Comet - Any Advice Appreciated

[Hadituptoear]

We bought a BEKO electric cooker from Comet in March of this year. In June, the bottom oven stopped working and we notified Comet. The first engineer who attended could not fix the problem, so we arranged for another engineer to visit. The second engineer point blank refused to get out of his car because he had parked in a resident’s bay (we live in the centre of town) and would not entertain parking across the road in a clearly marked free parking space. So, the third engineer attends (no parking issues) and tries valiantly to repair the cooker to no avail and states “it looks like the cooker will have to be written off”. However, when we called Comet to enquire the whereabouts of our new cooker, the 3rd engineer hadn’t filled out any notes on the system and therefore Comet had to send another engineer out to verify that the cooker was indeed unrepairable. When the 4th engineer attended, he took one look at the (handwritten) notes on the previous job sheet and immediately said he was recommending a new appliance and typed words to that effect into his laptop. The engineer advised us that somebody would be phoning us the following Monday to arrange removal of the cooker and delivery of a new cooker.

Monday came and went, no call. We called Comet CS on Tuesday evening to chase up why no one had called us and were informed that someone would look into it and get back to us the next day. We called Comet CS on Wednesday evening to chase up why no one had called us and were informed that someone would look into it and get back to us the next day. When we called Comet CS on Thursday, we were informed that the notes on the system said we had refused to accept a new appliance and therefore the job was closed off. When we said this was to the contrary (why would we refuse a new cooker???) we were advised that somebody would phone us back the next day. I was off work on the Friday and when I called Comet CS at 9am, I was informed the service centre who have the authority to write off goods didn’t open until 10am, but not to worry, someone would call me back just after 10am to advise on the situation. At 11am I called Comet CS to enquire where my phone call was and was told that all phone lines to the service centre were down and the only way to communicate with them was via email (!), an email had been sent and somebody would get back to me when the phones are back up. This was last Friday and it’s now Wednesday. It has become a running joke between us about “The Daily Call To Comet”

 

We are both absolutely furious that:

 

• We are still paying exorbitant interest for a faulty appliance
  
• We have wasted a lot of time waiting for engineers during the whole process
  
• We have also spent a great deal of money calling Comet’s 0844 number speaking to people who have been trained to empathise with irate customers, but clearly have no power to resolve the problem.
  

What can we do to get our money back/compensation/a cooker that works?

 

All advice greatly appreciated!

[hilaryfrances]

I have had problems with Comet in the past, I suggest you write to the MD and list the trouble you have had as you have done on here. I got a replacement dishwasher and compensation when I wrote to them

[Hadituptoear]

That's great. We will try writing to the MD and see what happens. Will let you know how it goes.

 

Thanks!

[hilaryfrances]

you are welcome, good luck

[maya222t]

i wrote to them gave them 10 days to reply, threatened with court action, they tried to wriggle out....i stood my ground and they replaced it with a gorgeous Bosch. its been a year and a bit!

[CometSolver]

A polite response to the MD will get your problems solved quicker and more efficient.From experience i tell you anger will hardly get any response,only in the rare occasions.

When it gets to the MD level it gets escalated through the different ranks.Once there is no response it will reach the highest levels at some point and it will be resolved.

[maya222t]

Never respond my communications with anger. I just follow certain steps and stay firm. I did threaten them with court action, that's why they responsed so quickly. SOMETIMES IT MORE HASSLE TRYING TO RETRIEVE THE MD'S ADRESS ETC FOR MOST PEOPLE , WHO CAN EMAIL COMET STRAIGHT AWAY LIKE I DID. iN FACT ONE OF MY FIRST COMPLAINTS WAS TO HEAD OFFICE WHERE THE REPLY TOOK AGES, SO I HAD TO ASSERT MY SELF, AS THERE WAS A PROBLEM TO ATTEND TO.

 

I kept my letters very polite and thanked them for replying. In the consumer action website it tells you to be always polite in your letters, also the hotline also verified my actions by via potential court action.

 

If it went to court the judge will look to see if I had tried to resolve the situtaion and how, which I had.

 

Alot of people will take a long time to complain, feeling its not their right. As soon as there is a problem I will try and assert myself, as the longer it goes on the more time my rights are dwindling.

 

This works for me, writing to the MD for you, which way is not a problem as long as our rights are validated.

 

Please no more post to this question as it has been resolved and I have listed what actions I took, also I'm studying and do not access this email as much. Thank You.