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my electric oven blew up on saturday and dhe said we'd have a new one by today! 4 days on microwave food with a 15mo is a nightmare AND no oven bloody turned up, and now they're saying not til friday at earliest! What are my rights?

Poor you, surely they can't leave you with no oven!! Call them back and tell them that your microwave has now broken due to over use, do they know you have a 15 month old?

DO NOT get me started on DHE!!!! We moved into our quarter and the very same night the boiler broke, it also snowed - alot!!!!!

We slept with a child each to keep them warm and thought that the following morning after calling them someone would be out - NO.

It's not an emergency as my children are over 2 (only just), this was the Wednesday, if it had been the Friday we would have had a same day appointment as Friday was when their "winter service" started.

But there's snow on the ground and we have just been posted back from Cyprus - it's sooooo cold. But no we had to wait - 48 hours later someone came out

We have put in an official complaint and are waiting the outcome.

OOhhh I feel so much better for sharing that - it must have been bubbling up inside me

Sorry to hear about your oven, I would suggest going along the official complaint route.

Gen this happened to me before we lost the DHE offices.

I, in the end took all 8 childminded children down to the office till they brought me a new one later that day.

Saw them arrive with it on the back of a flat bed truck, and saw it fall off when they braked to stop!

They brought it in and fitted it.

It didnt work.

Phoned them told them what happened, they said it would take four days to get another (this was the first week of the summer holidays and all the kids were at home)

I went back down to the office with all the kids.

They found me another one within the hour.

If I was you I would phone modern Housing every hour on the hour till you get one.

(BTW, good to see you back )

I was without an oven for about 5 weeks last year; luckily the hob still worked. It was a total pita. As we are in SSFA, the Housing Office said the landlord had to sort it and not SHAPE. We had to wait until the part for the fan came in and the oven man was back from holiday before it got fixed. I was not happy!

lol wallaroo - we were without heating for two weeks over half term last feb and it snowed. they gave us one portable plug in electric heater that was the size of a shoebox. hmm. 3 kids (one disabled) and moving the damn thing from downstairs to upstairs to thaw out the bedrooms... we had to stand it in the hall and move it from bedroom door to bedroom door...

sorry about your oven gemmummy - i've been trying to persuade them to replace mine for 2 years now as it takes 3 hours to roast a small chicken and two hours to roast potatoes... but apparently that's ok.

rights is an interesting question, but probably won't help much in this case as they will claim you have an alternative method of cooking (like my alternative method of heating) - just keep ringing. and ringing. and ringing.

Ring the Army Families Federation - your local rep's name should be online - and set them onto it. Whereabouts are you?

Welcome back Gemmummy

Ring DHE and MHS on the hour, every hour. Get the name of whomever you are speaking to every time and remind them that you have a baby in the house.

How rotten for you as soon as you get back

took your advice ladies, i've been on the phone all day. it's farcical how little dhe and mhs actually speak to each other and coordinate. I've been promised one tomorrow so we'll wait and see however, they are giving us 60 pound compensation for all the extra food we had to buy, so make sure you all remember that for when it happens to you x

Message withdrawn

If your oven breaks down we order parts to repair it. It can take ages... the best thing to do is get on to the MHS number because believe me, as an MHS manager, nothing's worse than a family unable to cook; the MHS helpdesk won't let it go; the helpdesk get on to us and we will make a (clean) cooker available from an empty house if at all possible.

please please please stop bumping 6 month old threads - it's starting to get annoying now.