Currys/knowhow engineer nearly burned my house down!

129jeks

On the 17th December 2015 I bought a new gas cooker from the CURRYS website, I paid the extra £80 fee for safe installation, on Friday 18th December 2015 the cooker was delivered at around 6pm and the engineers got to work disconnecting the old one and connecting The new while I waited in the living room with my 2 young kids, upon completion the gas engineer called me into the kitchen to show me how to work the cooker and inform me he tested it and it was all working safely. The engineer then proceeded to switch the oven on and told me not to touch it under any circumstances for 30 mins as it had to burn away the newness before I could use it he then left. Within 10 mins my fire alarm went of I went into my kitchen to see what was going on and there was thick black smoke everywhere, I shut the kitchen door so my kids would not breath in the smoke and opened the back door as it was difficult for me to breathe. I then went to check the oven as the smoke was coming from the cooker and there was a fire in the oven, I panicked and put the fire out myself by soaking a towel in water and throwing it on top of the fire thankfully it worked and the fire was out, I then tried to calm myself down and called their customer services department that was around 7pm after explaining what had happened the lady on the phone told me she would need to inform a few other departments and somebody would contact me within 24hours. I waited and nobody called me back, during that time I had not slept due to constant fear that the cooker would catch fire again or that there was a gas leak, I called again Saturday 19th December at around 4pm and this time a different lady told me I had been misinformed the evening before and I would need to wait 48 business hours to be contacted, that evening I called the non emergency fire fighter line as I was still terrified the cooker was unsafe they sent a team out to check the cooker and ensure there wasn't a gas leak. The firemen assured me That there was no leak and me and my kids were safe as well as informing me that my suspicions were correct and the gas engineer had left the plastic & metal grill handle in the oven when he switched it on and that was what caused the fire. On Monday 21st December I called back and I spoke to somebody who arranged for the cooker to be collected and a new one fitted which was done on Tuesday 22nd December 2015 at around 5 o'clock I think. Then the following day I received a phone call offering me my £80 installation fee back as a gesture of good will! I mean really? Me and my kids could have died!!! I'm afraid that is nowhere near good enough due to the seriousness of the incident. I was also informed upon refusing that offer that I would receive information in the post about what to do next, that was on the 23rd December 2015 and I still have not recieved anything, i was wondering if anybody can advise me where to go from here? I find the way My case was dealt with was absolutely appalling I am still shocked that I was left from Friday night until Tuesday evening absolutely terrified with no cooker! Throughout all of this I still have not even recieved an apology for the fact that mine and my children's lives were endangered I find it despicable the way I have been Fobbed of since the very first phone call I would have thought that they would see a situation as serious as this worth Sorting out. does anybody know what do I do now? Thanks xxx

forgotmyname

Accept the new oven and tell them not to leave anything inside it.

Forget about it and move on.

Handles get left inside all the time, some people also use a main oven as
storage for pans and they melt the handles quite often.

It wouldnt have burnt your house down, smell a lot yes but the flames would
have been contain within.

Bobcrowther

Looks like your keyboard has some fire damage - the return key seems to be broken.

photome

dont forget the kids!!

Op if you put the fire out you must have known what caused it so unsure why you had to get the fire service out.

If you pt the fire out without opening the door, why didnt you open the dorr after it was out to see what caused it

they have fitted a new oven and given your installation fee back which IMO is the least they should do.

You may get more with further complaints (what do you want)

hollydays

I can see you've been left quite shocked by this , I can understand that.
Companies protect themselves legally a lot of the time by not accepting liability.
It may be they've found saying sorry opens up a can of worms. You are all ok.

GwylimT

I've done that loads of times, smells a bit but thats the worse its going to do, it certainly wont burn your house down.

Surely if you were concerned about the safety of the cooker you would have simply put all the switches in the off position and turned the gas off.

paddyrg

Bit if a shock but you don't get paid for 'what ifs', take the £80 and replacement and move on. Nobody actually died, nobody was actually injured, nobody was actually at significant risk, so take a step back, look at the big picture, and look forwards to all the lovely Sunday roasts and one day becoming a granny who always tells the story of the burning oven when the grandkids visit.

Blackpool_Saver

I really would like to read this and advise, but that wall of text swims before my eyes, not being nasty but if you could put some paragraphs in it, it is less of a strain to read.

129jeks

I don't want money , I told them I never wanted the £80 back I want an apology and the guy that caused it to face some sort of consequences yea it's an easy mistake to make but he's supposed to do that job all day every day he shouldn't make mistakes like that irregaurdless of wether we were harmed or not i think I should be entitled to an apology after the stress they caused , and it may have been a small fire contained in the oven but diddnt stop the damage to my kitchen with I paid to have sorted like I said it's not about money it's about the apology and I don't feel that man should be working with gas X

129jeks

I new what caused it . I called the fire service out to check there was no gas leak and it was safe the just confirmed how it was started while they were here X

powerful_Rogue

129jeks wrote: »

it may have been a small fire contained in the oven but diddnt stop the damage to my kitchen with I paid to have sorted

What damage did your kitchen sustain?