Comet Dishwasher - SOGA ***** Success but only after LBA *****

[ims21]

Hi

 

Just posting this so that folks can see how I progress with Comet. Personally I have not had any dealings with them in the past so I approach my forthcoming dealings with them with an open mind.

 

Brief synopsis is that dishwasher purchased 21 December. Noticed over the Christmas period that stuff on the lower level wasn't being cleaned properly. I looked after Christmas and found the lower spray arm wasn't revolving so there's the problem identified.

 

Cause of that problem unknown as yet.

 

Have called Comet Cust Service like a good boy. 5 Mins or so wait but have booked engineer and appointment date Tuesday 17th.

 

Have got my reference number from chap on the phone (and his name too).

 

I will give them one chance to put this right and if not it is straight in with requirement for replacement and if I get messed around I will issue.

 

I will not pussy foot with them.

 

I'll update as I go, even if it is a very short thread and they resolve the issue immediately.

 

ims

[dx100uk]

sometimes they are not clipped in properly

you can remove them for cleaning

there is also sometimes a restrainer that has to be removed from each before first use

 

does it spin by hand?

 

dx

[ims21]

Yep...all clipped properly...spins freely by hand

[dx100uk]

water getting through ?

 

its the water that makes it spin and wash...yea i know !!

 

i've found before bits of expanded polystyrene in the shute down from the top or up from the bottom.

find out where it gets its water feed from and make sure it lines up and it not blocked

 

dx

[ims21]

Yep all done already...everythings clear

 

I have a suspicion as to what it is but being a new machine it presents an opportunity to test their procedures.

[dx100uk]

a man after my own heart.......

 

sadly .......... and i'm going to have to say it .........

 

i had a failure on my tablet pc of 2yrs of age some time back

 

took it down PCworld

 

was back in my hands, having been off to HP and back in 18days

 

!!!!

 

god that hurt........

 

dx

[ims21]

Well sadly Comet have fallen at the first hurdle.

 

When I arranged the engineer visit I had agreed an afternoon call today (17th) due to work commitments this morning. Customer service chap said OK although the norm is to arrange any time during the day appointments. So anyway...afternoon was agreed.

 

Phone call from engineer this morning saying he will be here between 10:30 and 12:00.

 

No good says I.....I'm working this morning and told him had agreed afternoon.

 

No can do says he...you are the last one in the area and they book all day appointments.

 

Ok I says well you can come between those hours but no-one will be here as afternoon was agreed.

 

Anyway, long and short of it is they had their chance to look at it so when I get back from work, Comet will receive my polite request for a replacement.

 

Be interesting to see what they say.

 

Will update as soon as..

 

ims

[ims21]

Ok

 

So visited the Comet store to politely request a replacement and told them that I am now formally rejecting the goods and that I require a replacement.

 

Got told that sorry ims, we cannot authorise that in store, only H/O can do that. They also said the usual about their right to inspect etc. etc.

 

Told myself to keep calm ims and explained that within the time frame we are talking about (less than 28 days in this case) I can formally reject the faulty goods and their wanting to examine makes no difference to me or anything else for that matter.

 

Polite discussion ensued but store manager still insistent that the stores do not authorise so I think to myself OK give them rope to hang themselves. So decided to play the game with them.

 

Have now e-mailed H/O formally rejecting the appliance and telling them that I want a replacement...when will they have it either ready for collection form their store (I'll help them minimise reasonable costs) or when will it be delivered to me.

 

Their web site e-mail says they reply within 24 hours to questions so, to be reasonable I will give them 48 hours to respond.

 

Have typed up Letter Before Action which will be sent to their Registered Office if no answer or if they mess about

 

ims

[rebel11]

You have Refund options available, might be worth 'testing' those.

[ims21]

Hi Reb

 

Yep...got it all in the back of my mind so there are options

 

ims

[GorgieBoy]

Hi ims21 ,

 

COMET will insist on examining your washer I would bet on .

 

The plus side is if you do manage to have an engineer call in the afternoon , as the washer is under 28 days old the engineer will be authorising a replacement within 2 minutes of being in your kitchen , a quick and easy job for him no matter what the fault is , and you will be quite happy as well I would think .

 

These kind of exchanges have nothing to do with their Head Office either the simple fact is your washer is under 28 days old .

 

Just to add once again , once a Retail Store or elsewhere in CometLand has got the Sale they are quick to wash their hands

(no pun intended)

of any problem which may arise regarding a faulty product and the buck is passed to their Service bit so to speak.

 

As far as a refund goes well that is another question with another answer I would suggest.

Edited January 18, 2012 by GorgieBoy

[ims21]

Thanks GB

 

This is also a bit of a test for Comet's Customer Service to see if they do the right thing and more to the point see if they do it quickly and in accordance with SOGA.

 

Not impressed thus far but we'll see how it pans out over the next day or so

 

ims

[ims21]

So Comet e-mail back saying same old stuff about all day call when they agreed to afternoon.

 

Still saying they require to inspect before a resolution can be reached.

 

Have told them LBA being sent recorded delivery to their registered office. LBA gives them 7 days to replace or refund in full.

 

Will allow the 7 days from when the LBA is signed for.

 

Day 8 and court papers will be issued.

 

ims

[ims21]

Well nothing substantial to report other than Comet still e-mailing saying they want to inspect to see how to resolve the issue.

 

Have told them there is no choice now....refund or replace.

 

They even told me they will be coming out on a particular day next week to look at it.....not even "can we make an appointment" or "will you be around".

 

Have e-mailed telling them there is now only one of two ways they can resolve....pay back the purchase price or deliver new machine.

 

LBA sent to registered office today

 

ims

[rebel11]

You could highlight the main points of the SOGA that specifically apply to your case, get them to tell you why they don't thing the SOGA doesn't apply in your case. Also remember Comets never tested the product before they sold it to you.

[dx100uk]

or chargeback in 24hrs if they dont

and they wil have to pay collection too!

 

dx

[ims21]

Hi reb

 

Yes, thanks.

 

Funnily enough I did put in a paragraph to the effect that I would be interested to know on what grounds they feel SOGA doesn't apply.

 

It is rather annoying that they do not want to do the right thing. I appreciate they do not test everything before sale and it could be that there is a "batch" of machines suffering the same fault. What galls me is that a customer goes through the procedures of informing their "Customer Service" team of the problem and give them a chance to have a look at it by way of an appointment which they failed to honour.

 

Next the customer attends the store from where the item was bought and the customer gets little or no help there either.

 

Then they attempt to wriggle via the e-mail complaints and to top it all then tell me when they are coming out with so much as a by your leave or even finding out if I'm available.

 

I have formally rejected the goods in writing already.

 

We will see if the LBA makes anyone sit up and listen.

 

Regards

 

ims

[GorgieBoy]

Hi ims21 ,

 

COMET will insist on examining your washer I would bet on .

 

The plus side is if you do manage to have an engineer call in the afternoon , as the washer is under 28 days old the engineer will be authorising a replacement within 2 minutes of being in your kitchen , a quick and easy job for him no matter what the fault is , and you will be quite happy as well I would think .

 

These kind of exchanges have nothing to do with their Head Office either the simple fact is your washer is under 28 days old .

 

Just to add once again , once a Retail Store or elsewhere in CometLand has got the Sale they are quick to wash their hands

(no pun intended)

of any problem which may arise regarding a faulty product and the buck is passed to their Service bit so to speak.

 

As far as a refund goes well that is another question with another answer I would suggest.

 

Hi ims ,

 

I know I may sound like a stuck record , but I still think my post regarding your washer is how it will be rightly or wrongly and will give you the best solution .

 

As I said the Retail Store is no longer interested , which you have found out , which is bad enough .

 

The buck has ben passesd to the "Service Bit" so to speak they want to examine your washer before the next move .......... which would be an authorised exchange as your faulty washer is a Under 28 days old .

 

This would be the best way to resolve your ongoing issue I would suggest as anything else could take days and maybe weeks .

 

Their "Service Bit" wants to examine the machine before it is considered for an exchange .

 

It now boils down to (or it may have passed !) you getting a PM call by an COMET Engineer which seems to be the main issue , and this cannot NOW be guaranteed by COMET albeit when you raised the initial Service call you were told a PM call would not be a problem !

 

Once again no departments work together with the one goal of providing an excellent customer service , they all do their own thing .

 

Which I am afraid is just not good enough and is getting much worse it would seem !

 

Just to add anything is now possible to resolve this by COMET as your ongoing issues are now on CAG .

Edited January 21, 2012 by GorgieBoy

[rebel11]

• Wherever goods are bought they must "conform to contract". This means they must be as described, fit for purpose and of satisfactory quality (i.e. not inherently faulty at the time of sale).

• If goods do not conform to contract at the time of sale, purchasers can request their money back "within a reasonable time". (This is not defined and will depend on circumstances)

 

Hi ims ,

 

I know I may sound like a stuck record , but I still think my post regarding your washer is how it will be rightly or wrongly and will give you the best solution .

 

As I said the Retail Store is no longer interested , which you have found out , which is bad enough .

 

The buck has ben passesd to the "Service Bit" so to speak they want to examine your washer before the next move .......... which would be an authorised exchange as your faulty washer is a Under 28 days old .

 

This would be the best way to resolve your ongoing issue I would suggest as anything else could take days and maybe weeks .

 

Their "Service Bit" wants to examine the machine before it is considered for an exchange .

 

It now boils down to (or it may have passed !) you getting a PM call by an COMET Engineer which seems to be the main issue , and this cannot NOW be guaranteed by COMET albeit when you raised the initial Service call you were told a PM call would not be a problem !

 

Once again no departments work together with the one goal of providing an excellent customer service , they all do their own thing .

 

Which I am afraid is just not good enough and is getting much worse it would seem !

 

Just to add anything is now possible to resolve this by COMET as your ongoing issues are now on CAG .

[ims21]

Hi GB

 

No I don't think you are a stuck record and I'm grateful for your input on the thread.

 

As I say, I was more than happy for them to come and have a look. I took them at their word that a PM appointment would be OK ( after all, why wouldn't I) and they failed to honour it.

 

In fact, if they had the courtesy to call me and agree with me when they want to come I'd still let them look at it if they want to. That part of it makes no difference to the eventual outcome which will be refund/replace.

 

What I object to is them telling me when they are coming without making an arrangement and assuming that I will be available for them. I've already taken half a day off work for the previous appointment which they failed to honour and they think that at a drop of a hat I can take another day off.

 

I also wanted to go through a "process" with this which is why I started with report to Customer Services, then to the store and now in e-mail correspondence with them. Explore and exhaust the avenues as it were.

 

Also to relay my experiences here for the benefit of others.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a grumpy old man whinging about a dishwasher.

 

Because I have been unlucky in receiving faulty goods, it presented an opportunity to test their procedures and provide a narrative here on CAG.

 

As I say I am grateful for your contribution and I know the issue will be resolved. They could have made this really easy but have chosen not to...so lets see which way it goes now.

 

ims

[GorgieBoy]

• Wherever goods are bought they must "conform to contract". This means they must be as described, fit for purpose and of satisfactory quality (i.e. not inherently faulty at the time of sale).

• If goods do not conform to contract at the time of sale, purchasers can request their money back "within a reasonable time". (This is not defined and will depend on circumstances)

 

Totally correct rebel hence the reason COMET would want the Washer examined by one of their engineers so this can be established .

 

They do not exchange products or issue refunds in this kind of instance before they have examined the obviously inherently faulty product , and as the norm do not go on the hearsay of a customer beforehand regarding a fault or not "performing to contract " .

 

They decide not the Customer in most cases .

[GorgieBoy]

Hi GB

 

No I don't think you are a stuck record and I'm grateful for your input on the thread.

 

As I say, I was more than happy for them to come and have a look. I took them at their word that a PM appointment would be OK ( after all, why wouldn't I) and they failed to honour it.

 

In fact, if they had the courtesy to call me and agree with me when they want to come I'd still let them look at it if they want to. That part of it makes no difference to the eventual outcome which will be refund/replace.

 

What I object to is them telling me when they are coming without making an arrangement and assuming that I will be available for them. I've already taken half a day off work for the previous appointment which they failed to honour and they think that at a drop of a hat I can take another day off.

 

I also wanted to go through a "process" with this which is why I started with report to Customer Services, then to the store and now in e-mail correspondence with them. Explore and exhaust the avenues as it were.

 

Also to relay my experiences here for the benefit of others.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a grumpy old man whinging about a dishwasher.

 

Because I have been unlucky in receiving faulty goods, it presented an opportunity to test their procedures and provide a narrative here on CAG.

 

As I say I am grateful for your contribution and I know the issue will be resolved. They could have made this really easy but have chosen not to...so lets see which way it goes now.

 

ims

 

Yes you are quite correct ims it is the whole procedure which is wrong from start to finish , unfortunately you are only half way there at the moment .

 

As I have said in previous posts COMET finds it difficult to do the simple things correctly when it comes to dealing with customers regarding "Customer Service" when things go wrong and it is simply just not good enough .

 

They have got the theory right in most cases but fail to carry out the basics in practice which your Customer experience has already shown so far .

 

This could turn out to be a long thread ims but keep us informed .

I am sure your blogs will be a benefit to many customers with similar issues .

Edited January 21, 2012 by GorgieBoy

[ims21]

Ok we're getting there..

 

lba arrived with them yesterday.

 

Received e-mail today agreeing to an exchange and giving me an exchange reference number.

 

All I have to do (apparently) is pop into the selling store, give them the number and away we go.

 

Hopefully coming to a conclusion.

 

ims

[rebel11]

Excellent.

 

Ok we're getting there..

 

lba arrived with them yesterday.

 

Received e-mail today agreeing to an exchange and giving me an exchange reference number.

 

All I have to do (apparently) is pop into the selling store, give them the number and away we go.

 

Hopefully coming to a conclusion.

 

ims

[ims21]

Final update.

 

Took excahnge not to Comet today and came away with a replaecement machine. So this matter is now resolved. Just a shame that Comet tried to wriggle out of their responsibilities under SOGA and it took the Letter Before Action to get them to take notice.

 

Note to Comet (if their CAG rep ever logs on again) - >Another customer lost...I won't be dealing with Comet again.

 

ims