mags out there did a survey on the customer service of these companies and then they might start changing their bad habits.

On a closing note those of you who are still suffering at the hands of Watford and Savastore, do go the legal route, these people need to be taught a lesson and you are all owed a lot of money.

Submitted by scubated

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Aries PC

2005-08-20T12:44:47+02:00

Watford are a terrible company, for two reasons; they supply shoddy goods and don't do customer service.

I purchased an Aries PC from them in December. The monitor lacked a base stand, so I had to return it.

Then the new monitor they sent me did not come with a power supply.

After a month my computer was working, well that was until it refused to switch on. It took two weeks for an engineer to call, and then he was unable to fix it. I sent the whole unit back and it was repaired.

This was a new PC that had serious faults, and it was not fully working until March.

Now the keyboard and mouse with which I was supplied have both stopped working, and the CPU is making an alarmingly loud humming noise. The question is, can I be bothered to contact Watford again?

Submitted by James

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Aries Precision 1101

2005-08-17T21:05:18+02:00

This is my story:

I ordered an Aries Precision 1101 laptop from Savastore.com because it had a good spec for its price. I checked it out on the net and the reviews looked good. However, I did not do a search on Savastore or Watford Electronics. I now wish I had.

Their website showed that the laptop was available in 3-6 days. It arrived after a month of waiting and my chasing them up about the delivery. They kept telling me that it would arrive in a couple of days… When it arrived it had a foreign keyboard and a foreign plug, that could have caused fire. According to the DTI it is criminal to sell electrical goods unfit for use in the UK.

The customer services at Savastore are just appalling. I could hardly get through to them on the phone. When I did (after hours of listing to music and being charged a premium rate) I could only talk to a sales assistant who told me to email them. When I emailed them, they ignored me. I wrote to the supervisor and manager – they also ignored me. After several emails the supervisor sent me an email - but no proper reply to my enquiry. Her telephone number was obviously not a real number – it was engaged even at 2am!

I managed to get a refund – but no compensation, nor even an apology. (This was, of course, my statutory right anyway)

So, although the Aries Precision looks good value – if you had any problems with it, you’d be stuck as you would be getting no proper customer support.

Read my full story before you buy an Aries Precision 1101 laptop.

Submitted by Edian

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watford electronics motherboard

2005-08-15T11:12:45+02:00

Watford Electronics Nightmare with motherboard

Well in short I sent for a Motherboard, received it faulty. Sent it back and got a replacement that was a downgrade to the one ordered, some of the features missing and with the same fault as the first. Sent that one back and asked for a full refund. Got a reply with an attached invoice that stated "No fault found. £15. pound charged".

Got in touch with Trading Standards - they sent a letter saying I was entitled to a refund. Many e-mail went between myself and Watford. Then Mr. Hills came in on it because I told them I was going to send my experience with them to private individuals round the country. He told me that he could put up with my idle threats and he was closing the matter. This is when I told him, "Idle threats, look at your fax machine".

On his fax I sent a copy of the reply from the DTI. This was followed with a reply in minuets, unknown for Watford, Mr. Hills asking me to settle this in an amicable way. I replied, telling him, that I want a full refund. He sent a payment to cover the cost of the motherboard.I told him that this is not a full refund, I want the £15 that was charged to me for a Motherboard that was faulty. If not I will send all the complaints that I can find to the broadcasters and news reporters. I got it in full.

submitted by Michael

If you have similiar stories - submit it here by adding a comment below.

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watford electronics customer service

2005-08-10T12:19:33+02:00

If you've had enough of the customer service at watford electronics or savastore.com, this is the place to share your frustration with others. Blog it out!

Just add a comment and let others know your story!

It seems that they still provide bad customer services & technical support despite several forums and websites about them.

Together we can do something about this.

Submit your story here. The more of you do it - the more people will be warned and hopefully will not buy anything from them. Given the nature of a blog - it gets picked up by the Search Engines much faster than normal websites. It's important that you mention the product's name and number(or code) - most people search on these rather than "savastore" or "watford electronics".

Also, if you have a website, please link to this blog - and all the other forums and blogs out there!

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Self Build PC From Watford Electronics

2005-08-06T18:30:44+02:00

I feel like I was ripped off, when a colleague showed me some websites that confirm I probably was! I bought a self build PC kit from Watford Electronics. It was my first purchase online, and I feel like a mug. When it arrived, and was assembled (by a qualified tech) there was no signal from the computer at all. It was a nightmare. I called the company who asked me to e-mail my complaint - a stupid remark considering I could not even switch on the PC they had just sent me. Then they gave me a returns number and asked me to post it back. I said that was an expensive option and finally got them to agree to collect it - but they could not do this for a week! I was advised to send it back as assembled, but despite advice kept hold of the packaging. I found out the relevant address and drove it back to their depot myself - it was less hassle!!! The system was in my possession for 7.5 hrs only!
It was a good thing I called them first as Watford Electronics had not arranged payment for transport which I had to chase Watford Electronics for again, where I was told that it would take 10 working days maximum to test the PC.

They received the faulty PC the very next day and despite many phonecalls and email from work I could get a response except for associates telling me that had emailed me at my home address which I had to keep pointing out was useless as they had my PC!! On the 10th working day I called to ask about the results of the testing to be told their internal e-mail system was down and they promised to call me back that day or the next day. 3 Days later with no contact I called them back to be told by the rudest and most defensive girl on the planet that they legally had 28 days to continue testing and that they had a backlog of faults and would not get back to me until they had finished their work. I was fuming and asked why they had not told me this from the beginning. she told me to go to trading standards if I was unhappy as they were operating well within legal limits. I reported the case there and then. At this point a colleague learned of my purchase and showed me these links which horrified me; http://www.clik2complaints.co.uk/DPs/savastore.html

They showed many cases of consumers having the exact same problems as myself. I learned from these complaints that any faulty PC Self build kit were usually either returned as no fault found with a bill for repairs blaming the consumer for damaging the equipment, or a refund offered minus the price of the damaged items was really unhappy!!

Another week later and I had a message from Watford Electronics asking me to call - which I did. A gentleman told me that They had discovered that the PC had been incorrectly assembled, and that following repair work, the system was now operational. He said that they had photographs to prove that it had been incorrectly pieced together, and would email them on so I could see for myself - again I pointed out that they had my only system..! He asked, did I want it back or a refund minus a no fault found fee? I requested my money back as looking through some of the other complaints I could see that even equipment replaced had failed consumers in the past and the after sales care had been so appalling I just wanted to cut my losses and run. I asked how soon I could have my money back, and was told it would take 4 working days to process. I double checked with the associate that all was now settled and he said he was action the refund as soon as he had finished talking with me.

Today was the 4th working day and guess what? no funds!! I called Watford Electronics to get back to the same rude girl I had the misfortune to be wound up by previously, and immediately she began blinding me with legal Jargon and then told me they had no intention of refunding me until I had returned the original packaging!! I asked why they called me the previous week to refund me when they had no intention of doing so at all but she just was plain rude and spouted more legal talk which I did not understand, and so how could I check it out?? She then said that without returning 3 small cardboard boxes that they intend only to refund 50% of the original cost, minus the £35 return fee.
All along I had been requesting to speak to a line manager or some kind of supervisor, but the usual pattern followed... they put me on hold on my mobile for 5 minutes then said all team leaders were unavailable. I asked that a manager call me back ASAP, and was told this request would be put on my account. I was amazed that at around 5:30pm that day a manager called Peter called me back, where I was able to explain why I was so unhappy. He told me that they had recorded my calls to their company but with no warning of this when first connected this alone is an issue concerning privacy!! This time I was told that the system was in fine working order and that the power to the CPU has simply not been plugged in?? He said that the only packaging that I was missing was the box for the mother board, but the motherboard came bagged, and I only have 3 small brown boxes at home which are too small for the motherboard. I told him that I have kept every piece of packaging down to each small wire twist. Peter told me that certain discs for operating the mother board had not be returned. I know I was very careful to include every media sent out to me so I told him that if he had not received it, then I was never sent it in the first place. He said he had to call the warehouse to confirm what packaging had been returned.

He actually called me back within 5 minutes and said that the warehouse had agreed to find alternate discs, and that I would be refunded. This will take 4 working days to process, and all I can do at this point is hold my breath and hope that at the end of this deadline the £542 - probably minus the no fault found fee despite the different accounts of fault resolve - will be safely returned to the account it was collected from!! If not, all I can do is call the rude girl again... at least she delivered a manager to me!!

I took out a loan to buy a digital camera and computer to process the images. So any losses will slowly grow in interest... not something that helps me sleep at night!! I simply wish to find someone who can fight for the small consumer, and also warn people about the service provided by Watford Electronics, also known as Savacentre!! They are a great company - until you find a fault...then you are talking to a brick wall!! Like so many have asked... How the hell is this company still operating...?

All in al they promised me a refund 4 times, 3 of which were not honoured, nor was I notified of the fact that the refund was not to be paid on time; even the 4th promise of a refund was actually paid out, but even then on the 4th day the funds were not in my account, so I called them again and quoted my trading standrads ref no. and 4 days after that I eventually was refunded £497 of the £542 I had originally paid - BEWARE!! the no fault found fee of £35 will have VAT tagged on top of that. I still have not received a proper explanation of why my PC did not work, yet they still deducted money for whatever it was. Stear clear of this company -it cost me £20 in calls to chase up my refund!!

submitted by zoe jade price

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Watford Electronics

2005-08-01T20:38:38+02:00

You should think twice about buying anything from Watford Electronics. They mislead you about their products and their availability – then take your money, and deliver goods that are unsafe or damaged or faulty. If you buy the latter, they blame it on you…
Read stories about the Watford shopping experience or reviews of Watford Electronics.

Their level of customer service is appalling - you can only get through to them on the phone after listening to music for ages (charged at premium rates). When you do get through, they are absolutely useless at dealing with your problems.

It’s like being in Kafka novel.

If you have had any bad experiences with them submit your story here!
There is another blog where you can also submit your story about Watford Electronics.

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