We bought our Falcon 1000 range cooker from Aga Twyford for £3,200 in June 2012. But just before Christmas 2015 the induction hob developed a fault and half the rings stopped working, and our family of six has been without a fully functioning hob ever since – more than nine months. We contacted First4Service, Aga Rangemaster’s recommended repairer, and were offered a fixed-fee £175 repair. We checked this would cover anything that could be wrong, which was confirmed.
We had to chase it for the repair, which was not successful, and after spotting water on the power boards underneath the hob the engineer advised us not to use it at all.
So we went from five working rings to two just before Christmas, and then none at all in late March. During this time I contacted First4Service numerous times and the matter was escalated to its chief executive, Matt Jeffers. He said he was constrained by what Aga Rangemaster would supply under the terms of the fixed repair scheme. He believed the whole hob needed replacing, but Aga Rangemaster wouldn’t agree to this.
Eventually I contacted Aga Rangemaster direct and it agreed to replace the hob at no cost, though this didn’t happen until the end of April. The new hob came with a 12-month warranty but within a couple of weeks (mid-May) the central ring had stopped working. The repair was assigned to Wash Care Kent, which said it was waiting for a part.
Aga Rangemaster said it couldn’t replace the whole range as it was out of warranty (though the hob was covered), and couldn’t reimburse me as I had not purchased from it directly.
I received an offer from Aga Twyford in early July of another replacement hob for 60% of the list price.
We rejected this on the grounds that we now feel the induction hobs are not fit for purpose. In mid-July, Aga Twyford informed us that Aga Rangemaster still felt another replacement hob was the best option and that it was willing to pick up 50% of the price of a whole new cooker, which we again rejected.
In early September I turned one of the rings on and there was a flash and the fuse blew. I wrote again to all parties to say I felt this proved the hob was not fit for purpose and that I was now in an emergency situation with no hob. I am staggered any company would leave a family without a fully functioning hob for what is now more than nine months. CW, Horsmonden, Kent
We were appalled to hear of your treatment and your valiant struggles to feed your young family as well as trying to test products for your food business, which you run from home. We know state-of-the-art induction hobs have many enthusiasts, but your case highlights that when things go wrong they are easier to repair and replace when not part of an integrated range cooker. You were sent from pillar to post in your quest to prove that the fault was not down to ordinary wear and tear or caused by you.
Strictly speaking, the retailer, Aga Twyford (Twyford Cookers of Leominster, Herefordshire), should have been your first port of call for help, but while it is an authorised distributor of the Aga brand, it is not part of the Aga Rangemaster group.
Aga Rangemaster responded to us quickly and offered to reimburse you for the full purchase price of the faulty cooker and remove it. You have accepted this. But efforts to find out what went wrong drew a blank and, after being promised a statement for nearly three weeks, we received this pathetic reply: “We are sorry that this customer experienced difficulties but we are happy to say that the situation has been resolved to their satisfaction.”
This is one of the worst examples of customer service and this limp explanation is not good enough.
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