Thinking of spending £7000 on a B&Q Kitchen?

FirestarterUKUK

Help! I'm at my wits end trying to get B&Q to replace a faulty intergrated Microwave I had installed as part of a £7000 kitchen. I sent the following letter to the HO & cc'd the depot where I made the purchase. Also spoke to four depot 'duty managers', but no-one seems to be returing calls. Text of letter follows:

Xx xxxxxxxx

xxxxxxx

6th November 2009

B&Q Customer Services
Torrance House
Erskine
Renfrewshire
PA8 6AT

Project Invoice Number xxxxxxx

Dear Sir,

As I have been unable to resolve this issue with your Mansfield installation centre, I now need to bring the following complaint to your attention.

1st June 2009 Order for kitchen installation placed at B&Q Osmaston Park Road, Derby

Mon 19th Oct Installation completed

Sun 25th Oct Tried using Microwave for the first time – Premium Appliance Brands Ltd MUMW17SS (serial number xxxxxxx)
Display & keypad work ok, timer counts down correctly
But turntable doesn’t revolve, light does not illuminate & no power is emitted

Mon 26th 08.30 Rang Mansfield office (01623 422788), was told by A that C was on holiday, but someone would told someone would call me back
13.00 Rang again, told I need to supply serial number & call the supplier direct
The Integrated Microwave is built into the unit and, as no guarantee documentation was provided for any of my new products– so no phone number. The Warranty states I need to contact 0845 850 0174 “We will be more than happy to contact the manufacturer direct”

Tue 27th 09.00 Rang H. Said she would arrange for an installer to call me & arrange a call out

Thu 29th 09.30 Rang H (who said case is being dealt with by A). Said I would receive a call by COB today
10.30 Call received from Installer. Will call back when he can visit one evening

Wed 4th Nov 10.00 Rang H again, will call back by tomorrow with update. A rang back and said the engineer would be out by end of week & would contact me one day before the visit.

Thu 5th Again no response. Spoke to J at Osmaston Park Road, Derby depot who arranged for engineers to come out that night to remove microwave from unit. Representative from Microwave company cannot attend until the following Wednesday. They couldn’t state a time so I need to take one day’s unpaid leave. He will then take it away & return it at some point in the future. I would need to take a further day’s unpaid leave, plus further time off for the fitter to install it back in the unit.

Two representatives from B&Q have now agreed with me that the Microwave is faulty.

I am faced with taking up to three day’s unpaid leave and my company will need to pay for a temporary VBA programmer to cover me in my absence. These costs should be picked up by B&Q.

B&Q have not fulfilled your part of the contract that I signed off in June regarding the sale of merchantable goods. The purchase of this kitchen was made on a credit card, so I understand I have additional protection under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. A microwave oven is an integral component of a kitchen & I cannot be without it for such a long period of time. I expect to be compensated for the inconvenience I am currently enduring.

I expect a compensation payment comprised of:
Loss of use of Microwave £10.00 per day
Three days of unpaid leave £270.00
Approx cost of replacement VBA
programmer to cover in
my absence £50.00 per hour
Distress & time spent on this problem £300.00

Please respond to this complaint within 28 days of the date of this letter. I will decide upon my next course of action after this time.

Yours,

Xxxxxx xxxxxxx

Cc Derby Depot - Osmaston Park Road, Derby
M, Branch Manager

Updates since letter was sent on 06/11/09 :

Fri 6th unable to get through by phone, above complaint letter handed to R who would give it to Osmaston Park Road Manager in Derby.

Evening phone call from K, said she was dealing with this complaint, will call back tomorrow

Sat 7th phone calls from A at Installation Centre and K - no need to have further time off. Unable to confirm when Microwave will be replaced, will definitely call back on Monday with timelines.

Tue 10th 10.00 Rang S at Osmaston Park Road, will call back in an hour. No answer

pm: received automated text from premium rate number that Hotpoint engineer will call on Wed, but was told earlier that he wouldn’t need to visit anymore. Left message for A to call me back

Tue 11th 9.00 further text received from Hotpoint saying an engineer is due this afternoon. Spent 10 minutes on premium rate number, was told that engineer wouldn’t have replacement microwave with him. Spoke to J at Osmaston Road who said “Don’t Worry”, he would cancel the Hotpoint visit. The replacement microwave would be sent directly to Mansfield & they would send round an engineer to install it. Will call back with dates.

14.30 message left by Hotpoint engineer at 14.00 who had arrived at my home to see if microwave was faulty. Passed info onto H who said A or G would call back re wasted journey from Hotpoint engineer.

Nine times so far when promised a call back but none received. Pointless making more calls.


What would be my next options? Small Claims or Secion 75? What would be a fair amount of compensation for the amount of time, calls and distress this has caused? Has anyone else been through the complaint procedure at B&Q? Cannot believe that a company as large as B&Q would treat a customer with such disdain, irrespective of the £7000 already spent with them.


Thanks for your advice.

phill99

B & Q = nightmare. A customer of mine had a kitchen installed by B & Q. 13 Months after they started it was still not completed. He now only talks to them via his Solicitor. As far as a I am aware, if you go down the CC Route, they will only ne liable for the cost of the microwave, and not for other costs that you have incurred. For the sake of £100 or so, I would be tempted to make an appointment with a Soilicitor and get him to send them a letter. They are much more likely to respond to this than your letters as it shows you are getting serious. B & Q are an absolute disgrace.

nbgrobbo

We've got them coming back for the 2nd time on Monday to sort out problems with the 6K bathroom they just fitted - we've got 2 cabinet doors hanging off, 1 not hung right, bathroom door needs to be rehung and leaking shower sealant. I've had to take 2 days off to sort out :mad:

zax47

Whichever course of action you take, you should be prepared to receive the princely sum of !!!!!!-all by way of compensation for your time off work or the cost of the replacement programmer, or your "distress"! You will not be awarded such "damages" or compensation, to the best of my knowledge (having tried similar myself on a couple of occasions) - this element of your claim will be ignored.

Such damages would have to have been detailed in the contract prior to the work commencing and agreed by both parties. You will find there is NO mention of recompense or damages in the contract to supply you with the kitchen, so how ever much you think you deserve them there is nothing to say you are due them or will get awarded them.

chriiiiiiiis

I can't believe that you are asking for more or less £1000 compensation because your microwave has packed up.