Hi, i have a plasma tv i purchased from empire direct with a five year warranty, i also wanted to purchase a stand that was ofered to me at the time of purchase for half price, i was given 3 months to decide on this offer. I have tried to contact via the telephone but i am not having any luck. I have tried to get a number online and i cannot seem to get on thier web site . As anyone any information about empire direct . Thanks
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Th80 panasonic and warranty (with empire direct)
yes it was panasonic offering the warrenty and not empire direct.
It would be the Panasonic 5yr guarantee if the tv was purchased in-store and the form has been sent off to Panasonic.
If you bought a plasma from Empire Direct the warranty is with Empire Direct rather than Panasonic.
To get the 5 year Panasonic warranty you have to buy the plasma from a store, which us why I paid £150 more to get my 46PZ85 from a local HiFi/TV specialist shop rather than Empire Direct. You get paperwork from your local shop when you get your set, which you return to Panasonic and you eventually get a warranty certificate with expiry in 2013 for mine....
I got a quote for 5 year extended warranty from Domestic and General for the set, for if I were to buy it from Empire Direct and it was £400, which made it a no brainer to buy from the local shop. Also one look at the terms and conditions of Empire Direct's extended warranty put me off, having to pay £30 to join an extended warranty club + more to get years 4&5 ????
Unfortunately your extended warranty is with Empire Direct so you will have to approach the administrators, to get money back, if you paid for the warranty, or else could I suggest a visit to www.domgen.com, not cheap but could work out cheaper than a repair in a couple of years times.
One word of warning about D&G extended warranty's they are not new for old, if they can't repair (which is quite common for older plasma's) they give you a % of full value ie for years 4&5 of 5 year warranty it is only 30% and if they replace the set thats the end of the warranty (at least it was with my dishwasher a year or two after it was replaced, I ended up arguing it out with the manufacturer who refunded my money eventually).
To get the 5 year Panasonic warranty you have to buy the plasma from a store, which us why I paid £150 more to get my 46PZ85 from a local HiFi/TV specialist shop rather than Empire Direct. You get paperwork from your local shop when you get your set, which you return to Panasonic and you eventually get a warranty certificate with expiry in 2013 for mine....
I got a quote for 5 year extended warranty from Domestic and General for the set, for if I were to buy it from Empire Direct and it was £400, which made it a no brainer to buy from the local shop. Also one look at the terms and conditions of Empire Direct's extended warranty put me off, having to pay £30 to join an extended warranty club + more to get years 4&5 ????
Unfortunately your extended warranty is with Empire Direct so you will have to approach the administrators, to get money back, if you paid for the warranty, or else could I suggest a visit to www.domgen.com, not cheap but could work out cheaper than a repair in a couple of years times.
One word of warning about D&G extended warranty's they are not new for old, if they can't repair (which is quite common for older plasma's) they give you a % of full value ie for years 4&5 of 5 year warranty it is only 30%
and if they replace the set thats the end of the warranty (at least it was with my dishwasher a year or two after it was replaced, I ended up arguing it out with the manufacturer who refunded my money eventually).On my bill of sale it does state that i have a 5 year warranty , but only if i purchased from the shop in store , and not online . I have been in touch with panasonic who have more or less told me that the warranty is with empire direct and not panasonic even though my invoice does state 5yr warranty with panasonic .not looking good . ............... Just been in touch with empire direct and it seems the offer for the 5 year warranty online was to get customers in and its not worth anything now , i have been told that if i had gone in store and purchased which i could quite easily have done i would have still got the warranty at the same price. Sods law .
When he mentioned (the guy from empire direct) to me about D&G i thought he was trying to get me to take a warranty with them.I feeel for the staff that have or are going to lose thier jobs because of the problems with empire direct , and i suppose not having the extended warranty is not the end of the world , i am just a bit annoyed because i believed the salesman when he told me in store when i picked it up that i had a warranty with panasonic.
I actualy had the cash to purchase but decided to do it over the phone and go and put the money in the bank, if i had purchased in store and got the relavant paperwork i would now be covered. When i went to pick up instore the salesman printed my reciept at the checkout and said your 5year warranty is on thier as well.
You never know your luck, might get something from the administrators.
I bought a fridge from Tempo, years ago, and to enable me to get out the store without a salesman attached to me I bought the a £90 extened warranty. Went back next day to cancel warranty, no problems.
Couple of days later (we had had the fridge delivered by then) Tempo went under I thought no more. Couple of months later a cheque for £90 (might have been less) appeared in the post for a refund for un-honoured warranty. I tried like hell to return the cheque to the administrators but the Tempo account was now closed, they had no record of me having cancelled the warranty and had a minimum processing charge of £100 (????). Oh well.
This was possibly slightly different than Empire Direct as Tempo had actually committed fraud, thay had taken the money and not saved it in any warranty fund. Thus people with Tempo warranty's could have potentially sued (the administrators ?) to be first in line (ahead of creditors, employees etc) for when the assets were divided up.
I bought a fridge from Tempo, years ago, and to enable me to get out the store without a salesman attached to me I bought the a £90 extened warranty. Went back next day to cancel warranty, no problems.
Couple of days later (we had had the fridge delivered by then) Tempo went under I thought no more. Couple of months later a cheque for £90 (might have been less) appeared in the post for a refund for un-honoured warranty.
I tried like hell to return the cheque to the administrators but the Tempo account was now closed, they had no record of me having cancelled the warranty and had a minimum processing charge of £100 (????). Oh well.This was possibly slightly different than Empire Direct as Tempo had actually committed fraud, thay had taken the money and not saved it in any warranty fund. Thus people with Tempo warranty's could have potentially sued (the administrators ?) to be first in line (ahead of creditors, employees etc) for when the assets were divided up.
When a retailer has nothing over their competitors to tempt you into their store they can often resort to lying to clinch the sale.
Orbitalzone
Established Member
so did you pay by credit card? if so, you get some further protection from them.
T
too_smithy
Guest
I am still working for Empire Direct at Head Office ... for how much longer who knows. I have now had the chance to speak to a number of senior people still in the business about what happened to the company and the customer orders. It is clear to me that all these problems have been caused by the administrators KPMG:
1. The company had credit insurance scaled back. This caused problems for working capital and the management were working hard to secure funding. Nobody would help them despite the company having a solid 25 year history and never having suffered a trading loss.
2. When it came clear that support was not available, the management were duty bound to call in the administrators.
3. It was expected that the administrators (KPMG) would trade through the administration as is normally the case. However, they decided to kill the business by making most staff redundant on the SAME DAY the company went into administration. What chance have they got to sell the business by making staff redundant?? They also closed all the stores which according to one of our marketing managers were still doing relatively well. The reason KPMG gave was that there was not enough stock in the business. This is total rubbish. There was plenty of stock and customer orders had been put to one side for collection and delivery.
4. KPMG themselves advised that customers orders which had been paid for would be fulfilled. But then, only 5 days later, they refused to supply the goods relying upon "terms and conditions". Basically, KPMG did all they can to hold onto the stock so they could sell it and pay off any creditors. Empire Direct had done all it could do ensure customer orders were satisfied.
A lot of people have already referred to Mark Thirmin KPMG's administrator as "shoddy". I have to agree. This firms of accountants have badly managed this administration from start to finish. KPMG continue to treat the employees of Empire Direct with no respect.
1. The company had credit insurance scaled back. This caused problems for working capital and the management were working hard to secure funding. Nobody would help them despite the company having a solid 25 year history and never having suffered a trading loss.
2. When it came clear that support was not available, the management were duty bound to call in the administrators.
3. It was expected that the administrators (KPMG) would trade through the administration as is normally the case. However, they decided to kill the business by making most staff redundant on the SAME DAY the company went into administration. What chance have they got to sell the business by making staff redundant?? They also closed all the stores which according to one of our marketing managers were still doing relatively well. The reason KPMG gave was that there was not enough stock in the business. This is total rubbish. There was plenty of stock and customer orders had been put to one side for collection and delivery.
4. KPMG themselves advised that customers orders which had been paid for would be fulfilled. But then, only 5 days later, they refused to supply the goods relying upon "terms and conditions". Basically, KPMG did all they can to hold onto the stock so they could sell it and pay off any creditors. Empire Direct had done all it could do ensure customer orders were satisfied.
A lot of people have already referred to Mark Thirmin KPMG's administrator as "shoddy". I have to agree. This firms of accountants have badly managed this administration from start to finish. KPMG continue to treat the employees of Empire Direct with no respect.
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