EXPECTED TO BE WITHOUT ANY COOKING FACILITIES ***Resolved***

[DymoDavid]

We purchased a Candy hob in September 2021 and it was purchased early as we were concerned about possible stock issues, it was installed on December 2nd 2021 when the new kitchen was fitted (a receipt can be provided to confirm this date) and this appliance started to give problems almost immediately but we struggled on with it until the intermittent fault got unbearable in that we did not know if it was going to work or not.

 

Upon contacting the customer service department at Curry’s I was automatically put through to Candy service and after 59 minutes on hold I had to disconnect the call as after this period of time my provider then charges me for the call so I have to start again and again and yet again to try and get through.

 

I have had email contact with Curry's ‘let us know’ but all I got was ‘it’s not our problem – it’s Candy’s problem’ so that was even more time wasted.

 

Meanwhile on Jan 8th 2022 we purchased another hob from Curry’s as we could no longer rely on the Candy one nor could we be without a cooking appliance, eventually I got through to Candy and an engineer called yesterday (Jan 24th) and he has to order four new circuit boards for this almost new Candy hob.

 

So if this appliance is repaired in say 14 plus days time what are we expected to do with it as we have already indicated that we have replaced it so that we would not be without a hob.

 

I do have all of the paperwork here to submit to the Small Claims Court as this appliance was not fit for purpose and the court would not expect me to be without a cooking appliance for any period of time.

[BankFodder]

Do we gather that the second hub you purchased is working correctly?

In that case the situation is that you bought a hob in September which demonstrated faults and eventually became unusable. You contacted Currys and they fob you off to Candy.
The Candy engineer has now diagnose that there are electrical faults and he has ordered for new circuit boards for it.

What is the value of the hob?

I'm assuming that you are proposing to sue Currys.

Have you sent them a letter of claim? Please could you post it up here.

Have you opened an account with the County Court money claim service and have you started to draft your claim?

Where is the defective hob now? Presumably you are storing it somewhere?

[DymoDavid]

Thank you for your reply.

Yes the hob was bought Sept but not installed until early Dec, started showing faults almost immediately but because it was 'bought' over 30 days Curry's washed their hands of it.

The hob cost £229.00 and I still have it here.

Yesterday I sent an email to Alex Baldock CEO of Curry's and I received a reply almost immediately from his office who have passed it onto their 'Executive Resolution Team'

who will investigate and respond to the matter in due course.

The email sent was more or less the exact copy of the one that I posted here so we will now wait their investigation and I will let you know the outcome.

[BankFodder]

Another consumer who thinks that by being reasonable and patient with Currys, that Currys will be reasonable with them in return. Bless.

Of course I do hope that you get a resolution this way but in fact we have found over a longer time now that Currys was a dishonest and quibbling little company that takes advantage of its customers innocence to deprive them of their consumer rights.

"In due course" is completely unacceptable but if you go along with that it means that you have handed the reins over to them and allow them to take control.
There is no reason for this matter to take more than a week for them to sort out and so I would suggest that your best course of action send them a letter of claim giving them 14 days or you will sue them in the County Court.
That gives them ample time to sort the matter out and also means that if they eventually come back to you "in due course" refusing to honour their obligations, then you don't have to wait a further 14 days. You can pretty well launch into action immediately.

You said you had all your legal documents ready but I asked you if that meant that you had sent a letter of claim and you haven't replied.

[DymoDavid]

I have not heard of a Letter of Claim until you mentioned it so after Googling it I am now aware of what it is so I will give Curry's until the end of this week to arrange the collection of this purchase for a refund and in the meantime I will get this Letter of Claim ready to send. I have the paperwork ready for the County Court but I will do as you suggest first. Sincere thanks for your advise.

[BankFodder]

If you weren't  aware of letters of claim, then I think that you would be well advised to start reading up on this site the steps involved in taking a small claim in the County Court.

It's very straightforward – but it's worth knowing what you are doing in advance so that you are confident.

I think also it will be worth adding a figure for storage. It seems to me that maybe £2.50 per day would be a reasonable figure.

At the very least, adding storage then gives you something to give up if it comes to a negotiation where they feel that they need to save some Face.

Get reading and also start preparing your letter of claim straightaway so that it is ready to send off on Saturday. You can send it by email.

Let us it before you send it.

This is the second time that you have referred to paperwork ready for the County Court. What is it precisely that you have ready?

 

[DymoDavid]

The form that I have already filled in is titled - Form 125 Order 26 Rule 5 Notice Of Application For A Small Claim.

I have been reading up on the Letter of Claim this morning and I will read it again later on today so that I am fully aware of it and I will as suggested add £2.50/day for storage.

The reply that I received from Curry's came from - [email protected]

[BankFodder]

Please let see the letter of claim before you send it.

Have you registered with the County Court money claim website?

[BankFodder]

Also, if this does go onto a claim then it is quite likely to go to mediation first of all.

I suggest that you visit the Hermes sub- forum on this website and read up some of the mediation stories so that you understand what happens there.
However, understand the general steps in taking a small claim in the County Court first and prepare your letter of claim.

You will be seeing your claim online through the money claim website

[DymoDavid]

I certainly will let you see the Letter of Claim before sending.

I have the Small Claims forms printed off the justice-ni-gov.co.uk website as I am in Northern Ireland and I will read the info as suggested on the Hermes sub-forum.

[BankFodder]

Yes, the procedures I'm referring to obviously are in England, Wales. I had appreciated that you were in Northern Ireland .

I'm afraid Northern Ireland procedure is not one of my strong points, although the law is exactly the same .

@Andyorch

 

 

[AndyOrch]

https://www.justice-ni.gov.uk/articles/online-services

 

https://onlineservices.justice-ni.gov.uk/loginportal/Account/Login

 

[DymoDavid]

Good Morning - received this from Curry's yesterday evening and I have replied asking for the appliance to be collected and a refund processed.

 

Dear Ken,

 

Case Reference: CC4527454.

 

Thank you for your email dated 25/01/2022 to Mr Baldock and I have discussed this with my manager and it has been agreed that we can offer to provide you with a full refund for the faulty appliance. 

 

Should you wish to go ahead with this please let me know and I will request the collection and refund as soon as possible for you. 

 

Kind regards,

 

Luke

 

Currys™ Resolver Support Team

Currys™ Customer Management Centre

[BankFodder]

Excellent result. Very unusual for Currys to step up to the mark like this. 

 

 Maybe it is something that happens in Northern Ireland but much more rarely in England and Wales .

 

Thank you very much indeed for updating us on this.

 

[DymoDavid]

Curry's possibly know that we have enough things to worry about over here without having to worry about a faulty hob.

 

Sincere thanks for your input regarding this faulty appliance.

[BankFodder]