Author Topic: Vatan customer service - or lack of!  (Read 10134 times)

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Offline mel binks

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Vatan customer service - or lack of!
« on: January 24, 2015, 15:11:16 PM »
Please be aware - Last August we purchased a new tv from Vatan for 1100tl to use with our internet set top box. At the counter I asked the sales assistant if they would take the box to our car but this was declined. I also asked about the guarantee and was told that the receipt would suffice. At no time did Vatan staff open up the box, show us the guarantee or stamp it, tell us that we had to contact LG to come and install the tv at our house or that we had to keep the empty box in order to validate the guarantee. Once home my husband opened up the box and threw it out but unfortunately our friend who sets up tvs to the internet was unable to come and set us up until two days later.

Two days later when our friend came to install the tv to the internet he plugged it in and straight away told us the tv was broken. He told us to go back to Vatan which we did the next day. Even though the tv still had the sticker on the front of the screen, we had all the bits and pieces and the instruction booklet they asked where the box was. We explained that we did not have the box (typically, when you don’t want them to be, the dustbins had been emptied!) but that we had the guarantee card (even though it had not been stamped) and our sales receipt. They then told us it was an LG problem and told us to contact them. When LG was contacted, again it was asked about where was the box and they said it was a Vatan problem, no one seemed to be willing to do anything.

I thought about trying to claim on our house insurance and rang them telling them that we had purchased a new tv which was broken and that neither Vatan or LG were willing to do anything about it and that I wanted to make a claim. I was told that I could not claim because this was a new tv. If it had been dropped or broken accidentally it would have been covered. I then said that if I were to say the man who had come to install it knocked it over and broke it only to be told that this was not possible because I had already told them that this was a new tv so they would not accept a claim!

We then went to the consumer rights in Fethiye who took all the details and said this matter would go to court. They told us that we had to have a report from LG and we duly paid for LG to come out and look at the tv. When LG came to our house they said that it was obvious that the tv had been damaged in transit and that it should be a Vatan problem and yet again asked we were asked where the box was. We spoke to someone at the LG main office who said he would try to get us another box but then this was not acceptable because the bar code on the tv did not match that of the one on the box.

With the report, our statement and receipt the case went to court. In December we had a notification from the court. We went back to the Consumer Rights who told us to go back to Vatan as it had been awarded in our favour saying that Vatan should either give us a new tv or our money back. We are led to believe that Vatan were in the wrong for not having opened the box, telling us that LG should have come and installed our tv or the fact that it is an unwritten rule in Turkey that you have to keep all empty boxes in order for guarantees to be valid.

Thinking this was the end of the matter we went again to Vatan with the court decision only to be told that their solicitor had appealed to get the court decision reversed. We have 15 days in which to appeal and it will go to court again. We are told that Vatan are saying that it is the responsibility of LG and that if we loose the court case we have to pay all legal costs. All of this for the sake of an empty box! We are contacting our solicitor for advice but please take this as a warning that not everything is as it seems. Even if you can speak/read Turkish there are many unwritten rules that you may not know about.

I’ve asked a Turkish neighbour whether this is the case and normal practice and she told me that it is. I asked again at Vatan how long would we have been expected to keep an empty box and if it was for the duration of the guarantee. The man at the customer services counter said that it would only have to be six months. On another occasion my neighbour was told to keep the box three months, so what is the rule or do they make them up as they go along?!!!!

So what do we do next? At the expense of a solicitor do we go to court again with the off chance that we will lose and all the legal costs will be appointed against us (which could in essence amount to more than what the tv was worth). Or, do we just forget it, put it down to a costly experience and loose the money we paid for the tv?



Offline AOK

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Re: Vatan customer service - or lack of!
« Reply #1 on: January 24, 2015, 16:03:59 PM »
Sorry to hear your story :-[
Where abouts is this shop?

Offline KKOB

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Re: Vatan customer service - or lack of!
« Reply #2 on: January 24, 2015, 17:30:17 PM »
I think you''re on a hiding to nothing. Swallow your pride. Mark it down to experience.

Offline yabanci

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Re: Vatan customer service - or lack of!
« Reply #3 on: January 24, 2015, 18:08:11 PM »
Where abouts is this shop?
Its in the new Erasta Shopping Centre.

Offline Scunner

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Re: Vatan customer service - or lack of!
« Reply #4 on: January 24, 2015, 18:53:03 PM »
It will cost them a lot more than they think. We have a lot of readers who have properties there who certainly won't support shops who fail to deliver what was promised.

Offline kevin3

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Re: Vatan customer service - or lack of!
« Reply #5 on: January 24, 2015, 20:20:37 PM »
Is there any way of letting the store know we are discussing their shortcomings.?

It might help Mel, you never know. Or a collection of Emails.!         ;)

Offline Menthol

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Re: Vatan customer service - or lack of!
« Reply #6 on: January 24, 2015, 20:37:55 PM »
Ugh. Another electrical place bites the dust.

Teknosa, next to the Otogar and just down from Erasta, are awful. Their customer service is of the 'oh alright, I will deign to serve you this item then. However, I will keep communication to an absolute minimum including eye contact' kind.

The store that used to be on the same side as Eren Spot going towards the town centre and just before the high bridge, offered lovely customer service, in my experience. Unfortunately they closed sometime in November.

Offline Scunner

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Re: Vatan customer service - or lack of!
« Reply #7 on: January 24, 2015, 22:02:52 PM »
Teknosa have been dreadful for years - and just in case you wondered if it is because you are a foreigner...


I bought a HP printer from Teknosa. Eventhough Teknosa's prices are higher than other shops, I used to prefer them, as they are a big chain company and was thinking they will support me in case of a problem. I was wrong !!!
HP printer started not to print, only after a month i bought it. Took it back to teknosa shop, and was told they have to send it to service. I know it will take time, and asked for a spare printer that i can use during my printer is in service. They refused it, and told me to wait till they hear from service. 1 week passed and I even couldnt get a proper answer, when i ask when my printer will be back to me. They said i have to wait for 1-5 days first. Now they say nothing about progress of repairing, and that 1-5 days became up to 30 days now. Decided to buy a new printer [:(!] , as I can't do without a printer in office. So, I have to spend extra money because I chosed the wrong companies both HP and Teknosa.

By the way I bought 2 electronics from Teknosa recently, and both have problems. One is printer and other one is LCD's remote doesnt work properly (bought it only 3 months ago). I think I will have to buy a new remote control as I dont want to face same situation and dont want to be without TV for a month.


Offline apollo

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Re: Vatan customer service - or lack of!
« Reply #8 on: January 25, 2015, 11:16:21 AM »
I have had excellent service from Technosa. I bought a laptop from them in December 2013( 2 year garauntee). Took it back this January with a problem. I had lost the receipt. A bit of research on their system and the details of my purchase were retrieved and the repair was carried out. No problem.

Offline mel binks

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Re: Vatan customer service - or lack of!
« Reply #9 on: January 25, 2015, 13:24:17 PM »
Thanks for the comments. The ironic thing in this is that when we went back to Vatan with the court judgement we spoke to a women who led us to believe she was the assistant manager. When we showed her our court papers she said she had already seen them as they had been sent a copy. This was when she informed us that their solicitor was appealing the decision. When we asked on what grounds she said she did not know but then went on to tell us that at the time of us purchasing the tv, Vatan was a new shop and a lot of the staff were not fully trained. She admitted that it was their fault in neglecting to tell us about having to have LG come and install the tv or indeed that we should keep an empty box and that in future customer services would change! She said that the shop would have been quite prepared to give us a new tv or our money back happen the court had not written in the last two lines of the judgement which gave them the right of appeal. So they know they are in the wrong and are trying to pass the blame, and in the meantime who is going to make the most out of this - the solicitors!




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