Is their warranty worthless? (Comet.co.uk)

Member Name: HeavenlyTwin

Product:	Comet.co.uk
Date:	27/07/01 (175 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap prices.

Disadvantages: Customer service is appalling., Warranty isn't worth the paper it's written on., Repair or replacement seems to be a fairy tale.

Comet might have some great advertising slogans, but their customer service stinks! Their warranty doesn't seem to be worth the paper it's written on and they're giving me a real headache - and I'm not even one of their customers! Unfortunately, I've had my daughter on the phone for most of the last 17 days ... complaining that she's waiting on them to repair her cooker.

Despite being one of the larger chains in the country, they obviously do not care about their customers (or keeping their word). She has an extended warranty on the cooker that she bought from them about eighteen months ago. Supposedly, if they can't fix something going wrong on it, within 48 hours, they will replace it ... or so the warranty states. Well, my daughter's cooker messed up on the 9th of July. She has two small children - Angelica is 6 and Nicolette is 5 - who have now been living mainly on sandwiches or microwaveable food since then.

Suffice to say, this is causing a real problem. My grand-daughters are not used to having sandwiches day in and day out for tea, they're used to mummy cooking for them every day after school. There's only so much that you can do with the microwave, after all. They should not have to suffer like this.

So, she has paid for an extended warranty on this cooker. Sounds good on paper. 48 hours and if not repaired in that time, they'll replace the item? She and I are both uneducated, obviously. Foolish people that we are, we think 48 hours is two days. Not on the Comet clock. Today is the 26th July and my daughter is STILL WAITING and STILL ARGUING with Comet about this. She has been fobbed off by one after another "acting" managers, the latest apparently told her she has an attitude problem! Excuse me, but after 17 days waiting for this magical 48 hour service, I think she has a RIGHT to have an attitude. She has two little girls who are used to coming in from
school and having a proper cooked meal for tea, and for whom sandwiches, sandwiches, sandwiches are wearing a little thin.

Apparently, after the first few days she did receive a call that a repairman was on the way ... but he never made it. In fact, (having been told during the call that he had the part and was coming out to her) some 4 hours later, she received another call and was told he hadn't been able to get the part and wasn't coming. Another manager told her that the locks had changed on the repair kit and they couldn't access it (?!?!?!?) That sounded like a load of old cobblers to me and I told her so.

The way they have treated her is diabolical. What is the point in somebody paying for an extended warranty on a product if the company then reneges on what it promises? If they can't get the part (as they are now claiming) then let them do as the warranty says and replace the cooker with another that works. She has even said she will take one of lesser value - all she wants is one that works, so that she can cook her kids tea.

Well, today she has finally lost her rag with this company and told them, if they don't live up to their warranty and get this either fixed or replaced within the next 24 hours, she is going to contact Citizen's Advice. I told her she needs to get the local newspaper and tv channels involved. Give Comet the bad publicity they deserve, because it seems to me they think that because she has been patient thus far, they can play her for a fool. If they start getting their name in the papers and on the telly for not living up to their warranty ... who knows, maybe some lawyer will figure out that maybe they were INTENTIONALLY trying NOT to abide by the terms of what she has paid for, and might SUE them on her behalf. Definitely sounds to me like FRAUD ... doesn't it?

When she asked them if she could withhold her monthly payment this month - they told her "no&qu
ot; and then took it out a few days early. That shows me the depth of their commitment to customer service. Seems like a case of "we've got our money - we don't have to stand by our word".

Well, I know that she won't get messed up by them another time, because that is one customer who won't be buying anything else from Comet in the future. So, word of warning ... don't pay for the extended warranty because they DO NOT provide the repair or replace that they promise. Their attitude leaves a lot to be desired. Save yourself the hassle and buy somewhere else.

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