Comet Repair Took my money and Lied to me - what recourse do I have ?

Azrael1

Hello All,

Can anyone help ? What's the best way to complain to comet about the poor service i received.


My LG LG GRL207TUJA stopped functioning taking along with it all my food.
I paid £27 and booked a Comet Engineer to come out on the wednesday 14th
July.

He turned up and my dad let him look at the LG Fridge Freezer. He
looked at it and left saying he would call us to let us know if it could
be repaired. He just said theirs no gas going into the fridge.
I heard nothing that day and waited the next day and still no call.

I then called Comet on the Friday 16th to find out what was happening. I
was then told that the engineer told them that there was no gas going into the fridge and it was irreparable. I asked why was I not told this and no reply.

At This point I began to look at other fridge freezers but before i
brought another one ( £500 plus ), I wanted another opinion.
I got a local engineer to have a look at it, not only did he identify
the fault but he managed to fix it as well. It was a leak which he
patched up and he also regassed the fridge.
The total cost for this was £60 and he also gauranteed his work on that
part that leaked for 6 months.

I called up comet on Friday morning 9am. They said they would look into
it and someone would call me back before the afternoon. I heard nothing
from them and called them at 4pm and they said that they would get the
supervisor to call me back. I heard nothing. I also heard nothing at the
weekend either.

I called them up monday 2nd August and chased the call up again. Again
they promised someone would call me back.

I finally got a phonecall from the supervisor that afternoon around 4pm.

He apologised it had taken so long for someone to call me back. He
explained that they fullfilled their part of the contract and an
enginneer came out and looked the fridge over and it was uneconomical to
repair. I asked him define economical £10, £100 or £200 - he replied
their centre does not have access to such details. I question why could
someone else find the leak when their engineer could not. They said
their enginner did not have to all he had to confirm was that the fridge
had no gas and was faulty. ( Wonder how he was going to fix it if he couldn't be bothered to find the fault )

He said the only way to fix it properly was to replace the compressor and the part with the leak and also to regass the fridge which was uneconomical / beyond repair. This means my fridge was not properly fixed. ( even though comet only guarantee their repair work for 3 months ). I asked does this mean they would not refund me £27 and he said they would not refund the call out charge. I said I would be complaining about my treatment.

Im shocked at the extremely poor service and the fact their engineer was either incompetent or lying to me.

I know its only £27 but its the principle of it.

Judas

The problem is that a small local repairer may be more inclined to do short term fixes/questionable repairs than a large multinational "target" like Comet.

If the recommended repair for this fault is what they say then they dont have to do a "bodge" job just to keep you happy and open themselves upto legal problems and breach their insurance.

Azrael1

The problem was they did not know what the fault was. All he said there was no gas going into the fridge. He did not find the leak or even look. He said he needed to speak to the head office and that was that. It was only till I pointed out what the fault had actually been. Also the cost to replace that part properly was £130 which was hardly beyond economical repair

gordikin

£27 is now £130? Why?

Azrael1

Ok to Clear it up.

1. Comet charged me £27 to have a look at the fridge but they said it was not repairable.
2. A local repair man patched it up and regassed it for £60. He gave me the option to actually replace the part itself for £130 but I wanted the £60 option,
3. He patched it up for £60 and regassed it and its been working fine since then.

Its over 2 years old and its an American fridge freezer - around £700ish at the moment

adam.mt

I'd put it down to experience and don't call out a Comet service engineer again!

As mentioned it seems to be a question of different qualities of service and policies. The same as a car main dealer charging £500 for a repair an independent will do equally well, if not better, for £100. That's just the way it is.

TBH, it's not uncommon for one repairer to consider something repairable and financially sound to do so, and another to disagree.

Perhaps, write to Comet asking for a full written assessment of what the repair cost would be regardless of cost. This would help explain why they consider it uneconomical and/or help indicate whether the assessment was done correctly (in line with their service standards).

sirmarcus

Azrael1 wrote: »

He said the only way to fix it properly was to replace the compressor and the part with the leak and also to regass the fridge which was uneconomical / beyond repair. This means my fridge was not properly fixed. ( even though comet only guarantee their repair work for 3 months ). I asked does this mean they would not refund me £27 and he said they would not refund the call out charge. I said I would be complaining about my treatment.

Im shocked at the extremely poor service and the fact their engineer was either incompetent or lying to me.

Hi,

I would also post an entry on the DIY board on MSE at http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=39 to ask someone with fridge/freezer knowledge, whether your local man's fix is fit-for-purpose and safe and also the factual accuracy of Comet's statement's with regards the repair needed.

Mankysteve

I cant see how re-gassing a fridge would mean it needs a new compressor? I'm not a fridge engineer but i have a reasonable idea of how they work. I cant see how having no gas in it would do any harm.

Azrael1

First of all Thank you all of you for your help and insight into this matter .

The thing is they didn't even know what was wrong with the fridge, they just said no gas was coming in and then left without letting me know if it was fixable or not. ( Like saying the Car needs Petrol but its not getting it. )

They did not even look at where the leak was from which would have told them how easy/ hard it would be to fix. I had to tell them the problem when I called them back to complain.

I have chalked it up to experience and will never ever use Comet again for any purchase. I looked on google and it seems I'm not the only one to receive poor service from them.

If my Fridge Freezer breaks down again I will buy another one with a 5 year guarantee on it. Looking at the Forums American Fridge Freezer go wrong and quite often.

I will complain and keep complaining till they are sick to death of me !

Thanks

David

Mupette

So the fridge freezer is 2 years old?

and comet have written it off as too expensive to repair?

so under the SOGA shouldn't you be asking for a refund?

Heliflyguy

Judas wrote: »

Fridge gases can be dangerous.I wouldnt fancy a patch job on it.

Why? Can be or are?
The gas is bad for the ozone layer but not to us directly, you do make it up as you go along sometimes.