This is an extract from a consumer affairs piece in The Gaurdian this morning, the rest of the article is not industry related but this is and I’m sure we could all relate to the tales at some point or other.
Article:
Washing machines have been plaguing some of you. Wonderful labour-saving devices in theory, pesky nightmares when in the hands of corporate customer services. The Hotpoint machine belonging to Londoners Andrew and Sue Curry began devouring their clothes and spewing them out with black grease marks all over them. A technician was dispatched, who declared the machine faulty and recommended that it be replaced. Hotpoint, however, was reluctant to contemplate such extravagance and sent over several more technicians before it heeded this advice. In the meantime, the Currys were encouraged to try different combinations of settings and powders, with the result that more of their clothes were damaged.
Amazingly, when a second machine was finally installed, it also greased its load and so did a third. “In less than two-and-a-half years, we have had 10 visits from service engineers, one of whom fished out a heating coil which had become detached and was flying about inside the machine,” says Sue Curry.
It takes me several weeks to extract an apology from Merloni, the company that makes Hotpoint machines. The bad temper of her original machine is, it insists, a matter for her insurers, as it was out of warranty when it went on the rampage. However, Merloni has replaced the latest malfunctioning machine and is willing to consider a claim for the damaged clothes.
Sian Pattenden’s washing machine was dented on arrival at her London home. Currys – for it was they – promised a £50 discount in recognition of the damage but that was in January and, numerous nagging phone calls later, she is still waiting.
Things happen with remarkable speed when the press office gets involved. The very day I get in touch, £50 is retrieved from Currys’ coffers and sent to Pattenden with a contrite letter. “Things seem to have gone awry with our administration,” says a spokesman.
Not an unique occurrence at the Dixons Group. When Ken Crosby of London bought his Indesit washing machine he took the precaution of purchasing an extended warranty in case things went wrong. Which, of course, they did. Two technicians made two visits, looked glum and declared the machine irreparable.
Luckily, Crosby’s warranty entitled him to a replacement, and Merloni, which also owns the Indesit label, promised to provide one in June. That burst of generosity appears to have exhausted the company for Crosby has heard no more and has been without a working machine since April.
The problem seems to be getting through to Merloni customer services whose number is always engaged. “The guys at the service centre who dispatch the engineers admit that they can never get through either,” says Crosby.
Merloni blames the delay on depleted stocks of available machines, but the odd thing is that it suddenly manages to come up with one shortly after Consumer raises the issue so Crosby is finally able to resume his laundering.
>From The Gaurdian