MFI =Most Frustrating Indeed! (MFI Kitchen Furniture)

Member Name: superbusybee

Product:	MFI Kitchen Furniture
Date:	07/08/02 (1884 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: store looks good, staff seem helpful

Disadvantages: faulty fridges, useless guarantees, dodgy "repairs!"

I purchased a Fridge Freezer in December 2000 and took out 4 years additional warranty so that, should a problem occur, I wouldn't have a problem.

I had a problem.

My brand new fridge-freezer continually froze everything in the fridge!

I called Extracare and, after being kept on hold for ages, an engineer was arranged. He fitted a new thermostat.

Then the fridge played up even more. I could not get it to chill below 9 degrees (nice for Salmonella, not so nice for the rest of us!).

Another thermostat was fitted (after two missed repair appointments).

Again, endless phone calls, missed appointments and an engineer who confirmed that the temperature was 9 degrees in the coldest part of the fridge but refused to confirm that it was faulty to MFI (are we being cynical, or do we suspect that the sub-contracted Expert appliance repair company had their own interests at heart?) We were repeatedly told that the fridge was not faulty as the compressor was actually running". Without a report from the engineer that the fridge was faulty, MFI refused to do anything.

18 months and a lot of wasted food later, the fridge stopped completely. Dead as a dodo. We replaced the fuses. Eventually it fired up again - on and off. Trouble was, you had no idea how long it would stay on - or off.

Yet again, an engineer was called. He failed to turn up yet again. We complained and another appointment was made. He turned up at a completely different time. By chance, I was in... even though we had repeatedly told the repair company we would not be!! (Why call when we had said we would be out - unless to charge MFI for a call-out that would have to be repeated? Once we can understand. But when this happened time and again we began to wonder what the ploy was... MFI/Extracare take note!)

He held the fridge door open, stared at it and dithered on about "it's working because the motors r
unning". (AGAIN!!) But when I pointed out the rotting meat, the rancid vegetables and the pong... "yes, but it's working". Eventually, after a lot of protests, he declared that he could not possibly test the temperature acurately because the door had been open for 10 minutes. And besides, it was working at that moment. He "repaired" it by replacing a light bulb that had blown when it had decided to stop working on a previous moment.

Perhaps I am wrong, but it struck me that his interest lay in declaring it to be "working" rather than solving my problem of it "not working as a fridge should work". An engineer would just have to keep coming back until he could catch it "not working", said he. More call outs, more charges to MFI and the warranty company... more hassle for me. More money for the sub-contracted maintenance company?

When I asked for copies of previous engineers reports, I was told I was not entitled to them. I asked if they existed and the subject was changed. I asked for the fridge to be tested properly so that we could at least verify that it wasn't chilling properly... I was told that he would have to return in 24 hours. So do that, said I. Not possible. Why? Because it all depends on when we can fit you in...

In other words, no-one has actually properly tested whether my fridge is working correctly or not. The motor runs. Therefore, it is working.

Isn't that rather like saying "here is a car. It works. Hear the engine ticking over? It won't go anywhere because it has no wheels ... but it works!"

The upshot of all this is that it has taken nearly two years for MFI/Extracare to agree to replace the fridge. Their implicit trust in their sub-contractors leads them to leave their customers in the lurch.

The extended warranty we purchased for £90 was not worth the paper it was written on. Our fridge was l
ess than a year old when we complained. We had to wait a minimum of three days for an engineer, they missed appointments on several occasions and then didn't even bother to carry out proper checks on the appliance. We spent pounds on phone calls and being put on hold, and wasted days of leave taking time off work to be in when the engineers were SUPPOSED to call. The food insurance only extended as far as FROZEN food, and we repeatedly lost pounds worth of supplies of fresh food in the fridge .. and when the fridge was eventually replaced, the WARRANTY we had bought became null and void and did not apply to the new appliance! So we had spent £90 for nothing (check Extracare's small print carefully!!).

MFI ?

Most Frustrating Indeed!

Summary: