Warning don't buy Indesit/Hotpoint!

voiceofreason

whitegoods_engineer wrote: »

Well what a tirade from Bionic Woman.


So we are all idiots and just turn up when we want to!


I wish that people would not make such stupid comments.


I'm sure that Bionic Woman is one of those people who think that the engineer sits waiting by the phone, ready to rush to her aid when her appliance breaks down. Oh what a luxury that would be!


Well you need to be aware that however hard it is for you that your machine has broken down, you are just ONE of a list of customers that the engineer will attend that day, and your call is no more important nor has a higher priority than any other!


In the whitegoods trade, major manufacturers and retailers have an engineering workforce who carry out a large number of calls every year. I myself do approximately 2,500 visits per year.


The engineers start the day with a big list of calls, usually in a wide geographic area (3 or 4 hours actual driving during the course of the day, let alone repairing appliances!) It is not uncommon for engineers to set out each day with 14 plus jobs, all of whom expect us to accommodate their school runs, shopping trips, doctors appointments etc.


I do 10 + jobs a day currently and I call each of my customers with an estimate of when I will be with them. I say “between 1 and 4” or between “11 and 2” etc etc. I always stipulate that this is purely an estimate since I cannot tell what time I will be at the customer's house until I am walking up their garden path! So If I tell a customer it will be between 10 and 1, it is not a promise, it is not a guarantee, it is an estimate. I will get there as soon as I can, but don't expect me to give you a precise time as it is simply IMPOSSIBLE!


Almost every day when I say, for example, “I estimate that I will be there between 1 and 4”, somebody will say “can you narrow it down?” or, “ will it be nearer 1 or nearer 4?”
I DON'T KNOW, AND IT'S JUST AN ESTIMATE, THATS WHY I GAVE A 3 HOUR SLOT!!!


Then I get there at 4:10 and the customer says “You're late” NO I'M NOT LATE, IT WAS AN ESTIMATED TIME!!!!!!


We simply do not have the luxury of being able to give customers times since each repair we go to is unique and takes varying amounts of time to complete.


As for repairs, like any other job, we are not perfect. We sometimes get it wrong, sometimes we damage floors or units, but in the 2,500 visits I make a year, with the best of care, I will occasionally damage a floor or something, that's life unfortunately, and it would be a miracle if in doing that many calls no damage ever occurred!


Again with diagnosis we can't always get it right 100 percent of the time. Sometimes faults are not self evident or are intermittent, with the appliance behaving perfectly during the engineer's visit. Often it is the customer, overloading machines, failing to do the basic maintenance required. The vast majority of the time, as proven by the stats produced by every whitegoods organisation I have ever worked for, we get it right, and the customer gets a working appliance.


We get a snapshot visit of each appliance we attend. I wish I had a pound for every time I've been told that the 'noise happens every few weeks'. (I know, I'll move in with them and wait then!) We're not miracle workers, we do the best that we can in the limited time we are able to devote to your appliance.


The comment on buying from John Lewis made me laugh, Do you think the nice man from John Lewis (who gave such great service) who sold you the appliance will come out and fix it then? No, it will be the manufacturer!


To say we are all idiots is just so insulting.

Oh and the comment from you that the engineers don't care what state they leave your property in, what a stupid statement!

!!!!!!, what is this nonsense?

Why don't you go have a good cr*p and clear your head?

Davey2009

Yes but if you really are a White goods engineer this is your chosen proffession & one you get paid for so favours just do not come into it most people would agree this lady has been treated very badly & is entitled to compensation no one should be treated in this way as soon as Hotpoint / Indesit realise how damaging to sales there service is they will have to 'clean up' there act.

Esqui

This was 5 months ago now...

Red_Cat

I have a Hotpoint fridge freezer, cooker, hob, dishwasher and washing machine. Have had them for near 3 years and have had no probs with any of them. Before that I had a Hotpoint cooker and fridge for years and never had a problem.
I think that with these brands including Indesit, there are (were) some appliances built in the UK, some in Italy and some now in Poland. They also have wide rage, so some lower spec appliances built in older factories with older mathods may well be designed to have a shorter design life.
I cannot say that other brands are not better, but so far so good.
Regarding the engineers, well people are different, look at teachers, police, bus drivers etc. Most are good, but the odd one is not.

oscardog

We always go with Which? best buys or recommended and so far (fingers crossed) everything has been A1.

Always worth a bit of homework before a purchase.

Davey2009

Yes these Which reports are good but you do have to consider things like spares & repairs later & there are lots of there spares stockists around compared to for e.g Bosch.
We had similar problems with both Hotpoint washers we had the carbon motor brushes would quickly burn out it was something I could do but whwn it came to a replacement I wanted to buy a Bosch but 'she who must be obeyed' insisted on a Hotpoint (because it has a hot & cold fill) I understand they have changed the type of brushes & to date no problem.
However it seems the posters problems are with the engineer more than the product itself...........anyway Merry Christmas to all here & lets all have a hassle free 2010 !




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Richard_Atkins

Richard_Atkins wrote: »

... in the hope that there will genuinely be a letter and this is not just more inconsistent bluff and delay.

More fool me. I got a reply. It ignored my request for contact details for their subcontrator (the one who damaged my property and who Indesit tell me is liable), told me that I had verbally been offered a sum for settling on the phone which they considered reasonable (note they have no idea what the damage is other that what the subcontractor might have told them) and finished by telling me that so as far as they are concerned there is nothing more to say.

Hmm. So it appears that not only are Indesity Service not liable for damage to property caused by their subcontractors, not only will they not tell you who the subcontractor is (preventing you from acting against them) but they also think they are the final arbiter of any disputes between you and their subcontractors.

I have, of course, written back in some fairly strong terms describing the damage done by their subcontractor, and repeating my request that they clarify in writing whether they accept any liability for this and if not then who is the liable party. Will keep you posted further as this soap opera develops.

At the moment it feels very much like Indesit Service and their subcontractor and working what in football is known as a '1-2'. I ask Indesit Service a direct question in writing, they verbally pass the ball to the subcontractor, he verbally passes it back to them and they reply to me based not on what I asked but on what their subcontractor has reportedly said to them. Thus they get past my letter without answering anything at all and they still get to keep their subcontractor effectively anonymous and free from possible litigation ... and I'll bet they would claim that they are generously providing this service of 'interceding' between me and their subcontractor on my behalf!

webmasterpolo

I would of just told Tesco it's faulty and get them to deal with it in the beginning. They are liable as the seller. If they are rubbish move onto the manufacturer. I had massive problems with Comet and a Bosch washing machine, Comet were cr*p so I went to Bosch who were excellent. See http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=123817&highlight=

@ whitegoods_engineer if you are being paid to do the repair you aren't doing a favour. However a polite customer would still say thank you.

-Web

Richard_Atkins

Red_Cat wrote: »

Regarding the engineers, well people are different, look at teachers, police, bus drivers etc. Most are good, but the odd one is not.

I agree entirely. I don't expect everyone who comes to my house to be perfect and I am willing to accept accidents will happen. However if someone causes damage to my property I expect them to take on responsability for this. In particular, if a company like Indesit sends an engineer to my house and they cause damage, I ideally expected that Indesit would take on some responsability for this. If not then at the very least I thought they'd stand back while I make a claim against the engineer they subcontracted in and sent. What I didn't expect was that Indesit would actively obstruct me with their "the liability is not with us, it's with the subcontact engineer and we won't tell you who he is."

No response so far to my previous letter which leaves me in a position where I think I will have no choice but to either go for a court order to force Indesit to release details of the subcontractor, or take action as a small claim against Indesit in the hope that a county court judge will rule that in these circumstances they have defacto accepted liability. Time to talk to a solicitor.

carolinosourus

whitegoods_engineer wrote: »

Well actually I AM doing them a favour in repairing something which they can't, and yes, they should be grateful. Sometimes I don't even receive a thank you.

:rolleyes: You're not "doing them a favour", you're doing a job that you're paid to do. If people could fix their own machines then you'd be out of a job, you should be grateful to the people who can't fix their own electrical items...