Advice Regarding Currys Fridge Freezer Problems

LycanGav

I wasn't sure where to post this, so feel free to shout me down if I'm posting in the wrong place.

MY American style Fridge Freezer stopped working on Thursday morning. No idea what happened, but the old girl had served us well so we opted to simply buy a new one. It had been something we were planning to upgrade within the next 12 months anyway, so we took the hit to our savings. However, with 3 kids, we needed a new one delivered fast, so we spotted that Currys offer next day delivery on goods, seemingly one of the very few retailers who do so for large items, most places wanted between 5 days and 3 weeks to deliver, not an acceptable timeframe to be without refrigeration.

So, we pulled the trigger on a unit we liked, £860 including delivery, with delivery set for Friday morning. However, come Friday morning at 8am I get a phone call from the team at Currys, the lorry carrying my load has vanished and now they cannot deliver. They offer me £10 compensation for my trouble and tell me it'll be here Saturday instead. I refused the compensation, I didn't feel it was enough to cover the level of inconvenience I'd suffered having no fridge freezer for more than 24 hours and having booked a day off work in anticipation of delivery.

Saturday rolls around and the unit arrives, the guys pop it in the kitchen and I do a walkaround the unit to make sure it's not damaged. Everything seems fine. Later, I start the thing up and everything seems to be working fine. However it has an integrated water and ice dispenser, fed by an internal water reservoir, removing the need for a plumbed line. I test this, only to be met with a rapidly expanding puddle at my feet, that quickly becomes a virtual river flowing over the kitchen floor. I throw down towels then investigate the leak. The internal piping that feeds everything is the issue, one of the junctions isn't sealed at all, literally just one pipe shoved into another so the water is pouring out of there. I remove the reservoir to avoid any more leaks.

I'm right back on the phone to Currys, who tell me they are powerless to do anything at all as the manufacturer is closed over the weekend and they are the ones who have to sort this, not Currys. I'm fairly sure this is inaccurate, I bought the goods from Currys after all, but the service agent refuses to listen, just repeating the same lines over and over, I've to call back Monday and they'll send someone out to inspect and repair.

I'm not happy, but since I'm rapidly losing my temper on the phone and getting likely to say something I'll later regret, I agree and hang up. Then I decide to check online if this is a common problem with this model. While checking (it's not) I discover that Friday morning saw Currys reduce this unit's price by £150! So, if I'd have held off ordering by a day, and got it with next day delivery, it would have only been £710! Since I didn't get the thing to Saturday anyway, you can imagine how I feel!

So, I phone again, full of a whole new bundle of rage. I tell them I simply want refund now, I'll re-order the same unit at the new price and save myself the difference, or they can refund the difference to me. The girl tells me a refund is impossible, the manufacturer has to inspect the unit first and sign off on a refund. Now I'm really sure they are misleading me. She goes on to explain to me that a refund would require the return of the unit first, followed by an inspection of the unit by the manufacturer, before a refund would even be processed, which then takes a further three days. So I'm looking at 5-6 days without a fridge freezer before the money is back in my bank. Then of course another day or two awaiting delivery of the replacement. With 3 kids there's no way we can go 6 to 8 days without a fridge freezer.

I want to know what my rights are here, how I should be constructing points and arguments with staff, and what exactly my options are. I'm feeling incredibly ripped off on several fronts and the missus is losing her mind with fury. Can we do anything other than write a strongly worded email they'll likely delete while chuckling?

GlynD

First of all I think you need to calm down. You're obviously very angry and it's affecting your thinking.

You've suffered a bit of bad luck with this product but no-one has deliberately set out to cause you any harm and you need to take that into account.

Curry's are absolutely right when they say the manufacturer's agent is the only person who can work on the fridge. It could be a very simple fault which can be repaired on site and allowing them to do this (when they open on monday) won't affect your warranty.

You would be entitled to a refund but if you do that then you're going to be without a fridge for a while until this one is removed and another put in its place.

Don't use the water reservoir in the meantime and try to stay calm on the phone when you're fixing an appointment for the engineer to call.

It'll all be ok in the end and you'll get what you've paid for.

PS: don't bother sending an angry e-mail. It won't serve any purpose at the moment.

SuperHan

Currys do offer a price promise, so contact them asking for a refund of the difference in price, and you should receive no questions asked.

At least that will cover off one of your issues!