Worth a letter?

pulliptears

My Mum bought a new world gas cooker from comet with a 12 month guarantee, just after xmas this year she noticed that the bottom oven (its a double oven thing) wasn't working properly.

Now, at the time my Dad had just been diagnosed with a terminal illness and was in hospital after getting an especially nasty infection from his chemo. He was in hospital when we arranged for a Comet engineer to visit...

The engineer came out, fiddled around for 5 minutes and informed mum he had replaced the thermostat. He then left. Because dad was so ill it wasnt really thought about again. Thankfully he recovered and came home.

Mum usually always uses the top oven, so when she came to use the bottom oven at the weekend for the first time since January she was amazed to find it wasn't working. With all that was going on after the engineer had come out none of us had checked it.

Oven is now out of guarantee, so Mum called in another engineer. he took a quick look and confirmed the thermostat had gone, and that in his opinion there was no way the comet engineer could have replaced it as in that particular model it involves stripping down most of the oven, something the comet engineer definitely didn't do.

Now I'm annoyed about this. Its going to cost £90 to replace and I feel the original engineer took advantage of a very vulnerable old lady at the time. Mum doesn't want to cause a fuss, but I really feel like writing to comet to express my disgust at the engineer.

Thoughts?

Terrylw1

Hi,

Glad your dad is ok.

I would take it further. My mum has had similiar issues with a company she uses to insure certain appliances. Just a matter of kicking off and saying what this next engineer has sad.

If it's not much work/cost, surely they will just do it.

As far as they are concerned you've had long enough to know whether it's working. However, if you can prove that he did not carry out the work stated, you should have less of a problem.

Did the Comet engineer give you anythin stating the work? If not, has he recorded it anywhere with them?

pulliptears

Terrylw1 wrote: »

Hi,

Glad your dad is ok.

I would take it further. My mum has had similiar issues with a company she uses to insure certain appliances. Just a matter of kicking off and saying what this next engineer has sad.

If it's not much work/cost, surely they will just do it.

As far as they are concerned you've had long enough to know whether it's working. However, if you can prove that he did not carry out the work stated, you should have less of a problem.

Did the Comet engineer give you anythin stating the work? If not, has he recorded it anywhere with them?

Not certain, Ive asked Mum to dig out all the paperwork and Im going to have a look tomorrow. He did apparently give her a piece of paper when he left but Im not sure whats on it.

Under normal circumstances it would have been checked, but with Dad being ill he barely ate so they didnt need to use the bottom oven, as there is only the two of them anyway. The oven was the last thing on our minds and I could kick myself for not checking, but at the time we werent even sure Dad would come home again so it was low on the priority list.

Wig

It's always worth writing a letter. Proving he did not repair it is not going to be easy, and I don't think your mum will want to go to the small claims court, where the judge would probably believe your mum's word and the report of the engineer stating to change the thermostat would be a big job and rule in your favour.

Iamthesmartestmanalive

Whilst your father was Ill that is irrelevent

You can't prove anything and to go back a year down the line and dispute it is not going to get you anywere

They came out and fixed it, you didnt use it again so it could be the thermostat has became faulty again through non use

Terrylw1

Good luck PullipTears,

The main thing is your dads ok. I understand, your mums had a lot on her plate and probably doesn't need anymore hassle. Very understandable.

Have to see what they say. If they have a record themselves, if they sent out an engineer to check I would have thought he/she would spot the same as this other engineer you had out.

pulliptears

Iamthesmartestmanalive wrote: »

Whilst your father was Ill that is irrelevent

You can't prove anything and to go back a year down the line and dispute it is not going to get you anywere

They came out and fixed it, you didnt use it again so it could be the thermostat has became faulty again through non use

No, they came out and looked at it. It was impossible to do the job they stated they did in the time taken. The paper he passed to my mother says "thermostat changed". Impossible, regardless whether it was checked then or later.

And last time I checked end of January to Beginning of November is ten months not a year, and aside from all that the guarantee only run out in September anyway!

newmum1

The way I see it is if you had a new thermostsat it should not break down through non use, secondly if the engineer states that he fixed it then the other said that there is no way it was fixed, I would call head office anvoice your concerns, follow it up with a letter, and i reckon they will come and fix it free of charge, remember when you originally had it fixed it was still in warranty and they should guarantee that part from the time it was replaced. hope this helps

ChasingButterflies

Is it possible that the paperwork that your mum was left with states how long the engineer spent on the job? I seem to recall seeing this on paperwork I have had...

btw I would add I have always found that a repair engineer who comes armed with a laptop never seems to be able to find/fix a fault (the 1st time you call them out). There are the other type that turn up with a toolbox (generally not the sort that deal with maufactures' warrenties!) and they will do the job you ask :rotfl:

I would send a letter in highlighting the issue to them - however I would get the person who seems to have an idea what the problem is and how to fix it to actually do the job. That wouldn't stop me from including the bill for repair with the letter, nor would it stop me from ask the repair person to detail his assement of the work carried out by their engineer...

No wonder I would write a letter of compaint - I do go on :rotfl:

Good luck and best wishes for your Mum and Dad.

Terrylw1

Well the paper states the work carried out so I think you've got a good case there. They are going to wonder why it's taken so long but just be honest about the family situation (which would put anyone on the backfoot a bit)

I think claiming something broke down from underuse is a bit bizarre really!!!

Time for a camera mounted above the cooker - house of horrors style.

Iamthesmartestmanalive

Terrylw1 wrote: »

Well the paper states the work carried out so I think you've got a good case there. They are going to wonder why it's taken so long but just be honest about the family situation (which would put anyone on the backfoot a bit)

I think claiming something broke down from underuse is a bit bizarre really!!!

Time for a camera mounted above the cooker - house of horrors style.

He doesnt though unless it states how long the engineer was there and it was physically impossible

Firstly its been a year, his word that they didnt use it wont be enough, likewise their word the engineer stayed such and such time wont be enough

Unless he can prove the engineer wasnt there long enough beyond their word they dont have a chance