As you are probably aware, most goods bought in the UK come with a 12 month warranty as standard. Of course, this only covers manufacturer faults and not accidental damage. So, when buying a new TV, an extra cover plan may be advisable. After all, if the baby runs into it and knocks it over, that’s a lot of money potentially lost. Equally, a new Fridge, cooker or IPod may warrant the same protection. But a paperclip?
We’ve recently noticed that our last few orders from Viking have included a 2% “Extra Protection Plus” charge. Now this is a charge that isn’t removable during online purchasing, is hidden in the small print of the catalogue and is applied automatically to all purchases. So, what does it do exactly? It extends our warranty to cover accidental damage. So, if we drop our box of envelopes and they smash into pieces, or we accidently shatter our paperclips, we’re covered. If I’d known about this earlier, I would have saved all those bits of tape that stuck together while trying to tape boxes up. We could have got a couple of pennies back for them!
While we were annoyed to be caught up in the Vista Print scam, at least they are bona-fide conmen. We have to admit we thought Viking would be better than that though. Charging accidental damage insurance by default on all invoices, and making it un-removable other than by phoning up and wasting half an hour would be bad enough if we were buying high price electronics. But for a company selling us general office consumables such as paper, paperclips and tape it is nothing short of fraudulent in our eyes.
Its to be said that we are very happy with the service and products of Viking- Direct so far. What puzzles us is why big sucessful companies risk their reputation and potentially customers by doing such scams without the customers consent. We guess its somoething called GREED. (Not to talk about the 95% which probably dont notice it and keep paying it. Anyway now you have been warned!
I couldn’t agree more.
We cancelled our account with them for this very reason. We started buying from Staples instead but look what they have started doing:
OrderCare
Staples OrderCare is a premium service which allows you to return unwanted items to us anytime within 12 months of purchase, for whatever reason. We will even collect the items free of charge. Just call 0844 546 7777 to arrange your free collection and full credit.*
OrderCare is included on your order and a small nominal sum will be added to your invoice.
If you would prefer to just receive our basic returns service, please tick this box .
- Your basket total will automatically recalculate -
**If you are returning unwanted items between 3 and 12 months since your order, that are not in a resaleable condition, we reserve the right to charge a minimum restocking fee of £15 or 20% of the item’s selling price. OrderCare also allows you to return those products excluded from our standard policy such as laptops, selected business machines and software (provided they are unopened and unused only), however please note these must be returned within 7 days. Food and drink, made-to-order and personalised items are non-returnable at any time.
Hi Phil,
Thanks for your feedback, its a shame how these companies scam their clients without any shame. Lets hope by putting the word out there we can help influence their methods and make people aware of the shady practices.
Cheers
USB Company Team
Hi all.
I work at viking direct and can asure you this protection plus addition is well worth it,
It not only covers damage it also covers you on products if you change your mind,
You could try a printer say for 4months and deside it was costing you to much for the ink and return it to viking with a full refund.
You can cancel this protection by calling viking or putting a comment when you order on the internet asking to remove this,
Also if you call and ask we will credit you for any protection plus you have paid for and didnt want the last six months,
Hi Brian,
Yes on a printer it might be worth it but automatically making your clients take out insurance on paper clip and print paper is shady in our opinion. Also why should we waste our time calling you to get money back on something we didnt want in the first place. This is is just a way to make more money out of the many clients that are unaware of your shady practice.
Regards
USB Company Team
Thanks very much for these tips. there seems to be scams everywhere, the world is full of penny pinchers, I bought a new computer about 3 months ago but just like all my other electricals I dont buy insurance, the guy was trying to hard sell me expensive insurance for the computer, my argument is that if anything goes wrong with it I will not be paying for the rest of it (if no fault of my own off-course). the other day Skt tv phoned trying to get me to insure my box for £12 per month, it only costs £49 for a new one lol. chancers.
Viking just added their compulsory insurance to my puchase of STAMPS (royal Mail)!! LOL.
Cancelling my account now and moving to Lyreco.
For all of you that arent happy with these hidden charges, please contact DBF Crosswinds Limited, we have NO hidden charges and offer good service and value for money products!!
Tel: 01582 582020 Fax: 01582 582030
email:sales@dbfcrosswinds.co.uk
You can turn payment protection off by going to My Account (top right) -> Payment preferences.
They should allow you to toggle the option at point of sale, not through preferences.
If you call Viking they will remove auto-protection plus from your account so you are not automatically subjected to this rip-off in future.
They also deducted £5 from my bill as a good will gesture.