Currys - help what do I do now?!

Pelican_2

I really feel for you- I have been there too.

Here's what to do:

1. contact consumer direct asap
2. Write, and send recorded delivery, a letter stating what you want done (ie replacement of equivalent model or refund- consumer direct will send you template letters). Send letter to store manager, head office and trading standards.

DO NOT contact LG again, or allow their engineer to do work on the fridge. This was my biggest mistake. Your legal contract is with Curry's NOT LG.

Ask for a claim form too- for the damaged food. You won't get this unless you ask, BTW.

DO NOT ring them either. Call centre staff will not have the power to help you, and phone calls will not count if you decide to take this to court (ditto emails). Calling call centres is also v. bad for the blood pressure!

BTW- I had a happy outcome. After 6 months of serious battle, I got a refund of the value of the equivalent model (and because i got mine in the sale too, it meant I got an extra £200). It's worth persisting.

Pelican_2

dawnfjc wrote:

I bought a side by side fridge freezer august 2004 from currys, just over £1000 with 5 year coverplan, just as samsung warranty ran out august 2006 the problem started, since then I have been trying to claim 6 week rule but getting nowhere, engineers have replaced every part possible and still not repaired, they keep telling me a report will be put in to right it off but I ring coverplan and get told everytime "sorry but the engineer has reported it as repaired" so we have had an engineer out every week (at least) for over 5 months but most times he just stands looking at it.

The noise out of the fridge is so loud we cant hear the tv, it wakes up my 5 kids and me and my husband every night, and yet it is apparently repaired.
My husband has now said we will involve trading standards, so an engineer came out yesterday all he done this time was re set tempratures on both fridge and freezer to 7 and -16 but the safe tempratures should be no higher than 5 on the fridge and no lower than -18 for the freezer, do these people think we are stupid?????

My husband rang the engineer yesterday and they told hime coverplan would have a report this morning ro right it off AGAIN, I just rang coverplan and guess what???????? no report has been sent through :mad:

Coverplan blame the engineers but the engineer keeps blaming coverplan telling me they wont accept them to right it off.

WHO IS TO BLAME????? :mad:

Dawn

Seriously, what are you waiting for? Contact consumer direct asap. Forget the so-called insurance policy you have, with or without insurance, goods have to be "fit for purpose" and last a reasonable time. For white goods, 2 years is not reasonable, and I don't believe any court would think it was either!


Did you pay by credit card? I hope so, because of the credit card act, you can claim money from them by holding them jointly responsible.

Don't waste your energy ringing or dealing with engineers any more- get them with letters staing exactly what you expect from them.

PM me if you want template letters- I have found my old ones on my PC.

Becles

I did call Consumer Direct.

Unfortunately the law is on Curry's side at the moment. They are aware I have a problem and the law gives them a "reasonable time" to sort it out. The lady said that they haven't had a "reasonable time" yet, as they would term reasonable as up to 14 days. She said if they don't respond, or refuse to offer a replacement or refund, then they will take up my case.

At the moment until head office respond, there is nothing more I can do. It is only the head office team that can offer a repair/refund/exchange, so I just have to wait until they get round to dealing with it

I will be writing a letter of complaint though as I think the way I've been treated is poor, and I should have been offered a replacement when I rang initially.

ooobedoo

I think that this reasonable amount of time is bonkers......to be without a fridge for 14 days...with climate change, you can't even put stuff outside and be sure it's cold enough with the mild weather at the moment...very odd.

I am sure Watchdog would be interested..esp with you being preggers......, food poisoning isn't great when your pregnant

Becles

No contact from Currys, so I rang them today to find out what was going on.

I first spoke to an Indian gentleman who said Head Office had tried to contact me last night. They didn't as we were in all night and I've got caller display which shows nobody rang last night!

Anyway, he said I could have a refund or a replacement, so I opted for a replacement. He then said I couldn't have the same model and he tried to sell me one for £799, which is nearly double what I paid, so I said no. He said there was nothing more he could do and he would pass me to someone else.

I was put through to sales, who said they couldn't help so they were passing me back.

I got the Indian chap again who said that he couldn't help so I should ring back next week

I went on the website looking at alternatives and noticed the fridge I ordered was in stock for £499 plus £19.99 delivery making a total of £518.99.

Rang back a bit later and got another man. He told me the fridge has been written off by LG, so I can no longer have further repairs, the fridge is now out of stock and they will not be getting any more stock in, and my only option was a refund. I objected and said the fridge was in stock but was now being sold at a higher price. I was told these fridges were for new customers only and it was out of stock for replacements - it's the same fridge I was advised to have a refund for £406.09 and buy it again at £518.99, leaving me £112 out of pocket :eek:

I've phoned Consumer Direct and apparantly the law is on Currys side. All they are obliged to do is offer me a refund, which is what they have done, so Trading Standards cannot get involved.

To me this stinks, as I cannot buy an American Fridge Freezer anywhere else for £406, so I'm stuck without a fridge now.

I've phone sales who said they have a delivery of 450 of these fridges coming in tomorrow, and he could have one delivered to me within 14 days. I then explained I wasn't a new customer and he said he couldn't deal with me and referred me back to aftersales.

Called aftersales back and explained the fridge is in stock and I want a replacement as a goodwill gesture, rather than refund. This has to be passed back to Head Office who are not customer facing and don't work weekends, so it will be back end of next week before I hear anything.

I've also sent in another recorded delivery complaint letter setting out the problems and explaining I would prefer a replacement from the delivery tomorrow rather than a refund.

I'll just have to see what happens now.

Becles

Finally got this sorted and a replacement fridge freezer was delivered today.

It was the letter to head office that did it. A very nice lady rang me last week and apologised for everything that has happened. She said she was going to speak to the staff I'd spoken to and in her words they were in for a "serious !!!! kicking" :eek: Basically a lot of what I was told was not true and it seems as the after sales staff just kept fobbing me off with whatever came into their heads rather than actually trying to solve the problem. The lady managed to order a replacement for me, which arrived today.

Got to let the coolants settle for 24 hours now, so fingers crossed that this fridge works ok when I turn it on.

furrypolka

Glad you got it sorted.

Just for reference, there IS such a thing as loss of bargain. This is common law (contract), and means that if there has been a breach of contract the injured party can claim damages to put them in the same situation (as far as is possible) as if the contract had been performed.

You could therefore have argued that due to the trader's breach of contract in supplying faulty goods, you can claim back the cost of replacing the fridge with an identical model/spec if they are not able to replace it themselves.

OxJak

Glad to hear that there is such a thing as "loss of bargain" (or equivalent). Otherwise what's to stop an unscrupulous company putting a load of dodgy stock at reduced price, and then charging full price for a replacement when it conks out.