Misled by HN when buying a printer. What is my recourse?

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › Misled by HN when buying a printer. What is my recourse?

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Dratsab

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#2231585 6-May-2019 12:59

GSManiac:

FineWine: Never rely on shop sales people when it comes to buying technology and almost any big ticket items.

He product’s shelf talker stated it has AirPrint so that is what I relied on. Why would/should I have to investigate beyond that.

Because of the above sentence.

Salespeople in places like HN are there to sell you stuff and try and get upsales. They're generally not particularly knowledgable about the products being sold and are under pressure to meet value targets.

FineWine

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Nurse (R)

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#2231754 6-May-2019 16:21

GSManiac: The “shelf talker” on the product listed AirPrint as a feature.

I also noticed that the shelf talkers described the majority of their printers in store as having the AirPrint feature. When I know for a fact only a limited number support this.

GSManiac: Luckily I have already taken photos of the shelf talkers just in case, as it wouldn’t surprise me if they quietly change them.

Your rights

Under the Fair Trading Act (FTA), you have the right to clear and accurate prices for products and services, and factual advertising.

It is illegal for a business to mislead or deceive you about the things they sell. This includes:

writing or saying anything false or misleading about products or services, including in advertising
making claims about products if they don't have evidence to back them up
unfair sales practices like bait advertising, which is when businesses lure you in with cheap items that are unavailable, then offer a more expensive item instead.

Print that page out and along with your photos return to the store and have a wee diplomatic chat to the store manager.

jonathan18:

GSManiac:

He product’s shelf talker stated it has AirPrint so that is what I relied on. Why would/should I have to investigate beyond that.

Why would have it been ideal if you had undertaken a bit of due diligence?

Simply because it would have avoided the situation you're in now.

Yes, ideally you shouldn't have to do that, and it is fair enough that you should be able to rely on the information that HN provides in their store. The problem is that it's somewhat difficult to prove your case (hence my question as to whether information on other specific models incorrectly claims Airprint compatibility, which would at least support your case); and Harvey Norman doesn't exactly have a stellar reputation as being a friendly, customer-centric business that does everything it should under the CGA and FTA without fuss...

As such, the best way to minimise the chance of wasting your time and energy fighting HN is to do a bit more research up-front...

But best of luck sorting it; having dealt with HN over a CGA matter I know that can be 'difficult' to deal with.

As jonathan18 said do your "due diligence".

New Zealand isn't like it was 30 odd years ago where we only had one to two brands for each product on our shelves; Pye & Philips, Fisher & Paykel and Hoover etc. Now we are inundated with brands from all over the world - the good, the bad and the ugly. Plus manufacturers have good runs and they are the brand of the moment then it all turns to crud and some other brand takes the crown. Then you have SO many models of the same product all doing something ever so slightly different from each other. Its enough to drive a physicist crazy. Plus customer service in this country has gone down hill and, as someone as already stated, retail staff have sales targets to meet. So push it out the door and do you want fries with that.

All of these arguments are why you do your "due diligence".

Whilst the difficult we can do immediately, the impossible takes a bit longer. However, miracles you will have to wait for.

sqishy

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#2232470 7-May-2019 21:13

Q: How can you tell when a salesperson is lying?

A: His/her lips are moving.

GSManiac

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#2233852 9-May-2019 16:53

After promising to ring me on Monday and still not hearing anything I went in today.

Noticed that the shelf talker had removed the mention of AirPrint.

Spoke to the department manager again who apologised for not getting back to me. He said I can bring back my printer and swap it for the more expensive AirPrint enabled model free of charge.

Good work HN and thanks everyone here for your replies.

FineWine

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Nurse (R)

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#2233885 9-May-2019 17:30

That's is a good outcome - well done to HN

Whilst the difficult we can do immediately, the impossible takes a bit longer. However, miracles you will have to wait for.

old3eyes

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#2233942 9-May-2019 19:00

Good outcome. How did you find the inktank printer quality?

Regards,

Old3eyes

MichaelNZ

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#2233959 9-May-2019 19:19

People go and buy cheap printers from [the normal culprits], which the salesperson told them was "just plug it in and it will work", and then end up having to pay me to come and set them up. The first thing I do is stick in a cable and connect it to their broadband router or via USB to their computer. I also advise them I can not and will not guarantee, or get involved with, setting up any wireless printing from cellphones or tablets.

Behodar:

My favourite was when I was buying a TV and the salesman tried to sell me an HDMI cable, to the point of telling me that the HDMI cable included with an Xbox would not support the graphics from the Xbox.

Was it one of those magic HDMI cables which cost an arm and a leg?

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Dratsab

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#2233988 9-May-2019 20:31

GSManiac: Spoke to the department manager again who apologised for not getting back to me. He said I can bring back my printer and swap it for the more expensive AirPrint enabled model free of charge.

Good work HN and thanks everyone here for your replies.

That's a great result!

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