Really bad service form AO.com

[whataboutbob]

This is my brother, who is a vulnerable adult living on his own with input from me and DH. Anyway, he needed a new cooker (old one completely finished), he ordered one from AO.com but they couldn't come for 1 week despite their next day USP. When they turned up with the cooker , they talked him into buying an electric cooker, not gas as he'd ordered, arguing it was less hassle (for whom?- i'm not sure). But it could only be delivered in 10 days. Today it turns up, and has a faulty door. So they take it away (arguing it's the manufacturer's fault, not theirs). And they'll deliver another one on Saturday. I just think this is poor service. Bro clearly has issues and does not always express himself that well, is not very assertive and I think they are stringing him along, putting him at the bottom of their list.
Anyone else had poor service from them. I want to ring them tomorrow, but not sure what to say to them except I'm pissed off and I want the cooker delivered Saturday, no excuses and no flaws this time. If you've read this far, thank you!

There isn't enough information in your post OP. Had your brother not arranged for the old gas cooker to be safely disconnected and the new one connected? This is clear when ordering, but is at extra cost - £85 - so it's possible he thought he didn't have to pay that if he didn't want to, but isn't aware of the regulations that state a gas safe engineer must disconnect an old appliance and reconnect the new one, plus a gas cooker should be attached to the wall via a bracket or safety chain so it can't be pulled over. He will definitely have been asked about that when ordering. They took away a faulty product instead of leaving it there - what's poor about that?

You know you brother is vulnerable and needs help, but they don't - especially if he is ordering online and it's the delivery people dealing with him in person and, as I see it, trying to help him. Maybe you should go over the order with him and help sort it out?

Thanks wowfudge. He did pay the extra £85 and they said they’d refund him £20 which is the difference between installing a gas and an electric cooker. They’ll be taking the old one away. I guess I’m disappointed about how long the process is taking, especially as AO’s USP is prompt delivery. And saying they’re not responsible for a fault with an appliance but the manufacturer is- that’s got to be wrong. Bro lives 2 1/2 hours away and I tend to go fortnightly/ monthly and I won’t be going before they (I hope) deliver on Saturday .

Surely it's better to have a brand new cooker which is perfect than to have a faulty one repaired though?

We had really good service from then when we moved and needed all new appliances (we moved from rented furnished and were first time buyers).

HOWEVER their after sales calls to get you to buy their insurance and maintenance packages are very very pushy and frequent. We had at least two calls for each appliance and I had to be quite firm with them in saying “no”. They were so pushy they had an answer for every objection I had to buying their monthly plans. In the end I had to be really assertive and say I didn’t need to give an explanation why I didn’t want it and could they please stop calling.

Just something to watch out for in the coming days with your brother. Maybe give them your number as a contact if he isn’t good at asserting himself.

Thanks Beverly that's a useful warning. I rang AO today to explain my concerns and was told the delivery was scheduled for next Wednesday not this Saturday! It was a good conversation with a nice guy based up North, with give and take ( they advised against a gas cooker because they do a risk assessment and he'd have had to take down shelves above the cooker, which I accepted). However I still was unhappy about the time this is taking and asked for an address for their complaints department, after being on hold a few minutes the handler came back and said they'd found a slot for this Saturday!

I am really glad things were resolved, annoying it wasn't great in the first place. I was posting to say we had a positive in that we ordered a washing machine in May this year and we were unaware of their promise to deliver quickly, I had a warehouse man phone me saying I would have to wait 10 days for a washer as it wasn't in stock, I said ok but it would be a nightmare as we are a family of 7 and so I would be facing a backlog, I didn't expect anything but they bumped us to a £100 better machine which was in stock and delivered the next day and waived the extra

that sounds like a really good outcome hedgehogs! Let's see what tomorrow brings, I just hope bro finally gets his cooker.

We've always had great delivery options and great service.

I ordered somthg n boxing day and it was available as soon as today.

Whilst annoying, I wouldn’t say you have had poor service from them.

Yes, their USP is next day delivery, but it is the holiday Sean, and there will be higher than usual demand, fewer staff, close downs on certain days. Yes, this is not your problem, but it is what it is and nothing is going to change that during the Christmas period, things can take longer than normal.

With regards the fault, legally AO are responsible for it (and they have fulfilled their legal obligation to you by taking the faulty unit back and sending an exchange), again it is taking a few days, but as mentioned, better to wait a few days for a functioning appliance. In terms of “fault” it isn’t AOs as they didn’t manufacture the cooker, so I can see what they mean there.

*holiday season (don’t know where Sean came from?)

Thanks all. Bro got his cooker today ( if I hadn’t rung to express my concerns it would have been next week). Anyway, he’s very happy with it and has baked a banana cake to “baptise”it. Hopefully all’s well that ends well and he’ll get good use out of it for years to come.