AIBU to want them to replace it?

[Doowninthedumps]

Fridge freezer cost £180 new (basic model, all I could afford), freezer broke less than a year later and entire freezer full of food defrosted and needing thrown out. Repair man says non-fixable fault.

They have offered me £87 worth of refund, AIBU for thinking they should offer a full refund or replacement. AIBVU to think this is a crap offer since I'll have to replace the entire unit since a separate freezer will not fit in my tiny kitchen (and not to mention the cost of food thrown out)?

Should I wind my neck in?

Did it come with any kind of warranty? If so, check exactly what it says. Mine, from Currys, was a standard 12 month warranty but there was the option to buy a 3 year one. My 12 month one was rather sketchily worded so I suspect they'd have dodged out of a replacement if I'd tried to yo claim.

Iwould push for a full refund of the cost of the frezzer and comp for the food , although that is hard to put a price on.
A bit late now but when my friend had the same issue albeit with a older frezzer he took photos of all the thawed food and got full copm for it all .

They need to give you a full refund. Was the engineer booked via the company you bought it from?

Just a standard year, mine also from currys who are the hardest ever to get hold of! All emails turned off but staff still giving them out as point of contact.

Sorry Longdidstance xposted, yes engineer booked through them when I finally got someone able to help on the phone

Don’t take shit from Curry’s they’re trying it on.
My dm took out the KnowHow insurance with them and they messed her about for two months. Her tv broke. At first it was ‘we’re going to replace it’ then it was someone was going to fix it. Weeks went by. Quite frankly, we think they’d already dumped the tv and after much anger and many phone calls she got her money back. Luckily she had another tv as a spare, but bloody hell

Yes, that is ridiculous. You want a full refund or a like for like replacement, if they don't do your model anymore then they should give you the newer version

Thanks all good to have a check when you're not sure

Could anyone kindly tell me which ombudsman do I need to contact to escalate this, Currys are asshats of the highest order and are trying to tell me my warranty ran out 364 days after purchase and have not replied to any of the points in my email(s) I have sent them.

I think they are trying to make it too difficult/ ignore me till I go away.

I believe you need to prove that the fault was there at the time of purchase, as you have owned it over 6 months.

If it was, and you have no joy with Curry's. You can contact the retail ombudsman www.retailadr.org.uk/

Thanks Hunter

So was it over 365 days?

Head over to Twitter. That always seems to be the best way to go for complaints.

Was it more or less than a year. You say less, but you also say that Curry's said the warranty expiredt after a year. Which is it?

Just a thought, OP: are you insured and might your home and contents insurance cover the cost of the defrosted food? Mine does, so might be a way of getting something back...

You may be able to make a claim under the sale of goods act.

www.theguardian.com/money/2006/mar/25/consumernews.howtocomplain

I'm currently going through this for a washing machine that failed within 18months.

Bear in mind any settlement will reflect usage, so a full refund for a freezer you've had a years use from is probably unrealistic.

@Doowninthedumps

Could anyone kindly tell me which ombudsman do I need to contact to escalate this, Currys are asshats of the highest order and are trying to tell me my warranty ran out 364 days after purchase and have not replied to any of the points in my email(s) I have sent them.

I think they are trying to make it too difficult/ ignore me till I go away.

Why is telling you that the warranty ran out 364 days after purchase make them asshats of the highest order? That sounds like a standard warranty. It isn’t clear if you are at that point or not though..

Maybe because there are 365 days in a year so op was within the warranty period when she contacted them

Maybe because there are 365 days in a year so op was within the warranty period when she contacted them

Well, the OP still hasn't made it clear how long it was since she bought it and whether it was within a year or not.

I think you need to be clearer op on the timing here.

Firstly uou said it broke less than a year. Then you say curry’s say it ran out on day 364. How long had you had it when it broke and you reported it?

Have a look on moneysavingexpert for the resolver tool and consumer rights.

Your consumer rights are that the appliance should last a reasonable amount of time, which should be at least a few years, or a minimum of 3/4 years for a cheaper model and the legal minimum guarantee is 2 years, so anything under that you are entitled to a free repair or replacement.

You might have to threaten the small claims court or actually go through with it but as it's under a year old and completely dead, they don't have a leg to stand on.

Hi folks sorry for the muddy waters!

Bought the f/f and it broke less than a year after having it. Maybe about a week out from the anniversary but I can't be exact since I hadn't been in for a few days and by the time I realised, everything had defrosted. It was definitely before it's first birthday though.

Currys say my warranty ran out on a date that makes it 364 days of warranty not 365?

To make it worse, I have had such a hard time getting hold of them via emails, the web page, phone and social media and because I didn't get a hold of a person who was able to help (beyond giving me a defunct email address) untill about a week after the warranty expired they say they have to take this as the date it broke and is therefore not their problem.

I really hope that makes sense and I've not just confused things further, I am very tired so sorry!

Thank you for the suggestions, I'm waiting on a reply to an email and if I have no joy I'll try them

FWIW the asshats comment was more because they are really hard to deal with in general than just specifically about the 364 day warranty.

They are very obviously trying not to help the customer after the point of sale as shown by the other people above who have had similar issues.

It's frustrating because I just wanted to speak to someone via any form of contact (messenger pigeon might take too long but I'd have given it a shot at one point!), they make it instantly difficult to do and then it all goes downhill from there it seems.

The last person I spoke to was very helpful but unfortunately not in a position to do a refund or replacement themselves. They did say however that I should ask for the full refund or replacement quoting the consumer goods act, and it was them who suggested a claim for the spoiled food. So at least there was that.

For example if you couldn't speak for some reason, medical or otherwise, you'd be up the proverbial canoe since all other avenues of contact were non-existent other than twitter.

Tweeting them was not fast, they automate the replies and when you get hold of someone they ask you for a bunch of (unnecessary?) details. Facebook just seems abandoned entirely.