Terrible Service - Attempted *****/Rip-off

Our small marketing agency has been purchasing computers for years from cash converters but today I received the worst service ever from the Nelspruit branch.

I purchased a laptop for R4500 about two weeks ago from this branch and it was working perfectly fine until I got to the office this morning when I tried to start up device and it shutdown due to low battery, which was normal so I did not panic and quickly plugged in it's charger and pressed the on button but there was no activity or response from the pc. Initially I thought the battery might have been very low so I gave it about 15 minutes and tried again but still nothing, I gave it another 15 minutes and then decided to let it charge for an hour while busy with other tasks, but even after an hour the computer would not switch on.

Frustrated and hesitant because I really liked the laptop which is why I had invested so much money in purchasing it even with a tight budget, I decided to drive to the store to see if the could check it out and assist.

When I got to the store, one of the service agents tested the device by also connecting it to it's charger, after going through the same experience I went through he removed the battery pack from the device and tried to test it again and after multiple attempts he eventually confirmed that the device had a fault and that it needed to be taken in for evaluation but in order to do that a receipt would be required and this is when everything really took a turn for the worst simply because I travel 45km to work from home and if I had known that I had purchased a faulty laptop I would certainly have kept the receipt with me at all times, I explained this to the service agent who then called in his manager (a young lady) to assist.

I also preceded to explain the situation I had found myself in to the manager who had been called and reasoned that surely it wouldn't be so difficult to reprint my receipt from their system (considering the fact that at the time of purchase all I did was supply my ID number and the cashier had all my personal information) to which she responded that she unfortunately couldn't assist me without my copy of the receipt which she also had access to. As it became evident that the young lady was unwilling to help resolve the matter using common sense I further requested to speak to someone who is in a more senior position of authority and a male manager who I was made to believe is the store manager came out and he was total ***** with the worst attitude I've ever encountered in a manager and had no conflict resolution or customer service skills whatsoever even going as far as to tell me that if I did not have the receipt or had lost it, it would basically mean that I would have lost every cent I had spent on this purchase. Realising that he had no interest in remedying the situation I requested for the contact details of his manager or head office to which he responded that I should Google it and proceeded to walk back into his office and left me standing at the desk.

I'm grateful for the service agent who then referred me to the plaque on the door with who I assume is the owners contact details, who I called and spoke to and was very helpful. After my discussion with the owner I eventually got assistant from the famale manager who reprinted a copy of the receipt and took the computer in for assessment.

It's unfortunate that I've lost trust in cash converters, I get the sense that I was being hustled and that this was an attempt to de***** me of the thousands of Rand's I had spent not more that 2 weeks ago buying at this store and from this brand, in the event that I had lost the receipt (which shouldn't even be the case in this day and age where systems are in place for such instances) and that a less persistent consumer would have fallen for this **** and they probably have in the past, losing sums of money.

Now that the laptop has "gone for assessment" I am hoping for an honest report in the next 7 days and not the continuation of an attempted rip-off.

As this will further solidify my stance that this is the last time doing business with the cash converters brand, whether it be for our company or personally.