Sending a complaint to Comet

Scully's_Girl

I'll be sending a letter of complaint to Comet, on behalf of my husbands' 90 year old grandmother. Last week, she bought a new cooker from them. It was delivered, and initially the guys didnt even fit it, saying they were "busy". MIL called them and got them back in, and when they took the unit out of the box, they all noticed a large abrasion on the upper side. It didnt take long to find the enormous dent in the back (I mean, the entire back of the unit is dented in). The delivery guy initially advised nan & MIL to demand money off the purchase, but quickly changed his mind when the door fell off the thing. He, and the MIL spent the next hour & a half on the phone with the store. Nan is the kind of Nan who doesnt like to make a fuss, so the delivery guy & mother in law had to both hold back their tempers for her sake. Ultimately, they offered £10 off, which is a slap in the face IMO. MIL finally got it up to £30, but with a stipulation that this isnt over. In addition, they cannot get a new unit to her till after the new year. So she is going to be without a cooker for Christmas and new years. The person at Comet had the nerve to say "well, why doesnt she just use a microwave?". Once I heard about this, I was very upset, since the poor woman is 90. She literally can't fight for herself. I'm going to write a scathing letter to Comet (although I'm not sure to write it as being from Nan or the MIL). What kind of restitution do ya'll think she is entitled to?

magyar

If it's within a week, there is clearly no "acceptance" of the goods, which are equally clearly not fit for purpose. She is entitled to receive either (a) a complete refund or (b) a new unit. As you say, it's quite disgraceful behaviour on their part. And, whatever Comet might say, she does not have to accept (a) store credit, if you don't want it or (b) repair by the manufacturer.

Did Comet take away an old cooker? If so, they should either return it or you should seek written confirmation from them that you can use the 'new' one and they will replace it in the New Year. It's not reasonable for this woman to go without a cooker in that case.

magyar

Scully's_Girl wrote:

"well, why doesnt she just use a microwave?".

Since they suggested it, why don't you ask Comet if they have one she can borrow over the festive period!

Scully's_Girl

thats a great point. Im writing up the letter now. Im going to include a CC to the following:

Hugh Harvey Managing Director

Tom Barry Deputy Managing Director - Operations
IN addition, Ill mention that if we are not contacted in 7 business days, we'll be taking this up with the Office of fair trading. Am I leaving anything out?

magyar

Scully's_Girl wrote:

thats a great point. Im writing up the letter now. Im going to include a CC to the following:

Hugh Harvey Managing Director

Tom Barry Deputy Managing Director - Operations
IN addition, Ill mention that if we are not contacted in 7 business days, we'll be taking this up with the Office of fair trading. Am I leaving anything out?

Feel free to post the letter beforehand and we'll dissect it!

Scully's_Girl

Ok, here is the letter, what do you think?

Comet Group PLC Head Office
Comet House

Three Rivers Court

Rickmansworth

Hertfordshire

WD3 1FX

Comet Group PLC

Customer Services

George House

George Street

Hull

HU1 3AU

RE: COMPLAINT
Dear Customer Services Department:
On 18 November my mother purchased a cooker from your Orpington store, as well as a washing machine. On 7 December the units were delivered and we have been incredibly displeased with the results.
To begin with, the washing machine she purchased was left in the middle of the floor of her kitchen. £109.95 paid for delivery and they couldn’t move the unit an additional 5 feet to the wall so it could be out of the way. As my mother is 91 years old, I had to slowly edge the unit across the floor up to the wall, and I am 61 myself! In addition, the washer was meant to be fitted on the 11th, so I took the day off of work so I could be there to ensure it went smoothly. Your company rang at the last minute and delayed the fitting till the 15th, which required me to take another day off work. There was no offer to send another fitter to ensure this was done in a timely manner.
In regards to the cooker, the engineer came and disconnected her old unit and put it in the back garden. It was only then that we discovered the new unit had obviously been smashed, possibly on concrete. It had a large abrasion on the upper corner, the entire back had been dented in, and the door readily fell off whilst the delivery man was removing it from its box. The engineer confirmed the unit was far too damaged to install, but at this point, the old unit was already disconnected, and rendered too unsafe to reinstate, even temporarily. The engineer spent the next 40 minutes on my mother's phone, long distance, trying to arrange prompt delivery of another cooker. I spent a further one and a quarter hours on the phone with your customer services. I want to point out how displeased I am by this turn of events. We were advised that a new unit could not be installed till after the New Year. The damaged unit could not be safely fitted, and the old cooker could not be legally refitted (as it's age suggested it no longer complied with safety regulations). The best your customer service could offer was an insulting £10 refund and the suggestion that she cook her Christmas dinners using a microwave. (and no, Comet did not offer to lend her a large microwave for the interim). Mind you, the phone call alone cost more than the £10 offered. Not only did I have to repeat the story again and again to disinterested phone operators, but no one seemed to understand, or care, that a 91 year old woman would be without a cooker, in the middle of winter. This is in excess of three weeks! This is a time of year when many family are visiting my mother, as she is too frail and the weather too cold for her to venture out to see others. She currently has no way to prepare food for her guests. As I mentioned on the telephone, her microwave is only large enough to heat a cup of tea.
At this time we have accepted a £30 interim payment with the stipulation that it is accepted without prejudice and that we intend to take this matter further. I find it appalling that a company such as yours would treat a customer, let alone a helpless old woman, in such a disgraceful way. She has paid £700 in more than enough time to ensure she had a proper cooker for Christmas, and now due to your company she is without any cooker at all at the time when she needs one most!
Please tell me that Comet is not a company that is willing to let a 91 year old woman spend her Christmas and New Years without an oven, and without so much as an apology. I expect to be contacted straight away with a resolution to this issue, and with adequate compensation for the time spent on this issue and the strain it has put on us as a family. Please note, after what we have been through, store credit will not be appropriate.
If I am not contacted within 7 days, I will take this manner up with the Office of Fair Trading.
Sincerely,

Enclosure: Copy of Till Receipt

CC: Hugh Harvey Managing Director




Magyar, you can tell I added some of the stuff you mentioned. All excellent information. Im not sure if I laid it on thick enough though. How can I make this really effective?

I have written the letter in the point of view of my mother in law. Basically, this all happened to my nan & my mother in law was there. My nan really is old and infirm and would never dream of sending a letter to the company. She doesnt want to make a fuss, but its the principle! My mother in law has no computer, nor does she really know the lingo necessary to write a proper letter. So she gave me notes & from these I wrote the above.

magyar

The letter looks very good. I certainly think you've laid it on thick enough - the only thing I would say is to separate out the key points from the 'fluffy' stuff and make some specific requests.

Some quick Q's
-I assume they haven't actually made the payment of £30 yet; if so then really they have just made an offer to you. It's fine to leave in the without predjudice though.

-What would your preferred outcome be? It would be very straightforward and reasonable to get
1. Full refund of the cooker, including delivery and installation costs
2. Refund of telephone charges
3. Compensation for any other additional expenses incurred

Alternatively, if you'd like a replacement cooker, then it's reasonable to ask for this to be done in a prompt manner, plus the same refunds of (2) and (3) above. Incidentally, is it normal to just "leave the cooker in the garden"? I would have assumed they'd take it away, they certainly have done when I ordered a fridge. I would make more of this, if so.

There are currently 3 working days until Xmas. I suggest you call their customer services and ask for a fax or email address to which you can send this to a supervisor or manager. It's then just feasibly possible that they can sort it out, otherwise with the best will in the world, they won't be able to get anything there in time.

Astaroth

To be perfectly honest I am not sure what you really anticipate achieving? It appears that they offered a replacement which you declined due to the timescales but at this time of year they are not surprising. I agree the offer of a price reduction is very small but that is a judgement call. I didnt see anything in your post to say that you had requested a refund and it had been refused.

7 days is also not going to be considered realistic - Royal Mail says that first class post had to be sent by yesterday to get there for Xmas so even if you post it today it will not actually get to them until after your 7 day limit. Add to that the fact that most "manager" type people are not going to be working between Xmas and New Year and then you have the RM backlog in post which their response will have to come back through.

I guess the question really is, being realistic at this time of year, what do you want to happen?

magyar

Astaroth wrote:

To be perfectly honest I am not sure what you really anticipate achieving? It appears that they offered a replacement which you declined due to the timescales but at this time of year they are not surprising. I agree the offer of a price reduction is very small but that is a judgement call. I didnt see anything in your post to say that you had requested a refund and it had been refused.

7 days is also not going to be considered realistic - Royal Mail says that first class post had to be sent by yesterday to get there for Xmas so even if you post it today it will not actually get to them until after your 7 day limit. Add to that the fact that most "manager" type people are not going to be working between Xmas and New Year and then you have the RM backlog in post which their response will have to come back through.

I guess the question really is, being realistic at this time of year, what do you want to happen?

Agree that the OP needs to be specific about what she wants. I think part of the problem was that it was being dealt with by her mother-in-law and her grandmother who were probably neither as assertive nor as clued up as she would be (I mean no offence there, I'm merely picking this up from the post).

I would be tempted to get on the blower to Comet, see if you can get a manager today, lay it on with a trowel, but be specific. Writing to Comet today means they won't get the letter until after Xmas, and as Astaroth says means Comet have no chance of complying. (By all means follow up your calls with a letter). If you're lucky then you might get someone on a good day who'll help and you never know, you might get something by Xmas.

scope

If you send the letter now its not going to be actioned until after the new year anyway, as most places slow down for christmas.

deanos

Write or Email all you like it probably wont do anything Comet are useless, i would get onto the local/national papers they love a story like this .

Personally i would get one from a local dealer who can probaly get one to you next day and get a refund from Comet