Littlewoods Washing Machine Disaster

nano-bite

Recently ordered a washing machine from littlewoods. Dont usually like buying from the catalogue but times are hard and our old machine broke so...

• Odered the washing machine for £200 + £30 delivery, installation and removal of our old one - £27 rewards
• Got a receipt through saying we were going to be paying £260 for some reason, rung them up and sorted this out straight away no problem.
• Delivery day comes: washing machine delivered, not installed because apparantly they do not remove the old one for you, only take it away, which is fair enough I only wish they had told us.
• I remove old washing machine and install new one, put a full load of clothes in, follow all the instructions and turn it on. 4 hours later the washing machine is still going, full of water. 5 hours later still going, all my clothes stuck in there.
• Ring littlewoods up to complain, they say its nothing to do with them and we need to ring Beko.
• Ring beko up who say we need to try to reset the washing machine, which involves emptying the water through the filter, switching off for 2 hours and then switching back on.
• When we drained the machine we tried opening the door but it was still stuck so the washing had to go through another cycle and by the time we had put the cycle on it was late so had to go to bed with it still on
• Woke up in the morning to find the washing machine still going, clothes still stuck in there, couldnt get it to stop, even after turning it off and back on it would not stop.
• Turned the washing machine off, drained it again and managed to open the door. Now we have a full load of washing that all looks to be ruined and loads of dirty wet towels that we cant wash.
• Rung littlewoods up and tried to explain what has been going on and that we want a replacement, spoke to a very rude person who basically said it was our problem until beko did something about it. I told her that since we bought the washing machine from them it was down to them to prove its not faulty rather than for me to prove it is. She said she would contact beko and ring me back in half an hour. Waited 3 hours by the phone, no call.
• Rung littlewoods again, got passed around about 5 different departments and then put onto someone who then told me they had attempted to call me twice but i didn't answer and implied it was my fault this hadn't been sorted already because i didn't answer the phone. I was then told they couldn't even talk to me anyway because the account was in my girlfriends name and hung up.
• I then called back and asked for the complaints department, I was told I could write to them with a complaint and was given an address (which started with "Customer Excellence" I thought this was funny)

When my girlfriend got home we rang back up and got through to 2 helpful people who sorted out both the washing machines to be collected and a new one delivered. I will wait and see with my fingers crossed hoping the new one works.

Basically my main problem with all this was how rude people were over the phone and how my rights as a consumer seem to have been ignored. Also the fact that a full load of washing, that adds up to quite a lot of value, has been ruined.

I will be writing to complain to littlewood's "Customer Excellence" department but I was just wondering where I stood with regards to how this should have been handled and how it was handled, also if it might be possible to try claim some money back for the ruined clothes and the bills from the laundrette we are now having to use.

I also noticed there was a company representative for littlewoods on here and wondered if they might comment to say whether this is normal customer service or not.

Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

(sorry about the long post, just letting off a bit of steam)

vuvuzela

"how my rights as a consumer seem to have been ignored"

You have no rights as a consumer, your girlfriend does. However you should have either been told this on the very first call or alternatively treated better. Shabby service either way.

neilmcl

Just for the record OP, most washing machine manufacturers do state that you should run a full cycle (with detergent) on a new machine before putting on a load.

Littlewoods

Hi Nano-Bite,

Firstly let me apologise for ther service you have received from us in regards to this situation.

I will try to briefly explain our policy regarding faulty items & in regards to what has happened on your girlfriends account.

When ordering items which need to be installed we do state on the website and in the catalogue the old appliance will need to be disconnected first so we can remove it. If you ordered by telephone you should also have been reminded of this and if you haven't i can only apologise on behalf of the advisor you spoke to at the time.

If an item becomes faulty, we would recommend the customer to contact the helplines provided so that a fully qualified engineer can inspect the item for manufacturers faults. We advise customers to contact the engineers directly so that a suitable date & time can be arranged for the customer to be available for the inspection. Once the item has been reported as faulty, we will then deal with each individual case accordingly.

In regards to compensation, any request would need to be put in writing to our Customer Excellence department along with copies of any receipts for costs you have incurred (laundrette bills) ect. They will deal with your requests for compensation and contact the customer back directly.

If you would like us to look into your girlfriends account for you to see if there is anything we can do, please ask your girlfriend to email her account details into us at [EMAIL="help@littlewoods.co.uk"]help@littlewoods.co.uk[/EMAIL]. We will investigate and respond directly back to her.

Once again, apologies for any inconvenience this has caused you both and hope this above information helps.

Chris

Littlewoods Network Team

nano-bite

vuvuzela wrote: »

"how my rights as a consumer seem to have been ignored"

You have no rights as a consumer, your girlfriend does. However you should have either been told this on the very first call or alternatively treated better. Shabby service either way.

OK then, how my girlfriends rights as a consumer...

The only reason I was talking to them in the first place is because my girlfriend finds it difficult to talk to them over the phone as it gets very stressful being passed around to numerous different departments all of which talk to you in the same belittling, derogatory way. On top of that I had already been given permission to speak to them but it was the phone call after I rung up and asked for the complaints department address that they suddenly decided they needed to speak to my girlfriend and got it all sorted quite quick.

nano-bite

Littlewoods_company_representative wrote: »

Hi Nano-Bite,

Firstly let me apologise for ther service you have received from us in regards to this situation.

I will try to briefly explain our policy regarding faulty items & in regards to what has happened on your girlfriends account.

When ordering items which need to be installed we do state on the website and in the catalogue the old appliance will need to be disconnected first so we can remove it. If you ordered by telephone you should also have been reminded of this and if you haven't i can only apologise on behalf of the advisor you spoke to at the time.

I don't think we were remided but I was not too bothered about this part, it's fair enough that I should expect them to start removing my old washing machine.

If an item becomes faulty, we would recommend the customer to contact the helplines provided so that a fully qualified engineer can inspect the item for manufacturers faults. We advise customers to contact the engineers directly so that a suitable date & time can be arranged for the customer to be available for the inspection. Once the item has been reported as faulty, we will then deal with each individual case accordingly.

I can see where you are coming from with this but at the same time it should not be down to me to arrange this. We have already spent probably well over £10 on calls sorting this so to start calling more 0845 number during the day is just too much to ask. I had already said I wanted them to call and arrange this and that I can be available at any time since I mostly work from home but the person I spoke to just kept talking over the top of me saying I was just going round in circles and to just do what she said.

In regards to compensation, any request would need to be put in writing to our Customer Excellence department along with copies of any receipts for costs you have incurred (laundrette bills) ect. They will deal with your requests for compensation and contact the customer back directly.

If you would like us to look into your girlfriends account for you to see if there is anything we can do, please ask your girlfriend to email her account details into us at [EMAIL="help@littlewoods.co.uk"]help@littlewoods.co.uk[/EMAIL]. We will investigate and respond directly back to her.

Once again, apologies for any inconvenience this has caused you both and hope this above information helps.

Chris

Littlewoods Network Team

Thanks for you reply though Chris, it was very helpful, I just wish I could have spoken to some more helpful members of the littlewoods team to begin with.

vmachine

Sorry to jump on this thread but need to vent somewhere.
My Mother in law ordered a chest of drawers and a wardrobe from little woods to dress a room in order to put the house on the market.

Two days after ordering she received a phone call informing her the chest of drawers was on its way, but not the wardrobe and that would be a week later. A week later after ringing to find out the delivery time she was told it would not be in stock for another month. On the next delivery date a month later another phone call to enquire about the delivery time and she was told you will get a phone call today to tell you what time. After waiting all day then ringing back to be told it is in the depot and has not been sent out and told that a phone call would be received when it would be delivered.

So 6 weeks after ordering the wardrobe it finally arrived. We travelled a considerable distance to her house and began assembling the (poor quality)wardrobe. On completion of the main wardrobe the drawers were assembled and slid onto the runners which were positioned correctly as per the instructions. Low and behold both drawers when put on the runners did not fit correctly and caused the wardrobe door to jam shut, therfore rendering the wardrobe useless.

With a clear fault on the wardrobe namely incorrectly drilled guide holes, Littlewoods were contacted and we were told that the information would be passed on to the correct department.

Since this has happened My Mother in law has made numerous phone calls and got nowhere. The same rude customer service has been received with very patronising comments being made and point blank refusals to be put through to any sort of management.

Several cancellations have now been made in respect of collecting the wardrobe along with waiting in all day for no collection to be made stating that there was no one in when she had waited in the entire day. A similar rude, patronising phone call has been received from the manufacturer stating they have never had any similar complaints. Well guess what, you do now!

We still await the matter to be resolved and do not know if the money will be refunded. Meanwhile the customer service rep was happy to point out today that further payments must be made on the wardrobe or a £12 late payment fee would be incurred! all this for faulty useless goods.

Littlewoods clearly do not want to keep customers who have been loyally shopping with them since the early 80's and with poor customer service like this it is likely they will lose many more.

Littlewoods

Hi vmachine,

We're very sorry to hear of the problems your mother in law has experienced with this order.
Please ask your mother in law to email us at [EMAIL="help@littlewoods.co.uk"]help@littlewoods.co.uk[/EMAIL] and we'd be happy to resolve this issue for her.

Dave
Littlewoods Network Team

CrispyBacon

Last year I ordered a tumble drier from Littlewoods. Delivery within 2 weeks I was told. Due to "bad weather" it took nearly 2 months. Complained and got a 10% discount off.
Jump forward a year. I ordered an Ipod shuffle. arrived 3 days lated. opened the package only to find - a Philips coolshave Shaver (£199) but with an invoice for the Ipod. Contacted customer services to point this out. Very sorry but Ipod now out of stock , be delivered in 2 weeks. E-mailed to complain and told no discount, I would just have to wait - " these things sometimes happen - only human".
I would urge people not to use Littlewoods or any of it's affiliates

Poor customer service seems to be getting a habit with big companies and you should vote with your feet.


:mad::mad::mad::mad:

arcon5

nano-bite wrote: »

snip

I will be writing to complain to littlewood's "Customer Excellence" department but I was just wondering where I stood with regards to how this should have been handled and how it was handled, also if it might be possible to try claim some money back for the ruined clothes and the bills from the laundrette we are now having to use.

I also noticed there was a company representative for littlewoods on here and wondered if they might comment to say whether this is normal customer service or not.

Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

(sorry about the long post, just letting off a bit of steam)

tbf you didn't have to leave clothes in a washing machine for as long as you did (5 hours + a nights sleep = £13 hours?). Infact why you did this is beyond me! Surely after an hour (or 2hrs at a push) you'd be on the wave length 'maybe I should remove the washing' and drain is with the filter at this point....

Although i'd agree it was pretty shoddy service. They shouldn't be fobbing you off with the manufacturer, although it can be quicker sometimes to cutout the middle man (littlewoods) and go direct. But if this isn't your preference you shouldn't be treated so badly

Zandoni

I know this is an old thread but I'd like to ask the Littlrwoods rep why a customer has to disconnect their old machine.

If you pay to have a machine fitted then that's usually because you don't have the confidence to do the work, yet you expect people to disconnect the old one. Seems madness to me :mad: