2 1/2 yr Beko FF deemed irrepairable by comet tech - what do I do now?

[bhill76]

I've been browsing through the forums to see how I go about getting some sort of refund/replacement for my faulty fridge freezer and wondered if someone would kindly help me out?

 

I bought the Beko CDA 543F fridge freezer in July 2008 and have had no problems with it until now. However, the last couple of weeks I noticed that the food in the freezer was not frozen properly and that the milk was going off a lot more quickly than usual. I called comet, who sent out a technician for a fee of £69, saying that I would be refunded if he deemed the appliance to be faulty.

 

Well, sure enough it's faulty alright! Apparently the gas has leaked out (through no fault of mine he said) and it would not be worth my while to get it repaired as the same thing would only happen again. I'm going to phone Comet back in a sec to ask for the £69 to be refunded, but wanted to know how to claim under SOGA?

 

Help!

 

Also - should I hold off buying a new one until I've contacted them? Don't know if I can survive that long without a fridge!

 

Thanks guys

[bhill76]

Ok - just to update - called the call centre and they have told me I can't get a refund for the £69 call out fee, as it's listed as an inspection fee and is not refundable!! That's not what the person who I booked the appointment with said - she definitely said that if the appliance is deemed faulty then they would refund the £69.

 

What do I do? I don't have any proof of what she said, so it's just my word against theirs

[bhill76]

Hi guys

 

I've sent the following email to 'hugh harvey' at Comet this afternoon, so let's see what that does! I've also written to Consumer Direct explaining my situation, so hopefully they'll give me a bit more ammunition if I need it...

 

 

Dear Sir

I purchased a Beko Frost Free Fridge Freezer from your store on 19th July 2008 at a cost of £272.31. It has recently ceased to work after only 2 ½ years, which is not a reasonable lifespan for an appliance of this kind.

The faults are as follows:

The fridge freezer no longer cools to a low enough temperature, causing the contents in both sections to spoil.

The Sale of Goods Act 1979 states that goods should last for a reasonable period, and the user manual that came with the fridge freezer also claims in the opening paragraph:

“a Beko quality appliance which has been designed to give you service for many years.”

This appliance has definitely not lasted “many years” therefore, under the Sale of Goods Act, I wish to claim a replacement or refund at no cost to myself.

 

I called your Customer Services department and informed the representative that I believed my purchase to be faulty and in breach of the Sale of Goods Act, so she recommended that I first pay £69 to have a Comet engineer come and assess the state of the appliance. She informed me that if the engineer did find the fridge freezer faulty, then the £69 would be refunded. On these grounds I agreed to pay the amount and arranged for the engineer to visit. For reference this is job number 5479318.

The engineer confirmed that the freezer had an internal gas leak and was beyond repair. However, when I called your customer services department they now tell me that I cannot get the amount refunded, as it was non-refundable inspection fee. I dispute this and object to the fact that I have been given conflicting information.

I therefore request that you respond to my complaint within 14 days from receipt of this letter. Should I not hear from you by that time, I shall refer the matter to trading standards and, if necessary, commence legal action, but trust that this will not be necessary.

Yours faithfully

[bhill76]

The latest update:

 

Received the following response from Comet today...

 

Dear

 

Further to our recent telephone conversation.

 

I can appreciate the frustration caused when a product does not work as expected and apologise for the inconvenience caused.

 

As we have no record of any previous issues with your fridge freezer and as it has functioned for 30 months it would indicate of satisfactory quality when sold. Although I note your comments regarding the Sale of Goods Act, the Act does not stipulate specifically how long goods should function for.

 

Unfortunately we do not have any record of the colleague, which informed you that the inspection charge would be refunded on confirming a fault, this is incorrect and I sincerely apologise if you were left with this impression. However, I note that we were unable to proceed with a repair to your fridge freezer and deemed the unit unrepairable.

 

Taking the above into consideration, I can confirm that I am able to offer you £100 gift vouchers as a gesture of goodwill to enable you to use them on a future purchase of your choice. The amount takes into consideration the original price you paid and the months of use you have had. If you would like for me to arrange for these vouchers to be sent to you, please respond to this e-mail within the next 7 days.

 

 

When I spoke to consumer direct, they said that the retailer should refund any cost of an engineer, whether they were from Comet or independent. I've emailed Consumer Direct again for advice following this offer, so will see what they say.

 

It's such a pain that people have to go through this rigmarole just to get what the law says they are entitled to. It doesn't help that I'm 6 months pregnant- could really do without the stress at the moment.

[spencer1959]

Sounds terrible, tell them to sick the vouchers where the sun don't shine. You want a refund of the money you paid for the engineer be firm with them.

I had a similar experience with their engineers( so called ) there messed us about something rotten. I got a complete refund of the repair Looks like we gonna have to sue them now for the fauly goods Fridge Freezer

 

I would advise you to phone Consumer direct 08454040506 they will give you all the advise as to your options and you will get a case number you can refer to every time you phone. btw they answer there phones promptly

 

Comet are a bunch of..

Gook Luck

[bhill76]

UPDATE:

 

Success! After my last letter, I finally got the reply I was after - although they still maintained that I did not have a case under SOGA, they agreed to refund the engineer fee and have paid me £150 towards the £270 I paid originally, which I think is pretty fair given that it's 2 1/2 years old.

 

Did a bit of research on the Which? site and bought one of their 'best buys' for £370 - it scored 81% as opposed to the 50% my old beko got, so hopefully this one will last a bit longer!!!

 

Good luck to everyone else - hope you get the results you deserve.