MSE News: Hotpoint tumble dryer help: 3 extra tricks to get you a refund

Zandoni

GNL wrote: »

As I was fed up with waiting for a repair, I decided to take the 'safer' option and pay £59 for a replacement.
I arrived today and when I switched it on, within seconds there was a burning smell and smoke pouring from it.
Replacement sent straight back and my original 'unsafe' one re-installed.

I am horrified that a so-called 'safe' replacement (model TVFS83CGP) to my reportedly faulty tumble dryer (model TVM560P) was obviously not tested and was released to me in a dangerous unfit state.

Since then, I have tried phoning them again and told not the right department and given another phone number. Again the same story and given another number that is only open weekday office hours!

Another shining example of customer servicer!

Did they return your old one?

shaun_from_Africa

GNL wrote: »

I am horrified that a so-called 'safe' replacement (model TVFS83CGP) to my reportedly faulty tumble dryer (model TVM560P) was obviously not tested and was released to me in a dangerous unfit state

You can't know that for sure.
It may well have been fully tested and working correctly when it left the factory and subsequently damaged.
It could have been dropped or knocked, causing something to come loose or it may have been incorrectly stored and have suffered damage from a rodent or something similar.

I'm not saying that it was acceptable for you to receive a faulty unit, just that it does happen from time to time.

mazza560

With thanks to the tips from MSE, I now have a brand new tumble dryer free of charge.


After receiving the "your engineer will be available in January 2017" letter, I contacted Hotpoint with the tips given by MSE.


The main phrases that seemed to give Hotpoint a problem were:
- The supply of a "not fit for purpose" piece of equipment
- It is unreasonable to expect us to continue to use a piece of equipment when it is a fire risk
- Are Hotpoint willing to cover for any household or personal damage should the equipment catch fire


Based on the above, I had a call within the hour, but Hotpoint still wanted to replace our dryer for a charge as the replacement was a better model than my current one. I asked them for 48 hours to consider this and within that time the models available as a replacement changed on their website. None of them were the one that I wanted, so I called them back with yet another complaint.


Hotpoint then said there was another list, that isn't published and as there was a model on the second list that was the equivalent to the model I have that they would then replace this free of charge.


It takes a bit of time putting your point across on the phone and it helps to remember the following:
- The person you are talking to is not responsible for the fault, so keep your calm
- Always ask to escalate the problem, you may not get much from doing this, but it's always worth a try
- Ask for a transcript of the phone call, as they "are recorded for training purposes" this can also be used to your advantage


Thanks again to MSE for the tips and hopefully the above can be used to help as well

janed9388

arghhhh ! my repair was due in June, today I had an e-mail saying it had been pushed back to April (yes next year !) - phone calls got me no-where, but a private message on facebook had my appointment back this June (with a specific date / time) in 15 mins. So got what I wanted but why do they have to make it so stressful.

lstar337

janed9388 wrote: »

arghhhh ! my repair was due in June, today I had an e-mail saying it had been pushed back to April (yes next year !) - phone calls got me no-where, but a private message on facebook had my appointment back this June (with a specific date / time) in 15 mins. So got what I wanted but why do they have to make it so stressful.

I expect your appointment got pushed back so they could fit in appointments for people complaining.

Zandoni

lstar337 wrote: »

I expect your appointment got pushed back so they could fit in appointments for people complaining.

That would be an amazing amount of complaints to move from June to April next year. My money is on bad planning.

lstar337

Zandoni wrote: »

That would be an amazing amount of complaints to move from June to April next year. My money is on bad planning.

It would only need to be one complaint, as they would be put at the end of the queue. Easier than shifting everybody back.

Zandoni

lstar337 wrote: »

It would only need to be one complaint, as they would be put at the end of the queue. Easier than shifting everybody back.

If that was the case it would be extreme bad planning if they don't allow for any problems, engineer sickness etc.

GNL

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

You can't know that for sure.
It may well have been fully tested and working correctly when it left the factory and subsequently damaged.
It could have been dropped or knocked, causing something to come loose or it may have been incorrectly stored and have suffered damage from a rodent or something similar.

I'm not saying that it was acceptable for you to receive a faulty unit, just that it does happen from time to time.

After the replacement had gone up in smoke, the driver said to note details of serial number and who it was tested by on the inside if the door.
The printed label inside the door said 'Tested by M Jenkins'. Co-incidentally my old one had the same printed label inside it. If my next on has the same, I'll wonder if M Jenkins is their only tester! (And so he must be overworked!)

GNL

Zandoni wrote: »

Did they return your old one?

Luckily I was able to catch the driver as he was loading my old one. He was horrified at the burning smell and smoke and removed the new one. He contacted his manager and we agreed to reinstall my old one until another replacement can be delivered.