Yahoo Finance Customers call on Currys PC World to honour cancelled Black Friday sales
Unhappy customers are calling on Currys PC World to honour cancelled purchases made on Black Friday, which customers only learned about after the sales period ended.
Amid a growing number of complaints, the company is being urged to honour the discounts it had offered after customers were informed that their orders had not been processed and the discount was no longer applicable.
The electronics retailer, which is owned by Dixons Carphone (DC.L), said a technical fault was to blame for some orders failing even though it had sent confirmation emails.
Many customers took to Twitter to voice their complaints, with one shopper writing: “I ordered a Black Friday offer yesterday, got my order confirmation email then today out of the blue you have cancelled it? Item now double the price. #nothappy.”
@curryspcworld - i ordered a black friday offer yesterday, got my order confirmation email then today out of the blue you have cancelled it? Item now double the price #nothappy #servicefail #blackfakefriday 🤬 #rippedoff
— Megan Balmer (@meganl84) November 28, 2020
A Currys PC World spokeswoman for the company told the BBC she was unable to say how many people had been affected but indicated the company would treat complaints on a case-by-case basis.
In a related issue involving customers using gift cards in the Currys PC World Black Friday sale finding their orders failed and their gift cards wiped, the company has allowed goods to be repurchased at their discounted prices.
“Due to the unprecedented volume of customers shopping online with Currys PC World on Black Friday, our website experienced a temporary outage,” a spokeswoman told the BBC.
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“We can confirm that transactions made by gift cards and some Order & Collect purchases were affected, but home delivery was not.
“Any customer who paid by gift card had funds put back in full by 20:00 on Wednesday 2 December.
“Those customers whose Order & Collect purchases were cancelled were informed as soon as possible, and they were able to replace their order the same weekend and still take advantage of our Black Friday promotions.”
Incredibly unhappy @curryspcworld my husband ordered a television in the black Friday sale, got a confirmation and it was meant to arrive today. He's just been told the order never went through due to a "technical fault" and we now need to pay full price 🤬
— Sarah Boyd (@Sarah8Boyd) December 7, 2020
The retailer said it was still looking into the matter and urged all those affected to contact customer services if they still had a proof of purchase. The firm apologised for “the inconvenience caused.”
Currys PC World is not legally compelled to offer the cancelled goods at their discounted prices, consumer group Which? told the BBC.
“This is the latest in a long list of complaints we've heard about Currys PC World, and customers will be understandably be frustrated that their Black Friday purchases could not be fulfilled,” said Which? consumer rights expert Adam French.
“The tech retailer has earned itself a poor reputation for customer service and in a recent Which? survey received just two stars for its after-sales service.
“The company must up its game or customers will rightly go looking elsewhere for a good deal.”
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