Refund Code from Hotpoint?

blondebouncingferret

I bought a Hotpoint fridge/freezer with Tower Radio Ltd in December. In the five months we've had it; it has broken down twice, defrosting all the food in the freezer twice.

I wrote to Hotpoint asking for a refund as obviously, we don't trust the fridge/freezer and are very wary about re-filling it and losing all the food again. I enclosed a list of the food we lost and asked for compensation for it.

They sent me a letter back saying they are unable to give refunds, and that I should speak to Tower and also said I would need to write to the claims department with pictures of the food and receipts to prove my costs. Food/receipts are fine. We have receipts and we kept all the food packaging (minus the food for obvious smelling reasons).

When I've spoken to Tower, they said that they were unable to refund us without a code from Hotpoint, authorising them to refund us.

Has anyone heard of such a code, or are we being fobbed off?

Esqui

There is such a code, and it goes by many names, most often 'uplift number'. Hotpoint don't really issue them outside the first 4 weeks, but it's not entirely uncommon for them to do so.

While Tower Radio are unwilling to exchange at this time, they may be able to put more pressure on Hotpoint to agree that the machine is beyond economical repair. I'm aware of a retailer escalation email address, they may have it. Often it's not until three failed repairs that retailers and manufacturers would look at exchanging