Faulty Currys ESSENTIALS - CTL55W20 Tall Fridge - Repair pending spare part for 4 months, and looking like 8 months! ** RESOLVED FRIDGE REPLACED BY CURRYS**

[CJFrank]

Hi All

 

After 4 months of frustration I have lost it today with this Currys situation and am looking for some valued advice.

 

On 7th May 2021 I purchased a new fridge from Currys. Little more than 2 months later in mid-July the fridge developed a fault resulting in water leaking from the bottom and all over the kitchen floor. I immediately contacted Currys who said that as the product was more then 30 days since purchase, it was not qualifying for instant replacement anymore, so we had to go down the repair route. OK, no problem I thought. Arranged the repair and engineer came out in a few days. The engineer said he couldn't fix it because he needed a spare part. We would hear back from his company soon with a date for the delivery of said spare part and a new date to complete the repair. OK, fine I thought.

 

This is where the trouble really starts. We received text messages on a weekly basis throughout July from REPAIRCARE saying the part is out of stock and they will keep in constant contact with suppliers as soon as available they will get it despatched. This continued throughout July and in to August before suddenly the texts...stopped. I was patient, I understand supply chain issues in the current climate. But in September I called the repair service number for an update. "Still unavailable they said", "Due in October" they said. OK, so I continued to manually empty the filter of this fridge and mop up leaks as necessary, unhappy but still patient. 

 

The REPAIRCARE texts started up again following my call, and every week I received a text "your part is unavailable with an ETA of 29/10/21." This happened throughout September and October until the text I received this week. The ETA of 29/10/21 disappeared, and was replaced with "part is currently out of stock with NO ETA".

 

Then I called the REPAIRCARE line again and was told that the part is now not showing as available until December 2021, with a likely repair to be booked in January once Christmas is out of the way. I told them that was completely unacceptable. A repair in January (which I feel extremely unlikely anyway considering the 4 months waited and broken promises thus far) would represent a period of 8 MONTHS since reporting a fault with a brand new fridge, until it could be repaired. I told them i'm not accepting that and I want a refund or a replacement, whichever......now.

 

They totally understood but said it's not them I need to speak to for a refund or replacement...it's Currys. SO off I go on the online chat with Currys. Went through the whole thing with them 10 days ago. "Very sorry sir, I understand sir, I will escalate this to the relevant team sir, you will get an email in 24-48 hours sir". So I waited...nothing. Earlier this week I contacted them again...different agent...went through the same details all over again...."Very sorry sir, I understand sir, I will escalate this to the relevant team sir, you will get an email in 24-48 hours sir". I said no, i've already been told this once. I want to speak to a manager. "Please allow me 24 hours sir, I have escalated to the concerned team sir. You will get an email with a reference number in 2-3 hours sir".......again......nothing.

 

So today I lost it completely. I contacted them again on live chat , went through the motions as usual and got the same "Very sorry sir, I understand sir, I will escalate this to the relevant team sir, you will get an email in 24-48 hours sir". I said no, give me a manager. He wouldn't, assuring me that he had escalated along with the feedback of disappointment from the last 2 calls, and I would hear back within..24-48 hours. The little email button above the live chat that is supposed to mail a transcript of the chats, I selected each time has failed to email me on any occasion by the way....so this time I screenshot it.

 

So here I am, almost 4 months down the line from reporting the problem, stuck with a broken fridge that's leaking, with no resolve in sight.

 

What are my options here? It's brand new in May. It's well within warranty. Surely anyone can see that an important item like a fridge to keep food (and my boys diabetes treatment in), its not acceptable to drag out a repair / replacement for what could be, in excess of 8 months! And that's if they even deliver the part that the lead time has already drifted out on twice. There has to be some action I can take surely? All I want is a refund (so I can buy another fridge), or a replacement fridge.!

 

Any help appreciated

 

Thanks

CJFRank

[CJFrank]

Thanks Bankfodder

 

I have left it a long time I know. At the end of the day, life takes over, the fridge still operates albeit needs emptying of water and clearing up after a leak.

 

Can you please check the letter of claim text I have drafted. Not sure about the currys address to send the letter to as it was bought online with no address on the receipt?

 

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Quote

 

Dear Sir or Madam,

Letter of Claim

 

RE: Johnson/Currys - ESSENTIALS - CTL55W20 Tall Fridge – White – Order number CUR2103074726 

 

I purchased a ESSENTIALS - CTL55W20 Tall Fridge - White Fridge from Currys on 07/05/2021. At the point of purchase I paid £199.

The ESSENTIALS - CTL55W20 Tall Fridge - White is not of satisfactory quality. Fridge started leaking water after 2 months from date of purchase. I reported the fault to Currys on 15/07/21. Currys said it would need a repair visit. Repair engineer came out and informed us it needed a spare part and they would be in touch to advise when the part was available to complete the repair. The spare part was not available and has been pending delivery for 4 months now. The available date has been pushed out every month since. The latest date for delivery of spare part required has been pushed out again and apparently is now December 2021 which will be 6 months after reporting the fault. 
 

I am now asserting my rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and as the purchase was within six months, I require the fridge to be repaired. If you decline to repair it or if a repair fails then I am rejecting it and I require you to refund me or to replace it at my option.

I shall also require you to remove the fridge from my premises. 

In view of the way this has been handled by you, I'm giving you 14 days either to carry out the repair or to remove the fridge and to refund me after which I shall begin a county court action against you to recover the replacement cost and without any further notice.

I'm also giving you notice that if the matter is not dealt with within seven days that I shall start applying a daily storage fee of £7.50 a day until the fridge is repaired or removed.  I shall be enforcing this storage fee in the County Court as well.

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 makes it an implied term of the contract I have with Currys that goods be as described, fit for purpose and of satisfactory quality.

As you are in breach of contract and I've owned the product for less than 6 years and a previous attempt at repair or replacement has also failed, I am within my statutory rights to ask for it to be repaired at no further cost to me.

 

Furthermore, if the matter is not resolved within the next seven days, I will start applying a storage charge of £7.50 per day until such time as Currys collect my fridge and refund it.

I await confirmation that you will provide the remedy set out above within 14 days of the date of this letter.

 

I look forward to your acknowledgement.

Yours faithfully

 

 

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Not really sure about the relevance of the SAR business. Thats to do with data protection, no? I'm unsure how that request for data they hold on me supports my case for refund / replacement?

 

Thanks for your support thus far.

 

CJFrank

[CJFrank]

Thanks a bunch, how can I make sure I send it to the right Currys address ( and email address) so they can’t dispute it was sent to the wrong address? They don’t make it clear where to send these kind of letters!

[CJFrank]

OK, so I have sent two letters recorded delivery, one to an address for Currys in London (the address at the foot of my receipt) and also a PO Box address in Sheffield they list on the website.

 

In terms of the email, I found [email protected] and sent the email. I received an auto response saying  "This mailbox is no longer active, please visit our contact us page for further information on how to talk to us https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/contact-us-1181-theme.html". Of course, visiting this link gives you a load of FAQ's to resolve your issue and has no email address to contact them on. They are doing there best to be uncontactable it seems.

 

Found another one online, [email protected]. Tried that. Haven't had an auto response from that yet so hopefully that's gone through. I think they are DSG group (trading as Currys)

Edited November 6, 2021 by CJFrank

[CJFrank]

UPDATE: just got an undeliverable receipt from that email address as well. Brilliant.

[CJFrank]

They don’t publish email addresses anywhere officially anymore. The email addresses I have tried I have found on various forums with people who have had issues in the past. The live web chat is the only channel for complaint now, so I used that again this morning. I told them I didn’t need assistance today, I am just using this portal to register a letter of claim. I then pasted the letter in to the chat and screenshot it. The agent confirmed there is no email address for customer services to speak of so I have that logged.

 

The fridge is still in use because we’re old school. It works, but requires us to have it pulled 12 inches away away from the wall so we can have a makeshift pipe and Tupperware tub behind it collecting the water that leaks out of it.

 

[CJFrank]

Just registered for Money Claim. It's going to cost me £35 to start this ball rolling. On top of the expenses i've already incurred with sending recorded deliveries and the time i've spent drafting letters, sending emails, live chats etc. I must of spent at least 6 hours in the last couple of days already working on this. For a £200 fridge, it's just not worthit is it? And this is just the start. What if I end up having to actually attend court, time off work, time spent preparing for all that, and heaven knows what other costs i will incur further down the line pursuing this.

 

I might as well just wait until December and see if they eventually get the part in to fix the fridge!

 

Can't believe it's this difficult and costly to claim what is to me, a simple case of buying a brand new product which doesn't work and getting a refund or replacement. No wonder most people don't bother and give up. They know that don't they these big companies like Currys.

 

You know what would be more effective (and cheaper) is actually going through with what I said to their customer services I would do, which id drive to my nearest store, with the fridge in the back, wheel it to the front door and sit outside the store with the fridge next to me, pin a sign on it saying "I bought this brand new at Currys, it doesn't work and they won't replace or refund it". They won't want that kind of negative publicity outside their store and i'm almost positive someone would take me inside and refund / replace it immediately.

[CJFrank]

Hi 

 

Update on this. I had a response from the email I sent to [email protected] informing them I would take the matter to small claims court in 14 days. I copied bbc watchdog on to the email.

 

All of a sudden I received some interest from Currys and a gentleman took personal charge of the situation and arranged a replacement fridge in less than a week. The old one was also collected.