UK Surface owners can now take misbehaving laptops to Currys UK owners of borked Surface laptops can now pop into their local Currys rather than deal with Microsoft's own support channels for their device. The retailer has become Microsoft's first-ever retail authorized service provider (ASP) in Britain. According to Microsoft, this means "any customers with Surface laptops have a new …
I did that with a PS4 controller. The "genuine Sony" item from Amazon was clearly counterfeit and didn't work properly from the outset. I sent it back for a refund, bought one from Currys which worked as expected. I've started buying a few things from my local Currys store - at least I can take them back if they are faulty, Amazon has become a dodgy vendor for electrical marketplace items which fail outside the 30 day return period - Amazon just wring their hands "nothing to do with us sunshine".
Amazon are notorious- and have been for quite a few years now- for mixing all the "Shipped by Amazon" marketplace items from different suppliers into the same stock bins. (*)
So it doesn't matter whether you buy from a reputable sender- Amazon will just pick one of those parts at random, and you could easily end up with a shady supplier's fake regardless.
Even worse if the customer isn't aware of this and blames the good supplier they bought it from for the fake. (**)
Of course, this doesn't just reduce the incentive to be a reputable seller on Amazon, it- along with other policies- makes it essentially impossible to compete with those undercutting you with fakes, driving off good sellers and reducing Amazon to a 'Market for lemons'.
(*) I'm not clear on whether Amazon do this with their own stock too. The fact I can't even trust them on *that* is pretty much the killer blow as far as I'm concerned.
(**) Not sure how many suppliers still ship themselves or whether Amazon has penalised and coerced those that do into shipping via them instead.
"Not sure how many suppliers still ship themselves"
Some do. Lately if I'm looking for something I can't buy locally, I'll look on Amazon and if I can find the item, see if I can discover a website for the vendor directly. It can often be cheaper to buy direct than via Amazon.
I used to buy from Amazon quite a bit, but hardly at all nowadays, I've lost trust in them as a reputable vendor so only buy inexpensive commodity type items from them. Plus I'm sick to death of them trying to cram a Prime subscription down my throat at every touch and turn.
> I've lost trust in them as a reputable vendor so only buy inexpensive commodity type items from them
It's not clear that they're even safe for that any more.
Electrical crimps would quite possibly be something many would assume was a "commodity item" and even there you risk getting shoddy to the point of being genuinely dangerous products.
(Link goes to Louis Rossman where he tests some Amazon crimps and goes into the background of it).
Based on recent experience, any slim laptop is a pain to get into, parts availability is often poor, and parts price often astronomical. I had a laptop written off by the insurers after an inspection by a local computer business (£70 for opening, inspection, costing and a letter to confirm). At least I was able to sell the undamaged parts for a few hundred quid, in addition to the insurance settlement.
Other than under exceptional circumstances we generally write devices off out of the warranty period.
I think we had one Surface* tablet replaced with a refurb unit under warranty, we looked at the repair price for another and it simply wasn't economical - three quarters of the cost of a new, higher spec, one.
*They weren't my choice and once the director who specified them left I stopped providing them.
...and specifically in the case of MS Surface, last time Iooked, even a supposed authorised service provider could only get the kickstand as a replaceable part for some models, every other fault being a "whole unit replacement". Other models might have a one or two other parts available and only the newest, high end models were as repairable as most other tablets or laptops. And IIRC, any time the device is opened up, the gelpack battery MUST be replaced because just taking the cover off could potentially damage it. All in the name of being slim.
I wouldn't be too quick to downvote the parent comment.
Just out of curiosity, I went to Currys' store finder myself, and typed in "Mallaig"- a village in the Scottish Highlands where I'm sure they were unlikely to have have a store or one anywhere nearby.
"We're sorry, we couldn't find results for your search." Could have been more helpful, though given that the nearest branch appears to be over 90 miles away as the crow flies maybe that wouldn't have been that useful. (*)
So, try again. "Perth" this time, as it's quite likely there will be one there and- if not- at least in Dundee around 20 miles away. So... "We're sorry, we couldn't find results for your search."
Seriously?
I looked at the pointer on the zoomed-in map and it occurred to me that the road signs didn't look like a UK map. So I zoomed out and... it was Perth, Australia.
The UK website of Currys- a company which apparently only operates in the UK and Ireland and has no branches in Australia anyway- decided to show me Perth, Australia anyway- complete with Google map- rather than the town in Scotland where they do indeed a branch.
Yeah, I *know* the Australian Perth is around forty to fifty times larger and the mistake may be more forgiveable in other contexts. But not this one.
(*) And you can probably double the actual distance you'd have to travel for reasons that will be obvious to anyone familiar with the topography and road layout of the Scottish highlands.
> "Microsoft's Surface devices have become increasingly repairable in recent years, although the only way was up from the frankly dismal scores of earlier models."
Most notoriously, the Surface laptop being described as a "glue-filled monstrosity" by iFixit in 2017 and getting 0 out of 10 for repairability.
Once upon a time there was an electronics/computer store called Dixons. I remember telling a friend who was looking for a computer that I wouldn't even buy a pocket calculator from Dixons. He went ahead with his purchase and regretted it.
Currys absorbed Dixons and I haven't been able to bring myself to shop there since.
Well, Dixons was originally a photographic studio. Got into camera retail, extended into audio, bought Currys, then bought PC World (at the time a fly**** business), and then merged with Carphone Warehouse.
I'm on the cusp of retirement, I've been interested in photography since I was a teenager, and as long as I can recall PCDixonsCarphoneCurrysWarehouseWorld have always had a reputation for poor value and worse service. Quite remarkably, the group still sell almost £10bn of electrotat each year, and have a market capitalisation of almost £900m, although that's well down on the glory days of 2015 and the Carphone merger, which laughably reckoned the business worth about £4bn.
Yep, Dixon's bought Currys a few decades ago and eventually decided to consolidate the two chains under one name.
Not sure why they chose Currys over Dixon's, maybe it had a better reputation, or was more suited for the merged chain (since Currys sold white goods, but Dixon's never did AFAIK)
Dixons was more photo,hi-fi, nerdy gadget shop whereas the "common man in the street" would buy his fridge or washing machine from Currys. The group wanted to sell more PCs and printers alongside fridges and freezers so it would be easier to lure Joe Public in on household white goods under Currys name and then sell them a PC/printer for the kids homework, than the other way around.
Bear in mind that while what you say is true, Currys *did* sell electronics as well, and had done so for a long time- at least as far back as the late 80s (when I bought a cheapass Matsui hifi there).
That said Currys always seemed less "cool" to me as a kid- possibly because I associated it with all those dull fridges et al?- whereas Dixons *was* the place with all the neat electronic gadgets where I got my digital watch, computer, etc.
Even though that (mostly unwarranted) coolness-by-association had long worn off by the time they merged the chains and ditched the brand circa the mid-2000s, I still had enough residual nostalgia that I was vaguely sorry they chose to ditch the Dixons brand in favour of the dull Currys instead.
I've not bought anything from Curry's/Dixons unless I had zero choice and it was just a cable in nearly 30 years.
As a young teen I'd saved my pennies and bought a console (Snes), and ended up returning to the store every other day for a while.
The first one died after 2 days, I then had a succession of "new replacements" that had to be "swapped out the back due to store policy".
IIRC replacement 1, dead (no indication of power).
Replacement 2, obviously been used for a long time, was incredibly grubby (greasy fingerprints, cake crumbs in the cart slot etc) returned as we'd bought a New unit and this replacement wasn't even wiped down so no way it had been even checked for any fault..
Replacement 3 DOA (no power)..
Replacement 4 (or 1 redux) same serial number as the first replacement (a week after I'd returned that), we checked the SN in the car and were back in the store within about 10 minutes..
Replacement 5 DOA.
Replacement 6 some memory issue, in Mario Allstars (the collection of the NES games) it had an issue with the memory controller or something and the initial start of the game where you fall out of the sky just kept happening, I'm fairly sure Mario would still be falling today if it had been left running.
The store employee ended up spending an hour or more running a store copy of the game on their machine then on the faulty one repeatedly as if it was magically going to sort itself out the 5th time he swapped machines. My father had to start talking politely but loudly about how he wasn't going to make yet another trip taking an hour+ and he wanted a replacement that was taken out of the factory packaging in front of him regardless of what the store policy about swapping them round the back. IIRC the manager appeared and wasn't happy but ended up complying, I suspect because by that point several of the customers who'd been browsing had seen at least some of the performance with an obviously faulty device.
That final replacement ~6 was still working ~10 years later and I suspect would still work if I dug it out.
My suspicion is that they had a stack of returned devices in the storeroom and if they hadn't tested them just gave them out as replacements hence the "we'll pull one out of the box round the back" nonsense, this was in what was one of their bigger stores at the time in Milton Keynes.
That little issue has basically meant no one in my family has ever used Curry's etc for any appliances or more expensive than batteries for 30+ years and we've warned many others about it.
IIRC PCworld have proven to friends that the system is still the same, including a friend who dropped a laptop that had failed under warranty off for repair and went back 4 weeks later after multiple calls telling him the supplier was slow in repairing it, he spotted the laptop on the "waiting to be looked at" shelf with a sticker on it that apparently said "do not tell Mr Smith his laptop has not been sent for repair yet". I think at that point he started reminding them of the sales of goods act in a high level of detail, possibly including landmark cases given "Mr Smith" is a lawyer...It was fixed and back in his hand about 3 days later.
A few years ago the Curry’s group managed to get hacked and lose millions of customer details (twice). I didn’t realise that buying something from their website 10 years earlier would mean my details were in that haul but they were. They don’t ever delete customer details, even though that’s the law. I emailed them a polite GDPR deletion request. They replied that their policy was to only accept such requests in writing by snaiil-mail with ID included. Just about legal.
A little while later I had left buying a present too late, so found myself in a Currys picking an overpriced ipad off the shelf. The commission hungry assistant ran over and started the checkout process in the aisle, with handheld POS:
Ass: can I just get your name and address and email
Me: no thank you, just the iPad
Ass: the system won’t let me process the sale without your details
Me: that’s crazy I’m not buying a TV (legal requirement in the UK to give address for the license fee)
Ass: you can’t buy anything in this store without providing full details, name?
Me: Mr Null Smith, null at gmail dot com
Assistant looks worried but wants commission, so Mr Smith gets his iPad and vows once again to never use the Currys group of companies. Pathologically data-hungry but not capable of safely storing it.
"You should have gone for Mr Agent Smith."
I always get funny looks from sales ass. when I give an email address of $comanyname@mydomain.com. It's not only a valid address, but I can block it report it easily if it gets misused, which always make a point of to them. On one or two occasions, a sales ass. has been honest and declined to enter the email address because they know it's going to be abused by their employer.
Is not only practiced at Curry's.
Screwfix (part of B&Q)
Toolstation (part of Wickes)
Want them if you are paying by card. I just say, Cash Transaction and they don't get my name and address for their mailing list.
I'm sure that there are more like it. USE CASH to maintain privacy just don't try to pass a £50 notes. Then you'll get the FBI like 3rd Degree under a hot light followed by a strip search.
> just don't try to pass a £50 notes
How often do you see £50 notes anyway?
Here in Scotland- where I'd say the majority of notes are Scottish, though there are still a notable percentage of Bank of England ones- they're virtually all £5, £10 and £20 notes, whereas £50 ones are extremely uncommon (and I don't recall ever having had one personally).
"Me: that’s crazy I’m not buying a TV (legal requirement in the UK to give address for the license fee)"
There are some instances where you technically need a TV Licence in the UK for a tablet or computer, eg watching live or "near live" broadcasts.
TV Licencing and some retailers have taken that to mean they must demand your name and address "for records". AFAIK this is still a bit of a grey area and most retailers don't ask for details like that as a matter of law and rarely quibble if you refuse because they only really want it for marketing reasons.
You might as well throw a broken surface tab away as take it to Currys.
A few years ago, I took a broken mini hifi back for repair to currys, I placed a bit of selotape over a screw they would have needed to remove to repair, 6 weeks later i get a phone call to say its been repaired and back in the shop. I collected it and opened the box and surprise suprise, the bit of tape was still there. I do remember saying to the manager how was it repaired when it wasnt even opened. He just threatened to have me removed from the shop.
You didn't actually state if it had been repaired or not :-)
I have been known to complete customer repairs and place everything back exactly as I found it and then have a customer complain before actually trying it to see if had been fixed (it had!!). I've never gone so far as to check for and replace sellotape over a screw though. Usually it's just stickers, Velcroed furry toys and the other detritus that builds up, on and around an office PC etc. :-)
One thing I've always looked at when buying is whether the PC I'm buying can be easily upgraded or repaired.
One look at the M$ Surface and a quick read of some reviews made it clear that it was like an iPad by a company that I trust less than Apple.
The thing I have that's difficult to repair (other than my phone) is an ancient ipad mini which has never gone wrong and is mainly used for emails, light surfing and as a Kindle. When it dies I'll probably buy a cheap Android fondleslab.
"I'd watch what gets put in the recycling dumpsters out the back of the stores after a Surface owner takes one in for 'service'."
Not much, I expect. Most OEM warranty repairs require anything but the cheapest disposable parts be returned to the OEM either for board level repairs or checking for QA purposes (and in case any of their service agents are trying it on and keeping good stock for off-book repairs by "upgrading" a customer fault and getting more expensive parts sent out)
You're probably thinking of Comet.
Though even as someone who doesn't watch much TV these days- I get the impression that Currys advertise a lot there- I've seen enough of their adverts online and on billboards to be surprised that you were (fortunately?!) able to unaware that they still existed...!
My experiences of Dixons then Curries etc was that they were primarily sellers of enhanced warranties, and you had to be very hardheaded to make it out of the shop without succumbing. I took issue once where they would not let me take the warranty details home to read before purchasing...
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2025
