Dishwasher/Mastercare nightmare

[ashlem]

Hello all,
Firstly let me intorduce myself as this is my first post. I am 26, live in London and wish I had seen this and the numerous other forums about mastercare and how awful they are before I bought all my applicances at Currys!!

Just wondering if you can help me, I have summarised (no honestly) all of the problems I have been having and just wanted to see if you had any suggestions as to how to take this forward. Am a bit of an emotional wreck about this, you will see why.
What should I do? Pressumably the first steps are to call Mastercare, write letters to MDs, customer services, office of fair trading and then county court? Any suggestions welcome.

Summary of complaint
1. You have provided engineers that are unable to fix our brand of dishwasher by their own admission.
2. This has gone on for an unreasonable amount of time by anyone's standards. The missed hours at work and frustration and still no clear diagnosis of the problem means this has gone beyond a simple refund of our initial costs.
3. Engineers are rude, have lied about the parts they have ordered and are always late and have twice failed to come at all. I am sure you appreciate how hard it is for us to take this time of work.
4. We were mislead by Mastercare on the phone which added to further delays to the process.
5. The engineers have not only damaged our carpets but potentially further damaged our dishwasher by their attempts to fix it including using a lot of glue.
6. The engineers have a part of our dishwasher and they still do not know what is wrong with it. There is no end in sight for us and further more the manager has said he is 'fed up with this job' and will see if anyone is' willing to take it on.'
The Supply of Goods & Services Act 1982 states that a service must be done to a reasonable standard, and must be done at a reasonable cost and within a reasonable time if price and timing haven't been made explicit. It also states that if you damage your property while doing a job you also have to repair this as well. It also states that 'may be able to claim compensation
if you had to take a day off work, for example.However, this would depend on whether you told the trader this when you made the appointment.'



23rd October
Smeg Dishwasher gives us a message Error 9. We take out a Repair and Protect Plan with Mastercare.

First Visit - 27th October
2 engineers arrive 4 hours late, one of which is called Alan and diagnose a leak, say a new part will take 7-10 days.

9 weeks later we are still waiting for the part. The office will not tell us the name of the part (we offered to source and pay for it independently) and refuse to chase their suppliers.
They are rude on the phone and hardly ever answer it.
We call Mastercare to complain and are informed that as 6 weeks have elapsed we can get vouchers for a new dishwasher. We are quite surprised by this but agree to ask the engineer to file a report saying the machine is unfixable.

6th December
Over the following week I call Mastercare 4 times to chase up on process, each time I am told I will get a new dishwasher. I follow up again on 6th December and am told that they have the engineers report and they will send over the vouchers in the next week. We then go to Curries and get a new product.
I follow up again for the 5th time on 11th December I am informed by Sue in pod H that because our policy is Repair and Protect we will get our money back but that is all. When I asked why I have been misinformed on so many occasions she replies that most of the individuals have just joined and are still in training. She speaks to the supervisor and alerts them to the problem.
She offers a refund. I reply I don't really want one I want my dishwasher fixed! The engineers now say that as I have asked for it to be written off it is no longer their problem. We try reasoning with them that the only reason we asked for it be to written off was because we were misinformed.
Sue from pod H offers to call the engineer to reinstate the job. This takes approximately 2 further weeks.
Second visit
Tony (manager) offers to come and look at the dishwasher himself as he not convinced that Alan has diagnosed the problem correctly. He arrives and they agree it is in fact 3 rubber rings that need replacing not the sump and will get it from Smeg directly. Tony admits that Alan had not been able to see what was wrong with it, had not been able to point out the part that needed ordering on a diagram at work and therefore the entire base had been ordered from Smeg as they did not know which part was faulty.
We could have saved ourselves 2 months of anguish had an appropriate engineer been sent who could diagnose and identify which parts needed fixing. We are told this part will take 7-10 days to order.


3rd January
I receive a phone call from the engineer to say that he is 20 minutes away. I have not been informed of his visit and am therefore at work. I let him know I will not be able to get there in time as I work 1 hour away and was not informed of his visit. There is no one answering the phone at the office.


Scheduled visit on 12th January
James (my partner) calls the office and is told at 3pm that the engineers are one hour away. He leaves the office for home. At 7pm no one has arrived and no one is answering the phone in the office. I have the engineers mobile number from last weeks attempt. I call. He informs he is still on another job and will not be coming. He says the office should not have said he was an hour away. I explain how hard it is for us to leave work early and says he will come tomorrow (Saturday 13th January) between 10 and 11am.
13th January
No engineer arrives, he does not phone nor answer our calls.
Latest Visit: 17th January

Tony arrives at 630pm, we appreciate him coming after hours. He apologises for the previous engineers and we are told that Alan was 'blind as a bat', does not understand Smeg dishwashers, nor do any of his colleagues who are used to working with Hotpoint and was probably in a bad mood because he does not like working outside of his patch which is Croydon.
He also said that Smeg was a contract ' he could do without' as mastercare should not really cover it as they cannot supply the right parts.
Installing the new rings does not solve the problem and the dishwasher is still leaking. On further investigation it becomes apparent that the problem might be a screw which has also become loose. He tries to fit another one but it is the wrong size. He covers the bottom of the dishwasher in glue but this does not help either. It becomes clear he really does not know what is wrong with it and says it could be leaking from anywhere. He will need to take away the base of dishwasher to investigate 'with Fairy liquid' and he also needs to re-solder the wires which have become loose in the 'fixing process.' He also says' had it been me I would not have ordered the rubber rings'. We remind him that he was here with the engineer and they both agreed that was the part that needed ordering. If he did not believe that this would solve the problem why waste another 3 weeks waiting for that part!!
He puts the dishwasher back, I ask if it is ok to leave the pipe open like that and won't it leak - he stuffs some loo roll up the pipe.
All of this does not fill me with confidence that this problem will ever be fixed or indeed diagnosed. He now has the base of our dishwasher as well.

Given that he has told me that the other engineers cannot fix Smegs I ask if when the part comes he will come and fit it (assuming this is now the right part). His response was shocking saying 'I have had just about enough of this job and I will see if someone else was willing to take the job on.' He then would not answer any questions and literally stormed out of house.

In the meantime our carpets have been ruined. When Tony arrived I took out a large supply of towels to mop up the water that would come out of the dishwasher. I explained that our carpet stains with water (Sisal). He said they were not necessary. I turned my back for 5 minutes to return to find the carpet drenched and subsequently stained. I tried drying it and using a hairdryer but it is ruined. This was totally avoidable. (Photos available)

I hope you will agree that the level of service we have received has been completely unacceptable and we can see no light at the end of the tunnel.
We cannot take any more time off work for this, we have confidence in the engineers you have provided and cannot see how this problem will be resolved.
This has gone beyond simply refunding us the £120 for Repair and Protect and is a matter for compensation which we will pursue for through the Office of Fair Trading and the legal services if we cannot agree.

January 18th
Repeated calls to engineer who has not returned our calls and still has part of our dishwasher

[rosiecotton]

Aside from your Mastercare policy, can you tell me when you bought the dishwasher and how you paid for it?

[ashlem]

Hi Rosiecotton,
Yes we bought it in August 2004 and we paid for it on a visa debit card (Intelligent Finance), bought in Curries along with other appliances and kitchen units.
Thanks for your help in advance!

[rosiecotton]

No wonder you're upset with that sort of service.

Let me go away and draft up a proper reply - be with you in due course!

[ashlem]

Thanks. The latest update...my partner finaly managed to get through Tony who has said he now declining the job to Mastercare as he can't fix it and it is 'annoying me and its annoying you'. Charming. He still has a part of a dishwasher and I now believe he has damaged it beyond repair. I want to scream!!

[rosiecotton]

Check the terms and conditions of your Mastercare policy to see whether there are provisions made if the repair cannot be done within a reasonable time, to see what you may be able to claim from them. This will find out whether they actually do allow vouchers for a replacement or just a refund of the policy. Would be interesting to see what the policy actually says, regardless of what they said on the phone.


Now, back to the problem - I believe you need to write two letters.

Write one letter to Currys where you bought the product. Explain everything that has happened, as you have here. Tell them that this is an unacceptable situation and you are now looking to them to resolve the matter as your contract for the goods is with them. Inform them that their Mastercare engineers have so far been unable to repair the product and that if you do not manage to get the machine repaired to a satisfactory standard you will be looking at compensation towards the cost of a replacement dishwasher. Inform them that they have a liability under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 which states that all goods must be of satisfactory quality and fit for all normal purposes, and that your rights under this Act can last for up to six years. State that you would not expect a dishwasher of this value to go wrong by this time, and therefore you are entitled to a satisfactory repair or replacement by [give them a date] or alternatively if this is not possible you will ask them to collect the dishwasher and provide you with a partial refund of what you paid for it.

As you've had Mastercare fiddling with it, this might have had an effect on your statutory rights under the Sale of Goods Act - but I think you will get away with it because they are all part of the same company and Currys are the ones who sell Mastercare policies.


I think you also need to write to Mastercare because the service you have had has been appalling. Detail everything in the letter that you have put in this thread. Normally what you could expect them to do is dependent on the terms and conditions within their policy - however I do think that in this case, you should push for the vouchers to get a new dishwasher. State that you came to an agreement with staff at Mastercare that they would provide you with vouchers, and therefore this would form a condition of your contract with Mastercare. Give them a date by which to supply the vouchers or say you will be taking further action.


Finally I would copy both letters to DSG International PLC who own both Currys and Mastercare. Their registered office is Maylands Avenue, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire HP2 7TG.

[ashlem]

Thanks Rosiecotton,
I will do so right away. Will keep you posted and thanks again for such a detailed reply. It is amazing these people are still in business. Do you think it is also worth writing directly to the engineers they have outsourced to - Appliance Repairs ot just complaining about them to Mastercare? They are beyond a joke!

[ashlem]

This is the latest, I will draft a letter later on today. Any further advice gratefully received. Last question is - we now just want to get a new dishwasher and through out the old one - do we need to hang onto it if this goes to court to be examined? Bear in mind that Tony still has half of it!!

Tuesday 16th Jan - advised by engineer that he declared the dishwasher unrepairable and had report to Repair and Protect
- Repair & Protect advised they had received the report and would send it to Master Care that evening
- Master Care advised me that on receipt of the report we would receive vouchers for a new dishwasher. Since we had been misinformed about this previously I asked Collett (employee ID 22322) to check this. She spoke to her team leader Hayley Waring and confirmed that this was the case.

Wednesday 17th Jan - Repair & Protect advised me they had sent the report. Master Care advised me they had not received it.

Thursday 18th Jan - Repair & Protect advised me they had sent the report. Master Care advised me they had not received it. Master Care also told me it was not their job to chase these things up because they were 'too busy'.

Friday 18th Jan - Repair & Protect advised me they had sent the report. Master Care advised me they had not received it.


Monday 22nd Jan - Collett (employee ID 22322) advised me that we would not receive vouchers after all but only a refund on our initial premium. To receive this Master Care needed the engineers report from Repair & Protect.

- I spoke the Repair & Protect (Shaf in Quad 7) who advised me that Repair & Protect don't automatically send the engineers report and it hadn't been sent to Master Care after all. He said it was in fact, Master Care's responsibility the call and ask for the report.

- I spoke to Collett again who called Repair & Protect while I was on hold. Shaf changed his mind and said that Repair & Protect should send the report. He promised to email it to Collett first thing the next day. Collett said she would call me when she had the report.

Tuesday 23rd Jan - still waiting the hear from Collett.....

[rosiecotton]

Remember that if it were to go to court, Mastercare can bind you to the terms and conditions that they lay out in their policy (although you could argue that you were promised vouchers, proving this might be tricky unless they record their calls).

I would get in touch with Currys as soon as possible as this is where you bought the dishwasher and that's who your contract for the item, and thus your statutory rights, is with.

Let me know what sort of response you get to the suggested letters and go from there.

Good luck.

[ashlem]

Thanks one last question who specifically do I send these letters to? CEO, customer services?
Thanks

[rosiecotton]

Normally, the store where you bought the goods, copied to Head Office.

[ashlem]

Well I just wanted to update you on this situation. After I sent the letters ccing Smeg head office in Italy (wanted to alert them to the situation their customers in the UK were facing through currys) I received a letter 2 days later from HD of customer services. Basic gist is that they are really shocked at my treatment, they are following up with everyone mentioned and noted that the company outsourced to to do the repairs are not approved by SMEG. Amazingly Smeg have offered to give me a new dishwasher as a gesture of goodwill and to reassure me that the failing is not with the brand. I am very pleasantly suprised by their reaction as none of this is really their fault (well apart from dishwasher going wrong in th first place). No word from currys or DSG as yet.
The most satisfying outcome however is that they are going to look into their contract with currys and indeed how breakdowns and repairs are covered by them.
I really hope Currys loses their Smeg contract!!

[blacksheep1979]

as its a gesture of good will - you should still be able to get your old one fixed and have the freebie - bonus.

[TMVEASEY]

Hello

I am new to this site but are rather interested in your plight as I have had an Ariston Washing machine from currys and it has broken down now 7 times in 4 years, the first being at 10 months old, I am getting very ****ed off now and nobody seems to be bothered, i think I should have had a replacement years ago, as so much time is wasted waiting for the engineers and having no washer, which aint great as i am a mother.

[rosiecotton]

TM, is the machine faulty at the moment? Is it the same fault each time?

[ashlem]

What a nightmare, I am not an expert I am afraid but I know Currys are simply awful and I will NEVER buy anything from them again.
I think you have a strong argument that the washing machine is not 'fit for purpose' and you actually have protection and rights under the Sale of Goods Act for 6 years. Have you tried writing a letter to the top?
I cced the CEO, Chairman and every non-exec board member of DSG as well as WATCHDOG and Smeg. Maybe you can do the same?

BLACKSHEEP1979 - I know I could technically push for this but I am completely at the end of my tether and cannot face taking more time off work etc to get it fixed!!