Argos are scammers, they said they had refunded £145.95 into my paypal but have not, i have proof from PayPal no money had gone in, been waiting for my refund to go into PayPal for over a month now, so I asked to speak to the manager numerous times finally Elaine the manager spoke to me and said there is nothing she can do, I asked her for an email so I could send the proof of non refund from paypal and the email she give me was a fake now she will not return any of my calls iv had to take it up with action fraud. If anyone can help please leave a comment thank you

If you're shopping at Argos please read:
Bought Iphone 11 for £924 for my wife back in Oct 2020 (if you're not aware customers are protected under the Consumer Law for 2 years and I am entitled for exchange). The phone is now faulty not recognising SIM card. I have been to Apple store Genius Bar Work Authorisation and they did their diagnosis and attempt to repair it however issue persisted.

I have contacted Argos via phone and their dealings with this is SHOCKING!

I have sent numerous emails to Argos and no response!

• Phone is faulty, issue is no cellular data however when you take the SIM card out and use it on another phone it works. Problem observed Saturday 09/04
• We have factory reset all the settings and restore from iCloud to no avail problem persisted
• On 10/04 Issue reported to 3 Network store at High Street Kensington and they advised it's a phone problem because the SIM card works on another phone
• On 11/04 been to Apple Genius Bar and problem persists despite their troubleshooting/diagnosis and attempt to repair
• On 12/04 around 3:10pm spoke with Imtinan from Customer Service, explained the situation and Imtinan advised that I go to Argos store and they will assist with my problem and that I will be offered exchange or pro-rata refund, however that was not the case and my time was wasted!
• On 12/04 around 7pm been to Argos store at HA4 0AJ as advised by Imtinan, store staff was clueless what to do about the problem and they said phone is out of warranty and referred me to go to Apple! I then spoke with the store manager Jordan who looked up how to deal with this! He then advised me that it will take 3-4 weeks for the phone to be looked at by a third party. However I refused as my wife needs a phone and the timescale is unacceptable for an essential service.
• I then left the store and contacted Customer Service again at 19:38 and spoke to Emily who was apologetic about my experience, however she stated couple shocking things:
O If I go to another store I could be treated differently and that the store could replace my phone! So am I expected to try my luck and keep trying different stores! Where is Argos regulations, processes, standards, audits?
O I requested to file a complaint which Emily did and when I asked for the reference she said it's the order number, I asked when someone will look into my case and contact me she said no one and that was a shock to hear! I requested this to be escalated and to speak to a manager, she then put me through to Rebecca
O Rebecca filed complaint Ref ******** and to speed things up I can take the phone to repair shop as advised in her email
O On 13/04 I have been to a repair centre and they advised that they need to open the phone for them to do hardware inspection/diagnosis checks, however opening the phone will void the warranty and I am not comfort to proceed on this basis.

I have replied and chased Rebecca and Argos customer service via emails and no response at all, it's like we don't exist to them! They're very well when it comes to customers spend money but then when we're having product issue they play deaf!

Bottom line Argos customer service lacks professionalism, knowledge of their own policies and standards

I am escalating my complaint to the Retail Ombudsman on CDRL.Org.Uk

Letter to Argos Customer Service

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am wondering if you can help me. The day before yesterday I purchased a rucksack from one of your stores. I asked if I could see it properly and the lady said no because it's in a bag. I pointed out to the staff that whilst I could see the height of the pack that I couldn't see how far back the rucksack opened because it was flat packed and when I received no response I said "well hopefully it should open out enough", as I assumed would need to check myself when I arrived home. I wasn't concerned because I knew Argos have a 30 day returns policy and have used Argos lots of times before and have on occasion had to return items. In order to examine the rucksack fully, I had to remove it from the bag, but it was sealed in such a way as not to be able to remove the sellotape without in some way damaging the bag. Having checked then the rucksack and seen that it was not as I had hoped, I went back to the store and explained what had happened. I was then told that because the bag was damaged that I would not be refunded. The manager suggested that had I cut the bottom of the bag then the item would have been re-saleable, but even in this instance, the bag could not have been resealed because the item was already tightly packaged and would have required the rucksack folded over inside the bag to reseal it. So I couldn't win either way. Please can you help.
Regards
***********

The response I received was, that it was not possible to overturn the decision of the store.

Word if warning, if you are uncertain of a product and cannot be certain of not damaging the packaging then think twice. Argos returns policy states that...

"In line with our returns policy, your item(s) needs to be: • Unused and with all parts • In its original packaging (with the tags if applicable) • In a re-saleable condition"

Note here that whilst initially Argos make a distinction between the 'item' and the 'packaging' as being two separate things, when reselling, the packaging becomes part of the item. This is not immediately clear.

Also, since it is was not possible to examine the item fully without removing it from the packaging and, since the item is packaged in such a way as to make it Impossible to remove the item without damaging the packaging, and since the customer here is the only party liable to be adversely affected in this situation, I feel that the customer should, in all fairness, be made aware verbally, upon purchase, that the item and the packaging are, in this instance, for the purposes of resale, to be regarded as one and the same thing and advised when packaging is designed in such a way that opening it is likely to compromise or prevent it's reuse.

Furthermore I was also advised by customer services, having explained the situation, that it was perfectly acceptable to return the item for a refund. Fortunately I was close to the store, someone who makes a longer journey may well have a considerably more unfortunate outcome than I did.

This was the unsolicited response from Argos to my review on Trustpilot

"Hi, I am sorry to read that the rucksack you have purchased was not suitable and you have not been able to return this to us. Our Returns Policy can be viewed online and in store prior to purchase and this does state to return the items do have to be in their original packaging. The information you have been provided in store is correct and we are unable to over ride the decision of the store. Thank you for your feedback.

Natalie"

As you can see it's the usual standard cop out response, failing to address the points I made and placing the onus entirely on the customer to be fully informed before purchase, rather than ensuring that such incidents do not arise by informing the customer of potential issues at the time of purchase. Of course, had the staff said to me, "be careful with this packaging because if you open it then it can't be resold", then I might not have bought it, but by staying silent, then any problem is transferred to me. Nice

TLDR: Argos will only refund in Argos vouchers if payment is made with a Flexicash card - against the refund policy on their own website, and more importantly the Consumer rights act 2015 sec 20.

This is a warning to anyone wanting to pay with anything but cash at Argos.

Ordered a watch as a gift online, for store pickup.

Paid with £20 Nectar points, and £149.99 on a flexicash card.

My son said the face was too large for his wrist, so we took the watch back to the same store it was picked up at (Oldham Elk Mill). This is only 48 hours after pickup.

The staff member behind the jewelry counter inspected the watch, said it was all ok to be returned, and asked to see our receipt - at which point he said he could only refund us in Argos vouchers.

As we hardly ever use Argos anymore I asked to speak to a manager, wanting our refund to be in the same format that we used for payment.

The first manager (or supervisor - not sure which) just repeated what we were already told, and then called the store manager (Helen) over after I again politely refused.

The store manager didn't listen to what I was saying, and stated that we could either take the watch or the Argos vouchers and started to walk away...

After being ignored I had few options left and so I got the attention of other shoppers in the store and started to explain what was happening only then did Helen return, this time listening to my stance that I required the refund to be in the same format as I had paid. According to Helen (manager) it was company policy AND Flexicash policy, to refund with vouchers ONLY, when a Flexicard was used for payment (which was at no point made clear to us before payment was made), and that the cards website would say the same thing. (None of this is true)

Eventually we were given some stapled together Love2shop vouchers to the value of the Flexicash payment, and an Argos voucher for the Nectar points.
I suffer from severe Anxiety and at this point just wanted to get out of the store.
At least love2shop can be used elsewhere than Argos.
Far from what we wanted but better than giving our money to Argos.

As we were leaving Helen said it was a shame that it wasn't a smaller purchase or she could have given us cash as a refund! (we should have bought 20 small items and refunded them all if this is the case! - again we just wanted to leave so carried on walking).

- we left the store still unhappy, and will not be looking at Argos for any major purchases for the foreseeable future.

During our hour and a half trying to get a refund, the staff member behind the counter told us that there are always problems with Flexicash - that this happens all the time when people want refunds.

*The Flexicash website states that Argos refunds are to in line with Argos' policy nothing is mentioned here about refund for store vouchers (Helen was adamant this was the case).

** Argos' own website states that 'Refunds will be processed by the original payment method'. Again nothing is mentioned about Flexicash being refunded with store vouchers.

***The Consumer Rights act 2015 section 20, subsections 9, 10, 11, 12 state that a consumer should receive a refund in the same format that payment is made.
This supercedes any company policy.

I have screenshots of Flexicash website, Argos website, and the consumer rights act to show the above is true.

I welcome any input from Argos with regards to the above.

I bought a dishwasher and installation from Argos earlier this year for £299. When it arrived the dishwasher was dented on the side. I agreed to keep it, as this wouldn't be seen. Two months later it stopped working. I contacted Argos and they booked in an appointment with their preferred repair company.
The engineer on his first visit was rude and advised he needed a new part. A new appointment was booked for the following week. On the night before (and the morning of) the visit we received two texts confirming his visit. He didn't arrive. On contacting the company wondering when he would come, they advised he didn't have the part and so wasn't actually coming. They hadn't bothered to tell us this and so wasted our time instead.
An appointment was then booked for the following week again. I raised a complaint but never heard back from their manager despite repeated chases - they clearly didn't give a damn. I followed up a day before the third visit was due. I was advised that they wouldn't be coming as the part still wasn't in stock (a third wasted annual leave day.). If I hadn't called then we would have been waiting in for them again to be stood up, where they hadn't bothered to notify us. They confirmed they would advise Argos of these problems and recommend that Argos replace the faulty machine.
I called Argos - the initial call handler was unhelpful. She said they don't have any replacements in stock and would not be issuing a good will gesture for the three full days of annual leave this issue has wasted.
She transferred me to someone in their complaints team. He offered a £30 credit towards a replacement dishwasher. I accepted and asked which replacement they would then send. On calling me back he advised that the nearest one would require me paying an additional c. £70 on top of the credit(!) Clearly this is outrageous.

They should not be making more money out of customers because their products being faulty.

I declined this and asked for a refund, (which would require a 5th day of annual leave), together with compensation for the 5 wasted days. He advised that he would provide a £30 credit note towards a next purchase. I advised this was, frankly insulting given that five days will have been wasted, together with around 7 hours on the phone to Argos and their repair company combined (and counting).

He advised I could make an application to their Head Office for "loss of earnings", but that they would require a letter from my accountant disclosing my annual salary, dividends and other income - so they can decide if they will reimburse me for the days they wasted.

Who the hell do Argos think they are, demanding detailed personal financial information such as this? They are a shop who have failed to provide a working produce that I have paid for - they are not HMRC!

On top of that, a letter from my accountant will cost me at least £150+VAT, as accountants don't work for free. The call handler advised that Argos wouldn't reimburse me for any fees I would have pay in order to get the letter they were requesting.

So in summary:

1) Argos has wasted 5 days of time by supplying a faulty product and instructing a repair company who were not fit for the intended purpose.

2) They have wasted an additional 7 hours (and counting) of my time in admin trying to sort this out.

3) And they now have the audacity to demand that I pay extra money for an accountants letter, and disclose to them my intimate financial details - all without any guarantee they will reimburse me for any of it. This is adding insult upon insult to injury. I should not have to do this, and pay money, effectively, in order to complain about already poor service.

I have been told that a 'Resolutions Leader' will contact me, but that she will only repeat the above.

The situation is therefore still ongoing. Argos, do you consider the above to be either acceptable, or reasonable service to your customers? I look forward to someone contacting me and resolving this reasonably and sensibly.

I recently purchased in store in Camden (London) a pillow and 2 sideboard to be delivered to my home address-they couldn't delivered together (WHY?) so the first delivery, the pillow, never arrived. I waited 3 hours at home for it and then i called customer service and they couldn't even find the order number that was on my receipt! The advisor was able ot see my receipt but he said somehow there was a "missing order on the system" and couldn't find the pillow! He advised me to call back the following day to re-arrange a second delivery as it was already 10pm and their offices close at that time. As advised i called on Sunday morning and spent 20 minutes on the phone- i have asked the advisor if i could collect the item from the store instead of re-delivering as i was on holiday and i had things planned everyday- the advisor said yes but as it was a "Missing order on the System" he had to create a booking order (?) to collect in store (like you do when you order on line) and he said to ask the person serving me to call ofr the "Resolution Centre" to obtain an authorisation to cover the costs of the pillow (?) as obviously i already had paid the £13.99 and i shouldn't have charged again... OK... i thought it was sorted... the following day i receive a text message regarding teh booking collection, i then go to Argos store in Camden (London) and i repeat what the advisor told me to say. The advisor call teh "resolution Centre" for authorisation and, after 20 minutes, i was told it ws not authorised because Argos had re-arranged for a re-delivery the same night! I was unaware of this as it was not my choice and none ever mentioned it to me! I was so upset i have asked for a refund in Store which was denied because the delivery was already re-arranged and i had to wait after the re-delivery to decline the item and call again costumer service for a refund! So, the following day i receive an email from Argos and i am requested to call custome service which i did! I spent 45 minutes on teh phone and i was eventually able to speak with a manager that said she couldn't do the refund online as they didn't have my card details in it so i had to come back in store! I probe the manager to provide a reference number for this conversation as sinc ethe beginning of the whole experiance i had the impression i had to repeat myself millions of times with thousand of differetn people with no clue of what i was experiencing! The manager gave a reference number and PROMISED ME that if i had presented this ref number in store thye wouldn't have asked any questions and they would have provided me with a refund! NOT REALLY! I went in store after one week as i was abroad before, i provide the reference number to a sales assistante and she was on teh phone for like 15 minutes after which she come back and said they were trying to sort it and that i might have needed to call back the customer service again for a refund! WHAT? The store is telling me call customer service... then customer service tells me to go in store and over again! After 4-5 phone calls and 2 visits in store i received my refund of £13.99! Do you think this is good customer service?
This is not hte end! I did purchase 2 sideboards together with the pillow and choose a home delivery for tomorrow between 7-11am - today i receive a text message from Argos telling me the delivery will be between 10-12! Again! Dejavu! NO! I am losing hours at work and have booked GP appointment at 11:30 on purpose not ot loose many more hours of work for my visit and i cannot wait until 12.
I have just called Customer service and after 10 minutes on hold a guy tells me he is going to call me back as soon as it gets hold of the driver... it has passed one hour already and i haven't received a call back from Argos... do your conclusion... worse customer service ever... much too long waiting times and they do not keep records of enquiries/issues/complaints. Will not use ever again!

Your company is Excellent because stuff is deliverd 0 or 1 day/days