Currys PC World criticised for ‘rip off’ add-on charges

Currys PC World has been criticised for pushing customers into paying up to £40 extra for pre-setup laptops that they did not request.

More than 100 customers complained to consumer watchdog Which? about the practice.

Despite ordering the laptops online or in store for an advertised price, consumers were then told that only pre-setup laptops were left, meaning they had to pay more.

Since January 2015, more than 100 people have contacted Which? about this issue – nine of those complaints have been in the past three months.

After questions from Which?, Currys PC World says it is “urgently re-briefing” its store managers that if there are only pre-setup models available, customers should not be charged extra.

Currys PC World does offer an optional £35 ‘Knowhow’ setup service, as advertised on its website, which includes a USB recovery stick. But customers told Which? it wasn not communicated as optional.

This is not the first time Currys PC World has come under fire for this practice. Which? raised similar concerns – this time about over-prescription of the Knowhow service – with the company in January 2015 after a flurry of complaints on Reddit.

The firm said: “We’re urgently re-briefing our stores now to remind them that, in the small number of cases where only pre-set up models are available, customers should not be charged for the service when they buy their laptop.”