Where do I stand with a 2 year old broken Fridge/Freezer from Comet

[sophieb1980]

We bought our Fridge Freezer from Comet when we bought our 1st house in July 2008. It broke September 2010 (the week of our wedding), I managed to get a an engineer out who told me for £60 it was a scrapper and advised me to go to Comet as the Manufactures life should be 7 years. Due to the wedding and honeymoon we were unable to speak to Comet till the last week of October.

They told us they needed to send their own engineer for £50 to take a look. He arrived two days later to say the compressor needed replacing which would cost Comet £200 for part and labour...good news as living without a fridge/Freezer is a nightmare.

The part arrived nearly 2 weeks later but this engineer told us that he could smell gas from the fridge/freezer and that it was a right off and would need to write a report for Comet. Comet have since been in touch due to us chasing them and nearly 2 weeks later offered us £50 vouchers. Which we refused, as that will not buy us a new fridge/freezer. They said they'd get back in touch within the hour after speaking to head office about us not accepting £50, a week later after chasing again we've been offered £70 vouchers.

I am absolutely disgusted with the way Comet has treated us they were willing to pay £200 to fix it but will only give us £70 now it can't be fixed. I only expected money back for the 5 years the fridge/Freezer did not last. Their customer service is appalling and never got back to us in the time they said they would and we have now been without a fridge/freezer for 2 months. I think they hope we'd just give up.

What rights do we have against Comet.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Crazy Diamond]

What is the brand and how much did it cost? Very important, as it will dictate how much you can negotiate for, a Beko bottom of the line won't be expected to last as long as a SMEG top of the range for example.

 

First, if you paid £50 for Comet engineer, you are entitled to get that money back.

 

Second, since their own engineer has accepted that the FF is kaput, you are entitled to a repair, replacement or pro-rata refund, which is up to Comet to choose. They can not however dictate that you accept vouchers as the goods are faulty. Once you have said the brand/price, we can work out a ballpark figure.

[sophieb1980]

The Brand is a HOOVER and we paid £300 for it.

We have been refunded £50 for the engineer call out.

Thank you for the response and help.

[dx100uk]

we have comet onboard here

 

i expect the rep will pop in soon

 

sit tight

 

or send them a pm

 

dx

[Crazy Diamond]

Ok, so say 27 mths of use from when you notified them.

 

6 yrs of expected use (I don't think 7 yrs is realistic, I would have gone for 5 myself, so let's meet in the middle) = 72 mths.

 

72 - 27 = 45 mths.

 

£300 / 72 mths = £4.20 / mth approx.

 

45 mths x £4.20 = £189.

 

It's a very rough formula and very subjective, but I'd ask for £190 minimum.

 

Good luck.

[dx100uk]

under SOGA, a product should last 'resonable time'

this differs from product to product

however 24mts is not acceptable for a F/F

 

you should be able to get it repaired FOC by the retailer

if this does not happen with in 28 days of them having it for repair

under soga - it is resonable to expect them to offer a replacement or a refund to a replacement value equating to a like model of today.

 

dx

[sophieb1980]

Thank you very much dx and Crazy Diamond for that really useful advice. I will go back to Comet with this information and see if this gets me any further, in the meantime if the comet rep comes online I would be extremely interested to know your thoughts on the matter.

[dx100uk]

send a pm to this user:

with a link to your thread

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/member.php?279608-Comet-Response

 

dx

[sophieb1980]

Thanks for link but unfortunately I can only send a PM to staff as I haven't got 5 posts yet....this is all very new to me.

[sophieb1980]

Post 5....hopefully can send message now.

[Crazy Diamond]

refund to a replacement value equating to a like model of today.

 

dx

Sorry, this is a bit unclear, so just to clarify, you are not entitled to a better model. However, if the partial refund allows you to buy a more recent/higher range model, then that's fine. A typical example is TV or PCs where what you bought for £1000 2 yrs ago, you can get a much better specs for often less money.

[dx100uk]

typically that is what happens, if they cannot repair it in a resonable time [typically 28days]

 

unless it is fully acked by the maker as 'well we admit a design/build error' in other words the fault was accidently built in at birth so to speak, i doubt you would get a full monetary refund.

 

but the scenario you speak of has done me well twice now,

 

each case is diff.

 

there are plenty of soga threads, use the advanced search tab top right.

 

dx

[Crazy Diamond]

I didn't say "full" refund, I said "pro-rata" and gave OP the rough formula to calculate such.

 

It's interesting that amongst the possible changes to the law, one of the things that may get outlawed will be the partial refunds, in the same way that re-stocking fees are unlawful. If the change is implemented, it would mean that the retailer would be responsible for 100% of refund or replacement, but whether it will happen or not, well we live in uncertain times. In the meantime, retailers are busy trying to pay out as little as they can or not at all, arguing that goods are "outside the warranty" and similar smokescreens and that p***es me off like you wouldn't believe. We're all being told to recycle, economise and what not, yet manufacturers sell more and more goods with built-in obsolescence, goods which they won't repair but will replace with naither item just as shoddy but more up to date, and so the vicious circle goes on.

[dx100uk]

items have always been built with obsolesence in mind.

the problem many retailers of electrical/electronic now have is one of microelectronics

 

the smaller things get, the less chance of it even being capable of being repaired...bin/recycle.

 

i must agree on the warranty issue though, lose count of the number of time i hear that one and the number of people that fall for it!

 

dx

[Crazy Diamond]

Not "always", it's a very recent thing in terms of history, and in fact goes with the rise of consumerism. In the olden days (yes, I know I sound like my grandpa), things were built to last, to pass from generation to generation and built simply enough that you could replace the parts easily and cheaply. I went to visit relatives a couple of yrs ago, and the cable of the laptop got chewed up, and I was thinking crap, what am I going to do? My elderly uncle got electrician tape, a sugar cube, spare cable, and presto fixed the charger cable. Sure, it wasn't elegant, but it worked and for a long time too. Thing is, I hadn't even thought of fixing it, only where was I going to buy a new one, because that's how we've been conditioned. Our parents thought that a fridge that failed beyond repair after 10 yrs was poor value for money. And how many cobblers/shoe repair men do you see these days? I'm pretty good (well, ok-ish) at sewing, but most of my friends look at me as if I had 2 heads when I say that. We don't mend rips or darn jumpers anymore, we go to Primark and get a new one. And as you say, micro-electronics, OMG! I have so many mp3 players around the house, which I don't want to throw away because they then cost a fair bit of money, but are now given away with packs of cereals!!!

 

*rant over* sorry, it's one of those things that really gets my goat.

[dx100uk]

yep back on topic sri 4 the hi-jack sophie

 

dx

[sophieb1980]

Thanks for everything!

 

Just spoken with Comet and they will not budge from the £70 refund and cannot escalate it further as it has been to the top.

 

Therefore now in touch with Consumer Direct, i will keep you posted if anything else changes.

[Crazy Diamond]

To the top of what? The phone monkeys?

 

Sophie, you must stop phoning them, anything said on the phone can be denied, and no-one is going to take you seriously of you keep on doing this by phone.

 

Write a letter, stating that under the Sales of Goods Act 1979, goods must be of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose, and you do not accept that a Hoover worth £300 should only last just over 2 years. You do not accept that £70 in vouchers is anywhere sufficient to cover the rest of life expectancy you are entitled to from such an appliance. You consider that 6 years would have been a reasonable expectation, and thus, you feel that since you only got approx 1/3 of use of that appliance, you are entitled to 2/3 of its cost back, ie about £200. You are not unreasonable and will accept a replacement to the value of £200 towards a new appliance if they prefer.

 

Good luck, let us know what happens.

[hitemup]

We bought our Fridge Freezer from Comet when we bought our 1st house in July 2008. It broke September 2010 (the week of our wedding), I managed to get a an engineer out who told me for £60 it was a scrapper and advised me to go to Comet as the Manufactures life should be 7 years. Due to the wedding and honeymoon we were unable to speak to Comet till the last week of October.

They told us they needed to send their own engineer for £50 to take a look. He arrived two days later to say the compressor needed replacing which would cost Comet £200 for part and labour...good news as living without a fridge/Freezer is a nightmare.

The part arrived nearly 2 weeks later but this engineer told us that he could smell gas from the fridge/freezer and that it was a right off and would need to write a report for Comet. Comet have since been in touch due to us chasing them and nearly 2 weeks later offered us £50 vouchers. Which we refused, as that will not buy us a new fridge/freezer. They said they'd get back in touch within the hour after speaking to head office about us not accepting £50, a week later after chasing again we've been offered £70 vouchers.

I am absolutely disgusted with the way Comet has treated us they were willing to pay £200 to fix it but will only give us £70 now it can't be fixed. I only expected money back for the 5 years the fridge/Freezer did not last. Their customer service is appalling and never got back to us in the time they said they would and we have now been without a fridge/freezer for 2 months. I think they hope we'd just give up.

What rights do we have against Comet.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Rule number 1.

 

Never give up on them. At the end of the day, its just a bunch of monkeys in an office trying to keep their nose clean. Comet do not like bad things said about them, as at the end of the day, they arent so bad. However, regarding the rules when it comes to faults with products, they bend them and break them.

 

The Soga helps customers recover damages for up to 6 years in England, 5 years in Scotland regardless of the product. This is your most invaluable tool, however also posting about it on the internet is also. It does not mean that faulty products need to be repaired or replaced free of charge however. Please remember that, any food lost in a freezed can be claimed back, regardless of what they say. As long as you provide sufficient evidence that the malfunction caused the food to be lost within a freezer compartment, legally they would have to pay out so would recommend pursing this continually until you get a result.

 

Regarding a repair, Comet would not have to repair it free of charge as they offer a sliding scale based repair policy to assist customers. Any product faulty within 18 months must be repaired free of charge, this includes laptops and cameras/camcorders. You may however need to pay a fee to get the item inspected, as more often than not its the manufacturer who has to inspect the product, if found to be faulty with a major component failure, recover the costs from the retailer. You can also demand for a free of charge inspection on anything repaired by Comets own engineers.

 

Anything outside of 18 months, you will be charged an inspection fee and for any major components at fault, can look to obtain a sizeable discount on the cost of repairing it. If it cannot be repaired, they have to either offer you a market monetary value replacement (EG 42 inch flat screen goes wrong 6 years down the line in the uk, is irrepairable, they have to and will end up replacing for a TV worth 1 6th of its original value. They will however challenge this, and state as its lasted so long without fault, its not unreasonable to suggest the goods had no inherent faults when manufactured. There is no proof of this, and why else would a product fail. If its fit for purpose, you should be able to have it on for 6 years without fault, as this is what the Soga was put in place for.

 

Right, without going any further on a tangent - regarding your problem, take it to them. Hit em up. This is 24 months old, and is faulty. If they continually refuse assistance when this is a 100% definite fault, especially if a major component, they HAVE to help. IF they do not, write to their directors team. Simples.

 

Regards,

 

Hitemup

[hitemup]

To the top of what? The phone monkeys?

 

Sophie, you must stop phoning them, anything said on the phone can be denied, and no-one is going to take you seriously of you keep on doing this by phone.

 

Write a letter, stating that under the Sales of Goods Act 1979, goods must be of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose, and you do not accept that a Hoover worth £300 should only last just over 2 years. You do not accept that £70 in vouchers is anywhere sufficient to cover the rest of life expectancy you are entitled to from such an appliance. You consider that 6 years would have been a reasonable expectation, and thus, you feel that since you only got approx 1/3 of use of that appliance, you are entitled to 2/3 of its cost back, ie about £200. You are not unreasonable and will accept a replacement to the value of £200 towards a new appliance if they prefer.

 

Good luck, let us know what happens.

 

Things can be denied of course on the phone, however. One major assistance if this is the case - is to request all of the information they hold on you under the data protection act. This generally costs an admin fee of £10 or so, but they cannot edit, or change anything the colleagues have ever written down. If the colleagues have deliberately not wrote it down, unlucky, if they have, then you have just gained a valuable piece of ammunition for your case. Well worth one note with the queens head on.

[dx100uk]

hitemup.

 

soga does not specify a set time a product should last for.

 

it should last for a 'resonable time'

 

this differs from product to product.

 

however, if it is a recognised and acknowledged fault by the manufacturer themselves, which was unfortunately part of the original build, then they are obliged under soga to replace the product free of charge. there is no time limit on this. i've had a tv 12yrs old, replaced foc because it failed by the acked fault.

 

as for 'a sliding scale' of redress employed by a retailer, there is no basis for this under soga as such, there is also no basis for if or if/not you have to pay for an inspection.

 

after the recognised 'exchange' period [normally 28days] typically most retailers will require you to get and pay for an inspection.

 

the repair should then be carried out in a timely manner [again typically 28days] and the product should then be returned working FOC & the inspection fee refunded.

 

if it is not repaired or repairable within that time, the retailer should replace the product with a new one of like specifications, or vouchers to an eq spec value.

 

in all of this, the customer should not come out the otherside with any financial loss nor an inferior product..

 

dx

[hitemup]

hitemup.

 

soga does not specify a set time a product should last for.

 

it should last for a 'resonable time'

 

this differs from product to product.

 

however, if it is a recognised and acknowledged fault by the manufacturer themselves, which was unfortunately part of the original build, then they are obliged under soga to replace the product free of charge. there is no time limit on this. i've had a tv 12yrs old, replaced foc because it failed by the acked fault.

 

as for 'a sliding scale' of redress employed by a retailer, there is no basis for this under soga as such, there is also no basis for if or if/not you have to pay for an inspection.

 

after the recognised 'exchange' period [normally 28days] typically most retailers will require you to get and pay for an inspection.

 

the repair should then be carried out in a timely manner [again typically 28days] and the product should then be returned working FOC & the inspection fee refunded.

 

if it is not repaired or repairable within that time, the retailer should replace the product with a new one of like specifications, or vouchers to an eq spec value.

 

in all of this, the customer should not come out the otherside with any financial loss nor an inferior product..

 

dx

 

Hi dude, I might be a bit rusty as its been a while, so my knowledge might be slightly flawed in terms of the exact rules. However I am coming from the point of view of someone who used to work in Comet complaints (high level), so whilst the info might be a little off, the info I am giving is just advice on how to beat down comet!

 

please do correct me if I advise on anything wrong tho

 

Thanks

 

Hitemup

[dx100uk]

not here to correct you, thats not the point of cag

you will be an extremely useful member with your background

 

please dont take this wrong but..

 

time and time again we have found 'what comes from up high' at some of the larger retail stores is infact incorrect

they have been 'trained' poorly' this then filters its way down to the shop floor in an even worse order toward the customer.

 

dx

[hitemup]

That is very true, however the way I look at it, its the people higher up that make all the decisions which cascade down across the business. The higher you take it within Comet, the higher the likely hood of being taken more seriously is increased as your complaint will reach management level.

 

Anything addressed to the Managing director has to be physically read by them. If they see recurrding complaints, they will just end up agreeing to resolve in some way to prevent further time being wasted.

 

and thanks for the kind comments, I will be happy to help anyone who needs it. Its not like I have a grudge, its just that I did not agree with the way they operated which has resulted in me wanting to ensure people dont get ripped off. I may however keep my posts in future to private messages, as I do not want them to click on that I know their procedures.

 

Thanks again

 

Hitemup

[dx100uk]

it is not recommend to use pm to advise people really

 

that defeats the idea of cag.

 

people being able to read and gain knowledge

 

dx