In May of this year, Hubby decided he would like a new Bathroom and Kitchen - He decided to take advantage of a 'No Interest deal" spread over 4 years being offered by Hitachi Finance via B&Q. He toddled off to B&Q - designed his ideal kitchen and bathroom with a very nice team of designers. He passed all the credit checks and we had the Surveys done. The Surveys threw up some problems that hadn't been budgeted for and when we later looked into these, they didn't actually need doing anyway. However, because they involved electricity and plumbing he decided NOT to go ahead with the projects. That he would look further into having this work done, once he had made contact with the Electrician and Plumber that we have used for years, knew that we would get a good job done for a fair price. He returned to B&Q and told them of his decision and they were supposed to have cancelled any further dealings with Hitachi Finance. He had not signed any final paper work with them, in effect no contract had ever been entered into. In July, Hubby passed away and not long after, I started to receive emails from Hitachi Finance.. similar to the one attached. On the 1st August, I sent an email to Hitachi Finance - 1: Hubby passed away. 2: There was no contract, it had never been finalised. Please update your records. I received the following response on 3rd August On the 8th August, I received another Email asking Hubby "How was it for him" ? So, I sent the following.... On the 17th August, 9.10 am, I received an acknowledgement of my complaint and that someone would get back to me. Someone did, at 4.56 pm. I did indeed receive a stunning bouquet of flowers. What I find unacceptable is that despite her warning that this might take up to 6 weeks, I kind of assumed that the emails would cease immediately. Surely they wouldn't continue to send emails ...? Oh yes they would !! It would appear they are sending them at the rate of 1 per week - presumably if someone were to respond they would cease.. or would they ? Why does it take 6 weeks to remove someone from their system, when there was never any contract in the first place ? Hitachi Finance.pdf

Purchased and paid for a kitchen from BQ in May 2012.Assured I would receive same in July. BQ missed delivery dates ,mis-communicated,lied,made promises that were not kept and cost us money in extra installation dates,phone calls, petrol etc. A very frustrating experience. Complained to BQ but as I had used a trade account to make the purchase they say I have no comeback on them even though they admit their failings. Buyer Beware as everything they say by way of dates, service , follow up does not apply if you are a business customer which is strange as surely this is their biggest repeat market. Do you know different ?

We have a fitted kitchen supplied and installed by B&Q. The installation took place during the first half of 2009 and we moved in to the property around July 2009. The kitchen was financed using an interest free credit scheme that was being offered at the time. Within the last fortnight, our hob (a ceramic AEG electric hob) has decided to pack up. The hob has been very lightly used (perhaps twice a week on average) and we spend a fair amount of time away from home so it hasn't exactly been in the wars. The hob when installed new was around £420 (excluding installation). A Service Force engineer inspected the appliance, and declared it as "beyond economic repair". As I understand the situation: 1. I have a potential right of recourse against the retailer under SOGA and jointly the credit company under the Consumer Credit Act assuming that the hob wasn't sufficiently durable or can be shown to have had a fault not related to wear & tear and likely to have been present from the point of sale. 2. I contacted the retailer to see what they were prepared to do. At first they tried the usual "Your warranty lasts for a year, contact the manufacturer" rubbish until I mentioned my rights under SOGA and that my contract was with them. At that point, they then advised that I would need to provide some proof of the inherent fault. My question is this. What would constitute sufficient proof of an inherent fault that would then compel B&Q to do the right thing and arrange for a repair of the unit? As I understand it the relevant parts are freely available from AEG and to be blunt, I would expect a hob from a supposed "quality" brand to last a good deal longer than it has.