mis-sold washing machine insurance?

RandyRos

on the 26th of october i bought a new washer from currys. i bought the "whatever happens" insurance, to cover the machine for 5yrs. I didnt intend to, but the salesman assured me that if it went wrong, someone would come out and fix it WITHIN 48HRS. thats the ONLY reason I took the insurance out.

2 weeks down the line & the programs arent working properly, it wont rinse. I phoned Indesit on tuesday and they tell me they cant come out till MONDAY 15th!! :eek: I told them I bought the insurance and I was told they'd see if they could push the repair forward and phone me back within 24hrs. on weds they called (just before i was about to call them, cos the 24hrs was nearly up) and they said sorry, we cant get anyone out to you sooner than monday. I said thats not acceptable, I've got the insurance. They told me nothing they can do, phone currys.

so i did and they said the same thing. i told them that my receipt says if i phone before 6pm mon-weds, someone will be out within 2 working days. no ifs or buts. she said sometimes we cant do it cos of sickness/backlog etc and she said it did state it on the insurance.

all i had was 3 printed sheets from the shop with the receipt stapled to it. NOWHERE did it say the 48hrs might not be possible. she said i was posted a welcome pack on the 1st nov, but i havent received it! she said she's send it by email and that it clearly states on there that the 48hrs arent guaranteed. she sent it to me though email. i looked at it and its the same 3 pages that i got from the shop!!

my hubby is furious. he said it was tantamount to fraud, selling me that insurance, if they dont do as advertised. and i have nothing to back up currys claims of "not always possible"

what do i do? what are my rights? please help

Mr_squishy

Hi.

You need to contact Curry's insurance not Indesit. The phone number you need to ring is on one of those threese sheets of paper along with your ref number.

McKneff

check the terms and conditions of your insurance, you should have 28 days to cancel it so you should still be in the time frame.

Your machine is still covered by the 1 year guarantee anyway so keep pecking away at them to get there sooner.

Put the money to one side that you would have paid for the extra cover and I guarantee you will be into pocket when the 5 years (and its really only 4 years extended warranty) is up

RandyRos

thanks for your replies. today i got some stuff thru the post from currys "techguys" and in it, it says about he 48hr callout. NOTHING about it might be longer if they have a backlog.

mr squishy, if you read my post, you will see that I did speak to currys as well. they gave me the same shpeel of "nothing else we can do". they told me the engineers dont work over the weekend. so even if i kick up a stink, no-one will come out before monday anyway.

I will look at all the info, see what it says. I havent paid for the insurance yet. I paid £10 towards the insurance when i bought the washer & they'll start taking it out at the end of the month.

McKneff, i can assure u i WONT save money by putting the insurance money away. im cursed when it comes to washers and dryers. my full sized dryer is 10 months old and has already had the belt and heater replaced in it. NO washer lasts me 5yrs! BUT im sure i can buy insurance from elsewhere when my washer is a year old.

phill99

Why people buy these insurances is beyond me

dacouch

The currys cover is NOT an Insurance Policy

RandyRos

phill99 if you had the trouble with washers and dryers that I do, you wouldnt be asking that question. i had one that went wrong every 3 months! and that was a zanussi. ive had cheap washers, expensive washers, they all f*ck up! i follow the instructions and take care of them, but it makes no difference.

anyway, ive checked out the agreement for the whatever happens and the only bit that could be construed as getting round the 48hr agreement is this;

We will not be responsible for any failure to carry out our obligations
under this Support Agreement if it is caused by any circumstances

outside our reasonable control.

RandyRos

and it says this;

Cancellation Notice
If you are not completely satisfied with your pay monthly Whatever Happens Club Support Agreement, you can cancel it within 45 days of purchase. Please call
Customer Services on 0844 561 4000 and if you haven’t used the service we’ll give you a full refund. If you want to cancel your Whatever Happens Support

Agreement after 45 days of purchase, you will be entitled to a pro-rata refund.

so i shall phone them tomorrow & if no joy i shall go to the shop and kick off

macman

RandyRos wrote: »

thanks for your replies. today i got some stuff thru the post from currys "techguys" and in it, it says about he 48hr callout. NOTHING about it might be longer if they have a backlog.

mr squishy, if you read my post, you will see that I did speak to currys as well. they gave me the same shpeel of "nothing else we can do". they told me the engineers dont work over the weekend. so even if i kick up a stink, no-one will come out before monday anyway.

I will look at all the info, see what it says. I havent paid for the insurance yet. I paid £10 towards the insurance when i bought the washer & they'll start taking it out at the end of the month.

McKneff, i can assure u i WONT save money by putting the insurance money away. im cursed when it comes to washers and dryers. my full sized dryer is 10 months old and has already had the belt and heater replaced in it. NO washer lasts me 5yrs! BUT im sure i can buy insurance from elsewhere when my washer is a year old.

So it's already covered for at least 12m under the manufacturer's warranty! You are just paying for the same thing twice over-and if you bought it through Currys/DSG then you probably paid twice the rate that you could have bought it for independently.
Why on earth do you need a 48 hr call out on a washing machine-a few loads of washing can surely wait a couple of days?
I use an independent local repair co for white goods and they will invariably come out next day if asked.
You do realise that the margin on these policies is greater than that on the appliances, that's why they push them so hard.

RandyRos

i dont have extended warranty on my dryer. but i will when it runs out soon. ive had a quote for £55 for 4yrs, which with my luck, is a bargain!

and yes i agree, you'd think with the washer the whatever happens would be for years 2,3,4 and 5. NOT for the 1st year when the manufacturers warranty is still valid.

as to the washing...........i have 3 children. my husband is a pigman. my eldest daughter goes to college and works with animals there, so she has to wash her clothes every night because of the risk of cross contamination (if it happens, hubby will lose his job) so i do at least 2 loads of washing a day. we have no laundrettes within a 10mile radius, and theres no local river that i can take my washing down to, to bash it against a rock & clean it.

macman

Hmm. With your washing requirements being relatively 'mission-critical' then, all I can suggest is that you don't buy a brand like Indesit, which regularly comes out in surveys as one of the less reliable makes. Maybe a Bosch?
Without knowing the exact terms of the repair policy I can't comment further-maybe it's 2 working days?-the salesman eager to earn his warranty commission is hardly going to mention that.
Just cancel the insurance and find a reliable local independent white goods repairer for when it's out of warranty.