Domestic & general ripoff

[Notahappybunny]

20th December 2010 my Cannon Kendal cooker was delivered it came with a FREE 5yr PARTS GUARANTEE which gave me peace of mind.

Domestic & General said to cover me for 'labour charge' it would cost £5.99 a month. Having paid a great deal for my cooker, we two days later had to cancel as the fee was an extra expence we could not afford at the time & I said I would take it out later.

On 18th April 2012 I called Domestic & General to take out the 'labour charge' policy as half of my grill would not work (can be used full or half).
The call handler told me the cost would be £15.79 monthly. I told him I was told the cost was £5.99 monthly. He said that price was then the price now was £15.79 or £189.48 a year.

I called Domestic & General today, 23rd 2012 to cancel & said I'd just like the part instead. The call handler said I couldn't have the 'FREE' part without taking out the 'labour call out policy' & further "had I not read the small print". What a RIPOFF.

Therefore I have had to pay the £31.51 for two months & £15.79 per month afterward or not have the use of a full grill.
The engineer representing Cannon came this afternoon but did not have the part with him although it clearly showed on his laptop screen & hopefully will come Friday with part.

My quip is that: I was not told initially that the monthly cost would go up if I didn't take out the 'labour call out policy' that day, had I been told so I would have scraped the money together. Its a total RIPOFF. One should be told when speaking in the first instance. Is there anything I can do.

A DISGRUNTLED D&G customer.

 

[Witch consumer]

Firstly, any extended guarantee for parts or labour offered is in addition to your statutory rights under SOGA and to be perfectly honest, I would expect a cooker to last longer than 15 months.

Who provided the 5 year parts guarantee? Domestic and General merely provide service cover so I can't see how they could offer this service provided as part of your cooker purchase? if this is the case, sounds like mis-selling to me, you didn't have a five year parts guarantee at all.

 

[Notahappybunny]

The "Cannon appliance carry a fully inclusive 12 months parts & labour guarantee plus FREE parts for the first 5 years provided that they are fitted by their service engineers" That means taking out a policy with Domestic & General. How ever they said yesterday 23rd April 2012 that one has to take out the labour call out at point of purchase to qualify for the cheaper £5.99 monthly payment otherwise taking out the labour call out when there is a problem the cost is £15.79 monthly or or £189.48 a year.

 

[Notahappybunny]

How can I get this information from the 'trade association'?
(As regarding durability in my case the Cannon Grill element, how long should it last).

The engineer that came out yesterday representing Cannon, compared my grill to a light bulb some last number of years others a month or two.

 

[Witch consumer]

Sorry I may be being a bit slow here, but I still don't see why Cannon offering you a five year parts guarantee on a new cooker purchase means you have to take out a policy with Domestic & General, Cannon have their own service website for parts here:

https://parts.cannonservice.co.uk/b2c_ind2/menu/homepage/(xcm=zcannon&layout=6_1_63_50&uiarea=2&ctype=areaDetails&carea=%24ROOT)/.do?key=0&areaid=navigator

so surely they can provide you with the free parts and if necessary (and probably cheaper) charge for labour for fitting?

 

[Notahappybunny]

No Cannon refused to supply the part if I do not take out a years policy with D&G; at the cost of 15.79 mth = £189.48 yr.

Got in touch with the retailer whom telephoned Cannon, will not accept it is a matter of durability although I believe durability was added to the sale of goods act. Therefore I'm left with a bill of £189.48.

This five year parts guarantee is a RIPOFF.

Really there is no guarantee

 

[Witch consumer]

Then as I said previously, there never was a five year guarantee, there was an offer to pay for an extended guarantee which you rightly could refuse to take but if you bought the cooker on any other understanding than that, I think it was mis-sold.

If I were you I'd speak to trading standards on this one, and as it is really an insurance matter, you could ask the question of the FOS.

In the mean time, rather than pay the £189.48 to D&G or Cannon, I would ask a local repairer for a quote. I still think you could expect a cooker, or any of its component parts to last longer than 15 months but TS will advise on this and if they find in your favour, either Cannon will have to carry out the repair or you will be able to pass on the bill for the repair to them.

 

[dennyboy]

i have been with domestic and general for over 15 yrs with a central heating cover insurance (platinum) which entitles us to a free service each summer,we had a new bathroom fitted 5 yrs ago and had our rusty radiator replaced with a chrome plated towel rail/radiator,4 weeks ago we decided as the weather was getting cooler we would start using it to keep the room warm as well as helping to dry the towels, well, when we tried to open the valve it was stuck fast (due to being shut all summer)! i managed to open it a small bit but it wasn't enough to warm up the towel rail/radiator so i put a call into domestic and general they gave me a working code to give to their engineers "THE HEAT TEAM",when i called them and gave them the working code and explained the problem, i was put on hold,after a short while they took me off hold and informed me that as it was a towel rail! i was not covered, i explained that even though it was a towel rail and RADIATED heat and was indeed an integral part of the central heating system for which i was insured and paid for they said that under the "whats not covered" part of the policy it says that "claims arising from convector heaters or from towel heater/rails" are not covered, i find this a play on words and think this refers to electric convector heaters and electric towel rails, i have complained to them by letter and they still say i am NOT covered.

 

[Witch consumer]

The easiest option is probably to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service as they cover insurance, let them make the decision D&G have to comply with whatever they decide. For what it's worth, I share your opinion but it is a bit ambiguous.

 

[dennyboy]

The easiest option is probably to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service as they cover insurance, let them make the decision D&G have to comply with whatever they decide. For what it's worth, I share your opinion but it is a bit ambiguous.

thanks for the info,i have indeed sent off a copy of my reply from D&G and a letter of explanation to the financial ombudsman and am awaiting a reply and will abide by their decision.

 

[Witch consumer]

There is a form on their website to fill in or they may send you a paper copy in response to your letter.

Financial Ombudsman Service

 

[coastee]

Just had dealings with Domestic and General, worse company ever


insured Dishwasher with them after persuaded by there Rep as I was after a repair,
he recommended the insurance plan but was told if the machine was unrepairable after engineer visit the policy would be cancelled


the machine was found to be unrepairable by the engineer from Bosch
I contacted Domestic and General to tell them this and asked them what next they conformed cancellation
and in due course I canceled my direct debit,


I have now received a Invoice for £148.00 for the engineer visit,
my beef is their lack of information and care as a company, as the machine was declared un-repairable
I bought a replacement and low and behold the warranty is with Domestic and General


Bosch where is your sense using this company.


A very unhappy Bosch Customer and Domestic and General are the worst company ever.

 

[dawirob]

Forget TV for ten days or buy a replacement.

Our Freesat set top box started to malfunction so I rang Argos under their extended warranty. They put me on to D&G who would fix it. After two and a half hours on the phone the best offer was to have the set top box couriered 200 miles and then fixed and couriered back. This would take ten days, they said. Meanwhile as a 77 year old partially disabled I can sit at home and stare at the walls. The next offer was to refund the price of the warranty so that I can buy a replacement. That is the end of me with D&G and Argos.

 

[I jpnes]

Whirlpool oven repair problem.
We had constant repairs to be carried out on our oven until it got to the point where a manager said "next time we will replace the oven.
Strange thing is next breakdown they completely forgot all my details and I had to have a new contract number, no oven then.
Now after more years of repairs we finally got a new oven only to find today that they send the cheapest , smallest oven money could buy, not the one we have.
I wait with antisapation what tomorrow's excuses will be.
Also it was just delivered and not fitted , surely under a insurance warranty it should be like for like and ...how do I fit a oven.
So X1 month now with no oven we have the wrong one sat on the kitchen floor and no idea.
Are these people meant to look after us or just constantly ask for money and give no support?