Ao.care

Tonto28

Placed an order for a washing machine with ao last evening. This morning before 9 am I received a phone call with the caller saying he was from ao and was checking the details of my order. We went through the basics and then he surprised me by asking what was wrong with our old machine. After explaining my wife's dissatisfaction with it's performance, he went on to say that unfortunately things do go wrong with appliances. Again I was surprised, but then the penny dropped and I realised he was about to push insurance at me which he proceeded to do. I let him go on for a while before asking, what I thought was an obvious question, namely why do I need insurance when the appliance has a 12 month warranty? Ah, he replied that only covers electrical and mechanical faults, not everything!? 

I said as far as I was concerned that was all that was needed. I then explained that for years I shelled out about £100 each year for cover with Domestic & General, which I considered to be a waste of money. At which point his hitherto friendly demeanour changed to wanting to end the call quickly, with his parting comment, "not everything's covered mate". I then decided to look up info on ao care and discovered that it's administered by Domestic & General! Not impressed.

amysquie

Just had the same call and in looking up AO care reviews found your old post.  Identical call to yours, the poor man probably regretted asking me what was wrong with my old machine as I gave him chapter and verse!    He didn't pressure me too much when I said I wanted to think about it and didn't like being put on the spot. I think when I said I'd have to check with my husband he knew he was on to a loser.

Looking at the manufacturer's website I can arrange my own repair even if it's out of warranty.  It would cost me but depending on how far down the line it is, it'd likely be same or cheaper than taking out insurance, with the added advantage that it's much less hassle as you're not dealing with an insurer that is reluctant to pay out.

payneo42

I had some questions around this as I inadvertently signed up without really thinking having received pretty much exactly the same phone call. I said I wanted to think about it but they guy was pushy. Was also friendly but basically said it was a no brainer. He said that the monthly costs would go towards a new appliance so if the appliance cost £500 and I had been paying £5 a month for 100 months then that I would essentially get the appliance replaced for free. Also said that for repairs etc. there would be no call-out charge and covered for more things than the warranty would e.g. accidental damage. It did sound like quite an attractive package and that you'd essentially never pay for that appliance again. But I suppose the catch is the monthly costs you've paid over the years might far exceed the outlay for a new appliance? Depends how often it needs to be repaired. Anyway I was thinking of cancelling during the cooling-off period (14 days) but was curious to see if anyone else had received a similar offer.