GHD Straighteners - RESULT!!!

[Shell_uk]

I don't think it matters too much about the box. Every pair has a serial number on them and they can tell by this when they were manufactured. If you don't have the receipt, they take it that you purchased them when they were manufactured. Looking at other threads, even people who have had them 14months are told 'it's wear and tear'

 

I was asked by Trading Standards to keep my pair and they would try to have them tested. I am waiting to hear from them.

 

Were you informed you would have to pay £10 to have them returned to you if they are unable to repair them?

 

When I contacted them yesterday, they didn't mention it to me until I asked about it. They also told me they tell ALL their customers about this before the irons are returned to GHD

 

I know it doesnt matter about the box really I haven't been informed on anything yet, my straighteners were signed for on the 9th by the people in GHD. So i dont know whats taking so long to be honest!

[curly hair]

I think it takes upto 14 days, perhaps you could let us know what the outcome is.

[Shell_uk]

Will do

[Shell_uk]

Just to let you know, i had mine delivered on wednesday fully repaired with an apology. Better than nothing!

[PriorityOne]

Sent a pair back to them this week.... 18 months old, already replaced once, with a copy of the receipt enclosed. Picked up a FREEPOST special delivery envelope from the salon... just said that they'd been bought a few months ago.

 

Will let you know how it goes.... but, they'd better not try the old "wear & tear" trick on me. Really not in the mood for that old line.

[Bookworm]

Normally, as you know, we ask people to have a thread each, but when I started this, I never expected to have such a response. The sheer number shows what a disgrace this company's response to their customers is.

 

Thanks for letting us know you got your result, Shell, well done!

 

Keep us updated, P1! ;-)

[PriorityOne]

CRIKEY, THAT WAS QUICK !!

 

Arrived home from work to find a brand new pair waiting for me. Result !!....

 

[Bookworm]

RESULT indeed!

 

Brilliant news, hopefully that will encourage more people with same problems trawling the net!

 

(I suspect I won't be on GHD's xmas card list, but hey ho... )

[PriorityOne]

I suspect I won't be on their list either. This is the third free pair they've had to send me !!

 

I assume that people need to have some kind of receipt (original or credit card)... need to check the flex is packed properly upon return (unwound ) and quote the Sale of Goods Act in order to give Jemella no room to wriggle.... oh, and if they can't get hold of a pre-addressed returns envelope, to make sure that they use the FREEPOST returns address on a blank one from the post office . The FREEPOST address is :

 

Jemella Ltd.

FREEPOST NAT3188

PO Box 397

Keighley

BD20 0BR

 

Would have cost me £6.00 otherwise !

 

Happy returning !!!!!

[bushwackah]

3 letters later since my last post...still no reply

[PriorityOne]

3 letters later since my last post...still no reply

 

Do you have any proof of when these were purchased... a credit card bill would do ? If you can lay your hands on something that proves the date, you can then quote The Sale of Goods Act to them and they will probably back down.

 

In theory, you could still quote The Sale of Goods Act to them without a receipt.... but your fight will be more difficult and I think they know this, especially if they still have hold of your irons.

 

If this was my situation, I would bypass the monkey at Customer Services and go for the Managing Director, but you'll need his/her name.... When a (rec. delivery) letter arrives addressed to an MD by name, then they know you mean business.... I've gone down this route with several other companies in the past, with great success.

 

[frizzy hair]

Hi guys, amazing to see how many other people are suffering through GHD. I had no idea that so many of their straighteners were faulty.

 

I bought mine last July and the first two times I used them - great. Then the next time I put them against my hair and smelt a burning smell and a hiss as I watched my fringe quite literally disappear!

 

I have had a hairdresser look at them (not the one where I bought them as they dont want to help) and the salon think that they are completely overheating which is why my hair burnt away.

 

They have said not to send them back - but to get them independently tested to prove that they are overheating and could be a fire risk. Does anyone know where I can get this done?

[bushwackah]

Everyone else seems to be getting good results from them, I just seem to have an ongoing battle with GHD. I finally received a reply this morning.

Spinning the same old lines I have already had in previous replies...

 

Without Prejudice

Dear Bushwackah,

Thank you for your letter concerning the repair of your styling irons.

We were sorry and concerned to receive details of the problem you had experienced with the ghd iron.

The ghd iron is a high quality product and we pride ourselves on the reliability of the products in our range.

I can assure you the the iron is European C E compliant. To acheive this approval the iron has to pass very vigorous safety testing. We also on annual basis have the irons tested by a government approved notified body.

We have previously advised you that your irons can not be repaired and were offered a replacement at reduced cost. our customer service manager wrote to you and confirmed that this is our final decision and that we await you to advise us of your intentions.

Your iron has failed due to one of the devices on the printed circuit board; this would be due to wear and tear and not a manufacturing defect. In addition your irons are out of the 12 month warranty period fromd ate of purchase.

To reiterate we have previously offered you a styling iron 3.1b for £60.00 which is 40% saving off the rrp however we no longer stock this iron so can no longer offer this to you. However we can offer you the iv styler for the reduced cost of £90 which is a 25% saving off the rrp.

Your iron is outside the warranty period and we no longer manufacture the parts to offer a repair, we have however offered various reductions off the rrp of our styler and therefor we feel we have made adequate provisions in this instance where the irons are outside of the warranty period. we have offered this as a gesture of goodwill and in the interest of customer service , however we are under no obilgation to do this.

Please advise us of your intentions.

customer care administrater

GHD

I am not prepared to spend another £90 on an iron I already paid over a hundred pounds for, its alot of money for me to spend on a hair styler in the first place and the result i wanted was for it to be repaired by the manufacturer or replaced.

I dont have a receipt and paid cash, so it leaves me in a pretty useless position. ( have learnt from this to always save receipts!)

 

I have not excessively used it, as I only used it when i went out on a special occasion, parties, night out etc, and beleive me I have had very few of them! It is in immaculate condition and like new to look at as i look after my things. I have got the box here which has some booklets inside and it has the price sticker on the box with a barcode, could that be any help? Perhaps I should mention the box to GHD?

They told me I had to pay £10 to have the unrepaired iron returned to me.

[shazza01]

Hi just wanted to let you all know i bought a pair of GHD mark 3.1 august 2006 and surprise surprise they broke this month. Same old fault wiring.

 

I had a friend with a reciept from feb last year and sent them back with that. They knew no different and returned a new pair to me in 4 days.

 

Now i know this is not entirely honest but i was refused a refund repair or replacement on a previous pair so was taking no chances.

 

So my point is i dont think they know when they were bought its as long as you have a reciept.

[curly hair]

Hi,

 

I sent mine to Trading standards, who were very helpful. Just had a call from them. They have had them tested and it is the circuit and yes, the dreaded words 'failed through wear and tear'

 

Wish I'd sent them back to GHD and maybe had a chance of a replacement.

 

Still feel that for such an expensive product, two years isn't really long enough to write these straightners off, warranty or not.

[Bookworm]

If it failed through wear and tear, you could still go after Jemella for a contribution towards the cost for repairs or a reduction towards a new pair, as it could be argued that it is unsatisfactory as regards price/durability. It certainly seems worth a strong letter to them (not mentioning what TS said! ) and see if you can get something sorted that way.

[curly hair]

They are no longer in one piece! trading standards kept them and completely took them all apart. It was difficult as I no longer had the receipt, although they were just under two years old (paid by cash also, so had no proof)

[Bookworm]

Ah. That could make things a tad difficult then. I think sending the pieces with a "look, they fell apart" message might not work too well.

[jax17]

Hi

I bought my GHDs almost 3 years ago now , so no longer under guarantee , no receipt and theyve had plenty of use but the other night when i was using them they began sparking etc and now if i plug them in thats all they do.do you think its worth contacting ghd about them ?

I cant decide whether itd be easier just to go buy new ones or try and get them repaired? wondered what people whod had dealings with ghd thought.

[Bookworm]

Well, that depends whether you were planning to buy GHD again. If yes, it's worth going through the hassle, as there is a good chance they'll offer you a reduction on your next purchase.

 

If you're not, then 3 yrs may be pushing it, depending on how much you were using them.

 

You can see from the previous posts on the thread that GHD are a right pain in the backside to deal with, with little concept of customer care and absolutely to interest in trying to keep their customer base happy, so it's really up to you to decide how you want to play it and how much hassle you're prepared to put up with. ;-)

[wheresmyhairgone]

If anyone is still having trouble with GHD try complianing to the top man.

 

Google "MARTIN PENNY"

[Gem1981]

Hi All. Just googled 'ghd complaints' and found this forum...glad I did too, ive read some interesting threads! I sent my 2 year old ghd's to their repair centre last week and am waiting for a response...my pair developed the age old problem of fizzing and actually sparking where the cable joins the appliance...and as i am 17 weeks pregnant, there is also a huge concern for the safety of my unborn child as well as myself! A colleague of mine sent her ghd's back a couple of years ago, which were out of warranty, and was sent a new pair no questions asked, so I was kind of hoping they would do the same to me..but after reading the problems other users have experienced, I think i was being too optimistic! Oh well, will wait and see what they say.

[brushfire]

Hi!

 

I feel so lucky I found this website! My sister's GHDs started sparking a couple of years ago, so I sent GHD a letter basically stating how dangerous it was and that a much higher standard of product was expected for the price paid; they sent a brand new set without any hesitation. Unfortunately, my own GHDs did exactly the same thing this morning and I have noticed that where the head of the straighteners join the cable there is a small hole, which is where the sparks were coming from. My dad suggests this is where the cable has been heated when they've connected the striaghteners to the cable itself, causing the cable to become more brittle and subsequently less heat resistant (or something..!) Either way, I'm definitely going to write to GHD and tell them my situation, I understand they may be two years or so old (I can't remember when I bought them), but it's so dangerous! I was just wondering: when I send my letter to GHD, should I include the straighteners with the letter so they can take a look, or await their response before sending them?

 

Also, just out of interest... has this been identified as a fault with a certain batch?

 

Thanks!

 

Brushie

[Bookworm]

I would write to them first.

 

And GHD has said in the past that it was only certain batches, but the reports from people posting on here suggests otherwise. ;-)

[WATTS]

Thought i would add yet another GHD user with the same power cord fault at the base.

 

Here was the usual copy and paste template response from my email to GHD (nice to feel special eh?) :

 

Dear ******,

 

We were sorry and concerned to receive details of the problem you have

experienced with the ghd irons.

 

The ghd iron is a high quality product and we pride ourselves on the

reliability of the products in our range.

 

As the manufacturer we offer a 2 year guarantee with the new IV stylers

and 12 months with all previous models of irons and within this period

we will repair or replace the product for you upon receipt of the

original styling iron returned to us. In the event that the guarantee

has expired we may still be able to repair your irons for you, however

on some occasions this may be subject to charge. If you choose not to

proceed with a repair, and you wish your irons being returned to you,

they may be subject to a small postage and handling charge.

 

If you're in the UK or Ireland you need to return the irons to us,

preferably by a registered delivery service insured to the value of your

parcel so you can keep track of them, accompanied by a brief letter

detailing the problem. Any issues raised in your letter will be

addressed once we have had an opportunity to examine the irons in

question. Please make sure to include details of your return address.

The return address is ghd, PO Box 397, Keighley, BD20 0WX.

Upon receipt of your irons they'll be assessed by our quality control

department and if they're going to incur a service charge you'll be

notified in writing, before any action is taken.

We then aim to repair or replace them and return them to you within 14

working days.

 

To obtain an update on the progress of your returns you need to contact

our customer services team on 0845 330 11 33.

 

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any further queries.

Many Thanks,

 

NAME REMOVED

 

As of yet i have not sent them back into them but i will be taking photographs if i do send them.

I would also prefer to arrange a FREE MKIV replacement being sent to me over the phone before i post my old ones to them.

 

What concerns me though is that in my original email, i mentioned my partner was injured using the irons and she suffered an electric shock as a result of using the defective item and they just send the usual copy and paste response as if to suggest they get that many letters / emails that the quickest response is to copy and paste the same respnse to every customer with the fault.

 

They make not one mention of concern or show a human response!!

 

I wouldn't be surprised if there were thousands of customers with similar issues and others who just throw their GHD's away thinking its wear and tear!

 

The sparkles people keep mentioning on here is actually the electrical current escaping out of the slit at the base of the defect which is extremely dangerous and could easily result in a fire and / or electrocution.

 

The responses from GHD i have read on this forum are disgusting as we are talking about safety and peoples lives here!

 

Will it take somebody getting killed from using these and for GHD to stand up and take responsibility for their defective electrical product line? These old style GHD straightners are a potential hazard waiting to happen!

 

I will not stop until i get a new pair of MK4 straightners even though i don't have proof of purchase and they are 5 years old!

 

They should think themself lucky i don't take them to court for the stress they have caused my partner.

 

PS: Is there no way i could take this company to court / seek legal for being sold an electircal item that was defective.

 

Thanks.

Edited February 11, 2010 by alanfromderby