Broken PC - Got it fixed, enough said.

I purchased my Packard Bell desktop PC back in August 2010, Got the Whatever Happens service on this and used it until it faulted only a few days later. Went back to the store and had a nice chat and they replaced it on the spot (helps not to shout at the people behind the desk, they are human afterall). Since then i've been happily using my PC for over 2 years until recently it developed a fault with the Ethernet port. Now i know a fair bit about computers and made sure that the fault didn't lie with something stupid like cable being unplugged etc. I called up the KNOWHOW Whatever happens service and booked it in for repair, again, no shouting down the phone i just talked to the person like a normal human being and said what i tried and that i would like it booked in for repair. It got booked in with no issues and was collected the other day. Now i know alot of people bitch and moan about how they REALLY need their laptop for business or whatever perverted crap they do, but if you didn't want to wait a maximum of 21 days, then you should of gotten the premium service, which includes a loan laptop and cuts the repair to a guaranteed 7 days (includes Sundays). I've since got my PC back and had no issues with it so far. Another thing for all the people bitching and moaning about the service..Imagine what would of happened if the PC broke and you didn't have any insurance. But anyway i would recommend this company since ive had no issues with them and i doubt i will since i'm smarter than most people on this review site.

RUBBISH SERVICE

I bought at Packard Bell all in one computer from Currys two years ago and took out the service plan as it was sold to me on the basis that whatever happened I would be covered. The screen kept blanking out and I took it to Currys/PC World and got it back ten days later with no explanation of what they did or what was wrong with it. I had to wait twenty minutes while someone was telephoned and I still came away none the wiser. I goT my pc home to find the power cable was missing and it then took TWO WEEKS to get a replacement , I telephoned the help line ten times and visited the local store twice! I had a computer sitting doing nothing while KnowHow lied to me and then sent the cable to my home address instead of my work address which I expressly asked them to do. When I got my computer up and running I discovered the casing all scratched where it has been placed down without protection!!!!! Five emails later I have surrendered and taken the measly £60 compensation for my trouble and have cancelled the plan. Needless to say I would not recommend this to ANYONE and put the money away each month and use a reputable local company for your repairs. I was told an annual service was included but no one would contact me as it was my responsibility to take it to Currys for that. My car has an annual service and the dealership contact me to say its needed and collect it and deliver it back to me and that's what I call excellent service. DON'T USE THIS CRAP SERVICE . Dont be fooled by the salesmen in PC World they get commission and could not give a shiny shite if you have any trouble as long as they get their sales targets. Can't be bothered to rate even a tiny star for rating.

NO WAY KNOWHOW!!

I bought a HP touchsmart pc from Currys in June, paying almost £600. Problems started in October when the pc wouldn't boot up. I phoned the team who talked me through procedures but said it would be better to revert to factory settings. I decided not to do it at that time but when the problem arose again a week later, I phoned them back and told them to do it. As I had also purchased Cloud backup I was able to restore all my photos and documents. However the problem cropped up again and this time when I phoned I was told it was probably the hard drive and to phone HP, as, if Currys carried out a repair it would invalidate the warranty! What was I paying £8 a month for? I phoned HP who couldn't have been more helpful. They're sending a technician to replace the hard drive. I emailed Knowhow complaining and asking if they could explain what I was paying for. They phoned me to basically say "peace of mind and accidental damage" My house insurance covers accidental damage and I haven't had peace of mind. The extended warranty with HP only cost £52 for an extra 2 years whereas I would have been paying Currys £96 per year so that they could tell me to phone HP! Needless to say, when I asked for a refund I was told they don't give refunds! Stay away from this "service agreement"

Incompetent at all levels

I left my daughter's laptop in to PC World Know How, Guildford for repair and data retrieval on 24th Oct. The laptop was booked in and I was told i would get it back in 14days. I paid :
£50 for the fault finding service
£80 for the data retieval.
On 5th Nov I got a phone call from PC world saying they needed a hard drive to store the retieved data, and was told I could purchase one for around £60. Thankfully I had one at home, so I brought it to the store. When I brought it in later that day I discovered that nothing had been done to the laptop over the 12 days!! and that it would have to be booked in again. They should have told me an external hard drive was required when I first brought it in!!!
The laptop was booked in again and again I was told 2 weeks. Sure enough I was phoned on Tuesday this week to say my laptop was ready for collection.
I went into PC World yesterday to pick it up, only to find they had done the data retieval but not done anything regarding the repair.
I demanded to see the Manager who said he was very sorry but there must have been a mix up!!! He offered to book the laptop in again, and the work would take up to 28days!!! I was furios. The store have displayed incompetence at all levels, do they only employ idiots? Needless to say I declined and took my un repaired laptop away.
I will never use Know How again and will advise anyone I know not to.

Delivery nightmare - lack of communication

Paid £10 for am delivery. Checked tracking and it said PM delivery. Called them, cancelled it and arranged for next day. Again tracked it and it said PM. They denied all knowledge of my conversation with them and conveniently the guy I spoke to was not in that day. Called again arranged different delivery. Delivery arrived in good but dirty condition.

WHAT A LUMP OF SHIT.

THATS ALL I HAVE TO SAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Emma Louise Frost found this review useful

Terrible service and customer service.

My laptop went in three weeks ago because of a system problem. At the store they made me buy a £50 external hard drive and then £80 ontop of that. They promised it would be back within a week but three weeks later it has still not arrived. On the website it says the repair is finished so I called customer service and asked if they could send it back to the store, they were very unhelpful and basically told me to piss off. I'm still waiting for my computer now. Not impressed

KNOWHOW KNOW HOW TO RIP YOU OFF

(Save your money and go to a repitable company
I bought a hp laptop for my husband as he has had a stroke and can't do a great deal. I obviously took the knowhow agreement out because my husband is very unsteady on his feet and knew it would probably get damaged.
As expected it did get damaged and went in for repair. A week later it came back. The day after it went back in for repair as something else went wrong with it. Not damaged just went wrong. The week later i got it back and yet again the day after something else was wrong with it and went back in for repair yet again. And suprise suprise the day after i got it back in it went again for another fault. Sent it back AGAIN recieved it back AGAIN. and guess what, its got another fault. Ive had no use out of the laptop for 8 weeks due to it always being in the repair centre. This time the day after i recieve it back again it says battery faulty and keeps shutting off after 2 mintes of unplugging it. It only worked when power supply was plugged in. I phone them up to complain like mad and to yet again book it back in for another repair. To be told this time that the battery is not covered under the agreement and i would have to buy a new battery. The battery was not faullty when it went in but came back faulty.
I thought knowhow was supposed to be a good company but all i know is KNOW HOW KNOWS **** ALL
PC WORLD CURRYS KNOWHOW ARE THE SAME COMPANY STAY AWAY.

knowhow thief's, I want my money back

This guys are thief's

STAY AWAY FROM KNOWHOW FOR YOUR OWN SANITY!!!!

I have never seen a bunch of incompetent, insensitive and complacent human beings in my 28years of existence, EVER! I bought a laptop from currys almost 2 yrs ago, 22months ago to be precise, a packered bell easynote TM83 RB 020 UK; not a high end computer but it was serving its purpose for me as a postgrad student. I noticed the hole where you put the power cable became loose. For some reason, it just could not fit amd so couldn't charge properly. Even though I do not know a lot about computers, I thought it was not a serious problem because every other thing was still good. so I googled how and where I can fix it and of course knowknothing popped up and just because they were affiliated to currys, I jumped at it. I took it to the catford shop at newquay road on the 24th of August and they took £50 off me immediately and and then called me 7 days later to tell me that the repairs will cost an additional £129 (they were very professional collecting the money on the phone). I was also told it will be ready in 15 days. Long story short, 8 weeks later, it is still not fixed! They tell me each time I call them that they are still awaiting parts, meanwhile they claim to have over 1million parts in stock. Again, the way I have been treated is just unacceptable, the customer service people are very good at telling you to hold on while they connect you to someone else, then they will eventually refer you to the shop where you dropped it off and then when you get to the shop, they will tell you to call customer service; no one would take responsibility for anything, it is just ridiculous. I went to the catford shop again yesterday and this time they said the part will arrive 'sometime' in November, now that DROVE ME CRAZY!!! I literally flipped started screaming at them, everyone in the shop would have thought I was mad! I have asked for my laptop to be returned and for my hard earned £179 to be refunded and they have said they will only refund £129 which leaves me to believe this is just a scam! Imagine how many people they collect £50 pounds (non refundable) from EVERYDAY! If they were honest at all, they would have accepted that they just cannot fix it. Instead of leading me to believe they do not have the parts. I wish I took time to read reviews, I would have added few extra quids to get a brand new laptop. Currys & PCworld, disassociate yourselves from these people if you want to remain a reputable company, the reviews is nothing to be excited about, At ALL!!! Sooner or later, something really bad will happen because people actually depend on these electonics for daily living. Someone PLEASE do something to stop them this is a scam, PERIOD!!!

Emma Louise Frost found this review useful

One * and they don't even deserve one

This company are a disgrace how PC world and Curry's deal with them is beyond me , after my computer being away for seven weeks i finally got it back with a counterfeit copy of windows installed i returned to them and quoted the 42 day rule in the contract and requested they right it off they replied saying they don't right things off for software issues even though i explained to them the original fault was a hardware problem otherwise why did they replace the main board the only software issue was the dodgy windows they installed

Emma Louise Frost found this review useful

There's not a swear word strong enough to describe them...

The KnowHow team took 7 weeks and 5 engineers to finally write off my dishwasher. They then promised me a voucher to enable me to buy a new one. Waited, and the voucher never came so contacted them where they said to go into my local Currys who would print one off for me. Simple? No. The voucher was printed so I looked around for a new Dishwasher. In Currys, the products that in prices with the number 7 (eg £149.97) are discontinued and can't be bought with the voucher. I found a lovely Hotpoint model which was to come straight from the manufacturer. Fair enough, I thought. I've waited 7 weeks, don't mind waiting a little longer. I get to the till where the assistant tells me that my voucher doesn't cover orders from the manufacturer as they have to be ordered online! My voucher is worth £329.00 and I can't find anything I want without now having to pay extra towards it. I'm livid. Called KnowHow who have the rudest customer service department known to man who couldn't help me in any way whatsoever. Back to the drawing board...

Emma Louise Frost found this review useful

They don't even deserve 1 stars.

They are stupid twats who don't do what they say on the package and was sold wrong to me. My laptop has been repaired 6 times from them as they never solve the problem correctly and they told me if the computer goes wrong and is repaired 3 times, you get a new one and is written off. INCORRECT! The problem has to fault 3 times being the same thing and then you receive a new laptop. My laptop has now came back broken 3 times and this time today has come back with the battery not working without the plug. My advice is to bring back the TECHGUYS and to get rid of these clueless pricks.

21 days to repair a manufacturing fault!

I have only purchased my new £500 laptop from PC World 6 weeks ago. I observed a foreign body behind screen. Had bought the "club" Know How 'service' which only offers 21 days turn round for repair? obsolutely ridiculous considering I need use my laptop every day (as do most people). What a load of Morons - spoke to three managers, they only know the answer to about three questions, then they are really stuck! I am taking legal action to pursue consequential losses and the reasonableness of this unworkable time scale. STAY AWAY FROM PC WORLD AND KNOW HOW!

Absolutely Atrocious Service

Gone for over two months, laptop was returned unfixed and had to be sent out a second time. Couldn't fix laptop within period and ended up with undervalued compensation. Failed to send hard drive at repeated request.

Staff showed ignorance to their own processing system and I had to repetitively (at least ten times) explain the situation and had constant excuses with no willingness to apologize or admit fault.

I suspect the single reason knowhow are still in business is that they have somehow acquired and exclusive repair contract with PC World, Currys etc.

I also suspect the reason for the exceptionally poor service is that in providing both premium and standard cover deals knowhows preference is to fast track the premium while burying the standard where they are not contractually obliged to repair within a reasonable period.

laptop repaired wrong twice!

a month ago i dropped my laptop off to pcworld because a blue screen kept coming up everytime i switched it on they told me it would take two weeks to be fixed...two weeks later i picked it up took it home and within 5minutes it blue screened again so i took it back straight away, apparently they changed the hard drive but the problem was the memory (youd think they would have known that!!)

they then told me it would take another 2weeks to replace the memory, i grinned and bared it soo another 2weeks later which was today i picked up again but i ensured they tested it then and there but yet again still blue screened

the guy told me that they changed the hard drive again when they told them it was the memory!!....anyways they changed the memory instore which took 5minutes after me waiting a month!! after changing the memory it still blue screened and now they say i may get a new one but they dont know so ive got to wait another week to find out...they are rubbish just cancel it!

Two weeks no washing machine WTF KNOWHOW?

My friends and I recently moved into a student house, which was awaiting a new washing machine. We received a delivery time on Friday so made sure that someone was in to receive it. The delivery date was then changed without our notice to Saturday, which we waited in for again. KNOWHOW Was informed upon ordering that the appliance was to be delivered at the back of the letting agents in which we are renting from, but they then proceeded to twice try to deliver the washing machine to the letting agents on a Saturday at which point its closed. We were only made aware of this when we called them, by the way, estimated delivery time was 7am-8pm... close range.

Anyway, onto the second episode, the washing machine could not be delivered any earlier than Tuesday, by this point we have a mountain of clothes to wash, with 3 people in need of the washing machine. I made sure that they were aware we live in a flat above the letting agents, and gave them my mobile number should any problems occur. Estimated delivery time for this delivery was 05:12-09:12, that's right... in the morning. I bit the bullet, and at five in the morning I was up, no easy feat for a student. I waited until 10am and by then still no delivery, I thought I'd catch up on some sleep before I ring them, to avoid complications and at half 12 I called them. It turned out the washing machine was delivered twice... to the lettings agents yet again. I was infuriated and let them know that I had specifically explained to them where we live. She asked for my mobile number, and once I had given it to her, she replied that they didn't have my mobile number on the system, again, I gave them my number the first time round. She made sure that these details were saved and then put me through to a colleague who was able to get hold of the delivery driver. I had to confirm some details with him, no problems, until he told me that they 'obviously would not deliver at 5am and deliveries generally start at 7am'. Bearing in mind, I did not make this estimation up, it is what came up on the tracking system, which is obviously as inefficient as the staff. I was informed that the driver will make his last delivery to our house sometime in the evening. I'm glad two people could sort it out as I was afraid there was going to be another delay.
Had the previous staff member taken a little bit of care and notice at our problem, we could probably have had our washing machine by now, obviously, they have incompetent staff working there, and their tracking system is clearly inaccurate and misleading . I will be letting the landlord know about this so they can avoid KnowHow like the plague. By the way, they paid for express delivery. Disgraceful.

KnowHow don't have a clue

This is getting to be a lengthy tale that has yet to run it's course so I will try not to rant.
Took Sony laptop into local P.C World for repair, paid the £50 up front fee that covers labour costs and waited for a call. When this came I was informed that the screen was shot and Cost of replacement would be £240, I gulped and paid up. Couple of days later I received a text message stating that the laptop would be at my local store in another couple of days, went to P.C world to collect said laptop but it wasn't there. I contacted P.C World the following day and was told that they would get in touch with KnowHow to throw some light on the situation, that call never came so I called them, I was then informed that it was bad news and the repairs would cost £600. I was told that someone would be in contact to discuss the situation. At the time of preparing this no one has had the decency to call me and I am currently firing off emails that as yet have only resulted in automated responses. Watch this space for the next instalment.

Tossers, Liars, Useless!

What a complete waste of time, I can relate to all of the issues other have raised, totally inept and thoroughly shi.te

KNOWHOW more like KNOWNOTHING

I never really write customer reviews but this company has annoyed me so much I've decided to.

It all started when my SONY Vaio all in one computer would turn on but the screen was black. Took it down to the KNOWHOW desk as I figured it was a video card issue and was told they weren't sure if they could fix this model but would contact the warehouse and let me know. They charged me £50 for the fault and fix service and promised they would refund this if they didnt fix the particular SONY model. Fair enough parted with the cash and my computer and given a reference number. After 5 days thought I'd check the track and progress website to be told that my reference no. wasnt registered. After numerous telephone calls to the KNOWHOW customer service line and my local store they said they had been awaiting confirmation from an email that was sent just after I checked my computer to see if they could fix the model. They still werent sure and claimed they couldnt contact the warehouse by telephone? I visited my local store to speak to someone human and found out that the idiot shop assistant had not written down the model number correctly and thats why they were unsure. By this time 7 days had passed.

After another 7 days I get another reference number telling me that the computer had been sent to the warehouse. On the same day I get another text message with another reference number in saying they needed to make contact with me. This time I couldnt be bothered with it and just ignored the latter text.

After 21 days I get a telephone call with an extortionate quote to fix the computer, £330 for a motherboard and £700 for a new BluRay drive. I rejected the quote and requested they send me my computer back. The lady on the phone said they would happily offer me 5% off a new computer if I wanted to purchase one through PC World. After payday I contacted the call centre to see how I could redeem this 5% off offer to which the woman on the phone denied all knowledge of such offer and said its something they wouldn't do?! I visited my local store to enquire and was basically told I was a liar.

I then receive a text message that after 1 month I should go and collect my computer. So I visited the store to be greeted by a queue of 3 customers and 3 staff, 2 of which were staring at a laptop out the back and a woman full of her own self importance to actually bother serving anyone. So I gave up collecting my computer because I was so infuriated with their complete lack of customer service skills and general incompetence.

Honestly, please do not use this service. KNOWHOW KNOWNOTHING. The staff are incompetent and lazy, don't have a clue about computers and the cost to diagnose your computer is utterly outrageous for the s*** service you receive. They don't care about fixing your computer, only charging you the money and then when they can be bothered, they might send your computer off to be "fixed" if you're lucky. I will not recommend this service to anyone, not even my worst enemy.

A rating of one star is over generous.

6 weeks and still got no laptop

About 6 weeks ago I sent in my latop in for repair they gave us a date when it will be ready which was 2 weeks and 2 days before we were meant to get it back we get a text saying "We are running low on parts we will contact you when we have them", And that was 4 weeks ago! They are terrible, I've checked the repair tracking wheel thing and its says still in repair centre which is terrible! If you want to waste money on insurances and waiting mouths for your PC to come back then KnowHow is for you.

AWFUL...TERRIBLE...CRAP....SHOULD BE CLOSED DOWN

Booked our computer in at local PC World (26July)store for a repair(power problem on/off switch didnt work.Staff member didnt seem to know how to book an item in(40mins process took)
I contacted staff at store next afternoon(27July) to advise we did not want to bother with Data Back Up which was offered in our service plan,and was duly assured thats fine we will send computer away for repair,it will be leaving store on (29th July)

3Oth July we got text saying our item will be ready for collection instore on 06th August.We got a further TWO texts the day before to remind us to pick up the item.Went to collect item,it was still sitting in store....NOT HAPPY......Know HOW staff could not give a damn........Been twice since to collect item,now told still waiting for parts to be delivered...new date is Sat 25AUG 2012......4 weeks to fix an ON/OFF BUTTON!!!This company is a SHAMBLES.The MANAGER REFUSED TO COME TO THE PHONE SO I COULD MAKE A COMPLAINT........DO NOT USE THESE IDIOTS.
We are now going to a TV company to highlight the problem and to make people aware NOT TO USE THESE COWBOYS!!!!!!

total waste of time

i bought a washing machine and have had 3 engineers out to repair it, the first time they didnt have the right parts, the 2nd time came with no parts whatsoever and the 3rd time only fitted 1 of the parts. it went wrong again within 2 days of coming out with the same problem. it is over 21 days since the first call out and i should be entitled to it being written off. i waited in all day today for an engineer to visit as stated by the "written off team" and no one visited. i have been on hold for 20minutes each on 3 calls and am waiting for an engineer to visit on thursday. it will be another all day call. what a totally shambolic company. i wouldn't bother with there warranty again. there quick and easy no fuss guarantee is useless.

Terrible, slow, careless

Two years ago I bought a top of the line gaming pc from pc world, just short of £1000. 3 weeks ago my hard drive failed and i sent it back to Knowhow to have it repaired, after many shifting deadlines and 21 days later they now tell me they have LOST my pc. This is completly unacceptable, they promise a replacement but knowing there history with other customers and my self I highly doubt that. Not only that I could hardly understand the man on the otherside of the phone and he just said "we can't locate your pc at the moment, sorry" Like I said Terrible, slow, careless knowhow need to improve there customer handiling, untill then i suggest you AVOID THIS SERVICE LIKE THE PLAGE.

Rubbish and misleading Whatever Happens policy

FIVE times my computer PC tower has been in for repair since 28th April 2012 (now 26th July 2012). Despite having the Whatever Happens policy which states repair or replace within 28days it is still not fixed (bluescreening, crashing, graphic lines, difficulty booting etc) and after many reasons as to why they can't replace it, I have today been told that they can't find a problem with it and it's a software issue which is not covered in the policy. After much searching it is in the small print but in the glossy leaflet I have from when I purchased the computer, it does not state software isn't included. The leaflet has two sections for 'what is not covered' and everything else from the small print is there but not the software clause. I feel this has been deliberately omitted. When I questioned the policy Whatever Happens and what Whatever Happens actually means, I was told it was a brand name, a trademark, and not a wish list cover all. I was made to feel like I was stupid to interpret it this way. I feel this is a deliberately misleading brand name to imply to the customer that all is covered so they take the policy. 'If anything goes wrong we will put it right' - oh no they don't.There is much more I could add to this tale of woe.

The general public know two things about computers - hardware and software. I took the policy as I work from home and rely on my computer. I asked specifically if this will cover everything. Why else would I pay for something that didn't? Who would pay this amount of money for such an important thing like software not to be included?

The manager in the store and some of the knowhow team have been sympathetic. Many have been cagey and on occasion downright rude - they know full well what is covered and what is not and no attempt is made to explain that software is not included. Yes, we should read the small print, but that aside, if you are given a leaflet that does not include the one of the main things in relation to a computer, what are you lead to believe? It is very wrong. The implication and deliberate misleading terms are to fool the customer into taking this policy.
I am not a stupid person. I have a first class honours degree. I was a professional in a highly regarded occupation. I own an award winning business and our customer service is exceptional, with a Gold Investors in People award to validate it.

The general public would expect a 28day repair or replace policy to mean exactly that.

I consider this to be a deliberate misrepresentation and I will be taking this matter further.

Would I recommend Know How or Whatever Happens to anyone? I would stress for them NOT to buy it.

Terrible service

I bought a tv on PC world in February 2012 and insured it with KnowHow. I had no idea how bad their service was until I needed two weeks ago. My brand new samsung LED tv has stoped working and I thought they would do what they promissed on the terms and conditions, but they didn't. They collected the tv and said they would fix the image issue it had and delivery it back to me one week after with a letter saying: "We have also completed a full quality check and given your product a full valet to make sure you're up and running again", however the tv image wasn't 100% which is the main reason why I asked them to collect, the frame was totally scratched and when they opened the tv to change the screen they left it open. So I am paying for a service I didn't receive! I was expecting a quicker solution but instead they took the tv back and I am one week more without a tv. TOTALLY amateur service, wouldn't recommend and if I had the chance to go back in time I would never contract this company!!! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE DON'T THROW YOUR MONEY AWAY!!!

Effie Merryl found this review useful

VERY POOR INDEED

The PC World guarantee says any problems - they come to your house and fix problem. They don't - no apology, no partial refund.

Knowhow collected computer, returned it nearly two weeks later with problem unresolved. It was sent back and returned a week later with problem still unresolved. Three agents on three subsequent phone calls could not fix the problem. A fourth agent finally seemed to solve it. However, when the problem recurred a few months later, they couldn't resolve it because person who had previously sorted problem hadn't kept a record. In their unsuccesful attempts to resolve the problem, the third agent managed to remove Norton antivirus completely from my computer and hadn't got a clue how to restore it. The final piece of advice from the fourth person I spoke to was to reformat the computer: the nightmare scenario. In desperation, I contacted a local computer company which, fortunately, was finally able to sort it out.

Knowhow - what an inappropriate name.

Google BBC Watchdog Knowhow and read the BBC Watchdog report on this company. Between March and October 2011, they'd received over 100 complaints. I would urge everyone who is still unhappy with Knowhow's "service" to email Watchdog.

Effie Merryl found this review useful

Complete amateurs

We have 2 Samsung laptops covered by the "anything happens" guarantee that PC World do.

We have had to send both our laptops to these guys and each time, the laptops have come back unfixed.

Our first laptop has a broken screen. It was clearly a hardware fault (the fact that pinching the top right corner fixes it proves that in my mind) and needed replacing. We sent it to them and it came back and nothing had been done, the second time, they replaced the casing of the screen but left the screen itself which was faulty. We are now booking a third appointment (oh and now they refuse to collect it and are making us drop it off at PC World.. which for somebody like me who works from home, that means I will loose half a days work).

Our second laptop is dropping internet connection. I have proven to their technicians that it is a hardware problem (I, myself am an IT technician and clearly of a higher caliber that any that I have spoken to at the ironically titled "KnowHow.com" workshop). Yet despite me having proven to them that this is an NIC problem, their technicians have tried endlessly to tell me on the phone that this is either a software problem or a router problem. I have wasted over an hour of their time talking on the phone and also my time trying to communicate with them.

They recently tried to tell us that the network problem was definitely caused by MAC address filtering in our router. That is despite the fact that (a) the laptop sometimes connects (b) we have 2 other laptops, 2 ipads, an X-box, a NAS box and a Samsung phone which are able to connect fine - there's a big clue! (c) the laptop has this same problem on several other routers (d) oh yeah... I set up our router and we don't have MAC address filtering turned on!

I know that front line support technicians are generally novices but, come on guys... this is really basic stuff!

Effie Merryl found this review useful

Appalling customer service!

Today I set out on what should have been an exciting day; buying some new appliances for my first big flat move with my partner, however, due to the experience I received from yourselves at Currys my days experience quickly turned sour. From the moment I walked into store I was greeted but then quickly dismissed, I then had to search for help to buy something; that’s a first. After finally locating a sales representative; Emily from the Cannock store, she was more than willing to close a deal. From the onset it was my main priority to have the appliances delivered this Saturday, as that is the planned move in date. I was promised a delivery on Saturday, which made my decision to buy from the store. I had just walked away from Comet in Cannock as they could not deliver on this date. The staff that I did get to speak to there were extremely helpful and willing to go the extra mile in their customer services; something the staff members within the Curry’s store seem to know nothing about. Emily (the representative who dealt with my order in the Cannock store) was dismissive, unmannered and appallingly presented, with rips in her uniform. The only thing going for Currys was the fact I could have my items delivered this coming Saturday. So imagine my anger when I then get home to then find out, from a text from KnowHow that Emily has entered the details in incorrectly and the order delivery has actually been arranged for Saturday the 16th; a WEEK late. I rang customer services immediately, Calvin dealt with my complaint but the only service he could provide was to change the date to this coming Monday. He again was unhelpful and not understanding of the troubles I had in counted so far with Currys. After talking the situation over with my partner unwillingly we then decided the best thing to do would be to move the date to Monday as this was the only service Currys could provide. Finally we got through to a customer service representative that actually shared some compassion for the disgusting experiences we had received; Roy. He moved the delivery date to Monday and offered his apologies on Currys behave.
Is this how you treat all your customers Currys?I am disgusted and appalled at the service I have received today, hopefully this messaged will be heard!

Rip Off

Sales rep said no contract duration, only 1 month rolling. WRONG! 3 month contract. When came to use service was a waste of time couldnt help me at all even though was advised from sales stage they could.

Why not just do a helpline and the knowhow make their money per call/question not a monthly contract trying to rinse people out even more.

Pretty good

I bought a fridge freezer via Currys website, delivered by Knowhow.....exactly on the day and well within the time they'd said. No fuss, they took my old one away, put the new one in place, and had a chat about making sure I left it for long enough for the gases to settle after being in transit. Courteous and professional - maybe I really AM just lucky!

Knowhow are Useless: Avoid

I brought a laptop online from PC World. It arrived in a flimsy transit box and the velcro strap on the adapter was damaged. No biggie, I used the laptop trouble-free for a year.

Just before the 12 month warranty was due to expire the notebook needed to be repaired - new keyboard and a power adapter. I took the machine into my local PC World branch and was told I'd be without it for 10 days whilst it was shipped off for repair at KnowHow.

When the laptop came back it had a scratch across the screen. It went back for another 10 days for the screen to be replaced.

The second time I collected the machine I plugged it in at my desk and, after an hour, there was no power. I called KnowHow, expressed my utter displeasure and then tried to catch up with the 20 days of work that I was behind on. The machine would only work plugged in at a desk and any movement would drop the power form the adapter.

Weeks and months passed by without any customer service representative bothering to check up. I sent them another communication and they promised to respond within 3 days. Nothing.

More time passed by. I had more choice communications with them. They assigned me a rather gruff "customer service" employee who, agreed that KnowHow would again attempt to fix the power issue. Desperately needing a replacement machine to work with they very reluctantly agreed to provide a laptop, What turned up was the most basic, useless laptop I've ever seen. Needless to say, after an initial attempt to use it, it was boxed up and ignored for another 10 days.

By this time it was coming up to xmas and I had to fly out to see my family in the US. The night before the flight the laptop had still not turned up so I called KnowHow and they said it would arrive after I'd left the country.

In desperation I arranged to physically pick up my laptop form the depot in Southampton, The staff were all excellent in getting this arranged for me. I made the 3 hour, 100 mile round trip and came home, at about 9-10pm with my laptop, complete with a note saying it was completely fixed.

At home the laptop eventually ran out of power an the new adpater was, again, useless. I flew out the US, spent 3 weeks away without my laptop and came back to the UK to give them yet another piece of my mind. This time they agreed to just send me a new power adapter. The goods did arrive and, whilst I didn't thank them for FINALLY getting it right, neither did PC World/ KnowHow/ Dixons Retail ever bother to chase up the case to see if I was a happy customer.

So, a laptop sent away 3 times, with 3 new adapters, many weeks of delays, a scratched screen, a 3 hour, 100 mile journey in my own time, a pointless loan laptop and a really shoddy customer service from the head office - This totally outweighs the one nice member of the service team at Xmas and the warehouse staff who were all excellent - the fact that KnowHow kept saying they'd fixed the machine when it clearly was not repaired is why I will never shop with these people again, they just cannot be trusted and "customer service" is an oxymoron.

Rainbow Panda found this review useful

absolute rip off

been paying for 'Anthing Happens' cover for years. my son closed the lid of the laptop onto his mouse and the screen cracked. they took the laptop in early December and I kept getting calls telling me they were waiting for parts and it would be fixed soon. Then in mid January i got a letter saying they were returning it unfixed as the damage was excessive and not covered by the terms of the cover. Basically they will just hide behind small print. i have no idea how they can call something 'Anything Happens' then when 'Something Happens' they take weeks before doing nothing. I have previously bought 3 PC and 5 laptops from PC world in the last 10 years but never again will they get a penny of my money. I bought a new PC for my son off the internet, far better spec than PC world one and half the price.

misleading advice about customer rights

I was trying to return a laptop bought online, within three days of purchase, and I was flatly told by KNowhow that I could not as I had switched it on and it was now "secondhand"!! Not only that but the tone, the attitude and the whole manner was unfriendly, hostile and in the end ignorant.

I insisted firmly and after several phone calls and emails I managed a refund.

PC WORLD then sent me a customer experience survey and luckily I did not fill it because in the terms and conditions small print I realised that it was not confidential or anonymous and that anything I say could be used against me in case of a dispute about goods or services!

Beware! Avoid PCWORLD and Knowhow.

Do not ever buy insurance from Knowhow, totally crap!!!!!!!!

I can not even give this company a rating, it is the worst company I have ever delt with, please stay clear of them.

They picked my Samsung TV up in January for a simple repair, it came back the following week damaged. It then got picked up because they damaged the frame around the tv they said it had to have a new frame which they were going to replace.

I have had to make so many phone calls to their customer services as they kept saying my tv was on its way back to me, every week I waited for it to arrive it never came.

They then said it had been delivered to the wrong depot, so it had to be delivered back to Newark then delivered back to north London depot, then back to me, this never happened, then they said it had been lost.

I can't begin to tell you how many hours I have spent on the phone trying to get my tv back, the last straw was it was meant to come back yesterday.

As I didn't have a four hour delivery slot I phoned up yesterday morning to find out what four hour slot I was going to get, the girl on the phone said there's no time slot you will have to wait in all day for it, as you can imagine I was not best pleased to hear that, she then went away to find out for me, when she came back she said I am very sorry but your tv won't be comming back today as it has not left the depot.

They told me there's been a mix up with someone of the same name as you. She then went away to find out where my tv was, she came back to me to tell me that they have found it and it won't be delivered till the following day, I said that is not good enough as I was going out,I even asked if I could pick it up from the local depot she said no. I agreed in the end to to have it delivered the following day after being on the phone for 62 minutes, about a hour later I get a call from someone at Knowhow telling me my tv will be delivered in the next half hour which eventually happened. Two people came in a car to deliver it to me.

Please Please Please do not deal with this company as they are total liers. Knowhow know nothing!

Rainbow Panda found this review useful

Awful, awful, awful.

Absolutely terrible service. "Highlights" include -

- Being told twice my laptop would be back in time by the time I needed it.
- Waiting over 3 weeks in total for it to be fixed.
- Being told it was going in for repair "the next day", then hearing nothing for a week, phoning up and being told it was "going in for repair the next day".
- Tracking code not working.
- Being sent a text saying my laptop was in store for collection. Went in, and guess what - it hadn't been sent out yet.

Absolutely disgraceful, disgusting service, which has cost me not only a large amount of money, but also about 10 hours of time from having to re-do work for clients to meet deadlines, that could have been met had I received my laptop when promised.

Will never, ever use them again.

Mike

PC WORLD KNOW HOW TO RIP YOU OFF

Total out right rip offs. Avoid.
we bought an acer lap top for our sons xmas present. He only had machine for 3 weeks and banged the monitor on the wall and the hinge cracked a bit. He used the laptop every day for 4 weeks. The machine was working perfectly. Just needed to get hinge fixed

Went to pc world where we purchased it and the guy said he needed to send it away. Before if went he informed us we had to pay a £50 fee upfront. He assured us this would probably cover the costs of hinge repair.

After 4 weeks in there work shop and after numerous unreturned phone calls we had to go into shop again and enquire. We were told "A level
one engineer" was looking at it. It sounded very mystical, a bit like Kung
Fuee. I thought WOW, were on the right track now, a level one guy will know what to do.

Wrong.

The Revered One eventually deemed to phoned us up; and told us that we now required a new mother board. "Level One Engineer" went on to enlighten me. He said, sometimes theses thing take time. Even though we were using the machine for 3 weeks after the hinge was broken the fault was still in the machine because of the cracked hinge, you see Some bad things take time to appear, he said. At least it is the workshop and in the best hands.

I enquired how much , he said £180. plus the £50 i have already paid.

What a rip.I know there was not a problem with this machines mother board until they got their hands on it, now they can't even get it to start up.

Instead of fixing what they had obviously broken while fixing hinge, they are trying to rip us off for extra.

They said i could have machine back, less my £50 of course. So i am left £50 down, 5 weeks without the machine and now it dosnt work. All this from a company calling itself Know How. Know how to rip you off suits them better.

Please Please avoid going to this rip off store to get your lap top repaired. Apparently, they have a standing charge of around £230 for any repair no matter how small to a laptop. They don't tell you this though when they take your £50.

sub standard totally inept

had my laptop in for repairs since the 10 of Jan 2012 it is now 29th feb 2012 still no computer i have had this laptop delivered and had to be returned more than 4 times still had problems they say they do a bench test my 14 yr old son could have done better they are very happy for some spotty 16 yr old kid sell me the insurance and i paid over £400 for the privilage but when it come to repair god help you they are awful even on the phone they fob you off as if you are an idiot i bet i know more about it than they do its been over six weeks now and no progress i complained and case manager said it was a write off then they change their mind and say it is not they even said i got back stickers off another computer !!!!! what for i ask they say they changed items in it and i find they did not my advise to all of you people out there DO NOT BE AN IDIOT LIKE ME this knowhow is totally crap and against trading standards im sure as they advertise one thing and do the other if something goes wrong just pay to have it repaired by someone with brains or buy another my £400 could have done nicely against a band new laptop total rip off !!!!! i have three other brand new laptops all covered by insurance and i have cancelled the direct debits knowhow dont give a hoot about customer services and its a shambles if it was an individual company it would have gone bankrupt a long time ago in my line of work i have a lot of influence as people ask me what to buy it will not be pc world or know how and i am going to write in every review i can find

INEPT SHAMBOLIC AND TOTALLY ABSURD

cannot find words to describe the level of rubbishness

I have ordered a refrigerator delivered by knowhow. According to the online tracking system, the order will be arriving between 14.00 and 18.30. However, until 18.30, no one turned up, no phone call at all either. At around 7.15, someone called, but after I picked up the phone, the person on the other side of the line hung up the phone without speaking a word. The delivery person finally showed up at 8.30, and without a word of apology, started blaming me for living on the second floor.
I understand the fact that there may be traffic, and I do not mind if it is delivered slightly over-time. However, it was very frustrating that no one called to update me on the situation and I virtually wasted a whole day waiting for it.

Rainbow Panda found this review useful

Rubish

i took out know how insurance through pc world when i wanted my computer to be repaired it took them two weeks and they completley smashed up my computer