Shopping Guide
September 17, 2023
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For almost 20 years, South Africa non-perishables retail giant Game Stores has been a leader in the appliances and electronics market segment in Uganda.
In 2021 however, the company announced intentions to sell to local entrepreneurs who might be able to trade with locals better but failed to find a buyer and in October 2022 they announced they would be closing shop. The ongoing clearance sale is expected to run until about the end of December 2022 (as stocks last).
Many of our customers, like you, have bought at least one item from Game Stores and have been asking questions like, “what happens to the warranty when Game closes”.
This short article is meant to help you understand what to expect going forward.
Retailers such as Game Stores, Kweli.shop and others typically extend to you product warranty on behalf of the manufacturers so they are themselves not bound by the warranty you receive when you purchase the appliances.
In Game Stores closing, all valid warranty claims can still be honored through the official brand Service Centres in the country as if Game had not closed so you need not worry about it.
A couple of the most popular white/big appliance brands like LG, Samsung, Hisense, Bosch, Solstar, Ariston already have authorized manufacturer’s service centers within Kampala and you can head there when you have a challenge with the appliance irrespective of where you bought it from.
Disclaimer: The advice the retailer gives you as far as warranty claims are concerned should take precedence over this general procedure.
Some brands (names withheld) that are/were being sold at Game do not have other authorized repair centres except at Game itself. Like Kweli.shop, Game has its own service centre and can provide repair services for your appliances.
After Game closes shop, the service centre might remain operational for a short time before it, as well, closes or it might close at the same time as the shop, and this presents serious challenges for customers who bought those brands. The company has not made any official communication as far as this is concerned.
Whereas repair is itself easy, finding spares for such products can be quite tasking when the retailer closes shop and as a customer you might be forced to spend so much to import spares, to improvise, or to abandon the appliance altogether.
Hopefully, the company will advise customers about this before they close otherwise you could reach out to them for official advice.
If your warranty expires, you have to pay to have your appliance repaired, irrespective of the cause of damage. You are welcome to have your appliance repaired at the Kweli.shop service centre. We offer repairs to customers all over Uganda.
Most of the products that were available at Game are already available on Kweli.shop and several other appliance and electronics stores in Kampala City so you do not need to worry. We have previously written about Where to Buy Genuine Appliances & Electronics in Uganda.
We already have more models of genuine appliances and electronics than any single retailer in Uganda and are on course to add thousands more over the next few weeks.
We applaud Game for their contribution to the industry over the last 2 decades of their existence in Uganda and which them the best in the other markets where they continue to operate.
