Domestic& General None Existent Service Levels

[scottyfan]

I have a Hotpoint Fridge Frrezer out of warranty which is supposedly covered by a Domestic & General service plan.

 

When I originally took out this plan I searched for info on typical repair response times.

 

The Domestic & General website quotes two days for their engineers and similar levels of service when the repair is referred to the manufacturer.

 

I had to place a call for service on July 27 and in accordance with the contract

I placed the call with Indesit who handle the repairs on behalf of Domestic & General.

 

The earliest the engineer could arrive was Friday August 1st.

 

On arriving the engineer took a cursory look ,

ordered a part and

 

after I complained about it not being able to be fitted until August 11

it is now scheduled for August 8.

 

I raised this with D&G ref the two days quoted on the website.

 

Their response is to tell me that there is no contracted service level and repair or replacement could take upto 28 days.

This against statements by them and Indesit that repairs are normally completed on the first call.

 

Domestic & General service agreements are a complete sham as there is no real intent to provide any sort of timely service to the customer!

 

It's all about internal deals with their subcontractors to minimise repair cost.

 

Before anyone disputes this statement there are more than enough examples on this site

of the difficulties people have had trying to get a timely adequate repair.

 

Given the information on the D&G website about response and their subsequent complete contradicition

and statements of acceptable time not visible to the consumer

 

I consider these contracts are essentially being miss sold.

 

Bottom line unless can get a contract clearly stating response / fix times don't bother with Domestic & General

as they don't even know how to spell service let alone customer satisfaction.

[BankFodder]

I think you are quite right. Companies trying to get business make all sorts of claims and then get very quibbly all of a sudden when it comes time for them to do what they agree to do in their contract.

Insurers are the worst. It's called loss denial – and about 15 years ago I was even invited to a one day seminar in London – all focused on loss denial.

Sometimes they will make claims on websites etc – but then start pointing to small print when push comes to shove.

 

I think that Domestic and General are trying to get authorisation to post on this site – so you may hear from them directly very soon.

 

Clearly they have become aware of this thread – so stick to your guns and let us know exactly what happens. If they don't come up to muster then maybe we will put an article about it in our newsletter which goes out to about 250,000 people.

[labrat]

we had an issue with D & G told min of 2 weeks for washing machine drum

 

3 weeks later no contact

 

got in touch with CEO's office explaining it was an esential item and 28 days was the most we would class as reasonable, within 2 hours had a call offering a replacement

[dx100uk]

why are you not going after the retailer under SOGA?

 

white goods are covered for atleast 4+yrs typically?

 

and its all free

 

dx

[scottyfan]

More background to my original post.

 

When D&G subcontractor Indesit advised the initial 5 days to attend to repair

I contacted D&G and asked them to use one of the local repairers

they quote attends in typically two days.

 

They refused on the basis that I hadn't been waiting 5 days.

( something defnitely not mentioned in the T&Cs)

I advised D&G I wasn't happy about

this so they flagged my complaint to their complaints department .

 

The department contacted me and the gist of the conversation was that they don't specify any repair time in their contracts,

and that I should have realised this when I took it out and should have queried this at the time.

 

They consider are at liberty to deal with my service call as they see fit.

The complaints handler then closed my complaint without actually addressing it.

 

I realise I can pursue the retailer under SOGA

however Its D&G I need to pursue.

 

Where the law appears vague is around acceptable time frame where none has been documented.

 

Currently it appears I have to advise D&G time is of the essence in order to subsequently take action.

 

Unfortunately none of this is geared to delivering a prompt effective service.

 

Further a consumer should not have to turn to this sort of redress to get a decent level of service.

 

I've just bought a new computer from PCWorld with a support contract.

This clearly specifies fix within 14 days or replacement.

Frankly on an item such as a Fridge Freezer / washing machine / dryer

this is the maximum any one should have to wait as these items are essential to be working

to avoid significant disruption and additional costs.

[dx100uk]

I cant for the life of me see why you ar PAYING for warranties extended or otherwise

 

they are a WASTE OF MONEY.

 

you should be reclaiming ALL your premiums back from D&G

and getting the item fixed for FREE under the sale of goods act.

which is your statutory legal RIGHT

 

you have NO RIGHTs under a warranty as they always wriggle.

[scottyfan]

I cant for the life of me see why you ar PAYING for warranties extended or otherwise

 

they are a WASTE OF MONEY.

 

you should be reclaiming ALL your premiums back from D&G

and getting the item fixed for FREE under the sale of goods act.

which is your statutory legal RIGHT

 

you have NO RIGHTs under a warranty as they always wriggle.

 

Hi the usual reason people buy service contracts is to get a prompt fix to a problem,

e.g the two day response quoted on the D&G website.

 

The overiding issue with white goods breakdowns is not getting the item repaired it's getting it repaired swiftly.

You can buy a fridge freezer and get it delivered in two days.

 

Even under Sale of Goods you have no guarantee of swift resolution.

If our fridge freezer had been free standing instead of integrated

I would have chucked it away and got another to get my household back to normality.

 

After digging around in this I find there is a Consumer Protection bill going through parliament.

Its currently going to committee stage in the House of Lords in October.

 

As part of this bill it will no longer be possible to write contracts that do not clearly specifiy

the time by which services will be performed.

At least they people will be able to decide on time to repair v warranty cost.

 

Currys / PC world currently off a service/ repair contract with 14 day max time

to fix or replace at around £150 including any/ all parts.

 

However the biggest issue apart from overall fix times is that once any repair is started

( first call made) any necessity to come back an fit a part not carried by the repairer

appears in most instances to have no priority and you get back in the queue for an engineer appointment.

 

The good news is it's now fixed albeit after 12 days.

[dx100uk]

waste of money

 

doesn't actually give you any guarantees of a quick fix at all.

 

dx

[Dhaval]

I have bought extended warranty from D&G. But they didn't send any confirmation by post or email. When I checked my Bank account they have already started debiting my account. Then I phoned them twice to send me paperwork and customer service has promised to send one immediately both times.. though I haven't received any thing so far almost two weeks gone since then. I made complain about this via their website which says that they will contact me in 24 hr. It has been 4 days gone since then.

 

Very poor on customer service. Stay away from D&G.

[dx100uk]

start a new thread

 

 

of your own

 

 

dx

[*RainbowTears*]

I had to ring D&G on Friday as my Aqualtis washing machine was leaking. They have changed the way they do things now, as before they dealt with your query.

 

This time I was given Indesit phone number & I had to call them to book an Engineer visit.

 

I was given Monday 1st Dec which was much quicker than I expected. I was informed over the weekend via email with updates on my repair.

 

The Engineer came yesterday morning & he not only found & fixed the issues my machine had, but he also updated it's computerised settings! (It's just over 1 year old). The service I received was very satisfactory.

 

I pay £5.49 a month for the extended warranty & for me, it gives me peace of mind knowing I don't have the hassle or the expense of finding an engineer myself.

 

That's well worth the small price I pay!